Ex-Freddie Mac official said Newt Gingrich paid $1.5 million for consulting

AP via CSM ^ | November 16, 2011 | Pete Yost

[newzjunkey]

... he is not a million-dollar, nationally-recognized expert.

You do realize that "$1.5m" is accumulated over an eight year period, right? That's less than $188,000 per year.

[Leaning Right]

That's less than $188,000 per year.

I honestly don't see how that matters. It's the taxpayer's money, and I don't see how the taxpayer got value for that money. Gingrich is not an expert in mortgages. And does Freddie Mac really need to have an expensive historian on retainer?

Freddie Mac got some value, to be sure. They bought a little influence, a famous name. Sort of like hiring a well-known actor to put in an appearance at your party and say nice things about you. It's not illegal.

But it was the taxpayer's money. The taxpayer got little of value for the money that was spent. I'm not outraged, but this business-as-usual does bother me.