Opinion: Gotta keep those paychecks coming

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In a story sure to cause Rudy Giuliani’s campaign some heartburn --- and perhaps spur a question at the next candidate debate when he touts his commitment to pursuing the war on terror --- Newsday suggests that making money proved a higher priority for the GOP presidential candidate than serving on the Iraq Study Group.

Reporter Craig Gordon checked Giuliani’s schedule and found that the study group’s early meetings in the sprong of 2006 conflicted with a ‘lucrative speaking tour’ that the former New York mayor had embarked upon. Gordon goes on to report that Giuliani ‘quit the group during his busiest stretch in 2006, when he gave 20 speeches in a single month that brought in $1.7 million.’

Writes Gordon: ‘By giving up his seat on the panel, Giuliani has opened himself up to charges that he chose private-sector paydays and politics over unpaid service on a critical issue facing the nation.’

Earlier today, a Giuliani aide already faced a grilling over the piece during an appearance on MSNBC. Not surprisingly, the aide declined to grapple with the details of the story.

The study group, headed by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana, ended up holding nine official meetings over the course of several months and issued a much-anticipated report late last year that listed various strategies for disengaging the U.S. from Iraq. After initially paying the little heed to the recommendations, President Bush of late has embraced some of them.

-- Don Frederick