Truemors
Of course no one is going to talk about this because the narrative isthat Bush and Cheney are misusing their power to make money. Now, Icould be wrong about this but only because the left has found a newlefty politician to have an affair with (Obama).
In the past eight years, Bill and Hillary Clinton earned a combined $109 million, with the former president collecting nearly half of that money as a speaker hired at times by companies that have been among his wife's most generous political supporters.
After leaving the White House, the Clintons earned $30 million from their best-selling books and brought in as much as $15 million more through an investment partnership with one of her top presidential campaign fundraisers, California billionaire Ronald Burkle. The disclosures came with yesterday's long-awaited release of the Clintons' joint tax returns, a move made in the thick of Sen. Clinton's fight with Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) for the Democratic nomination.
Sen. Clinton (N.Y.) initially resisted making her family's finances public, but pressure on her to match Obama's disclosure grew in February when she disclosed that she had dipped into her personal account to lend her campaign $5 million.
The tax returns illustrate the rags-to-riches story of a couple who came to the White House from Arkansas with modest means and left facing an estimated $12 million in legal debts rung up during investigations of the Whitewater land deal, campaign fundraising and the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal. As she entered the Senate and he left the political spotlight, the Clintons transformed themselves into a successful global brand.
"We've come a long way from Harry Truman," said Leon E. Panetta, a Clinton administration official who now directs the Panetta Institute for Public Policy, referring to the "man from Missouri" who left the presidency to live a modest lifestyle in his home state. "In many ways, it is becoming the American story. A lot of people who have devoted their lives to public service, who lived hand-to-mouth during months of public service, are suddenly able, after public life, to find some rewards."
The Clintons paid $33 million in federal taxes during the eight-year period and donated $10 million to charity, said Jay Carson, a Clinton campaign spokesman. "The Clintons have now made public 30 years of tax returns, a record matched by few people in public service," he said.
A common thread running through the couple's personal finances is the presence of many of the same figures who helped bankroll the presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton, and now that of his wife.
Major donors to both Clintons' White House bids hired the former president as a consultant, joined him in lucrative investment ventures and paid him six-figure sums to speak at corporate gatherings.
The considerable crossover between the couple's decades of political fundraising and their personal profit also extended at times to the former president's charity work and his presidential library, though many records related to those remain secret. What is clear is that numerous financial patrons -- individuals as well as large corporations -- repeatedly emerge in the Clintons' circle.
I should also mention that this is Friday and this is the day whenpotentially damaging information dumps are done by the politicallyastute. And there is a lot here that should be politically damaging forthe Clintons.
Making money off of books, making speeches, doing that sort of thingis legitimate. My problem with all of this, as the article sort of kindof alludes to is the fact that a lot of these dealings have a dualrole. Corporation X pays Bill Clinton hundreds of thousands of dollarsto speak and donates to his wife’s presidential campaign. And, if shewere to beat Obama and McCain, wouldn’t we expect President HRC to actin a manner that was financially beneficial for her donors?
Well, that is exactly what the media has done with Bush andespecially vice president Cheney. Halliburton is basically a fourletter word because many in on the left and in the media (a differencewithout a distinction) believe this administration has acted inHalliburton’s best interest. Would President HRC receive the sametreatment? No.
There is evidence that Mr. Clinton has used his influence to helpout “business associates” in foreign countries, sometimes even to thedetriment of American foreign policy (See: Want to get Rich? Befriend Bill Clinton).
Has anyone else in history used their presidency as a launchingboard for a bid on Forbes’ list of richest Americans? Short answer, no.Not that I can think of. The Bushes were already wealthy. Reagan waswell off. Carter used his presidency to get a gig as a pro bono daylaborer. The presidency is suppose to be about service - not aboutnetworking for riches.
Even if you were once in love with Bill Clinton you will have toadmit that the way things are going with politicians using theirpolitical influence to make a fortune afterwards is not a good thing.It seems natural for every politician nowadays to start up a lobbyingfirm, attach onto a hedge fund to provide “expertise,” or just givespeeches at an alarming rate.
In affect, we have made it legal for politicians (on both sides) toaccept bribes after they have been voted out of office. Or, if theycan’t wait until their voters have gotten sick with them, they willplace their relatives in lucrative positions that they are nowhere nearqualified for.
“But what can be done T?” you may be asking right now. Well, I thinkthat if we have to raise taxes on the rich to balance the budget whynot start with current and ex politicians. Raise their top marginal taxrate back up to 90%. Make it so that the most any Washington politiciancan make during and after their term is, say $1,000,000. That’s enoughmoney for a summer place in the Vineyards, Wintering in St. Tropez,private schools for the runts, and even some left over for thoseexclusive gentleman’s (& gentlewoman’s) clubs.
The government should take those profits and, oh, I don’t know, useit to solve our current energy crises. $100,000,000.00 would go a longway towards making the world a cooler place.
Eh, who am I kidding. We’ll get a law allowing up to one milliondollars in bribes before we get a law limiting a politician’s earningsat $1 million.
What really frightens me about this whole thing is that many, many,many Americans believe that these same men and women who eagerlyleverage their political power for financial gain are the same men andwomen who can make America a better place. The only thing that willmake America a better place is if we wrest as much power away fromthese corrupt officials as possible. BigT
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