I believe USA is going to the dogs. Politicians especially of the right wing types are turning this country upside down. They lack leadership and have only the wimpy, 3rd rate Fox news and Rush Limbaugh type radio hosts and a low brow Sarah Palin to guide them. A few Presidents have come and gone, having served their terms (thank goodness for term limits...why don't they insist that for Senators and the House Representatives). The charade you see this summer with regard to the Health Care Bill debate is partly due to big time lobbyists (ex-senators, -representatives, -governors, -presidents?) who would campaign against this bill and paid handsomely by big corporations who push drugs, insurance and hospital care. A lot of US politicians upon leaving their posts have become fairly well off because of their lobbying activities. US media and sitting politicians will decry such practices of other countries around the world but not in USA. Obama would like to change the atmosphere in Washington, but it appears he has a hard time. The Health Care bill will be a test of his presidency.
Ex-Presidents become fairly rich by writing their memoirs or attending to the lecture circuits. So do some influential cabinet members and Senators.
Check out what earlier US Presidents said about their positions and the use of public funds.
Quote:
Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many important decisions regarding our nation's history as any of the other 42 Presidents. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.
The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri. His wife had inherited the house from her mother and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.
When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.
After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There were no Secret Service persons following them.
When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, "You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale."
Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."
As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.
Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale.
Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, “My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference.”
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