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As former President Barack Obama hits the speaking circuit, Republican lawmakers say they plan to reintroduce a bill that would directly target pensions for ex-presidents raking in more than $400,000 after leaving the Oval Office.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, plan to dust off the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act later this month, according to USA Today.

The push comes after Obama decided to accept a $400,000 speaking fee the same amount as his White House salary for a speech at a health care conference run by Wall Street investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald in September.

The Obama hypocrisy on this issue is revealing, Chaffetz told USA Today.

He also tweeted the USA Todays headline, Obamas $400,000 speech could prompt Congress to go after his pension, with the vow, Yes, it will.

The legislation would cap presidential pensions at $200,000 (theyre currently slightly higher), but reduce that amount dollar-for-dollar once their outside income tops $400,000, according to the report.

In 2016, Chaffetz authored the original bill, which Obama vetoed.At the time, Obama reasoned that he had consulted living U.S. presidents who agreed the bill would have unintended consequences and would unfairly prevent staffers from immediately receiving pay and benefits.

Chaffetz reportedly called that veto self-serving.

Obama accepting the speaking fee from Cantor Fitzgerald hasnt sat well with some of his closest supporters in Congress.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have both publicly criticized Obama over the past few days.

Warren said she was troubled by the speaking fee, while Sanders said, Wall Street has incredible power, and I would have hoped that the president would not have given a speech like this.

Obama is hardly the first U.S. president to capitalize on his time at the White House.

Former President Bill Clinton earned more than $200,000 per speech over the course of a decade.

Former President George W. Bush didnt mince words when asked what hed do out of office.

Ill give some speeches, just to replenish the ol coffers, Bush told The New York Times in 2007.

One week worth of speeches in Japan netted former President Ronald Reagan $2 million in 1989.

In response to criticism last week, Obama spokesman Eric Schultz issued a statement saying that while Obama will deliver speeches from time to time, he will be true to his values, his vision, and his record.

Read more:
Obama speeches revive GOP bid to target his pension - Fox News

Story highlights

"I have admired the campaign that Emmanuel Macron has run," Obama says in a video, which Macron shared Thursday. "He has stood up for liberal values, he put forward a vision for the important role that France plays in Europe and around the world. And he is committed to a better future for the French people. He appeals to people's hopes and not their fears."

"I'm not planning to get involved in many elections now that I don't have to run for office again, but the French election is very important to the future of France and to the values that we care so much about," Obama says in the clip.

"Because of how important this election is, I also want you to know that I am supporting Emmanuel Macron to lead you forward."

"The main message that I have is to wish you all the best in the coming days," Obama said in the phone call.

CNN's Allie Malloy contributed to this report.

Read more here:
Obama endorses French presidential candidate Macron - CNN

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday danced around the most controversial element of former President Barack Obamas Presidential Center in Jackson Park: The proposal to close Cornell Drive at the expense of thousands of daily commuters.

One day after his former boss unveiled the library in a campus design, Emanuel was asked whether he supports the plan to close Cornell Drive between 60th and 67th Streets to add as much as 5 acres of new parkland.

Thats almost certain to anger and inconvenience motorists who use the interior roadway every day to connect from South Lake Shore Drive to Stony Island Avenue and the Chicago Skyway.

Emanuel had already walked away from the microphones when a reporter asked the uncomfortable question, then pivoted back to the microphones.

That would be called a Pas de deux, the former ballet dancer said, referring to a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together.

Watch this answer and youll see a dance.

Then he launched into his political dance, otherwise known as the side-step.

I support the presidential campus. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the entire city. . . . Its part of his presidency. But its also a campus that then looks forward to making sure that social political activity and action continues, Emanuel said.

The mayor then reiterated what Obama said: This weeks unveiling marks the beginning of a process with area residents.

Im gonna make sure that we work through this in a collaborative way, that peoples voices are heard, but we ensure that, at the end of the day, we keep our eye on the prize, and that is we build the presidential campus/library in the city of Chicago, which is why I fought so hard to have it, the mayor said. Peoples voices will get heard. But this is in my view, a significant milestone for the entire city of Chicago.

Emanuel then walked away from the microphones again as a reporter asked aloud, Was that a `yes to the closing of Cornell Drive?

Youll have to interpret the music, he said.

Obama didnt dance at all around the controversial road-closing. He confronted the politically uncomfortable subject head-on and urged his supporters not to get so fixated on traffic that we lose sight of whats possible.

What we have said is, Lets restore Jackson Park to the original vision and lets make sure that traffic is accommodated both on Lake Shore Drive as well as down along 59th Street, the former President said.

Obama said traffic studies have shown the closure may add one to three minutes to the typical commute, but he added that there is hope to get that down to zero.

We are confident that we will not be adding to commute times, he said.

He also tried to pitch the road closing as an extra level of safety.

You cant have little kids playing right next to the road. . . You cant have sledding into the road.

Also on Thursday, Emanuel flatly predicted that the U.S. Senate will reject the Republican bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

He cited four reasons: coverage for pre-existing conditions; coverage for children until age 26; coverage with 20 million people who never had health insurance; and a reduction in health care inflation.

Thats why I think the Senate is gonna look at this and say this is a nonstarter and wont happen, the mayor said.

Thats not gonna go anywhere because people now have a tangible benefit not a theoretical debate.

Excerpt from:
Emanuel dances around road closing for Obama Center - Chicago Sun-Times

Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday evening added to the social chatter over the GOP's health care bill passing the House. The outspoken Obamacare advocates called the bill's passage shameful.

"A shameful failure of policy & morality by GOP today," Clinton wrote. "Fight back on behalf of the millions of families that will be hurt by their actions."

The former secretary of state then shared a tweet from progressive organization Swing Left, which links to a donation page.

Clinton is expected to launch a political organization aimed at funding "resistance" groups standing up to President Donald Trump, CNN reported Thursday.

Biden was equally disappointed in the House.

"Day of shame in Congress. Protections for pre-existing conditions, mental health, maternity care, addiction services -- all gone," Biden wrote in a two-part tweet. "Millions of Americans will lose coverage. Up to the Senate now. Hoping for courage to return."

The GOP bill would eliminate taxes on the wealthy, insurers and others and get rid of the individual mandate imposed by Obamacare.

Other Democrats also chimed in on social media -- some threw shade at Republicans, while others promised to continue fighting for Obamacare and their constituents.

The bill now heads to the Senate.

Here is the original post:
Team Obama reacts to Obamacare repeal vote - CNN

Former President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaOvernight Energy: Ivanka Trump to meet EPA chief on Paris decision GOP healthcare bill is not repeal it is ObamaCare-lite, or worse Obama photographer trolls GOP over ObamaCare repeal vote MORE's White House photographer marked the House GOP's passage of their ObamaCare repeal-and-replace bill with a throwback to the day Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act.

12:09 a.m. March 22, 2010. Treaty Room in the private residence. 80 minutes after Congress had passed the Affordable Care Act. The President was reading text messages on his Blackberry while waiting to make thank you calls. Someone had sent a message that ended with "your mother would be so proud." (His mother had died from ovarian cancer. She had spent her last days worrying whether insurance was going to cover some of the medical expenses because they might consider her cancer a pre-existing condition.)

A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on May 4, 2017 at 4:43am PDT

The Instagram post from Pete Souza shows a smiling Obama reading text messages on his Blackberry.

"Someone had sent a message that ended with 'your mother would be so proud,'" Souza wrote.

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Souza has often uses his Instagram account to poke the Trump administration, such as over President Trump's recent decision to keep White House visitor logs a secret.

Link:
Obama photographer trolls GOP over ObamaCare repeal vote - The Hill (blog)