Before you read this article, I need to point out that Kathy and I spent about four months in the Palms Springs area three years ago. While there we attended Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rancho Mirage. This church had a school which had an annual fundraising dinner and auction. Barbara Bush was the keynote speaker at a similar event at a similar Christian school in the area. It turned out that the speaker at the event at Sacred Heart was non other than George W. Bush. He charged no fees for his presentation and his participation was not announced until after the event had sold out. Shows the difference in basic philosophies of some people doesn’t it.
Two top student government leaders at the University of Las Vegas are requesting Hillary Clinton return the “outrageous” $225,000 speaking fee she reportedly will receive for an upcoming speech at the school in October.
In a video circulated by the national Republican Party Friday, Elias Benjelloun, the UNLV student body president, and Daniel Waqar, the student government’s public relations director, slammed the university’s foundation for paying Clinton so much for the event.
“We really appreciate anybody who would come to raise money for the university. But anybody who’s being paid $225,000 to come speak, we think that’s a little bit outrageous. And we’d like Secretary Clinton — respectfully — to gracefully return the money to the university or the foundation,” Waqar said on the Nevada political program “Ralston Reports.”
Benjelloun echoed Waqar’s remarks.
“When we heard $225,000, we weren’t so thrilled,” he said. “We would hope that Hillary Clinton commits to higher education … and returns part or whole of the amount she receives for speaking.”
Clinton, an expected front-runner in the 2016 Democratic presidential contest, has had her wealth come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks. Despite being a reported multimillionaire, Clinton has stumbled through several gaffes, including an interview where she insisted she was not “truly well off.”
Clinton and the UNLV did not immediately return requests for comment. The money is reportedly going to Clinton’s foundation rather than directly to her.