Hardly a man (or woman) is now alive in America who doesn’t remember the Clintons ride to riches on the back of their Clinton Foundation (CF) set up to do some “good deeds”. It was a cute way to get donations from people and to place a tissue wall between them and the donors. So for instance when the Sheik of Arabia wanted the State Department to continue its multi-million dollar program in his country he would suddenly find a desire to be charitable and do so with a donation of a half a million to the CF. (No one seemed to ask the question “why didn’t he give that money to the program being funded by the US?”). Of course it did not hurt the big corporations with big money contracts with the government to belly up in line to slip the CF a few million or so.
You know it wasn’t as if there were no charitable foundations in the world doing the things the CF planned to do. There are so many they are bumping into each other like the dodgem cars at places like Paragon Park. (I’m not sure Norumbega also had dodgems but I clearly remember it having the delight of all imaginative boys: the caterpillar.)
Almost all charitable foundations are set up by rich people with their own money. You understand how it works: they reach into their own pocket and not someone else’s to fund their charitable work. Where I spend time in the winter a lot of these smaller foundations are established by families (the majority it seems by Jews who fortunately are quite generous to the arts) who have done well financially and want to give something back to the community.
The idea is people use their own personal wealth. They differ from standard charities like the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, and others that solicit money from the public at large.
Then along comes Slick Willy (SW) as some called him in Arkansas and Willie’s spouse (WS). They figure why not set up a charitable foundation and fund it with money from others. WS wondered why people would give to them when others were doing what they proposed. SW reminded her they would be able to reward donors with taxpayers money if things worked out. It was a wonderful scheme. Donors could throw a nickel in the drum and get back a sawbuck. Unlike standard charities their foundation would be in a position to direct public funds to others in exchange for others contributing to them.
It was a typical idea that comes from those with a liberal bent. They want to appear charitable. But they want to use other people’s money to put forth that appearance. It is the Edward Kennedy model: tight with his own money, free with that of others. With him the others were the taxpayers. That was to be the lure of CF that would make it very attractive.
You can’t get too upset at the Clintons since both came from poor folk backgrounds. They found themselves thrust into the rich circles. Envy popped its ugly head into their thinking as they looked around and saw they were much smarter than the dolts with all the money. The CF was to be their golden highway to filthy wealth far surpassing their wildest imaginings.
Sadly, though, they found just as they were getting up to speed a flood trumped their dreams and washed away the road in front of them. In part the flood was caused by some who saw the CF for what it was and were revolted by the greed. But you know roads can always be rebuilt. You can bet the “comeback kid” et ux are busily repairing that road by pretending the dream is not dead.
Pretty shoddy of the Clintons you must think to get rich that way. But one thing we can say about them in their favor is that it was obvious they did not have the personal wealth to use their own money to set up the CF. How much worse would it have been if they were already as rich as Midas yet set up the CF? Would there have been anything lower for a person with access to billions and who also had access to controlling government funds to set up a foundation it controlled to solicit donations allegedly for charity. You know very well the nickels would flow into the pocket of the fund owners already extremely wealthy and the sawbucks fly out of the taxpayers wallets.
The Clintons have stepped off the stage momentarily. We can breathe a sigh of relief. You would like to think so.
What? Don’t tell me!
The Trumps are going to follow the Clinton idea. With all their money they are going to set up charitable funds. They are going to keep their own money while soliciting others while controlling who gets taxpayers money! Isn’t that the lowest of the low?
The Clintons were not seduced into greed by hanging around the mega wealthy. They were grasping from the start. The Whitewater down payment for foreclosure scam was a sleazy scheme to loot the poor. It did not take place in either Hollywood or Washington. Their unbridled avarice was in plain sight.
That being said the Clintons are not unusual in the abuse of the tax benefits of “charity”. Some of America’s wealthiest families retain control of industries behind a corporate veil formatted as a charitable trust. The concept itself cries out for a legal rethink. Congress has not taken a close look at it since the early 1950s.
What? No mention of the early celebration of May Day in Quincy, Massachusetts?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Morton_(colonist)
http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/maypole-infuriated-puritans/
http://www.oldenwilde.org/srasmus/oldentext/merrymount.html
http://www.oldenwilde.org/srasmus/oldentext/more_merrymount.html
Morton’s Merrymount property was seized and ended up as part of Weymouth-born daughter of a minister Abigail Smith’s dowry when she married Braintree (now Quincy) attorney and farmer John Adams.
By the way, my buddy here in Mclean, Sebastian, just lost his office in the West Wing.
Happy birthday. Russia had no effect on our election. British, American, Estonian Intel and the FBI did. They ran a massive spy campaign against the Republicans. The greatest political scandal in U S history. The plot is just now unraveling.
Let me take things a step lower, Matt. Obama is earning $400,000 for a Wall Street speech. I was very disappointed, to say the least, to see him cash in so quickly. What you have to remember is that Obama and his wife have reportedly received a $65 million advance for their memoirs. That is more than enough money to guarantee lifetime financial security for them and their two daughters. So why does Obama need another four hundred grand? Maybe from his multi-millionaire perch, Obama sees it as walkin’ around money.
Obama scored another $400K last Friday.
http://nypost.com/2017/04/27/obama-scores-another-400k-speaking-fee-amid-criticism/
Matt,
Warren Buffet and Bill Gates have pledged to give away to charity at least half of their fortunes. Buffet and Gates say their “hero” is Irish-American businessman and philanthropist Chuck Feeney who has given away 99.9% of his wealth (>$8 billion) to charity. Feeney is now 86 years old, and lives in a rental apartment in San Francisco. Throughout his life, he’s lived modestly, wears a $15 watch, always flies coach instead of first-class, and prefers eating in hamburger joints than dining in high priced restaurants; throughout his life he has generously donated to medical charities, hospitals and universities. Feeney said he hoped his last check would bounce, intending to leave this life relatively broke. His last check in 2017 didn’t bounce. It was a generous donation to Cornell.
With all due respect , are the Clintons the most topical subject to write about May 1, 2017? I am looking forward to your coverage of the the Russian investigations.I think what people read about the Clinton foundation between 2008 and 2016 is one of the reasons Hillary is not our President. Untrustworthy and all about the big money.
Hello Matthew, Happy Birthday, in celebration of this special day I’m heading up to Sullivan’s , in your old home town, and ordering two hotdogs with only M and R on them. No onions ! I shall then drive to 18 O’Callahan and polish off both while thinking of , years ago, having to perform May Pole Dances at our local School. I even intended on getting the Fried Clams for Hillary and Bill, however after reading your article this morning I can see they can now well afford to buy their own. SLAINTE
JR:
Sounds like you planned out a wonderful day. I heard fom my daughter the other day that her 3 year old son demanded that he be taken out to a nearby hotel dog joint. I was warmed by the thought that he had such good taste in food. I talked to him and learned he put ketchup on the hot dogs. You can just imagine my disappointment in realizing his failure to carry on the M and R tradition. I must admit that I did add the chopped onions whenever I’d go to Fenway Park.
I did ask Bill and Hill about friend clams. They don’t like the bellies anymore. That’s what happens when you get too much scratch. I still find myself in the Sunshine state along with Whitey. I’ll be heading north before the month is out. I think White plans to stay here longer.
SLAINTE
There are at least two Clinton Foundations. They are gaining on Citizens Energy which is now nationwide with dozens of corporate spinoffs.
The Clinton’s have several other foundations you can donate money to as you wish. I’m donating my copy of “Don’t Embarrass the Family” to the Clinton Library. Not as valuable as the used underwear the Clinton’s deducted on their taxes, alas.
“The foundation, too, is a steward for Bill Clinton’s presidential legacy. In 2014, the Clinton Foundation’s consolidated expenses totaled nearly $250 million.”
https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2016/7/29/the-other-clinton-foundation-a-look-at-bill-and-hillarys-per.html
Well, the Kennedy family finances have never been transparent.
And Barack Hussein Obama is now giving speeches for $400,000 apiece, imparting his wisdom to the assembled banqueters.
But the Clinton’s wrote the book.
“Aides to former President Bill Clinton helped start a Canadian charity that effectively shielded the identities of donors who gave more than $33 million that went to his foundation, despite a pledge of transparency when Hillary Rodham Clinton became secretary of state.
“The nonprofit, the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership (Canada), operates in parallel to a Clinton Foundation project called the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership, which is expressly covered by an agreement Mrs. Clinton signed to make all donors public while she led the State Department. However, the foundation maintains that the Canadian partnership is not bound by that agreement and that under Canadian law contributors’ names cannot be made public.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/30/us/politics/canadian-partnership-shielded-identities-of-donors-to-clinton-foundation.html
Henry:
That’s precisely why Hillary lost. Slick Willy and Sly Hilly just could not restrain themselves.
Yes Obama with his 60 million book deal and his 400,000 speech deals once again proves the old adage that when money is your goal you can never get enough.i drive around the area here in Southern Florida and I am appalled at the conditions the majority of people live in. We have s huge gap in wealth here. Sadly Obama lost much joining those who have.
All I remember are the paddleboats. And then a trip to Echo Bridge to yell “HEY!” over and over again.
About SW, WS and the rest of them, for every pair of shoes there’s an arsehole.
Honest:
Was there anything worse than those paddle boat? You’d pedal as fast as you could and they hardly moved. Maybe that was just me because I never made it to Rcho Bridge.