More Bundler Problems for Clinton

[illinoisprogressive]

Clinton includes on her list of "Hillraisers" -- those who have committed to raising more than $100,000 for her White House bid -- several financiers linked to past troubles. They include Marvin Rosen, the former Democratic National Committee finance chairman whose efforts to reward six-figure party donors with attendance at White House coffees and overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom became the focal point of Senate hearings into fundraising abuses. Rosen did not return messages left at his offices in Florida and New York.

William Stuart Price, the Oklahoma oilman also on the "Hillraiser" list, stunned a courtroom in 1995 when he detailed how his former gas company had tried to "gain influence" with the Clinton administration by providing $160,000 in money and membership in a ritzy Washington golf club to the son of a Cabinet secretary. Price, who was never accused of wrongdoing, did not return calls seeking comment.

Price's testimony became the focal point of a criminal investigation of Ron Brown, then commerce secretary and a former chairman of the Democratic Party. The inquiry ended with the conviction of Price's former bosses, Nora and Gene Lum, for making illegal donations.

Also on the list is former senator Robert G. Torricelli (D-N.J.), who withdrew from a 2002 reelection campaign after being "severely admonished" by the Senate for taking lavish gifts from a businessman and contributor, David Chang. Torricelli did not return messages left at his office yesterday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/19/AR2007091902508.html

[rwheeler31]

1. Oh God I do not want to go through this shit again.

[iconocrastic]

8. No matter. In the end HRC will prevail.

It's a destiny thing. She has the right to do what she wants and nobody has the will to stop her. Better get used to it: eight more years of the Clinton machine. We were for it the first time around, weren't we?

[Colobo]

10. Destiny?

[Warpy]

2. Of course, nobody is addressing the real problem

which is the bundling of contributions, including bogus ones, to amass an impressive dollar amount and buy access.

Corporations have done it for years, ever since individual dollar amounts were capped, by giving it to management with one hand and taking it back with the other as "voluntary contributions" to be bundled together "for the good of the company." Since the GOP put a price tag on access of a million bucks, it's worked out very nicely for them.

While this practice is allowed to continue, politicians are going to find themselves on the receiving end of dirty money.

I'm actually glad the influence purchasers are getting caught. I just wish they'd get caught on both sides and an antidemocratic practice ENDED.

[hedda_foil]

3. Jesus F. Christ!

For someone who's supposed to be running a near-perfect campaign, the fact that she and her staff (not to mention Bill) apparently didn't have an inkling that including bundlers closely linked to the Clinton fundraising scandals, is as politically tone deaf as Edwards buying his $20M estate and working for a hedge fund while running as a populist. I'm not accusing either one of these candidates of anything other than failing to understand how this kind of thing can and will not only be used against them -- almost always effectively.

[superkia]

7. Shes a great campaigner or saleswoman, however you look at it.

Her and her advertisers (MSM) could probably sell plates of shit for a good price by the looks of things. She is one hell of a spokesperson for whatever corporation it is today. Shes good! She sold the war to her supporters in 2002, sounding exactly like Bush and Cheney and now she stands across from them pointing her finger. And she still has supporters behind her pointing and saying yeah Bush is evil? What the fuck? People have become complacent to politicians being politicians and they take it as normal.

[iconocrastic]

9. "... is as politically tone deaf"? How naive. You don't think she orchestrated it?

LOL

[illinoisprogressive]

4. It's going to get ugly

[illinoisprogressive]

5. I'm afraid she has other problems down the pike aside from this.

she has Sandy Berger as an advisor in her campaign. He is in with Albright.
The wingers are going to go crazy and it's going to be an issue.

[DURHAM D]

6. You sort of forgot to mention that Obama has not turned

in his list yet. The article actually had more info about JE's problem than Clinton.

[Tellurian]

11. And Obama's Rezko Trial coming up in February...

It's not a good idea to have indicted felons as your campaign fund raisers..

[AlGore-08.com]

12. The amount of money in politics, even when it's raised legally is disgusting

Can't say it enough... we need public financing of campaigns on all levels.

[Steve_in_California]

13. Biden can win BIG . . . and he deserves your consideration.

Just imagine what Biden would do to Rudy in a debate! It would 9/11 all over again for poor Rudy!

His timing couldn't be better: just as the Dems and GOP are at loggerheads over whether to fund the Iraq war and whether timetables must be part of the bill--along comes Joe Biden with a solution. He just introduced an amendment that calls for the adoption of his long-tenured proposal to separate the warring factions into three semi-autonomous regions under a decentralized federal system. There is simply no other viable option on the table. As journalist Jeff Greenfield noted, Iraqis are already adopting this plan on a de facto basis.

The Biden amendment has won wide endorsement and you can expect the Senate sinking deeper in to this quagmire to grab this life preserver of an amendment.

FORMER SECRETARIES OF STATE IN SUPPORT OF THE BIDEN-GELB PLAN:
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
Former Secretary of State James Baker
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger

FOREIGN POLICY EXPERTS IN SUPPORT OF THE BIDEN-GELB PLAN:
Former Iraq Defense Minister Ali Allawi
Former UN Ambassador Richard Holbrooke
Ambassador Dennis Ross, Counselor and Ziegler Distinguished Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Ambassador Richard Haass, President Council on Foreign Relations
Michael O'Hanlon, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Yahia Said, Director, Iraq Revenue Watch
Ambassador Peter W. Galbraith
Dr. Ted Galen Carpenter, Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies, CATO Institute
Walter Russell Mead, Council on Foreign Relations
Anne Marie Slaughter, Dean of Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University
Eric Leaver, Institute for Policy Studies Research Fellow
Juan Cole, Middle East scholar and prominent blogger
David Phillips, Council on Foreign Relations, author of Losing Iraq

PUBLIC OFFICIALS IN SUPPORT OF THE BIDEN-GELB PLAN:
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico (D)
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Former Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN)
Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, National Security Advisor of Iraq
Congressman Chris Van Hollen
Iowa House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy
Iowa House Assistant Majority Leader John Whitaker
Iowa State Rep. Doris Kelley
Rep. Lisa Heddens of Ames (assistant majority leader, Iowa house)
Rep. Mike Reasoner of Creston (assistant majority leader, Iowa house)
Rep. Dick Taylor of Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Jack Carter, the son of former President Jimmy Carter, and Democratic candidate, Nevada
New Hampshire officials:
State Representative-Elect Jim Webber (D-Kensington)
Former State Representative Scott Green
Sanbornton Town Democratic Chair Andy Sanborn
State Rep. Bill Hatch (D-Gorham)
Rep. Stephen Shurtleff (D-Penacook)
Eileen Foley, who served for 16 years as Mayor of Portsmouth
Bob Preston of Hampton, a former Democratic Leader of the New Hampshire State Senate
Joseph Russell, former Secretary of the Stratham Democrats
Representative Michael Marsh (D-Greenland)
New Hampshire State Representative and Police Sergeant Mark Preston
Manchester Fire Commissioner and New Hampshire State Representative Robert Haley
Detective Steve Arnold, former President of the New Hampshire Police Association

Former Clinton White House Public Affairs Director Bob Weiner

EDITORIAL PAGES AND COLUMNISTS IN SUPPORT OF BIDEN-GELB:
Tony Blankley, Washington Times
Michael Hirsh,
Las Vegas Review-Journal, Editorial Board
Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times columnist
David Brooks, New York Times
Philadelphia Inquirer, Editorial Board
David Broder, Washington Post columnist
Jackson Diehl, Washington Post columnist
David Ignatius, Washington Post columnist
Bill O'Reilly, Fox News
George Packer, The New Yorker
Portland Press Herald (ME) editorial board
Delaware News Journal editorial board
The Barre Montpelier Times Argus (VT) editorial board
St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board
The Journal Standard (IL) editorial board
Marilou Johanek, Toledo Blade (OH) columnist

[DURHAM D]

14. No one who watched the Clarence Thomas hearings

will ever support Biden.