Hillary Clinton's Experience

[pinkpops]

She speaks of her experience. Enlighten me. I know she is older than, say, Obama, and has been active as a lawyer before being a Senator. She has been in the Senate longer than some, but not all, of the candidates. Kucinich has been in the congress longer, I believe (correct me if I am wrong). She has never been a governor, like Richardson. She was in the White House for 8 years, but as the wife of a president - does that count? And is there the hidden message that she can use her ex-president spouse as counsel?

Ok - bring it on.

[IADEMO2004]

1. yes, yes

[MNDemNY]

2. I second that ..yes, yes.

[jeff30997]

3. She lived at the White House for 8 years...

So she have a lot of experience living there.No other candidate can say the same.:evilgrin:

[MNDemNY]

5. She knows were all the light switches are.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

6. So if the power goes out, she can find the candles.

That IS heartening. :P

[Capn Sunshine]

37. ...and the fusebox

she's been there before

[ccpup]

4. from the Net:

Clinton co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, a state-level alliance with the Children's Defense Fund, in 1977. In late 1977, President Jimmy Carter (for whom she had done 1976 campaign coordination work in Indiana) appointed her to the board of directors of the Legal Services Corporation, and she served in that capacity from 1978 through the end of 1981. For much of that time she served as the chair of that board, the first woman to do so. During her time as chair, funding for the Corporation was expanded from $90 million to $300 million, and she successfully battled against President Ronald Reagan's initial attempts to reduce the funding and change the nature of the organization.

Following the November 1978 election of her husband as Governor of Arkansas, Clinton became First Lady of Arkansas in January 1979, her title for a total of twelve years. Bill appointed her chair of the Rural Health Advisory Committee the same year, where she successfully obtained federal funds to expand medical facilities in Arkansas' poorest areas without affecting doctors' fees.

Hillary Clinton chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee from 1982 to 1992, where she sought to bring about reform in the state's court-sanctioned public education system. One of the most important initiatives of the entire Clinton governorship, she fought a prolonged but ultimately successful battle against the Arkansas Education Association to put mandatory teacher testing as well as state standards for curriculum and classroom size in place. She introduced Arkansas' Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth in 1985, a program that helps parents work with their children in preschool preparedness and literacy.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg!

[jeff30997]

8. "iceberg!"

Are you implying that Hillary is a cold person ?:P

[ccpup]

10. oh you!

:rofl:

[pinkpops]

16. Compare this with George W. Smith I mean Bush...

who would not be "President" but for his name.
Senator Clinton has a famous name, a firm handle on issues, facts, impressive resume.

[Jack Bone]

7. She also touts how she's been fighting for us for over

35 years, but never tells us of her accomplishments. I'd like to know as well, what aspect or issue has she been a champion of, and in which she came through with positive results?

Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not "Hill hating"..I would simply like to know.:shrug:

[ccpup]

9. from the White House years:

Along with Senator Ted Kennedy, she was the major force behind the State Children's Health Insurance Program in 1997, a federal effort that provided state support for children whose parents were unable to provide them with health coverage. She promoted nationwide immunization against childhood illnesses and encouraged older women to seek a mammogram to detect breast cancer, with coverage provided by Medicare. She successfully sought to increase research funding for prostate cancer and childhood asthma at the National Institutes of Health.

The First Lady worked to investigate reports of an illness that affected veterans of the Gulf War, which became known as the Gulf War syndrome. Together with Attorney General Janet Reno, Clinton helped create the Office on Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice. In 1997, she initiated and shepherded the Adoption and Safe Families Act, which she regarded as her greatest accomplishment as First Lady.

[Jack Bone]

12. Nice..thank you for this and the post prior.

[ccpup]

14. no problem

this is what I love about DU: the sharing of information without hysterics or name-calling. :evilgrin:

[ccpup]

11. and see Post #4

for the years before Bill became Gov and a bit of her time in Arkansas

[illinoisprogressive]

13. Since her papers are under lock and key, she cannot claim that as experience.

it's null and void. so that leaves her 7 years in the US Senate as her only experience. During that time the only notable thing she's done is flag burning.
The only person with less legislative experience is Edwards with 6 years.
Obama has 8 in the state Senate along with the 3 in the US plus 10 as constitutional professor.

[ccpup]

15. but isn't he also dealing with

a missing papers (or no papers) issue from his time in the State Senate?

[pinkpops]

19. I believe he said there are records available but he doesn't have them

[ccpup]

20. I thought he said

that records weren't kept of his years in the State Senate. But, then again, I haven't been paying too much attention, so I could easily be misinformed.

[Evergreen Emerald]

23. that is a right-wing lie that has been disavowed

[Forkboy]

34. That's never stopped IP before.

;)

[JackORoses]

17. she was on the Board of Wal-Mart for 6 years leading up to 1992

but you won't be able to find out anything about that...

Fact: Wal-Mart is based in Arkansas.

Fact: Wal-Mart is a major beneficiary of NAFTA.

Any Questions?

[ccpup]

18. While there

she was the first female member on Wal-Mart's board, added when chairman Sam Walton was pressured to name one and pushed successfully for the chain to adopt more environmentally-friendly practices as well as pushing for more women to be added to the company's management.

[JackORoses]

21. what about Labor practices? she didn't have any input there, I suppose

Yes, yes,
she was out there saving America at the head of one of it's largest Corporate Beasts.
Somebody give her a medal.
:eyes:

[PollThis]

38. Geeez could that be why she won't talk about how she really feels about labor and unions. nt

[Blackhatjack]

22. If Hillary becomes the DEM Nominee, the Repub Nominee Will Make A Big Stink Over Her Sealed Records

And I predict that many of her records will be released once it becomes a big enough issue.

In all likelihood the information in most records may not hurt her on specific issues, but may show how ineffective she was in getting things done. But in some of those records you will find close relationships to publicly distasteful individuals and companies, and that will definitely hurt her.

And as always, the tenor of those documents will show a side of Hillary she has fought long and hard to secret.

[Evergreen Emerald]

24. That has been disavowed...and the right-wing media will make a big

stink about EVERYTHING no matter how trivial. And even progressive people will eat it up (based on the behavior to date). And, it won't matter who the nominee is--the s*it will fly day and night.

[Blackhatjack]

27. So what exactly has been 'DISAVOWED?' --You're being more cryptic today than usual

That she has records that remain unreleased? She disavowed that? Really? I thought she admitted it in her earlier debate answer.

ANd you are right, the RW Media will make a big stink of it --but so will the rest of the MSM.

[Evergreen Emerald]

29. Sorry Mr. Blackhatjack, if I am unclear

that the records were sealed, or that anyone is hiding anything...but that does not stop people from using the lies..or ignoring the part where it was proven false...that is the beauty of the right-wing media: they can spew lies without recourse and people buy the BS as if fact.

[Blackhatjack]

33. SEE My Post #32 for LINK to Proof You Are Wrong....n/t

[spotbird]

25. The secret records should

bother Democrats as well. Haven't we had enough of the secrecy in government?

[papau]

26. There are no "secret" records that Hillary or Bill have the power to release. Do a fact check on

who has power over those records.

[Blackhatjack]

28. Actually that is INCORRECT. All Bill has to do is send over a letter...

...telling them he has completed his review and it is OK for them to release them to the public.

Bill Clinton specifically directed the archives not to release any records he had not already reviewed and approved for release. THat was years ago, and nothing has changed.

[Evergreen Emerald]

31. no. that is false. He sent the letter. He is not completing a "review"

those in charge of dissemination are working on them now.

[Blackhatjack]

32. Actually you are wrong... and here is a LINK to the evidence to prove it. ZING!

Don't you just hate it when you make an unsubstantiated allegation, and then someone challenges you on it, and then provides a link to evidence proving you are wrong? SEE BELOW:

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MzJmZmMwYjFjNmRlZDA0ZmM3NDFkMjQ3NzY0MzE3YmU=
November 1, 2007

Hillary, Under Lock and Key
Trying to get to the bottom of her executive experience.

By Stephen Spruiell

"I asked Chris Farrell, whose group, Judicial Watch, is suing the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration to obtain Hillary Clinton’s documents from her White House years, if Clinton was correct when she said that “all of the records” from her work on her husband’s health-care task force in 1993 are available to the public. “All of them are not,” he replied. “We’ve asked for the Task Force on National Health Care Reform records, and those are different than the records that are available at the Clinton Library now. There are two universes of documents. One came out because the AAPS sued to get hold of the documents.”

But Farrell, who has been to Little Rock five times since Clinton’s presidential library opened, explained that there’s a second group of documents that hasn’t been released. “It has to do with health-care reform, it has to do with Hillary’s work there, and it’s not the same as the one that was released through earlier litigation over the health-care task force.” (In addition to these documents, Judicial Watch is also suing for Hillary’s White House calendar, her schedule, and all of her official correspondence as First Lady.) After Hillary’s evasive answer Tuesday night, Russert followed up with a more direct question:

RUSSERT: But there was a letter written by President Clinton specifically asking that any communication between you and the president not be made available to the public until 2012. Would you lift that ban?

CLINTON: Well, that’s not my decision to make, and I don’t believe that any president or first lady ever has. But, certainly, we’ll move as quickly as our circumstances and the processes of the National Archives permits.

This statement is clearly ridiculous. As they are entitled to do under the Presidential Records Act, the Clintons have appointed a proxy (long-time advisor Bruce Lindsey) who has veto power over virtually any records request until 2012 (thus the date on Bill’s letter). Bottlenecks at the National Archives are not the real issue; the Clintons will ultimately decide what documents from Hillary’s tenure as First Lady will see the light of day prior to November of 2008.

“Any document that comes up for review, as to whether it should be released or not, is not the final arbiter, but he is a controlling figure in the process,” Farrell explains. “So if there were any gaps, if were really frank about what they wanted to get out to the public, they would very clearly communicate to the Archives, and to Mr. Lindsey, to open it up and release it all.”

MORE

[papau]

35. that is Nat'l Review - not a truth telling Mag/site for the last few decades

A private citizen's records are not required to be released - although she has promised to do so.

Bill's 2012 refers to his records not hers.

It is simply a case of needing time for those in charge of release - who are not Bill or Hillary - to go through each document and archive it -

indeed that is the delay for both of them - and they can not change the speed by which it is done.

As to 2012, that was a standard form letter that Bill signed in 1994 - all presidents have used "12 years after last day in office" and in 1994 when the Archive had him sign he signed a standard letter.

[Evergreen Emerald]

36. not quite enough research Mr. Blackhatjack...

FactCheck.org, a fact checking site run by the Annenberg School of Political Communications at the University of Pennsylvania, published an item October 31 criticizing Hillary for a "misleading" answer on release of Clinton administration records during the last debate.

Yesterday, they published a correction to their original item.

Correction, Nov. 8: In our original version of this story, we found Clinton’s response regarding the Archives to be “doubly misleading.” We have since concluded that we were wrong, and have rewritten the section as you see it above.
Two days after this article was first posted, Bruce Lindsey, who is Bill Clinton’s designated representative for dealing with the National Archives, issued a statement that said, in part, "Contrary to recent reports, Bill Clinton has not asked that records related to communications with Senator Clinton be withheld." It also said that "Currently, none of the FOIA requests has processed and provided for my review involve Senator Clinton." On the same day, the former president responded to a reporter’s question about the issue. Hillary Clinton "was incidental to the letter, it was done five years ago, it was a letter to speed up presidential releases, not to slow them down," Bill Clinton said at a stop in Redmond, WA.
These statements prompted us to dive back into Bill Clinton’s 2002 letter to the Archives and similar letters from his two immediate predecessors, and to talk to some more experts in this small crevice of the law. We realized that the area of confusion for us – and perhaps for other journalists – was the wording of this sentence: “nformation should generally be considered for withholding only if it contains…..” The section goes on to list eight categories, one of which involves his communications with his wife as well as with his family and his wife’s.
We originally read the sentence as putting a lock on the documents. That isn’t the case, as we note in our revised section in the body of the article above. The bottleneck is at the lightly staffed Archives. It of course remains possible that Bill Clinton could yet block the release of any or all communications between himself and the First Lady, but that hasn’t happened yet It remains to be seen whether any of this material will surface before the election.
But Russert was wrong, and so were we. Bill Clinton, in Redmond, called Russert’s question “breathtakingly misleading,” and we now agree. Russert did not respond to requests for comment.

[spotbird]

30. Oh yeah, that's right. nt