And it is still mind-boggling to me that the billionaire from NYC could be viewed as “for the little guy”. But that is what happened. Somehow. He is the ringleader of the rich kids from camp that say, “sure, we’ll invite you to the party” only to dump water on you when you show up.
And people will fall for it every time. People are impressed and obsessed by wealth, and will go along with things that are stupid for some hope of getting a little rub from that cash.
Oooh, he must be smart, because he is wealthy… Not true at all.
Democrats are just as beholden to the richest families and largest corporations in America as the Republicans are and even the most well intentioned D lawmaker has to play dialing for dollars if he or she wants to keep their seat Until we get some real campaign finance reform and abolish our system of legalized bribery not much is going to change.
That’s a good point inheritance and just being raised in wealthy family will give you a big headstart. In thing, like going to college or being able to get a down payment for a house.
Still it looks there is a fairly high correlation between IQ/wealth does that study include a r value?
Super rich trend towards higher IQs, mostly because they tend to invent insane shit that changes the world (Gates/Jobs), or they move numbers around and make money (Buffet). Both take some smarts if you weren’t handed it. I’m betting almost all self-made billionaires are fairly high on the smarts. Those that inherited are likely a coin toss at best.
I’m not sure whether he is totally clueless about the state of the democratic party he claims to care about or he just doesn’t care, but this is not good optics.
Obama was supposed to be better than regular politicians. But it’s hard to turn down $400k for an hour’s work.
Maybe he’ll take their money and spend an hour telling them all how they’re morally bankrupt and their greed is responsible for all the problems in the world today.
He was and is better compared to a lot of politicians. Speaking for money is not only a norm for politicians, it’s very likely the people in journalism spreading the outrage do it themselves. It’s just a strange complaint to have.
No, it is just as bad as when the Clintons did it and it raises the same questions about how beholden the Democratic party is to wall street. Obama isn’t the first or the worst, he is just another in a long line, which is the problem.
Being slightly less owned by big business than the Republicans isn’t exactly an inspiring campaign message.
This isn’t being owned; being paid for speeches is a norm in several industries. The journalists do it too. There are so many individuals that get paid to stand up in front of other people and speak. You want to demonize all of them for doing that? If we demonize it, for all industries then?
And why did you use Clinton as an example, why not Bush or Reagan or pretty much any president and VP we’ve ever had in modern history?
It’s not the getting paid, it’s the where and by whom. But by all means continue.
I got no problem with the speaking fee concept. Sure the sums are outlandish, but such is life when the gross inequality we see is the norm. It’s like athletes getting $30 mil a year. I may find the payouts extravagent bordering on obscene, but that isn’t the players fault. Getting $400k for an hours work is a nice gig, if you can get it.
No, my problem is who and where he is getting paid. You know that recession we had caused by banks? Banks that had no real punishment at all because the Obama administration went easy on them (I’d have started with throwing the heads of BoA, Citi, etc. in jail and confiscating their bonuses, at minimum). These are the same people who, within months of leaving office, are lavishing him with speaking fees. That is the problem. The tacit ‘play nice with us, and you’ll get rewarded once you leave’ from an industry that fucked over the country. That is the objection. If some university, or Silicon Valley company paid him the same cush payout? I wouldn’t care one whit.
C’mon now, Nesrie, there’s a little more to it than that.
Aww, @CraigM beat me to it, albeit more diplomatically than I would have wound up.
End of the day, someone like Obama can afford to have some scruples about who he takes his money from. A motivational speaker doesn’t need to take a contract to rile up a bunch of Neo Nazis before they go burning crosses in brown peoples’ yards, and the most recent president of the country certainly doesn’t need to take an easy payday from the industry that literally broke the country and handed him the pieces to put back together at the top of his presidency (and got away scot free for the whole thing, making bank all the way).
When Reagan or Bush does that shit, well, fuck, we kinda expect it, right? Republicans are monsters who consort with and fellate other monsters. It’s basically their whole schtick!
Democrats could theoretically offer an alternative set of behaviors for us to observe and appreciate. They could be better. That they’re so often not is a source of deep frustration for those of us who don’t just want to vote for “Not-Republican” every 2 years.
Mind, I’m not surprised to see Obama do it, what with the whole “no prosecution for butt-fucking the economy knowingly and openly” thing, but hey, I was a Kucinich guy back in '08 anyway. UFOs and all!
I was unemployed for almost 2 years, straight out of college, because of the games Wall Street played in an attempt to squeeze out a few more drops of blood before it all came crashing down. Most of those assholes received golden parachutes while everyone else paid the price. I have no love for Wall Street although I do understand the importance of a stable and efficient financial system.
I will not hold our former president up to higher standards than we have held up any other highly paid individuals, not limited to but including presidents, senators, representatives, journalists, vice presidents, authors, actors, actresses, CEOs and pretty much anyone else who holds, has held or sometimes will hold an important position and can speak without tripping over their tongue, for the most part. It’s ridiculous and unrealistic.
