The "People's President"........????

[kbot]

Remember how people used to refer to President Obama as being a champion of "the people". Not so much anymore..........

4 reasons Obama’s $400,000 Wall Street speech is a bad idea

Former president Barack Obama reemerged this week for his first formal public event since leaving office, but all people can talk about is a future event — specifically, one for which he will be paid his old annual salary for one speech.

News broke Monday that Obama would be paid one of those exorbitant speaker's fees that Hillary Clinton received: $400,000 for speaking at a Wall Street conference put on by the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

1. It continues to set a dubious precedent

As mentioned above, there is no rule against Obama doing this. None. But there is the precedent that it sets — or rather, continues to set.

George W. Bush and Bill Clinton did this, too, as have Hillary Clinton, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan. And the more that Wall Street firms give out-of-office presidents and big-name politicians these paydays, the more they become the norm. Other presidents will know that such payments are on the table, and it risks coloring their decisions with regard to Wall Street and special interests.

Which is already happening with Obama, retroactively. Liberals loved (and miss) his presidency, but if there's one thing the Elizabeth Warren/Bernie Sanders wing is still sore about in the Obama administration, it's the lack of prosecutions for anybody involved in the financial crisis. In September, Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, requested a formal investigation of why no charges were brought.

And here's Warren in a 2014 interview with Salon:

WARREN: At the same time, picked his economic team and when the going got tough, his economic team picked Wall Street.

SALON: You might say “always.” Just about every time they had to compromise, they compromised in the direction of Wall Street.

WARREN: That’s right. They protected Wall Street. Not families who were losing their homes.

Whether fair or not, it's not difficult to look at Wall Street paying $400,000 to Obama as a reward for that. In that way, it's tough on both precedent and Obama's presidency.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the ... feff7df31b

[Riddick]

Stop Freaking Out Over Obama’s $400,000 Speaking Fee
If the only thing keeping progressivism afloat is the virtue-signaling of our best leaders, we’re in trouble.

[kbot]

From the article:

This is an absurd double standard—that Obama should forgo what is the norm for former presidents because several well-paid people who work in the media think it is wrong. Just as silly are the comparisons to Hillary Clinton and her speeches to Goldman Sachs and others.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Is it a double standard when the people who initially raised this as an issue and campaigned on the issue now do what they previously deplored?

Still, it IS a long way from community organizer to corporate shill, but, it's OK. It's Obama (and the Clintons) and the Democrats, so, it's OK

[kbot]

Of course, this story isn't about a president, but the message is essentially the same........

Ex-congresswoman accused of living large on charity funds

Prosecutors in Florida have told jurors a former congresswoman financed a lavish lifestyle of Beverly Hills shopping trips and fancy parties on donations to a charity ostensibly set up to help poor children with scholarships.

Testimony will continue for a second day Thursday in the trial of former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, 70. She has pleaded not guilty to multiple fraud and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors have laid out an expansive case in U.S. District Court, charting years of payments they say were funneled from the charity to her personal bank accounts.

"She knew exactly how to lie to these donors, and knew exactly where the cash money was going," said Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Tysen Duva in his opening statement Wednesday.

Lawyers presented two opposing portraits of Brown to the federal jury in Jacksonville, part of a district the former Democratic congresswoman had represented since 1993. One was of an entitled, corrupt politician and the other that of a befuddled, aging lawmaker whose trusted adviser betrayed her. Her attorney James Smith said she was duped by her former chief of staff, Elias "Ronnie" Simmons.

Federal prosecutors said Brown and her associates used a charity called One Door for Education to bring in more than $800,000 between 2012 and 2016, much of which they used for lavish trips, tickets to a Beyonc? concert, shopping excursions in Beverly Hills and other personal expenses.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/cong ... s-47049854

It's Beyoncé. It's the Left Coast, It's the Dems. It's all good..........

[Malaria_Kidd II]

POLITICS = Is a one way ticket to a perceived paradise until it's gray bars slam with a dull thud in your conniving sad face!

Thanks kbot for the weird news and coupled with his pension to be paid out at age 48. He can use the speakers fee to buy more shares for renting travel space for crude oil in American pipelines!!!


MK II

'

[kbot]

In a way, I was amazed that he took a vacation to the South Pacific on a yacht the way he did. I get that he needed a vacation - I wouldn't begrudge any president that right: they certainly deserve it.

Just trying to square the action (and the company kept) with the public message of "being there" and "sharing the concerns" of the poor and middle class........... That message played well n the early 20th century and well into the second half of the 20th century. I think that Carter was the last one who could pull that line off convincingly. The last two Democrat administrations, while playing-up and making heir base believe their "struggles" leave a lot to be desired in living up to the lifestyle.

[Riddick]

Even as President Obama faced criticism for getting $400,000 for a speech to a Wall Street bank, he pocketed the same amount of money for a second speech, The Post has learned.

Obama made another $400,000 on Thursday when he appeared at the A&E Networks advertising upfront at The Pierre Hotel. He was interviewed over 90 minutes at the Midtown Manhattan event by presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in front of the cable network’s advertisers.

The event, called a History Makers lunch and put together by A&E’s History Channel, was hosted by A&E chief Nancy Dubuc.

Goodwin asked Obama how, while president, he handled frustrating moments. She mentioned Lincoln would write angry letters and then put them in a desk and not mail them.

Obama responded: “For starters, by not having a Twitter account.”

FULL STORY

[Malaria_Kidd II]

"By not having a Twitter account." he says? Well Riddick and kbot, that was not being a transparent president, and again I'll repeat, that he was not!

MK II

[Riddick]

"By not having a Twitter account." he says? Well Riddick and kbot, that was not being a transparent president, and again I'll repeat, that he was not!

MK II

Ok, so a transparent president, O wasn't - But at the same time you can't say insofar as reproductive and LGBT rights, he wasn't a supporter of transparenting.

[kbot]

Not to mention that the "ordinary citizens" he arranged for release just prior to his term was over, were weapons manufacturers and arms dealers.......

There's "truth", and "truth according to the Democrats". What the HECK happened to the Democrat Party????? My grandparents and parents must be spinning in their graves........

[kbot]

From today's news........

Obama’s Wall Street payday triggers Dem angst

Former President Barack Obama ’s speaking fees have become a flashpoint in the debate over the future of the Democratic Party.

Obama remains enormously popular on the left, but he has nonetheless come under fire from progressives who are angered by his decision to accept $400,000 from financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald for a speech at a healthcare conference in September.

The issue has renewed tensions between liberals and mainstream Democrats that emerged during the bitter 2016 primary contest between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who campaigned hard against the influence of money in politics.

Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have both registered their disappointment with Obama, showing that not even the most revered Democrat in the country can escape the populist wrath.

Mainstream Democrats are frustrated by the criticism, arguing that Obama is now a private citizen who should be free to pursue new opportunities. They say the left is increasingly holding liberal politicians to an unreasonable standard that divides the party and distracts from the work of opposing President Trump’s agenda.

Progressives say that Democrats are again missing the lessons they should have learned in 2016.

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/33 ... -dem-angst

It's funny watching the Left pillory people such as Trump who made a ton of money as a private citizen, yet, defend Obama (and Hillary for that matter). You can almost see the implosion about to happen.......

[kbot]

And, right on cue from the ultra-hypocritical wing of the Democrat ex-leadership.......

Ex-DNC chair to Warren and Sanders: Mind your own business

The former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee came out swinging Tuesday night in defense of former President Barack Obama's plan to accept $400,000 for a speech to Wall Street in September, urging critics such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren to mind their own business.

Warren, a possible presidential candidate in 2020, said she was "troubled" by Obama's decision, and Sanders, a former Democratic presidential candidate, told CNN it was "not a good idea" and "distasteful."

After being shown both criticisms during an interview on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz fired back that "it is none of anyone's business what someone who is a member of the private sector decides to accept in terms of compensation."

"With all due respect to anyone who chooses to comment publicly on what Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, or anyone earns as a member of the private sector," she said, "it's just, like, MYOB -- it's none of your business."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/02/politics/ ... ett-cnntv/

Still not getting it. This is what Senator Sanders ran on, and, despite being submarined by the Democrat leadership, came within a breath of defeating Hillary. The Dems cannot complain about the evils of excess on the one hand with the GOP, and then defend the very same thing when it comes to "their" people.

I'm wondering how much longer the democrats are going to be relevant........

[Malaria_Kidd II]

$400 K is chicken feed compared to President Bill Clinton's past $700 K + speaking fees. The Old Arkansas Don Juan himself is still wildly popular with a majority of American voters on the left who've cheated on their spouses

MK II

[kbot]

But, things may be changing............

Chaffetz signals he will target Obama's pension

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) suggested on Wednesday that former President Barack Obama's planned $400,000 speech to a Wall Street firm is the driving force behind a coming measure to cap presidential pensions.

Chaffetz is poised to reintroduce a bill later this month that would seek to limit the pensions of ex-presidents to $200,000, with an additional $200,000 in expenses, USA Today reported Wednesday. That pension would be reduced if a president's outside income exceeds $400,000.

Tweeting the USA Today link and its headline -- "Obama's $400,000 speech could prompt Congress to go after his pension" -- Chaffetz added, "Yes it will."

Obama's $400,000 speech could prompt Congress to go after his pension https://t.co/h17muKPMmE via @USATODAY Yes, it will
— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) May 4, 2017
The Utah Republican sponsored the same measure last year. Obama vetoed that bill, and congressional leaders never attempted to override the veto. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) introduced the companion bill in the Senate. She is also set to reintroduce the measure, according to USA Today.

Obama has drawn fierce criticism in recent weeks over reports that he will speak at investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald's healthcare conference in September. That speaking engagement comes with a $400,000 paycheck for the former president.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing- ... as-pension

I can picture Trump signing this. I can also imagine a LOT of people who would LOVE the pensions and perks our politicians get.............

[kbot]

And........ unveiling "the legacy":

Obamas unveil design of presidential center in Chicago

Barack and Michelle Obama on Wednesday offered the first look at the design of the planned Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park — a campus of three buildings highlighted by an eye-catching museum, whose height and splaying walls would make a bold architectural statement.

Calling it a "transformational project for this community," the former president said he and Michelle Obama envisioned a vibrant setting that would be akin to Millennium Park — a destination for those drawn to the presidential center and the park itself. But to achieve this, the plans call for closing Cornell Drive, a major access route used by thousands of commuters a day.

.............

Beyond the center itself, one of the biggest changes for the community is the plan to close Cornell Drive between 60th and 67th streets, a major thoroughfare that links South Lake Shore Drive, Stony Island Avenue and the Chicago Skyway.

Closing Cornell could add as much as five acres of new parkland and an extra level of safety for visitors, Obama said.

"You can't have little kids playing right next to the road," he said. "You can't have sledding into the road."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obam ... story.html