“An elite group including some of the area’s most powerful business leaders, developers, and construction experts is quietly exploring the prospect of bringing the 2024 Summer Olympic Games to Boston,” the Boston Globe reports.

The group “has recruited former governor Mitt Romney, who ran the 2002 Salt Lake City winter Games, as a key adviser.”

Los Angeles Times: “The last week of standoffs and stalemates in Washington won’t help Congress’ dismal approval ratings. And the likelihood that most government programs will begin shutting down Tuesday already has started disrupting the lives of millions of federal government workers, contractors and their families.”

“But for one group — fundraisers who collect cash for members of Congress and those hoping to join the club — the shutdown threat is a windfall.”

“Anthony Weiner, whose mayoral bid imploded following revelations that he’d continued sexting long after his resignation from Congress, was already plotting a Plan B more than six months before he lost his bid for Gracie Mansion,” Politicker reports.

According to an industry insider, Mr. Weiner wanted to gauge how a failed mayoral bid would impact his prospects of landing a lucrative TV or radio gig.

Said the insider: “He was exploring his options and what they were at the time and what they may be should he run an unsuccessful campaign. It just seemed that exploring his media options became a factor in running for mayor.”

The Washington Post reports Hillary Clinton has given or has scheduled at last 14 speeches, for which she charges $200,000 per appearance.

“As a former secretary of state and U.S. senator, Clinton is following a path well-worn by retired politicians such as her husband — who has racked up tens of millions of dollars in speaking fees since leaving office — and by State Department predecessors such as Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright. But the extent of Clinton’s speaking schedule, and the size of her standard fee, is more unusual for someone considering a run for president.”

Gawker obtained documents from the City University of New York which show former CIA Director David Petraeus will be paid $200,000 a year to teach course that takes him about three hours of work and will be aided by a group of graduate students to take care of “course research, administration, and grading.”

“That works out to approximately $2,250 per hour. CUNY adjuncts usually earn less than $3,000 per course.”

The Washingtonian has a must-read piece on the unraveling of FreedomWorks, run by former Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX) and his behind-the-scenes strategist Matt Kibbe.

“Through their long crusade, the two had become as close as family, and Kibbe saw Armey as a father figure. But at the very moment that their small-government revolution was finally happening, Armey and Kibbe declared war on each other, dividing the FreedomWorks staff into opposing factions just weeks before the most important election of their lives. Employees scrambled to keep the infighting out of the press, fearing that the embarrassment would hurt Republicans at the ballot box, and they struggled to make sense of the rift.”

Former Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs and former Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt announced they are founding a communications firm called The Incite Agency in Washington, the Huffington Post reports.

They will be joined by another Obama campaign aide, Adam Fetcher, who will serve as managing director.

Former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) is looking to open a new law firm this September, CNN reports.

“The firm will be based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and will focus on plaintiff work, the source said. Before entering politics, Edwards was a nationally known attorney who specialized in representing plaintiffs in medical malpractice, personal injury and product liability lawsuits, earning millions.”

Walter Shapiro notes the many former Obama staffers who now illustrate the enduring adage about political aides in D.C.: “They came to do good and stayed to do well.”

“Over the years, Washington has lost any sense of shame. The standard bipartisan pattern has become to work for an important political figure for a few years — and then monetize your Rolodex.”

Washington Post: “Obama came into office promising that his administration would hew to higher standards than his predecessors did. He implemented rules barring former aides from directly lobbying the government for two years and frequently decries the influence of ‘special interests’ in Washington.”

“But the efforts have done little to slow a tide of groups hiring former top aides as highly paid consultants, speakers and media advisers in an effort to influence the administration — part of a longtime Washington practice in which interest groups seek access to the White House by hiring people who used to work there.”

David Petraeus, the former U.S. Army general who resigned last year as Central Intelligence Agency chief, is rebooting his career with KKR & Co., the giant private-equity firm, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Petraeus “instantly becomes one of the most recognizable faces at KKR. A former four-star general who led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mr. Petraeus has traveled the world and knows military, economic and political leaders. Those connections could help KKR land deals in some foreign countries where the firm has less experience and better evaluate the risks and rewards of offbeat investments.”

Washington Post: “Current and former congressional staffers say talking with investors is common, but ethics experts see potential problems, highlighted by the recent federal subpoenas issued in a case involving a Medicare funding decision.”

Bloomberg reports that former Vice President Al Gore and Current TV co-founder reportedly made an estimated $70 million for his 20% stake when he sold the cable network to Al Jazeera.

The Washington Post notes that “largely out of public view, the ‘political intelligence’ industry has doubled in size over the past decade, by some estimates. What was once primarily a side business for law firms and lobby shops has grown so lucrative that it has spawned dozens of stand-alone firms that cater to hedge funds and other powerful corporate clients.”

“The appetite for this information — and the willingness to pay handsomely for it — is based on the realization among traders that decisions in Washington move markets and can shape entire industries for years. Understanding how Washington works has become so important for investors that it is hard for hedge funds and banks to do their research without stumbling upon some political angle.”

Over the past two years, it appeared as if Anthony Weiner (D), “once the irrepressible fireball of New York City politics, had spent his days as a stay-at-home dad, licking his wounds and mourning his ambitions after the salacious images and messages that he sent to women prompted his resignation from Congress,” the New York Times reports.

“But it turns out that from the moment he left public view, the man who had relied on a government paycheck his entire adult life was consumed by a corporate career whose profits and progress came to him, by his own account, with remarkable ease.”

“Hillary Clinton’s next chapter — the paid speaking circuit — begins today,” Politico reports.

“The former first lady, senator and secretary of state has overnight become one of the most in-demand speakers in the world — as a a reported $200,000-a-pop fee attests — even before she takes the stage at the National Multi-Housing Council in Dallas.”

Noam Scheiber: “Within Obamaworld, there are a few unwritten rules about how to parlay one’s experience into a handsome payday. There is, for example, a loose taboo against joining a K Street lobbying shop and explicitly trading on administration connections. And while joining a consulting firm is acceptable, those who do are reluctant to work for clients reviled by liberals: gun makers, tobacco companies, Big Oil, union busters. Above all, there is a simple prohibition against excessive tackiness.”

Said one insider: “It’s like: Don’t embarrass yourself. You were part of something special. I think if [Obama] were to send an all-staff e-mail, it would be along the lines of Ron Burgundy–‘Stay classy, San Diego.'”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will deliver her first paid speech since leaving office last month in late April, CNN reports.

“Shortly after leaving her State Department post, Clinton signed on with the Harry Walker Agency as her representative for speaking engagements. She is expected to be a highly sought speaker who could earn in the six-figure range per appearance.”