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Category: Politics
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Yucaipa may pay Bill Clinton $20M
Democrats are quick to criticize President Bush’s handling of the economy. However, at least one top Democrat has done pretty well during the last eight years.
Former President Bill Clinton made $9.2 million in speaking fees in just his first year out of office in 2001. He later got a reported advance between $10 million and $12 million for his memoir, My Life.
All this money adds up. Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, listed their assets as between $17.4 million and $53.7 million, in the most recent report made public.
And now it appears that Bill Clinton is eligible for a $20 million payout for his relationship with a private equity firm. (Story continues below interactive map.)
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The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Clinton will receive the money as a result of his role as an advisor from 2002 to 2007 to funds managed by Yucaipa Companies.Ronald W. Burkle, Clinton’s friend and a major Democratic Party contributor, is the founder and managing partner of Yucaipa. The firm has invested heavily in supermarkets and other ventures.
The Journal reported that Clinton last year decided to end his connection to Yucaipa, so as not to complicate his wife’s presidential bid.
A Yucaipa fund, the Yucaipa Global Partnership Fund LP, is connected to the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the paper reported. That link could become controversial if the power of foreign investments in this country becomes a campaign issue for Sen. Clinton.
According to the Journal, Clinton is eligible for the $20 million because Yucaipa sold Wild Oaks Market Inc. and Pathmark Stores. The transactions substantially increased the profits of two Yucaipa domestic funds, triggering the payout.
In a 2006 story in The New York Times, Burkle described Clinton’s role at the company:
“He explains to people better than we can why these are good things to invest in,” Burkle said. “He’ll talk about the importance to the economy, to the community. And he builds the brand of Yucaipa.”
The Times quoted Clinton from a 2003 speech in which he explained why he decided to join Yucaipa:
“(The company) has earned a phenomenal return in investing in three things I care about,” he said. “In underserved communities, in underperforming companies that are friendly to their workers and their families, and in minority-owned businesses.”
Burkle and Clinton met in 1992, when Clinton was running for the presidency. They became friends, and Clinton would stay at Burkle’s house when he was in California.
Burkle hosted a March 2007 fundraiser for Sen. Clinton at his home in California that took in $2.6 million.
In 2007, Forbes magazine estimated Burkle’s wealth at $3.5 billion, placing him at number 91 on the list of 400 richest Americans.
A college dropout, Burkle started out in the grocery business by stocking shelves.
Burkle has looked into the newspaper business, but his efforts to acquire the Tribune Company and Knight Ridder did not pan out.
The New York Daily News reported in 2006 that Jared Paul Stern, a contributor to the gossip pages of the New York Post, attempted to extort $220,000 from Burkle in exchange for good coverage, money that Burkle did not pay.
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Riding Lou Dobbs’ coattails
Lou DobbsLou Dobbs, the tough-talking anchor for CNN, is expert at riding popular opinion. Last week, a group called Americans for Legal Immigration attached itself firmly to Dobbs’ popularity as it launched an effort to draft him for president.
If nothing else, it was a good public relations move by ALIPAC, headed by William Gheen. The group shares Dobbs’ fervor against illegal immigration.
Kevin Horrigan reported in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that in the first 24 hours Gheen’s group received campaign pledges, should Dobbs choose to run, totaling $160,000. (Story continues below interactive map.)
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In his column headlined “Loupublicans and Dobbsocrats,” Horrigan wrote that when he first saw the email announcing the draft Dobbs effort, he thought it was a joke. He probably wasn’t alone.
But it would be a mistake to discount the appeal of the Harvard-educated broadcaster who has transformed himself into a raving populist. Dobbs says free trade costs American jobs. He regularly bashes big business, big government and the established political parties. CNN calls Dobbs the “leading media advocate” for America’s working men and women.
“The truth is not ‘fair and balanced,’ Dobbs told the New Yorker in 2006.
The Dobbs-for-president buzz is not new. It received a jumpstart in early January when the The Wall Street Journal ran a story about Dobbs gaining attention as a possible independent candidate.
The story quoted Gheen and Dobbs, who said he wasn’t a candidate but he had not ruled out the possibility.
Later that day, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer interviewed Dobbs about the Journal’s story. Dobbs said he was flattered by the interest and repeated that he wasn’t a candidate but could never say never.
“I’m an advocacy journalist and I’m having a great, great time right now,” Dobbs told Blitzer.
Whether he runs or not, Dobbs will have an impact on the election because of the audience he appeals to. Writing in The Politico last October, Christopher Gacek said that Dobbs “may be the most important person in the 2008 presidential election aside from the candidates themselves.”
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What a huge breath of fresh air should Lou Dobbs throw his hat in the ring. I would definitely vote for him. Not only is he the only MSM news anchor taking on illegal immigration (which he is totally correct on), he has taken on the economy, special interests, lobbyist influence peddling, government corruption, truth in government, religion in politics, free trade and favored trade status issues, national security, the folly of the Iraq War and how contractors are becoming enriched from it, middle class erosion and American worker protection, outsourcing jobs for larger corporate profit, excessive issuance of H-1B visas, our crumbling infrastructure, education, food safety and inspections, the environment, China’s dangerous imports and its influence on our national deficit, NAFTA, SPP, NAU, LOST, ridiculous government treaties, crime, drugs, racial issues and the list goes on.
Lou Dobbs has talked about, taken stances on, exposed and researched more issues than any other presidential candidate ever has or ever will.
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Lou Dobbs is a demagogue living on a 16 mil a year salary in a 300 acre home. He has found a way to be relavant in a world where he has to compete with the likes of oreilly and Hannity. I will vote for a candidate who is sincere on issues. Ron Paul is a believer. Lou Dobbs is a phony.
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Because of Lou there are more than 800,000(nightly viewers) American Citizens that know what’s going on in this country. Meddling foreigner leaders controlling our Politicans all the way up to our President!
The newspapers and television telling us that we are not smart enough to think for ourselves and telling and showing only what they want. Even they although, they’re probably fearful of losing their jobs…won’t admit the truth. Into days world, wrong is right and right is wrong, the is, at least, one person who see through the murky lens and tell the truth based on facts.
Because of that, he is shot down as an over zealous tv personality looking for ratings. Well guess what…….they’re wrong and the silent voices were listening and are now being heard. Guess that makes some people and governments nervous, so be it……LOU will get my money and my time if he runs!!! We need an American for America and not for businesses or foreign countries!
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Lou Dobbs quote from his book ‘Independents Day’:
The key difference between our two parties is purely partisan: While Democrats describe themselves as liberal, progressive, and committed to civil liberties, and Republicans describe themselves as conservative and committed to tradition and social stability, the truth is, their only guiding principles are that Democrats are anti-Republican while Republicans are anti-Democrat. They have become nothing more than two wings of the same bird.
If the distinction between Republicans and Democrats is blurred and increasingly unclear, it’s in large part due to the fact that both parties are dependent on the largesse of corporate America and the influence of special interests. Bush has sent tens of thousands of our troops around the world to fight the war on terror, and hundreds of thousands to Iraq and Afghanistan, yet for 6 years he has insisted upon leaving our borders and ports open to the illegal traffic of millions of illegal aliens and billions of dollars in illegal drugs.
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LOL, he will go as far as Tom Tancredo. I hope he runs. The guy is a LOSER
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We also need someone who has the guts to stand up to the President of Mexico who can not get it through his thick head we are a sovereign Nation run by “we the people”. Lou Dobbs is the only one to stand on national tv and tell Caleron to “stuff it” and mind his own business. Has our so called President or any member of our congress done this yet….I think not.
And because they haven’t, expect Calderon’s visit in Feb.to be apart of a pandering visit with our congress to try to stop what he calls the rhetoric in our presidential campaign by the GOP against illegal aliens. Something he can not get though his pea brain that citizens are demanding the issue be talked about.
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Patti Solis Doyle regroups for NH primary
Patti Solis Doyle, campaign manager for Hillary Clinton, is in the fight of her life.
Doyle, whose ties to Clinton go back to 1991, when she was hired as Clinton’s scheduler, has five days to turn the tide. After a solid defeat in Iowa, the New Hampshire primary is a crucial contest for a candidate who was once considered a Democratic shoo-in.
This is Doyle’s first national campaign. Although she prefers to stay behind the scenes, she is known as a fiercely competitive person who runs a tight, well-organized operation. She has described herself as “tough as dirt.” (Story continues below interactive map.)
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The daughter of Mexican immigrants and sister of Chicago City Council President Daniel Solis, Doyle has long enjoyed the friendship and full confidence of her boss. She helped strategize Clinton’s Senate campaign in 2000 and has headed her political operations in recent years.She is married to Jim Doyle, senior VP at Penn Schoen and Berland. The firm’s president, Mark Penn, is Clinton’s pollster.
There’s no indication yet of any reorganization in the Clinton camp. Last week, Clinton dismissed such speculation. “There’s no turmoil, no shake-up,” she told the Wall Street Journal. “I have total trust in Patti, who’s my campaign manager, confidante and friend.”
The candidate boarded a plane at midnight, heading for New Hampshire, hoping to repeat her husband’s 1992 victory there.
“Hillary is going to continue making the case that in these serious times when America faces big challenges, it will take a leader with the strength and experience to deliver real change,” Doyle told reporters.
“This race begins tonight and ends when Democrats throughout America have their say. Our campaign was built for a marathon and we have the resources to run a national race in the weeks ahead.”
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Will Barack Obama and Ron Paul win in Iowa?
If traffic to a candidate’s web site is any indication of popularity in the Iowa caucuses, Barack Obama and Ron Paul will be the winners after the votes are tallied this evening.
Web site traffic statistics provided by Alexa show Obama with a clear lead in the Democratic contest over second-place finisher Hillary Clinton. (Story continues below interactive map.)
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John Edwards lands in third place with Joe Biden taking a distant fourth and Christopher Dodd finishing fifth. Bill Richardson’s doesn’t even break the top 100,000 websites, so there is little data on Alexa about their traffic trends.
On the Republican side, congressman and internet fundraising star Ron Paul’s web site has a clear lead over the rest of the field with Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee finishing second followed by former Massachusettes Governor Mitt Romney and U.S. Senator John McCain. Traffic for actor and former Sen. Fred Thompson took a nosedive at the end of December, when he was ahead of both Romney and McCain.
Of course, using web traffic as a polling tool is completely unscientific, but as the population ages and more and more internet users become voters, analysis of web traffic trends may become another tool used to predict the outcome of elections in the future. We’ll find out the real results once the caucuses are finished this evening and see how good a predictor traffic to a web site is in gauging voter popularity.
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3 Comments
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RON PAUL FOR PRESIDENT !!!
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HOLY CRAP!
Ron Paul is at .05
compared to Obama at .012
Ron has more than quadrupled Barack’s traffic!!!
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This is going to get increasingly exciting as the night goes by.Even the msm are saying RP will do better than polls show.
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