patrick.net

FortWayne says

Romney ain't winning after his snobbish comments about poor people.

Sadly, I think you underestimate the ability of the hick poor to judge themselves superior to other poor people.

"I ain't poor, I pay my rent on my trailer and make my F150 payment every month."

Hillary courts Private Equity and the Bankster friends in the Democratic Party for potential Veep roles.

On Warren and Weiss: “[T]he despair among Wall Street’s Democratic elite is growing acute” [Politico]. Interesting, if true.

Hillary camp floats trial balloons for VP: Tim Kaine (D-VA), Michael Bennet (D-CO; Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), HUD’s Julian Castro, Labor’s Tom Perez, California AG Kamala Harris [Talking Points Memo]. Cory Booker? Private equity’s BFF? Please kill me now. To be fair, thing the Hillary campaign has down to a science: Sucking all the oxygen out of the early campaign season.

Former Bill Clinton pollster: Warren closer to Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire than national polls imply, especially with a strong populist message [Wall Street Journal].

(Links at the above link).

A private equity background would be most excellent for government. What's the problem?

Hillary's #1 Campaign Problem: How to formulate an Economic Policy that appeals to the base, but doesn't offend her .1%er Donors.

Whether Mrs. Clinton’s approach will be enough to satisfy the unease over growing economic disparity is unclear. In a Gallup poll conducted last month, 67 percent of Americans said they were dissatisfied with the way income and wealth are distributed in the United States. In the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, Mrs. Clinton’s economic message — summed up by a frequent refrain, “If you work hard, you play by the rules, you ought to be able to get ahead” — resonated with white, working-class voters, who overwhelmingly supported her over Barack Obama.

But in the years since, Mrs. Clinton has come under criticism for delivering speeches to Wall Street banks at more than $200,000 each, roughly four times the median annual household income in the United States, and for comments she made about her family’s financial situation, including a lament about being “dead broke” after leaving the White House. And she must convince a middle class that feels frustrated and left behind that she understands its struggles, even as she relies heavily on the financial industry and corporate interests to fund her candidacy.

thunderlips11 says

Hillary's #1 Campaign Problem: How to formulate an Economic Policy that appeals to the base, but doesn't offend her .1%er Donors.

Correction:
"Her goal is how to formulate an economic policy that appeals to her .1%er donor without offending her base."

HydroCabron says

I'm leaving the U.S. to spend the rest of my life in Utah.

You'll need a Stetson, they're cool.

In a new statement, the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation has defended its fundraising practices and promised that should Hillary Rodham Clinton run for president, as is widely expected, the foundation will “continue to ensure the Foundation’s policies and practices regarding support from international partners are appropriate, just as we did when she served as secretary of state.”

The Foundation did not define “appropriate” or offer other information about how such donations would be treated if Clinton formally launches a campaign.

Clinton Foundation accepted millions from Foreign Governments while Hillary was Sec of State.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/foreign-governments-gave-millions-to-foundation-while-clinton-was-at-state-dept/2015/02/25/31937c1e-bc3f-11e4-8668-4e7ba8439ca6_story.html

thunderlips11 says

Clinton Foundation accepted millions from Foreign Governments while Hillary was Sec of State.

The article makes it sounds it's ok because of the rules of the foundation.
Seriously... why is ok as by the law of the US?

Heraclitusstudent says

The article makes it sounds it's ok because of the rules of the foundation.

Seriously... why is ok as by the law of the US?

Why would politicians pass laws cutting off funding for themselves and their nepotistism/influence-peddling organizations?

But don't worry, They have a process in place. Because having a process prevents any abuse, mistakes, or ethical issues.

Also missing: Her campaign website includes a lengthy biography but no discussion of issues, no policy platforms and no staked-out ideological territory.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3035748/Everyday-Americans-need-champion-Wealthy-Hillary-Clinton-enters-race-president.html#ixzz3X91zgfXP

In a similar vein:

And unlike eight years ago, when she ran as a candidate with a deep resume in Washington, Clinton and her personal history weren't the focus of the first message of her campaign. In the online video that kicked off her campaign, she made no mention of her time in the Senate and four years as secretary of state, or the prospect she could make history as the nation's first female president.

Instead, the video is collection of voters talking about their lives, their plans and aspirations for the future. Clinton doesn't appear until the very end.

Hillary's 'unscripted' meeting with 'voters' entirely staged by Clinton Campaign.

Her Tuesday morning visit to a coffee shop in LeClaire, Iowa was staged from beginning to end, according to Austin Bird, one of the men pictured sitting at the table with Mrs. Clinton.

Bird told Daily Mail Online that campaign staffer Troy Price called and asked him and two other young people to meet him Tuesday morning at a restaurant in Davenport, a nearby city.

Price then drove them to the coffee house to meet Clinton after vetting them for about a half-hour.

The three got the lion's share of Mrs. Clinton's time and participated in what breathless news reports described as a 'roundtable'– the first of many in her brief Iowa campaign swing.

Bird himself is a frequent participant in Iowa Democratic Party events. He interned with President Obama's 2012 presidential re-election campaign, and was tapped to chauffeur Vice President Joe Biden in October 2014 when he visited Davenport.

'What happened is, we were just asked to be there by Troy,' Bird said Wednesday in a phone interview.
We were asked to come to a meeting with Troy, the three of us, at the Village Inn.'

The other two, he confirmed, were University of Iowa College Democrats president Carter Bell. and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland employee Sara Sedlacek.

'It was supposed to be a strategy meeting,' Bird recalled, 'to get our thoughts about issues. But then all of a sudden he says, "Hey, we have Secretary Clinton coming in, would you like to go meet her?"'

'And then we got in a car – Troy's car – and we went up to the coffee house, and we sat at a table and then Hillary just came up and talked with us.'

Healthcare Lobbyist in Training, Planned Parent Employee, Obama 2012 Campaign Intern, and leader of the University Student Democrats. Just plain, ordinary folks!

"Hillary's 'unscripted' meeting with 'voters' entirely staged by Clinton Campaign."

In fact it all was filmed on an LA sound stage. You can see the dude who portrayed Gollum in the crowd.

The fact that She's running a low keyed campaign from a minivan says volumes about her shot at being president.
Lizzy would have to do the same in redface if she ran.

Lots of old Bill era footage of Hillary on the telly. Pretty dark and full eyebrows. And you know what that means.

Call it Crazy says

Secret Service did lock down the main hallway as Clinton entered at 1:10 p.m. Tuesday, and students in classrooms along that hall were asked not to go into the hall as she was walking in. But they could be escorted to use the bathrooms or to other parts of the building, organizers said.

Because the Aristocracy is in town. Pretty soon you'll have to prostrate yourself when Jeb or Hillary swings within 5 miles of your location.

Hillary Clinton is the Millionaire Voter's Choice.

Hillary Clinton is the favorite U.S. presidential candidate among millionaire voters and would win a head-to-head contest with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, according to the third CNBC Millionaire Survey conducted in March that was released today.

The survey, which polls 750 Americans with a net worth of $1 million or more, found that 53 percent of millionaires would vote for the Democratic ex-Secretary of State, compared with 47 percent for the GOP presidential hopeful, in a hypothetical general-election match-up. Clinton had the support of 91 percent of Democratic millionaires, 13 percent of Republican millionaires and 57 percent of Independent millionaires. (Tweet this)

When asked about the broader field of candidates, Clinton got the most support, with 36 percent of millionaires. Jeb Bush came in second with 20 percent, followed by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) with 8 percent, and Governor Chris Christie (R-N.J.) with 7 percent.

Clinton pushed TPP 45 times, starting in Hanoi way back in 2012 above, when she said it was fine the way it was.
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/15/politics/45-times-secretary-clinton-pushed-the-trade-bill-she-now-opposes/index.html

Hillary stood by a military coup in Honduras, ignored the brazenly rigged election that followed (boycotted by the UN, Carter, and all international observers for being obviously unfree), and kept in contact with Lobbyists the Whole Time.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/06/clinton-honduras-coup/

thunderlips11 says

Hillary stood by a military coup in Honduras, ignored the brazenly rigged election that followed

What? I thought you liked brazenly rigged elections... err.. plebiscites....

Straw Man says

What? I thought you liked brazenly rigged elections... err.. plebiscites....

Riiiiiight. You know nobody seriously disputes the fact that the majority of Crimeans wanted to return to Russia, right?

Even neocons make legalistic arguments about it.

Referendums are bad, except when they break up Yugoslavia, then they're good.

thunderlips11 says

Straw Man says

What? I thought you liked brazenly rigged elections... err.. plebiscites....

Riiiiiight. You know nobody seriously disputes the fact that the majority of Crimeans wanted to return to Russia, right?

Bullshit. Majority of Crimeans voted for independence from USSR in 1991 and never gave any significant %% to pro-Russian parties in any elections since. For example, Crimeans gave the guy who was pushing the idea of "returning to Russia" less than 5% (and in the last legitimate free and democratic election and got whopping 3 MPs in 100-strong local Parliament. Three percent, Karl! The pro-Ukrainian gathering in front of the Parliament building on a day before Crimean parliament was taken over by Russian spetsnaz was several times bigger than the pro-Russian one (and probably was the reason they decided to go for Plan B and take over the Parliament with machine guns instead of making it look like MPs voted in response to people's demands). It's well documented by observers that less than 30% of voters attended the hastily-prepared "plebiscite" and only about 50% of these actually voted in favor of annexation. Not to mention that any kind of political speech against the annexation was brutally suppressed. The only place where 15% of voters is considered a majority and voting under a gun is considered a legitimate referendum is Savushkina-55.

There is nothing wrong with referendums per se, but there is everything wrong with rigged referendums. Even infamous "anschluss" referendum in 1938 was cleaner than that Crimea shit.

Straw Man says

Majority of Crimeans voted for independence from USSR in 1991 and never gave any significant %% to pro-Russian parties in any elections since. For example, Crimeans gave the guy who was pushing the idea of "returning to Russia" less than 5%

By a slim majority of barely over 50% in the heady days of 1991. Before the vote, Crimea was promised it's own president as an autonomous republic within Ukraine with Russian as the Official Language. This was cancelled in 1994 unilaterally by Kiev without Crimean approval.

In the intervening decades, they voted repeatedly for autonomy which Kiev never did anything about. There is no historical claim to Crimea being in the Ukraine other than Crazy Krushchev's decree of 1954. The Oligarchs have looted Crimea enough. It's in worse shape than it was in 1991.

In the intervening time period, Russians have witnessed themselves being second class citizens in the Baltics (your grandmother could have been born there, and you still wouldn't be) and the first act of the Galician Government in Kiev was to attempt to ban Russian, Tartar, Romanian, and Yiddish. They did not want to be Russians in Latvia, but Russians in Russia.

Ukraine is full of Oligarchs's gangs battling each other in the streets with Light Machine Guns and RPGs for control of cigarette smuggling routes and infrastructure, but apparently there are no arms for many draftees.

You ask Crimeans, and they are very happy. Russians were welcomed with open arms.

There was also a foreign military force that invaded Kosovo that held an illegal referendum for which they had no mandate to institute, that passed overwhelmingly. There was a Constitution written by Iraq by hand-picked Bank Employee Exiles by the US Government.

There was no way any Russian with a brain would have let NATO have an unsinkable aircraft carrier flush up against the Sea of Azov. Putin did what was to be expected; the Western "Leadership" was "Surprised" by the response.

Back to Hillary

Hillary sent emails with confidential information using unsecure, private server.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/investigation-sought-into-hillary-clintons-emails-1437714369

Kim Dotcom: Assange has more info on Killery Klinton. And we'll be working together.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/p6F8oq7apqY

Found the Hillary Campaign Song:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/xjzs_x5bPiA

Where we are so far:

* Hillary's attack on Trump on the women issue ended up with her running away and putting Bill, whom she just trotted out, back in the basement
* Her use of Chelsea as an attack dog on Bernie on healthcare, of all things, failed on two counts: Using Chelsea to Attack, period, dumb move, exposes Chelsea to criticism (esp her $600k job as a new, totally inexperienced broadcaster). Second, Contrasting Hillary's Secretive 1990s Obamneycare plan to Single Payer, esp. with strong liberals playing a role in the Primaries.
* Hillary was fine when she could hide, back before the Primaries really got underway, but now that she had to come out to campaign, people are seeing her and disliking her.
* Her "Laughing" and "Ignoring" Trump were seen as ineffective and even cowardly. Rather than a sign she was so far above Trump, and he such a loser, it made people think if she had the stuff to go toe-to-toe with him in a General Election.
* I think her tactics of roping off the Media and controlling every aspect of her appearance tightly, is actually turning the Media against her a little bit.

Other things that hurt Hillary:

* Terrorism
* Mentions of Libya, Russian successes in Syria.
* And, if a recession starts now or before the elections, she's toast if she's the frontrunner and Trump is the Republican nominee.

Bellingham Bill says

MMT

Medical Marijuana Tax?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Monetary_Theory

In many systems, banks can create money but these horizontal transactions do not increase net financial assets as assets are offset by liabilities. In addition to deficit spending, valuation effects e.g. growth in stock price can increase net financial assets.

a) Sanders vs Clinton

Sanders

b) Clinton vs. Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Carson, Bush, etc

Clinton

This isn't so hard. Our system is designed to vend two choices at a time, you can pick another, but only those two will come out of the machine.

Poor Hillary, can't catch a break.

After spending the past few weeks reversing her previous policy of distancing herself from Obama and now embracing him, the stock market begins dropping and job numbers aren't looking great.

One terror attack or more economic bad news...

Has she started breaking it to the American Public yet that being a colony of China isn't nearly as bad as it sounds?

Hillary, Presidential Campaign 2016: Financial and Media groups and Foundations run by Hedge Funders and Currency Raiders. Meaning: Don't regulate markets, expand our IP rental income, regulate the internet to our benefit.

Hillary, Senate, 2003-2008: Financial Groups

thunderlips11 says

Voted for a 2006 bill to create a 700-mile fence along the Mexican border....

Did she call for Mexico to pay for it?

She’s not in the bankers’ back pockets. No, siree. Hillary Clinton may have received millions of dollars from Wall Street—in both personal income and campaign contributions—but she can ditch those well-heeled friends at a moment’s notice.

To prove it, she has postponed (but not canceled) two fundraisers with Big Finance, one with the huge investing firm BlackRock and the other with an affiliate of Bain Capital, Mitt Romney’s old outfit. This comes amid Clinton’s unconvincing answers when pressed on her apparent coziness with banks and financial firms. When CNN anchor Anderson Cooper asked Clinton recently why she accepted $675,000 from Goldman Sachs for giving a grand total of three speeches, she stammered and finally said, “That’s what they offered,” as if she would have taken 25 bucks and a free sandwich, if that’s all Goldman were able to afford.

Clinton is obviously flummoxed by her relationship with Wall Street, which she needs but can’t fully acknowledge. Her Democratic rival Bernie Sanders keeps hitting pay dirt by trashing the big banks and the outsized amount of wealth they control, which resonates well with a dyspeptic electorate. “The business model of Wall Street is fraud,” he declared during the latest Democratic debate. The whole subject puts Clinton on the defensive, since she’s taken millions in Wall Street donations in her career as Wall Street’s home-state senator and now presidential candidate.

What's hilarious is the only thing Hillary has on Bernie is his disinterest in pursuing strong gun control, but that's only one issue out of dozens where Hillary is firmly center-right if not full unleaded Bankster.

Hillary's major Banking and Finance problem:

https://audioboom.com/boos/4152235-surging-sanders-closes-on-collapsing-clinton-2-5-16-liz-peek-fiscal-times-jim-mctague-barron-s?t=0

text version would be nice. I read faster than they talk.