White House spokesman Snow to step down

White House spokesman Snow to step down

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- White House press secretary Tony Snow will step down from his position as early as next month, sources inside and outside the Bush administration told CNN on Friday.


White House press secretary Tony Snow will step down from his position soon, sources said Friday.

When contacted by CNN about his possible departure, Snow said, "I'm not making any announcement."

Snow told conservative talk-show host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday that "financial reasons" may prevent him for serving the remainder of his boss's presidency.

"I'm not going to be able to go the distance, but that's primarily for financial reasons." Snow said. "I've told people when my money runs out, then I've got to go."

According to The Washington Post, Snow makes $168,000 as the White House spokesman.

I don't buy it.

[bluecuracao]

I may have heard wrong, but I think he's got three kids to pay college tuition for. If that's the case, money might be a little tight (well, relatively). He could make a lot more doing the lecture circuit and perhaps writing a book.

And he probably doesn't want to make a big deal of his cancer in the news. Though he handles his job a lot better than his predecessor, I'm sure it's still incredibly stressful on him and his treatment efforts.

True, it does not hurt that he is the mouth-piece for a train wreck either.

[yesman065]

Isn't there a time frame where people either have to stay the entire term or leave, I think that may have something to do with it too.

[elSicomoro]

That was apparently part of the reason he left, yesman.

I don't know what people do with their finances...that's not my business. But he worked in the media before going to the White House, and certainly wasn't the low man on Fox's totem pole. What the hell did he do with his money? I would think that he didn't have many bills related to his cancer because he probably had kick-ass health insurance with Fox and then the government.

Ridge resigned from DHS for a similar reason. He actually made more as DHS secretary than as Governor of PA, IIRC. Of course, no one told him and his family to buy a $700K house in Bethesda, either.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by sycamore

I don't know what people do with their finances...that's not my business. But he worked in the media before going to the White House, and certainly wasn't the low man on Fox's totem pole. What the hell did he do with his money?

Raised his standard of living.

[tw]

Let's not forget some history here. So that Democratic staffers had difficulty getting new jobs for up to six months, the missing Ws on White House keyboards. Better to get out and get new jobs before Democrats take revenge.

Numerous reasons why so many may be leaving so early. We did not see rats leaving a sinking Clinton ship this early in these numbers. To see so many leaving, one must go back to Nixon's time.

Meanwhile, a greatest mystery is why Karl Rove is leaving. So many possible reasons makes that resignation the most interesting.

Karen Hughes, a longtime George Jr aide, left to spend more time with her family during the first administration. Karen was among the moderates who were being cut off by administration extremists. That family thing is a buzz word for "I don't need to say why". One who apparently liked Karen brought her back to Washington immediately upon taking an office where Karen could be protected from the extremists - in the Sate Department.

Tom Ridge resigned after finally saying no more Orange Alerts to rumored threats from tortured prisioners. Remember that contraversy that was openly exposed in public between Ridge verses and others in Defense and Dept of Justice. That was the final straw. Ridge was removed for the same reasons that Whitman was removed. He was not an extremist. Colin Powell was discussing this when he refered to Whitman as a wind dummy.

Same reason also caused the removal of Paul O'Neill in treasury. O'Neil told the truth. Extremsits had an agenda - the truth be damned. O'Neil was told to voluntarily resign - as were Whitman and Ridge - and eventually Powell.

Numerous reasons for so many insiders to abandon ship. But don't forget one glaring example of revenge that is fully justified - the lie about missing W's on keyboards. That lie meant many Clinton staffers could not be considered for employment for about six months while the rumor subsided. In hindsight, it was an example of how the George Jr administration would conduct business.

[tw]

Reasons why Karl Rove has left the White House early is suggested in the Washington Post of 3 Sept 2007.

Book Tells Of Dissent In Bush's Inner Circle
Rove, meanwhile, was not happy, Draper writes, with Bolten's decision to strip him of his oversight of policy at the White House, directing his focus instead to politics and the coming midterm elections. Bolten noticed that other staffers were "intimidated" by Rove, and Rove was seen as doing too much, "freelancing, insinuating himself into the message world . . . parachuting into Capitol Hill whenever it suited him." ...

In the CIA leak scandal, Rove assured Bush ... that he had known nothing about Valerie Plame ... "When Bush learned otherwise," he said, "he hit the roof."