Politico: "Biden Returns Cash, Hillary Doesn't"

[mod mom]

Biden returns cash, Hillary doesn't

By: Kenneth P. Vogel
Sep 18, 2007 07:15 PM EST



Joe Biden is donating to charity a contribution from a Houston oilman on trial for charges related to paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein, and John McCain says he’ll follow if Oscar Wyatt is convicted. But Hillary Rodham Clinton would make no such pledge.

Sens. Biden (D-Del.), McCain (R-Ariz.) and Clinton (D-N.Y.) years ago accepted thousands of dollars for previous campaigns from Wyatt, an opinionated self-made billionaire, and his wife, Lynn, as did dozens of others.

Wyatt, an 83-year-old World War II vet, was indicted in 2005 on fraud and conspiracy charges related to illegal payments for oil contracts from the Saddam-led Iraqi government under the United Nations’ oil-for-food program.

In an unusual move, a Wyatt spokesman, responding to a Politico story, e-mailed reporters urging “any politicians who want to return those funds received from ” to instead donate them to DeBakey Medical Foundation in Houston.

-snip

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0907/5895.html

[Steve_in_California]

1. Once again, Biden's integrity shines through.

A Hillary in the White House will turn that place into a bunker.

[Cha]

6. It already is a bunker..

she would redecorate the bunker or Bill would.

[demommom]

22. kick

:kick:

[snappyturtle]

2. I have not been feeling very good about Hillary lately. To be honest,

she is not a favorite of mine although I will vote for her if she becomes the presidential candidate of the party. With her "health care plan", and this, and HU, and all the other stuff the repukes will drag out if she's the candidate, I don't think she's as electable as once thought.

[sandnsea]

12. Exactly

Some of us knew this is what she'd bring, it was never just campaigning attacks. People are having some real selective memories. I'd take her over any Republican for certain - but we've got so much better running, every single one of them. I don't know why we're settling for this pile of crap. The mudslinging we'd have to go through - to get nothing but this crappy health care plan? It's insanity.

[Hard_Work]

3. I like Biden

I know he has some issues, but I like him a lot. I'm currently supporting Obama, but Biden is coming up fast.

I wish Russ Feingold could have been convinced to run, though. Him I would vote for even over Barak.

[Steve_in_California]

19. Biden has positioned himself perfectly.

His timing couldn't be better: just as the Dems and GOP are at loggerheads over whether to fund the Iraq war and whether timetables must be part of the bill--along comes Joe Biden with a solution. He just introduced an amendment that calls for the adoption of his long-tenured proposal to separate the warring factions into three semi-autonomous regions under a decentralized federal system. There is simply no other viable option on the table. As journalist Jeff Greenfield noted, Iraqis are already adopting this plan on a de facto basis.

The Biden amendment has won wide endorsement and you can expect the Senate sinking deeper in to this quagmire to grab this life preserver of an amendment.

FORMER SECRETARIES OF STATE IN SUPPORT OF THE BIDEN-GELB PLAN:
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
Former Secretary of State James Baker
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger

FOREIGN POLICY EXPERTS IN SUPPORT OF THE BIDEN-GELB PLAN:
Former Iraq Defense Minister Ali Allawi
Former UN Ambassador Richard Holbrooke
Ambassador Dennis Ross, Counselor and Ziegler Distinguished Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Ambassador Richard Haass, President Council on Foreign Relations
Michael O'Hanlon, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Yahia Said, Director, Iraq Revenue Watch
Ambassador Peter W. Galbraith
Dr. Ted Galen Carpenter, Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies, CATO Institute
Walter Russell Mead, Council on Foreign Relations
Anne Marie Slaughter, Dean of Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University
Eric Leaver, Institute for Policy Studies Research Fellow
Juan Cole, Middle East scholar and prominent blogger
David Phillips, Council on Foreign Relations, author of Losing Iraq

PUBLIC OFFICIALS IN SUPPORT OF THE BIDEN-GELB PLAN:
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico (D)
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Former Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN)
Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, National Security Advisor of Iraq
Congressman Chris Van Hollen
Iowa House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy
Iowa House Assistant Majority Leader John Whitaker
Iowa State Rep. Doris Kelley
Rep. Lisa Heddens of Ames (assistant majority leader, Iowa house)
Rep. Mike Reasoner of Creston (assistant majority leader, Iowa house)
Rep. Dick Taylor of Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Jack Carter, the son of former President Jimmy Carter, and Democratic candidate, Nevada
New Hampshire officials:
State Representative-Elect Jim Webber (D-Kensington)
Former State Representative Scott Green
Sanbornton Town Democratic Chair Andy Sanborn
State Rep. Bill Hatch (D-Gorham)
Rep. Stephen Shurtleff (D-Penacook)
Eileen Foley, who served for 16 years as Mayor of Portsmouth
Bob Preston of Hampton, a former Democratic Leader of the New Hampshire State Senate
Joseph Russell, former Secretary of the Stratham Democrats
Representative Michael Marsh (D-Greenland)
New Hampshire State Representative and Police Sergeant Mark Preston
Manchester Fire Commissioner and New Hampshire State Representative Robert Haley
Detective Steve Arnold, former President of the New Hampshire Police Association

Former Clinton White House Public Affairs Director Bob Weiner

EDITORIAL PAGES AND COLUMNISTS IN SUPPORT OF BIDEN-GELB:
Tony Blankley, Washington Times
Michael Hirsh,
Las Vegas Review-Journal, Editorial Board
Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times columnist
David Brooks, New York Times
Philadelphia Inquirer, Editorial Board
David Broder, Washington Post columnist
Jackson Diehl, Washington Post columnist
David Ignatius, Washington Post columnist
Bill O'Reilly, Fox News
George Packer, The New Yorker
Portland Press Herald (ME) editorial board
Delaware News Journal editorial board
The Barre Montpelier Times Argus (VT) editorial board
St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board
The Journal Standard (IL) editorial board
Marilou Johanek, Toledo Blade (OH) columnist

[jillan]

4. Wow - think about that. Biden is the candidate that NEEDS the funds.

"Man" - I love this guy.

go Joe!

[mod mom]

5. this shows a great deal of contrast between the two: Biden needs the $ and returns it while

HRC is fat w cash from corporate contributors and hold on to it. Big mistake on her part.

[PatSeg]

9. How much money does she need?

Biden is treading water with small donations from individual supporters, but he is quick to return any money that is questionable. He has a history of doing this.

[DURHAM D]

15. Just for the record - it was $1,000.

Given to Biden's senate fund. The campaign return is from the senate fund not the presidential fund.

[FrenchieCat]

16. And Clinton's donation are from 2000 and 2004.....

and Politico is also asking Sen. Kennedy to return his donations from same couple from 1993!

sounds like Politico is "reaching" back on this one! :rofl:

[jillan]

7. This Biden supporter is going to keep this kicked.

People need to see this.

[hedgehog]

8. How many donations can Hillary return before she runs out of money?

And how many big donations has she received from people who give the same amounts to Republicans? Does it bother anyone else that a Texas oil man donated money to elect Hillary Senator from New York?

[demommom]

11. Many things bother me about Hillary.

It has already started,if she is nominated,it will be unbearably nasty on both sides. We do not need that at this time,with all the problems our country has, not the least of which is the war.

[FrenchieCat]

10. In the same article......

Another suggests Wyatt convinced Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) to deliver a speech against the war in Iraq, though that seems like a stretch, considering Kennedy was on record early opposing the war.

Kennedy’s office did not respond to inquiries about whether he’d return $3,000 the Wyatts gave him in 1993.


I'm not liking Politico on this one, once I read the article.
But then I'm not liking Politico, period. :eyes:

[jillan]

13. I'm not a big fan of Politico either.

I had high hopes for them when they first started.
Signed up there and after a couple of visits, that was enough for me.

[FrenchieCat]

14. More of Oscar Wyatt......as reported by Politico......in that story

A Politico analysis of FEC records found more than 70 percent of their contributions have gone to Democrats.

with a headline meant as a smear on Hillary, and a story aimed more at dogging out Democrats, period!

A Politico analysis of FEC records found more than 70 percent of their contributions have gone to Democrats.

Since Oscar Wyatt’s 2005 arrest in the alleged oil-for-food scam, the couple’s giving has tailed off somewhat. Still, they found politicians willing to accept nearly $22,000 in donations.

Of those, Richardson, Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Texas) said they are donating or returning the Wyatts’ contributions, while other recipients are awaiting the outcome of Wyatt’s trial.

Neither Wyatt’s lawyer nor his spokesman responded to questions about why Wyatt contributed to politicians. A 2005 USA Today story quotes him as saying he supports Democrats because “when Democrats are in power, there’s usually chaos. And in chaos, there’s opportunity.”

It’s unclear if the contributions will become an issue in the trial, but the case is already rife with fascinating political subplots.

Wyatt had been an outspoken critic of both President Bush and his father, the 41st president, and their invasions of Iraq. And Wyatt’s lawyers allege his prosecution is politically motivated, asserting he was actually involved in peace talks with Saddam before the first war.

[jillan]

17. Read the last line you just posted.

"involved in peace talks with Saddam before the war".

Interesting stuff. Wonder what he was doing.

[FrenchieCat]

18. you mean the one that states that this guy's prosecution might be

politically motivated? kinda of like this story from Politico? :wow:

[murbley40]

20. Same here.

[murbley40]

21. Go figure!