Posted on 07/14/2014 3:55:28 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Speaking engagements are a common way for people to drum up some extra income after long stints in public office or attempts to reach public office. But depending on how much they’re charging, and who’s paying, speaking fees often lead to intense public scrutiny and criticism for politicos looking to make a buck.
When accompanied by an unfortunate gaffe or an outlandish price tag, a politician’s speaking engagements can color them as greedy or simply out of touch.
Including Bill and Hillary Clinton's speaking fee fortune and Donald Trump's eye-popping $1.5 million speeches, ABC News took a look at America’s highest-paid public speakers to date.
$200,000 & Up
Donald Trump - $1.5M
Topping the list by a longshot is billionaire birther and infamous reality-TV host Donald Trump. “The Donald earned a staggering $1.5 million per speech at The Learning Annex’s ‘real estate wealth expos’ in 2006 and 2007,” according to Forbes. “Trump appeared at 17 seminars and collected this fee for each one.”
Hillary Clinton - $200K
Commanding around $200,000, Clinton recently came under fire for her $250,000 speaking fee at an upcoming UNLV fundraiser. Hilary told ABC’s Diane Sawyer in June that her family was “dead broke” upon leaving White House.
---snip---
Al Gore - $100K
In his heyday, the former vice president reportedly received $100,000 for his speaking engagements. Keeping in line with the theme of his “Environmental Media Lecture, Gore requested “a sedan, not an SUV,” for transportation, and that the vehicle be a hybrid, if possible.
Sarah Palin - $100K
Back in 2010 when Palin was quite prominent on the national stage, her typical speaking fee was $100,000, according to Politico.....
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
realism:
if the speaker is a politician, the fee is 99 percent a bribe for governmental favors or funding
(corruption)
and the higher the fee, the greater the expected corruption
therefore,
vote for politicians who either do NOT charge to share their views, or who charge minimal fees designed only to cover their actual costs (not including those $10,000 penthouse rooms with the $50,000 whores)
Thank you, 2ndDivisionVet. I am very, very intimately familiar with celebrity “fees,” “real fees,” and “really real fees.” Suffice it to say the “fees” are a sort of bragging right mixed with a tool to add perceived value to the “really, really real” fees, which are never disclosed.
In short, nobody gets anything near their fee.
That's his speaking fee. How much is is "shut up already" fee? And does the $100K include the Al Gore cold snap?
I am also somewhat familiar and yes, that is roughly how it goes. Gov. Palin, in many cases, donates her time or will only ask for airfare if the cause is one she agrees with, such as pro-life, Down’s Syndrome or education. Secretary Clinton and her husband & daughter, on the other hand....
Chelsea Clinton - $75K
Dick Cheney - $75K
Mitt Romney - $68K
I needed a laugh today.
Of all on that list, Dick Cheney’s opinion is the only one I would really be interested in.
I wouldn’t give Child Klinton 10 cents to talk to my dog.
I wouldn't give Cheney a plug nickel. Unrealistic in Iraq to the cost of thousands of US lives, all for gay marriage, said that deficits don't matter, etc. etc.
He could be a hard-ass, alright. But for what?
The lives lost in Iraq are historically tiny in war. Worse than expected, yet. Compared to any other major conflict. Single digit percentage. War is hell. It was US policy in Iraq before Cheney was VP.
Whether it was right to do or worth the losses, maybe, maybe not. I guarantee war planning estimates ranged in to above 10,000 like they did they projected as worst case in the first Gulf War.
Both Trump and Mitt started with advantages that very few people have. Trump's father was well-known in the NYC real estate market and left Donald with wealth and knowledge that Donald could leverage. Mitt's father had unlimited connections he could pass on and the ability to send Mitt to the best schools.
Show me a guy who started with nothing and made it rich and I'll pay attention.
That said, being rich ain't what everybody thinks it is. I lived the lifestyle (limousines, private airplanes, boats, mansions, etc.)for quite a few years by virtue of a previous marriage I'll take my current modest life over that life any day. Life's simple pleasures are by far the best.
Exactly. You’re right on the money. Usually the deal is “airfare, hotel, a few hundred books, and a small per diem....” And I could name a LOT of “big conservative stars” for whom this is the deal, when it’s a cause they support. Frankly it’s embarrassing to ask big bucks of nonprofits who are the principal “clientele.” Then again I know conservatives, and we tend to be ladies and gentlemen.
Show me a guy who started with nothing and made it rich and I’ll pay attention.
There are plenty of those, and while they should get some individual credit, you can’t beat being in the right place at the right time. Luck plays a factor, too.
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