Hillary Clinton Is Not President, But Demands Presidential Suite
Hillary Clinton’s reported rockstar-like demands for speaking engagements go beyond just charging about $200,000 for reading ghostwritten words off of a teleprompter.
The would-be presidential candidate reportedly requires a presidential suite in a five-star hotel and also to be flown around on a private jet.
A sweet, as it were, deal?
Notwithstanding her own lavish lifestyle and bubble-like existence, Hillary Clinton — a crusader for economic justice — apparently plans to make income inequality a cornerstone of a potential 2016 presidential run for the Democrats. Clinton apparently also sees herself as a feminist even though she owes virtually her entire professional career to her spouse’s coattails.
She and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have amassed a fortune in the range of $100 million to $200 million mainly for corporate speechmaking. During her recent book tour, however, Hillary Clinton claimed that they were “dead broke” when they left the White House and that currently the couple isn’t “truly well off.”
Despite their vast personal wealth that could enable them to provide for their own security, the taxpayer is also still funding 24-hour Secret Service protection for the couple.
In advance of Mrs. Clinton’s $225,000 speaking fee for an October address at the UNLV Foundation fundraiser that has already created controversy, the Las Vegas Review-Journal apparently gained access to the contract in question:
Hillary Rodham Clinton likes to travel in style. She insists on staying in the ‘presidential suite’ of luxury hotels that she chooses anywhere in the world, including Las Vegas. She usually requires those who pay her six-figure fees for speeches to also provide a private jet for transportation — only a $39 million, 16-passenger Gulfstream G450 or larger will do… According to her standard speaking contract, Clinton will remain at the event no longer than 90 minutes; will pose for no more than 50 photos with no more than 100 people; and won’t allow any press coverage or video- or audio-taping of her speech. The only record allowed will be made by a stenographer whose transcription will be given only to Clinton. The stenographer’s $1,250 bill, however, will go to the UNLV Foundation.”
The former Secretary of State’s entourage also get their expenses paid, and the ex-first lady can invite up to 20 guests to each event. The standard contract apparently also stipulates that during her talk, Mrs. Clinton is the only one on the stage other than an approved moderator.
Nevada political reporter Jon Ralston registered strong disapproval with Clinton’s reportedly out-of-touch, diva-like perks:
We don’t have kings and queens in America, or at least we shouldn’t. But when I see the red carpet UNLV is rolling out for Hillary Clinton in two months, I start to wonder. Unless you’re a mindless partisan, the details of that contract with the UNLV Foundation should disturb you…The contract reads as if Hillary is being given the, yes, royal treatment. Now it is bad enough that the UNLV Foundation folks agreed to that outrageous $225,000 fee as students struggle to make ends meet. But the contract they signed shows they were willing to agree to terms no self-respecting institution would…”
Parenthetically, according to The Weekly Standard, Bill Clinton allegedly has developed a taste for a $1,000 Gurkha cigar, “the Rolls Royce of the cigar industry.”
Do you think that Hillary Clinton is a credible advocate for the middle class and for income equality?
[Image via Frontpage / Shutterstock.com]
