Tuesday, July 12, 2016

A quality investment

Seems like money well-spent:
When former presidents and other dignitaries traveled to California to wax nostalgic on the speaking circuit, they may have been demanding, but none insisted on being flown from San Francisco by private jet to a venue just 70 miles down the freeway.

That was before Bill Clinton came along.
A great deal:
Clinton would demand in his contract to be shuttled by private jet from San Francisco to UC Davis, where he spoke at the Mondavi Center. The center had to appeal to its network of donors to find someone able to fly him the 70 miles, something it had never done and hasn’t since. “That is the one and only time,” said Jeremy Ganter, director of programming at the Mondavi Center.

The center also found itself, along with the other event hosts on that Clinton swing, in the awkward position of having to pay some oddly large expenses.

Fearful that their costs would get out of hand, the event organizers worked with the Fairmont to discreetly view the charges being rung up by Clinton and his entourage on each of the five days they stayed there. Assurances from the Harry Walker Agency that they were “reasonable expenses for a president traveling on the road for week” and that “we have never had a client complain” provided little comfort to the event hosts.

They ultimately got socked with the $1,400 hotel phone bill and $700 dinner for two.
I'm guessing it's not cheap to eat in San Francisco, but $700 for dinner seems a bit much. Nice work if you can get it, I suppose. There's plenty more at the link.

4 comments:

Bike Bubba said...

$700 dinner for two? Question; was Hilliary involved? I am guessing not. Worth noting as well that Clinton's old fave, McClard's, will get you a dinner for two--nice and will get you stuffed--for $20. I went there last year, well worth the time.

Bike Bubba said...

OK, another thought; a $1400 hotel phone bill? I am, then, to assume that the former President and his staff hadn't learned over their campaign and other travels that hotel phones are a ripoff, not to mention a security (bugging) threat, and to use their own cell phones instead? Seriously?

The irony here is that if they'd actually used their cell phone minutes, they could have significantly increased their "take". And these are the clowns that think they have what it takes to run the country?

The more I see of the left, the harder it is for me to argue that it's just incompetence instead of malice.

3john2 said...

Well, there are all those dry-cleaning expenses. I'm sure Bill nobody visits Bill without a mandatory trip to the dry-cleaners afterwards.

Mr. D said...

I would absolutely recommend a thorough Martinizing after any encounter with Bill Clinton.