Though two stories about the Clintons getting buzz today seemed a bit odd grouped together, they really share a common thread.
The first is that Bill Clinton flew with Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra to Kazakhstan on Giustra’s private jet, accompanied him to a meeting with that nation’s repressive president, received a $31 million donation from Giustra for his charitable foundation and a $100 million to pledge to the William J. Clinton Foundation, yet claims he did nothing to help Giustra ink a uranium mining deal with the Kazakhstan president that is worth tens of millions of dollars.  Bill makes this claim, though the record shows fact that Giustra was a newcomer to uranium mining in Kazakhstan and that — days before the deal was inked – Clinton expressed enthusiastic support for the Kazakh leader’s bid to head an international organization that monitors elections and supports democracy, undercutting both American foreign policy and criticism of Kazakhstan’s poor human rights record by Sen. Hillary Clinton.
The second is the recycled story — although with video this time — that as a member of the Wal-Mart board of directors from 1986-92, Hillary Clinton remained silent as the big box retailer, widely reviled by liberals, waged a major campaign against labor unions seeking to represent store workers. This re-reported story might have added that Hillary also was paid to sit on the board of the French-owned cement company Lafarge, which was fined $1.8 million by the EPA for pollution violations, only to have that fine slashed by two-thirds after Bill was elected president.
Both stories fit with the historical relationship the Clintons have had with the private sector. Hillary Clinton’s law practice benefitted from from Bill’s public career as attorney general, then governor, in Arkansas. To all appearances, the Clintons benefitted from improper cattle futures trading by Refco. They got into shady deals with crooked Savings & Loan officials, and claimed improper tax deductions related to them. She took tens of thousands of dollars for do-nothing seats on corporate boards. And now that she is in public office and she is not, Bill is trading on his political connections to make enormous sums of cash (which they brag about quite a bit).
Given their track record, it should surprise no one that the Clintons have so little faith in the free market; their dealings in the private sector have always carried the strong odor of crony capitalism.
Comment by kelly on 1/31 @ 2:22 pm #
Nothing says business acumen quite like the Clintons.
Comment by Joe on 1/31 @ 2:38 pm #
I smell hate :-)
Comment by Diane Keichinger on 1/31 @ 2:43 pm #
Hillary is so fonny. I don’t understand
why people can’t see throught her. Bill
Clinton is so slick I hate that I voted for him, now I see what the Republicans were talking about. He really is slick will,
and a snak oil salesman.
Comment by Squid on 1/31 @ 3:19 pm #
As much as I try to avoid discussions of politics at dinner, the subject came up last night. I mentioned to my dyed-in-the-wool Minnesota limosine liberal friends that given recent developments, Hillary is actually a more Republican candidate than McCain.
I think the restaurant management must have instituted some Gaia-friendly climate control measures at that point, because things suddenly became really frosty around our table…
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 3:19 pm #
So the media has turned on her. It’s a live by the sword thing I guess. If she has to lose I hope she’s utterly humiliated to where it wasn’t a hard-fought contest but an unequivocal rejection of her conniving ass.
Comment by Dan Collins on 1/31 @ 3:35 pm #
This is related, and well observed.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 3:51 pm #
Ask John Kerry if he has gotten over the Swift boat smear campaign.)
It’s like a nervous tic with these people.
Comment by MikeD on 1/31 @ 3:57 pm #
Clinton. A name that will live forever among the world’s most respected recent political families. Right along with Duvalier, Samoza, Battista, Castro, Mugabe, Arafat, Jong Il, Chavez, Marcos. Not so much mass murderers, but despicable in almost every other way. Wouldn’t a Cecesceau resolution be gratifying?
Comment by McGehee on 1/31 @ 6:06 pm #
As a rule I’m against anything that causes a politician’s blood to be spilled just because they’re a political opponent. In Hillary’s case there’s also the fact when her blood is exposed to air it burns at 3,000 degrees Centigrade.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 6:45 pm #
It’s like they have to break a filibuster just to endorse somebody. That’s very them, really.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 6:46 pm #
Ok this would be the wrong thread. I think I will go have a cigarette now.
Comment by MikeD on 1/31 @ 8:18 pm #
“In Hillary’s case there’s also the fact when her blood is exposed to air it burns at 3,000 degrees Centigrade.”
You are right McGehee, I forgot about the whole Global Warming issue. My bad.
Comment by JohnMcC on 1/31 @ 8:25 pm #
While the intellectually challenged MrHappyhead smokes his cigarette (columbian?) I have a few comments. First, the reason these ‘revelations’ have been in the public record for breathtaking (where’s that pulitzer) jerks like Our Karl to regurgitate is because…they are in the public record!!! Isn’t that amazing. Now try to find ANYTHING about the funding of the GWBush Presidential Library. Or the Cheney-Oil Industry secret conferences (while you pump regular at $3.00/gal). Or the CIA torture tapes. Or the interogations or JosePadilla. Or anything really that the Bushies don’t want you to know.
You are ignorant of these little things because the ‘conservative’ assholes in the Administration and the Republican dominated Congress don’t want you to know anything.
So you parrot the little that you do know because it sounds intelligent to you. Poor deluded fools.
Second, it is ‘conservative’ jerks that have made Our Bill the most powerful President ever. Everything is his fault!!!
When wingnuts wake up to global warming, THAT will be his fault too!!
You sad fools.
On the liberal side of the ‘net, the Clintons are ancient history. It’s fools from the rightwing that keep them going. Way to go, assholes!!!
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 8:27 pm #
You not nice man. I piss on you head.
Comment by Rusty on 1/31 @ 8:45 pm #
If they’re secret, how do you know they have them?
Comment by cynn on 1/31 @ 8:48 pm #
This is going to be bad. I love you short time.
Comment by daleyrocks on 1/31 @ 9:10 pm #
You are right McGehee, I forgot about the whole Global Warming issue. My bad.
It’s easy to forget about that shit when they keep revising the settled science so that the issue disappears all by itself because the data turns out to be hosed.
Comment by PCachu on 1/31 @ 9:23 pm #
If anything, their history with “capitalism” is a strong argument in precisely the opposite direction that your typical people-powered people’s person would claim; to wit, that it is government “regulation” itself that corrupts business, and its elected-by-mere-plurality officials who leech soullessly from the fruits of others’ labor.
That’s the new Unified Theory of Government Corruption. Proven by the same anecdotal method that drives all modern policy discussion. Choke on it.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 9:31 pm #
The Clintons have lots and lots of money. I bet there are lots of like little imported cheeses wrapped in different color foil in their fridge and neither one of them even know they’re there. I think it would be cool to have a fridge like that.
Comment by JorgXMcKie on 1/31 @ 10:06 pm #
Obviously the Clintons have not amassed their (now vast) fortune by either entrepneurial abilities nor investing acumen, so what’s left? Hmmmmmmmm.
Comment by JorgXMcKie on 1/31 @ 10:07 pm #
And perhaps JohnMcC would like to discourse on Bill’s huge ‘non-profit’ and its funding and spending and budget?
Comment by B Moe on 1/31 @ 10:15 pm #
“On the liberal side of the ‘net, the Clintons are ancient history”
(Should we tell him they are running for President again?)
Comment by Pablo on 1/31 @ 10:20 pm #
Only if you want to disturb the Community Based Reality, B Moe.
Comment by datadave on 1/31 @ 10:25 pm #
She took tens of thousands of dollars for do-nothing seats on corporate boards.
just to be critical. Hey, that’s what all the Republican top income getters do. That’s what all Corporation Board members do collect 10 of thousands and give their CEO friends golden parachutes.
Jeesh, being a little hypocritical are you? Criticizing her for acting like a Republican member of the Boys Club?
We could go into the inherent corruption of US style Corporation management…but this is about Hillary. How dare she act like a typical country-club Republican? Pssshawwww!
Comment by B Moe on 1/31 @ 10:29 pm #
My head just exploded.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 10:33 pm #
I think there are some greedy people on Wall Street that perhaps need to be punished.
Comment by datadave on 1/31 @ 10:41 pm #
Now I know why you really should hate this Businessman: he founded :
“Lions Gate Entertainment: from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Giustra
Giustra is also the founder of the current incarnation of Lions Gate Entertainment.
After he left investment banking in 1996, Giustra started the new Lions Gate in 1997. He hoped to capitalize on the growing film industry in Vancouver. The company bought a number of small production facilities and distributors. Its first success was American Psycho, which began a trend of producing and distributing films far too controversial for the major American studios. Other successes included Affliction, Gods and Monsters, Dogma, and the Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 (which turned out to be the studio’s highest grossing film in their history).
actually sounds like he did good business and his ‘using’ Clinton was ideologically correct, philosophically correct and sound salesmanship. Not bad for another rags to riches story…like Clinton’s. Hey, it’s the Kazahk’s uranium. Frank’s super rich due to Bush’s breaking the bank and causing commodity prices to go through the roof!
Comment by Pablo on 1/31 @ 10:42 pm #
Right, because corporations don’t actually do anything to make any money, they just collect taxes and spread them around their upper echelons. the government, OTOH….well, they’re all about production.
Thanks for that insight, O Dipshit Supernova.
Comment by some greedy people on Wall Street on 1/31 @ 10:44 pm #
PALOMINO!
Comment by daleyrocks on 1/31 @ 10:45 pm #
Oh, datadave, board seats are not as highly sought as they once were, because of teh liability. You might want to check that out.
Comment by Pablo on 1/31 @ 10:45 pm #
I guess I’d better get into the movie ticket futures market.
Comment by daleyrocks on 1/31 @ 10:50 pm #
Right, because corporations don’t actually do anything to make any money
Nah, the only way they make profits is by stripping them out of the hides and wages of their workers. Please stick to the approved narrative.
Comment by datadave on 1/31 @ 10:51 pm #
thanks Dan. That was a great defense of Obama. He’s got a right to be mad at Hillary and her millstone trousersnake husband. I like Obama. He was very articulate and clear tonight with Hillary who didn’t do too bad knowing that the smear campaign wasn’t working but Obama is pretty late on the scene and has less than an even chance to get there. He’d do better against McCain I think. or Romney? Neither race is over but the odds are on Hillary vs. McCain me thinks.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 10:54 pm #
Romney is articulate too, except on tv nobody notices cause of how he looks.
Comment by datadave on 1/31 @ 11:02 pm #
I hear that they get free high deductible health care packages with those board seats plus skyseats at the Enron Field opps…. .Minute Maid Park
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 11:13 pm #
At this one company they used to try to give me tickets to go sit in the box at Dodger games but really you can’t see that great and you can’t smoke and you have to behave really well cause everyone there is vastly more important than you are.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 11:17 pm #
Oh but on articulateness if McCain sounds so feeble and tired now what’s he going to sound like in a few years of a stressful job? I’m listening to last night’s debate and he really sounds kind of mumbly and like he wants to sound even snottier but he’s too tired to get that worked up.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 11:27 pm #
Also don’t you mean low deductible really?
Comment by MayBee on 1/31 @ 11:36 pm #
Community Based Reality
Did you just make that up, Pablo? Because it’s brilliant.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 11:37 pm #
Hi MayBee. I’m working on moderating. Just wanted you to know that.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 11:45 pm #
Rick Perry endorsed Mr. McCain today and I just took a deep breath and let it go. It felt good. Kind of.
Comment by MayBee on 1/31 @ 11:48 pm #
I’m proud of you, haps. Although I don’t want to stop you from being…you. Especially now with Britney in the hospital. I need some outrageous entertainment, you know.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 11:57 pm #
Mostly it’s more about speeding up through the Kubler-Ross thing. I spent all morning bargaining with God and now I’m working through the depression. The Britney thing doesn’t help.
Comment by happyfeet on 1/31 @ 11:59 pm #
Oh. here if you want to review. It’s really handy for things like when McCain is our next president or like you find out you have third-stage syphilis.
Comment by Pablo on 2/1 @ 12:21 am #
Did you just make that up, Pablo? Because it’s brilliant.
I wish I had, MayBee. It’s bloody perfect. But alas, I’ve stolen it from someone else and I don’t have the decency to remember who that was.
Comment by MayBee on 2/1 @ 12:23 am #
From your link, a possible solution:
Comment by Karl on 2/1 @ 12:24 am #
I’m sure John McC can give us a link to that Giustra story in the public record before yesterday.
/jerk
Comment by maggie katzen on 2/1 @ 12:26 am #
daley, should we mention the insurance for that kind of thing? but yeah it’s a very “risk vs. reward” kind of thing.
Comment by maggie katzen on 2/1 @ 12:27 am #
seems i’m stuck on something. it’s very cold here.
Comment by MayBee on 2/1 @ 12:33 am #
The way he called you “Our Karl” seemed almost religious, I thought.
Comment by daleyrocks on 2/1 @ 12:40 am #
maggie - Sarbanes-Oxley and new stock exchange rules changed the dynamics of board memberships. Board members actually have to do some work to avoid liability these days. Some corporations also have policies limiting outside directors to a certain number of directorships. Libs have a completely distorted view of how the business world works.
Comment by daleyrocks on 2/1 @ 12:47 am #
maggie - Directors and Officers insurance policies are usually written on a “claims made” basis as opposed to incurred basis. That is the claim has to be made to the carrier during the term of the policy for coverage to take effect. The underlying event giving rise to the claim could have occurred in a prior period.
Comment by maggie katzen on 2/1 @ 12:49 am #
ja, daley, I’m low enough in the accounting department I hear stories, but don’t have to deal with SOX auditors.
Comment by Carin on 2/1 @ 6:54 am #
es (while you pump regular at $3.00/gal). Or the CIA torture tapes. Or the interogations or JosePadilla. Or anything really that the Bushies don’t want you to know.
You are ignorant of these little things because the ‘conservative’ assholes in the Administration and the Republican dominated Congress don’t want you to know anything.
Republican dominated? Hello? Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, Nancy Pelosi … why do these names seem familiar?
But, this is kind of a fun game because you can claim all sorts of stuff with absolutely NO PROOF because the “powers that be” don’t want you to know. I bet we could do this with Obama and Billary too.
Comment by datadave on 2/1 @ 8:03 am #
I knew it. YOU were all a bunch of Karlists! I am here to help you find the Bridge to the 20th Century away from hereditary wealth and on to the Meritocracy.
high deductibles are always better business….as self insurance has always the best odds. (if you have a hundreds of K for pocket change. a 100K deductible is 20 a month. whereas 5 to 25K deductibles are hundreds a month….in 20 years you could save up your 100K and earn interest on it). Amazing, I can say I am insured in Mass for only 20 a month and get away with it and if I get stuck with an unintended ‘accident’..just stick ‘em with it until I get to the deductible. Negotiate and sell something and use the capital gains and write it off on the Self Employed form…but since the odds that a healthy person won’t get an ‘accident’ other than a minor skiing injury..then pay cash for the outpatient stuff…) But it’s tough on the ol middle class paying up to K a month to make sure fat cats get paid when a peon gets an accident. In our state even car insurance can be ’self insured’ w/ proof of 125+K liquidity. But then car loans for newer cars require comprehensive. Get an old Volvo and self insure it and be really greedy.
probably few take advantage of the loopholes in “mandatory” insurance but then I was told high deductibles are how the trustfunders do it.
Comment by datadave on 2/1 @ 8:09 am #
jessum, happy, you’re not Ageist are you? McCain isn’t a goner yet.
moderation! I endorse it for longevity.
Comment by daleyrocks on 2/1 @ 9:09 am #
numbnuts dave - If a corporation is providing medical insurance policies to its board members as perks, the context of the discussion, commenters speculated it would choose low deductible policies, presumably so the benefits to the directors would kick in right away.
You are looking at the analysis from the perspective of an individual purchasing a plan, a different matter. When it’s free (except for tax consequences), the more coverage the better.
Try to keep up.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 2/1 @ 11:53 am #
Anyone else roll their eyes at the idiotic neo-Marxist crap?
Comment by McGehee on 2/1 @ 1:54 pm #
No, but I did have a disturbing case of Marty Feldman eyes for a few moments last night, right about the time JohnMcC’s comment was posted.
Scary, it was. Is that how people like that actually see the world?
Comment by Rusty on 2/1 @ 5:35 pm #
OK. Dave.
Where do jobs come from?
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Is Clinton someone who is very proud or what? How is his personality like?
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