Hillary Clinton Defends High-Dollar Speaking Fees

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24. oh, there's no doubt that some of these people work hard, certainly bill clinton was famous for it.

as do many top ceos. i work hard, but i might go up to 90 hours a week too if i were getting paid that much!

thing is, "hard work" is a red herring. ordinary people can relate to the concept that the harder you work, the more you get paid, because that's one of the few levers they can see in action. if i get paid hourly, more work means more pay. or maybe it means a puny raise or bonus at year end. but at least they can relate.

but that's not really where the money comes from. the money comes from being in a position to extract great wealth undeservingly, thanks to particular political connections and influence -- things that really ought to belong to the people, or at least ought not be for sale. the hard work then is in making the most of this undeserving situation. cashing in on that influence while you still have it, before you become irrelevant.

ceos use this canard all the time. sure, they work hard, but at the end of the day, they might make millions upon millions simply for being in charge and having stock options at a time when fed policy or some other external force worked greatly in their favor.