Repukes want Bill Clinton to testify at Hillary's confirmation

[redstate_democrat]

Clinton may testify at wife's hearing

Senate Republicans are considering asking Bill Clinton to testify at his wife’s confirmation hearing about potential conflicts of interest involving his worldwide charitable enterprises.

“There are concerns about his international work across the board,” a Republican aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Politico. “Seeking donations from foreign governments is definitely concerning. ... It has been discussed, and it will be discussed.”

While spouses frequently attend nominees’ confirmation hearings, they are usually there for moral support and window dressing — a sympathetic face in the row of seats behind the witness table.

Indeed, it’s unusual to have anyone aside from the nominee testify at a confirmation hearing.

But there’s nothing usual about Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and some Senate Republicans may relish the thought of putting Washington’s ultimate power couple though the wringer before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next month.

More http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16470.html

[Captain Hilts]

1. They're trying to stir up trouble and it won't work. Here's the home version of the game...

and a year's supply of Rice a Roni as parting gifts.

[bluestateguy]

2. Well, that's nice, but they are the minority party

and they don't get to make that decision.

[Jennicut]

6. Bingo, they can go F*ck themselves as Darth Cheney once eloquently put it

[karynnj]

26. If ranking member Dick Lugar wants it, I would imagine they will get it

Lugar allowed the Democrats to ask essentially unlimited questions of Rice when she had her confirmation hearings. In fact, Senator Kerry asked questions for about a half hour after everyone else finished asking them. In all the hearings I watched, the Democrats were always allowed reasonable ability to ask questions. The one exception was one of the John Bolton hearings where Lugar must have been pushed to ram his confirmation through. The way Senator Lugar ran this hearing was wrong and every Democrat objected to it. I think you are crazy if you expect Senator Kerry to run the committee in an autocratic matter. Just from watching hearings over the years, there is real respect and friendship between Senators Kerry and Lugar.

It is right that HRC be grilled - just as it was right that Rice was. If a significant number of Republicans think they need Bill Clinton there, I would bet he will be - just so she gets the near unanimous confirmation vote she should get. If it is just Vitter, he will likely be over ruled.

[rpannier]

3. Seeking donations from foreign governments is definitely concerning

Because it's done by a Democrat.
Had it been done by/for republikkan cause they'd be talking about how it is reaching ut to other countries

[mwei924]

4. As long they stick to issues that are relevant to the SoS job..

..like his foundation's sources, which he's agreed to cooperate on, then I see no problem in this.

[Hippo_Tron]

5. I hope he does, Bill would rip them to shreds

[FreeStateDemocrat]

29. I agree, that may be only BS on their part as they must know that Bubba could easily handle them.

[Starry Messenger]

7. I guess they figure it's their last chance to get their lunchooks all over him.

Grubby little cave dwellers.

[ErinBerin84]

8. Politico is the master of the anonymous source.

Won't ANYONE speak on the record to Politico?

[FrenchieCat]

22. Most of the shit is fabricated by the RNC.....so in otherwords,

Who needs sources? :shrug:

[rvablue]

9. Sorry. No go with this one, Repubs. No precedent and not gonna happen. n/t

[Whisp]

20. true, no precedent. think about that one. nt

[AtomicKitten]

10. That's kinda funny really. On one hand the wingnuts would love to give Clinton crap under oath,

but they also seem to favor his wife's hawkish stance on foreign policy.

What to do.

[IndianaGreen]

11. This from the same bunch that never questioned no-bid Pentagon contracts

and other abuses.

[political_Dem]

12. That's what Mr. Obama signed up for when he picked Hillary Clinton.

I'm not surprised by the Republicans' request. Not only are they feeling empowered from the Blagojevich scandal; they're going to use the Clintons again as a sign to get Obama back.

Drama has repeatedly rung the doorbell and is barging its way in.

It's one of the many reasons why Mr. Obama should have left them out of his cabinet.

(Not Ms. Clinton alone, because it is always a package deal with her husband and everyone knows it).

[Metric System]

14. Oh yes, we need to kowtow to the Republicans! I'm scared. And concerned. And gassy.

[political_Dem]

15. That was way too much TMI.

And, I still stand by the fact that Obama was asking for trouble by picking the Clintons.

We can agree to disagree there.

[TankLV]

18. You do have a point - every decision has a price to pay...

but if it wasn't the Clintons, the repukes would find some other bone to chew on...

[Metric System]

21. For the record: I'm not scared, concerned or gassy. It was sarcasm.

[political_Dem]

23. Well, you never know since this is a message board.

[Beacool]

13. Oh geez, here we go again.

Same old hypocritical bastards. David Vitter is concerned? Isn't he the one caught with a prostitute?

One of the Republicans most concerned about Bill Clinton’s role is Sen. David Vitter (R-La.).

:wtf:

[anonymous171]

16. It's their last chance to find the truth about Whitewater and Vince Foster!

:rofl:

[TankLV]

17. But Cheney's connections to HALLIBURTON and their NO BID CONTRACTS were NEVER "appropriate" topics..

Obama and the Dems should just tell them to SHOVE IT UP THEIR FUCKING ASSES like bush* and Cheney did all these years...

I won't hold my breath on that one...

[redstate_democrat]

19. If you're waiting on Harry Reid and other Senate Dems to get a backbone.

Keep waiting. They'll capitulate on this like they do everything else. You wanna know why? Because they're suckers, cowardly suckers at that.

[karynnj]

27. No they shouldn't

They should respect the Constitution and provide the Senate with what is needed to do the oversight that is their responsibility to do. I certainly hope that Senator Kerry acts as Senator Lugar did in the Rice confirmations. Lugar allowed the Democrats to ask as many questions as they had - and even politely prodded Rice to answer some. This was a grown up responsible committee then and I would be shocked if Senator Kerry would not do the same. Hillary Clinton will be confirmed - just as it was never likely Rice wouldn't be. At one of the few meetings (a John Bolton hearing) where Lugar over ruled everything the Democrats wanted to do, Kerry when he was allowed to talk made some eloquent sincere comments on the bi-partisan history of the committee. There is no reason the Kerry should go against his own principles and the real right of the committee to do this just to save the Clintons at most a few awkward hours.

Not only if that is the wrong thing to do it is politically the wrong thing to do, Kerry will need the support and good will of the Republicans to do what he wants to do in the committee on global warming and for other things like a high speed rail bill. Ramming that nomination through would set a terrible tone at the start of his tenure as SFRC chair.

[TankLV]

30. No - it's NOT right - they never asked any other spouse, to testify...NEVER!

But somehow it's SUDDENLY all right for them to do it this time JUST BECAUSE IT'S THE CLINTONS?!?!

They all have to stop their IRRATIONAL hatred of all things Clinton...

We NEVER heard of anybody asking for anybody else's spouse to testify, especially when they were working directly in the very same industries that the person was seeking a job in!!!

I'm just asking for EQUAL treatment, not to continue MAKING EXCEPTIONS just because it's the Clintons!

STOP IT already!

ENOUGH!

And, unlike all the other REPUKE assholes, Bill is working for NOBLE and CHARITABLE causes that illeviate SUFFERING, not for big ass corps and making the big persons bucks SOLELY for himself.

I don't buy your false argument at all...

[FrenchieCat]

24. The info's been reviewed, the answers are known.

If we are going to have open government.....it's been looked at already.
The shit will be tight enough to pass....or else Hillary wouldn't have been appointed.

I think saying that there is no precedence doesn't cut it,
as there is not precedence where the wife of a former President
is being confirmed as SOS....or not that I can recall.

[Donkey_Punch_Dubya]

25. I don't remember the Dems getting to decide anything when the GOP had Congress

Considering how many, many Bush administration people there were who had real, bad issues that were never once questioned at all, it seems ridiculous for them to try to question yet another fake, made up problem.

But they were able to in 1992-1994 with 42 senators and less than 185 Reps, so I don't know.

Consider that they have tried to attack Obama on his birth place, which is 100% proven to be Hawaii after it was a state, they will try anything. And with it repeated enough times on talk radio, you will have a few million idiots believing it. It's even funnier (if it weren't scary for our country) that McCain really was born in Panama and some people are still trying to take the election away from Obama because he supposedly wasn't born in the US!

I learned in the 90s that the GOP will jump on anything, no matter how ridiculous, how proven wrong, and how hypocritical it is. Now, Hillary was the most conservative of the Dem primary canidates, so they like that. But she's a clinton, so she's evil. She's not ridiculously partisan like the Bush people were, so they like that. But she's still married to Bill, who is apparently is worse than Hitler to them, so that's bad. They're in a dillema, a retarded person's dillemma, a fool's fake dilemma.

I think Obama should tell the GOP "If you don't like Hillary, and want to create some bullshit controversy like usual, I will nominate someone much more liberal as a 2nd choice who will get confirmed. So, your call here: make yourselves look even worse than you are now, which is hard to do, or shut the fuck up unless it's a legitimate concern (not a partisan-lie concern). 80% of the public likes what we're doing right now, and your party and current president have the worst numbers ever. I think we both know the answer here. Get out of the way and let us clean up our country."

[karynnj]

28. The best parallel was the confirmation of Rice

The SFRC site, unlike other committees, does not seem to have transcripts or video links that far back. The best I could easily find was this MSNBC article. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2967205 The fact is that Lugar allowed every Senator, Republican and Democrat, all the questions they wanted. The article concentrates on Kerry's intense, excellent questioning, but Boxer hit Rice with everything people here and on DKOS would have wanted. Every point that Senator Kerry pushed Rice on are points where he can now be seen to have been prescient - including asking her 4 times if they had adequately dealt with Pakistan. Asking those questions was the job of every member of that committee and they were right to do it.

Now, Rice's confirmation - like Hillary's - was never in doubt. 13 Senators voted against her.

You seem to be advocating for what the Republicans wanted 4 years ago - for the minority party to not even be allowed to speak.