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So much has already been said about Barack Obamas speaking fees.

So much except for the one thing that should actually matter.

Barack and Michelle Obama are residents of Washington, D.C., which means they are subject to the Districts income taxes. Those top out at 8.95%.

They will, of course, also be subject to the far heavier federal tax rate, which tops out at 39.6%.

It is dollars to donuts that the former president and first lady will be in the highest income brackets. That means each dollar of extra income will be subject to a combined marginal rate of tax of about 45% (its not 49% because the D.C. tax, which is deductible, should reduce the federal tax) .

So to put this in terms that even haters can understand, when Obama gives a speech and gets paid $400,000, he generates $180,000 in taxes, most of it federal.

Not bad for what is, when you include speechwriting, preparation and travel, probably a few days work.

Lets be even clearer.

A first-year private in the U.S. Army earns $18,700. So Obamas one speech to Wall Street will pay the salaries of 10 of them for the year. (OK, for simplicitys sake Im ascribing all his tax to the federal level. This is merely an illustration. You can run numbers based on Washington police officers, local services or whatever).

Or, the Kaiser Foundation calculates that Medicaids annual bill for a recipient with disabilities is $16,643. So Obama just paid the full years Medicaid bill for 11 people with disabilities.

Or, to put it another way, the average Pell grant to help kids with college works out to $3,724, according to the College Board. So Obamas speech just paid for a full years Pell grants for 48 kids.

No doubt this was what right-wing gadfly Dinesh DSouza was talking about when he tweeted, about Obamas fees, His service to the poor and needy continues.

(DSouza is always right, by the way. For example, his movie 2016: Obamas America correctly predicted last years massive financial collapse.)

Actually, Obama is giving two speeches for $800,000, so we have to double everything. With those two speeches hes paying for 20 soldiers, or 22 people with disabilities, or 96 Pell grants.

Naturally this is true of all earners, especially high earners, regardless of politics.

Ive said it before and Ill say it again. We dont have a right-wing (or left-wing) problem in this country. We have a facts and logic problem. Grown men and women think, talk and act in ways that would have earned a 10-year old an F where I went to school.

Dont get me started on right-wingers complaining that Obama is charging the market rate for his services.

Or on left-wingers complaining that someone who pays the top rate of income tax has gone out and earned lots of money. Er... how else did they expect to pay for programs?

Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she is troubled by Obamas speaking fee. Naturally. She may run for president in 2020, and she knows that a good chunk of the votes are controlled by angry people who dont understand economics.

So it would probably be rude of me to point out that when she was at Harvard, she billed them $326,000 a year in compensation or roughly the cost of 88 Pell grants.

Also read: Elizabeth Warren says Obama got it wrong: Its worse than Americans realize

Excerpt from:
Opinion: Thanks, Obama How his $400000 speaking fee actually helps America - MarketWatch

New York Times

Florida Deal Would Reverse Key Part of Obama's Medicaid Expansion New York Times The Obama administration balked at providing more money to help hospitals cope with the costs of uncompensated care for people who could be covered by Medicaid. If Florida expanded Medicaid eligibility, the Obama administration said, fewer people ... and more »

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Florida Deal Would Reverse Key Part of Obama's Medicaid Expansion - New York Times

Former President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaReport: Trump tweeted 470 times in first 99 days Biden schedule sets off 2020 speculation Obama makes 0K for speech at A&E event: report MORE reportedly made $400,000 for an appearance and interview last week at an A&E Networks advertising event.

The former president was interviewed at The Pierre Hotel in Midtown Manhattan by presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, The New York Postreported. The History Makers event, which lasted 90 minutes, was conducted in front of the cable network's advertisers and hosted by A&E chief Nancy Dubac.

During the event, the former president was asked what he missed most about the White House and how he dealt with frustrating moments when he was president.

A source who attended told the Post that Obama said he missed sitting on the Truman Balcony of the White House in the summer and looking upon the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.

He also told the audience about his transition back into civilian life, saying he still hasnt drive a car and is learning how to use the coffee machine in his new D.C. home.

Obama has faced criticism recently, after a report that he agreed to speak at a Wall Street firm's healthcare conference for $400,000.

He will appear at the Cantor Fitzgerald LP conference in September.

Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenObama makes 0K for speech at A&E event: report Van Jones: Obama should do poverty tour Warren reads middle school students' letters on climate change MORE (D-Mass.) last week said she was "troubled" by the speaking fee the former president is reportedly receiving for that appearance.

Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersObama makes 0K for speech at A&E event: report Van Jones: Obama should do poverty tour Sanders calls for renewed focus on fighting climate change MORE (I-Vt.) alsoexpressed disappointment in the former president's decision.

"I think at a time when people are so frustrated with the power of Wall Street and the big-money interests, I think it is unfortunate that President Obama is doing this," Sanders said last week.

"Wall Street has incredible power, and I would have hoped that the president would not have given a speech like this," he added.

A spokesman for Obama rejected the idea that Wall Street would sway Obama, pointing to the financial reforms implemented during his time in office.

"With regard to this or any speech involving Wall Street sponsors, I'd just point out that in 2008, Barack Obama raised more money from Wall Street than any candidate in history and still went on to successfully pass and implement the toughest reforms on Wall Street since [former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt]," Eric Schultz said in a statement.

Go here to see the original:
Obama makes $400K for speech at A&E event: report - The Hill

He left us in the lurch. Now hes living large. Maybe hell send a postcard from French Polynesia or the Vineyard.

Former President Barack Obama is not one of us anymore. Word is out on the street: He accepted a $400,000 speaking fee from Wall Street.

Call me gobsmacked. A possible government shutdown seemed stale next to this. Even as President Donald Trump tried a thousand things to mark his 100 days in office, the 44th president seemed more puzzling. Obamas not running for president, but its way out of his political character.

Now we know the true color of Obamas soul: green. Making a mint of money is clearly central to his pursuit of happiness. Apparently the estimated $60 million book deal he and his wife, Michelle, inked just wasnt enough.

Green is also the color of cucumbers. And Obama is one cool cucumber. It came back, all of a piece. Reluctantly, I remember Obama never got on the team, meaning the Democratic Party, though he was captain.

Always, Obama was a solo artist rare in politics, a backslapping, extroverted team sport. He shunned socializing with members of Congress (slumming) and didnt get out on the field to campaign for them.

The impersonal president didnt like listening to other people's speeches. He campaigned for Hillary Clinton, but how hard? He did not lift turnout.

Since Obamas been gone from the White House, hes hung with Bruce Springsteen and Oprah Winfrey on a yacht in the blue yonder. After he had gone kitesurfing with adventurous British billionaire Richard Branson, that is.

Obamas sporting a movie star look, but does he see the country left in shambles through those shades? Does he feel our pain?

Does he feel blame for the fix were in? Maybe a twinge of guilt for appointing James Comey as FBI director? The Republican Comey revealed all about Clintons emails, but not a peep about the investigation into Russian hacking to influence the 2016 election. Come on. Comeys the one who influenced the election.

This was high-minded Obama at work, appointing a Republican as head of the FBI for 10 years, above partisanship. How well it worked out. Obama himself should have broken the silence about the Russian investigation last summer.

Obama operated as a man of reason in an age of insanity.

So, whats been going on while Ive been gone? Obama asked impishly at his first public event at the University of Chicago, his opening line. The line broke up the house, borrowed from Hamilton, the Broadway musical.

The glamorous Thomas Jefferson character saunters on stage from Paris, where he was ambassador to France, and does a jig: Whatd I miss? ... I basically missed the late 80s! meaning the 1780s.

Jefferson, the charming, brilliant character who had everything, missed the hard teamwork of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 in Philadelphia. His right-hand man, lead author James Madison, took care of things, the way Jefferson liked it.

In the White House, Obama did well for himself, a wordsmith and class act with legacies already under attack by Trump: on climate change, Iran and health care. Surely, hes one of the greatest presidential prose writers and soaring speechmakers.

But Obama fell down on the job in buttressing party strength, and he failed to fight for his U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland. The consequences of his cool, aloof attitude are all too real right now, as Senate Democrats bravely band together to battle Trumps aggressive excesses. They are the partys light of hope.

But the Supreme Court, both houses of Congress and the White House are controlled by Republicans. Losing all the keys to power is an unfortunate end to any presidency.

Constitutional law is Obamas scholarly pride. The Electoral College is a constitutional vestige that gave two divided verdicts in 16 years. The Electoral College state count has caused more than one democratic crisis, empowering states with small populations unfairly.

Obama succeeded a Republican who lost the peoples vote, President George W. Bush, and was followed by a Republican who lost the popular vote, Trump.

Let him speak out against that glaring flaw.

While in office, Obama identified with Alexander Hamiltons character, the bright fatherless immigrant. In his post-presidency, it appears that he aspires to be like supremely wealthy, privileged Jefferson.

Jamie Stiehm writes about politics, culture and history as a weekly Creators Syndicate columnist and regular contributor to U.S. News & World Report. Follow her on Twitter: @jamiestiehm. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are her own.

See the original post:
Jamie Stiehm: Post-Presidency, Barack Obama Is Leaving Us Behind - Noozhawk

Former President Barack Obama and President Trump have not spoken once since the inauguration in January, Mr. Trump confirmed to The Washington Times, adding its too bad they havent been in communication, but he is not surprised given their history.

Mr. Trump also brushed aside Mr. Obamas recent public attacks on him, acknowledging his own barbs aimed at the man whose legacy he upended with his stunning election victory in November.

I wouldnt say Ive been exactly great to him either, Mr. Trump said by way of explanation.

In an interview from the Oval Office, Mr. Trump described how he has distanced himself from his Democratic predecessors approach to dealing with foreign leaders, ditching the occasionally chiding tone Mr. Obama took in favor of a more pragmatic dealmakers stance.

He said rebuilt relationships have already paid off in Asia, where China is bringing pressure on North Korea, and in the release of Aya Hijazi, an Egyptian-American charity worker who had been detained in Egypt for nearly three years.

Mr. Trump said he earned Ms. Hijazis release because he took time to build an understanding with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, repairing a relationship that had been strained by Mr. Obamas criticism of Cairos record on human rights and civil liberties under Mr. el-Sissi.

Mr. el-Sissi didnt like President Obama, not even a little bit. Didnt like him, Mr. Trump said.

One of the things Ive done in the first 100 days, Ive established great foundations for relationships. One of them is with Egypt, the president said. Theres a great case. I said to him, Mr. President, do me a favor. Release her. Shes innocent. Let her go. Is that better than Obama?

The two most dominant politicians of the past decade have never been on good terms, but Mr. Obama had, until recently, allowed Mr. Trump the stage for the beginning of his time in the White House.

That honeymoon appears to have ended when Mr. Obama forged a higher profile once again by holding a public event at the University of Chicago early last week and then accepting a reported $400,000 to appear at an A&E Networks advertising event, where he mocked Mr. Trump.

Mr. Obama said his signature health care law, Obamacare, is rating higher in polls than Mr. Trump, according to CNN.

When presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin asked Mr. Obama at the event how he had handled frustrating moments during his time in the White House, Mr. Obama replied, according to the New York Post, For starters, by not having a Twitter account.

Mr. Trump told The Washington Times that he wasnt fazed by the former presidents Twitter remark because he had been pointed in his own words against Mr. Obama.

Look, thats politics, he said.

Mr. Trump said he hasnt spoken to Mr. Obama in months.

Since I took office, no, the president said. Its too bad, but Im not totally surprised. Im disappointed when I look at the surveillance, Im very disappointed when I saw that.

Mr. Trump has accused the former administration of monitoring his and his teams actions in the waning days of the campaign over suspected ties to Russia an accusation that members of Congress are investigating as part of a broader look at meddling in the electoral process.

Mr. Trump, in the interview with The Times, defended his use of Twitter and other online platforms by saying its possible his mastery of the field is why he is sitting in the Oval Office today.

I think Ive used social media better than anybody in history, the businessman turned president said.

Its not Twitter, its really social media. Twitter bing, bing, I put it out and then everybody picks it up, he said, comparing it with the more traditional presidential outreach. If I send out a press release, Ill walk in, Ill dictate a press release, theyll put it out, you guys wont even see it.

Mr. Trump has upended the Washington establishment, and particularly the press corps assigned to cover him. The White House has democratized the briefing room, calling on outlets that were relegated to afterthoughts during much of the Obama administration.

And Mr. Trumps penchant for using Twitter and for keeping a frenetic schedule has left media outlets struggling to keep up.

See the original post here:
Donald Trump, Barack Obama have not spoken since Inauguration Day - Washington Times