Clinton disclosures didn't list $24 million of Bill's income

[caligirl]

Source: McClatchy

By Greg Gordon | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Monday, May 5, 2008

WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Clinton excluded nearly $24 million of her husband's earnings from Senate financial statements from 2004 through 2006, capitalizing on rules that permit senators to limit disclosures of some of their spouses' income.

Her decision, while fully consistent with Senate rules and norms, delayed the release of financial information about former President Clinton's soaring income until the couple released their tax returns in early April, under pressure from Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama. By then, about 40 states had completed their Democratic primaries and caucuses, meaning that those voters didn't get a clear look at Bill Clinton's finances.


Watchdogs say these scenarios not only raise issues about the candidates' openness, but also point to shortcomings in government ethics requirements.

Bill Buzenberg, the executive director of the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity, said that the disclosures by the Clintons and McCain were ``inadequate.''It needs to be because it does potentially involve all kinds of entangling things we don't know."

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/35929.html

---

Concerned over her pandering to blue collar workers in Pa, In and NC who were hurt by job losses and are not aware of this money being hidden from them and its source.

http://www.star-telegram.com/190/story/624186.html

"My understanding was that Hillary was following the norms of the day in what she had to release," he said. "But does that say something about how easy it is for politicians to do favors and get away with it? Sure. ... There may be something wrong with the reporting requirements. The Congress is notoriously lax about policing itself."

The Center for Public Integrity's Buzenberg called the 1984 flap over the business activities of Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro's husband, New York real estate mogul John Zaccaro, "small potatoes compared to the millions and millions (of dollars) we're talking about with the former president."

He noted that Bill Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock, Ark., has refused to identify many of its donors.

[CreekDog]

1. oh come on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reverend Wright!
Ayres!
Elitist!
Bitter!
Opposes Gax Tax holiday!
does poorly with a certain race whose income is at a certain level because "he" fails to connect.
tested.
fullllllllly vetted!
can't throw anything at her at all that she cannot withstand.

did i miss anything? what was the complaint?

[WA98070]

2. Let's see ...

Prayer Breakfast with Rev. Wright--marriage counseling too
Ayers Pardon
Elite--Ex-Prez what's more elite?
Another B word, hell hath no furry
Panders with gas tax holiday and calls economists elitists
does poorly with a certain race just because
Not truly vetted
Just don't mention a blue dress or she might cry
NAFTA
Telecommunication Act of 1996
Bosnia

Really the list is endless but that depends on the meaning of mean

[ShockediSay]

5. & if she's got so much executive experience, how come her campaign organization

fell down so badly so many times

[Heather MC]

23. Because, God, don't like ugly...

and he's not too fond of pretty.
Typical the MSM's are not reporting this.

[pnwmom]

39. The MSM aren't reporting because Obama and McCain did the same thing as HRC.

They filled out the Senate forms in the same way.

With respect to Federal tax returns, HRC and Obama reported all their spousal income on joint returns -- but McCain decided to report only his separate income, not his wife's.

So McCain is the one we should be attacking, not HRC.

[LaStrega]

3. k&r n/t

[DeSwiss]

4. Washington certainly is a lucrative cesspool...

...isn't it?

- K&R!!!

[EFerrari]

6. I can't believe this party is even thinking of nominating

this kind of corruption.

[pnwmom]

11. Corruption? She DID report this income in her tax returns,

and, on the Senate forms, she and Obama reported their spousal income in the same fashion.

[EFerrari]

59. Yes, it is corruption to try to mislead voters about your income.

And if he did it too, same goes for him.

[pnwmom]

71. Neither of them tried to mislead anyone. They correctly filled out the forms.

The forms didn't ask for the same information that the IRS asks for, so Obama/Clinton didn't provide it.

People here are making a mountain out of an anthill.

[lumpy]

19. Obama is just as 'corrupt'. He didn't report all of his wifes

income either. Neither did McCain, so all is fair, right?

[EFerrari]

68. And we accept it. If they all did it, shame on all of them.

I'm an equal opportunity finger wagger. :)

[pnwmom]

72. Then how come the thread is about Hillary and not Barack?

Both of them fully complied with the reporting requirements for the Senate and the I.R.S. The reason for the hub-bub here is that the Senate and the IRS don't require the same information on their forms. So people are comparing apples and oranges.

This is ridiculous.

[happygoluckytoyou]

7. EMBARASSED SHE DID IT..... OR SHE GOT CAUGHT

DONT THINK FAUX NEWS WILL BE REPORTING THIS ONE.... SHE'S THEIR GIRL TO THE WHITEHOUSE

[pnwmom]

9. Obama and McCain did the same thing, if you read the article.

So this is a big yawn.

[disndat]

38. Correction, please

Faux News wants HC to run against McBomb Bomb.

[TheWraith]

8. Oh, for fuck's sake.

Not again.

[no1dolo]

27. LOL n/t

[OKthatsIT]

56. LOL

Voted for the war...and wants US to prepare for future wars.

Bankruptcy Bill anyone?

Voted to fund surveillance contractors?

Bankers love Hillary.

[pnwmom]

10. So what? Obama reported his income in the same fashion.

And McCain didn't even show his wife's income on his returns.

"Like Clinton, Obama listed his wife Michelle's salary and directors' fees only as ``over $1,000,'' which complies with Senate rules."

[susankh4]

14. McCain is the smart one here.

If you ask me.

This is not the god damned gestapo. These folks have privacy rights like the rest of us do. If I went to be interviewed for a job and the employer asked me to show mine, and my husbands tax information... I tell them to stick it where the sun don't shine.

[closeupready]

17. Actually, no, public figures do NOT have the same privacy rights that

private citizens do. That's a legal fact.

[susankh4]

20. Of course not.

But there are limits.

And, quite frankly.... too much information serves only to distract.

What we need to know is can these people do the job we want them to. Not how much beer their wife's family sells. Or why they think God creates evil.

Enough is as good as a feast.

[closeupready]

21. You have a point, however, my concern with Bill's money is twofold

Who is giving him money; and do I have any concerns about him being back in the White House next to the president potentially giving out favors to those who gave him that money? Because that presents the potential for conflict of interest.

[susankh4]

28. I hear you, but...

for my money, there's only one way to end "conflicts of interest." End capitalism as we know it.

We all have conflicts of interest every day, when you get right down to it. Maybe not on the scale Hillary, Barack, or John do maybe.... but, nonetheless, conflicts are conflicts.

When I drink at Starbucks, accept free food from Iams for my rescue, or sue the poor old geezer that rear ended me.... I am experiencing conflicts of interest.

I worked for many years in the American Health Care system.... and learned that the conflicts of interest were so rampant among medical researchers as to make much of what they do downright irrelevant. What to do? Stop the research? Or accept the money so they can at least try? No easy answers, really.

But... every time we drag out another politician's tax returns and rail about them... we ought to examine our own conflicts of interest first. Then, the one who is without conflicts may cast the first stone....

And, in this capitalistic system, there won't be many without, if they are honest.

[0007]

55. ....and you'd jump higher than any dog and show all your collateral in

inside your underwear in a New York second if you were hungry enough. Who are you kidding?

You talk like some big-out-town jasper.

[jmowreader]

29. And McCain's wife makes both Bill Clinton and Michelle Obama look poor

Hensley & Co. is one of the biggest beer distributors in America, and Cindy McCain runs it.

She ain't doing it for free, kids.

[Eagle_Eye]

12. Hillary hatred at its finest - she adheres to the rules of the Senate and gets hammered anyway

" rules that permit senators to limit disclosures of some of their spouses' income "

[susankh4]

13. If I were her I would file separately and tell them "no"

when they ask to see Bill's tax returns.

I applaud John McCain for refusing to show Cindy's. Enough is enough.

WTF ever happened to privacy in this country? Did we know one thing about the tax returns of Jacqueline Kennedy?

Is there any other job where the hiring is predicated on seeing one's previous tax records?

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

15. you applaud John McCain? he's sheltering his assetts in Cindy's estate

do you also applaud his bogus gas tax holiday and his 100 year war?

[susankh4]

16. I applaud his willingness to tell the press where to get off...

Like that pathetic "Compassion Fest" or whatever it was... that blurred the lines of church and state for the whole world to see.

And like his wife's right to privacy.

In this country... *guess what* .... we don't have to answer questions posed by the media circus if we don't want to. That is the law.

[Baby Snooks]

34. His assets?

You must be nuts. They are not the Clintons. They are not "what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine." They are "what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours." Cindy McCain is very wealthy. John McCain is not. It's called separate property. Including her income.

Her family apparently didn't trust him. Which may be a little hint to the rest of us?

[lumpy]

18. Obama and McCaine did the same in reporting there spouses

income. Grasping at straws to try and find something to drag down candidates is becoming epidemic.

[andlor]

22. My God!!!

People, you must to be desperate!!!!
Grow up.

[pnwmom]

37. They aren't desperate. They just assume the average DUer is dumb. n/t

[no1dolo]

24. Of Course, that's why there was such a delay in releasing her tax information!

We knew they had to be fishing for every loophole they could find.

[LaloBorges]

25. Bickering on the wrong issue

I don't hear anyone complaining about the $400 million bonus the Exxon executive recieved last year which we are paying for everytime we pump gas...but if it has the Clinton name on it, although its migger compared with the "Oil bonus" then everyone has something to say...

I wonder if Obama had made that kind of money, if people here would also be "outraged".

[noel711]

26. Come on people, stop the Hillary bashing...

she's just an uncomplicated hard-working, blue collar gal.

Why should she be responsible for reporting what Bubba does...??

After all, he's not a big-mouth, hate-preachin' reverend, is he?

(sarcasm alert)

[CC]

33. So you would of been fine

if the title read "Obama disclosures didn't list however many dollars of Michelle's income" instead? Since the story said all 3 candidates did the same anyone of them could of been the title with their dollar amount. This is a none story since no laws or rules were broken. Should Obama have to provide every client Michelle might of talked to no less worked with? Who knows what influence they might have over him through his wife. Has he provided tax returns for both all the way back to 1991?
This is getting ridiculous when people latch on to stories about people not breaking rules to push one candidate above they other. I will vote for whichever Dem is the candidate even if we are stuck with whichever of the two the media wants to win and if you don't think the media chose Obama and Clinton to be the last two in the race you need to go back through the coverage.

[pnwmom]

35. She DID report all his income on their joint income taxes.

And she and Obama reported their income in the same manner on their Senate forms.

This is all just an excuse for Obama people to pontificate.

[xyouth]

30. How much of this money is from lobbying for foreign governments?

How can she be trusted to keep the interests of the US first, when so much of the Clinton's wealth is tied to foreign lands? The 24 mil. is just a fraction of what this guy has made for himself and for the "Clinton Library". Making money is fine, but at who's expense. This is an issue of national security. But what do I know, I'm just a simple working guy who lost 90% of his work due to NAFTA.:rant:

[Obamanaut]

31. And this is why I rarely vote for an incumbent. I think if they have

not lined their pockets sufficiently during one term - bad on you, let someone else up to the trough.

[pnwmom]

36. Obama reported on the Senate forms in exactly the same manner as HRC.

And all three candidates are incumbents.

[Obamanaut]

50. It should have been intuitively obvious that there will be

exceptions. From time to time there will not be an incumbent to ignore. This presidential election cycle is an example.

In this case, the Clintons have had ample opportunity to feast at the taxpayer trough, so why not make full disclosure of the China millions? If one does not come clean with everything, even though the rules permit this, what else is being hidden?

Edited to add Are you saying that Obama didn't disclose millions from China either?

[pnwmom]

70. I am saying that both Obama and Clinton filled out their Senate forms

in the same way. The spouse's income did not have to be reported, except to say whether it was over $1000. Both Michelle and Bill had incomes above that amount, and that was so indicated.

Then both Obama and Clinton filed joint income tax returns with their spouses, that listed all their income.

[LeFleur1]

51. But But...

on DU Obama has different rules than anyone else. He's pure. He's Godlike. Don't you know that yet? A vote for him is a vote for a saint.}(

[Baby Snooks]

32. Says it all...

"Her decision, while fully consistent with Senate rules and norms, delayed the release of financial information about former President Clinton's soaring income until the couple released their tax returns in early April, under pressure from Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama. By then, about 40 states had completed their Democratic primaries and caucuses, meaning that those voters didn't get a clear look at Bill Clinton's finances."


We live in a country where the prevailing philosophy is that it doesn't matter whether something is ethical. It only matters whether something is legal. Ethics is no longer part of the American psyche. Money is all. Any way you can get it. Particularly if you can get away with it.

The reality is the disclosures might have given a different perspective to the Clintons as the "defenders" of the middle-class in this country.

The Clintons are modern day carpetbaggers who came to Washington with a little "carry-on" bag and left with a steamer trunk which they quickly filled with the goodies which explains why she was so eager to return.

They want that second steamer trunk. And will do anything to get it.

[xyouth]

42. Louis Vuitton Steamer trunk!!

[Baby Snooks]

67. And don't forget the Zero Halliburton briefcase...

The Zero Halliburton aluminum briefcase for the Halliburton Zeroes.

It has replaced the Rolex as the true symbol of success - the number one choice for money launderers and other assorted crooks who need something light to carry all the cash around in.

[Broadslidin]

40. Washington DC, home of the $1000 u.s. coupons an hour moonlight Madames....

And to think,
the Founding Feudal Fathers set the stage for this slick scam.

[disndat]

41. Elitest who?

$150,000,000.00 and counting. Plus, not counting foreign(aka Saudi oil) contributions to Clinton Arkansas Library.

[natrat]

43. clinton people are idiots-if they had run an honest issues based campaign they would have done well

but i guess that's difficult when the positions they espouse are pro corporate, shall we say elitist, and difficult to mask

[xyouth]

44. Any off shore accounts they are not claiming?

Hill come hang out with the common folk, at a dirty bar, when your not campaigning.
Yea!! She's one of us! She's one of us! She's one of us! She's one of us! She's one of us! She's one of us! She's one of us! She's one of us! She's one of us! She's one of us!
Fucking knuckleheads.

[Doctor_J]

45. I figured Rove & his media minnions would figure out a way to take the

focus off of Cindy McCain's billions.

[high density]

46. Why did she do that? So stupid

If their income was $109 million over seven years or so, what's another $24 million on top of that? It is clear that this race is showing us that the Clintons (both of them) have very poor judgment, worse than I ever would've imagined before.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

47. so bill clinton has no right to privacy even if he isnt running for office?

[Blue_Tires]

48. let's be honest here -- did anyone NOT think they were already loaded?

[closeupready]

49. Well, not worth $133 million, no, I had no idea they were that wealthy.

n/t

[Zuiderelle]

52. Her decision was "fully consistent with Senate rules and norms" ... Jeez, find something else.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

53. its a sure sign of evil when you comply w.senate rules

but only if you are HRC

[nichomachus]

60. She didn't "comply" with Senate rules. She used senate rules as a loophole

to deceive voters. "Complying" with Senate rules would imply that the rules required her to hide the income. They do not. The rules provided her an escape hatch to be less than honest with the public -- and she took advantage of it.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

62. does obama or mccain reveal their spouse's earnings?

[nichomachus]

63. I don't know -- that has nothing to do with what I was talking about

I was merely responding to your claim that she was "complying" with rules. If you have some information about whether McCain or Obama did or didn't, feel free to post it.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

64. she is complying with rules, you are wanting her to do MORE than compliance.

[nichomachus]

65. If she was being honest, she would do more than meet the minimum requirements

[La Lioness Priyanka]

66. why? the requirements are set to protect the privacy of the spouse

bill clintons earning need to be revealed if he is running.

again, as i said if you are HRC compliance that is expected from everyone else is not enough.

[pnwmom]

74. If you read the article you'd know the answer. But you'd rather blame HRC

for filling out the forms truthfully and completely, and in the same fashion as Obama and McCain.

She answered the questions that were asked, without offering information beyond the questions asked. So did Obama, whose wife also had earnings substantially above $1000.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

76. but why should a woman do only as much as a man. she must go above and beyond

to be considered equal.

[pnwmom]

77. Oops. I forgot that rule. You're right, lioness, as usual.

That is the way of the world.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

78. but ofcourse if you argues this point, this is not about gender. its about HRC.

:eyes:

balls all

[pnwmom]

73. Obama filled out the Senate forms in the exact same way she did.

I guess he also must have wanted an "escape hatch" to be "less than honest with the public."

[0007]

54. That shouldn't surprise anyone.

'Cover up & lie' is the name of the Clinton game.

[dollydew]

57. African American Older female here

Most of us are not buying what Obama's selling. But if he should get the nomination we will vote for him. Now, the Clinton's are racist, money grubbing, tax dodging liars. This is something even the Republicans never accused them of.

[dollydew]

58. When you lose in November

because America will not vote for a black man. As someone who had the National Guard ride into her neighborhood and threaten her at gunpoint, an experience Obama never had, well heck. He keeps telling Black America that doesn't count. Ok.

[lonestarnot]

61. Why are you worried about their shit when McWar and the druggie haven't produced the druggie's?

[suston96]

69. Between the Senate Financial Disclosures and their Federal Income Taxes for the same periods....

...everything has been disclosed.

So what's the complaint?

[pnwmom]

75. Some people here are just blowing smoke

and hoping enough will land on HRC.

[Dogtown]

79. this intramural bickering

is ridiculous.