WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2007

Bill Clinton Rakes In Big Bucks

Former President Is Doing Gangbusters On The Lecture Circuit, The Washington Post Reveals

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The Washington Post's front page has some fun with Sen. Hillary Clinton's recently filed financial disclosure statements, required under Senate ethics rules.

According to those statements and interviews with speech organizers, it appears that Bill Clinton has been doing gangbusters with speeches in the past six years, raking in nearly $40 million during that time period, according to the Post, which notes that Clinton "came to the White House with modest means and left deeply in debt."

Last year was particularly lucrative, earning the former president $9 to $10 million for lectures, averaging almost a speech a day, "but only about 20 percent were for personal income."

Two speeches on the same day in Canada earned Clinton $475,000 – "more than double his annual salary as president."

While we're on the subject of Clintons, Hillary's dramatic, scandalous, remarkable feud with Barack Obama for some reason takes up space once again on the New York Times front page. In an interview with the Times, Obama "seemed to acknowledge that he may have been outmaneuvered."

U.S. Warns Iran. Again.

The International Atomic Energy Agency released a report yesterday that confirmed Iran continues to operate a uranium-enrichment program and is expanding efforts to build a facility large enough to potentially produce a nuclear bomb.

Iran's moves are "in open defiance" of the United Nations, writes the New York Times. That Iran was now "operating or about to switch on roughly 1,000 centrifuges, the high-speed devices that enrich uranium," at one facility came as "a mild surprise" to experts, the Times adds.

Iran, for its part, "says it has no intention of producing bomb-grade uranium and will use the facility to produce nuclear fuel for energy," says the Washington Post's front page.

Nonetheless, Iran's move "triggered a fresh U.S. push for further sanctions,", says the Wall Street Journal. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns is being dispatched to London to meet with the rest of the Security Council and Germany to toss around some ideas about that.

The inevitable question, of course, is whether we're invading Iran anytime soon. The Times writes that "senior administration officials" have "dismissed the idea that Mr. Bush is considering an attack."

"Enough Of 'Nonbinding'"

Meanwhile, in real news, Senate Democrats (after a weeklong recess) will present a plan to repeal the 2002 Iraq war authorization "in favor of narrower authority that restricts the military's role and begins withdrawals of combat troops," writes the Post. Past suggestions of a plan to link war funding to "strict troop readiness standards" are coming under "withering fire" from Democratic moderates and Republicans.

Sen. John Kerry is supporting the proposal because he has "had enough of 'nonbinding,'" as he put it to the paper.

Another Political Reincarnation

Remember Ahmed Chalabi? He's baaaack. In what the Journal describes as a "remarkable political reincarnation," Chalabi has taken on a newly created post as an "intermediary between Baghdad residents and the Iraqi and U.S. security forces mounting an aggressive counterinsurgency campaign across the city."

He is answering directly to Prime Minister Maliki and the position is intended to generate support for the new troop surge among Iraqis. While the job is supposed to be restricted to security matters, Chalabi is "already speaking ambitiously" about taking on other economic, health and reconstruction roles in the government.

Hunting Al-Qaeda In Africa

The New York Times gets word from anonymous "American officials" that the U.S. military "quietly waged a campaign from Ethiopia last month to capture or kill top leaders of Al Qaeda in the Horn of Africa."

While it's been known that American Special Forces have operated inside Somalia, "the extent of American cooperation with the recent Ethiopian invasion into Somalia and the fact that the Pentagon secretly used an airstrip in Ethiopia to carry out attacks have not been previously reported," writes the Times.

The officials said the mission was a "qualified success" that disrupted some terrorist networks in Somalia and resulted in the death or capture of "several Islamic militants."

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Add a Comment See all 40 Comments
by liteguy February 24, 2007 4:51 PM EST
For Mr. Clinton to make that kind of money just for him to talk....he must have something worthwhile to say.
Reply to this comment
by nvme3 February 24, 2007 7:10 AM EST
Lying about a blowejob was the best the repubs could do. lets see hmm domestically he created a budget surplus, he created programs to reduce welfare rolls through workfare, prosecuted the 93'wtc bombers(you can visit them at supermax). Internationally stopped the genocide in bosnia, helped stabilize haiti.
Reply to this comment
by bildooreilly February 23, 2007 11:32 PM EST
The Bush-Clinton crime family sure is getting rich selling off america. They all belong in jail.
Reply to this comment
by kwlambi February 23, 2007 9:57 PM EST
hey USA last 20 years, Bush, Clinton Bush Clinton? wake up America! Stupid is as stupid does...
Reply to this comment
by taddles-2009 February 23, 2007 8:52 PM EST
"Harry S Truman: "The buck stops here"

Bill Clinton: "Show me the bucks"

....
Posted by processor2 at 01:29 PM : Feb 23, 2007"

George W Bush: "Just back that treasury truck up to the back door, me and ***'ll take it from there"
Reply to this comment
by taddles-2009 February 23, 2007 8:49 PM EST
"And they say it doesn't pay to be a crook..$4o millions worth..HHHHHMMMMMMMM
Posted by FARTKNOCKER2 at 03:40 PM : Feb 23, 2007"

Your right, Cheney only made 39 million off his Haliburton stock since starting his little war...what's that been about 4 years...so he's about on par or a little over for Bill. Nothing like starting your own war to line your pockets huh.
Reply to this comment
by gunownerdan February 23, 2007 7:01 PM EST
In politics, it pays to be a prostitute.
Reply to this comment
by gunnerv1 February 23, 2007 6:34 PM EST
Hey bigwhtpony: we are "neocons" they are "paleiolibs"
Reply to this comment
by mbcsmith February 23, 2007 5:56 PM EST
Don't all those who contributed to the Clinton defense fund feal really foolish now? Just another scam perpetrated by the Clintons.

Reply to this comment
by bigwhtpony February 23, 2007 5:24 PM EST
BBB = Big Bucks Bill LOL
Reply to this comment
by processor2 February 23, 2007 4:29 PM EST
Harry S Truman: "The buck stops here"


Bill Clinton: "Show me the bucks"

....
Reply to this comment
by bigwhtpony February 23, 2007 4:22 PM EST
One more thing - More Media Bias

Think back to when Bush 1 got out of office and went to Japan. He came back with a couple of million for some speaking engagements.

The press SKEWERED him!!!!! Go look it up (if you can find it.) Man, "selling out the office of the president", and all that BS.

Now look.....Clinton.......what a man. 40 million dollars.....what a guy.....what a stud. The double standard is pathetic - really, it is.
Reply to this comment
by bigwhtpony February 23, 2007 4:17 PM EST
It is true, bigwhtpony. But if you can't see by now that President Bush is an incompetent boob beholden to the oil industry and that his administration is corrupt from the top down, then I can't help you.
Posted by Scott4261 at 01:08 PM : Feb 23, 2007

I'll concede the point that Bush is the wrong man for this point in history, but I disagree with your corruption thesis. Besides, this is the slam Clinton forum! :) His pic is at the top. LOL

Reply to this comment
by scott4261 February 23, 2007 4:08 PM EST
It is true, bigwhtpony. But if you can't see by now that President Bush is an incompetent boob beholden to the oil industry and that his administration is corrupt from the top down, then I can't help you.
Reply to this comment
by bigwhtpony February 23, 2007 4:04 PM EST
"BIN LADEN DETERMINED TO ATTACK U.S." in August 2001 and he chose to ignore it.
Posted by Scott4261 at 12:55 PM : Feb 23, 2007

If that were true, why didn't Clinton take him when the Syrians offered to turn him over to us? More nouvo-lib lies. And spare me the Clinton didn't know what a bad guy he was then routine....that's a bunch of BS.
Reply to this comment
by scott4261 February 23, 2007 3:55 PM EST
theUSA1st, the WTC bombers from 1993 are in jail for the rest of their lives. And he did warn George W. Bush before leaving the presidency that the biggest threat to America is al Qaeda. And we could banter about what Clinton did or did not do as President, but the fact remains that Bush did receive a memo entitled "BIN LADEN DETERMINED TO ATTACK U.S." in August 2001 and he chose to ignore it.
Reply to this comment
by bigwhtpony February 23, 2007 3:54 PM EST
I'm no bible thumper but sometimes it is good to see what the bible says about rich people like the Bushes and the Clintons.......

Posted by GunOwnerDan at 12:46 PM : Feb 23, 2007

I used to LOVE those news shots showing Clinton walking out of church with his bible prominently displayed in his left hand facing the camera. All the while, he's doing a little "thumping" of his own......maybe some of that "old time religion" eh, Monica - and all the rest! :)

Reply to this comment
by gunownerdan February 23, 2007 3:46 PM EST
I'm no bible thumper but sometimes it is good to see what the bible says about rich people like the Bushes and the Clintons.......

"I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
-- Matthew 19:24
Reply to this comment
by theusa1st February 23, 2007 3:35 PM EST
Maybe if President Clinton had aggressively gone after the terrorist when we and other countries people where being killed we wouldn't be where we are now. We were attacked many times...what did he do...send a missle or two? I agree...he did do many good things but...I really don't care that he had *** with that woman...what I do care about is that he lied under oath!!! Ya can't deny that.
As for Hillary, she needs a lot more than a touch-up and some paint...very cold indeed!!
Reply to this comment
by scott4261 February 23, 2007 3:21 PM EST
True. I live in Arkansas, and believe me, before her "First Lady makeover," she was a dog! In fact, she was much of the time Bill was governor. So yeah, ALL of us in Arkansas knew he was a player, but most really empathized (some sympathized) with him!
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