Clinton’s Earned $25M in Speeches in Past 16 Months, FEC Filing States
According to a filing with the U.S. Federal Election Commission, the popular political duo have earned about $25 million for delivering some 100 speeches since the start of 2014, POLITICO reported Friday.
That’s an average of $250,000 per speech. It also works out to a bit more than $1.56 million per month — and the equivalent of $18.7 million per year.
As president of the United States, Clinton would earn a comparatively paltry $400,000. However, the job does come with a $50,000 general expense account, a $100,000 nontaxable travel allowance and $19,000 for entertainment — all courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer.
The $25 million in speaking engagements needed to be reported by Clinton to the FEC in order for her to run for president next year. Clinton will also need to disclose the $5 million she received in 2014 for her best-selling memoir, “Hard Choices,” an unnamed campaign official said.
The Clintons likely had to pay about 30 percent of their income in taxes to the federal government, USA Today reported. But their tax liability isn’t certain because the FEC doesn’t require that information in candidates’ disclosures.
The Clinton campaign is eager to point out, though, that many other wealthy candidates for president pay for their campaigns with capital gains from investments — which are taxed about half as much as normal income. In 2012, GOP nominee Mitt Romney paid 14 percent in taxes on his 2011 income, the USA Today report said.
Clinton’s FEC filing listed no capital gains for the couple in 2014. The last time Hillary Clinton ran for president, in 2007, her filing reported $371,000 in capital gains between 2000 and 2006.
Candidates for president must disclose income and assets to the FEC within 30 days of announcing their candidacy. Clinton declared her intention to join the race April 12. While candidates are not required to disclose income tax information, many do so voluntarily in the interest of transparency. As of Friday, Clinton has not yet done so.
The Clintons have attracted criticism for racking up such large speaking fees, and for claiming that they were “dead broke” when they left the White House in 2001. However, the couple continue to enjoy high popularity. Hillary Clinton received a high approval rating when she handed over control of the Department of State in 2013 to John Kerry. She is considered the overwhelming Democratic favorite to succeed President Barack Obama in 2017.
Though the salaries of U.S. presidents are quite high in comparison to median citizen incomes, it is often far lower than amounts wealthy candidates have earned in their private life. President Clinton raised the salary from $200,000 to $400,000 when he left office in 2001.
The president’s salary was increased to $200,000 the day Richard Nixon took office in 1969, and at the time it was a hefty amount — equivalent to nearly $1.3 million in 2015 dollars. But the greatest buying power the president’s salary has ever held was achieved in 1909, when William Howard Taft took office — and received a newly raised yearly income of $75,000, which is equivalent to about $2 million in 2015 dollars.
