Some questions I think about…
Hillary and Bill Clinton are asking for a third term in the White House, and voters who want to know what this portends should examine the 12-page memo written by a Clinton insider that was hacked and published October 26th by WikiLeaks. This is the cold, hard reality of the Clinton political-business model. Longtime Clinton aide Doug Band wrote the memo in 2011 to justify himself to lawyers at Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett who were reviewing his role and conducting a governance review of the Clinton Foundation at the insistence of Chelsea Clinton. In an email two weeks earlier, also published on WikiLeaks, Ms. Clinton said her father had been told that Mr. Band’s firm Teneo was “hustling” business at the Clinton Global Initiative, a regular gathering of the wealthy and powerful that is ostensibly about charitable activity.
Poor “innocent” Chelsea. Bill and Hillary must never have told her what business they’re in. If she had known, she would never have hired a blue-chip law firm to sweep through the hallways of the Clinton Foundation searching for conflicts of interest. Instead of questioning Mr. Band’s compensation, she would have pleaded with him never to reveal the particulars of his job in writing. But she didn’t, and so Mr. Band went ahead and described the “unorthodox nature” of his work while emphasizing his determination to help “protect the 501(c)3 status of the Foundation.” That’s the part of the tax code that has allowed the Clinton Foundation to remain tax-exempt on the premise that it is dedicated to serving humanity. Mr. Band graciously copied John Podesta, then adviser to the board, who would eventually become Hillary’s campaign chief. His helpful reply was to suggest that Mr. Band “strip the defensive stuff out” and later “go through the details and how they have helped WJC” [ William Jefferson Clinton]. So, the question is: why isn’t the IRS investigating the Clinton Foundation?
Here’s one you might want to think about; when was the last time that Congress formally declared war, which is their right to do? If we had a real leader that declaration would have been made against ISIS since they consider themselves a sovereign state. A declaration of war puts the country on a different footing entirely and makes us more secure. Combine the declaration with universal military training for 18 to 30 year-olds. This is not the draft, but a way to prepare the country for a war that I believe is coming…and it’s coming to our shores. We are already seeing the so-called “lone wolf” attacks occurring, and I think there will be more, with greater casualties. If you do not call it war, when people are being killed, what DO you call it? If you are fighting an enemy, in or out of a uniform, and casualties are piling up on both sides, if that isn’t a war, what is?
Once there was the Ottoman Empire. Once there was the British Empire. Once there was the Spanish Empire…and on and on. Why do you suppose that, during the Twentieth Century, when the United States was becoming the dominant nation on the planet, there never was an American Empire?
Our history is dotted with wars and as a consequence of those wars, nations that we defeated…so how is it that we don’t have an empire? The answer to that is very simple…we didn’t want one. Now, having said that you might ask a pertinent question…why do we have troops stationed around the world, and why do we “meddle” in foreign nation’s business? Once again, the answer is simple, but it depends upon which side of the fence you’re on. There are, and have been, members of Congress, even Presidents, who WANTED empires…and there have been just as many that did not. The arguments on both sides of this discussion have valid salient points, but sometimes they just cannot convince the people to go this way or that.
In 1913 someone thought up the idea of an income tax. It was supposed to be for the rich only, and it would be no more than 3%, if I remember right. Have you looked at an IRS tax form lately? The overall percentage that they get is way higher than 3% and it’s universal…unless you have a good tax attorney and take advantage of all the various exemptions and loopholes. In 1933 the Congress had another opportunity, this time to maybe rectify their mistake of 1913. The choice was to retain the income tax system, or go to a national sales tax. Congress chose to remain with the income tax, which was a disaster of Titanic proportions. Many years later, a Congressman from Georgia (now retired) John Linder wrote, and proposed, something he called The Fair Tax. In contrast to the seventy thousand plus pages of the IRS manual or code, this was one hundred thirty-five pages of easy-to-read language. The premise was simple…you bought something at retail, you paid the tax and the tax went to the Government. No loopholes, no exemptions and everybody gets the same treatment. I suspect that it died a quick death in Congress simply because it did NOT allow for any manipulation by anyone, and when you threaten members of Congress with anything that affects their income, they get upset.
Parting shot…these are my questions…what are yours?
Tags: Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton IRS WikiLeaks
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