Quote: Cincinnatus wrote in post #2

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There certainly is something to this.

Zitat

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The other was the one set to cash a $400,000 check from Wall Street — the same amount as his yearly salary during his time in the White House — when delivers a speech in September at a health care conference run by Cantor Fitzgerald, a trading and investment firm.

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Putting aside how Obama, like all Democrats, inveighed against "Wall St" and the plutocrats for political reasons, is a speech by him, or anyone, worth $400k? Was this a payoff for something he did while in office? An attempt to purchase a favor in the present? As this piece notes, something does not smell right about these huge fees for short speeches.

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No doubt it's one variant of pay to play

Why else would anyone pay $200,00 to hear the former Chief Wookie speak


Michelle Obama is being paid a stunning amount for speaking gigs that rivals recent presidents
Richard Feloni,Business Insider Sat, Apr 29 9:53 AM PDT

If you want to book former First Lady Michelle Obama for a speaking engagement, you should expect to pay around $200,000, Mike Allen reported for Axios.
This is about half the price her husband Barack gets, and about the same as Barack's predecessor George W. Bush, according to Allen. Bill Clinton reportedly gets paid a touch more.

Shortly after leaving the White House in January, the Barack and Michelle inked a reported $60 million book deal, acquired high-powered lawyers, began planning the Barack's presidential center and library that will be in Chicago, and gained representation by The Harry Walker Agency. The esteemed agency also represents Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Michelle Obama made her first public appearance since leaving the White House on Thursday in Orlando, at the annual American Institute of Architects conference. She spoke about the Let Girls Learn initiative, as well as life after the Obama presidency.

She said that she won't be running for office anytime soon, but you can expect to be seeing more of her.

"Barack and I have been in public service our whole lives," she told the audience. "Public service will always be in our blood."

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/miche...-165300605.html

FYI

Mike Allen Apr 29
Exclusive: Rent a former president

Rough speaking fees for former presidents who are on the circuit:

Bill Clinton: $250,000 (raised his fee to match Hillary's when hers went up after she was SecState)
George W. Bush: $200,000
Barack Obama: $400,000

Note: These are averages — it's more if speech is overseas; less if it's local.

Bonus scoop: Michelle Obama books for $200,000.

Double bonus: Hard to imagine Hillary not going back out — if not for the money, for the people, attention and crowds. It's not good to lower your "fee," but that doesn't mean she won't accept lower offers.

https://www.axios.com/exclusive-rent-a-f...2384729882.html

Another take:

Exploiting the Presidency
Cal Thomas
Posted: May 02, 2017 12:01 AM

The headline in the March 5, 1929 edition of the Chicago Tribune read, "Plain Citizen Coolidge Shuts Desk and Quietly Goes Home." Calvin Coolidge would write a newspaper column from Northampton, Massachusetts, for which he presumably was paid a pittance, but other than that he refused to exploit his notoriety or accomplishments as president for money.

When he left office in 1953, Harry S. Truman and his wife, Bess, repaired to Independence, Missouri, where they lived in a house they had previously shared with her mother. Truman refused to serve on any corporate boards and rejected other financial opportunities that might have been his because he said he did not want to diminish the integrity of the presidency.

Richard Nixon departed from that standard, charging $1 million for an interview with David Frost. The selling of the presidency, to paraphrase the title of a 1968 book by Joe McGinniss, had begun.

Every president since Nixon has used the office as a stepping stone to great wealth. Ronald Reagan was paid $2 million for two speeches in Japan. George W. Bush has made an estimated 200 speeches since leaving office, some to benefit wounded warriors and others to benefit himself. Bush once told The New York Times, "I don't know how much my dad gets, but it's more than 50, 75 thousand dollars a speech." According to Politico, Bush 43 makes between $100,000 and $175,000 per appearance.

Then there are the Clintons, who took post-presidential moneymaking to new heights (or depths, depending on your perspective).

Now comes former President Obama, who is receiving $400,000 for a one-hour speech at a conference run by Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street firm. Like his Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded soon after he took office with no accomplishments to warrant it, Obama is getting the money primarily for his celebrity, not his deeds.

Since 1958, Congress has generously provided for our ex-presidents, including transition money for office and staff expenses, good for seven months after leaving office, as well as Secret Service protection for life. To Carter's credit, however, of all the modern presidents, he cashes in the least, if he can be said to at all. He rarely accepts speaking fees, and when he does he usually donates the proceeds to his charitable foundation.

As Time magazine noted, "Obama's annual presidential pension is $205,700," which is what the other living ex-presidents get. Like the others, Obama will receive subsidies for travel, office staff and supplies, as well as Secret Service protection. Ex-vice presidents also receive pensions after leaving office, though not protection from the Secret Service.

Michelle Obama also plans to make lucrative appearances on the lecture circuit.

The Truman maxim about not diminishing the integrity of the presidency is long gone.

During his eight years in the White House, President Obama received, in addition to his $400,000 salary, free travel aboard Air Force One, free housing and food, free utilities and a host of other perks that would allow him to save and invest much of that money to take care of himself and his wife after leaving office.

There will be book deals to come for both Obamas and more millions will be paid to them.

As one who occasionally makes paid speeches for far more modest sums, I have no beef over how much anyone can earn from the private sector. My question is if ex-presidents are making millions because they were president, why should the taxpayers continue to pay them?

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https://townhall.com/columnists/calthoma...idency-n2320720


How times and acceptable behavior have changed