Obama Vetoes Bill Cutting Former Presidents Pension, Allowances

On July 22, 2016, President Obama vetoed the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act, which would have cut the pensions and allowances paid to former presidents. In his veto message to Congress, Obama said the bill â€Å"would impose onerous and unreasonable burdens on the offices of former presidents.† In an accompanying press release, the White House added that the President had vetoed the bill because it would have â€Å"immediately terminate salaries and all benefits to staffers carrying out the official duties of former presidents -- leaving no time or mechanism for them to transition to another payroll.† In addition, said the White House, the bill would have made it harder for the Secret Service to protect former presidents and would â€Å"immediately terminate leases, and remove furniture from offices of former presidents working to fulfilling their continued public service responsibilities.† The White House added that the President was willing to work with Congress in resolving his issues with the bill. â€Å"If Congress provides these technical fixes, the president would sign the bill,† said the White House. The White House noted that the President had vetoed the bill only after consulting with the four other surviving former presidents and that the veto was â€Å"responsive to concerns they raised to us.† Had it not been vetoed, the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act would have: Cut Pensions and Allowances for Former Presidents While not specifically aimed at Bill Clinton, who has made $104.9 million to â€Å"pay the bills† from speaking fees alone, the bill would have cut the pensions and allowances of former presidents. Under the current Former Presidents Act, former presidents receive an annual pension equal to the salaries of Cabinet Secretaries. Under the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act, the pensions of all former and future former presidents would have been capped at a maximum of $200,000 and the current link between presidential pensions and the annual salaries of Cabinet Secretary would have been removed. Replaced Other Benefits with a Single Allowance The bill would have also removed other benefits currently given to former presidents, including those for travel, staff, and office expenses. Instead, former presidents would have been given an additional $200,000 allowance to be used he or she determined. In other words, under Chaffetz’s bill, former presidents would have gotten an annual pension and allowance totaling no more than $400,000 — the same as the current presidential salary. However, under another provision of the bill, the pensions and allowances paid to former presidents could have been reduced further or even eliminated completely by Congress. Under Rep. Chaffetz’s bill, for every dollar former presidents earn in excess of that $400,000, their government-provided annual allowance would have been reduced by $1. In addition, former presidents who went on to hold any elected position in the federal government or the District of Columbia would have received no pension or allowance while holding that office. For example, under Chaffetz’s dollar-for-dollar penalty plan, former President Clinton, who made almost $10 million from speaking fees and book royalties in 2014, would have received no pension or allowances at all. But Presidential Widows Would Have Seen a Raise The bill would have increased the allowance paid to the surviving spouses of deceased former presidents from $20,000 to $100,000 a year. Currently, the only surviving spouse of a former president is Nancy Reagan, who received $7,000 in benefits in 2014, according to the Congressional Research Service. How Much Have Former Presidents Been Getting? According to an April 2014 Congressional Research Service report, the four surviving former presidents received a government pension and allowance benefits in 2014 totaling: Jimmy Carter - $470,000George H.W. Bush -- $837,000Bill Clinton -- $950,000George W. Bush -- $1,287,000 Rep. Chaffetz and other supporters of the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act argued that modern former presidents are highly unlikely to be strapped for cash, an opinion supported by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). â€Å"No current former President has claimed publicly to have significant financial concerns,† stated the CRS report. But, that has not always the case. Prior to the enactment of the Former Presidents Act in 1958, former presidents received no federal pension or other financial assistance at all, and some did suffer the â€Å"hard times.† â€Å"Some former Presidents—like Herbert Hoover and Andrew Jackson — returned to wealthy post-presidential lives,† stated the CRS. â€Å"Other former Presidents — including Ulysses S. Grant and Harry S. Truman — struggled financially.† Former President Truman, for example, said that just responding to his mail and requests for speeches cost him more than $30,000 a year. Current Status of the Bill The Presidential Allowance Modernization Act was passed by the House of Representatives on January 11, 2016, and by the Senate on June 21, 2016. The bill, as passed by the House and Senate, was vetoed by President Obama on July 22, 2016. On December 5, 2016, the bill, along with President Obama’s accompanying veto message, was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. After deliberation, the committee decided against attempting to override the president’s veto.

Business and Economy Discussion Questions - 1504 Words

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Castlebridge Free Essays

December 01, 2010 Case Study Analysis # 70 Castlebridge, a maker of high-quality outerwear, located in London is at a cross roads. Although its headquarters operates from London, most of its manufacturing has moved offshore. With the last domestic factory slated to close, the firm’s executives struggle to preserve the â€Å"Britishness† of the brand. We will write a custom essay sample on Castlebridge or any similar topic only for you Order Now On the other hand, the company has to reduce costs to remain profitable. It seems that moving production offshore is inevitable. The executives believe that Castlebridge should come clean about it.In a world where stakeholders matter more than ever, the firm can’t just outperform competitors. It has to go above and beyond to satisfy their constituents. Therefore, the CEO Mary Crane asserts that the plant closure is a logical step. Reputational risk is a concern as well as brand image. The majority of the customers who purchase Castlebridge items are wealthy. They pride themselves in wearing high class British fashions. The company fears that Asian manufacturing tags will diminish consumer confidence in quality and authenticity. The CEO wants to take the logical approach where the objective of any firm is to maximize profits.By not doing so, the firm will lose out to the competitors and will continue to face rising production costs in keeping up with consumer preferences. She holds Fergus Harold accountable for being overly nationalistic and even rather ignorant to the status of British clothing made in Malaysia and its effect on a Japanese consumer. Her unabashed perception indicates that backlash would be from local purchasers whose confidence may be undermined by the outsourcing of a classy British brand to a third world country. Furthermore, it is well pointed out that the CEO does not feel threatened by British media.Supposedly she sees that production line workers are of the lower working class whereas buyers of Castlebridge’s products of are of the wealthier class. Castlebridge simply cannot survive in their high cost market by maintaining its production lines within the UK. Labor cost is just too expensive. Trade unions have become cleverer with their protests and could potentially be a thorn in their side. The company needs to make a decision soon. The British public has been down this road before, as have foreign consumers of British products. I agree with the CEO that cost cutting measures need to be implemented.There is no need to maintain high production costs and place burden upon the shareholders of the company. If the British public has been down this path before then there should be no problem. If the firm shines light on its native roots and its international production, it could establish a winning reputation as a truly modern, global brand. However, the customers’ sentiment is very important. The brand image is highly regarded and maintaining the class, quality and authenticity is just as important as running the risk of a complete closure and a shutdown of business.Could Castlebridge hire foreign employees to work in the U. K? Could wages be scaled down to keep in line with profit margins? Maybe these alternatives should be considered. Otherwise, the real risk to the brand could be the potential loss of its high-class distinction and not its national identity. Before making a firm decision, all alternatives should be considered. As a member of the Board of Directors, Ferguson should have the conscientiousness to advise the company to rediscover and recommit to the core values that have made them so successful.Should the CEO go through with moving its production facilities offshore, he could recommend a trust-building people strategy, modeled by the CEO, which emphasizes forthright communication from management to the employees as well as the opinions of its customers. In doing so, the company will be compliant with its corporate culture and stakeholders. The last thing Castlebridge needs is to have its employees and customers reject the principles of this outerwear line. With that being said, the company can continue to enjoy the success it has had. How to cite Castlebridge, Papers

Titanic The Musical free essay sample

When we thought that we were at the peak of this new Titanic frenzy, along comes a musical with such power, emotion, and strength to sweep the Tonys with five awards, including Best Musical, Best Orchestration, Best Book, Best Original Score, and Best Scenic Designer. Instead of having one or two main characters who fall in love, this musical is about the ship herself, the R.M.S. Titanic, and takes place between April 10, 1912 (the day the Titanic left England) and April 15, when 711 (of the 2228 passengers) were picked up out of the sea and lifeboats. This musical takes us through the five days the Titanic sailed the Atlantic Ocean. Besides all the famous first-class figures, the musical leads us into the lives of the officers, the radiomen, the lookouts, and the stoker who worked behind the scenes to make the journey as enjoyable as they could for the passengers. The music and story that Maury Yeston and Peter Stone came up with are phenomenal. We will write a custom essay sample on Titanic The Musical or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They captured the music of both the seas and the time. In the beginning, all the passengers can think about is boarding this new ship, and traveling across the seas on the biggest moving object known to man. But once the Titanic hits the iceberg, you see their true colors; some become strong and brave, while others turn into cowards. I would definitely recommend this CD to anyone who has an interest in the ship, in musicals, or in music itself. . Titanic The Musical free essay sample It seems like everywhere you look these days you see something on theTitanic, the ship that sank in 1912 killing more than half on board.There was the movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Therewere also endless documentaries, not to mention entire sections inbookstores dedicated to the doomed ship. But I have another chapter toadd to our obsession with the hunk of ill-fated steel: its Broadwaysnew musical Titanic. Overall, this play is prettygood. There is no real plot besides the ship sinking. Thereare a bunch of mini-plots with different characters. For instance, acharacter in second class, Alice Beane (Victoria Clark) spends most ofthe play trying to get to first class to see all the millionaires. Insteerage class all the passengers dream of a new life in America,especially a woman named Kate McGowen (Jennifer Piech) whose one-nightstand left her pregnant and lost. In the engine room a worker namedFredrick Barrett (Brian dArcy James) hopes he can someday see his loveagain. We will write a custom essay sample on Titanic: The Musical or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The lyrics are clever. The music is simple but effective.Of course, some songs are better than others. The script is well-writtenand the characters well-developed, even those who really lived are wellacted and believable. My personal favorite character was Harold Bride(Martin Moran), the radio man, whose character seems like a modern-daycomputer geek placed in 1912. Even his simplest lines were deliveredwell and were hilarious. The best part of the whole play is theset. Wow!! There are basically three platforms. The top is the bridge orthe deck, the middle has the promenade decks and the bottom is thesmoking room. Then the crows nest is lowered from the top of thetheatre with the look-out man in it. When the ship is sinking well,I dont want to spoil it. You have to see it for yourself. It isamazing!! One weak point are some of the costumes. In Doingthe Latest Rag number, the costumes scared me. One of thecharacters (the only child, by the way), Jack Thayer, wore a fuchsia topand turquoise knickers. Now if that isnt scary, I dont know what is.Another Achilles heel is that there are too many characters. Thewriters should have eliminated some to avoid confusion. Otherwise, I think Titanic is worth seeing. Eventhough it costs an arm and a leg to see, it is very entertaining and itisnt totally depressing. It also isnt as long as the movie..