"I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money," President Obama said in 2010. His potential successor and her philandering husband couldn’t disagree more.
The Clintons can’t stop making money. Hillary recently took home $225,000 for a speech at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas foundation, money she refused to give back after students at the public university protested her exorbitant speaking fee in the face of rising tuition costs.
Bill, meanwhile, just wrapped a six-figure keynote gig at Veritas Capital, a private equity firm. You know, sort of like Bain Capital, which Democrats spent the entire 2012 campaign attacking as a heartless agent of "vulture capitalism."
Money matters. But so does style and luxury. Both Clintons were in Iowa last month for Senator Tom Harkin’s (D., Iowa) annual steak fry. Bloomberg reports that event organizers spent more than $50,000 on a private jet for Clintons, the second-largest single expense, apart from the food. In fairness, it would probably be unfair to ask the Clintons to mingle with commoners in Iowa AND fly commercial.
Hillary Clinton has made more than $12 million since abandoning her post as secretary of state, but that is merely a fraction of what Bill has earned since leaving office. It is certainly refreshing to see a potential 2016 candidate reject President Obama’s belief that, at some point, shamelessly exploiting one’s political clout to get rich becomes a bit obscene. That said, Hillary’s love of money and ties to Wall Street could hurt her among Iowa commoners in the Democratic primary.