QOTD: “We were dead broke” after leaving the White House, says Hillary
Yeah – so, like, this was said (hat tip):
Hillary Clinton defended the millions of dollars she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have earned giving paid speeches since leaving public office in an exclusive interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer ahead of Tuesday’s release of her new memoir, “Hard Choices.”
“We came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt,” Clinton told Sawyer, referring to the hefty legal fees incurred during their White House years. “We had no money when we got there, and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for Chelsea’s education. You know, it was not easy.”
She added, “Bill has worked really hard — and it’s been amazing to me — he’s worked very hard. First of all, we had to pay off all our debts, which was, you know, he had to make double the money because of obviously taxes and then pay off the debts and get us houses and take care of family members.”
[…]
Hillary Clinton’s individual speaking fees reportedly average $200,000 per appearance.
“Let me put it this way,” Clinton told Sawyer. “I thought making speeches for money was a much better thing than getting connected with any one group or company as so many people who leave public life do.”
Look, I could care less if she and Bill get paid tidy sums of money for speaking engagements and the like. Prominent public figures do it all the time. It’s how some make their livings. But the key words above are houseS, mortgageS. If you’re really that broke, GET RID of some of the excess like we common folk do and quit whining about the fact that you’re not making enough millions to pay for it all.
Sheesh.
Flashback: 3/5/08 – Michelle Obama talks about “the struggle” to pay off student loans while living in upscale Chicago