ARE PAID FOR SPEECHES NOTHING MORE THAN BRIBES?

Let's get real here. Americans aren't stupid!



Does anyone really believe that Wall Street banks, and large corporations pay "political celebrities" millions of dollars for nothing more than a 1 hour or less speech?



Logic would dictate that there's much more going on here that meets the eye. Yet, Hillary claims that the millions her and Bill have taken from banks and corporations; both personally and through their foundation, is nothing more than "quid pro quo" speeches for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Groups lobbying on trade paid Hillary Clinton $2.5M in speaking fees - CBS News

Since leaving her post as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton earned millions of dollars delivering 41 paid speeches in the U.S. to a variety of companies and organizations. At least 10 of those groups have been lobbying Congress and federal agencies on trade, an issue that has divided Democrats as the Obama administration pushes for a 12-nation pacific trade deal - and around which Hillary Clinton has remained mum.

Clinton has spoken in general terms on trade, saying in New Hampshire last month that any trade deal "has to produce jobs and raise wages and increase prosperity and protect our security." But the issue pits liberal Democrats against the White House and Republicans, and there's a chorus of Democrats are calling for Clinton to weigh in.

In the weeks since she launched her presidential bid, Clinton has been dogged by questions about whether special interests sought to buy influence while she was secretary of state through donations to the Clinton Foundation and through Bill Clinton's paid speeches. For the first time, Hillary Clinton's financial disclosures provide a picture of the speaking engagements for which she was paid since leaving the State Department and at a time when she was actively considering whether to run for president.

According to the disclosures released by the campaign on Friday evening, the former secretary of state earned at least $2.7 million from speeches at companies backing the trade promotion authority (TPA) that President Obama has been seeking in order to "fast track" approval of trade deals. While that's a fraction of the $25 million Bill and Hillary Clinton earned from paid speeches from January 2014 to present, they nonetheless open the presidential candidate to criticism.