Just like the "dead broke" Clintons who earned millions in college speaking fees, liberal California professor Russ Feingold is teaching a master class in hypocrisy.
On Friday, Professor Feingold had a staffer tweet that he considers "the issue of student loans and student debt to be one of the most important."
As the Washington Examiner reported days later, professor Feingold – once "a critic of speaking fees as senator," cashed in on salaries and honoraria from 17 colleges and universities across the country after he was fired by the people of Wisconsin.
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Since Leaving Office, Feingold Has Earned At Least $450,000 From Salaries And Honoraria From Colleges And Universities. (Russ Feingold, 2012 Personal Financial Disclosure Form, Filed 7/11/13; Russ Feingold, 2013 Personal Financial Disclosure Form, Filed 5/28/14; Russ Feingold, 2014 Personal Financial Disclosure Form, Filed 4/17/15; Russ Feingold, 2015 Personal Financial Disclosure Form, Filed 5/29/15; Russ Feingold, 2015 Personal Financial Disclosure Form, Filed 5/15/16)
- In 2015, Feingold Was Paid A Salary Of $150,000 From Stanford University. (Russ Feingold, 2015 Personal Financial Disclosure Form, Filed 5/15/16)
If the issue of college affordability is as important to Professor Feingold as he says it is, he wouldn’t have spent the past five years getting rich off of higher education. A $450,000 payday could have gone a long way in helping the students he now pretends to care about.
Professor Feingold isn’t tackling the issue of college affordability – he’s contributing to it.
Republicans slam ‘hypocritical’ Feingold on college affordability
Washington Examiner
By Nicole Duran
August 21, 2016
Former Sen. Russ Feingold has pledged to make college more affordable but Wisconsin Republicans hope to spoil his political comeback by pointing out all the money he has made from academia.
"Sen. Feingold can’t have it both ways, and his record places him firmly on the wrong side of students, said Pat Garrett, spokesman for the Wisconsin Republican Party. "While Feingold talks about making college affordable, he hypocritically spent years cashing in— taking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees and salaries."
Garrett was referring to Feingold’s six-figure salary at Stanford University and honoraria collected from various universities for campus visits listed in his personal financial disclosure forms.
A search of those records dating back to 2013 show he collectively received $450,000 between 2012-15 from 17 different schools, the lion’s share coming from Stanford, where he was on staff.
"I consider the issue of student loans and student debt to be one of the most important," Feingold tweeted on Friday.
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Johnson has accused Feingold, whose name was once synonymous with campaign finance reform, for reneging on his pledge to eschew "dark money" and collect the bulk of his campaign donations from within the Badger State.
Johnson’s camp claims that "Mr. Clean" Feingold is just like any other politician who accepts the help of third-party groups and special interests.
Similarly, Johnson has sought to turn Feingold’s lone dissenting vote against the Patriot Act into a liability, arguing that America would be less safe if the Democrat’s view had prevailed.
"The bottom line: Sen. Feingold has broken too many promises and is far too hypocritical to be trusted to look out for anyone but himself," Garrett said.
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