Four Financial Institutions Paid Clinton $2.1 Million

Citigroup paid Bill Clinton $700,000; Goldman Sachs paid $550,000; Lehman Brothers paid $300,000 and Merrill Lynch paid $175,000 to the former president for speeches during that time period. Sen. Clinton’s 2008 financial disclosure reports are not yet available.

I really have to wonder about these institutions that are taking bailout money or disappearing altogether, then sending their people off to party in other parts of the country, and those that pay out big bucks for speeches. If these companies didn't know that they were heading into financial problems, then I also have to wonder about the quality of management of these companies.

I have always thought that there was nothing wrong with a CEO getting a big bonus in his contract for leaving. Let me rephrase that. Nothing illegal. I can understand giving certain perks to have a certain CEO that you want to come and run your company. However, these CEO's should know the status of their company once they are in that position and they should know that paying out huge dollars just to have a guy speak is not affordable. If they didn't know that they were about to enter lean times, then the question becomes 'what was so enticing about this guy that we signed the guy with a big payout when he leaves'?

We all know that Bill Clinton is a political animal. So why was he invited to speak at financial institutions? This seems inappropriate at best. There really is no difference between a union spending union dues to endorse certain candidates than for a major financial institution to bring in political figures to speak. I cannot think of one thing that Bill Clinton could contribute to a financial institution. He's a former lawyer who lost his license. He's a former President who was impeached (one of only two in history).

What could Bill Clinton have contributed to financial institutions? I'm admittedly biased because I don't care for the former President at all. The only thing that I can think that he would contribute to them is advice on how to destroy the blue dress before you return home to the wife and kids.

Your comments are welcome.

Brett