I don't like to link to the Washington Times. But, when there's an intra-GOP battle, I'll make an exception. And, when former chairs of the GOP are openly critical of the current GOP chair, how can we not? Michael Steele has been raking in thousands in speaker fees. That's just not done:
Harry Sandler, who handles Mr. Steele's bookings at Newton, Mass.-based American Program Bureau, told The Washington Times that Mr. Steele "tends" to charge between $10,000 and $15,000 for an appearance and that he received roughly that amount for a Sept. 21 speech at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark. Mr. Steele has an upcoming speaking engagement at DePaul University in Chicago, for which he will be paid $12,500.
"Holy mackerel, I never heard of a chairman of either party ever taking money for speeches," said Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., RNC chairman under President Reagan and CEO of the American Gaming Association.
"The job of a national chairman is to give speeches. That's what the national party pays him for. We didn't have a rule book back then, but being national chairman was and is a full-time job," Mr. Fahrenkopf said.
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson, who served in that position from 1997 to 2000 and was President George W. Bush's Veterans Affairs secretary from 2005 to 2007, said the job "demands so much of your time that you can work 24/7 and not get everything done, so taking time out to speak for the benefit of one's own bank account is not appropriate."
