Telegraph: Hillary Clinton in negotiations for Barack Obama to help pay off her debts

[LTR]

Negotiations are understood to be taking place between the Obama and Clinton campaigns about the Illinois senator helping to repay some of the massive debt incurred by his rival. One of Hillary Clinton’s donors said that the former First Lady’s campaign was as much as $40 million in the red.

In a conference call with major donors this afternoon, contributors were told by Harold Ickes, a senior Clinton adviser, that she was unlikely to pull out of the race until the issue of her massive debts was resolved. The New York senator has lent her own campaign at least $11.5 million.

One source close to a major donor said: “It’s not about the vice-presidency or any other position she might get. It’s about the money – in particular the Clinton family money.” The Obama campaign might have to reach deeply into its well-stocked coffers in order to secure the full support of Mrs Clinton and her husband Bill in the November general election.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/foreign/tobyharnden/june2008/cashtalks.htm

If link does not work, try:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/

And scroll down.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. They get you coming, they get you going.

[Cha]

29. $40 Million Bucks worth of lies, pandering,

and "all ye who enter here..Abandon Hope".

[David Zephyr]

33. Remember when I wrote that Obama would pay for her "victories" in Kentucky and beyond?

The tab for her self-serving victories must now be picked up by Obama? Wasted money that all could have been targeted at John McCain.

[Cha]

36. It doesn't seem logical or

right, does it, David?

Are we getting into the Extortion Phase now of the Democratic Primary?

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. WHY OH WHY DO I HAVE TO GO TO THE FOREIGN PRESS

to find the actual nitty gritty?

Not that it shocks me or anything

This is quite standard

[LTR]

6. Funny thing is, I got the link from Drudge

I confess!

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. RLOL.... now that is hysterical!

[BuyingThyme]

3. Man, that's fucked up right there.

Can we just pretend that this isn't really happening?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Extortion.

"I'll go away if you pay my campaign debts; otherwise I'll take this to the convention."

I would NOT like it a bit if my contribution to the Obama campaign wound up in Hillary's hands.

[billyoc]

14. No, he can't give her your contributions, lol.

All he can do is some fundraisers specifically for her debts. Obama cannot contribute any more to her campaign than any other private citizen. :hi:

[rebel with a cause]

56. At this moment, I wouldn't care.

I don't want to give her any money any more than anyone else, but I want her to stop her and Bill's attacks on Barack and us as Democrats. In other words, I just want her to stop now. If and when they stop spreading their venom, and when the irrational Hillary supporters stop their irrational spewing, then I will be all roses and sunshine and forgiving but until that happens I will be on edge and alert to what is happening from her camp. I mean nothing negative about Hillary supporters who are rational and only speak to support their candidate honestly. :shrug: to life in general.

[high density]

5. Umm, is it even legal for the Obama campaign to give the Clinton campaign handouts?

I could see Obama possibly saying "Please contribute to the Clinton campaign to retire their debt," but nothing beyond that.

He already spent his money once defeating her, and there is no reason why he should be blackmailed into spending his money to pay off the debts that she piled up while campaigning against him.

[americanstranger]

23. Correct. He cannot pay it off.

In fact, he can't give her anything over $2,500 without violating campaign finance laws.

"Under federal campaign finance law, the Obama campaign cannot directly pay off Clinton's debts, or the $11.43 million she has loaned the campaign, because that would violate campaign contribution limits. But if Obama is the nominee, he and his donor base could provide invaluable help to her in raising money through signed appeals, joint fundraisers and by other methods."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/08/obama-camp-faces-major-ob_n_100928.html

---

- as

[NorthCarolina]

48. She'll take the $2500...what the heck, it's a start

eom

[northernsoul]

7. Kinda sounds like extortion to me

"The Obama campaign might have to reach deeply into its well-stocked coffers in order to secure the full support of Mrs Clinton and her husband Bill in the November general election."

[MadBadger]

8. These UK papers have been wrong time and time again

No thanks.

[Irishonly]

30. I Was Wondering That Myself

BBC is good but I have always thought the Telegraph was shaky.

[Junkdrawer]

9. Concede vs Suspend?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6231010&mesg_id=6231891

[JackORoses]

10. poor wittle Hilly wants her 11 million back

[Azathoth]

11. So after trashing the guy viciously for three months, now she wants him to pay her debts

:eyes:

[movonne]

12. I thought that I read here that Obama cannot take the money from

his campaign to pay off hillary's debt's...was that right??? they could hold different events to raise money...

[LTR]

15. Howard Dean allegedly paid Carol Mosely Braun's debts in '04

Not sure how this type of thing works.

I really don't see why Hillary needs handouts from Obama. She and her husband have tons of money, and he could pay that off with a few speeches or a book.

[El Supremo]

31. What if she is the VP? Then are the campaigns one in the same?

[DJ13]

13. Forty Freakin Million?!

I hope Bill keeps her away from the credit cards from now on!

[Cali_Democrat]

19. Ready on day one!!!

nt

[MonkeyFunk]

42. LOL

you guys go nuts at any rumor about Obama, decrying them and the people who post them. But then you automatically believe anything and everything, no matter how outrageous, about Clinton. It's nuts.

[mamalone]

17. Is anybody else particularly irritated by this part....

<snip>
One source close to a major donor said: “It’s not about the vice-presidency or any other position she might get. It’s about the money – in particular the Clinton family money.”
<snip>

Out of basic human decency, I am concerned about Hillary's debt, especially the monies she owes to the regular folk and businesses that she has basically stiffed during this campaign. I am less concerned... no I take that back... I am not in the least bit concerned about the "Clinton family money". My feeling is that this was her folly, her poor management skills, and her overblown ego that resulted in this debt. Why should anyone else have to subsidize her foolishness? It reads as though Hillary is barely even concerned about paying back the people she really owes, and is just worried about her own bank account.

sheeesh... this really frosts my cookies...

[Diane R]

25. Can I recommend a post?

[mamalone]

35. :-D thanks................

[beac]

37. Exactly! She gambled her own fortune on her failed campaign. She lost.

If she hadn't started pumping $$$ into her collapsing campaign IN JANUARY before voting even started, she'd have been out of it long ago. She put her money on a loser and tough sh*t for her, I say.

The vendors should be paid. She should get N-O-T-H-I-N-G.






(edited for bad spelling due to impassioned typing!)

[mamalone]

40. You know...

We heard so many times along the way that at some point she will have to drop out because she just won't have the money to continue. But yet she still kept on going.. basically running up the credit cards. I'm not sure exactly why she was able to continue when she clearly didn't have the funds to do so, but she did. She has destroyed so much while running up that tab- why should we (or Obama) have to foot the bill for that destruction?

[beac]

41. I couldn't agree with you more. n/t

[Starbucks Anarchist]

43. Excuse my language, but fuck her family money.

It's what's been keeping her campaign going, but she still stiffs the little guys.

[JVS]

18. He shouldn't help them with any debt until after 2012

[beac]

44. Perfect solution, JVS!

Make her work off her debt by supporting Obama's two terms, THEN we'll talk.

If she unites the party and brings the rabid wing back into the fold, fine. Big payoff.

If not, she'd better brush up beverage-making skills and set up a stand in Westchester. "BITTER LEMONADE. 5 CENTS."

[Bread and Circus]

20. If Obama wants to pay off her debt so be it. But it seems kind of crass and bizarre to run up a debt

that you know you won't want to have to pay off.

But if she's being cool, finally, I say let's help her out.

[City Lights]

21. I'd have more sympathy for her predicament if her number one priority

was paying the small businesses and school districts she owes rather than herself. She should be the last one to get paid. How many of the hard-working individuals she owes are worth $110 million?

:nopity:

edited for typo

[WeDidIt]

22. Obama can chip in as much as $2300

HE can do fund raisers.

He can ask his big money folks to donate the max to her.

Not much else he can do.

[Diane R]

24. Extortion. Just when you think the Clintons couldn't sink any lower...they expect US to repay them.

The little people. The people who do NOT have $109 million, and can't make a hundred thousand giving a speech. Totally despicable...but, not unexpected.

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. Actually QUITE STANDARD in US Politics

I know many folks don't get it, but this is standard

[beac]

47. But at this level and after this amount of drama??

Maybe not so standard. If she wanted a standard payoff, she should have behaved in a standard way... ie. dropping out when it became clear she couldn't win.



(not talking back to you, BTW... it's just that NOTHING about this primary has been "standard", alas)

[nadinbrzezinski]

52. One word, YES

[THUNDER HANDS]

26. is this like alimony? who gets custody of the kids?

[AtomicKitten]

27. Mine too please.

[apocalypsehow]

32. Their sense of entitlement knows no bounds.

:thumbsdown:

[Mme. Defarge]

34. Please don't make me regret

my recent contribution to Obama :wtf:

[AngryOldDem]

46. I may not give through the Website anymore.

If I give, it will be locally.

[slinkerwink]

38. It's illegal for the Obama campaign to donate to Clinton. He'd have to do a fundraiser.

[madrchsod]

39. jesus h christ....he can ask others to help her

he can be at fund raisers for her...he can do everything but give her any money from his primary or general election fund. he can personally give her a few dollars once she concedes...

[AngryOldDem]

45. That is just bullshit.

Yet, it's her right to rack up more debt.

[greguganus]

49. He should not help her with her debts until after the election!

I could see the Clintons sneaking around trying to sabotage Obama's campaign even after he helped her pay her debts. The Clintons cannot be trusted.

[IDemo]

50. The maximum his campaign can give hers is $2000

A federal candidate's authorized committee(s) may contribute no more than $2,000 per election to another federal candidate's authorized committee(s).

http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/contriblimits.shtml

He can assist her with further fundraising efforts, but any donations his campaign has received already are off limits.

[polichick]

51. They're sitting on a fortune, but want Obama supporters to pay their debts??

[Genevieve]

53. Even Mitt Romney paid for his own campaign.

I used to love Bill Clinton, I can't stand either of them anymore.

[polichick]

54. It's outrageous - especially after how she's behaved!

[Arugula Latte]

55. Ready on Day One

Not so much.

[crickets]

58. Fiscally Responsible

Not so much.

[illberichtomorrow]

57. That always helpful "anonymous source"

We just can't live with him/her.

[rainbow4321]

59. Clinton staffers told to hand in their expense receipts

yeah...get all those IOU's handed in before you go begging to have someone pay off a debt THAT YOU brought on yourself by not dropping out when you SHOULD HAVE.


http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/06/more_clinton_clues.php

Clinton Campaign staffers and former campaign staffers are being urged by the Clinton campaign's finance department to turn in their outstanding expense receipts by the end of the week. That's a sign, to them, that the campaign wants to get its affairs in order soon. If Clinton were staying in the race, there'd be no real reason to collect these receipts now; she'd still be raising and spending money from the same primary campaign account. The campaign is in arrears to the tune of about $11 million.