It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
For perspective, a few other high earners include: Tim Geithner, $200,000 per speech; Ben Bernanke, $200,000 to $400,000; George W. Bush, $150,000; Chelsea Clinton and Dick Cheney, both $75,000; and Newt Gingrich, $60,000. These figures are from an ABC News analysis. (Disclosure: I’m in Palm Beach as a paid speaker, but I’m dirt-cheap — and tons funnier — compared with Clinton.)
Former President Barack Obama, less than 100 days out of office, has agreed to speak at a Wall Street conference run by Cantor Fitzgerald LP, senior people at the firm confirm to FOX Business. His speaking fee will be $400,000, which is nearly twice as much as Hillary Clinton, his secretary of state, and the 2016 Democratic Party candidate, charged private businesses for such events.
It’s also likely to be a source of criticism against the former president given Obama’s record of attacks against Wall Street bankers for making huge salaries while average Americans were suffering from the ravages of the 2008 financial crisis. Obama, a progressive Democrat, spoke frequently about Wall Street greed during his eight years as president, and now he’s accepting a speaking fee from the industry he singled out as the main culprit of the banking collapse.
“Is there an irony here because he spoke incessantly about the income gap and is now earning from those same people he criticized? Yes it is,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political consultant. “Should we expect it? Yes, we should because all former presidents do this. He went on the attack against Wall Street and now he’s being fed by those same people he called ‘fat cats.’ It’s more hypocritical than ironic.”
Of course, Obama wouldn’t be the first politician or even former president to accept large fees for speaking to business groups. Most presidents like Obama, who isn’t independently wealthy, also seek to cash in on their celebrity through speaking fees and lucrative book deals. (Obama has already signed a book deal worth a reported $60 million.)
originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: Stevemagegod
Trump is no different in that facet.
And you thought the Clintons were paid a bunch of money per speech ....
But hey, let's keep pointing out flaws in other back yards, this is fun!
Seriously, though, partisan politics is not helping any of the actual voters.
The Republican presidential front-runner met privately with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus Thursday afternoon, and soon after, came out to the lobby of Trump Tower to declare that he has signed a loyalty pledge. This means Trump has promised to support the party's eventual nominee -- whoever that may be -- and that he will not run as a third-party candidate. "The best way for the Republicans to win is if I win the nomination and go directly against whoever they happen to put up. And for that reason, I have signed the pledge," Trump said, holding up the paper. "So I will be totally pledging my allegiance to the Republican Party and for the conservative principles for which it stands."
What makes me angry is how anyone who has been voted to serve the American people can make more than four times the average yearly income of those people in one day. Hours to be exact.
originally posted by: roadgravel
It is MHO that at this point, no human is worth anything near that amount for saying anything.
Basic proof that some people have too much money.
originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
I think Obama earned his speaking fees. I see no problem with him getting money, even though the quality is likely not worth the listen.