Rudy's Speaking Fees Raise Eyebrows
Posted on Wed Feb 07, 2007 at 10:16:33 AM EST
Tags: Rudy Giuliani (all tags)
The Chicago Tribune reports on Rudy's speaking fees and the questions it raises for his potential presidential bid.
He commands $100,000 for a speech, not including expenses, which his star-struck clients are happily willing to pay. In one speech last year at Oklahoma State University, Giuliani requested and received travel on a private Gulfstream jet that cost the school $47,000 to operate. His visit essentially wiped out the student speakers annual fund.
Like other high-priced speakers in the private sector, Giuliani routinely travels in style. Besides the Gulfstream, which is a standard perk on the big-time speakers circuit, his contract calls for up to five hotel rooms for his entourage, including his own two-bedroom suite with a preferred balcony view and king-size bed, in the event of an overnight stay. The Oklahoma contract also required a sedan and an SUV, restrictions on news coverage and control over whom Giuliani would meet, how he would be photographed and what questions he might be asked.
Then there is his investment bank, which he is trying to sell, and his consulting and security businesses.
His spokesperson says:
"If and when Rudy Giuliani runs, he'll run on his record and on how he will move the country forward," she said, speaking on behalf of the ex-mayor on condition she not be quoted by name.
Crooks and Liars (Barbara O'Brien) takes another look at his record, and the media hype that he is a 9/11 hero who brought the nation together. She explains how "Rudy Giuliani’s shoddy “leadership” made the 9/11 tragedy worse." She dissects his real record, concluding:
I can’t diagnose Rudy Giuliani, but there’s no question he is seriously miswired. He is autocratic, intolerant of criticism, and as mayor used the NYPD as his private praetorian guard. In fact, he combines many of the worst qualities of Richard Nixon and George W. Bush. And he’s a lot smarter than Bush, which makes him more dangerous.
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