This guy is making millions from giving speeches? Really???
by digby
When you hear people complaining about former Senator and Secretary of State Hillary and former president Bill Clinton making too much money from speeches, show them this:
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson and his wife, Candy, earned between $8.9 million and $27 million in a recent 16-month period, largely fueled by book royalties, speaking engagements and Mr. Carson’s service on the board of directors for two big companies.
The figures were included in Mr. Carson’s personal financial disclosure, a copy of which was viewed by the Wall Street Journal.
From the start of 2014 through May 3 of this year, Mr. Carson delivered 141 paid speeches, earning just over $4 million, according to the disclosure. Since announcing his campaign last month, the retired neurosurgeon has continued to deliver paid speeches that were contracted prior to his candidacy, his spokesman said. Mr. Carson will deliver four more speeches this year, the last one in November.
For Mr. Carson—who has never held elected office and didn’t emerge onto the political scene until 2013, when he rebuked the Affordable Care Act and called for a flat tax at an event where President Barack Obama was sitting just feet away—his speeches have served as a way of introducing himself to American voters. His books have also offered him an outlet: In “One Nation,” published last year, he called for term limits for federal judges and a new constitutional convention.
Mr. Carson earned between $2 million and $10 million over 16 months serving on the boards of Kellogg Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp.—positions he resigned after launching his candidacy. He also earned between $1.1 million and $6 million in book royalties, and drew between $200,000 and $2 million from his positions as a contributor at the Washington Times and Fox News, according to the disclosure.
Candidates report their income in wide ranges on their personal financial disclosure forms. They sometimes also disclose more exact figures, but aren’t required to.
Depending on what end of the range Mr. Carson’s income falls in, his earnings could near the $30 million Hillary and Bill Clinton earned over a similar time period. Following Mrs. Clinton’s disclosure, Republicans seized on that number to paint her as out of touch with average Americans.
Personally, I think these numbers are insane no matter who is getting them. It’s just another sign of the increasingly bizarre distance between ordinary Americans and the 1%. I recently saw an article about some 3rd rate actor who hadn’t had a hit since the 90s (can’t remember who.) And it was said that his net worth was over 20 million. No inheritance, just the spoils of being a 3rd rate actor who happened to make enough money at one time that he could put his money to work making the money for him. The sheer amount of money the 1% is able to accumulate is staggering.
But jayzuz, Ben Carson? I’m perfectly happy for him to be wealthy as a result of his skill as a pediatric neuro-surgeon (which he was.) But this cretinous clap trap he’s selling is making him millions? What a screwed up world we live in.
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