2016 elections - because it's never too early

[CountDeMoney]

We've been over this - free travel around the world, having a couple billion dollars to spend on international development buys influence, being able to give jobs to 350 of your friends and supporters.

Lol, like the Secretary of State's C-17 Globemaster has to be signed out from the car pool or something.  I'm pretty sure she never went anywhere without the POTUS knowing.

Define "influence" and the whole "giving jobs" thing.

[Razgovory]

Using your position as Secretary of State to personally enrich yourself for foreign policy favors is bad even if you're not formally indicted.

How does one "personally enrich" oneself from a charity in which no salary or other compensation is received?  And how does the Secretary of State collect "foreign policy favors" as a presidential appointment and Cabinet member?

We've been over this - free travel around the world, having a couple billion dollars to spend on international development buys influence, being able to give jobs to 350 of your friends and supporters.

She's Secretary of State, she doesn't need free travel around the world.  The government does that.  The question was "how is she personally enriching herself".  The Answer is she is not.  Giving jobs to your supporters is what the White House does.  That's how she became Secretary of State to begin with.

[CountDeMoney]

People must think ambassadors are appointed based upon their policy and language profiencies of a particular country.

[Hamilcar]

Using your position as Secretary of State to personally enrich yourself for foreign policy favors is bad even if you're not formally indicted.

How does one "personally enrich" oneself from a charity in which no salary or other compensation is received?  And how does the Secretary of State collect "foreign policy favors" as a presidential appointment and Cabinet member?

We've been over this - free travel around the world, having a couple billion dollars to spend on international development buys influence, being able to give jobs to 350 of your friends and supporters.

She's Secretary of State, she doesn't need free travel around the world.  The government does that.  The question was "how is she personally enriching herself".  The Answer is she is not.  Giving jobs to your supporters is what the White House does.  That's how she became Secretary of State to begin with.

Power > money.

The Clinton Foundation is just a power brokerage.

[Valmy]

So we need to create a system where politicians have no access to power. Intriguing.

[CountDeMoney]

Bill and Melinda Gates = Bond Supervillians

[alfred russel]

First you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the 501c charitable organization.

[The Minsky Moment]

Let me give a more practical example of how money can effect politics.

Lamar Smith is the Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology.  In the past 3 years he has handed out more subpoenas than in the entire rest of the committee's 50+ years history.  Much of that has consisted of repeated, harassing inquiries to climate researchers; for example he demanded the NOAA produce every communication with the words "temperature" or "climate" in it (among others).  His latest antic was issuing subpoenas to the attorney generals of New York and Massachusetts, demanding that they turn over files of their ongoing investigations of alleged disclosure violations by ExxonMobil.  AFAIK congressional interference into an ongoing state AG investigation of this kind is unprecedented.

Smith is a Yale graduate with a law degree; he spent several years as a reporter for the well-regarded Christian Science Monitor.  He seems like he ought to be a somewhat intelligent person, with apparent interests in science and technology, and therefore not the most obvious person one would imagine as some kind of crazed crusader for climate change denialism.

A mystery perhaps.  Although there is another pertinent fact about Smith.  He has received more money -- $685K -- from the oil and gas industry then any other source, over $90K already in 2016. 

There's your "quid" and your "quo". 

[Barrister]

Let me give a more practical example of how money can effect politics.

Lamar Smith is the Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology.  In the past 3 years he has handed out more subpoenas than in the entire rest of the committee's 50+ years history.  Much of that has consisted of repeated, harassing inquiries to climate researchers; for example he demanded the NOAA produce every communication with the words "temperature" or "climate" in it (among others).  His latest antic was issuing subpoenas to the attorney generals of New York and Massachusetts, demanding that they turn over files of their ongoing investigations of alleged disclosure violations by ExxonMobil.  AFAIK congressional interference into an ongoing state AG investigation of this kind is unprecedented.

Smith is a Yale graduate with a law degree; he spent several years as a reporter for the well-regarded Christian Science Monitor.  He seems like he ought to be a somewhat intelligent person, with apparent interests in science and technology, and therefore not the most obvious person one would imagine as some kind of crazed crusader for climate change denialism.

A mystery perhaps.  Although there is another pertinent fact about Smith.  He has received more money -- $685K -- from the oil and gas industry then any other source, over $90K already in 2016. 

There's your "quid" and your "quo".

"But the other side also did it" didn't work on the playground, and doesn't work here.

[Malthus]

Let me give a more practical example of how money can effect politics.

Lamar Smith is the Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology.  In the past 3 years he has handed out more subpoenas than in the entire rest of the committee's 50+ years history.  Much of that has consisted of repeated, harassing inquiries to climate researchers; for example he demanded the NOAA produce every communication with the words "temperature" or "climate" in it (among others).  His latest antic was issuing subpoenas to the attorney generals of New York and Massachusetts, demanding that they turn over files of their ongoing investigations of alleged disclosure violations by ExxonMobil.  AFAIK congressional interference into an ongoing state AG investigation of this kind is unprecedented.

Smith is a Yale graduate with a law degree; he spent several years as a reporter for the well-regarded Christian Science Monitor.  He seems like he ought to be a somewhat intelligent person, with apparent interests in science and technology, and therefore not the most obvious person one would imagine as some kind of crazed crusader for climate change denialism.

A mystery perhaps.  Although there is another pertinent fact about Smith.  He has received more money -- $685K -- from the oil and gas industry then any other source, over $90K already in 2016. 

There's your "quid" and your "quo".

"But the other side also did it" didn't work on the playground, and doesn't work here.

I think he's saying 'this is what 'it' is, and it isn't really like what Hillary is accused of doing, at all'. Not making a tu quoque argument.

[Jacob]

"But the other side also did it" didn't work on the playground, and doesn't work here.

There's no evidence that Clinton did anything even remotely like what Smith is doing. It very much seems to be a case of "we know our guys are corrupt motherfuckers so we'll accuse Clinton of being corrupt too." Classic Rovian "use any flimsy pretext available to claim your opponent is doing what you're guilty of."

[sbr]

It's amazing how Hilary clinton can make people who otherwise appear to be not stupid look so incredibly dumb.

[Valmy]

In other news, Bill O'reilly and Scott Brown have been added to the Fox News harassment scandal.

I always suspected that O'Reilly was a dirty old man.

Really? Damn I always like O'Reilly.

[Admiral Yi]

There's no evidence that Clinton did anything even remotely like what Smith is doing. It very much seems to be a case of "we know our guys are corrupt motherfuckers so we'll accuse Clinton of being corrupt too." Classic Rovian "use any flimsy pretext available to claim your opponent is doing what you're guilty of."

It's not clear to me that the only people making noise about the Clinton Foundation are Republican partisans trying to cover up their own wrong doings.

[The Minsky Moment]

"But the other side also did it" didn't work on the playground, and doesn't work here.

In line with our recent bliblical discussions, it's more of a mote/beam comparison.