Slick Willie Demonstrates Why We Distrust Politicians

In a shocking display of ill-gotten gains, the Wall Street Journal ran an article yesterday detailing Bill Clinton's looming multi-million dollar payoff from being President.

This is the sort of post-office holding development that enrages voters. Or at least it enrages me. Bill Clinton would have none of this, had he not been elected President. In fact, as the article notes, much of his wealth actually resulted from political favor-seekers helping him to raise money to pay his impeachment-related legal bills.

It's ironic, of course, that Slick Willie is now the type of corporate fat cat that his 'partner,' Hillary, would soak with her tax hike plans.

According to the article,

"Former President Clinton stands to reap around $20 million -- and will sever a politically sensitive partnership tie to Dubai -- by ending his high-profile business relationship with the investment firm of billionaire friend Ron Burkle.

The former president has had links to Yucaipa since early 2002, when Mr. Burkle -- a longtime friend and political contributor -- offered him a role there. Mr. Clinton's association with the firm began at a time when he was looking to earn large amounts of money, partly to pay heavy legal bills accumulated to defend himself and Mrs. Clinton from several investigations during his presidency.

Profits from the sales helped to push the funds above the earnings threshold needed to generate a multimillion-dollar payday for the former president, according to public documents related to the sales and other information.

The deals were announced in February and March 2007, respectively -- around the time Mr. Clinton's involvement as an adviser to the domestic funds was set to expire. By not closing out his Yucaipa relationship before those sales were completed, President Clinton probably increased the amount of money ultimately due him, say people familiar with such transactions."

Thus, we see that Slick Willie gained access to tens of millions of dollars of profits from 'unearned' income that most of those who voted for him could never achieve. More than any other former President, the former First Philanderer has traded on his term of office to make a fortune. While his wife, a Senator, rails against....exactly what he is doing.

The Yucaipa connection became public recently, as I noted in this post from last September.

Then we have the incredibly rich irony described in this passage,

"Mr. Clinton is also looking to close out partnership interests in a Yucaipa fund that focuses on investing in foreign companies. This fund -- called Yucaipa Global Partnership Fund LP -- has raised several hundred million dollars from a range of investors. Unlike his deal to advise the two Yucaipa domestic funds, Mr. Clinton invested an undisclosed sum of his own money in the global fund and has a limited partnership interest.

Mr. Clinton is also one of three owners of the global fund's general partner. The others are Mr. Burkle, who is the managing member, and an entity connected to the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

Severing the tie to Dubai, a U.S. ally, will remove a potentially tricky problem for Mrs. Clinton. Questions raised about the activities of sovereign wealth funds -- giant pools of money controlled by foreign governments -- have become a campaign issue, as the funds have made a spate of multibillion-dollar investments in such corporate giants as Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mrs. Clinton said such purchases are "a source of concern," partly because the foreign funds "lack transparency" and could be used by foreign governments as "instruments of foreign policy." "

So here we see Bill making hay while the sun shone, with his Dubai partners. Then, as soon as his wife's bid for the Presidency made that investment questionable, he dumped it- but not the profit, of course.

This way, Hillary has her funding, and the contradictory, hypocritical political position, too.

What, precisely, did Slick Willie do for Burkle that allowed him to earn- and I use the term incredibly loosely- all that money? The Journal piece states,

"Mr. Clinton's duties and activities as a Yucaipa adviser have never been completely clear to outsiders. He has met at times with people involved in various Yucaipa business deals. And the former president's vast global network of contacts probably has been an asset for Mr. Burkle in dealings with business, labor and political leaders. Over the years, Mr. Burkle has said publicly that Mr. Clinton's prestige and connections have helped Yucaipa get its business proposals in front of top corporate decision makers.

Asked about the unwinding of the Yucaipa relationship, a spokesman for Mr. Clinton said the former president "is taking steps to ensure" that there will be "an appropriate transition" for the business relationship should Mrs. Clinton win the Democratic presidential nomination.

The spokesman added it isn't yet known how much Mr. Clinton will receive from his involvement in Yucaipa. A Yucaipa spokesman declined to comment on the firm's relationship with Mr. Clinton.

As part of the effort to sever financial connections that could complicate Mrs. Clinton's presidential bid, the couple in June disclosed that they had sold millions of dollars worth of stock in public companies and put the funds in cash accounts."

Before reading this article, I thought John Edwards' working at the hedge fund Fortress, described here, was the height of hypocrisy.

I was wrong.

Slick Willie has sold his status as ex-President for something north of $20MM. Not content to have stained the office while actually holding it, he now continues to dishonor it by brazenly turning it into cash. Reading Burkle's contention that just by having Slick Willie's name associated with business proposals, they get attention, confirms that the former President is 'doing' nothing for the millions he is paid by Yucaipa.

While masquerading as a champion of the poor and disenfranchised, the Slick One from Arkansas has managed to monetize all those millions of votes from his two Presidential election.

Disgusting. Just stomach-turning. It's exactly why voters in America have become so jaded by the political, governing class. Nothing is ever done out of a public service ethic. There's always a payday around the corner from every public office held.

I shudder to think of what the Billary could concoct, should she actually be elected to even one term in the Oval Office.