2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: I don't fucking care how much they paid her. [View all]Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)Actually it is quite a bit of money. Even if it's only a small percentage of their bottom line, the fact remains they still have to answer to a board and to stockholders for 6 figure expenditures unless the money is coming out of their own personal pocket and I don't believe that is the case here. A corporation can only do so much in private. They are subject to audits and while they can certainly bury some things under "non-operating expenses" and conceal them from most shareholders, they still have to account for them at some level. Handing large amounts of money directly to a candidate covertly is still viewed as bribery by the FEC, which is why they operate through PAC funds, which are themselves accountable for any money given directly to a candidate. So the only practical method of funneling large amounts of money directly to a politician's bank account is through the speaking circuit.
You or I taking $200K for 30 minutes work is a no-brainer, but for a politician the very best you can say about it is it's influence peddling and it absolutely is the way people buy politicians. Now perhaps HRC is the outlier and is simply taking advantage of a perk many others are also making bank on without influencing her actions farther down the line, but I do think it's a very valid question that needs to be brought up during the election cycle, especially when one candidate is doing it and the other isn't.