Posted on 08/17/2007 1:32:28 PM PDT by nuconvert
Financial pressures force Snow departure
By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON - White House press secretary Tony Snow said Friday he'll leave sometime before the end of the Bush presidency because of financial pressures.
He declined to say when he would depart, but that, "I'm going to stay as long as I can."
The 52-year-old Snow, the father of three children, earns $168,000 as an assistant to the president but made considerably more as a conservative pundit and syndicated talk-show host on Fox News Radio. He was named press secretary on April 26, 2006.
The White House has been shaken by the resignations of some of President Bush's closest aides. Political strategist Karl Rove announced Monday that he would leave at the end of the month. Longtime Bush adviser Dan Bartlett left earlier this year and Andrew Card left earlier as Bush's chief of staff.
Bush's term ends on Jan. 20, 2009.
"I will not be able to make it to the end of this administration, just financially," Snow said. "This job has been such a pleasant surprise in how much I like it. I love it."
Snow has been undergoing chemotherapy after doctors discovered a recurrence of colon cancer in March. He said the last of eight scheduled chemotherapy treatments would be on Friday. On Monday he will have a CAT scan to evaluate his progress.
I would not dream of calling Tony a liar unless he told me he’d lied or unless God told me.
It’s thoroughly out of character with him.
We went from financial solvency to insolvency after my daughter's premature birth. Gutted our savings account so I could work part time just to keep her inside me, spent $4K out of pocket before she was born, and paid off another $16K in the 6 months following her birth (this was our share after insurance).
For the first year of her life, I had nasty post-partum, stayed part-time, and she was in the hospital every month. A year and a half after her birth, we had no money in the bank, $20K in debt, and the meter was still running.
Thankfully, a job change, me getting back on my feet, and slowly chiseling away at the bills helped us get out from under (while still retaining our high credit rating). A year from now, we'd be out of debt with money back in the bank.
Then the docs discover a suspicious mass in my lung.
Crap. Here we go again, I thought. Thankfully, it's not cancer, but it skill kicked my teeth in and it's going to take a while to get over. Cha-ching $$$$
So sorry to hear about your battles. Prayers to you and yours!!
I can't believe all the nasty comments on this thread, though, can you? Tony has every right to do what is best for his family, and folks are whining about it and calling him a liar! Obviously, they have never walked a moment in his shoes.
Add all his health problems and the expenses that go with it, it isn’t hard to believe he has cash flow problems. It could also be that he feels he needs to get more money saved to provide future security for his family because he doesn’t think he’s going to be around a whole lot longer.
It isn’t for you or I to judge him for his motives for not wanting the job any longer.
You’ve posted this same sentiment several times already. What an unkind heart you have - or am I reading you wrong?
Tony is a very special human being who is as transperant and full of integrity as you will ever meet! If he says it is for a financial reason he is stepping down - then that is what it is!
Get a heart! You’re the one who is a BSer!
>>One of Tony’s best attributes is switching subjects in the middle of a series of questions. That is a tought job at which he is one of the best.<<
Oh yeah - horribly tough job. But compared to the previous occupant of the job, he is masterful.
>>I am unaware of any employees, especially government employees, who are encouraged to publicly disagree with their bosses policies. I also do not know of any two politically active people who agree with each other on every single issue.<<
And that’s the way it should be - when you represent the President, you support his policies publicly or else you stop working at the White House. Tony is honorable - I’m sure he’d handle that situation correctly.
I wish you both well.
>>I would not dream of calling Tony a liar unless he told me he’d lied or unless God told me.
It’s thoroughly out of character with him.<<
I was surprised upthread when somebody posted that Tony said at the beginning that his tenure might be limited by finances.
While I still don’t understand the priorities, I recognize that I jumped the gun assuming there had be a bigger factor than money.
>>It isn’t for you or I to judge him for his motives for not wanting the job any longer.<<
Well his personal life isn’t our business but when there is a cluster of departures and citizens are observing how the government is working, I think its natural to want to understand.
Okay, but calling him a liar is a bit much.
>>Okay, but calling him a liar is a bit much.<<
Yeah... rather than repeating, I’ll just affirm what I said in #168.
Wow.
Best of luck to you and your family.
Bravo on your tagline Sir!
There are a few Christmas Crabs, who came to dinner a little early.
Tony says that he is doing fine and that he has not made any announcements about leaving the White House. He says that reporters are getting ahead of themselves. This ‘scoop’ does not exist. He’d said all along that he won’t be able to last until the end, but that he would stay as long as he could. He really does love the job and love working for the President.
Agreed. Tony, if you read this, WE LOVE YOU !!!! (most of us do) and we want you to do the best thing for yourself and your family, even though it’s been good for you to be the President’s spokesman. You’ve done a great job. Thank you for your service to our country.
“Medical expenses, even with insurance, can and does bankrupt far too many Americans..... Hope this isn’t the case.....”
Probably not. When you go from making 500k plus, to 168k it does take a toll. Mortgage, taxes and yes, medical expenses add up.
Most Americans will think this is a big deal but think about your life if you went from making 75k a year to taking a job that paid 40k.
I heard from Tony. Here's what he said:
"You may also want to pass on to those who think I look like death warmed over that I'm at exactly the same weight as before surgery, I'm working out, my bloodwork is all very good, I have (hurray) completed chemo and I'll get a CT on Monday (two previous CTs were very encouraging). I think most of the concern has to do with my hair, which is very thin and awful looking. I may cut it short while on vacation this week. At any rate, decisions about my longevity are not related to health concerns. I intend to be knocking around for quite a while."
Woo hoo!
Thanks, save.
We all know what a bad hair day can do to perceptions :)
He said that he wants us to "assure folks that the e-mails from me are legit, as are the hand-signed letters I'm sending out to the thousands who wrote letters.
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