By Bill Juneau
When veteran senator, Joe Biden, signed on as vice president and partner to President Barack Obama in 2008, he had a net worth of $27,000. After eight years in that office, he still pushed his persona as "Middle Class Joe," just a regular guy fit for association with the man on the street.
At the close of his VP days, in January 2017, his worth was in the vicinity of a million dollars and it was time for making money like the Clintons and the Obamas.
In one interview in 2014, the vice president said that he was the "poorest man in the senate," and wore only "mildly" expensive suits, unlike other legislators with their classy togs; and that he owned no stocks or bonds, and had no savings accounts. He actually painted himself as sort of a moneyless stooge whose only care was doing good for his fellow Americans.
Slow Joe was popular in Delaware where he was elected a senator for six consecutive terms of six years each. And he was a family man and did his best for his troubled son, Hunter, who had been kicked out of the navy for his cocaine addition and had marital problems and was running from paternity claims. He needed a push and in 2013, with Biden's nod, was given a spot on a Ukrainian Gas company board earning $83,000 a month. So grateful was he to his dad, the "Big Guy" (as he referred to him in emails), that he set a slice of the pies aside for him from his stash of money which also came from contracts with Communist China which also had been facilitated by the senior Biden.
Currently, the FBI has the Hunter laptop and its emails and pictures under investigation, and is checking into money matters to see if the senior Biden and his wealthy son and other members of the Biden family met tax requirements and did not violate any other laws that Americans are obligated to observe when dealing with foreign countries.
Following his two terms as U.S. vice president, during which he collected an annual salary of $230,000, Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill, dug in their heels with a focus on becoming the new Bidens. Biden abandoned his persona as the "middle class" gent and zeroed in on making money.
Although still slow witted and confused, nowadays Biden is "Millionaire Joe."
According to Forbes magazine, his net worth is $9 million. Now residing in the splendor of the White House as the nation's 46th President, he busies himself signing executive orders wile pushing the Bernie Sanders "Green New Deal" and looks favorably on the spending of $5 to $10 trillion dollars. No American resents the cushioned and good life for their president, but it is a fair question to wonder how he got so rich in a couple of years.
After leaving his VP job in January of 2017, Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill, completed the year by earning $11.5 million. In 2018 and prior to announcing his candidacy for president in 2019, he took in nearly $5 million. It was lucrative book deals and the speech circuit which transformed "Middle Class Joe" to that of a high roller Joe the millionaire. Collecting his annual pension of $180,000 from 36 years as a U.S. senator and eight as the country's 47th vice president also contributed to his new wealth.
It must be apparent to everyone who has watched his shaky performances on camera that Biden is a competent at reading cue cards, but it is unfathomable to see him as a writer who pens and takes pride in his words. His 40 speeches in two years averaged $100,000 per speech which probably consumed less than an hour of his stammering and whispered pronouncements. In some cases, he took as little as $40,000 for a speech, and in other situations, he received as much as $190,000 for his lunch or dinner meanderings which probably included the travails of "Corn Pop" and recollections of how the hair on his legs bristled in the noon-day sun.
After becoming citizen Biden, he and his wife signed a $10-million dollar three-book deal. After writing Promise Me, Dad (a book about his son's death), Joe promoted his book with a tour. He made over 40 stops. Basic tickets cost $25, while VIP tickets (which included a photo with Biden) cost $450, according to reports.
Joe Biden's books have sold well too. He is the author of several, but predictably the writing and arranging was done for him, as is generally the case in books that flow from celebrities. Ghost writers these days are doing well and are in demand. Safe to say that Joe Biden is no Hemingway.
Now as president, Biden receives compensation of $400,000 a year and receives an annual $50,000 expense account to cover costs and incidentals incurred by the President in carrying out his duties. Also, he receives a $100,000 nontaxable travel account and $19,000 for entertainment.
Biden also served briefly as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and was compensated with pay of about $550,000. Some students there have said that Biden never taught a single class, but did participate in some panel discussions.
Reportedly, Mrs. Biden will continue to teach at Northern Virginia Community College where she receives a salary of $100,000 per year. She will continue to deliver speeches too, but her honorariums pale alongside her husband's. First Lady Jill Biden is the recipient of an ED in education, the equivalent of a Phd and she prefers the title of "Dr." in her professional activities.
Joe and Jill Biden are the owners of deluxe homes in Greenville and in Rohoboth Beach in Delaware. Each is valued at upwards of $2 million. In the Greenville acreage, an attached cottage is provided to the Secret Service agency for its policemen, and the agency pays the Bidens $2,200 a month in rent.
Joe Biden is America's President and has earned all of the compensations and benefits which he receives. His movement from Biden the middle class poor man, to the upper class, Millionaire status came fast. Public service is a noble calling, but who would believe that it could be so incredibly profitable. For sure, there will never be a tag day for Joe Biden.
Bill Juneau worked for 25 years as a reporter and night city editor at the Chicago Tribune. Subsequently he became a partner in a law firm and also served as a village prosecutor and as a consultant to the Cook County Circuit Court and to the Cook County Medical Examiner. He is currently writing columns and the 'Florida Bill' blog.
