Professor Pitney, CSM on Clinton "Family" Bucks

Posted 27 weeks 14 hours ago by Chuck_Johnson

Claremont McKenna Professor John J. Pitney has a quotation in the latest Christian Science Monitor about the Clinton's money, $109 million since he left the presidency.

"Wealth by itself will not be a problem for her, but the means by which she acquired it could raise some questions," says Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif.

I'll get to that in a minute, but allow me a little digression. Let me just get my bias out of the way: I hate the Clintons. Given that I almost never use the phrase "hate," you can be sure I mean it. (Aside question: is it a hate crime to admit hating the Clintons? Where is Dean Wood when I need her?)

To use a phrase lifted from John Derbyshire, I see them as "sloppy liberalism" incarnate and as such, whenever I hear their names mentioned, I hear an odd mixture of Weird Al's Bimbo Number 5 (not safe for work) and the theme song of the stormtroopers in Empire Strike's Back.

That said, I've been following their situation rather carefully. And by "their" situation I really do mean "their" situation given that the Clintons plan everything done to the types of affairs they will or will not tolerate.

In any event, let's get to the $109 million question: how did they make that much money that quickly?

In the past eight years, according to the returns released Friday afternoon, the Clintons earned $109 million, almost half of that ($51.9 million) from the former president's speeches. They paid $33.8 million, or 31 percent of their gross income, in taxes. They donated $10 million to charity, including to their own family foundation.

Almost half the Clinton's annual income came from Bill Clinton opening up his mouth? Has Al Gore ruled out Clinton as the cause of global warming? You know, all that hot air has gotta go somewhere.