For years, former United States President Barack Obama chastised Wall Street, the big banks and the one percent. He lambasted their greed, their influence. Whether when he was a community activist or a senator, Obama championed himself as a defender of the impecunious, a leader for the middle-class and an adversary of the affluent – though, both of his campaigns were heavily funded by the rich.
Just a few months removed from the Oval Office, Obama is cashing massive paychecks just for talking.
It was reported last month that the former president would receive $400,000 for an hour-long speech from Cantor. This sparked outrage. But that fee is peanuts compared to the $3.2 million he garnered from his 90-minute speech in Milan at the Seeds and Chips conference earlier this week.
No one should ever begrudge a person for collecting that hefty amount of money for delivering platitudes, generic optimism and feigned hope. You would be a fool if you turned down $400,000 or $3.2 million to opine on matters.
What should be highlighted is the immense hypocrisy coming from the former president himself.
Throughout his two terms in the White House, he regularly slammed billionaires, successful corporations and the top one percent. Obama complained about getting rich from doing very little. Essentially, he vilified anyone, er, conservative who made a million dollars from playing the market or taking advantage of loopholes in the 70,000-page tax code.
Now that he is no longer holding public office, the former president is hanging out with billionaires and earning the average American’s entire salary in just a few minutes.
He has done this before. Throughout his presidency, he would spend his free time at $50,000-a-plate dinners with billionaires and multi-millionaires all while whining about the wealthy.
That is hypocrisy at its best, and Obama shouldn’t be criticized for taking the money. At least he was smart by receiving funds from powerful, influential and hugely rich people and groups after he held public office and not before, unlike a certain former crooked Secretary of State.
What about corruption? That’s another story altogether.
Scott Adams, creator of the legendary “Dilbert” and regular political blogger, likened the entire situation to a so-called pre-bribe:
It is illegal to bribe a president. But it is totally legal to pre-bribe one.
Here’s how a pre-bribe works.
When a president leaves office, you offer the ex-president an enormous speaking fee. Let’s say $400,000. The ex-president does the speech and banks the money. The ex-president has no power at that point, so the speaking fee can’t be seen as a bribe because there is no quid pro quo.
But what about the president that is in office while this happens? Do you think the current president notices when the the prior president gets a $400,000 payday for an hour of work?
It would be hard to miss.
So let’s say the company that hired the ex-president asks for a meeting with the current president. Do you think the company gets that meeting? And do you think the current president bends over backwards to get them whatever they need?
He does if he wants a $400,000 payday after leaving office. That’s a pre-bribe.
Totally legal.
Another question is: why would anyone want to pay $3.2 million to listen Obama babble on subjects he is unfamiliar with?
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