Sanders contributed his speaking fees to charity

[thesquanderer]

All $1,867.42 of it.

http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/bernie-sanders-comes-clean/

[Duckhunter935]

1. awesome, walks the walk

A man of integrity

[Floridanow]

2. I can only guess that your implication

Is tha Clinton doesn't contribute to charity. Some people choose not to talk about their charitable contributions.

[Avalux]

3. Do you know what this is about? n/t

[Dragonfli]

4. that's right, some ppl pocket most of the speaking fees and declare them as income as she did

[Duckhunter935]

5. I am quite sure she did not donate

All of her speeking fees to charity like Bernie.

[jonestonesusa]

7. Draw your own conclusions.

I think it's laudable that Sanders donated speaking fees. It speaks to his character. Wouldn't you agree?

[Ino]

23. Oh, she's a saint...

June 2014
http://www.reviewjournal.com/politics/unlv-student-leaders-ask-hillary-clinton-donate-225000-speaker-fee

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, student leaders on Friday sent a letter to Hillary Clinton’s family foundation asking that she “do what is right” and donate all or part of her $225,000 speaking fee for addressing the UNLV Foundation back to the university for student benefit.
(snip)
“In keeping with Secretary Clinton’s long-standing history of advocating for students in higher education, we as student government leaders are asking that she charitably donate part or all of the $225,000 speaking fee she is reportedly making for this fund raising speech back to the UNLV Foundation as a whole,” the letter said.
(snip)
There was no immediate comment from Clinton’s spokesman.

[Gothmog]

8. Sanders is only complying with Senate rules

Senators can not accept speaking fees under Senate rules

[Duckhunter935]

10. I think he would even if it was not required

Look at his standard of living compared to hers. She needs those tens of millions of dollars to keep her above the real people and in the same league as the Wall Street billionaires.

[Gothmog]

6. Sanders has to because he is in the Senate

He can not accept outside sources of income under Senate rules http://www.ethics.senate.gov/downloads/pdffiles/overview.pdf

NO honoraria may be received by any Member, officer or
employee.
L An honorarium is a fee for any speech, appearance, or
article (including for a series of speeches,
appearances, or articles if the series is directly
related to an individual’s Senate duties or if payment
is made because of an individual’s Senate position).
[Necessary expenses of travel are not honoraria.]
Up to $2,000 per event may be paid directly by a sponsor to a
charity, so long as neither the individual nor his or her family
(parent, sibling, spouse, child or dependent relative) receives
any financial benefit from the charity (170(c) organization).
Payments in lieu of honoraria must be reported on Public
Financial Disclosure Report, and charities named in a
corresponding confidential report to the Ethics Committee.
A payment in lieu of honoraria made by a registered lobbyist or
lobbying firm or by a foreign agent to a 170(c) charity (not
controlled by a Member, officer, or employee) must be reported
by the Member, officer, or employee making the designation to
the Secretary of the Senate within 30 days after such
designation or recommendation.

[jonestonesusa]

9. Didn't know this, but a question.

Why would the NYT article mention the donation if it's required and routine? Does this mean that senators can't own a business or earn in any way beyond their listed salary? Surprising if it's true.

[Gothmog]

11. The author may not know Senate rules

These rules have been in place for a very long time

[thesquanderer]

24. Okay... And why do you think Senators have these kinds of restrictions on them?

Could it be to avoid impropriety, whether in fact or in appearance? But Hillary always seems to be more concerned with what can be proven than what something looks like.

Face it, she knew there was a darn good chance she was going to be running for president. It didn't matter.
(BTW, related thread on that at http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511167808 )

There are other times she has skirted rules, but what mattered is that, well, she didn't do anything prohibited or illegal. Whether that's something new like the email server, or heck, if you want to go back to whitewater (where Sanders coincidentally, as a member of the House Banking Committee, said at the time that it was an example of “poor judgment” but that it was not the kind of thing congress should be wasting time on).

So getting back to the speeches, her answer is, "you will not find that I ever changed a view or a vote because of any donation that I ever received." So it's back to "you can't prove it." There seems to be no understanding of how these things appear. As long as you can't actually prove she did something wrong, she doesn't seem to understand what all the hubbub is about.

[jonestonesusa]

14. There are some qualifiers in your link.

No.speaker fees that relate directly to duties or legislation. That's a significant qualifier.

[Gothmog]

16. Here are the actual Senate rules

The Senate rules on the website are clear http://www.ethics.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/conflictsofinterest

Honorarium is a payment for any speech, article, or appearance. Federal law bans Members, officers, or employees from receiving any honorarium. 5 U.S.C. app. 4 § 501(b). The Committee does not have any authority to waive this ban. See Senate Rule 36.

The following are excluded from the honoraria ban:

writing books, including the receipt of royalties and advances on royalties;
editing;
writing works of fiction, when the payment is not offered because of the author’s Senate status;
paid engagements to perform or provide entertainment when the artistic, musical, or athletic talent of the individual is the reason for the employment, rather than the person’s Senate status; and
qualified individuals conducting religious ceremonies.
Donations to Charity in Lieu of Honoraria

An organization may make up to a $2,000 charitable contribution in lieu of an honorarium to a Senator or staffer.

The charity receiving the contribution may not benefit, directly or indirectly, the Member or employee of the Senate or a family member of the Senate individual.
The honorarium must be reported on the Senator’s or staffer’s financial disclosure form.
If the donation is from a lobbyist or foreign agent, it must be reported to Secretary of the Senate within 30 days.

The limitation you cite is not on the website

[jonestonesusa]

19. The limitation is clearly stated in the rules.

See the bottom of p. 5 of the PDF you provided yourself. Honoraria are prohibited if directly related to duties or legislation. Not sure if this applies to the content of Sanders' speeches, but he surely complied with the letter and spirit of the guidelines.

[Gothmog]

21. Read the material from the Senate website

There is no limitation there. The concept that Senators can not have any outside income while serving

[Duckhunter935]

15. proves he is an ethical person

And strictly follows the rules. Unlike others that do not follow the email guidelines and regulations of the executive branch put out by President Obama.

[DefenseLawyer]

17. And there's a reason they put in that rule

It's because honoraria and speaking fees were seen by many as bribes, so they were banned in Congress in the early '90's.

[Jarqui]

12. I looked at his financial disclosure

His wife has what few financial investments they have in her name.

He gets $4,000/yr pension for being mayor of Burlington. (that's all ... for what he did for them...)

He got a $850 appearance fee from Bill Maher's show

I presume he owns part of their house ... ??

He's not starving to death with his Senate salary but he's certainly not built up much of a nest egg for his retirement (I know, he'll be taken care of with his congressional retirement $ ..).

The stupidest thing happened when I got to the end of his disclosure. I got a little emotional because the guy is for real.

[senz]

22. He puts her to shame

any way you look at it.

[ancianita]

13. Glad to see that someone at least looked. Thank you.

[Gothmog]

18. I knew that outside speaking fees were banned a long time ago

It was easy to find the actual rules

[ancianita]

20. So could it be fairly argued that the difference in fees reflects difference in their job status

and as much as Bernie's and Hillary's basic politics. It could be argued, but I wonder if it could be argued fairly. One fair argument could reflect the 'conflict of interest' rules that go with being in Congress, which she wasn't at the time. And so he can't capitalize on that difference as if there's a difference between them of ethics.

Or could he.

How was Bernie actually voting during the days when Hillary's husband was in the White House.

Just thinking out loud here and probably shouldn't.