Seriously, why is anyone even remotely suprised by this?
Via AP:
Secretary of State appointee Hillary Rodham Clinton intervened at least six times in government issues directly affecting companies and others that later contributed to her husband’s foundation, an Associated Press review of her official correspondence found.
The overlap of names on former President Bill Clinton’s foundation donor list and business interests whose issues she championed raises new questions about potential ethics conflicts between her official actions and her husband’s fundraising. The AP obtained three of the senator’s government letters under the Freedom of Information Act.
Clinton was to begin her confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Under an agreement with President-elect Barack Obama, Bill Clinton recently released the names of donors to his foundation, a nonprofit that has raised at least $492 million — including millions from foreign governments — to fund his library in Little Rock, Ark., and charitable efforts worldwide on such issues as AIDS, poverty and climate change.
The letters and donations involve pharmaceutical companies and telecommunications and energy interests. An aide to the senator said she made no secret of her involvement in many of the issues. Bill Clinton’s foundation declined to say when it received the donations or precisely how much was contributed.
I mean, after all, we are talking the Clinton’s here. Democratic ties to corruption and lobbyists; especially among the Clinton’s and other well-heeled Democratic figures goes all the way back the Kennedy era. I know, Obama promised change, and with Hillary we did not get it. One must remember though, if she’s not seated, Obama could lose his popularity among Hillary’s supporters.
Still it would be quite juvenile of me not to observe that this does represent a “walk back” of the mantra of hope and change that Obama promised during the campaign. The Clinton defeat was supposed to represent a defeat of the old Clinton guard within the Democratic Party. So much for that little bit of drama. 🙄
I’ve written it here a great number of times, but I believe it to be quite true, it is going to be a very interesting four to eight years in politics. 😀
Others: The Moderate Voice, CNN, NO QUARTER, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Booman Tribune, Reuters, protein wisdom, CBS News, Associated Press, JammieWearingFool and The Politico
(via Memeornadum)