Not In My Green House

In an AP article posted today, many examples showing conflict of interest between the Clintons indicated a problem if Hillary is selected to Secretary of State.

Since leaving the White house, the Clinton’s have earned $100 million mostly via speeches, investments, and book royalties.  Not to mention the $353 million Bill earned for his Foundation which funds the presidential library;  he also raised money for the global anti-aids initiative, and other charitable causes.  So he’s been busy.

But then…

Hillary Clinton has campaigned as a champion of workers’ rights. Earlier this year, Brazilian labor inspectors found what they called “degrading” living conditions for sugar cane workers employed by an ethanol company in which Bill Clinton invested.

and…

In the Senate, Clinton was an outspoken critic of a proposed deal under which a Dubai company planned to buy a British business that helped run six major U.S. ports. Meanwhile, the company, named DP World, privately sought Bill Clinton’s advice about how to respond to the controversy in Washington over the port plan, which the company later abandoned.

The former president has raised money overseas beyond the Chinese Internet company’s contributions: from the Saudi royal family, the king of Morocco, a foundation linked to the United Arab Emirates and the governments of Kuwait and Qatar, The New York Times reported last year.

Other examples are given that indicate more dealings that benefit HIM much more directly than the rest of the country.  I wonder if the world leaders he’s been fleecing will expect some return on their investment if Hillary is appointed.

I personally feel ok with Hillary as SoS, just not with Bill running around. He shows time and time again that he looks out for Bill first.

The other names I’ve heard don’t inspire a “change” type of feeling in me.  Just “change back”.

I hope Obama chases energy independance as the vehicle to correct our economy.  Don’t leave any option off the table.  OIL, Wind, Solar, CNG, geothermal (I’m a big fan of this simple technology).  Instead of investing billions in BIG dead horses like GM, invest in jobs and companies that are the future.

If these are the types of appointments we can expect from Obama, we need to keep him as far from Washington as possible.

I’m sure you’ve heard of Obama raising $9 Million dollars rubbing elbows with fellow elitists.  Hollywood (like Obama) LOVES to think of themselves as “regular” people.  Of course, they’re anything but.

This is my favorite part….Obama’s campaign finance manager, Penny Pritzker organized the event.  Her name should be familiar to us, but alas MSM continues it’s free ride of liberal criminals.  Her family’s bank, Superior Bank of Chicago, was shut down in 2001 for SUBPRIME LOAN ISSUES!!!!  HELLOOOOO!!!!  7 years ago, her bank was blazing the way for others to follow (they started pursuing suprime loans in 1993).  7 years ago, her bank fleeced $2 BILLION from the American economy.  They made the blueprint for our current crappy bank mess.  While our country’s economy flounders due to greed and lax oversight, this is who he picks as a finance manager…?  Amazing.

Other notable Obama Adviser’s:

Eric Holder - Former Assistant Attorney General under Clinton (on Obama’s VP search committee) - played a leading role in Clinton’s last hours pardon of fugitive billionaire Marc Rich.  Marc never admitted to any wrongdoings, never did time, and was a fugitive of the US, any of which should make him ineligible for a pardon.

Greg Craig - He and his firm have been the Clintons’ attorney of record for the last decade.  Yet, during the primary, Greg was making rounds making negative attacks on Hillary.  Anyone smell conflict of interest?  Anyone smell attorney/client privileges being broken?  I sure do.

James A Johnson (in June he resigned as advisor for the VP process) - This fellow ran Fannie Mae from 1991-1998 (IS STILL A PAID CONSULTANT TO FANNIE), and received over $5 million in loans from Countrywide.  These are loans where Countrywide overrode its internal limits on loan size, amount of allowable debt and number of loans to a single borrower.

Franklin Raines - (served in the Carter and Clinton adminstrations) took over at Fannie Mae after James Johnson.  His stellar leadership resulted in his indictment.  In 2006, the OFHEO announced a suit against Raines in order to recover some or all of the $50 million in payments made to Raines based on the overstated earnings initially estimated to be $9 billion but have been announced as 6.3 billion.  He was accused of abetting widespread accounting errors, which included the shifting of losses so senior executives, such as himself, could earn large bonuses.  He settled the case, without admitting any wrongdoing (and handing over $24.7 million - all innocent folks hand over that much, right?)

Samantha Power - had to resign as foreign policy adviser to Obama after she said of Hillary, “She is a monster, too—that is off the record—she is stooping to anything.” Power warned Clinton’s campaign against reveling in the trial of Obama donor Antonin “Tony” Rezko, who is facing corruption charges.”I don’t think it’s a good idea for the Clintons to get into a competition over who’s got the most unsavory donations, you know what I mean?”  Like Marc Rich, Samantha?

Rob Malley - Middle East adviser to Obama had to resign after it was discovered he had been secretly meeting with HAMAS!!!  Obama said he’d never meet with Hamas (even while Jimmy Carter was going to visit them).  I guess Obama meeting with unsavory leaders without precondition only goes so far…???

Mazen Asbahi was Obama’s coordinator of Muslim affairs for only 10 days.  He resigned after links were made to Jamal Said, a man thought by the U.S. Department of Justice to be involved in racketeering and fundraising for the Palestinian terror organization Hamas.

I absolutely SHUDDER to think of who this cat would select on his cabinet.  His judge of character just plain SUCKS.

The Senate has missed the boat on this one. They voted on a measure to stop sending oil to the SPR for the rest of 2008. They voted 97-1….this is the same group that voted 42-56 against drilling for more oil in ANWR last month. We can either produce our own oil, buy it from someone, or move to alternative energy. At this point, only two options are feasible, so I guess the Senate likes buying it.

“We can’t drill our way to lower prices,” said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.

This kind of statement is beyond stupid, and it creates false propaganda.

The brilliant economist “Sen. Richard Durbin, D-IL ” says that the 13,500,000 barrels we IMPORT EVERY DAY get here without drilling? OR, the 9,500,000 barrels we PRODUCE EVERY DAY aren’t drilled….but adding 70,000 barrels is going to affect prices? It only increases available supply by .3%. What a joke.

For the record….Obama was against lifting the fed gas tax for the summer - called it a “political ploy”, yet he voted yes here….BUT THIS IS A FED GAS TAX TOO!!!!!! How does the US pay for the SPR oil? Oh yeah!!! T MONEY!!! What gives?

Only one senator, “Wayne Allard, R-Colo” voted against the measure. Bravo, Wayne. Thank you for adding to the security of my country instead of political grandstanding while passing legislation that will not benefit anyone.

By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer 58 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The Senate, in a direct challenge to President Bush, voted Tuesday to temporarily halt the shipment of thousands of barrels of oil a day into the government’s emergency reserve.

Both Democrats and Republicans said such shipments make no sense when oil is costing more than $120 a barrel and could better be used to add supplies to a tight market and possibly lower prices.

“We are buying the most expensive crude oil in the history of the world and storing it,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. “When American consumers are burning at the stake by high energy prices, the government ought not be carrying the wood.”

Until both chambers of Congress pass the emergency reserve directive and Bush signs it — or Congress enacts it over a presidential veto — the legislation has no force of law. But the Senate’s message to the president Tuesday was a strong one.

With Republicans joining Democrats, senators voted 97-1 to suspend the shipments — averaging about 70,000 barrels a day — until the end of the year. Only Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., voted against the measure.

The House was scheduled to vote on a similar directive later in the day. The Senate measure was added to legislation on flood insurance that passed shortly after the oil reserve vote.

Bush has been steadfast in continuing shipments of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a system of underground salt domes on the Gulf Coast, arguing that the stockpile should be filled to its maximum capacity of 727 million barrels. It currently is 97 percent full at 701 million barrels, equal to two months of oil imports.

The reserve was created in the 1970s as a precaution against major interruptions of oil supplies.

Senators said the stockpile is big enough to meet any emergency.

Dorgan acknowledged that Tuesday’s vote was “a small step forward” as Congress grapples with ways to respond to soaring fuel prices that have pushed gasoline prices to nearly $4 a gallon after a winter of record heating bills.

It’s uncertain how much effect — if any — putting 70,000 barrels a day of crude onto the U.S. market that uses more than 21 million barrels a day would have. Dorgan said it could send a signal and curb market speculation.

“It could have a chance of reducing the price a small amount,” said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who joined the chorus against continuing the shipments. “But make no bones about it, this is no big energy policy. This is one little thing we can do.”

Earlier, the Senate rejected a broader Republican energy plan that called for opening an Alaska wildlife refuge and some offshore waters to oil development. Supporters of the measure couldn’t get the needed 60 votes to overcome a Democratic-led filibuster threat.

Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said more domestic oil production is needed to keep prices in check and to reduce U.S. dependence on oil imports. “We cannot repeal the law of supply and demand….We need to increase supply in order to lower gas prices,” said McConnell.

But opponents said areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and coastal waters that have been off limits to drilling for 25 years ought to remain that out of bounds to oil companies. The GOP measure, defeated Tuesday by a vote of 56-42, would have allowed coastal states to get a waiver to the offshore drilling ban.

“We can’t drill our way to lower prices,” said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.

The president has given no indication that he will move to halt shipments to the oil reserve, short of a congressional directive.

“Our position hasn’t changed,” said White House press secretary Dana Perino earlier this week. She said the president believes the emergency reserve needs to be increased “in order to protect ourselves against oil shocks” and that the oil being put in — a tenth of one percent of global production — “would have a negligible impact on gas prices” if put into the market.

Democratic Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, interrupting their presidential campaigns, voted to halt the oil reserve deliveries. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, was not present for the vote.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080513/ap_on_go_co/congress_energy