Bill Clinton raised $1.5 for Charity then pockets $450,000 of it

[Ichingcarpenter]

Talks not cheap for Bill Clinton

Chicago Tribune
April 10, 2008

When London socialite Renu Mehta sought to urge Britain's super-rich to give more to charity, she threw a fundraising dinner headlined by former President Bill Clinton, who has used his global star power to encourage large-scale philanthropy that stresses accountability.

Mehta declared the first gathering of her Fortune Forum, held Sept. 26, 2006, a rousing success. The event raised about $1.5 million and brought together dozens of billionaires, celebrities and activists to network about tackling such problems as global warming, water shortages and disaster relief.

But success came with a steep price. Fundraising costs consumed more than half of the proceeds, with $450,000 going to Clinton as a speaking fee, one of the largest he has collected as personal income.

Clinton's fee for his Fortune Forum appearance dwarfed the $280,000 the former president charged for a speech earlier in the day in London sponsored by a for-profit partnership and the $280,000 he received the next day for a speech in Dublin.>>>>snip

[izquierdista]

1. Talk is cheap

NOT!

[ORDagnabbit]

2. He kept 30% which is within the Better Business Burea's okay range. they say over 35% bad.

[ORDem]

6. Not to be snarky, but do we really want the BBB as our standard for anything?

:dem:

[roguevalley]

46. no defense for this given the topic. I would be ashamed to do this.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

3. Enough with the big speeches!

[onehandle]

4. He's worse than Hitler.

Nice try.

[Vinca]

5. It kind of hits me the same way it did when John Edwards took

money to speak about poverty. Forget where that was, but sometimes people would look a whole lot better if they made it a freebie.

[hfojvt]

14. What? You expect him to go all the way to England for 3 whole days

for a mere $560,000? Yeah, I'm sure you would do that too, you hypocrite.

[Vinca]

18. Half a million for 3 days? Count me in.

I'll work it in between cleaning the Clinton home office for $94,000 and picking John McCain's lettuce at $50 an hour.

[hfojvt]

20. Just because you are willing to work for poverty wages

Don't expect a member of the royal family to do so.

[quantass]

21. CORRECTION: It's $1.01 MILLION in 2-days

[hfojvt]

32. it is two days, unless you count travel time

but SOME people are expecting Clinton to forego the other $450,000 and just work for a mere $560,000 while they themselves demand to be paid minimum wage and time and a half for overtime work. Really, the arrogance and hypocrisy is just staggering. These people seem to think that royalty is worth less than $1,000,000 dollars a day. Canaille. Pure canaille.

[TexasObserver]

35. Bill feels your pain.

His snout has been in the trough since the day he walked out of the White House.

I have been so disappointed in him.

If I never see another Clinton or Bush on the ballot, it will be too soon.

[Texas Hill Country]

48. he gave 327 speeches that year... and only ask to be paid for 83 IIRC

so 240 or so free speeches....

I'd say he did his part.

[hfojvt]

61. That's kinda hard to tell

"He averaged almost a speech a day -- 352 for the year -- but only about 20 percent were for personal income. The others were given for no fee or for donations to the William J. Clinton Foundation, the nonprofit group he founded to pursue causes such as the fight against AIDS."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/22/AR2007022202189.html

How many of them were free and how many were for donations to the Clinton Foundation? And many of the free ones may not have been free. For example, he spoke at Washington Days, the spring Democratic Convention in Kansas in 2007 and it was a $100 ticket to goto that speech. I am not sure if he got paid or not,

[thereismore]

7. Sweet Jesus. nt

[stellanoir]

8. Steph Miller covered this today.

And still they aren't paying their bills.

Unbelievable really.

[uberblonde]

10. "They" is a corporate entity separate from their personal finances.

And Bill Clinton charges many different levels of fees, as do most public figures.

[stellanoir]

13. If Hill could loan her campaign 5 mil, so could Bill.

They should pay off their debts. They've screwed over colleges. Sheesh.

[MonkeyFunk]

16. Like John Edwards did?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=16809

[stellanoir]

19. 55 grand is far less than what Bill charges and the Edwards run a charity too

in honor of their son. Elizabeth is fighting cancer. They have two kids who are still little.

The comparison is unbelievably dumb and thoroughly irrelevant.

[MonkeyFunk]

33. So edwards screwed 'em, just not as hard

is that your defense?

[crankychatter]

9. Feels like I got it on me just reading this one

that f****r fairly oozes...

never DID like that guy... felt the same way about Nixon

[hfojvt]

11. that's what makes me proud to be a Clinton supporter

The way they have dedicated their whole lives to public service.

[Pawel K]

17. And boy, has it payed off for them.

[quantass]

23. Yea, as long as the public pays their way ...or else!

[SidDithers]

12. Renu Mehta raised $1.5 million for charity...

and then had expenses that consumed more than half of the proceeds. Maybe she should have booked a less costly speaker.

Whether Clinton got paid, and how much, is immaterial. It wasn't his fundraising event.

Sid

[NashVegas]

15. Bottom Line: He Delivered 3x What He Cost

I'm not sure what the complaint is.

[Levgreee]

27. yeah, if you consider him "delivering" the money he took, otherwise he only delivered 1,050,000

and took 450,000, so he delivered 2.333 what he cost

[Zachstar]

53. The complaint is the many thousands of dollars to speak at a fundraiser.

Last time I checked it did not cost many thousands of dollars to get a flight, get a hotel, eat and speak.

[DB1]

22. So in 2 days Bill made over a million dollars for 3 speeches......

How much does secret service protection cost us for him? Maybe when he is raking in that kind of cash he should be obligated to reimburse.

[Diane R]

24. I hope the voters in Pennsylvania get to see this information.

[QC]

50. I could be wrong, of course,but I strongly suspect that they have Internet access in Pennsylvania.

[Catherina]

25. Link please? This is worse than disappointing n/t

[Ichingcarpenter]

29. I can't change my OP now, but here is the link

With much more revelations

http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2008/04/bill_clintons_talk_not_cheap.html

[Hepburn]

26. Just words....

...:eyes:

[grantcart]

28. Making this kind of money - does Bill really want Hillary to get elected

It would cut down on his fun and income. Maybe this ole sly fox is acting crazy for a reason and laughing all the way to the bank.

[FrenchieCat]

30. Just words?

That's what I thought......using the Charitable Organization as a front to secure speaking gigs, Clinton profits directly.....while the Charitable Org foots the bill for travel, etc.....

[BlueIdaho]

31. Well...

Just exactly how did we think he made 109 Million Dollars since leaving the White House? The big dog has no shame.

[catgirl]

34. But he sure is cocky!

[City Lights]

38. The Big Dawg is more like a flea-infested mutt these days.

A real bloodsucker.

[Az_lefty]

36. what a low life...it's a charity event, he should have spoken for free

:puke:

[City Lights]

37. Did Elton John keep any of the $2.5 million he raised for her?

I'm shocked, just shocked that Bill Clinton would do such a thing.

Actually, I'm not.

[hfojvt]

41. I am guessing Elton did get paid.

I am not sure if we will ever find out, one way or the other.

[City Lights]

43. I wonder if his fee would be listed as an expenditure on her FEC filing.

I have no idea...

[Megahurtz]

39. LOL.

So typical. :eyes: You'de be surprised how many "Non-Profit" Organizations do this very same thing. The money never gets down to the people.

[hfojvt]

44. sadly, it even happens at the local level

our local party spent about $800 on printing and postage to raise about $1800. There are not any cost-free ways to raise money that we know of.

[CreekDog]

40. the idea of him getting that much for a speech of all things

would kind of take the fun out of seeing one (for me).

[walldude]

42. He's an ex-President. He brings in people...

that said, I'll tell you a little something about these rich folks "charity" dinners. They spend hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of dollars on a huge lavish party to raise a couple hundred grand for charity. It's a fucking joke. It's a way rich people can keep spending on their "lifestyle" while convincing themselves they are doing a good deed.

[rinsd]

45. The Fortune Forum sees it differently.

The first Fortune Form event on 26th September 2006 achieved massive global media coverage for the participating charities and the causes they espouse. Coverage in print and broadcast form had the opportunity to be seen by over 300 million people globally, more than the combined population of the UK, France, Germany and Spain.

The advertising value equivalent of this coverage runs to over £4 million; well in excess of the annual advertising spend of any of the participating charities. The Fortune Forum was able to generate this priceless high level of consciousness raising in the public and specifically amongst the influentials at no cost to the charities benefiting, an effective donation of over £4 million to each participating charity

A complimentary copy of “The Fortune Forum Code”, a book extolling the basic needs of humanity, and how to achieve them, was distributed to over 500 of the most influential members of UK society at the event. The same group of influentials were exposed to the individual work and achievements of the participating charities during the event.

The participating charities were all also able to showcase their work and network with some of the leading media moguls in the UK and beyond who were present on the night. This networking opportunity has assisted the charities in achieving further media success via these contacts.

Carrying stories relating to the Fortune Forum and the attendant celebrities such as Bill Clinton have also generated increased traffic to participating charity websites as they are flagged up as a place to go for information on particular celebrities. This increased web traffic will have also promoted increased web donations as well as brand awareness.

Awareness of the Fortune Forum event and the charities involved reached
the attention of ministers and high ranking civil servants in the UK
Parliament and beyond with comments being fed back to this effect to
several participating charities.

The Fortune Forum combined advertising equivalent cost and profile
generated for each charity equalling that from the event was a staggering
£20 million pounds, a massive boost for the life giving projects that the
Fortune Forum supports.

http://www.fortuneforum.org/results.html

[Bensthename]

47. $450,000 to speak at a charity fundraiser ?? OMG... Is that legal?

[azmouse]

49. kick

[Taxmyth]

51. Bill pocketed $450,000 because he earned it

Same with the 100 million plus. 8 years of peace and prosperity under his leadership compares favorably with what any CEO did at any large corporation. People pay him a lot of money to show up and speak because he is a draw, and really, in 2008 these aren't extraordinary amounts.

[JTFrog]

65. When will we get reimbursed for Nafta and the repeal of Glass-Stegall then?

How about the Iraqis who were starved to death with sanctions or our own children who were starved under welfare reform; when will they be compensated?

8 fucking years of peace and prosperity my ass. 8 years of utter failure to fill house and senate seats thanks to president pinocchio's stage show.

[Stephanie]

52. This is the most egregious story of the day.

I wish I could re-recommend. Greed is a sickness.

[Zachstar]

54. This part is sickening, I hope people in PA see this.

"But success came with a steep price. Fundraising costs consumed more than half of the proceeds, with $450,000 going to Clinton as a speaking fee, one of the largest he has collected as personal income."

When the costs for a fundraiser take up half of the proceeds SOMETHING is WRONG!!!

[Taxmyth]

55. Whose fault is it

The organizers of the fund raiser or the talent they hired? They could have gotten the Rolling Stones for a similar amount.

[Zachstar]

56. Both

Bill for charging that much and the Organizers for paying it.

Whats next on the spin list Taxmyth?

[Taxmyth]

57. Sorry, don't see it that way

The organizers had the option to negotiate a better price or decline former President Clinton's requested fee. He's just doing what any other paid entertainer does. No spin needed here only common sense.

[Zachstar]

60. Then why are you using little?

I'm sorry but there is no reason for a speech to run 400k

Spin somewhere else!

[Taxmyth]

62. No spin needed

It's what the market would bear and as American as apple pie to quote an old saying. Nicole Kidman was paid $435,000 for a 25 minute speech. Donald Trump can make over $1,000,000 a speech. Maybe you wouldn't pay that much for a speaker but people do.

[Zachstar]

63. So why the hell do I care for what Nicole Kidman makes? Is she running for office?

Again this is all nothing but spin in my view. And while you think it is no big news. People that struggle on 50k a YEAR! See it as news!

[gulfcoastliberal]

58. This plus Bill taking the $800K for supporting the Colombia FTA = easy to see how they made $100M

Obviously they've gotten their quid pro quo for ramming NAFTA down our throats. You know, I voted in my very first presidential election in 96 and voted for Clinton. Wish I could take it back now.

Hillary's campaign has been a real eye opener, and it isn't pleasant.

[nebula]

59. Destroying jobs and livelihoods

and getting obscenely rich from it is the Clinton MO.

[TheDonkey]

64. Tidy little profit there, dayum. eom