2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumI want a journalist to ask Hillary Clinton if she is ever going to answer these 5 questions.
Previously asked by the New Yorker:
(Note: This is about the Clinton Foundation and ONE of the "speaking" fees paid to Bill while Hillary was SOS, not about the millions in speaking fees she was paid after she resigned as SOS) and before she officially announced she was running for President.)
1. Was there a quid pro quo? Based on the Times reporting, there was certainly a lot of quid (millions in donations that made it to a Clinton charity; a half-million-dollar speakers fee) and multiple quos (American diplomatic intervention with the Russians; approvals when the Russian firm offered a very generous price for Uranium One).
Update: Obviously they are going to say no but it begs the question, in light of all the other transactions that have transpired, how can anyone NOT draw the conclusion that there was quid pro quo. Mere happenstance? Really?
2. Did the Clintons meet their disclosure requirements? The Times writes, of the $2.35 million from Telfers family foundation, Those contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors. This is one of the more striking details in the story, because it seems so clear-cut that the donation ought to have been disclosed.
3. Did the Clintons personally profit? ...... Bill Clinton also accepted a five-hundred-thousand-dollar speaking fee for an event in Moscow, paid for by a Russian investment bank that had ties to the Kremlin. That was in June, 2010, the Times reports, the same month Rosatom struck its deal for a majority stake in Uranium Onea deal that the Russian bank was promoting and thus could profit from. Did Bill Clinton do anything to help after taking their money? The Times doesnt know. But there is a bigger question: Why was Bill Clinton taking any money from a bank linked to the Kremlin while his wife was Secretary of State? In a separate story, breaking down some of the hundred million dollars in speaking fees that Bill Clinton has collected, the Washington Post notes, The multiple avenues through which the Clintons and their causes have accepted financial support have provided a variety of ways for wealthy interests in the United States and abroad to build friendly relations with a potential future president.
4. Putting aside who got rich, did this series of uranium deals damage or compromise national security? That this is even a question is one reason the story is, so to speak, radioactive. According to the Times, the sale gave the Russians control of one-fifth of all uranium production capacity in the United States. Pravda has said that it makes Russia stronger. What that means, practically, is something that will probably be debated as the election proceeds.
5. Is this cherry-picking or low-hanging fruit? Put another way, how many more stories about the Clintons and money will there be before we make it to November, 2016?
http://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/five-questions-about-the-clintons-and-a-uranium-company
While the United States gets one-fifth of its electrical power from nuclear plants, it produces only around 20 percent of the uranium it needs, and most plants have only 18 to 36 months of reserves, according to Marin Katusa, author of The Colder War: How the Global Energy Trade Slipped From Americas Grasp.
The Russians are easily winning the uranium war, and nobodys talking about it, said Mr. Katusa, who explores the implications of the Uranium One deal in his book. Its not just a domestic issue but a foreign policy issue, too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html
Faux pas
(14,681 posts)Skwmom
(12,685 posts)Though it wouldn't even be tough, it would be doing its job!
absolutely right about that. The only questions I have are:
1. When do we start holding our breath waiting for that to happen?
2. How long should we hold our breath while waiting?
Skwmom
(12,685 posts)Last edited Fri Sep 11, 2015, 05:25 PM - Edit history (1)
The GOP will decimate the party in the general election if Hillary is the nominee. Talk about tone deaf....
bvar22
(39,909 posts)I agree.
Faux pas
(14,681 posts)that way the media gets to pick the nominees. Dastardly for sure.
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)I envision Hillary Clinton's answers would sound something like this:
1. Absolutely not.
2. I fully complied with all requirements.
3. Everything was proper and fully in compliance with the law
4. Absolutely not.
Response to Skwmom (Original post)
Corruption Inc This message was self-deleted by its author.
kenfrequed
(7,865 posts)I don't like conspiracism and what not as campaign questions. I am more interested in solid issues.
1) What specific legislation will you push to get Wallstreet in line and properly regulated.
2) What specific policy will you enact to help with the growing disparity of wealth in this country
3) What will you do to change the bloated defense budget and correct the defense procurement process to get rid of major defense industry malfesiance?
4) Do you support a single payer healthcare system
5) Do you support free education for all.
Skwmom
(12,685 posts)That's why ethics matter.
However, all of those should be asked also.
kenfrequed
(7,865 posts)For me during an election the issues take center stage. I need to see better journalism to be convinced of the other stuff.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)will fight the right once he's in the oval office. Period. This other stuff smacks of hate radio nonsense and diversion and should be disregarded by bernistas.
zentrum
(9,865 posts)
. are plotting in true Rovian/Murdoch fashion, waiting to see if she'll be the nominee. Then they'll start dripping out all this stuff after the primaries aimed at making her unelectable. Or if elected, totally weakened and with few coattails.
Too bad for us all that the coronation-candidate has so much baggage, real and imaginary.
Bernie has very little to none. He's a strictly policy/issues/idea/guy. About as pure as a politician gets.
gateley
(62,683 posts)And turn all the answers to show why she's innocent/you're wrong/she's learned her lesson... etc.
Kind of like she made her support of MORE H-1B visa sound good for America and the American people (2007 debate).
gateley
(62,683 posts)Until she becomes the nominee, or drops out, you know you're going to have to listen to anti-Hillary stuff. And, come to think of it, even after she becomes the nominee.
Especially here, as you well know. We're not meh about anybody! Hang in there! I don't care for her, but I totally support your support, if that makes sense.
The anti-hill gang bores the shit out of me.
Gman
(24,780 posts)Who cares? She shouldn't have to answer to right wing talking points.
And they damn sure don't belong on DU.
These are RW bullshit propaganda misnomers. The poster is using the DU to attack Hillary Clinton.
crazy world we live in.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)Last edited Sat Sep 12, 2015, 09:19 AM - Edit history (1)
2. Where does she stand on the TPP?
3. Where does she stand on the Welfare Reform bill that has harmed so many women, AND children? Has she changed her mind regarding her position in 2008?
4. Does she support Bernie Sanders demands to abolish the Private Prison Industry?
I have more, but that will do for now.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Like this guy and his "secret plan" to end the Vietnam War
Jebus, every day she reminds me more of Richard Nixon.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)Check my reply 26
DamnYankeeInHouston
(1,365 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)She is the candidate of the plutocratic status quo. Nuff said.
And don't hold your breath waiting for answers.
mhatrw
(10,786 posts)2) I am a true Democrat.
3) I am a true Democrat.
4) I am a true Democrat.
5) I am a true Democrat.
So there!
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... ask her about the TPP, fracking, Keystone pipeline, H1B Visas, her association with Pete Peterson, her neo-con advisors, etc.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)It's almost tedious how many times we've already said and will continue to have to say...if you want to keep the White House, you need to take Clinton out now. If you don't, the media is going to do it after the conventions so they can get a "horse race" that generates more attention and thus more revenue...if they can get a GOP President out of it, even better for them.
I love Bernie, but he's doing America a monumental disfavor by not going negative on Clinton. She needs to be taken out of the race and that's not going to happen if he continues to refuse to hit her on legitimate ethical and policy concerns because nobody else is going to right now.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Chan790
(20,176 posts)TV news is a business. It exists to make money. Like any other division of a corporation, it only exists to make money. They are always going to do everything they can to make the Presidential race a horse-race because it makes them money. Even if their ownership didn't want them to, they still would make a horserace of it because it boosts the profitability of their division of the larger corporation and that's what keeps the TV news decisionmakers employed. It's hard for TPTB to argue against profitability to shareholders.
So, how the TPTB feel about her stances is largely immaterial to whether TV news divisions are going to try be profitable by taking Hillary down into a horse-race by obliterating her until they have a ratings winner of a race.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... if it makes them a whole lot more dough making drones, bombs, tanks, fighter jets and derivative swaps.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)they, not the TPTB in the boardroom, make these decisions. They just know they will have to answer for them later if the rating fall after they defy the paymasters. It's a good bet too...no matter how much they fuck-over TPTB, it's largely impossible to justify to institutional shareholders like hedge funds and retirement funds firing a division head that just made the company money and boosted the value of their division.
I get what you're saying...but you're wrong in this case about whose desires take precedence...TPTB to loss-lead or the network exec who knows he can keep his job by making Hillary vs. Trump a 2%-gap race on the eve of Election Day even if it pisses off his bosses; they'll get over it when they see the ratings and the ad-revenue.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)on what a real journalist ought to be focused on every time they give him a chance. He really does make them look like the tools they are.