Trump and The Clinton Foundation: Brace Yourselves with Facts

Trump and the The Clinton Foundation:

Trump will soon be launching a National Enquirer quality deluge of right wing juvenile and baseless claptrap about Hillary Clinton.

He will discuss emails which will all be nonsense as explained explained here, Benghazi—in which Hillary Clinton has already turned the tables on Stupidparty during her brilliant congressional testimony—and now Trump will be going after the Clinton foundation with what will be nothing but utter drivel.

But these attacks can be quickly turned round, with the truth simply highlighting the difference between the soul of a Stupidparty advocate compared to the better elements of humanity, which happens to include the Clinton family and explains why Bill has become one of the most respected men in the world and Hillary has been named one of the most admired women in the world for a record 20th time.

When bad people try and destroy her with nothing but invention preying on ignorance—they are effectively attempting to destroy a woman who holds out so much hope for oppressed women across the world. But of course a misogynist would sneer at that.

So Trump thinks the Clintons are scum, and that they should be in jail.

But not so fast, let’s roll back the video tape, to just a few months ago—the end of 2015:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbm3ZmoF-6k

Remember he is now saying her (imagined) sins are 20 times worse than General Petreaus, (because that is just what he does, make shit up) who had an affair with his biographer (a major no no for security reasons) and did leak classified information (real classified information not pretend classified information, and not simply to his mistress but to journalists). This is particularly odd since Petraeus’ prosecutor: Clinton committed no crime.

Trump will try and re-litigate Whitewater which is also odd since Kenneth Star, the prosecutor not only found nothing but now has nothing but praise for Bill Clinton.

But go at it Trump, there is a good reason why Trump is my dream “Klandidate”.

Trump and his fans should also be cognizant of every one of Bill Clinton’s whitewater Jury.

—Note that I only use solid sources, real journalists not fake trumped up journalism—an issue which I will be discussing further.

But Trump has more praise, and my source could not be more credible:

And just for good measure—as reported by The Hill back in May 2015:

New York real estate mogul Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka have donated a combined total of at least $105,000 to the Clinton Foundation, records show.

“Donald J. Trump” is listed on the foundation’s website as giving between $100,000 and $250,000 to the charitable organization. “Ivanka Trump,” meanwhile, is listed as a donor who gifted between $5,001 and $10,000 to the nonprofit.

But Trump has no interest in consistency or truth—he just makes shit up on the fly.

He managed to get his friend, the owner of the National Enquirer (which happens to be where Trump apparently gets most of his facts from), to invent stories taking down the odious Ted Cruz—stories even less credible than Hillary mating with an Alien—saying somehow Ted Cruz did not have just one mistress but five.

Stupidparty party has a whole collection of fake news sites, all promoting each other’s nonsense. There is good money to be made inventing stories for Fox and co—whether it be their fake military analyst of simply Trojan horse women or minorities who are willing to sell out their tribe for a long career or fat paycheck. Look at Trump’s blonde surrogates or Clarence Thomas, Ben Carson, and Herman Cain.

I am not suggesting that they do not believe what they say–but big money will find people who are willing to say stupid things and provide a cover to bigotry, while making the Stupidparty seem racially tolerant, or in the image below, have military insight.

John Lott was the pseudo-mathematical expert who made a career out of making it seem like more guns in society lead to a drop in violent crime. It took a decade for him to be discredited.

Now welcome to the stage a one-time nobody, yet with a Wikipedia entry—but suddenly about to become Stupidparty superstar—a man who is rapidly learning how easy it is to profit by talking nonsense (the more shrill that nonsense the better).

Charles Ortel has studied the Clinton Foundation in depth as only an analyst could. His conclusions are that the Clinton Crime Family took in more than $100 billion and that most of that money disappeared. Because $100B just does tend to disappear—if you are an incompetent analyst anyway—just like the US economy was going to disappear, or just like GE was going to disappear.

And how does this junk enter the mainstream?

I have discussed this nefarious network of lies and deceit in considerable detail here, here  and here.

Meet Charles Ortel, managing director of Newport Value Partners, who told AIM back in 2010 that the Federal Reserve plan to buy $600 billion of U.S. Government securities “borders on the criminal” because the impact will be the devaluation of the dollar by 20 percent and the destruction of $10 trillion of household net worth.

Ortel told AIM that the Obama Administration’s “war on capitalism” has become a “war on wealth” under the direction of Fed chairman Ben S. Bernanke.

Back in 2007 Charles Ortel, an independent analyst who has been urging investors to short GE since 2007, told me that that the company, as he put it, “is going to hit the wall.”

The reason?

“It has too much debt and not enough tangible common equity.”

Tangible common equity—equity minus goodwill and other intangibles—is the once obscure, now critical barometer of a bank’s capital.

In 2010 Ortel stated in a column  that GE’s intrinsic net worth is about $2 a share, compared to its high of $60 and current price of $16.So let us look at GE’s most recent five year chart:

But such idiotic prognosticators do not get paid for being correct, they get paid for creating headlines, driving ratings and parting gullible StupidParty disciples from their money by selling absurdist scary newsletters that simply drive up demand for guns, survival gear and Nuclear fallout shelters.

Yes one day the world will end and one of these guys will accidentally be proven correct—but the when the world has ended—it will be too late to collect any accolades.

So back to reality—What is the Clinton Foundation?

I have always found it interesting to research what Presidents, or those who came close to being President, do after they leave office. It is during the presidential campaigns that the best and the brightest take up the torch in promoting differing solutions and agendas regarding the problems of the day. Money flows into numerous candidates, who then hire advisers, strategists, researchers, speech writers, and marketers. The candidates put their best foot forward. But as they age, these assets start taking more of a backseat, and the candidates’ views are likely to become more adamant, more calcified, their character more transparent. So it is interesting see what these leaders or potential leaders do after they move on from either being president or planning to be.

So what did Ford, Reagan, Bush Sr, Bush Jr do after leaving office? Basically bugger all—because all they cared about was their own little club. Compare these four with the likes of Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Bill Clinton and I have no doubt that Obama will have much much more to offer in the future—I mean can you really imagine that all he will do is toss the occasional ceremonial opening pitch, or sky dive?

As for Trump—his post Presidential life is crystal clear—the playboy mansion for him.

But to all the feeble minded nitwits who have been going on about the Clinton foundation, an exercise in deception that will only be magnified next week and then ad infinitum till the election day—this is my message to you:

 I suggest you find out more about how charities work. It is really sad when massive ignorance turns someone into a liar—a moronic liar.  So some facts might yet save your humanity. You will argue that a foreign Government got a free pass—like invading Ukraine, gassing their own people or whatever else comes to mind because such Government gave money to the Clinton foundation. You will argue that Hillary, as secretary of state became a one-person-Bernie-Madoff-Ponzi-scheme-flying-machine, jetting unaccountably from one capital to the next handing out briefcases of taxpayer money in return for receiving donations that she somehow pocketed and invested based on inside information that Putin whispered in her ear about a massive order of Gold to stockpile Russian reserves.  Hillary then met with Aliens and gave birth to a semi god— driven to take America away from god fearing, gun toting, freedom loving, eagle soaring, patriotic Americans who all arrived on these shores on the Mayflower. God knows what else happens in the imagination of a sick fact devoid mind.

Governments do make contributions to the foundation but the motivation is to work in partnership with the charity to maximize resources in tackling specific chronic problems. The agenda? Oh golly gee–the agenda is to save lives, relieve poverty and conquer disease. These are all alien concepts to Stupidparty.  Hillary played no role in the charity while she was secretary of State. The foundation has more than 300,000 contributors; 90% of its donations are $100 or less. Like all philanthropic organizations, the Foundation depends on contributions to pursue its work around the world.

While not required by any law, but in keeping with a long-held commitment to transparency, the Clinton Foundation has for years listed all contributors dating back to the Foundation’s beginning on its website.

What do contributors receive in exchange for donations?

Yes—corporations, non-profits, and individuals get something in return—which is helping to improve lives around the world. Contributors give because they want to see the circle of opportunity extended around the world; they want to see communities, businesses and governments working together to address problems that we all face but collectively have the know-how and resources to fix. That is what the Clinton Foundation does every day.

Do the Clinton’s receive any income or personal expense reimbursement from the Foundation?

No. President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, who serve on the Board of Directors, do not take a salary from the Clinton Foundation and receive no funding from it. Secretary Clinton did not take a salary when she served on the Board of Directors.

So how does Bill Clinton’s Presidential afterlife hold up compared to any one typical Stupidparty counterpart? President William Clinton does so much more than build the standard presidential library and write memoirs. In 2007 he released Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World, which became a New York Times best seller and garnered positive reviews. In the aftermath of the 2004 Asian tsunami, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Clinton to head a relief effort. After Hurricane Katrina, Clinton joined with fellow former president George H. W. Bush to establish the Bush–Clinton Tsunami Fund in January 2005.

Based on his philanthropic worldview, Clinton created the William J. Clinton Foundation to address issues of global importance. This foundation includes the Clinton Foundation HIV and AIDS Initiative (CHAI), which strives to combat that disease, and has worked with the Australian government toward that end. The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) was begun by the Clinton Foundation in 2005 It attempts to address world problems, such as global public health, poverty alleviation, and religious and ethnic conflict. In 2005, Clinton announced through his foundation an agreement with manufacturers to stop selling sugared drinks in schools.

Clinton’s foundation joined with the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group in 2006 to improve cooperation among those cities, and he met with foreign leaders to promote this initiative. The foundation has received donations from a number of governments all over the world, including in Asia and the Middle East. In 2008, Foundation Director Inder Singh announced that deals to reduce the price of antimalarial drugs by 30% in developing nations. Clinton also spoke in favor of California Proposition 87 on alternative energy, which was voted down.

In 2009, Clinton traveled to North Korea on behalf of Euna Lee and Laura Ling who had been imprisoned for illegally entering the country from China. Jimmy Carter had made a similar visit in 1994. After Clinton met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Kim issued a pardon.

Since then, Clinton has been assigned a number of other diplomatic missions. He was named United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti in 2009. In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that Clinton and George W. Bush would coordinate efforts to raise funds for Haiti’s recovery. Clinton continues to visit Haiti to witness the inauguration of refugee villages and to raise funds for the earthquake victims. These activities highlight a different attitude on Haiti than that of various Stupidparty leaders. In 2010, Clinton announced support of, and delivered the keynote address for, the inauguration of NTR, Ireland’s first environmental foundation. At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Clinton gave a widely praised speech nominating Barack Obama.

During its lifetime the foundation has received praise from philanthropic experts and has had support from both Democrats and Republicans, with the latter including members of the George W. Bush administration.^[3] Charitable grants are not a major focus of the Clinton Foundation, which instead keeps most of its money in house and hires staff to carry out its own humanitarian programs. the American Institute of Philanthropy, says that 89 percent of the foundation’s money goes toward its charitable mission and gave the foundation an A rating for 2013.

Preceding Barack Obama‘s 2009 nomination of Hillary Clinton as U.S. Secretary of State, Bill Clinton agreed to accept a number of conditions and restrictions regarding his ongoing activities and fundraising efforts for the Clinton Presidential Center and the Clinton Global Initiative.^[18] Accordingly, a list of donors was released for the first time in December 2008.^[19] The list was large and included politically sensitive donors from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Blackwater Worldwide.^[20] The foundation stated that the disclosures would ensure that “not even the appearance of a conflict of interest” would exist once Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.

The Washington Post reported the foundation has won accolades from philanthropy experts and has drawn bipartisan support, with members of the George W. Bush administration often participating in its programs. Major donations have come from figures such as Christopher Ruddy, the chief executive of the conservative Web site Newsmax.com and a onetime critic of Bill Clinton…..

“It’s all about building networks and connections,” Lawrence said, adding that donors are likely attracted both personally to the Clintons and to the highly regarded philanthropic work of their foundation.

The donor list shows that the foundation has relied most heavily on seven donors that have each given more than $25 million, including a foundation established by a Canadian mining magnate, Frank Giustra; the national lottery of Holland; and Chicago-based Democratic donor Fred Eychaner.

Other major donors giving at lower levels run the gamut of industries and interests, such as the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs, beverage giant Coca-Cola, and the governments of Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation Foundation and his son James Murdoch have given more than one million dollars to the Clinton Foundation. If the press’ working assumption seems to be that everyone who gives to the Clinton’s expects a favor in return (wink, wink), what did the owners of Fox News expect from their contribution? Not to mention possible Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump, who also donated. My guess is they gave for the same reasons so many others have given: They support the goals of the foundation.

So why have certain, sometimes credible reporters occasionally gotten their knickers in a twist. Well that confusion all lies in the accounting intricacies. First one needs to understand the charities unusual structure as explained in its mission statement:

“We convene businesses, governments, NGOs, and individuals to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for women and girls, reduce childhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address the effects of climate change.”

So I will let an accountant explain:

Do not expect the Clinton Foundation to behave like a private foundation.

Although it has “foundation” in its name, the Clinton Foundation is actually a public charity. In practical terms, this means both that it relies heavily on donations from the public and that it achieves its mission primarily by using those donations to conduct direct charitable activities, as opposed to providing grants from an endowment. Failure to understand the difference led to the widespread claim (covered by the New York Post, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, and others) that only a small portion of Clinton Foundation spending goes toward charity. While measuring charitable endeavors by the amount of grants awarded may be appropriate for many private foundations, it is not for an organization that acts as a direct service provider like the Clinton Foundation.

This accountant goes on to explain two other areas that require attention to detail and specific expertise.

Pay attention to the foundation’s audited financial statements, not its Form 990

Compare financial information to a peer organization for context.

But this analysis still has one missing component.

How exactly does it operate and what specific good does it do?

Understanding this aspect will help clarify any confusion surrounding it’s unusual structure that creates pitfalls for the more naïve reporters. I am going to leave the task of explaining this to my colleague Brian Frydenborg, who lives in Jordan and has more direct access to and understanding of the Clinton Foundation.

This analysis is now available here