11/18/2008

Bill Clinton's Overseas Adventures


It wasn’t enough that Bill Clinton ruined his wife’s chances of becoming president. Now it looks like the former president's "overseas adventures" might put Sen. Hillary Clinton's chances of becoming the next Secretary of State on a detour.

From The Daily Beast:

The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has paid $500,000 to Bill Clinton for a single lecture he delivered in Kuwait City on Sunday on his assessment of Barack Obama’s foreign and economic policies. It was delivered the day after the Kuwaiti stock market resumed trading after it was suspended by order of a Kuwaiti court on Thursday to avoid a total collapse...

...He has earned far more per speech, particularly from Middle Eastern or foreign organizations wishing to hear his views on a range of topics. The Dabbagh investment firm in Saudi Arabia paid $600,000 for two speeches, and China's JingJi Real Estate Development Group paid $200,000 for a single speech. The Mito City Political Research Group in Japan paid him $400,000 in 2002 for a single speech.

Gold Services International, an event organizer based in Bogota, Colombia, flew Clinton to Latin America in 2005 for a series of speeches for which he was paid $800,000. The Power Within, a motivational-speech company in Toronto, paid Clinton $650,000 for speeches in Canada in 2005, and he returned to give more speeches for an undisclosed sum the following year. Goldman Sachs paid him $650,000 for a series of four speeches, and Citigroup paid $250,000 for a speech in France in 2004...

...Since leaving the White House in 2001, Bill Clinton has raised more than $353 million for the William J. Clinton Foundation, which finances his presidential library in Little Rock, as well as his global anti-AIDS charity. He has also received donations from the Saudi royal family, the king of Morocco, a foundation linked to the United Arab Emirates, and the governments of Kuwait and Qatar, The New York Times reported last year. In 2002 he was paid $750,000 for speaking at the Jeddah Economic Forum...


How quick can Hillary draw up divorce papers?

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1 Comments:

At Friday, November 28, 2008 12:05:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, he is a former President and certainly has the right.

As for ruining Hillary's chances, maybe - just maybe - there were some deeper forces at work.

I know in the realm of political economy we are not supposed to talk about God - let alone the power of humanity - but my understanding is that the rest of the world welcomes Obama. Maybe it was meant to be - and had nothing to do with Bill.

Maybe it speaks to how well organized Obama's team was.

Or maybe it speaks to how Hillary - just like Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in her Maryland gubernatorial bid - arrogantly acted as if the job was meant for her.

Maybe Hillary's assasination comment backfired and it was her who got canned.

At this point, she looks pretty happy about her new job and appears to be looking forward.

Maybe it is time - as we belch off of yesterday's meal - to be thankful.

 

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