Hillary Clinton: Lobbyists Represent Real Americans

[Hope And Change]

Run time: 00:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOQiKCqnV3Y   Posted on YouTube: February 15, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: February 15, 2008 By DU Member: Hope And Change Views on DU: 2525

 

[ryanmuegge]

1. No offense, but at least she's honest about it.

Rather than playing semantic games about their contributors.


I think it's absurd to argue that one candidate's hands are clean when it comes to their financial contributors.

That said, Obama's hands are probably slightly cleaner.

I'm not a Hillary or Obama supporter or hater, by the way, so I don't have a horse in this race.

[Morereason]

15. "Real Americans", but PAID Americans who have divided loyalties

How can folks let her get away with this attitude. Sure, your local polluter is a "real American" too.

[ryanmuegge]

39. Well said.

[benny05]

22. Not by much

He got 80K from K-streeters in 2006 in his senate coffers, which he quietly still gets contributions, and accepted 1K in the first Q of last year. I looked at his FEC filings, which is how I know, and his campaign staff, some of which are volunteers, and some of which are paid, are also K-Streeters.

[SoxFan]

25. "Honest" isn't the word I would use

I remember a line in a Psychedelic Furs song from my high school years:

"He isn't very honest, but he's obvious at least"

[DJ13]

2. ......and corporations are legally persons according to the USSC

We wouldnt want to deprive those ficticious "legal" people from being able to buy votes, would we?
:eyes:

[trthnd4jstc]

12. Though a president of a Corporation, I agree

Corporations are not people, they should not have equal rights to people, and obviously corporations are made up of people. People who should be held responsible, by our judiciary, for the decisions made.

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

3. Nice video

that's from the YearlyKos convention in Chicago.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[silverweb]

8. Interesting survey.

Welcome to DU and good luck with your thesis! :hi:

[splat]

5. I'm a union member, and we're polled, and the union lobbies for us

I see no problem with teachers, nurses, and factory workers having some power, do you?

[DesertFlower]

6. self delete.

[Divernan]

7. The lobbyists representing "real Americans" do not have $$$ to hand legislators

The K Street lobbyists with the big checks and instant access to powerful and not so powerful politicians; those K street lobbyists who draft their own special interst legislation and then hand it to their bought and paid for legislators, in the same envelope with the fat campaign contribution - those sleazeballs do NOT represent what I consider to be "real Americans". Those lobbyists represent corporate interests, whether individual corporations (many of whom manage to incorporate in the Caymans and avoid paying US taxes), or professional associations, dedicated to maximizing their power/profits.

Whether at the state or federal level, these lobbyists with the big checks enjoy instant access to The Elected. For example Sen. Clinton has major contributors from the gaming industry (Big Gambling). In exchange for their contributions she has fought hard to open upstate New York to out of state Indian tribe casinos. More competition for the New York based Indian's casinos, not to mention how it sucks money out of the state and promotes gambling addiction and all the poverty and crime associated with that.

The real American people are the individuals fucked over by Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Insurance, Big Gambling, Big Fertility Clinics (ah yes, they've got money to burn and want laws forcing Big Insurance to subsidize the very expensive treatments - resulting in a battle of the Titans, with the legislators taking money from both sides) ,etc.

There are lobbyists for groups representing "real people", groups like the ACLU, or groups fighting to get more research funding for specific diseases. These lobbyists don't have money to throw around, or charge accounts to take politicos to posh dinners in Georgetown, or on deep sea fishing trips, or hunting expeditions to the Canadian north woods, or box seats at pro sports events - and are therefore relegated by many politicos to some staff person. It is sad to watch.

[splat]

9. Union dues add up -- millions of members strong. We are powerful lobbies

It's not all the ACLU and sick people.

[creeksneakers2]

14. There is a first amendment right to petition the government

Saying only some people are justified to petition is like saying only some people should be allowed lawyers when they face criminal charges. Rights belong to everybody. Otherwise, they aren't rights at all.

Corporations are groups of people. Shareholders have every right to be as concerned about their income as union members.We are all equal in America. All should be given the chance to tell their side.

Corporations also provide jobs and products. Often, what is good for the corporation is good for the public.

Hillary was very brave and honest to stick up for the rights of all Americans in the face of slanderous attacks on her integrity. She showed me she stands up for the Constitution, no matter how unpopular that might be.

[The Wizard]

24. First Amendment? Constitution?

Didn't the unitary executive remove those hurdles to his ability to decide for all of us?
The "Decider," with help from his capos in the Supreme Court all but erased the Constitution.
That "god damned piece of paper," as it was so eloquently described by Herr Bush, was turned into toilet paper by Antonin (Tony The Fixer) Scalia when he single handedly stopped the Florida recount in 2000.
Let's have no more foolish talk of Constitutional guarantees.
Certain inalienable rights? Rubbish.

[creeksneakers2]

46. Hillary respects the Constitution

Do you?

[The Wizard]

48. I defended it with my life

did you?

[RC]

26. Corporations are businesses, not groups of people.

Just because you work for a corporation or have stock in it, does not mean you have a say in how it is run.
Corporations have the best interests of the fore said business in mind when they buy Congress critters. That is why we have all this fascism and jobs shipped over seas.

[creeksneakers2]

47. We get fascism when one group refuses to honor the rights of another

A business is owned by people. Those people have rights. The 3rd quarter cost projection and the copying machine and the file cabinets don't have rights. The people that own them do.

All Americans have interests and desire the best possible treatment from the government. The wealthy has more money and that gains them power. But our government is chosen by votes. There are 1000 poor people for every super rich person. So the poor have great power too. Between the two, we ought to be able to achieve what is fair.

Fascism takes place when one group of people refuses to recognize the rights of another. People have a right to do business where they please. I like being able to purchase foreign goods. On the whole, the population benefits from free trade. Protectionism would end in disaster. Its not about fascism at all. It would be if one group tried to take away rights so they could legally enforce their interests above all others.

[RC]

49. And just what do you think is going on now? Your last sentences describes it.

"It would be if one group tried to take away rights so they could legally enforce their interests above all others."

That is exactly what business are doing to the rest of us.

[creeksneakers2]

50. Many want to make businesses victims

I say everybody should have rights.

[RC]

51. Businesses are not people. Why should they have the same rights as people?

[Taverner]

10. I'm an Obama supporter, but she's right

The Sierra Club has lobbyists

The AFL-CIO has lobbyists

[Divernan]

16. One can lobby, i.e, educate & inform, without bribing - that's the difference.

nt

[Taverner]

38. Yes but her statement still stands

It has nothing to do with the ethics of one lobbyist over another..

[trthnd4jstc]

11. Lobbyist are Americans, but should not get special treatment.

Our political system allows lobbyist undue influence. Let us have public payment of political campaigns. Make all receivers of FCC licenses to be required have candidates spots on the airwaves, have public debates mandated, and provide platform statements to newspapers, and the web. I believe, like Senator Obama, that there should be a Google site for the Federal Government, Candidates could have their positions accessible on this site.

[jackson_dem]

13. Hope And Change did you see the NBC story tonight about Obama shilling for the nuke industry lobby?

[bjobotts]

17. Don't you get tired of attacking her. Obama hired lobbyists from Pfizer

[bjobotts]

18. Obama lied on video about hiring lobbyists. Post that video. It gets old

[bjobotts]

19. Nurses lobby, teachers lobby, Christians lobby, You just smear.

[bjobotts]

20. I just get tired of all the negative postings whose intent is to divide.

[bjobotts]

21. It almost always comes from Obama supporters too. roots of hypocrisy

[From The Left]

23. Hillary: a Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of the Defense Industry

[Donkeykick]

29. N/T

But if you wish to see which party receives the most money from http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.asp?Ind=D">Defense Contractors, you really should look over the subject more carefully, IMO.

[From The Left]

30. Is This Close Enough for You???

Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) was an early and enthusiastic supporter of President Bush’s Iraq war. Clinton’s curiously flat, midwestern voice could be heard on the floor of the U.S. senate proclaiming, “Saddam Hussein is a tyrant” and, “So it is with conviction that I support this resolution as being in the best interests of our nation.” In other words, Hillary was roarin’ to flex some muscle and go to war.

But Clinton’s pro-war posturing put her squarely at odds not only with the base of the Democratic party but with a majority of New Yorkers who intuitively mistrusted President Bush and suspected his motives had more to do with oil and less to do with national security. What was Hillary Clinton thinking?

We may finally have the answer.

According to report in The Hill, Sen. Hillary Clinton has secured more earmarks in the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill than any other Democrat except for panel Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI.)

In fact, the bill contains about $5.4 billion in earmarks, or projects, not requested by the Pentagon. With their slim majority, the Democrats on the panel claimed two-thirds of that sum. Clinton is among their more junior members.

By contrast, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), also a Democratic presidential candidate and Clinton’s rival for the nomination, has only one request in the defense bill.

Clinton’s share of the pork contained in 26 earmarks is worth about $148.4 million, most of which were also sought by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY.) Clinton and Schumer agreed several years ago to go after projects together, according to several sources.

According to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, Clinton has secured 360 earmarks worth a combined $2.2 billion from 2002 to 2006 in all spending and authorization bills.

Said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense:

“She has learned how to play the game and to use her power on the committee to bring home dollars for her constituents. She knows how to toot her own horn with the constituents, and that will likely play into her national campaigns.”

Sen. Hillary Clinton’s beneficiaries include some of the largest military defense companies in the world. They include giant Northrop Grumman, which secured $6 million for the AN/SPQ-9B radar; New York-based Telephonics, which won $5 million for a standardized aircraft wireless intercom system for the National Guard Black Hawk helicopter fleet; Plug Power Inc., another New York state company, which got $3 million for fuel cell power technology; and Alliant Tech Systems (ATK), which won $3.5 million for the X-51 B robust scramjet research.

The Senate considers earmarks distinct from the equipment and projects that appear on the military services’ so-called unfunded requirements list, so such funding is not disclosed as an earmark. A good example is the additional $4.1 billion for the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle approved by the committee. The committee also included $575 million in the earmark requests for MRAPs for the Army, Air Force and Special Operations Command as part of the Iraq supplemental funding for 2008.

All earmarks approved in the defense appropriations bills are assured funding.

So it should come as no surprise to antiwar Democrats frustrated by Sen. Hillary Clinton’s refusal to issue an apology for her 2002 vote authorizing President Bush to go to war with Iraq. An apology from Hillary isn’t an admission of error in judgment but a repudiation of the very people who have helped her become the Democratic presidential front runner. Clinton’s not about to bite the hand that feeds her.

[Donkeykick]

31. This is just one reason that I want...

to see Hillary win this.

Do you have any idea as to what would have happened if Hillary would not have voted 'in favor' of a lot of these matters? The GOP would have used this to tell the American public just how much she is not in favor of our troops.

And this thing about Saddam Hussein? With as much info that all of the lawmakers had at that time, can you imagine what would have happened if she would have stood against any sitting President during a time when patriotism was still on an upswing, and the Intel was actually correct? Nothing like sitting in that sort of hot seat, huh. :hurts:

Look. I like Obama. Heck, I will even send the gentleman some money if he is our winner. But nothing beats a seasoned person (a been-there-done-that individual.)to know what the GOP is going to throw at you once you're in office--and they're going to do this no matter who make it!

[From The Left]

32. HRC Still Can't Say "I'm Sorry" for Her Iraq War Vote

Very much like George Bush. Can't admit mistakes or errors.

[Donkeykick]

33. It must be a beautiful thing to live in a...

Perfect World. Cheers to you. :toast:

[From The Left]

43. That's OK. President Obama Will Work for You Too

Yes We Can.

Hillary? No she can't.

[rAVES]

42. This makes no sense. I see how your trying to twist it though.. good luck with that.

[intheflow]

41. FYI: "N/T" means No Text beyond the post title. n/t

[ggeriak]

27. Lobbyists

What a misrepresentation of her statements! I see this all over the internet. Fairness in this country has completely gone out the window. Either post the whole thing or don't post at all.

[newburgh]

28. "Real Americans" with money- there aren't many of those left...

yes, there are lobbyists for genuine worker's rights/environmental groups that benefits the community as a whole, but they are far outspent- and thus far less influential- than those lobbyists that represent the pure profit agenda. That this woman doesn't understand the difference and argues away her acceptance of this practice by discounting the vast majority of lobbyists who DON'T represent "real Americans"(of course that statement is vague and can be taken several ways also- this is a great Rove-like talking point), then she's disingenuous and is more interested in using nomenclature to mislead than exhibiting any interest in reforming the system.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

34. I can't afford a lobbyist to represent what I need nt

[L0oniX]

35. Everyone should have their own lobbyist and we should make that mandatory.

:sarcasm:

[D23MIURG23]

36. Real virtual Americans with personhood and no accountability to anyone! n/t

[Jack Rabbit]

37. Jack Rabbit: Lobbyists represent artificial persons

That's hardly a real American.

[DUlover2909]

40. Not all lobbyists are bad. Environmentalists for example.

[closeupready]

44. I remember seeing this, and thinking how shameless she is about it.

Lobbyists are NOT ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES of the people - they are PAID to represent the interests of people and corporations, whose agendas may or may not have anything to do with what is good for our ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES' CONSTITUENCIES. :mad:

[Deep13]

45. You cut her off before she could put it into context.

FYI lobbyists include NOW, League of Conservation Voters, unions of various descriptions including teachers' unions, MoveonPAC etc. etc. So I don't think her remarks are as evil as one may think from this out of context clip.