Must be nice to put the shoe on the other foot, eh? Democrats spent all of the 2012 cycle demonizing Mitt Romney for his wealth and his supposed lack of touch with the hoi polloi. They got a lot of laughs about his car elevator and his multiple houses, but at least Romney didn’t pretend to be struggling to “pay my bills.” That level of hypocrisy from a power couple whose net worth now reaches nine figures is prime material for skewering, and the RNC has gotten off to a fast start on that theme:
The ad uses a recent exchange captured by NBC that has Bill Clinton claiming, “Over the last 15 years, I’ve taken almost no capital gains.” The text reveals that the Clintons have actually reported $371,000 in capital gains over the last few years, a rather substantial amount for someone who’s supposedly worried that “I’ve gotta pay our bills.” Most Americans would only see significant capital gains when they sell their house, and not as an annual event. Of course, most couples haven’t gotten $30 million in publishing advances over the last 15 years and aren’t getting paid $300,000 or more an hour to speak, either.
And that’s the point of the ad. Hillary Clinton has tried to turn herself into the champion of the middle class, perhaps in anticipation of Republicans from much more humble circumstances emerging as her opponent. Scott Walker’s net worth recently got estimated at just $72,000, or about what Hillary makes in 20 minutes for a typical speech. Struggling to pay the bills isn’t something that has worried the Clintons for a very long time; they’re more worried about where their next private-jet ride will be landing for their convenience.
Michael Ramirez recently put the Clinton Foundation in its proper perspective:
Ramirez penned a column extending his thoughts on the topic:
There needs to be a Clinton-English dictionary to translate the Orwellian lawyerese behind his statements … or a lie detector. …
The Clinton Foundation reported 88% of their funds were spent on its “life-saving work.” But as IBD explained in a recent editorial, the Clinton Foundation’s own tax filing shows that only 10% of its spending went to direct grants and aid in 2013.
According to the Washington Post, Bill Clinton earned an estimated $100 million from speeches. He must have some big bills. I have nothing against anyone making as much as the market is willing to pay, as long as there are no hidden ulterior motives behind those payments.
One thing is clear, with an estimated net worth of close to $100 million, clearly, the Bill was paid, over and over and over again.
Clintonian parsing is back, baby!
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