29 April 2017 — 1551 mdt
Barack is smarter than Hillary, but he’s just as greedy
After Hillary Clinton stepped down as Secretary of State to begin her second run for the Presidency, she began buckraking with gusto, delivering speeches for tens and, in the case of Goldman-Sachs, hundreds of thousands, of dollars. Those who paid these exorbitant sums were investing not in her immediate words of wisdom, but in a future HRC presidency. But by cashing-in early, she gave the appearance of accepting laundered bribes, an appearance reinforced by her refusal to release the transcripts of the GS speech.
Now former President Barack Hussein Obama is cashing in. Last month he and Michelle cut a $65 million deal with Penguin Random House for writing their memoirs. But just to make sure he has pocket change, he’s accepting a $400,000 fee for a speech this fall, and there are reports he’s already delivered a speech for that amount.
Is he cashing-in? You bet he is, and shamelessly, too. And it’s not sitting well with people who think this is not the way a former President should help rebuild the Democratic Party. Here’s Richard Eskow at Our Future:
It was also just announced that Barack Obama, following in the well-heeled footsteps of Bill and Hillary Clinton, will be paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for giving a speech on behalf of a Wall Street firm.
Anyone who thinks these two facts aren’t connected isn’t paying attention. Obama’s payday reflects a longstanding pattern of behavior from Democratic leaders: Talk like liberals, govern from the center, and make a lot of money once you’re out of office.
Their policies better than Trump’s and the GOP’s, but that adds even more bite to that poll’s other major finding: Democrats are viewed as even more out of touch with everyday concerns than Trump, a twitter-happy billionaire president who weekends at his palatial estate.
Democrats need a better message, to be sure. But they also need messengers who will walk the walk after they have talked the talk.