During Wednesday's debate, HRC was asked about releasing the names of donors to Bill's presidential library. Her response was that while she doesn't discuss her private conversations with her husband, she was "sure" he would be "happy to consider" making those names public.
Well I guess he happily considered it before, according to ABC news, predictibly declining to do so.
This is the quote from Bill:
The people that have already given me money, I don't think I should disclose it unless there is some conflict of which I am aware -- and there is not -- because a lot of people gave me money with the understanding that they could give anonymously. And if they gave publicly they would be the target for every other politician in America.
The article also explains that:
The issue of contributions to the Clinton library has gotten fresh attention in recent weeks with the widening scandal surrounding disgraced Clinton fund-raiser Norman Hsu. Hsu has given widely to the Clintons and their causes; he raised $850,000 for Sen. Clinton’s campaign, and gave $30,000 to the Clinton Global Initiative.
Among the entities who have been reported to have given more than $1 million toward the presidentical center: the governments of Dubai, Kuwait, and Qatar; the Saudi royal family; a deputy prime minister of Lebanon; filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Stephen Bing, and David Geffen; Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart heir Alice Walton; the Anheuser-Busch Foundation; and Vin Gupta, chairman and CEO of infoUSA Inc., a telemarketing firm that has come under scrutiny for its handling of private information.
While donations from some of these sources no doubt raise questions, I'd suggest that the effort to conceal donors is more an effort to redirect the public from considerations like this:
President Clinton's eleventh-hour pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich has sparked a firestorm of controversy, launching investigations in both houses of Congress and igniting fierce protest from both Democrats and Republicans. The U.S. House and Senate have issued a rash of subpoenas calling for witnesses as well as financial records, as the House Government Reform Committee continued its hearings and the Senate Judiciary Committee geared up for its own proceedings.
The congressional panels were called to investigate the path to Rich's pardon — which, as various documents seem to indicate, did not follow usual channels. In testimony Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. pardon attorney Roger Adams says when the White House sent over Rich's name for pardon consideration — only a few hours before the President was due to leave office — there was never any mention of Rich being a fugitive. There is also suspicion that donations made to Clinton campaigns and to the Clinton presidential library by Rich's ex-wife, Denise, could be a quid pro quo for the pardon.
Marc Rich's socialite ex-wife has donated an estimated $1 million to Democratic causes, including $70,000 to Hillary Clinton's successful Senate campaign and $450,000 to the Clinton presidential library fund. She also lobbied heavily for Marc's pardon. Investigators want to know if Denise's contributions led to a direct quid pro quo exchange for her ex-husband's pardon.
This is serious stuff. The exchanging of pardons for half-million dollar political contributions offends fundamental ideas of justice and fair play, and can not not be excused or defended whether perpetrated by a democrat or republican. Those who claim this is politics as usual assume a level of cyinicism that only perpetuates the problem.
Let's not let the last 8 years of GWB/Cheney make us forget that healthier government is possible. A good start would be lifting the veil of paranoia and secrecy.
The best line of the debate last night was Obama's response to Hillary characterizing her push for health care in the 90's as "lonely." Obama responded that:
"It has to do with who can inspire and mobilize the American people to get it done and open up the process. If it was lonely for Hillary, part of the reason it was lonely, Hillary, was because you closed the door to a lot of potential allies in that process.
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Let's elect candidates who will keep the door open.