Q http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/01/trump_defends_donations_to_clinton_foundation.html January 31, 2016 Trump defends donations to Clinton Foundation By Rick Moran Donald Trump has come under fire during the campaign for his supporting Hillary Clinton and specifically, the Clinton Foundation. Records show Trump donated $250,000 to the Foundation and many conservatives have questioned how he can run as a Republican while playing on his extensive ties with the Clintons. The Hill: Republican primary front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday explained why he gave a quarter of a million dollars to the Clinton Foundation before he ran for president. “I did give to the Clinton Foundation. What I didn’t know is they’d be using it for private aircraft and things like that,” Trump said on “Fox News Sunday.” “The Clinton Foundation was helping with Haiti and with lots of other things, and I thought it was going to do some good work, so it didn’t make any difference to me,” he added. The real estate mogul also pointed to his business interests in cultivating support among politicians from each party. “Again, I was a businessman, and it was my obligation to get along with everybody, including the Clintons, including Democrats and liberals and Republicans and conservatives,” he said. “As a businessman, I had an obligation to do that.” As a high profile member of the New York establishment, Trump naturally gravitated toward the former president and his wife, the sitting Senator from the state. That he felt it necessary as a businessman to cultivate the Clintons is not in dispute. But some of the glowing words he had for Hillary are not easily reconciled with his current thoughts about her. Is insincerity a part of "getting along" with everybody? That's what most Republicans will have to decide before they vote. UQ
This concerns Republican voters, but not a deal-breaker. In a heavily regulated and blue state like New York, getting things done requires favors. This is how Trump explains it. He also greased palms on both sides of the aisle. That's how the game is played by large Corporate donors. They hedge their bets. Trump played the game to further and grow his business. In the minds of voters, this is acceptable and okay.
“Again, I was a businessman, and it was my obligation to get along with everybody, including the Clintons, including Democrats and liberals and Republicans and conservatives,” he said. “As a businessman, I had an obligation to do that.” Simple: Can Trump say/disclose how much so far (or in year 2015) already donated to the GOP or related?
This might be a good time to mention that nearly all conservative business leaders in the U.S. have donated to the Clinton Foundation. I might also mention that George Bush was a leading fund raiser for the foundation at one point. Keep in mind the Clinton Foundation originally was founded as a charity to do good work around around the world to address poverty, disaster relief and disease. Sadly the Clinton Foundation has become a slush fund for Hillary Clinton destroying the original intent. Many U.S. business leaders now look back and regret giving to the Clinton Foundation.
Q Are the Clintons More Transparent Than the Bushes? When it comes to their foundations' donors, Bill and Hillary are more open than George W. Bush or his father. —By David Corn | Thu Apr. 30, 2015 http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/04/bush-foundation-clinton-foundation-jeb When the recent controversy about the Clinton family foundation first emerged—thanks to Clinton Cash, the book by conservative author Peter Schweizer—all-but-announced Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush declared that Hillary Clinton is "going to be held accountable like all of us…That's part of the process." But Bush declined to slam Clinton or comment on Schweizer's admittedly unproven allegations that she took official action as secretary of state to benefit foreign donors to the foundation. He said, "I don't 'go off' on Hillary Clinton." And he explained that there would be time later to get into partisan sniping. But there was perhaps another reason for his reticence: The Bush family foundations are less transparent about their donors than the Clinton Foundation. UQ
As noted in the article, the foundations of both former president Bushes are used to raise money for their libraries. The total amounts are much less than the Clinton Foundation. They held no office - that could grant favors - while raising money for their libraries. Unlike Hillary Clinton who was Secretary of State and in a position to trade favors for donations. As noted in the article, the donors to the Bush library (for $20 and larger) are listed on the wall of the library unless someone made a specific request not to be listed. And unlike the Clinton Foundation the funds were not used for private jet rides and junkets. As noted in the article, the donors to the Clinton Foundation are supposedly listed with dollar amounts but many foreign donors are missing from their filings ("Clinton Foundation Failed to Disclose 1,100 Foreign Donations"). "The foundation's nearly 3,000-page list of contributors was not searchable, and the foundation only supplied the names of the donors, not addresses or any other identifying information. The specific amounts of contributions were not provided, only the range (say, $5 to $10 million, or more than $25 million)."
How much it was raised for the veterans? Q What Donald Trump's Debate-Rivaling Rally Says About His Candidacy It drew a lot of spectators but few die-hard fans. —By Pema Levy | Fri Jan. 29, 2016 http://www.motherjones.com/politics...rumps-anti-fox-rally-says-about-his-candidacy When Donald Trump announced, with just two days' notice, that instead of attending the Republican debate Thursday night he would host a rival event at Drake University in Des Moines, the question was, would his supporters flock to him? Would they come from across the city, the state, even around the country to see him? Judging from the line outside his event, billed as a fundraiser to support veterans, it seemed that they had. The queue stretched so far back that you couldn't make out the end of it, and people waited in the cold for hours to get in (and many were ultimately turned away when the venue reached capacity). If Trump could muster this much support at a moment's notice, you would think he should be well on his way to winning the Iowa caucuses. But on further inspection, the impressive crowd was composed largely of Drake University students, few of whom actually seemed prepared to caucus for Trump—or even to caucus at all. "I'm just here cause I think he's hilarious," said one Drake student, who declined to give her name. Her friend, a 20-year-old Drake student wearing a "Make America Great Again" baseball cap, agreed. The reason "Drake students are attending tonight is more the comedic factor," she said. "We've had all these very serious events with random raffles and drawings, and then Trump shows up on campus and he gives out around 3,000 tickets on an app to an event happening in an auditorium that holds around 700 people." ... ... UQ
Trump is a chameleon and Clinton a Shape Shifter. The rest play fast and loose as the political winds change. The only consistent candidate is Bernie. The state of our politics is truly a mess.