The Clintons have made more than $50 million since leaving the WH but mysteries remain

[BeyondGeography]

The Clinton Tax Returns: What Will They Reveal?

By BRIAN ROSS and AVNI PATEL
April 3, 2008

Hillary Clinton has been pulling out all the stops to win the Democratic nomination for president -- but one: she still has not released her family's tax returns.

The tax returns will answer questions on how they made their millions.

The campaign says they will release the documents sometime before April 15. Without them, many questions remain about how the Clintons made tens of millions of dollars -- and whether they used arcane tax loopholes available to the super-rich, an expert says. A Clinton campaign spokesman says the couple has paid all U.S. taxes at ordinary income tax rates.

An independent review by ABC News has found that since leaving the White House seven years ago, the senator and her former president husband have made well over $50 million, much of it from paid speeches made by Bill Clinton. A review of Sen. Clinton's annual ethics filings found that her husband has earned $47 million in fees from more than 280 speeches he has made around the world.

...an examination of the records reveals her husband is a partner in an investment fund, Yucaipa Global Partnership, registered in the Cayman Islands, and was paid "guaranteed payments to partner." Sen. Clinton's forms do not list the exact amount of her husband's payments, only that they totaled more than $1,000 over four years.

"No average person has interest and funds in the Cayman Islands. This is all the above-average, non-tax-paying, super rich," said Jack Blum, an attorney and leading expert on offshore tax havens.

...The exact amount he has made from his involvement in the fund remains undisclosed. According to the Wall Street Journal, the former president stands to receive a payout of around $20 million for his role as an adviser to billionairel Ron Burkle's investment funds. Sen. Clinton's presidential campaign disputes that figure. "Contrary to published reports, neither the level of his compensation for his advisory role, nor the value of his partnership share in the Yucaipa Global Fund upon his exit, has been determined," Carson said...

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=4581608&page=1

[TwilightGardener]

1. But, as Maureen Dowd pointed out, Hillary is trying to transform herself

into a working-class hero, a patron saint of the downtrodden middle-aged waitress. You know, with a Cayman Islands tax shelter. That's why having a "low-information" voter base is so helpful to her.

[Debi]

2. Obviously they are better managers of their personal funds

than of her campaign funds.

[blm]

3. The Dubai money won't show up till NEXT YEAR. So a LOT of the cash won't be

seen at all in last year's returns.

[peaches2003]

4. That's how they are trying to fool the public

They are using the April 15th Tax Day as when they will have their tax returns ready and can release them to the public. But they are not releasing their 2007 returns which are due on the 15th. They are releasing 2006 which they have had for a year and could have released them anytime!

[itcfish]

5. What Mystery???

Bill gets paid $250,000.00 to $500,000.00 for he speeches. How hard is it to make 50 Million with the assests they already had???

[Vinca]

6. Disproving Hillary's claim that talk is cheap. nt

[BeyondGeography]

7. Read the article...The Yucaipa numbers are unreported

==Sen. Clinton's forms do not list the exact amount of her husband's payments, only that they totaled more than $1,000 over four years.==

The Wall St. Journal has estimated that Yucaipa will net Bill $20 million. The best the Clintons can do so far is: "neither the level of his compensation for his advisory role, nor the value of his partnership share in the Yucaipa Global Fund upon his exit, has been determined."

[peaches2003]

8. Key Words are

"registered in the Cayman Islands". Tells you enough to know there is a lot being not told.