So Clinton says she is not 'influenced' by big corporate donations?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

There are a number of things flying around social media on this 'maybe'.

At last night’s Democratic town hall, Hillary Clinton challenged critics who describe her as too close to monied interests to name a time when that cozy relationship influenced her policy decisions.

Moderator Anderson Cooper of CNN had asked if Hillary Clinton made a mistake when she delivered three speeches to Goldman Sachs, receiving $675,000 in payments. “That’s what they offered,” she said with a shrug, continuing: “Anybody who knows me, who thinks that they can influence me, name anything that they’ve influenced me on. Just name one thing. I’m out here every day saying ‘I’m going to shut them down, I’m going after them, I’m going to jail them if they should be jailed, I’m going to break them up.'”

Elizabeth Warren Recalls a Time When...

Warren — at the time a Harvard law professor — recounted how, in the 1990s, she wrote an editorial opposing a proposed piece of legislation tightening bankruptcy laws. Warren explained that it would disproportionately hurt single mothers. Hillary Clinton, at the time the first lady, read the editorial, and asked for a meeting with Warren. The meeting went well; Warren said she “never had a smarter student.” Afterward, Clinton returned to Washington and, according to her biography, persuaded Bill Clinton to veto the legislation.

But when Hillary Clinton was elected to the Senate and another version of the same bill came to the floor, she did an about face:

ELIZABETH WARREN: She voted in favor of it.

BILL MOYERS: Why?

ELIZABETH WARREN: As Senator Clinton, the pressures are very different. It’s a well-financed industry. You know a lot of people don’t realize that the industry that gave the most money to Washington over the past few years was not the oil industry, was not pharmaceuticals. It was consumer credit products. Those are the people. The credit card companies have been giving money, and they have influence.

BILL MOYERS: And Mrs. Clinton was one of them as senator.

ELIZABETH WARREN: She has taken money from the groups, and more to the point, she worries about them as a constituency.

BILL MOYERS: But what does this mean though to these people, these millions of people out there whom the politicians cavort in front of as favoring the middle class, and then are beholden to the powerful interests that undermine the middle class? What does this say about politics today?

ELIZABETH WARREN: You know this is the scary part about democracy today. It’s… We’re talking again about the impact of money. The credit industry on this bankruptcy bill has spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying, and as their profits grow, they just throw more into lobbying for how they can get laws that will make it easier and easier and easier to drain money out of the pockets of middle class families.

ouch!

http://billmoyers.com/story/elizabeth-warren-recalls-a-time-when-big-donors-may-have-changed-hillarys-vote/

[JDPriestly]

1. K&R. Politicians are influenced by their donors and by their rich and powerful constituents.

Bernie does a lot of town halls according to Thom Hartmann. So does my member of Congress. Nowadays he does phone calls. When your member of Congress does that, you know they are communicating with constituents regardless of money or influence and that you, as a voter, can have some influence yourself. It's great. Should be required of all members of Congress.

[AZ Progressive]

2. Hillary is not just influenced by corporate donors, she is friends with some of them

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/hillarys-financial-armada-233033648.html

A billionaire hedge fund kingpin, co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucs and avid high-stakes poker player (for stakes as much as $20,000 a hand) Lasry is among Clinton’s most steadfast Wall Street backers, with close personal ties to her family. He has donated between $100,000 and $250,000 to the Clinton Foundation, hired Chelsea Clinton at his Avenue Capital hedge fund, invested (along with Blankfein) in son-in-law Mezvinsky’s fund and made his corporate jet available to Clinton while she was senator. When Clinton launched her campaign last year, Lasry threw one of the initial fundraisers, sending out an email saying he would “love to try to raise 270” — as in $270,000.

Goldman’s executives and employees have contributed $750,000 to Clinton’s political campaigns, including $100,616 to this year’s run. The firm itself has donated at least $250,000 to the Clinton Foundation and paid $1.2 million to Bill Clinton for speeches dating back to 2001. Blankfein, who has described himself as a friend of Hillary Clinton, has lent a helping financial hand to the Clinton family: He (along with two other former Goldman executives) is among the investors in Eaglevale Partners, the hedge fund founded in 2011 by Marc Mezvinsky, husband of Chelsea Clinton, and the former secretary’s son in law.

[cantbeserious]

3. Name One Time ...

[stillwaiting]

4. Maybe she just believes in their agenda and would support their agenda even if they

didn't give her a red cent.

I wouldn't be surprised if that were true.

When Michael Bloomberg gives you their blessing people should take notice. I strongly feel like Bloomberg knows her true intentions. Bloomberg sees Sanders as a threat, but not Clinton. Really should say it all. Hope people are paying attention!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

5. Pressure

In local politics as well there is a lot of 'pressure' even if politicians don't accept donations there is pressure.