I voted for Bill Clinton and heard him give a speech at Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Arizona shortly after he left office, in which he talked passionately about climate change for about 10 minutes. But we had the rise of the SUV and a 95-0 Senate pre-Kyoto vote during his administration. Now we’ve had the Clintons come out in favor of the Keystone pipeline and for drilling in the melting Arctic region, as well as support for Cap and Trade, which the developing world considers to be eco-imperialism, economic colonialism, or a way for the US to continue to live big and rich while they continue to live small and poor. And why would you want to turn the Global Atmospheric Commons over to Wall Street after the 2008 financial meltdown? huffingtonpost/charles-ferguson/hillary-clinton-documentary_b_4014792.html ...In June, I (Charles Ferguson--documentary filmmaker including Inside Job [2010 Oscar]) attended a dinner for Bill Clinton, which was educational. Clinton spoke passionately about his foundation, about African wildlife, inequality, childhood obesity, and much else with enormous factual command, emotion, and rhetorical power. But he and I also spoke privately. I asked him about the financial crisis. He paused and then became even more soulful, thoughtful, passionate, and articulate. And then he proceeded to tell me the most amazing lies Ive heard in quite a while. For example, Mr. Clinton sorrowfully lamented his inability to stop the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which banned all regulation of private (OTC) derivatives trading, and thereby greatly worsened the crisis. Mr. Clinton said that he and Larry Summers had argued with Alan Greenspan, but couldnt budge him, and then Congress passed the law by a veto-proof supermajority, tying his hands. Well, actually, the reason that the law passed by that overwhelming margin was because of the Clinton Administrations strong advocacy, including Congressional testimony by Larry Summers and harsh public and private attacks on advocates of regulation by Summers and Robert Rubin. Wow, I thought, this guy is a really good actor. And I also saw one reason why Hillary Clinton might not be thrilled about my movie. I discovered others. In Arkansas, she joined the boards of Walmart and Tyson Foods. One of the largest donors to the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation is the government of Saudi Arabia. The Clintons personal net worth now probably exceeds $200 million, and while earned legally, both the moneys sources and the Clintons public statements indicate a strong aversion to rocking boats or making powerful enemies.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 19:38:35 +0000
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