Talk is cheap, indeed.... (Bill Clinton $40,000,000 speaking fees)

Bread and Circus

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Sun Feb-17-08 11:42 AM
Original message

Talk is cheap, indeed.... (Bill Clinton $40,000,000 speaking fees)

Edited on Sun Feb-17-08 11:45 AM by Bread and Circus

For Clinton, New Wealth In Speeches
Fees in 6 Years Total Nearly $40 Million

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/22/AR2007022202189.html

Former president Bill Clinton, who came to the White House with modest means and left deeply in debt, has collected nearly $40 million in speaking fees over the past six years, according to interviews and financial disclosure statements filed by his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

Last year, one of his most lucrative since he left the presidency, Clinton earned $9 million to $10 million on the lecture circuit. He averaged almost a speech a day -- 352 for the year -- but only about 20 percent were for personal income. The others were given for no fee or for donations to the William J. Clinton Foundation, the nonprofit group he founded to pursue causes such as the fight against AIDS.

His paid speeches included $150,000 appearances before landlord groups, biotechnology firms and food distributors, as well as speeches in England, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia that together netted him more than $1.6 million. On one particularly good day in Canada, Clinton made $475,000 for two speeches, more than double his annual salary as president.

"I never had a nickel to my name until I got out of the White House, and now I'm a millionaire, the most favored person for the Washington Republicans," Clinton told a friendly audience in Kentucky last fall. "I get a tax cut every year, no matter what our needs are."

Indeed, the Clintons -- who left the White House with an estimated $12 million in legal debts rung up during the Whitewater, campaign fundraising and Monica S. Lewinsky investigations -- are worth an estimated $10 million to $50 million, according to Hillary Clinton's most recent disclosure form. That is attributable primarily to the speaking fees and to the seven-figure book deals that both Clintons signed shortly after leaving the White House.

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I take no offense in Bill Clinton for making money off of the gift of his tongue and his stature (except when he does it to aid dictators in Kazakhstan - but that's for a different thread). However, Hillary's statement "talk is cheap" is just stupid and disingenuous on so many levels its not funny.

I'm surprised the talking heads haven't ran with the fact that Bill has made a fortune on speeches alone.

And who is paying all this money for the speeches? Corporations and rich people.

To his credit, he does make a lot of speeches for free. But you gotta ask.... "who is really buttering his bread?"

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P.S.

I love this from West Salem, Wisconsin (Coulee News)- READ THE COMMENTS SECTION

http://www.couleenews.com/articles/2008/02/16/opinion/let%20freedland.txt#READ_COMMENT

LETTER: This country needs Hillary Clinton now

By MAUREEN FREEDLAND | La Crosse

I support Hillary Clinton for president because of her lifetime of achievement. She was a child and family advocate straight out of law school. She champions human rights around the world, including the rights of women, minorities and the middle class, and is an expert in health-care policy.

Hilton Clinton is disciplined and strong, specific and focused. Competence, leadership, integrity and strong intelligence define her. She is tested by time and has proven that she can navigate her own way in Washington to get the job done. Contrary to some untrue portrayals, she is well praised for working across the aisle in the Senate...

Read the comments, if they are any indicator of Wisconsin's attitudes towards her, she's in trouble