Ben Stein's Funny Money

Ben Stein, former Nixon speech writer and all around rightwing nut, has got some strange ideas like myth is science or Obama is channeling Der Fuhrer. Recently though in typical CONservative logic, he's pushing a rather odd definition of rich. In a nutshell, Ben believes the term only applies to those who make hundreds of millions or billions. And Ben's definition clearly doesn't include himself. Really?



In his interview on CSPAN, Ben lets slip he pulls down between $35,000 and $50,000 for each speaking engagement. According to the US Census Bureau, the median income of a typical U.S. family is roughly $50,000. So in basically one engagement Ben makes as much as the typical family. A quick google search reveals Mr. Stein made several keynote speeches this year. What's more, this income doesn't include money from other sources such as royalties from his movies and books.

So in one night, Ben Stein can make as much money as the typical American family, but Ben doesn't consider himself rich. There are probably a lot of people who would switch places with him.

What a tool!