How much money will Obama make after his presidency?

[oneofthe99]

Free trade deals ... corporations owe him big time .
What do you think ? $200,000 an appearance to speak

[NYC_SKP]

1. I would guess seventyleven Brazillian dollars. Per Year.

Unless he's more like a President James Earl Carter (rather than a Bill Clinton).

Now why is it that you ask?

[oneofthe99]

3. He didn't seem like this when he was campaigning

I thought he was different than the usual Washington politician

I was wrong

[RKP5637]

7. When it comes to $$$$$, all are cut out of the same piece of cloth, IMO. R=D=I. n/t

[yeoman6987]

16. He will become the 1%.....yep he is that good.

[Voice for Peace]

19. I think so but also believe the man has a conscience and will use wealth and power

in constructive ways that are good for our children and
all ensuing generations.

[kelliekat44]

92. Whatever he makes, he will have earned it! nt

[madokie]

94. President O will no doubt be more like James Earl

than the big dog is my guess

[NYC_SKP]

95. Agree. And the daughters not likely to become hedge-fund managers.

Chelsea's gigs include working for:

Avenue Capital Group is a global investment firm focusing on distressed securities[2] and private equity with regional teams focusing on opportunities in the United States, Europe and Asia. The firm operates as both a private equity firm and as a hedge fund. Avenue’s core strategy is focused on distressed debt and equity securities although the firm also manages investment funds that focus on long-short opportunities, real estate, and collateralized debt obligations. The firm manages assets valued at approximately $12 billion.[1] The firm was founded by former professionals of Amroc Investments, an affiliate of the Robert M. Bass Group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_Capital_Group

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAC_%28company%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinsey_%26_Company

I hope I live long enough to see what the Obama girls do with their lives.

[madokie]

96. I hope I live that long too

I'm really hoping I live long enough to see my first grader grand child graduate from high school. As it is I doubt I will but I'll keep hoping anyway.

[Whisp]

2. o good, crystal ball time!

A community organizer is always after the Big Bucks.

I guess Greenwald is taking quite a beating here so resort is to fantasize about the Evil of Obama and his money grubbing past and future, neither of which exists.

[dionysus]

45. don't make fun of the bebe jesus pequeno Greenwald... you'll upset his "cultists" and "apologists".

[Egnever]

4. hopefully a gazillion

He has earned it.

[oneofthe99]

5. He sure has

[m-lekktor]

8. that's for sure!

bless his heart!

[RKP5637]

9. The stress on him has been incredible, most would not have been able to handle it. Also, he's kept

his cool, not running around like a loose cannon.

[Egnever]

15. An amazing man

I would have had a stroke or something years ago if I was in his shoes. I can't even begin to imagine the day to day stress.

[yeoman6987]

17. Only 44 others have had to have the same stresses....

it is a job that I would not want for even 10 million a year.

[Egnever]

27. Oh I would have swapped with one of them.

Couldnt do much worse I figure, and maybe could have saved some folks some misery.

[RKP5637]

33. The second term is when it all seems to take its toll on them. They all seem to

age a lot in the second term. Ha, I would look like that after one day!

[Armstead]

20. So does the guy walking behind the garbage truck tossing trash cans at 6 a.m. in -15 degree weather

The whole idea that public service is just a route to an obscene payoff is at the heart of our problems today.

It also makes politicians suck up to the Oligarchs while in office. i,e, Clinton

[Egnever]

22. Not sure I understand what you are trying to say here.

If you are trying to say a job as a garbage man is somehow comparable to being POTUS. I am going to have to totally disagree.

[Armstead]

26. I'm saying that Disgustingly Large Amounts of Wealth should not be the payoff for politicians

My garbage truck reference was to the fact that many people have very hard jobs, but they're not given a ticket to a basic living wage, much less fabulous cash and prizes.

That carrot dangled by the Big Money Club is what is helping to destroy our political system.

[Egnever]

28. I dont necessarily think they are.

Bush is not exactly raking it in. He will be scorned except in very closed circles forever. Sure he will still get some ridiculously large payoffs but a president that is loved by the people would definitely pull in more. If that was their goal.


A garbage man should get a decent wage of that there is no doubt, but the idea that a job as a garbage man and being the president are anywhere near the same realm is silly.

Regardless IMHO Obama has had more to deal with on more fronts than any president in my lifetime and he has handled it incredibly well. If any president has earned a golden parachute he has.

[Armstead]

29. I think he deserves to earn a very good living -- That's different than becoming a mega millionaire

[Egnever]

30. Semantics

[Armstead]

32. Maybe, but I think its wrong for people like Cinton and Obama to join The Club who screws us

There are many ways to make an honest, and solid, living, post-politics other than getting the Big Payoff from Corporations and Wall St. Pirates

[dionysus]

44. i doubt he seeks to be a billionaire. he's got 10+ million already, he doesn't need to scrounge more

[VanillaRhapsody]

51. Um what has Bill Clinton been doing since he left office?

What do Republicans do after leaving office....


so....Come Again?

[Armstead]

61. What Bill Clinton has been doing is the same thing as the GOPers do

Collect their check from the people they did favors for while in office, and hobnobbing with the Swells.

He puts lipstick on the pig of the Global Corporate Oligarchy by helping promote the idea that those Big benevolent Eites relly di have ou best interests at heart.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/22/AR2007022202189.html

"Many of Bill Clinton's six-figure speeches have been made to companies whose employees and political action committees have been among Hillary Clinton's top backers in her Senate campaigns. The New York investment giant Goldman Sachs paid him $650,000 for four speeches in recent years. Its employees and PAC have given her $270,000 since 2000 -- putting it second on the list of her most generous political patrons.

The banking firm Citigroup, whose employees and PAC have been Hillary Clinton's top source of campaign donations, with more than $320,000, paid her husband $250,000 for a speech in France in 2004. Last year, it committed $5.5 million for Clinton's Global Initiative to help encourage entrepreneurship and financial education among the poor.

Asked about the companies and their relationship to the Clintons, Jay Carson, a spokesman for the former president, said, "It certainly makes sense that reputable New York companies who support the policies and works of President Clinton and his foundation would also be supportive of their senator."

[VanillaRhapsody]

62. That's Marlarkey...

GW is busy painting pictures of himself in the Bathtub...

Meanwhile
http://www.clintonfoundation.org/

The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation[2] (originally, the William J. Clinton Foundation) is a non-profit foundation established by former President of the United States Bill Clinton with the stated mission to "strengthen the capacity of people throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence." The Foundation focuses on four critical areas: health security; economic empowerment; leadership development and citizen service; and racial, ethnic and religious reconciliation. The Foundation works principally through partnerships with like-minded individuals, organizations, corporations, and governments, often serving as an incubator for new policies and programs

The William J. Clinton Foundation promotes and provides for a number of humanitarian causes. Within the foundation, the Clinton Foundation HIV and AIDS Initiative (CHAI) strives to make treatment for HIV/AIDS more affordable and to implement large-scale integrated care, treatment, and prevention programs. While in Sydney to attend a Global Business Forum, Clinton signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of his presidential foundation with the Australian government to promote HIV/AIDS programs in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), funded by the Clinton Foundation, was inaugurated September 15–17, 2005 in New York City to coincide with the 2005 World Summit. The focus areas of the initiative include attempts to address world problems such as global public health, poverty alleviation and religious and ethnic conflict.[19]

Clinton announced through the William J. Clinton Foundation an agreement by major soft drink manufacturers to stop selling sugared sodas and juice drinks, in public primary and secondary schools within the United States, on May 3, 2005

You were saying?

[Armstead]

63. I don't want to say Clinton has done nothing worthwhile but...

He made my spine tingle with his speech at the Dem convention, for example. And I'm sure in his heart he is trying to do the right thing.

However, many of his solutions are based on the narrow view of the Eites who believe that our system of Corporate Dominance is working fine, but just needs some tweaking around the edges. Its based on those "Enlightened Elites" giving us crumbs.

"Clinton announced through the William J. Clinton Foundation an agreement by major soft drink manufacturers to stop selling sugared sodas and juice drinks, in public primary and secondary schools within the United States, on May 3, 2005."

Think of the convoluted logic in that. The companies acknowledge that their products are shitty and harmful. But it's just a symbolic action that doesn't do anything to move them in the direction of not making shitty and harmful products.

[VanillaRhapsody]

65. Nice back pedal....FAIL!

[Armstead]

66. Not a back pedal -- If you thinbk the systen is working fine but just needs a few little tweaks....

...then don't trouble your mind with inconsistencies, or having to reconcile the differences between image and reality.

Goldman Sachs has helped to decimate the middle class and healthy competitive capitalism. But they make such nice feelgood ads, so they must be okay.

[VanillaRhapsody]

67. That wasn't the question....Nice Strawman.....Fail.

Um what has Bill Clinton been doing since he left office?

What do Republicans do after leaving office....

and your response towards Clinton was...
"He puts lipstick on the pig of the Global Corporate Oligarchy by helping promote the idea that those Big benevolent Eites relly di have ou best interests at heart."


And we know what Jimmy Carter has done....


Now as I said...."come again"?

[Armstead]

69. I realize you have a rigid view, so I'm no going to waste time going in circles with you

[VanillaRhapsody]

70. No now we ALL realize YOU have the wrong views....

thanks for enlightening us on them....

[Armstead]

71. yawn

The difference between me and thee is that I'm willing to acknowledge things like Bil Clinton having some good qualities, while disagreeing with him on many things.

You are either "fer us or agin us."

You're fine with a system that is screwed up going on in a screwed up way without challenging or questioning those in authority.

Your only interest is in perpetuating the false dichotomy of red and blue as a team sport -- in a way that prevents any real discussion of changes that will break the grip of the powerful and restore some measure of democracy and economic opportunity for all.

You demand blind worship of the Dems without question or be consigned to the outer ring of Hades.

[VanillaRhapsody]

72. No I think the difference is much bigger than you realize....

I asked a question regarding Democrats vs Republicans post Presidency....

You took that as an opportunity to Bash Bill Clinton for doing speaking engagements....saying he did what ALL of them do....

And I just proved you wrong...

THAT is what just happened. Like it or not.

[Armstead]

73. How is Dick Armey shilling for the Koch brothers different than Clinton shilling for Goldman Sachs?

[VanillaRhapsody]

74. Uh because people.....

When did Dick Armey "shill" for...

The (Clinton) Foundation's agenda includes combating HIV/AIDS, fostering racial and ethnic reconciliation, and promoting the economic empowerment of poor people.

and when was Dick Armey a POTUS?

[Armstead]

75. Now you're deflecting...

But if you want to limit it to recent presidents, the Bushes were already loaded long before they got elected. They were already in The Club and don't have to do anything they don't want to after laving office....GW sits on his butt because he's basically lazy and doesn't much give a shit about anything except havin' a good time.

Reagan got Alzheimer's, so he wasn't going to be able to do much after leaving office.

If you want to go further back, Tricky Dick was poison when he left office. His main concern was rehabilitating his image. Ford was...well, Ford.

[VanillaRhapsody]

76. No that isn't deflection....that is YOU trying to take back the malarkey you said....

Dick Armey....seriously???

and you have the nerve to accuse me of "deflecting"? GMAFB

[Armstead]

79. Like I said you're rigid and just want to go in circles.

You wanted comparisons to GOP presidents. I gave them to you. And you just shoot back with an empty and repetitious claim tat I didn't address your question.

I 'm familiar with that tactic from "centrists" and conservatives, and it's boring and useless. No actual debate there.

Haven't got time to waste on that.

Buh bye.

[VanillaRhapsody]

81. No I asked a very simple question.....you answered with Bunk...

and I called you on it...

It was utter horseshit....and you know that...

(buh bye indeed)

[oneofthe99]

82. Really " that should be our yardstick to use as measurement

"What do Republicans do after leaving office.... "


that's your argument

[VanillaRhapsody]

85. that was not my "argument" those are the words you are putting in my mouth...

reading is fundamental...

and YES Democrats have done more philanthropic after leaving office than Republicans have....AND since Pres. Obama was a community organizer...I expect that trend to continue...

so you can wag your finger in someone else's face....you are barking up the wrong tree..

[oneofthe99]

86. Acknowledge that it's fact that present and past Presidents explicitly

get paid these large sums of money because of favorable laws passed to benefit these corporations.

Obama is going to be paid handsomely due to these trade deals he so zealously pushed for.

It's sad when long time respected party leaders tell Obama it's bad for American jobs
But hey.....$200,000 speaking engagements possibly in the future......cha-ching cha-ching


http://www.voanews.com/content/pelosi-deals-another-blow-to-usled-free-trade-deals/1850460.html


Or would you rather be an apologists ? The choice is yours.................................

[oneofthe99]

34. earned a golden parachute

interesting choice of words

[Egnever]

38. Oh?

did your spidey sense tingle ...

[oneofthe99]

43. should they

[L0oniX]

84. Surprised to find lovers of rich people on DU?

People fawning all over popular rich people ...sickens me. They are begging for a Camelot replacement.

[WillyT]

41. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha !!!

You kidder, you!

[3catwoman3]

77. Damn right.

I hope he makes a pile.

[calimary]

6. I hope it's a TON!

That would be the SWEETEST of sweet revenge to have on those who only care about money (and judge one's worth by it)!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. More than enough, I would guess...n/t

[winter is coming]

11. I'm far more interested in how much money ordinary Americans will be making. n/t

[oneofthe99]

31. So am I ' but what he does affects that

now and well after he leaves office .

These free trade deals are going to cost jobs and could break unions, there's no denying that.

He's a smart man so why bend to the corporations wishes when he knows it's not good for American workers?

Now the corporations owe him some very large speaking engagements.

I guess hourly Walmart workers also could hire him after he leaves for a speaking engagements.

Maybe they can scrape up enough money to grace them with his presence.

Pass a hat around in the break room , they should be able to come up with a few bucks.

[VanillaRhapsody]

52. Has it happened yet? Did the last few faux outrage Du Jours pan out?

[tularetom]

12. Don't know but I hope he gets every dollar he can squeeze out of the fat cats

If Clinton can get filthy rich as a former president, there's no reason for Obama not to.

[Armstead]

18. NO -- That just gives him an incentive to join The Club while he's in office

That's the damn problem. Once these people get there they get corrupted by all the money dangled in front of them.

[tularetom]

35. I'm afraid that horse has left the barn

[Cooley Hurd]

13. Whatever the amount, I'm sure he will roll it back to his present constituents

...like Big Dog did and GHW Bush NEVER did.

[QC]

14. Don't forget the corporate board appointments.

Those are quite lucrative.

I strongly suspect that WalMart will come through with one, if today's disgraceful photo op is any indication.

[oneofthe99]

36. I haven't forgot those

[dionysus]

46. yeah! then you get an excuse to trash him for the rest of your life! woo hoo!

[BarbaRosa]

21. I'm thinking, as much as he wants.

He could go with making as much as he can, many speaking engagements, or, in Carter fashion, enough to keep his family comfortable, leaving time for personal projects.

My bet would be with the latter.

[Egnever]

24. Win

[Hekate]

23. He needs to take a vow of poverty for himself & his family so he can prove purity of character

Christ on a Trailer Hitch.

[KittyWampus]

48. maybe sackcloth and ashes too?

edit- someone down thread mentioned him teaching again. I could see him doing that.

[Whisp]

50. LOL!

[TeamPooka]

25. Thread trashed and OP ignored.

[Sunlei]

37. He made his first million off his book. He has a couple books planned & mentioned,

he would like to teach again. He can do a lot of good in the private sector.

I don't think he would ever take 'speak and bribes' from corporations or write some crap book and have some campaign funds buy 50,000 copies.

[Nye Bevan]

39. Like Bill Clinton, the Obamas will be worth well over $100 million

within 10 to 15 years after his presidency is over.

Not to be too cynical, but don't expect him to become an advocate for the Pikkety wealth tax any time soon.

[Jesus Malverde]

53. ^^^^This^^^^

[SamKnause]

40. Too much, like the

majority before, and I suspect after.

[cherokeeprogressive]

42. He's my age. I'd say his daughters will inherit $200 million dollars.

I'd also go so far as to say their inheritance will be somehow exempted from the coming wealth tax.

[hughee99]

47. Lifetime?

My guess is, before he's all done giving speeches, he'll have generated more than 1 billion dollers.

[Beacool]

49. They could both make millions.

Why the question?

[TexasTowelie]

54. He has two daughters that will soon be in college so he has the duty for providing for them.

I'm not going to be bothered by whatever money he manages to make after he leaves the Oval Office and it should be nobody's concern either since he will most likely be a private citizen afterwards.

[oneofthe99]

55. That pushed for free trade as President and after leaving office

will be paid large sums of money to speak at the very corporations
that benefited by this. who lobbied for free trade

and you see no problem with this?


In the real world that's called paying back favors but I guess in Washington it's just suppose to be overlooked
by the American people who will lose their jobs over this .

Oh well at least Obama will make a couple of hundred million


business as usual I guess............................................................

[TexasTowelie]

56. The whole premise of your OP starts with several assumptions.

First, a new free trade agreement has not been passed. Considering the inability for Congress to pass any legislation it is not likely that a free trade agreement will be enacted before the end of his term.

Second, he could just as easily be speaking to other groups besides corporations such as universities or private foundations.

Third, if he does speak to corporations, those corporations may not be beneficiaries of free trade or do business with countries involved in a free trade agreement with the US.

Fourth, we don't know if he will go on the lecture circuit. He may decide to stay out of public life altogether or only do TV interviews since there is the possibility of encounters with the nut jobs who want him dead.

In a number of ways, I can't decide whether your OP is either conjecture or a smear campaign. The OP and the above post does however show your cynicism, particularly since no jobs have been lost thus far.

[oneofthe99]

57. Ahhh...you do know one was passed already right

[TexasTowelie]

58. Okay, I forgot about the agreements with South Korea, Panama and Columbia.

However, there still isn't any evidence that he is going to personally profit from those trade agreements though. Does Samsung or KIA have the president on speed-dial after he leaves office?

Thus far the whole premise of this thread is conjecture and cynicism. Other DUers are doubting your motives as to why you post this thread and so am I.

[Exposethefrauds]

59. Does it really matter, he will be a private citizen and as long as he stays out of politics what he

does or does not do is his business. However he wants to enter the public eye he is fair game for any and all criticism.

Personally I don't think he will spend his time like Carter.

He will fund raise for corporate/DLC/Moderate/Centrist/Blue Dogs, sit in boardrooms and continue to curry favor with those who can buy and sell politicians.

Why would he change his stripes once out of office?

[TransitJohn]

60. He'll be amply compensated for the services he's renderend to our scandalous corporatocracy

His push to privatize our education system alone is worth billions. If he gets the free trade agreements he's been pushing for the better half of a decade, that's hundreds of billions. He's kept up and accelerated the purchase of new, more expensive killing and warfare technology (drones, e.g.). He let the banksters who took down the global economy get off scott free, for all intents and purposes.

He'll make out as good as Clinton or Bush, if not better.

[MineralMan]

64. More than I make, I'm certain.

Beyond that, I haven't a clue.

[JoePhilly]

68. And how much is he wasting using airforce one!!!!

Suddenly some are very concerned about how much a President makes after he leaves office.

[oneofthe99]

83. No , I'm concerned WHY he does certain things while in office

When his argument for change was the thing he harped on the most..

[Major Nikon]

89. Your concern is interesting to say the least

Lot's of things changed for the better, which you either have little concern, or are conveniently ignoring, or both. None of these things would have happened with a Republican in office.

1) Passed ACA resulting in millions with health care that didn't have it before

2) Iraq war over

3) 1/3rd the number of troops in Afghanistan

4) Auto industry saved from bankruptcy

5) DADT gone

6) Stopped the torture of prisoners

7) Signed Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

8) Killed Saint Ronnie's Star Wars money pit

9) Invested $90 billion in renewable energy

10) Appointed two more women to the USSC

11) Appointed over 200 liberal federal judges

[Tanuki]

78. Why are you trying to gin up outrage over future events that exist only in your imagination?

Nobody knows what he will do or how much he will earn. Why not limit your contempt and indignation to real events and actions?

[Paladin]

80. Another Democratic circular firing squad thread.

If I need a dose of Obama Derangement Syndrome (with a side of Clinton hatred), I'll rely on Facebook.

[DFW]

91. Second that

Yeah, Bill Clinton made a fortune after he left office. He also founded the CGI and the Clinton Foundation which not only do charitable things around the world, but are still actively seeking suggestions for new stuff they might do.

Clinton doesn't try to hide it, nor is he ashamed of it. He'll tell anyone willing to listen: "I've been poor and I've been rich and I like rich better." His words. Even so, what has he given back to the world post presidency? Plenty. What has W given back to the world? A few paintings?

Obama will be like Carter and Clinton, not like the Bushes. How much he makes, I don't care. If people were willing to pay me $100,000 a shot to make a speech, I'd take it, too. What he does with his time is what I care about, and my bet is he will do a lot of people a lot of good.

[Paladin]

93. Well said. (nt)

[octoberlib]

87. He was a community organizer before he got into politics, not John Galt.

He'll probably do what most Presidents do, write books and make speeches. He could have gotten a job with Citibank if he was just out for the money; with a lot less stress than the Presidency.

[Puzzledtraveller]

88. mils

[fujiyama]

90. Enough money...as much as he wants.

I don't know what his plans are, post-presidency, but I'm sure he will write and publish his memoirs as well as give speeches on occasion, all of which will be very lucrative. Maybe he'll sit on corporate boards, join or start a global charitable network similar to what Clinton has done, or begin teaching again. I have a feeling that energy may be an area he'll be heavily involved in. His administration has spent more on renewable energy projects than just about any past administration has.

He has the luxury of getting behind just about any cause out there and raising money for it. He may end up being more effective as an ex-president in many ways since he won't have to deal with ass holes in congress.

[SidDithers]

97. Welcome to DU...

Sid

[Octafish]

98. More in one year than most Americans make in a lifetime.

My guess is based on how much recent ex-presidents get per speech, with corporate board appointments.

For example, Bill Clinton and UBS:

http://financialservicesinc.ubs.com/revitalizingamerica/SenatorPhilGramm.html