FLASH UPDATE: THE “DON’T MISS THIS ONE — THE CLINTONS ARE ‘...CITIZENS UNITED...’ ON STEROIDS” EDITION

DOESN’T THIS LOOK LIKE A “QUID PRO QUO” TO YOU ?   —   WELL, EVEN IF ISN’T,  “THE ATLANTIC” MAGAZINE THINKS IT’S VERY IMPORTANT  —   DETAILS HOW THE CLINTON HAVE GOTTEN $$$$$ COZY WITH THE WORLDS LARGEST BANKS

“THE ATLANTIC” GOES SO FAR AS TO ASK  —   HOW CAN  DEMOCRATS BE WILLING TO SEND THE CLINTONS TO THE WHITE HOUSE AGAIN

The Wall Street Journal came out yesterday with the details of a significant action by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton involving an intervention with another agency of the U.S. government, the IRS, on behalf of a major Swiss bank that was facing criminal prosecution in the United States. The magazine, “The Atlantic” picked up that story and ran with it.

According to Conor Friedersdorf, one of the folks at “The Atlantic” magazine,  “  –  The Wall Street Journal’s eyebrow-raising story of how the presidential candidate and her husband accepted cash from UBS without any regard for the appearance of impropriety that it created. –  The Swiss bank UBS is one of the biggest, most powerful financial institutions in the world. As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton intervened to help it out with the IRS. And after that, the Swiss bank paid Bill Clinton $1.5 million for speaking gigs. The Wall Street Journal reported all that and more Thursday in an article that highlights huge conflicts of interest that the Clintons have created in the recent past [vis a vis some of the world’s major banks]....”  (See “Hillary Helps a Bank—and Then It Funnels Millions to the Clintons” by Conor Friedersdorf, 7/31/15, The Atlantic [http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/hillary-helps-a-bankand-then-it-pays-bill-15-million-in-speaking-fees/400067/]).

A QUESTION TO DEMOCRATS – HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT ANOTHER CLINTON TO BE PRESIDENT

The detailed Atlantic article that draws from several other sources points out that “One needn’t believe that there’s ever been any quid pro quo to see that this matters....   How can mainstream Democratic Party beliefs about the corrupting effects of money in politics and the perniciousness of Big Finance possibly be squared with elevating as their leaders a couple as cozy with Big Finance as anyone in American politics?...    Even Democrats who aren’t concerned about the agenda of Big Finance ought to ask themselves if America is best served by a president and first spouse who care so little about preserving the confidence that the public can reasonably have in the integrity of their actions. They are far from the only members of our elite who’ve put a payday ahead of the common good, but it’s hard to think of a more flagrant example.”

WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE

For those interested in the original Wall Street Journal article,  see “UBS Deal Shows Clinton’s Complicated Ties -- Donations to family foundation increased after secretary of state’s involvement in tax case” by James V. Grimaldi & Rebacca Ballhaus, 7/30/15, Wall Street Journal [http://www.wsj.com/articles/ubs-deal-shows-clintons-complicated-ties-1438223492].