For 440,000 Euros, Bill Clinton Will Define Solidarity

[unhappycamper]

http://watchingamerica.com/News/242621/for-440000-euros-bill-clinton-will-define-solidarity/



For 440,000 Euros, Bill Clinton Will Define Solidarity
Volkskrant, The Netherlands
By Bart Smout
Translated By Siobhán Phelan
1 July 2014
Edited by Gillian Palmer

The insurance firm Achmea spent 440,000 euros on a speech by Bill Clinton. According to Achmea, the content of Clinton’s speech was worth more than the amount he received. “Rubbish,” writes Bart Smout.

A whopping sum of 440,000 euros (approximately $600,000): That’s how much the insurance firm Achmea paid in 2011 for a speech by ex-President Bill Clinton, who had been invited to join celebrations for the firm’s 200-year anniversary in the Frisian town of Achlum. His speech addressed the future of the Netherlands.

The amount came to light following investigation by journalists from the Washington Post into the amount of money Clinton raked in from speeches during 2001 and 2013. Judging by the data, it appears that Achmea was well-disposed toward Clinton. Just two other companies coughed up a larger figure in order to snare the former American president.

Babbling

Achmea confirmed via the NOS (Nederlandse Omroep Stichting, or Dutch Broadcasting Network) that they still have no concerns regarding Clinton’s commission. “The amount is less relevant for us than what he has made possible,” the insurance company explained. What Clinton made possible is a speech — a fairly spectacular speech, you would think, given the pay – and one that makes historic speeches such as those of Martin Luther King (“I have a dream”) and John F. Kennedy (“Ich bin ein Berliner”) seem like the babbling of an eight-month-old baby.