2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumHillary Clinton Says Her Family Was ‘Dead Broke’ After Leaving The White House Read More Here: Http
Hillary Rodham Clintons family was dead broke and saddled with legal bills when she and her husband left the White House, the former first lady said in an interview that aired Monday.
Republicans immediately seized on the comment and said it demonstrated that Clinton, the Democratic Partys strongest contender for its 2016 presidential nomination, was out of touch.
We came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt, Clinton told ABC News. We had no money when we got there, and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for Chelseas education. You know, it was not easy.
Since leaving the White House, former President Bill Clinton earned a fortune in speaking fees and Hillary Rodham Clinton represented New York in the Senate.
Hillary Rodham Clintons Senate financial disclosure forms, filed for 2000, show assets between $781,000 and almost $1.8 million. The forms allow senators to report assets in broad ranges.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article510385/Hillary-Clinton-says-her-family-was-%E2%80%98dead-broke%E2%80%99-after-leaving-the-White-House.html#storylink=cpy
I doubt she has nary a clue what 'broke' really means.
SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)Surprised she said that.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)It seems to be habitual.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)Wilms
(26,795 posts)Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)$200 million in 14 years.
Quite an achievement.
Of course, assets of $781,000 don't qualify as "dead broke" in my book. I know, I have been there. Also, it is not like she was on food stamps and a month from being evicted with no money coming.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)including legal bills...and is she opposed to increasing the minimum wage? Did she claim they were on foodstamps and welfare? Or is she saying in context that they had more debt then money coming in at the time?
OKNancy
(41,832 posts)but fortunately they were able to recover quickly.
I dare say if some of you were offered 200,000 as a speaking fee, you would do it.
She made a lot of money from her first book. People bought it. They bought Bill's book too.
I don't know why people resent the Clintons for making some money.
Bill was dirt poor as a child and although Hillary was middle class, she was by no means wealthy.
They didn't get their money from inheritance.
If critics want to take on her politics, I think that's fair, but this other stuff is petty.
Oh and the Clinton foundation gives back much to this world
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)When I read this quote it did remind me of Mittens telling some unemployed people that he was unemployed too. I'd like to be broke like the Clintons were broke.
OKNancy
(41,832 posts)That's what they had when he left office
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)not that much but a lot for my income and I'm not sure how it's going to be paid off. The Clintons have much more options for moneymaking than I do.
OKNancy
(41,832 posts)If I could have written a book or make thousands in speaking fees I would have done that. I took another legal option.
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)I'd have no practical way to pay it back. The Clintons clearly did.
Sorry, it's really stupid of Hillary to poor-mouth this way, but I guess it doesn't make any difference. She's going to win anyway.
former9thward
(32,121 posts)and have the access to power and money they had. They were never in "debt." The people they were in "debt" to are not the type of people that dun ex-presidents to pay up. They knew that the money would be piling in as soon as Bill left office.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)They were so broke they only bought two houses and sent Chelsea to Ivy League school. Please.
newthinking
(3,982 posts)HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)And donors covered the legal debt. "Poor" Clintons could only afford two houses and an Ivy League education for Chelsea. My heart weeps... she sounds like Ann Romney. Maybe she schould have played the "bullets flying" card again.
DFW
(54,476 posts)If your outstanding debts are double your assets, then you are broke. As a popular ex-president, Clinton had the chance to earn huge speaking fees, so I'm sure their creditors weren't breathing down their necks.
Bill Clinton is a masterful and engaging speaker. He made use of it, just like an Oprah or a Bill Cosby. I don't begrudge him that. His Foundation and his CGI raised the bar so impossibly high for ex-presidents, I doubt it will be matched.
Bill Clinton says, "I've been poor and I've been rich and I like rich better." Who wouldn't? I can't fault him for that view.
Leme
(1,092 posts)HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)They weren't broke. Donors covered much of Bill's legal bills. Hillary had a NYT bestseller on the shelves for 4 years, and an $8 million advance for another book. They bought 2 houses, in DC and NYC, both pretty expensive. They sent Chelsea to an Ivy League school. That ain't broke, and a pandering claim they were is just a pathetic lie, like dodging bullets deboarding a plane. She fabricates these lies to elicit sympathy.
Beacool
(30,253 posts)Same sentiment, different site.
Beacool
(30,253 posts)Last edited Tue Jun 10, 2014, 11:09 AM - Edit history (1)
They didn't own a home of their own. Bill was making $35K when he was elected president. Hillary had been the breadwinner in the family. In the aftermath of the Whitewater investigation their legal bills were around $10M.
They didn't have enough money to buy the house in Chappaqua. Terry McAuliffe co-signed the mortgage and lent them money. By the time they left the WH, Hillary had already been elected to the Senate. Therefore, they needed a home in DC.
Have they made a lot of money after leaving the WH? Yes, they have. Did they have money when they left? No, they had a lot more debt than assets.
Whisp
(24,096 posts)blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)Not so much when they left WH. Ridiculous for her to claim so.
Beacool
(30,253 posts)HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)Plus several million/yr in speaking engagements, and HRC's Senate salary.
imthevicar
(811 posts)BULLSHIT!
Arkana
(24,347 posts)What I do not believe is that they were ever "dead broke".
I think her statement would have been better received if she'd said "Bill and I owed a lot of money when we left the White House, but we got lucky--we had access to a lot of moneymaking opportunities that most people in this country don't get."
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)It was an entirely expected outcome that they would be able to make out like bandits on the speaking circuit, as authors, or as lobbyists if they'd wanted to go that route. No luck involved, just the privilege attendant upon being an ex-politician leaving the highest office in the land.
Arkana
(24,347 posts)They had opportunities that very few people get. If Hillary had acknowledged that, she wouldn't have sounded so tone deaf.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)To me, that's simply structural inequality at work. It's built-in to our society, not a matter of random chance. Anyone in that position would automatically have those same 'opportunities'.
BeyondGeography
(39,393 posts)It's easy to remember; someone tell Hillary.
btrflykng9
(287 posts)tularetom
(23,664 posts)That was never the case with the Clintons and it is utterly disingenuous for Hillary to use those terms.
So they were in debt for legal fees? The law firms they owed the money to weren't going to send out the leg breakers to visit them, they knew an ex-president had a lot of opportunities to make money.
And Hillary knew it too. She had already signed a book deal for $8 million before she left the White House. Over the next 12 months Bill made $9 million in speaking fees and signed his own book deal for $10 million.
I'm offended by her comments. If her opinion of voters is so low that she thinks we'll buy this line of bullshit she needs to ponder whether she should be president.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)She spins quite a yarn in her attempts to elicit empathy.
Corey_Baker08
(2,157 posts)This is DemocraticUnderground, not FreeRepublic. We are ALL DEMOCRATS on this website, and if your not a Democrat you don't belong on this site...
Everyone is entitled to their opinion but its crossing the line when you start attacking a Democrat who whether you agree or disagree with Hillary, she has done alot for our country & our party...
Lets Keep This Civil....
Beacool
(30,253 posts)Not that they will listen to you.
SmittynMo
(3,544 posts)called me last night spewing all his bullshit about her assets and lying about being dead broke.
I told him. I really don't give a shit, and hung up.