Tag: Bill Clinton

Big Money’s Conquest of Democratic Party

The class that I was suppose to teach this week has been cancelled because of lack of interests…..it was going to be an intro to national security…..so I have all Summer to irritate the blogosphere…..

Many these days are pissed about Hillary’s closeness with the big money of Wall Street….they should not be if anything they should have expected it….why?  Bill that’s why.

In the ’80’s Bill ran as a Dem but he and his cronies of the DLC were in the pockets of the wealthy especially Wall Street and he has NEVER left their employ…..then why would anything be different with Hillary running for office?

The Clinton’s sold their political souls to the rich and the influential in an effort to beat Bush 1……and  since those days the Dem Party has been in the pockets of the controllers….

Dems eager for a win went along with the money and the influence……

As Hillary Clinton finally clinches the Democratic nomination, the big question facing Democrats is: are they now the party of big money and elite special interests or will the Sanders’ revolt live on and grow, write Bill Moyers and Michael Winship.

Return with us now to the saga of Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the soul of the Democratic Party. First, a quick recap: Rep. Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, chair of the Democratic National Committee, also has been an advocate for the payday loan industry. The website Think Progress even described her as the “top Democratic ally” of “predatory payday lenders.” You know — the bottom-feeding bloodsuckers of the working poor. Yes, them.

Low-income workers living from paycheck to paycheck, especially women and minorities, are the payday lenders’ prime targets — easy pickings because they’re often desperate. Twelve million Americans reportedly borrow nearly $50 billion a year through payday loans, at rates that can soar above 300 percent, sometimes even beyond 500 percent.

Source: Big Money’s Conquest of Democratic Party – Consortiumnews

This is what the Dems wanted…..this is how you win an election….throw your scruples on the trash pile of political idealism…..and that is how we got the trashiest people as candidates…..

Now wallow in the slop you created…..

Clinton Foundation Donors Got Weapons Deals From Hillary Clinton’s State Department

I have been reporting that something is just hinkey with the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Department of State……I kept seeing all the deals that the donors to the foundation got over her years at state and thought that those types of deals should preclude her from running and should definitely keep Bill out of the White House again….

Even by the standards of arms deals between the United States and Saudi Arabia, this one was enormous. A consortium of American defense contractors led by Boeing would deliver $29 billion worth of advanced fighter jets to the United States’ oil-rich ally in the Middle East.

Israeli officials were agitated, reportedly complaining to the Obama administration that this substantial enhancement to Saudi air power risked disrupting the region’s fragile balance of power. The deal appeared to collide with the State Department’s documented concerns about the repressive policies of the Saudi royal family.

But now, in late 2011, Hillary Clinton’s State Department was formally clearing the sale, asserting that it was in the national interest. At press conferences in Washington to announce the department’s approval, an assistant secretary of state, Andrew Shapiro, declared that the deal had been “a top priority” for Clinton personally. Shapiro, a longtime aide to Clinton since her Senate days, added that the “U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army have excellent relationships in Saudi Arabia.”

Source: Clinton Foundation Donors Got Weapons Deals From Hillary Clinton’s State Department

Do you think that this should be brought out for all to see the deals that the countries got from the state department under the leadership of a Clinton?

Bubba’s Toxic Economic Legacy

Yesterday I went on a bit of a rant when I heard the Hillary if president wants to use Bubba to revitalize the economy……after hearing that I felt as if my head would explode……Bubba?  Please not him again.

But after my rant I thought that maybe I should post something about his “record” of accomplishments as an economic guru…..

Hillary Clinton recently stated that her husband would be a key player on economic policy. That’s not good news.

Over the past several months, Hillary Clinton has been somewhat hesitant to bring up her husband’s legacy as president, which, for many progressives, is a vexing reminder of how the Democratic Party embraced neoliberal policies towards the end of the 20th century, under the leadership of the the triangulating Bill Clinton. Faced with the insurgent campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton has tried to hype her progressive bona fides, which has meant avoiding some of Bill’s more despicable policies — from the 1994 crime bill and expansion of the war on drugs, to welfare reform and the Defense of Marriage Act. Almost two decades removed from the Clinton administration, there is a lot to find distasteful, and Hillary clearly wants to avoid discussing the worst of her husband’s presidency (which, like or not, she played a major role in).

Source: Bubba’s Toxic Economic Legacy: When Hillary Brags About the First Clinton Presidency Legacy, She Doesn’t Want You to Remember This | Alternet

If she is elected (I pray for our souls) she and her hubby will be just a repeat of the Bubba years…..only people that will benefit are their wealthy friends….both foreign and domestic…..

This country deserves better than the Clintons!

The 1990’s: Can You Remember?

Of course you cannot……something about the selective memory of the American people….if you do then you probably look fondly back at all the Clinton policies that make life so much better than before……like NAFTA which would put money in the pockets of average Americans….or maybe his brilliant idea of repealing Glass-Steagall which would open up financial markets so that we all would benefit……how did all that work out for you?

We hear the candidate Hillary Clinton come out as a champion of the minority community…..she has said much that she will do to stop the discrimination, the brutality…..everything that the community wants to hear…..

My question is will she pursue the same policies as her prez hubby did?

I do not understand the support that the black community has for the Clinton’s….I remember when many people call Bill the US first black president…….why?

His programs did little to further the interests of the black community…..but yet they still support him and his wife……very confusing….

For instance his so-called welfare reform……it has done more damamge than good…….

Source: How Bill Clinton’s Welfare “Reform” Created a System Rife With Racial Biases | BillMoyers.com

Source: The Worst Thing Bill Clinton Has Done – The Atlantic

Clinton’s success in transforming the welfare system shows how a leader can sometimes lose by winning. Clinton’s original plan was one part tough love and one part expanded resources. Able long-term welfare recipients would be compelled to work, but additional resources for job training, wage subsidy, and child care, as well as waivers in hardship cases, would make welfare reform an improvement on the lives of the poor, not just a cruel reduction in benefits. But the Republican majority in Congress was more interested in cutting the rolls. Clinton vetoed the proposed legislation twice before finally signing it based on only token improvements.

For Democrats as well as Republicans, the proof of success became the dramatic shrinkage of the welfare rolls, and not the more troubling question of how many of the poor were better or worse off. By embracing an essentially GOP version of welfare reform, Clinton reinforced conservative dogma that the welfare state was more of a problem than a solution.

What about Bill’s law and order stance?

Clinton signed into law an omnibus crime bill in 1994 that included the federal “three strikes” provision, mandating life sentences for criminals convicted of a violent felony after two or more prior convictions, including drug crimes.  Clinton acknowledged that policy’s role in over-incarceration in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

In essence he help create the overcrowding that we have now and the massive sentences for otherwise “minor” crimes……

And the list goes on…….Democrats have tried to forget or put behind them the problems that they themselves have caused…..and now someone who is proud of the “progress” of her husband’s administration is running for the very same office……I do not understand the appeal of Hillary from Afro-Americans.  Bill help give them the income inequality, the massive prison population and the welfare reform that did more damage than good…….why is she so goddamn appealing to Afro-American voters?

What do they see that I am missing?

What are the chances that this will be a third term for Bubba if she is elected in this election?

“Your Check Is In The Mail”

Oh boy has there been a pack of crap flying about the Clinton’s and their income from speeches……of course there is the usual attacks that foreign money is making it into Hillary’s campaign…..somehow.

Let’s be honest….the Clinton’s….all the Clinton’s have made a butt load of cash for speaking to groups and such…….

In her last financial disclosure report, Hillary Clinton put her and her husband’s estimated wealth at between $4 million and $20 million. That was 2012, this is now: The couple have in the last 16 months earned more than $25 million in speaking fees tied to more than 100 paid speeches, plus another $5 million in book royalties. NBC News notes this puts them “in the top one-tenth of 1% of all Americans.” The numbers come from a personal financial disclosure report filed with the Federal Election Commission last night; such filings are required of presidential contenders.

How the New York Times frames the news: The disclosure “could create challenges for the former secretary of state as she tries to cast herself as a champion of everyday Americans in an era of income inequality.” (An assertion likely not helped by this: Though Hillary last year memorably said she and Bill aren’t like the “truly well off,” the Times put the Clintons’ post-White House speaking fee revenue at $125 million.) Reaction from the right, from RNC chair Reince Priebus: “The Clintons’ claim that staggering amounts of income from paid speaking fees that raise ethical questions and potential conflicts of interest is simply to ‘pay our bills’ shows how out-of-touch they’ve truly become.”

Yep you read that right….$125 million since leaving the White House……that should pay a bill or two……but wait….there has been another revelation on their income…….

We already knew the Clintons made big money making speeches, but it turns out they made more than has been previously disclosed. The Clinton Foundation has for the first time published a comprehensive list of speech fees brought into the foundation by Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea since 2002, reports the Wall Street Journal. The list shows that the trio made up to $26.4 million in previously undisclosed payments for 97 speeches in that span to “major corporations, universities, foreign sources, and other groups,” reports the Washington Post. The former president did most of them, 72, while Hillary did 16, and Chelsea nine. CNN pulls out some notable details: “Bill Clinton spoke to Thailand’s Ministry of Energy, China Real Estate Development Group, Ltd, and Qatar First Investment Bank; Hillary Clinton spoke to Goldman Sachs, Citibank, and JP Morgan Chase, among others.”

The foundation has been under scrutiny over allegations that it failed to abide by a 2008 ethics agreement to reveal donors, an agreement put in place to make sure no conflicts of interests arose for Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Foundation officials say the newly disclosed fees had been counted as revenue, not donations, and thus hadn’t been part of previous public listings. Conservatives aren’t sympathetic: “Hey, it happens,” snarks a post at the Hot Air website. “A few coins slip out of the pocket and into the sofa, a check or two gets left on the desk … or a few million reported as revenue turn out to be undeclared foreign and corporate donations.”

I mean it was honest and clear cash, right?

Do you think that this money was paid for access?  A past president, a senator and a former Secretary of State…..that could open a lot of doors for the right price.

How about a sample of their speeches?

Amount: $250,001 to $500,000

Organization
Beijing Huaduo Enterprise Consulting Company Ltd.*
Business for Change Events*
Carlyle Investment Management, LLC+
China Real Estate Development Group, Ltd.*
Citibank, N.A.+
Colgate University+
Fundacion Telmex+
Goldman, Sachs and Co.+
Hamilton College+
JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.+
Korea Economic Daily*
Ministry of Energy, Thailand*
Qatar First Investment Bank*
Tanmiah Commercial Group*
UB Foundation Activities, Inc.+
Unica*
University of California Los Angeles+
U.S. Islamic World Conference*
World Celebrity Golf Ltd.*

Just to mention a few (and I do mean a FEW)

Do you think that this would buy influence from a candidate if elected?  Looks like money talks and it will be chatting up Hil if she gets elected……I see a couple that would influence foreign policy….

NOTHING ever changes!

Why Is Bubba Still Relevant?

Almost weekly I see some story or read some account of Bill Clinton and his exploits….in the political arena or business world or…………and that leads me to ask the question….why is Bubba still relevant?

Why is Clinton revered on the ‘Left’?  To Democrats?  He took an axe to entitlements, repealed Glass-Steagall which could be linked back to the crash of 2008…..he pushed through NAFTA which killed many US jobs and aided the demise of unions….took us to war in the Balkans and refused to missile attack Osama when he had him in his sights………

None of the situations are something to be proud of and yet Dems worship at the alter of Bubba.  Why?  He won back some of the Dems that had been lost during the Reagan years during his time in the barrel…is that it?  Maybe it is truly about elections and not the country and its people…..ya think?

There is more…..surprise!

If you were around in the early days of the Clinton’s rise to fame you will recall the Whitewater scandal……nothing hered…move along….I remember that from the days of them trying to explain away the situation and then I read this the other day……

It’s been more than a year since the legal justification for secrecy expired on a collection of roughly 33,000 pages of documents from the Clinton presidency. But the files in question—which are held at the Clinton Presidential Library and are reportedly related in part to scandals such as Whitewater—remain off-limits to the public, Politico reports. Per the Presidential Records Act, such papers can be held for 12 years after a president leaves office, meaning they could have been available in January 2013. Now, following Politico inquiries, officials say the White House has OKed the release of 25,000 pages. But “it will take … additional time to complete the logistics of making available such a large release,” says a rep for the National Archives, which, along with the library and lawyers for presidents Clinton and Obama, plays a role in the release process. Politico’s Mike Allen tells MSNBC that “another 8,000 of some of the president’s most sensitive communications … are still being blocked,” the Washington Free Beacon reports. The White House has delayed the deadline on those remaining pages until March 26, the rep says. Bill Clinton could use executive privilege to keep them secret, but that would probably prompt a court battle, Politico notes. Also among the documents is confidential advice Clinton requested or received, along with files from Hillary Clinton’s office, and a Gettysburg College professor offers her take on the apparent secrecy: “The obvious answer is they are trying to protect Hillary,” perhaps ahead of a 2016 presidential bid of her own.

What’s there to hide?  Maybe our conserv friends may be proven correct or mostly right……..anyway I still ask….Why is Bubba still relevant?

Any ideas?

His educational plan was just another teach for profit scam that all presidents have had since him……..it did nothing to further the educational standards but it sounded good in a speech…..maybe that is it?

Since leaving the office of president he has NEVER been too far from the cameras and he somehow knows how to keep the name out there and a name to be sought out in election time.