Cha-ching. It's good to be the ex-prez.
Clintons Report $109 Million in Income Over 8 Yearsby FOXNews.com
Friday, April 4, 2008
It’s good to be the Clintons.
On the same day that she proposed creating a cabinet-level position devoted to ending poverty, Hillary Clinton and her husband reported earning more than $109 million over eight years in newly released tax data.
Hillary and Bill Clinton paid $33.8 million in federal taxes from 2000 through 2007. They listed $10.25 million in charitable contributions during that period.
The total income reported in that period was $109.2 million, with the most money — $51.9 million — coming from Bill Clinton’s speech income. Earnings from his two books — “My Life ” and “Giving” — totaled $29.6 million.
Hillary Clinton had $10.5 million in income from her book “Living History.” She donated earnings from her other book, “It Takes a Village,” to charity. Plus she earned about $1 million through her Senate salary and her husband earned a little over $1 million through his presidential pension.
They reported their after-tax earnings at $57.2 million.
“The Clintons have now made public thirty years of tax returns, a record matched by few people in public service. None of Hillary Clinton’s presidential opponents have revealed anything close to this amount of personal financial information,” the Clinton campaign said in a statement.
The campaign released tax returns from 2000 through 2006 and gave highlights from their 2007 return. The Clintons have asked for an extension for filing their 2007 tax returns, citing the dissolution of a blind trust last year.
Clinton had been under mounting pressure to release the tax returns, especially from rival Barack Obama, who posted his 2000 to 2006 returns on his campaign Web site last week.
Barack and Michelle Obama’s income was significantly less than the Clintons’. They earned close to $1 million in 2006, according to their returns.
The itemized earnings the Clinton campaign provided in its summary only added up to $94 million, leaving $15 million unaccounted for.
But that difference can probably be located in practically one source. Besides speeches and books, Bill Clinton’s biggest single business income is from his partnership with Yucaipa Global Opportunities Fund, a Los Angeles-based investment firm founded by longtime Clinton fundraiser Ron Burkle. Between 2003 and 2006, the returns show total Yucaipa partnership income of $12.5 million. The 2007 summary provided by the campaign lists $2.75 million in partnership income.
President Clinton also has been an adviser to InfoUSA, a data company whose chief executive, Vinod Gupta, has been a major donor to Democrats and gave at least $1 million to Bill Clinton’s presidential library in Arkansas. Clinton received $400,000 in payments from the company in 2006 and 2007, according to the documents.
The Clintons last made their returns public in 2000 when they reported an adjusted gross income of $416,039. Since then, the former president has embarked on a number of business ventures and has made millions from speaking engagements.
Clinton’s tax returns show that of the remaining presidential candidates, she is the one most able to access large amounts of personal money. She lent her campaign $5 million in late February and could contribute more if she finds herself falling far behind Obama’s proficient fundraising.
Neither Obama nor Republican Sen. John McCain have made their 2007 tax returns public, though both say they will this month.
Clinton said earlier Friday in Memphis, as she spoke in memory of Martin Luther King Jr., that she would appoint a cabinet-level position “fully devoted to ending poverty as we know it in America.”
Kate Obenshain, of the conservative Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, told FOX News: “There is an irony of putting this out on the day that you announce a cabinet-level position for poverty czar.”
But she said Republicans likely wouldn’t criticize her just for making money.
Democratic strategist Kirsten Powers said the tax returns do not conflict at all with Clinton’s statements on poverty.
“I reject the idea that there’s some sort of conflict between people who make a lot of money actually caring about the poor,” she said.
Click here to see the Clintons’ tax returns.
Click here to see a breakdown of the 2000-2006 returns.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/04/04/clintons-report-109-million-in-income-over-7-years/
