Anyone who begrudges Obama getting paid for speaking

[MineralMan]

has some sort of real problem with reality, in my opinion. WTF?

He's the FORMER President. People want him to speak and are willing to pay for him to speak. He can no longer influence government policies, so he's free to do as he pleases in that regard.

I hope he does very well as a speaker, book writer and whatever other things he undertakes. He's earned it.

[Wellstone ruled]

1. So agree.

People have to get real!

[MineralMan]

2. Perhaps that's too much to ask...

Reality bites.

[Wellstone ruled]

5. You just knew this Anti

B.S. campaign was coming. Reality does bit.

[TeamPooka]

3. I laugh at people who make up morals & rules for the first black President that ALL the white ones

never had to follow.

[ismnotwasm]

4. +infinity

[jehop61]

6. On Hufpost just now

Pres Obama donated $2 million to Chicago after school programs. Classy

[MineralMan]

13. I'm not surprised at all about that.

And Obama's speeches will be ones that promote good things, I have no doubt. I'm sure he's going to be a very popular speaker. He does an excellent job and can successfully support beneficial ideas and actions. I don't even understand the objections to his speaking. They make no sense at all.

[ProudLib72]

7. It's none of anyone's business but Obama's

I blame the trolls, at least for the "debate" gaining any kind of traction.

[Rebl2]

54. I agree

These are trolls that I blame for this continued discussion here.

[lunamagica]

8. K&R

[BeyondGeography]

9. Another straw man thread...If you're going to keep this issue alive

at least get the issue right.

Nobody cares that he gets paid for speeches. Some care who's paying for the speech.

[MineralMan]

15. Why do they care who's paying? Obama can't do anything

for them in any case, and he's not likely to suck up to any interests. Before I hear any more complaints, I want to see the content of the speech in question.

My post is not a straw man at all. What organization did he speak to that is objectionable, and what was the topic and content of his speech? Answer that, if you can.

[BeyondGeography]

19. Been there, done that

You can read it here in this thread if you care that much:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029003781

[Cha]

56. Good Questions, MM.. and I see he can't answer them.

[leftofcool]

24. You mean Cantor Fitzgerald?

The company that donated 25% of their profits to 911 victims? The company that paid all of the victims health insurance for 10 years while they were rebuilding their company after 911? The company that gives millions of dollars each year to kids programs? But all of Wall Street is bad right? Wall Street bad, Democrats bad, Obama Bad, Hillary bad.

[BeyondGeography]

26. Goldman Sachs does plenty of warm, fuzzy things too

And some of their employees are really nice people.

[Hekate]

45. Uh no. And just keep them straight, because some here don't know the difference.

[Skittles]

36. don't you get it?

you have to APPROVE of all things Obama.....just because!!!

[BeyondGeography]

41. It's like

Let's suck at politics! I swear...

[Skittles]

43. lol

rest assured, if Obama had put out a statement saying he would refuse to accept Wall Street money, they'd be swooning all over that too

it's not so much what he does, but who he is

[BeyondGeography]

46. Very true n/t

[Hekate]

42. Hardly a straw man on MM's part. There's an extremely persistant poster thataway...

Who's building a strawman out of an entire haystack, as it were. Enjoy.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029010867

[betsuni]

49. I can't believe I read that whole damn thing.

Someone deserves an award for Most Passive-Aggressive. My brains aren't feeling very well, I have to go and rinse out my head.

[Hekate]

50. It's mind boggling, isn't it?

And s/he's still posting away.

[theaocp]

10. Stop fanning the flames of this non-issue and it will die.

Those against it aren't going to change their minds and will only be further reminded of the "issue".

[Afromania]

11. Warren, Sanders and anybody else that wants to ride that bus can find a short pier and jump

Is what I'm saying inflammatory, completely. The man was run into the ground by the opposition for nothing. The tried to grind him and Michelle into the dust with hate. He stood there and took that shit for me, for you and for the rest of the idiotic denizens of this country.

I was worried the ENTIRE 8 years the man would be assassinated. He wasn't but now that he's out of office some of the "Democrats" here and now our "alleged" leadership seem to ready to assassinate his character.

Bullshit, BULLSHIT. At this point the man deserves the same ability to speak for money that EVERY SINGLE PRESIDENT IN MODERN HISTORY HAS DONE. In fact as the first black president and one that had to put up with cringe worthy, demoralizing and unwarranted levels of over the top hate, and criticizing perhaps more so. What he makes in speeches now is hazard pay as far as I'm concerned.

[Tribalceltic]

22. Agreed

and that bus includes Stein, Nader, the GOP, the russian Troll army, and anyone who supports or defends them or their idealizations.

On the other hand it is making it easier to fill up my ignore list, since trashing bernie threads didn't seem to work.

[leftofcool]

25. A fucking men!

[JHan]

29. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[R B Garr]

35. +1, Thank you. Obama of ALL people and ex-Presidents is *exactly* who should be

doing as much speaking as possible. He is a national treasure and defacto leader of our party, and he should continue to have a high profile.

The economic meltdown was almost 10 years ago now, on George Bush's watch. No one bashes Bush anymore; instead they add Obama to the list of Democrats they bash.

Enough, jeez this whole wall street/corporations/speaking fee narrative has a life of its own with no basis in reality. It was rejected in 2016 -- time to move on.

[Hekate]

47. +10000 Afromania

I prayed for his safety and that of his family for eight years. He was such a target, and still is.

[Aristus]

14. Right-wing concern-trolling masquerading as left-wing ultra-orthodoxy.

Ignore them whenever possible...

[MineralMan]

17. I usually do ignore them, but this pisses me off.

As a former President, he is going to have many opportunities to speak and will be paid for those speeches. Good for him.

[LisaM]

38. I'll be he'll declare the fees as income on his taxes, too!

[lillypaddle]

16. No shit nt

[DefenseLawyer]

18. "You're either with us or against us" - George W. Bush

Does everything have to always be black and white, yea or nay? My position is that, of course, the President is entitled to speak to anyone he wants and to make what ever amount of money he can make. In that sense, I don't "begrudge" the President for making money. At the same time, for me, I'd be happier if the President told Wall Street to fuck themselves. I'm not saying he has to do that, or that I expect him to do that; I'm just saying that would be my preference. Is this a position that I am allowed to take or does it have to be one or the other?

[MineralMan]

21. He's speaking to Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street Banking Firm

Here's something else that firm does:

THE CANTOR FITZGERALD RELIEF FUND
The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund (www.cantorrelief.org), a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, was founded on September 14, 2001, with a $1-million personal donation from Cantor Fitzgerald Chairman and CEO, Howard W. Lutnick. Since then, the fund has raised and distributed approximately $292 million to victims of terrorism, natural disasters and emergencies, direct service charities, and wounded members of our military.

So, what's the topic of Obama's speech? Do you know? I don't, actually, but knowing Obama, I doubt it's going to be instructive to that firm on how to make money. Rather, it's more likely to be about how they should be spending money. Think about the speaker and his priorities.

[DefenseLawyer]

28. You think Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch never gave money to charity?

The Koch Brothers give money to charity, would you want the President to give a speech to them? I wouldn't. Is he entitled to? Yes. All I'm saying is in my "perfect world" big banks wouldn't be his preferred audience. But I readily acknowledge that we don't live in my perfect world. Far from it. So as the cliche goes "It is what it is"

[MineralMan]

32. Have any of those asked him to speak?

I don't know. Will they? I don't know. Hell, I'd speak to any of them for free, and give them a piece of my mind. Perhaps President Obama will give them a piece of his mind.

What do you expect the topic of his speech to be? I don't know that, either. Do you? Perhaps it will be about the responsibility corporations have to the public. I'll bet he could deliver a good speech on that subject. Would that be OK with you?

My point is that it is a speech and we have no idea what he will say. He will be paid for it. He can expect to be paid a great deal for speeches like that. It comes with being a former President. But, he can offer Cantor Fitzgerald nothing but his ideas. He can't do anything to benefit that corporation, but he can give them some down-to-earth advice on how to behave responsibly, if he wishes to do that. Nobody's going to tell him what to say.

[DefenseLawyer]

40. Gven that they all went belly up in the financial crisis, I'd go with no.

The point is, using "they give to charity" as your litmus test wouldn't be much of a test. And I do get your position and I don't take issue with the substance of your point. I don't think the President is "on the take" or doing anything unethical or even anything that will be bad for the country. I will simply say that for me, the optics of the whole thing aren't what I would like to see. And with that, I have beaten this dead horse far longer than is necessary already.

[Cha]

57. President Obama just donated $2 Million to a Chicago

Jobs Program.. I wonder if BS and EW will have anything to say about that?

Or do they just snipe at him from the sidelines when he's Going to Speak in September at Cantor-Fitzgerald's annual Health Conference?

[Historic NY]

59. +1

[Skittles]

39. THANK YOU

not sure why I am supposed to be so excited he is taking money from the same folk he bailed out

[mopinko]

20. he is donating $2m to chicago jobs programs.

i dont care if he stuffs his pockets, but i do believe most of it wont sit in his bank account for long.

[Bleacher Creature]

51. Perfect response. Thanks. nt

[Bengus81]

23. Funny how RWer's NOW BITCH about capitalism......

I thought they wanted people to take responsibility for THEMSELVES and make their OWN money instead of always relying on Guberment. Now listen to them......

[MineralMan]

27. Well, much of the criticism is coming from the left,

rather than from the right, over this speech, the topic of which nobody seems to even know.

Barack Obama is in no position from which he can help any corporation, but he will be in a position where he can advise them to engage more in activities that benefit people. Imagine that. I don't know the topic of his speech, either, nor do I know what he plans to do with the money he receives for it.

In any case, as a FORMER President, he can freely accept any such engagements as he wishes. There are no restrictions on former Presidents in that regard, nor are there any real expectations that they will not be paid for speeches, for sitting on boards of directors or anything else. They have served in the highest possible public office and taken the widest amount of abuse and stress that can be imagined.

What will he say to Cantor Fitzgerald? I don't know. But, knowing the man from his actions, I doubt that it will be anything objectionable. What will he do with the money? Well, that's his choice, isn't it?

I'll bet there is nothing at all nefarious about this speaking engagement. Nothing at all.

[George II]

30. And he and Michelle just donated TWO MILLION to a Chicago summer jobs program!

That's five times the amount for the speech that everyone is griping about.

[MineralMan]

33. Yabbut...corporation...banking...money...

Nobody even knows what the subject of his speech will be. Perhaps he'll scold that corporation and encourage it to do good somewhere. That seems quite likely to me.

In any case, he's now a private citizen who was once President. He can get paid for speaking if he wants. He no longer has any ability to materially help those who pay him to speak. I fail to see the problem with his speechifying.

[Lotusflower70]

31. Amen to that

He served the country well for 8 years and put up with so much crap, it's time for him to do whatever the hell he wants.

[MineralMan]

34. Want the Dalai Lama to speak to your organization?

You can book him at this booking company. Price on request:

http://www.entertainmentbookingagency.com/artists/dalai-lama/

The point? If you want prominent people to come to your location and speak, you're going to have to pay them. The more important they are, the more you'll have to pay. Now, if you can't pay, you might entice the person to speak if your organization is one that person supports, but you'll have to pay if that's not the case.

So...

[Sculpin Beauregard]

37. Jesus tap dancing Christ. Obama's fucking speaking fees are not a threat

to democracy. Trump is. Why get baited into these asinine side-issues. So, so fucking stupid.

[Gothmog]

44. I have no trouble with President Obama getting the going rate

I really disagree with the angst about this

[dem in texas]

48. Guess What President Reagan did as soon as he was out of office

He knocked down 8 million for speaking engagements in Japan. GW Bush and his wife Laura also started speaking engagements for big bucks So what? So what about Obama?

Many more important things going on in the world right now.

[R B Garr]

52. +1, and Reagan's friends were all chaueffering them around everywhere they

could get them to go, taking them out house hunting closer in to the city instead of way out on his ranch, to every speech, fundraiser, social event, etc. He was wildly popular and they weren't about to let his popularity go without riding those coattails. Instead, we get self-defeating Democrats knock our wildly popular ex-President with some worn out campaign lines that lost in 2016. It is infuriating.

[Dopers_Greed]

53. Thank you

Same with Clinton. The paid speech thing was so blown out of proportion by "progressives" (and naturally ended up helping Trump)

[Lil Missy]

55. Nothing wrong with making big bucks for speeches.

And, there is never going to be a politician pure enough for ... some people, .... on the left ...

[redstatebluegirl]

58. Yes, many of the people who have a problem with it didn't have a problem when it was a white man

taking the money. He is well worth his fee. They pay celebrities that much and more all the time.

[Afromania]

60. Right on the money

look at this list,notice anything about it?

Donald Trump, $1-1.5 million: ...
Ronald Reagan, $1 million: ...
Tony Blair, $616,000: ...
Bill Clinton, $150,000- $450,000: ...
Rudy Guilani, $270,000: ...
Alan Greenspan, $250,000: ...
Lance Armstrong, $100,000 and up: ...
Al Gore, $100,000-150,000:


No women
No people of color

But NOW, it's a problem

got it