Hillary's business ties are a legitimate campaign issue, such as her ties to Entergy

[IndianaGreen]

George W. Bush forced Karl Rove to sell his direct-mail business in 1999, but don’t expect a similar move from Hillary. Her campaign pays Penn’s polling firm, which is part of B-M. “Senator Clinton is no different, frankly, from Mark’s other clients,” Howard Paster says. “Burson-Marsteller is a lot bigger firm than Senator Clinton. There’s a whole ‘nother life we live.”

Yet occasionally the work of Penn’s company spills onto Hillary’s political terrain. Penn’s polling firm has worked with the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition–a PR front group for the nuclear power industry–which purports to show “strong support among Americans for nuclear energy.” Coincidentally, one of B-M’s big projects is the Indian Point nuclear power plant, twenty-four miles north of Manhattan, dubbed by environmentalists “Chernobyl on the Hudson.” The plant received the lowest safety rating from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2000, and after 9/11 there were widespread calls from environmentalists, consumer groups and elected officials to shut it down. It has had nine unplanned shutdowns since 2005.

With the help of B-M, Indian Point’s owner, Entergy Corporation, struck back with a multipronged ad campaign. Its post-9/11 slogan, “Safe, secure, vital,” emphasized security, warning that if Indian Point were closed New York could face a California-style energy crisis. In 2003, after Westchester County legislators passed resolutions condemning Indian Point, B-M set up a classic astroturf group on Entergy’s behalf, the Campaign for Affordable Energy, Environmental and Economic Justice, which targeted Democratic incumbents in low-income sections of Westchester who supported closing the plant. If Indian Point were shuttered, the bilingual campaign informed residents, electricity bills would increase, power to public transportation would be jeopardized and dirty power plants would go up in low-income and minority neighborhoods. At the same time, B-M unveiled another organization also bankrolled by Entergy that promoted Indian Point. Following the ‘06 elections, Entergy unveiled a new slogan, “Right for New York,” citing Indian Point as an asset in the fight against global warming. Hillary has called for an “independent safety assessment” but has declined to join Governor Eliot Spitzer and twelve members of Congress in urging that the plant be shut down. Entergy, founded in Arkansas, was a major supporter of Bill Clinton in the 1990s and contributed generously to Hillary in 2000 and 2006.

Published on Friday, May 18, 2007 by The Nation
Hillary Inc.
by Ari Berman

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/18/1281/

For example, one company, Entergy, owns a nuclear plant in New York called, Indian Point. They get to charge for nuclear power as if it were produced by oil -- that is, they charge New York City residents at a price effectively set by OPEC, prices boosted by the war in Iraq. Not surprisingly, Entergy today reported a record rake-in of profits from their nuclear business. No 9% limit for these good old boys. On top of that, the power company is relieved of all obligations to keep the lights on in New York City.

… And in New Orleans. The same company supplies all of the electricity in the City that Care Forgot. Under deregulation, they hadn't gold-plated the system; they hadn't even water-proofed it. Last year, when the levees burst and the city flooded, Entergy simply turned off the lights and declared their New Orleans subsidiary bankrupt. Leaving New Orleans in the dark was a profitable decision. The company reported a 23% leap in earnings for the third quarter of 2005, the period including Hurricane Katrina, a profit boost they attributed to "the weather." Hey, are these guys droll, or what?

This year, Entergy's profits have stayed up in the clouds, no doubt helped by the cash the company saved by not bothering to restore electricity to a large number of their customers in New Orleans --who remain in the dark even today.

By now, you've got to ask: after the profiteering from Katrina, after the California power scandal of 2000, after the Great Black-out of 2003, even after the hand-cuffing of Ken Lay, why are we still under a deregulation regime that Ken Lay seems to rule from the grave? Why is it that we're still at the mercy of power vampires?

The answer, in part, is that the bloodsucking is a bi-partisan feast. Entergy, the New Orleans nuclear company, is well defended in the US Senate by their former lawyer, Hillary Rodham, who now protects them under her new alias, Senator Clinton.

Published on Thursday, July 20, 2006 by CommonDreams.org
Ken Lay's Alive!
by Greg Palast

http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/views06/0720-22.htm

[papau]

1. This is crap until someone shows an actual tie to the company-does Palast have her 80's billings-NO

There is nothing known - so this is just a smear by the GOP that has been bought by Dems and writers that have some other horse in the primaries

[Reno.Muse]

4. Palast has been sued by rich foreign gold mining companies for printing

the truth. I highly doubt he is lying about this. Take a deep breath and do some research, baby.

[papau]

13. The truth is not the problem - his truth (his facts - not assertions) proves nothing

n/t

[havocmom]

2. Hmm

:popcorn:

[ellisonz]

3. Need to go to Wal-Mart to get some...

:popcorn:

[havocmom]

6. Slow in this one. Shall I make us some coffee?

The bots must be at a meeting or something. Orrrrr... there is really something to this and they are hoping if just falls off the radar?

[ellisonz]

20. I like my coffee black with half a spoon of sugar.

I think they're very careful not to move beyond the Hillary is a good liberal meme and everyone else is hateful and desperate. Facts frighten the bots.

:donut:

[IndianaGreen]

8. Did you read the story of Hillary and the rat?

Published on Wednesday, November 7, 2007 by CommonDreams.org
Hillary and the Rat
by Joyce Marcel

Of course, the myth of the “nurturing” female leader exploded almost instantly, or doesn’t the name Margaret Thatcher mean anything to you? We had the dynasty-building Indira Gandhi in India, the corrupt Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan (and welcome home, Benazir!) and a host of others. We’ve also had wonderful female leaders, especially in Asia and Africa.

To no one’s great surprise, good leadership turned out to be a trait defined by character, not by gender.

<snip>

Clinton’s past has been thoroughly vetted - there’s hardly an inch of her that hasn’t been under the microscope. But a few weeks ago the The New York Times, Adam Liptak wrote a piece called, “Attorneys at Politics: Would You Hire One to Represent You?” In it, he told a remarkable story that, I believe, illustrates the dangers of Hillary Clinton more than anything I’ve ever read.

“The first jury trial Mrs. Clinton handled on her own, for instance, concerned the rear end of a rat in a can of pork and beans,” Liptak wrote - and if here you’re thinking, “Go get ‘em, Hillary! Evil corporations are trying to poison us!” you are sadly misled. She represented the corporation, and “she argued that there had been no real harm, as the plaintiff did not actually eat the rat. ‘Besides,’ she wrote in her autobiography, describing her client’s position, ‘the rodent parts which had been sterilized might be considered edible in certain parts of the world.’”

So there’s your warm, caring, nurturing female political leader for you. Hungry? Eat a rat!

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/11/07/5071/

[PurityOfEssence]

19. Yes, especially interesting in contrast to John Edwards' cases...

Can't say she doesn't give a rat's ass about huge corporations...

(Yeah, yeah, easy, I know...)

[ellisonz]

21. HRC: rodent parts which had been sterilized might be considered edible in certain parts of the world

It's the main course on the S.S. Hillary.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

25. Wal-Mart loves their pal Hillary, and sends kisses to Bill for NAFTA. ...n/t

[ellisonz]

26. “Well, you know, I, that was a long time ago ... have to remember…”

So, I had to chuckle when I read that Clinton, having never said a bad word about the company in the past, recently said that Wal-Mart should pay more for its workers’ health benefits. And, to boot, she returned the $5,000 she had received from the company. But, when asked what she did about the company’s benefits for workers when she served on the board, she replied, “Well, you know, I, that was a long time ago ... have to remember…”

----

And the board Hillary Clinton sat on was rabidly anti-union, was exploiting sweatshop labor around the world, discriminating against women workers, forcing workers to labor off the clock and destroying communities that did not want them. This should not be a shock: Clinton was a partner in the Rose law firm, one of the most active anti-union law firms in the country.

So, the question still remains: what did Hillary Clinton do—or, not do—when she served on the board of Wal-Mart? Maybe, if her memory was refreshed, she could tell us how she protested the company’s relentless union-busting, expressed feminist outrage at the widespread discrimination against women and was horrified that the mushrooming wealth of the Wal-Mart family was made possible on the backs of slave labor around the world.

Her behavior then, when the spotlight was not on and her record did not matter to voters, should tell voters a lot more about her principles and values than the carefully orchestrated image New Yorkers try to figure out now. The voters deserve to know.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0207-34.htm

[Just-plain-Kathy]

29. There was a time when we as citizens were afraid of lobbyist corrupting ....

..our politicians. Now we have ex-corporate board members and ex-investment bankers governing our country.

We should make a list of the all the ex-corporate wheelers and dealers; and all the politicians who held high level positions in investment banking.

Bush, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, HR Clinton, Edwards, Giuliani, Rice................................................

[Bitwit1234]

5. We know this is crap, but what do you expect.

he Obama lovers on this site cull the internet and then post the republican swif boating against Hillary. I have about 35 or 40 items about Obama, and I posted two of the mild ones, but it isn't worth th effort to post the trash. But of course when you candidate is running 20 some percent and Hillary is running almost 50% you are just messing those drawers to post crap...but what they don't know is Hillary supporters are more intelligent and classy to believe it. You know you know like Obama acting like a kid in a temper tantrum jumping all over Novak's lies. It takes intelligent to separate the wheat form the chaff and I don't think Obama and his supporters have the RIGHT STUFF.

[neutron]

15. Totally agree

When the campaigns began, Hillary was my third choice.
After the sliming started, she became my first. I don't know who these other
two bozos are, but I don't respect their republican way of doing business.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

27. Welcome to DU neutron, No disrespect, But, you'll vote for Hillary to be the leader of our country,

...because you feel sorry that she was picked on?

Bill laid the foundation for the mess we're in. His Iraqi Liberation Act got the ball rolling for the neo-cons. His Telecommunications Act consolidated the ownership of our media. Thanks to Bill we have defense contractors owning our media. There is a long list of reasons not to trust the Clintons, I’m sure many here can continue this thought...I have to get some sleep.

...REMEMBER NAFTA!!!

[frazzled]

7. My memory tells me Howard Dean had an Entergy problem

But I can't remember what it was. Some deal about selling Vermont utilities to Entergy for some massive sum. Nobody seemed to care about it, however. I do recall being a bit taken aback at the time ... it all seems so long ago now.

So many scandals, so little time.

[ellisonz]

22. Not exactly...Howard secured a break of $650 million for consumers and an equivalent tax schedule.

Nothing really improper...which is why it was approved by both houses of the Vermont legislature.

http://www.samessenger.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1337&Itemid=46

[frazzled]

28. Your link is penned by an Entergy-Vermont Yankee employee ...

who is, apparently, a hearty proponent of nuclear energy.

Actually, the story went something like this: another company was slated to buy Vermont Yankee, and then at the eleventh hour Entergy got the deal--after making a campaign contribution to Gov. Dean. (They did pay a lot of money for it.)

So ... if Entergy is a problem for Hillary, it was a far greater problem for Dean: he took contributions for the company and sold them the nuclear power plant.

My purpose in bringing this up is to show how people will use any information they can find to slam one candidate, while ignoring information (sometimes far more direct and damning) that relates to a candidate they like. Just saying.

[ellisonz]

30. Hey, at least the lights stayed on!

Do you know what happened in California when they went out? Also, since sources are difficult to find you might want to address what actually occured instead of just assuming that Dean (who had good relations with utilities throughout his governorship) actually did anything malicious.

My understanding is that the former ownership put it up for sale and that Entergy got the plant because they offered much more money for the plant than the other bid and that the question before the board was simply to approve the sale. Dean froze the property tax level on the plant and created a new tax on generation from the powerplant. Vermont Yankee under Entergy has increased generation 20%.

Thus Dean didn't sell the plant, rather he simply enabled the former owners who were going to sell at a loss to turn profit and at the same time ensure sufficient power generation for Vermont. It ain't cheap to buy out of state...

It wasn't the campaign donations.

[blm]

34. That was Koch Industries - I would bet anything Koch has some bogus papers

ready to go to dump on Dean if he became the nominee. THAT is how BushInc works. They figure out all the POTENTIAL opposition and try to ensnare them in something. That it was known since 97 that Dean wanted to run, it's not hard to figure that BushInc had the Koch's up to no good when they were making that deal. And Dean likely had no idea every single paper that got signed - and maybe even forged.

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. She just doesn't know when to stop. That's her problem.

[robinlynne]

10. disgusting. She absolutely does not work for the people. you can't have it both ways.

[MonkeyFunk]

11. What EXACTLY

is her business tie to Entergy?

[sufrommich]

16. There isn't one.nt

[neutron]

12. Obama is pro nuclear power

as I understand. A reason that I am not voting for him.
I would like to know more about Hillary's relationship with the power plants.
As Edwards and Obama are on the smear against Hillary, there isn't much
credible written in the liberal blogs these days.

[papau]

17. Obama is also pro-coal and pro tax cuts for corporations to get GOP on board - indeed

that (tax cuts for corps) is how he got his "jointly sponsored with GOP Senators" bills passed.

I can find nothing that even has a faint odor of a quid pro quo in her relationship with power plants. Palast could do this association crap to anyone that runs for office and doesn't self finance their campaign.

[illinoisprogressive]

14. Penn's new client is the toy company that makes those date rape drugged beads auqadots

[Gloria]

18. These are eyeopeners... love Palast....also at http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0711/S00236.htm

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0711/S00236.htm

[starroute]

23. The Entergy ties are not new

I found the items below in my notes. Combine the names mentioned in them (Riady, Huang) with the recent stories about a fresh connection between Clinton and Alan Quasha (http://openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1980) and it sounds as though all the most unsavory of the Clintons' financial connections are coming back round again with Hillary. I've never been sure of whether those old allegations were true or not -- but you can be sure that the Republicans know them by heart, so it seems odd that Clinton is effectively daring them to pin them on her.


http://groups.google.com/group/fl.politics/browse_thread/thread/c7a2e01385aeb245/d48763bcd0469bea?lnk=st&q=%22joe+allbaugh%22+%22haley+barbour%22&rnum=4&hl=en#d48763bcd0469bea

Following G.W.'s election to the presidency, Allbaugh was named the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Interestingly, as reported by Judy Sarosohn in the Oct. 19, 2000, Washington Post, M. Diane Allbaugh, Joe Allbaugh's wife, registered with the U.S. Senate in September 2000 as a lobbyist on behalf of Entergy -- the same firm linked to indicted Chinese businessman James Riady and convicted felon John Huang. Entergy is not only also a big Clinton-Democrat supporter, but attempted to enter into a joint venture with the Lippo Group, Huang's and Riady's business enterprise. Huang and Riady are believed to be Communist Chinese agents, as the Lippo Group has known ties to Communist Chinese intelligence, as discovered by the Thompson Committee in 1997.


http://articles.citypages.com/1997-04-30/feature/the-china-syndrome/

Meanwhile, the New York Times last Thursday revealed that the Chinese government was behind an attempt by the Riady family's Lippo Group to take over a multibillion dollar California bank--which helps explain why the Riadys so readily coughed up at least $100,000 in hush money for Webb Hubbell, the president's "closest friend" and the First Lady's former law partner.

This was the Riadys' third attempt to become a player in U.S. banking. In the 1980s, they became partners with giant Arkansas conglomerate Stephens Inc. (a longtime major contributor to Clinton's political campaigns) in the Worthen Bank of Little Rock; in 1986, as the Times put it, federal bank regulators investigating Worthen "found that large loans to Riady-related entities in Indonesia violated Federal banking laws that limit lending and bar preferential loan rates to insiders." James Riady was a top executive of Worthen at the time, where he became chummy with then-Governor Clinton.

In the wake of those regulatory troubles, the Riadys sold their interest in the Worthen Bank and bought a small bank in California, renaming it Lippobank. And, notes the Times, "Once again Mr. Riady's bank got in trouble with regulators. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has found repeated banking violations at Lippobank since 1990, issuing three separate cease-and-desist orders against the bank, most recently last month."

Next came the multibillion dollar bank takeover attempt unearthed by the Times. The acquisition effort was directed by the giant Hong Kong Chinese Bank, which is jointly owned by the Riadys and China Resources, one of the Beijing government's biggest and most successful state-run companies. This bank is a spinoff of the Riadys' Hong Kong China Ltd., the holding company that paid Hubbell the $100,000 for no apparent work.

[asdjrocky]

24. Great post...

More here...

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Burson-Marsteller

"Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss"

[havocmom]

31. This thread is all the more interesting for noting absent posters

and a morning kick for some light :kick:

[IndianaGreen]

33. And an evening kick to your kick

:kick:

[BornagainDUer]

32. K&R!