Hillary Clinton still owes a lot of money from her ill-fated run for president. She owes $2.3 million just to consultant Mark Penn. So, naturally, Clinton’s pals are holding various fundraisers to pay down said debt.
Ezra Klein asks an uncomfortable question:
Between 2004 and 2006, tax documents show that Bill Clinton earned $51 million. Put differently, erasing his wife’s campaign debt would consume 1/25th of his income over a two-year period. I blow a 25th of my income on the occasional dinner. But the former First Family’s unwillingness to shoulder the loss themselves means, inevitably, that it will be borne by committed campaign supporters who still love Hillary but are much poorer than the Clintons. It’s also requiring a frankly embarrassing level of shilling: They’re selling off days with Bill Clinton and tickets to American Idol and lunches with political consultants. Why bother?
Because, dear boy, that’s how it’s done! The Clintons have magninimously offered themselves for public service, getting nothing but a few hundred million dollars in return. Surely, their legions of fans can do a little something.
