During a speech in 2010 on Wall Street reform, former President Barack Obama let out a telling remark about what he thinks of success. “We’re not, we’re not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that’s fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if you’re providing a good product or providing good service. We don’t want people to stop, ah, fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow our economy.”
How much money do you think Obama defines as “enough”? Would receiving $65 million for a book deal be “enough”? Or how about a multi-million dollar deal to produce a Netflix series? And speaking of Wall Stress excesses, what would 2010 Obama think of 2017 Obama charging $500k per speech before the same Wall Street bankers he used to criticize?
Now that he’s amassed a fortune of its own, its unlikely he wants to spread that wealth around.
According to AOL, “Recent endeavors, along with the six-figure pension all former presidents receive — have significantly contributed to Obama’s current estimated net worth of $40 million. From the time he joined the US Senate in 2005 to the end of his presidency, Obama made $20 million alone from his presidential salary, book royalties, and investments, reports Forbes. And based on all the projects he’s taking on in just his first-year post-presidency, we can only expect him to make many millions more.”
In total, Obama has increased his net worth thirty-fold thanks to his Presidency.
He’s but the second Democrat to monetize the Presidency in recent times. While the Clintons were “dead broke” (which I guess translates to “down to our last million”) when leaving the White House, Bill and Hillary racked up a combined $153 million in speaking fees in the nearly two decades leading up to the 2016 election. And despite that, Bill, like Barack, receives a Presidential pension at the expense of the American taxpayer.
You have to admit, it’s ironic that the Party of those who demonize wealth the most are those who don’t hesitate for a second to use politics to enrich themselves. Admittedly, I wouldn’t mind if they’d consider redistributing some of their wealth to me right about now.
