BloggeRhythms

While members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee continue to question IRS representatives, one thing becomes quite clear. Republican anger and concern really doesn’t matter very much because the committee has no real power. What’s needed is an independent special counsel to get to the core of the issue.

 

A couple of things have been disclosed so far that are quite astounding though.

 

www.dailymail.co.uk reports that IRS Commissioner John Koskinen “couldn't explain why a six-month 'disaster recovery' backup wasn't tapped to restore [Lois Lerner’s] emails after [her] computer crash.”

 

He then complained that “it would take $10 to $30 million to upgrade IRS computers to retain all its emails and documents, however “the agency paid $89 million in bonuses last year and has an $1.8 billion IT budget.”

 

And if that’s true, which is doubtful, if this isn’t an example of total and absolute managerial failure, its hard to imagine what is.

On another matter, the incumbent’s wife told Real Clear Politics that she thinks the nation should elect a woman president as soon as possible. She opined, “I think this country is ready. This country is ready for anyone who can do the job and what we have learned is that the person who can do the job doesn't have a particular race or gender or background or socioeconomic status. The person who should do the job is the person who is most qualified and I think that we have some options, don't we?”

 

So, if you dissect her statement carefully, what she said is that the job requires someone most qualified to do it regardless of all other considerations. Therefore, what difference can gender possibly make and why is a woman in particular needed? 

 

As far as her husband's concerned, MrConservative.com reports that he “took a stroll through D.C. to grab some lunch at Chipotle on Monday and it appears as if nobody wanted to talk to him. Pictures snapped from inside the restaurant show him sitting at a table with a couple of people and not a soul in there even notices.”

 

And since this is a world where small indications lead to the biggest conclusions, it looks like this might be the start of the public’s sense that the duck in the White House is already quite lame. 

 

Which brings us to today’s update regarding Bill Clinton’s wife who, evidently, doesn’t discuss family finances with her husband very much. According to Bill McMorris of Fox News.com, “An April Congressional Research Service (CRS) report shows that the Government Services Administration (GSA), which is in charge of supporting federal disbursements, budgeted $950,000 for former president Bill Clinton in the 2014 budget.

 

Clinton will collect a $201,000 pension in 2014, a figure four times larger than the median family income in the United States. The Clintons have received a total of $15,938,000 in federal money since 2001.”

 

Which means that her latest gaffe regarding money will likely haunt her continually in the future, especially so if she actually seeks the presidency. Because while most folks will remember on their own, Republicans will keep reminding them that she recently described the poverty her family experienced upon exiting the White House while promoting her book. 

 

Mr. McMorris himself wrote, “They were “dead broke,” Hillary said, adding that she and her husband “struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages for houses, for Chelsea’s education, you know, it was not easy.”

 

Additionally Mr. McMorris reports that, “Clinton’s pension is just a small portion of the costs the former president will incur over the next year. GSA budgeted $450,000 to pay for Clinton’s office space, the highest total of the four living presidents.”

 

And then there’s the Clinton Foundation, which according to Charity Navigator online, had total net assets of $187,628,983 as of 2012.

 

Wikipedia complied this list of contributors:

Greater than $25,000,000

Melinda Gates Foundation

The Children's Investment FunBill and d Foundation

UNITAID

Centenary Group International

Frank Giustra, chief executive officer, The Radcliffe Foundation.

$10,000,001 to $25,000,000

 AusAID

Stephen L. Bing (did not give in 2009)

COPRESIDA-Secretariado Tecnico

Fred Eychaner

Tom Golisano (did not give in 2009)

The Hunter FoundationGovernment of Norway

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2008 (did not give in 2009)

The ELMA Foundation

Theodore W. Waitt

 

 $5,000,001 to $10,000,000

 

Nationale Postcode Loterij

Haim Saban and The Saban Family Foundation

Michael Schumacher

The Wasserman Foundation

S. Daniel Abraham, founder of Slim Fast.

$1,000,001 to $5,000,000

100 Women in Hedge Funds

S. D. Abraham

Absolute Return for Kids (ARK)

Mohammed Al Amoudi

Alltel Corporation

Nasser Al-Rashid

Smith and Elizabeth Frawley Bagley

The Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation

Richard Caring

Gilbert R. Chagoury

Citi Foundation (did not give in 2009)

Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative – Canada

Victor P. Dahdaleh & The Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Charitable Foundation

Robert Disbrow

Dubai Foundation (did not give in 2009)

Elton John AIDS Foundation

Entergy

Mr. Issam M. Fares & The Wedge Foundation

Wallace W. Fowler

Friends of Saudi Arabia

Mala Gaonkar Haarmann

The James R. Greenbaum, Jr. Family Foundation

Robert L. Johnson

Howard and Michele Kessler

Michael and Jena King

Lukas Lundin

MAC AIDS Fund

John D. Mackay

Lakshmi N. Mittal

Open Society Institute

Victor Pinchuk

Presidential Inaugural Committee

Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund

The Al Nahyan Family of The United Arab Emirates

Paul Reynolds

Robertson Foundation

Bernard L. Schwartz

Walter H. Shorenstein

Arnold H. Simon

Bren and Melvin Simon

Amar Singh

Michael Smurfit

Harold Snyder

State o Kuwait (did not give in 2009)

State of Qatar (did not give in 2009)

Sterling Stamos Capital Management, LP

The Streisand Foundation

Suzlon Energy Ltd.

Swiss Reinsurance Company

Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office

The Alix Foundation

The Government of Brunei Darussalam

The Howard Gilman Foundation

Rockefeller Foundation

The Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable & Educational Trust

The Sidney E. Frank Foundation

The Sultanate of Oman

The Wal-Mart Foundation

T.G. Holdings

The Walton Family Foundation

$500,001 to $1,000,000

AIDS-Life

Malini Alles

Bank of America Foundation

Simon P. Barcelo

Frederick Baron and Lisa Blue

Richard C. Blum

Susie T. Buell and Mark Buell

The Sherwood Foundation

Cisco

Clinton Family Foundation and William J. Clinton

Confederation of Indian Industry

Lewis B. Cullman

Duke Energy Corporation

Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation

Global Artists, Inc.

Brian L. Greenspun

Hewlett-Packard Company

Patricia A. Hotung

Hult International Business School

ICAP Services North America

Irish Aid

Walid A. Juffali

Dave Katragadda

Peter B. Lewis

Rajendra Vora

 

So, I guess whatever one’s perception of “dead broke” is, it’s always good to have some friends that will put up a few million, or more, for you if you really, really need it.

 

That’s it for today folks.

 

Adios