Hillary Clinton earned more from one speech than Bernie Sanders did in one year
Bernie Sanders released his 2014 tax returns, highlighting the disparity of wealth between the Vermont senator and his opponent, Hillary Clinton.
In 2014, Sen. Sanders’ household earned $205,617 in income, mostly from his U.S. Senate salary and Social Security payments he and his wife, Jane, received that year. Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said Sanders’ 2015 tax returns will be filed Monday, and returns from other years may be published as well.
While $200,000 a year puts Bernie Sanders in the top quintile of earners, it still pales in comparison to what Hillary Clinton made by giving 45 paid speeches that year. In fact, the former Secretary of State made more than Sanders’ total annual income in a single speech — she did so several times, in fact. The Hill reports that in 2014, Clinton was paid $280,000 for a speech to Deutsche Bank AG, $325,000 for a speech to the National Automobile Dealers’ Association, and $225,000 for a speaking gig with General Electric.
Paid speaking engagements netted Hillary and Bill Clinton a combined $153 million from 729 total speeches between the time the Clintons left the White House and May of 2015. The average payment for each speaking gig was $210,795, and 39 of those paid speeches between the two were for the financial sector, for a combined total of $7.7 million.
The contents of Hillary Clinton’s three speeches to Goldman Sachs, for which she was paid a total sum of $675,000, have yet to be released to the public. Sen. Sanders has made Clinton’s refusal to publish the contents of those speeches a key attack point. As of this writing, it’s been over 70 days since Hillary Clinton said she would “look into it” when asked whether or not she would release the transcripts at the Democratic debate in New Hampshire.
Tom Cahill is a writer for US Uncut based in the Pacific Northwest. He specializes in coverage of political, economic, and environmental news. You can contact Tom via email at tom.v.cahill@gmail.com.
(From U.S. Uncut)
[Photo at top: Hillary Clinton in a 2014 picture with Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein]
