Seven things to know about Hillstarter:
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Hillstarter is a new way to fund Hillary.
In the past, only the wealthiest Americans could afford to foot the bill for Hillary Clinton's dreams and ambitions. With Hillstarter, those days are over! Now ordinary Americans can band together to funnel their money into the same bottomless hole that the 1% have been pouring theirs into for years.
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Hillary likes to give speeches.
Just look at her disclosure forms for 2014. There's 45 paid speeches listed for that year alone! Sometimes she even packed two into the same day. That is a serious commitment to the platform lifestyle.
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Those speeches bring in money. Like, a lot.
When we say those speeches were paid speeches, we mean paid. She pulled in six-figure honoraria for each and every one, with most coming in between $200,000 and $300,000. For one speech. (And we're talking here only about speeches where the money went to her personally -- which means these figures don't include speeches made by her husband, speeches for political fundraising, or speeches to benefit "independent" institutions like the Clinton Foundation.)
Before you ask, none of this is morally or ethically problematic at all, so stop thinking that. It's not like anyone's perception of a corporation or interest group would be swayed by the fact that said corporation or interest group just cut them a quarter-million dollar check for half an hour's work. No sirree! There is no possible way such a thing could ever happen.
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But who can afford to spend a quarter of a million dollars to host a single speech?
Pretty much who you'd expect: Wall Street, oil and pharmaceutical companies, tech giants, and powerful business interests.
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That's where your money comes in. (And your friends'. And their friends'. And...)
Of course, since the average American family's entire yearly income is only around 25% of what Hillary gets paid for a single speech, you're going to need a lot of friends to launch a successful Hillstarter. If each person chips in $25, for example, it takes 11,200 contributions to equal what Hillary got for a single speech to Deutsche Bank AG. At the $15 level, 15,304 contributions are needed to match what she was paid for an address to the National Auto Dealers Association. And if everyone gives just $5, you can put together the same payday for Hillary that multinational pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk did -- but you'll need to get together with 25,000 of your closest friends.*
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Where am I supposed to find 25,000 friends?
I dunno, Facebook? I hear Facebook is good for that sort of thing. Or maybe Craigslist, if you're not too particular about who your friends are.
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Our mission is to bring Hillary's dreams to life.
And yours too! Just as long as your check clears.
*Note: Hillary's Feb. 17, 2014 speech to Novo Nordisk A/S in Mexico City was made via satellite, not in person. So at this funding level, you may want to temper your expectations a bit.
This is outrageous! What can I do about it?
Bernie Sanders, who is also running for the Democratic Party's nomination for President, made less than $2,000 from speaking fees during 2014.
You know, just saying.