Sarah Palin Has Earned an Estimated $12 Million Since July

Jesus wept. Wonder how much of it was money to just go away...

Pundits can debate the political costs and benefits of Sarah Palin's decision to step down as Alaska governor, but the monetary advantages of leaving her $125,000-a-year public service post are beyond dispute.

Since leaving office at the end of July 2009, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee has brought in at least 100 times her old salary – a haul now estimated at more than $12 million -- through television and book deals and a heavy schedule of speaking appearances worth five and six figures.

That conservative estimate is based on publicly available records and news accounts. The actual number is probably much higher, but is hard to quantify because Palin does not publicize her earnings, and has managed to keep a lid on reliable figures for her earnings from a multi-year contract with Fox News and a second book deal with Harper Collins.

Tea parties bring in big bucks

PT Barnum would be proud.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- The tea-party movement, drawing in conservative activists across the United States, has also lured fundraisers, some of them for-profit companies.

Our Country Deserves Better PAC-TeaPartyExpress.org, a group in California, reported raising $585,000, more than twice its goal of $250,000. It spent $235,000, mostly paid to PAC officials, a consulting firm and activists who rode its Tea Party Express from San Diego to Orlando, Politico reported.

Another group, Tea Party Nation, is charging $560 for a three-day conservative convention in Nashville in February, and the fee does not include lodging. The keynote speaker is to be former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who reportedly is being paid a six-figure fee.

Judson Phillips, president of Tea Party Nation, said the group plans to set up a non-profit arm to funnel money to conservatives. (ed note- Most set up the non profit first)

"If this were a perfect world, we wouldn't charge anybody, but to put on an event like this, there are expenses that have to be covered," he said.

Because what we need is more exposure to Bush speeches

By GottaLaff

With all that spare cash we all have lying around, we're always looking for ways to spend it, right? No? Oh. Well, apparently Bush thinks we are:

The Dallas Morning News reports that he’s charging $150,000 per speech and demanding a private jet to take him to the speech venue:

President George W. Bush may have left office with a historically bad 22% approval rating, but he’s still eager to impart his wisdom — for $150,000 a speech.

The former president will charge that hefty fee per pep talk — plus first-class or private jet transport for four — when he hits the lecture circuit next month with stopovers in Canada, the U.S. and other spots around the globe, sources told The News.

::Brakes scre-e-e-eching to an abrupt halt:: A private jet? Like the ones these guys used? Then again, he'd probably be barred from boarding any commercial airline. He might be mistaken for a terrorist.