Ron HartView other columns by Ron Hart
There's a bright side to every loss. The Clintons can now spend more time "saving the world" with their Clinton Foundation, which in no way was a self-enrichment/pay-for-play scheme.
While Hillary was secretary of state, about half of her meetings were with Clinton Crime Family Foundation donors. Her husband was a past president and de-facto head of the Democrat Party. And Hillary was, by The New York Times' calculations, a 95 percent sure lock winner for the 2016 presidency. The same guy the paper used for this mathematical modeling is the one it uses for global warming predictions.
Therefore, what nefarious and despotic leader, country or businessman would not like to donate to the Clintons, bundling funds through Canada where they can get a full tax deduction?
This scandal has brought the Clintons closer. Hillary, Bill, Chelsea and her husband were seen Christmas shopping together near Chelsea's $15 million starter apartment in New York City. They all stick together now, fearful that if one family member breaks loose, he or she might go to FBI Director James Comey and turns state's evidence on the others.
As someone who had his assertions (that the Clintons enriched themselves around the Clinton Foundation) called "outrageous" by a liberal pundit on a recent CNN panel, I have a challenge for CNN and that liberal pundit, Bill Press. I will give $1,000 to the Clinton Foundation for every million dollars raised beyond their last official filing of $330 million in donations that year, if he will give to my foundation $1,000 for every million dollars less than $330 million the Clintons raise in future years.
To recap so even a liberal can understand: If the Clintons raise $350 million for their fine work next year, I donate $20,000 to their foundation. Should they raise, say, $310 million, Bill Press donates $20,000 to mine - i.e., a $1,000 bet per million over or under $330 million.
It sounds fair. If the Clinton scam was all about charity and not influence peddling, logic would dictate that donations should skyrocket. The Clinton Foundation has already eradicated the Haitian earthquake victims' trust in foundations and the real charitable work they do. But with our help, they can do more.
The Clintons ran their charity (ostensibly) out of the publicly-funded "Clinton Library," since Arkansas has lower taxes than New York.
Obama has decided to put his presidential library in Chicago, the town where he taught a college law school class: "How to Circumvent the Constitution." Trump's will be The Donald J. Trump Presidential Library, Golf Course and Casino.
WikiLeaks dogged Hillary. It was how we learned that Bill and Hillary's business model was to rake in the money personally. Clinton pimp Doug Band, whose leaked email around the Clinton Foundation said, "President Clinton's business arrangements have yielded more than $30 million for him personally, with $66 million to be paid out over the next nine years "
The Clintons probably learned their self-enrichment techniques from Vice-Hypocrite Al Gore. When Gore ran for president in 2000, the federally required filing of his net worth was $700,000. According to CBS News, his net worth now exceeds $200 million. Fellow career "public servants" Clintons are worth about the same. It's a good thing they are libs and the money doesn't mean anything to them.
Gore made his money by shaking down Silicon Valley and selling government-issued TV station licenses to that oil-rich/carbon emissions monster, the government of Qatar. Captain Crony Capitalist Al Gore set the model for the Clintons. Act like you are doing something noble like "saving the planet," and then set about shaking down governments and corporations for money. It kinda feels like the way the Castro brothers got to a billion-dollar net worth.
Shakespeare summed these two up best in Henry VI, Part II: "Virtue is choked with foul ambition."
This reminds me of a great line from an Alabama Democrat congressman facing a challenge for his seat. He leveled with voters and told them he had been in Washington for eight terms and had already stolen all he needed; this new guy would have to start from scratch, and it would cost them.
It's a good thing Trump already has his money.
Contact Ron Hart at Ron@RonaldHart.com, Twitter @RonaldHart or visit RonaldHart.com.