奧巴馬演講一場賺40萬美元 美國會或立法削減其退休金

Congress may seek to cut the pension of Barack Obama following his decision to accept a $400,000 fee for an upcoming speech to Wall Street executives.

美國國會可能試圖削減奧巴馬的退休金。因爲他將以40萬美元（約合276萬元人民幣）的出場費給華爾街高管們做演講。

During his time in the White House, Mr Obama vetoed a bill that would have capped the retirement funds of former presidents should they accept large sums of outside income.

在就職總統期間，奧巴馬否決了一項法案，該法案規定，如果前總統賺取高額的外部收入，那麼將限制他們的退休金。

Now that Mr Obama himself meets those criteria, Republican sponsors of the bill have said they will revive the legislation and hope that President Donald Trump signs it into law.

現在奧巴馬本人就屬於這種情況，發起該法案的共和黨人稱，他們將恢復這則法規，並希望特朗普總統簽署生效。

"The Obama hypocrisy on this issue is revealing," Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and sponsor of the 2016 bill told USA Today. "His veto was very self-serving."

衆議院監督與政府改革委員會主席傑森?查菲茨2016年發起該法案，他告訴《今日美國》：“在這件事情上，奧巴馬的虛僞面目已經暴露出來。他否決法案是極其自私的表現。”

Mr Chaffetz, and Jodi Ernst, a Republican senator from Iowa, who sponsored the companion bill in the Senate, have announced that they will re-introduce the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act this month.

查菲茨和愛荷華州共和黨參議員喬迪?恩斯特宣佈，他們本月將再次向國會提交《總統津貼現代化法案》。喬迪?恩斯特在參議院發起了配套法案。

The bill would caps presidential pensions at $200,000, plus the same for expenses. But those payments would be reduced dollar-for-dollar once their outside income exceeds $400,000.

《總統津貼現代化法案》將總統的退休金設定爲20萬美元（約合138萬元人民幣），另外20萬美元爲開支費。不過，如果總統退休後賺取的額外收入超過40萬美元，就要按超出部分扣減其退休金和開支費。

When it was first introduced last year, Mr Obama vetoed the legislation on the basis that it would force former presidents to fire their support staff.

去年該法案被首次提出時，奧巴馬以法案將使前總統被迫解僱其勤雜人員爲由予以否決。

Mr Obama said that capping the expenses at this amount would cripple the initiatives of several former presidents, forcing them to lay off staff, and cancel office leases.

奧巴馬稱，將支出限制在這一金額將削弱幾位前總統的主動權，迫使他們裁員，撤銷辦公室租約。

Currently the General Services Administration must provide "suitable office space, appropriately furnished and equipped".

目前，美國總務管理局必須爲前總統提供“有相應裝修和設備配套的合適辦公空間”。

The total cost of maintaining and staffing those offices currently ranges from $430,000 for former president Jimmy Carter to $1.1 million for former president George W. Bush, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service cited by USA Today.

《今日美國》援引美國國會研究服務局的報告稱，前總統卡特的辦公室勤雜維護費用總計43萬美元（約合296.8萬元人民幣），而小布什的爲110萬美元（約合759萬元人民幣）。

The 2017 spending bill approved by Congress this week contained nearly $3.9 million to fund all the former presidents until the 30th September.

國會本週通過的2017年開支預算法案顯示，至9月30日，5位前總統的全部津貼總額接近390萬美元。

Mr Trump has not commented on the legislation. But during the campaign, he said he'd take a close look at pensions for elected officials.

特朗普尚未對上述法案發表意見。但在競選期間，他曾表示將會密切關注民選官員的退休金問題。

Mr Obama and Michelle, his wife, have already signed a publishing deal for two separate books that combined is worth $65 million according to the Financial Times.

據《金融時報》報道，奧巴馬和米歇爾已經簽下了兩本書的出版協議，總價值爲6500萬美元。

The former president has drawn fierce criticism for accepting the speaking engagement at the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald's health care conference in September.

奧巴馬因爲同意在投資公司康託?菲茨傑拉德9月份的醫療保健會議上演講而受到激烈批評。

Bernie Sanders, the Democratic senator from Vermont, called the decision "distasteful".

佛蒙特州民主黨參議院伯尼?桑德斯稱這一決定“令人噁心”。

A spokesman for Mr Obama dismissed the idea that in accepting the fee Mr Obama was compromising his principles.

奧巴馬的發言人對奧巴馬違背原則收取費用的說法進行了反駁。

"As we announced months ago, President Obama will deliver speeches from time to time," Eric Schultz, a senior adviser to Obama, said in a statement Wednesday.

奧巴馬的高級顧問埃裏克?舒爾茨在3日發聲明稱：“正如我們幾個月前宣佈的那樣，奧巴馬總統將不時發表演講。”

"Some of those speeches will be paid, some will be unpaid, and regardless of venue or sponsor, President Obama will be true to his values, his vision, and his record."

“有些演講是有償的，有些將是無償的，無論在哪裏，無論贊助商是誰，奧巴馬總統都將忠於他的價值觀、視野和經歷。”

"With regard to this or any speech involving Wall Street sponsors, I'd just point out that in 2008, Barack Obama raised more money from Wall Street than any candidate in history -- and still went on to successfully pass and implement the toughest reforms on Wall Street since Franklin D Roosevelt," he added.

“關於任何華爾街資助的演講，我只想說，2008年，奧巴馬從華爾街拉到了有史以來最高的候選人贊助金，而他還成功對華爾街實施了自美國前總統富蘭克林?D?羅瑟夫以來最嚴厲的改革。”