Big money honey!
 
Clintons report $109 million since 2000 Income information revealed in newly released tax data

Sen. Hillary Clinton and former President Clinton reported $20.4 million in income for 2007 and more than $109 million since 2000 as they gave the public the most detailed look at their finances in eight years.

The campaign released tax returns from 2000 through 2006 and gave highlights from their 2007 return.

The Democratic presidential candidate and her husband paid $33.8 million in taxes from 2000 through 2007. They listed $10.25 million in charitable contributions during that period.

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. According to a summary of the seven years provided by the campaign, the former president's speech income since he left the White House totals $51.85 million and his income from his two books �?"My Life " and "Giving" �?totals $29.6 million.

Hillary Clinton had $10.5 million in book income over the period from her book "Living History." She donated earnings from her other book, "It Takes a Village," to charity.

McCain's wife is heiress to her father's stake in Hensley & Co. of Phoenix, one of the largest beer distributorships in the country and her worth could exceed $100 million. In his financial disclosures, McCain lists his major sources of income as his Senate salary of $169,300 and a Navy pension of about $56,000.

In 2006, Obama reported income of nearly $1 million, with nearly half of it coming from the publication of his second book, "The Audacity of Hope." Last week, the campaign disclosed that Obama and his wife, Michelle, gave $240,000 to charity last year.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23959987/

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{Wow! We're talking big money here. What do any of these people know about what it's like for the average person in this country to scrape by financially? Do any of these people drive their cars up to the pump and gas them up themselves or go into a grocery store and buy some bread and milk? Somehow I doubt it. They probably have people do that sort of thing for them. It certainly shows the popularity of Bill Clinton that folks would pay that kind of money just to be in the same room with him or to read his book. They gave big bucks away to charity.....some $10 million or so.

I'm sure McCain's wife would quietly drop him a couple of million if the old fellow needed it. Obama is the "pauper" of the group having earned just a million bucks or so but gave away a impressive $240,000 of it to charity.

I guess the days of the "citizen politician" as envisioned by the founders is long gone. Maybe it was never here? Who was the last POTUS that wasn't at least a millionaire? Could any average Joe or Josephine run for the big job without millions in their personal bank account? Hillary lent her campaign $5 million of her own or Bill's money and will probably have to do it again as she's not raising much these days.

I'm sure if someone asked them what it cost for a gallon of gas or a loaf of bread in Pittsburgh they all could tell you.....but not from personal experience but because they have people to find out things like that and keep them briefed. They pay people to find out how real Americans live. They hire a surrogate to live their life as if they were a real average American.....which they're not. They gather up the information but not the experience. The reality of the situation is left to the rest of us. Is this right? What.....if anything.....can be done about it?

What do you think?}

Rose