General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsObama signs law giving himself, Bush, Others lifetime Secret Service guard.
Former presidents have to give up rides on Air Force One. But now they don't have to give up being shadowed by the armed-and-earpieced bodyguards of the Secret Service.
President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into a law a measure giving him, George W. Bush and future former presidents and their spouses lifetime Secret Service protection, the White House announced.
The legislation, crafted by Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, rolls back a mid-1990s law that imposed a 10-year limit on Secret Service protection for former presidents. Bush would have been the first former commander in chief affected.
At the time, lawmakers who supported the measure said it would save the government millions of dollars. They also argued that former presidents could hire private security firms (as Richard Nixon did after he decided to forgo Secret Service protection in 1985).
The rest: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-signs-law-giving-himself-bush-lifetime-secret-184305122--politics.html
samsingh
(17,598 posts)JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)RKP5637
(67,108 posts)gollygee
(22,336 posts)Honestly, crazies might still go after W in a few years, and of course they might go after Obama 8 years after he's out of office. I think this is very wise. They still need to be protected, regardless of party.
hlthe2b
(102,276 posts)liberal N proud
(60,334 posts)Not sure if lifetime extends to VP's
graham4anything
(11,464 posts)still_one
(92,190 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)It surprises me that this wasn't already the case.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Since it passed during Clinton's time in office, W would have been the first one affected by the new law.
Crazy Combo
(7 posts)Taxpayers should not have to be paying for the Chimp to have Secret Service. Just dump him in a bar and 100,000 cash, and he'll be fine right there.
Daemonaquila
(1,712 posts)You know how much blow costs? He'll be out in a week, and back on the streets endangering the public.
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)We need to protect all of our former presidents from nutjobs and terrorists.
benld74
(9,904 posts)Paladin
(28,257 posts)If you're just talking about which ex-president will be better company, you have a point: the guy with a functioning brain is preferable.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)All of our other former presidents seem to have managed quite nicely giving up Secret Service protection. This is just a continuation of the Imperial Presidency, and I'm disgusted to learn this.
And yeah, it may actually add a trivial amount to the cost of government, but why add anything at all?
sadbear
(4,340 posts)if the government tries to take his guns.
Among others.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)We're creating a class of people who are not part of the rest of us.
Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)Seeking protection from the racist trash that has made death threats against him throughout his presidency?
How imperial of him!!1!
EOTE
(13,409 posts)I'm sure you'll be able to provide one. And yeah, why would we add a trivial amount to the cost of government when we have psychos everywhere who want to kill the president?
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)And that's what got changed.
I still don't think it should be forever.
EOTE
(13,409 posts)Bush would have been the first to have to give his up. And psychotics carry a grudge for a very long time. If there was ever a person who should have lifetime protection, regardless of whether I share their ideologies or not, it's the president.
Jennicut
(25,415 posts)Then Congress changed it. This has nothing to do with any imperial presidency. The amount of threats toward Presidents seems to b getting worse.
former9thward
(32,006 posts)EOTE
(13,409 posts)former9thward
(32,006 posts)If they are rich let them hire their security.
pa28
(6,145 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)Nixon didn't want government people in his house, so he hired his own.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)"All of our other former presidents seem to have managed quite nicely giving up Secret Service protection."
Bill Clinton and all the Presidents before him still have Secret Service protection.
Only Nixon gave up his protection. The rest had it.
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)Nixon personally requested no SS after a certain period. Clinton would have been the first to have fallen under the 10 year rule.
Are you really disgusted that Carter has gotten a lifetime of SS detail.
Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)announced his candidacy. Good thing!!
EOTE
(13,409 posts)Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)EOTE
(13,409 posts)Although I also spent a significant time in Wisconsin, so this year I'm hoping for a Packers/Ravens Superbowl.
Waiting For Everyman
(9,385 posts)They should have this. There usually aren't that many ex-presidents alive at a time anyway.
BeeBee
(1,074 posts)GoCubsGo
(32,083 posts)It was Gingrich's "Contract on America" era. Congress was almost as nutty then as they are now.
WI_DEM
(33,497 posts)lpbk2713
(42,757 posts)He ruined so many lives that it would be understandable for many to want to get even.
2Design
(9,099 posts)Ikonoklast
(23,973 posts)Violence against politicians is nothing new, keeping it from happening is a good thing.
MADem
(135,425 posts)This now-restored old paradigm allows a president to just retire if he'd like, and have a measure of safety. Otherwise, the former leader has to pay a team, and that is not cheap, which means he (or she) would have to work, to get out on the speaking circuit, write that book, get involved in commercial practices, just to be able to afford to pay his (or her) protectors a decent wage. The presidential retirement is a really fine payday, but it isn't enough to pay for a team of round-the-clock protectors.
Also, it's another venue for very young, or very old, secret service members. Some older guys, especially, can't keep up with a world leader on the international stage, but they can keep up with a retired one. Some younger guys need a little training in the field before they go on to the Big Show.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)I'm glad they extended it to be for life.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)end any time soon.
markpkessinger
(8,396 posts)hunter
(38,312 posts)Private security firms wouldn't have easy access to Secret Service records and this might make them less effective.
Worse, private security firms wouldn't be accountable to anyone but the former President, and this would not be a good thing if this former President was involved in criminal enterprises.
Lifetime Secret Service protections for former Presidents is very a reasonable use of our taxes.
I'd feel much less secure as a citizen if I saw former presidents hiring their own private military security forces, especially the rotten former presidents.
The Secret Service is accountable to the current government, not the former president. A private police force is not.
Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)No bitching here.
Blasphemer
(3,261 posts)The Nixon example shows that former POTUS can opt out if he or she chooses but it should always be available to them. Some may need lifetime protection less than others but it's impossible to predict the future events that would impact the necessity of this protection. Both Bush and Obama are examples of Presidents who will need protection beyond the 10 year point. They both are/will be high profile targets for international and domestic terrorists.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)future former DEMOCRATIC presidents to be murdered by RW fascists.
NYC Liberal
(20,136 posts)Even a former president is an extremely high-value target, and they remain so for the rest of their life no matter what else they do. No way they can change that.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)There are so many violent crazies out there. The Secret Service already has its hands full dealing with death threats against Pres. Obama and potential assassination plots.