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Yellen earned millions in speaking fees from Wall St, tech firms (2021)

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Re: Yellen earned millions in speaking fees from Wall St, tech firms (2021)

#51

One of the most notable deals I heard about for a politician was Obama getting a $65 million book advance [1] shortly after leaving office. I get that Obama's books sell a lot, but damn, that's huge. It's obvious that once you become a high-ranking politician (especially President, VP, or a similar high-level position), wealth awaits you once you leave office. What's then the incentive to serve the people if you know…

Asking a question, not starting an argument.

Is Trump the only President that didn't land in a pool full of cash when he left office and actually "lost" money / wealth while in office ?

Re: Yellen earned millions in speaking fees from Wall St, tech firms (2021)

#52

One of the most notable deals I heard about for a politician was Obama getting a $65 million book advance [1] shortly after leaving office. I get that Obama's books sell a lot, but damn, that's huge. It's obvious that once you become a high-ranking politician (especially President, VP, or a similar high-level position), wealth awaits you once you leave office. What's then the incentive to serve the people if you know…

Always found it suspicious how Al Gore became worth $100 million within two short years of leaving office. Clinton too.

Re: Yellen earned millions in speaking fees from Wall St, tech firms (2021)

#53
post #44

The issue I have with those attacks on Yellen are two-fold : First, as this article show, they come from everywhere (ie she's at the same time a sellout and not listening to the banking industry), and are very sudden. If she was incompetent from the start, it would have been different, but from what I read pre 2023, the main concern for right wing guys is that she was (ordered from likely to be true to less likely):…

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Re: Yellen earned millions in speaking fees from Wall St, tech firms (2021)

#54
post #47

One of the most notable deals I heard about for a politician was Obama getting a $65 million book advance [1] shortly after leaving office. I get that Obama's books sell a lot, but damn, that's huge. It's obvious that once you become a high-ranking politician (especially President, VP, or a similar high-level position), wealth awaits you once you leave office. What's then the incentive to serve the people if you know…

How does earning money from selling a book hurt your incentives to do a good job as a politician? It seems to me it makes them better: there's less temptation to take money from industries you were involved in regulating, and your book will sell better if people think you did good work in office.

You can't possibly be this naive. The people giving them money have access to power. Even a former president has plenty of contacts within the government as well as the public stage. They can be enormously persuasive on issues with the attention they get.

Re: Yellen earned millions in speaking fees from Wall St, tech firms (2021)

#55
post #51

One of the most notable deals I heard about for a politician was Obama getting a $65 million book advance [1] shortly after leaving office. I get that Obama's books sell a lot, but damn, that's huge. It's obvious that once you become a high-ranking politician (especially President, VP, or a similar high-level position), wealth awaits you once you leave office. What's then the incentive to serve the people if you know…

Asking a question, not starting an argument. Is Trump the only President that didn't land in a pool full of cash when he left office and actually "lost" money / wealth while in office ?

Did Trump lose money? Seems almost impossible to fully account for all of his assets before and after his presidency.

Re: Yellen earned millions in speaking fees from Wall St, tech firms (2021)

#56

The US is actually one the most corrupt countries on earth. What makes it worse: They always try to give lessons to the rest of the world, but meh. The result is here: Record homeless Americans, drug addicts in the streets, health crisis, education crisis, while the ruling elite (it's even more hypocritical when it's the left like Yellen) gets even richer. Time for a revolution maybe.

> Time for a revolution maybe.

Just a heads up you're running a fine line with comments like that... don't be surprised if the alphabet boys label you a "domestic terrorist".

Re: Yellen earned millions in speaking fees from Wall St, tech firms (2021)

#57
post #16
post #7

I think she is free now to talk everywhere, isn't she?

As Secretary of the US Treasury she may be quite busy though.

I understand, I didn't know she still works there, so she is in an interest conflict and handling sensitive information.

Re: Yellen earned millions in speaking fees from Wall St, tech firms (2021)

#58

That many people find this acceptable is disconcerting. We have a revolving door system whereby the top regulator knows they will get a nice payout by the regulated after their days of regulating end. Clinton’s Secretary of Treasury got a very high paying job after his repeal of Glass-Steagall and the Clinton’s themselves were richly rewarded by Wall Street. Therein lies one of the curses of wealth inequality. Humans…

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Re: Yellen earned millions in speaking fees from Wall St, tech firms (2021)

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is all true. But who wants to be a politician when they are public figures that are beaten, accused, humiliated by opponents, the public, and everyone really. You cannot do it right and most people will probably hate you, regardless of what you do. It's not a pleasant job. Unless you get money for all of this unpleasantness. And then, some entities have more money to give than others (you said that in your last…

We’ve know for decades - take money out of politics and make it about civil service. To do so requires campaign finance reform (limits on spending and sources of $) as well as making lobbying illegal

People like you are exactly the reason why we can't have competent politicians. Who apart from crazy ideologues, the crooked and those that can't hack it as anything else than demagogues do you expect to sign up for a job where you are a public punching ball on terrible pay and with limited ability to diverge from whatever party line or other contingencies dictate?

Re: Yellen earned millions in speaking fees from Wall St, tech firms (2021)

#60
post #51

One of the most notable deals I heard about for a politician was Obama getting a $65 million book advance [1] shortly after leaving office. I get that Obama's books sell a lot, but damn, that's huge. It's obvious that once you become a high-ranking politician (especially President, VP, or a similar high-level position), wealth awaits you once you leave office. What's then the incentive to serve the people if you know…

Asking a question, not starting an argument. Is Trump the only President that didn't land in a pool full of cash when he left office and actually "lost" money / wealth while in office ?

He did lose money while in office, but some point to his deal with the Saudis for $2 billion for the LIV golf project he started with Greg Norman. But that seems to be more of an investment than a payoff, but that remains to be seen.
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