“Until it’s too late to inform the judgment of voters”
That phrase in this WSJ article about the Clintons actually applies to all candidates who would be president, and information they may be holding back. Any information.
Stonewalling and secrecy helped Bill and Hillary Clinton win the White House without a thorough enough vetting in 1992. Now they’re trying to do it again, this time by not disclosing either their income tax returns or the donor list for the Clinton Foundation.
They seem adept at this. And it continues.
Mr. Clinton is now trying to unwind a business relationship with billionaire pal Ron Burkle. This deal made him a partner — along with the ruler of Dubai — in the Yucaipa Global Fund. How much did Mr. Clinton earn from a partnership with men whose business interests might be affected by the policy actions of a President Hillary Clinton? The Clintons and their accountant know, but the public doesn’t.
Voters want and need full disclosure about everything we need to know to make an informed choice.
Here’s the Journal’s analysis of the McCain campaign’s financial standing.
Having decided not to accept public financing during the primary, the possibility of going up against Barack Obama in the general election is a different story. Mr. McCain insists he intends to take public financing, saying: “I made the commitment to the American people.” And, by the way, he expects Mr. Obama to honor his earlier pledge to do the same. But, naturally, Mr. Obama is having second thoughts now that he’s rolling in dough.
And here’s that report on Obama. Which wraps up with this:
The real shame is that voters must suffer through all this. As two believers in complex campaign-finance laws, Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama helped create a system that now requires both to engage in games over 527 spending and tax subsidies. If they really believed in better government, they’d call for a system in which donors can give what they want, so long as it is transparent. That’s called having faith in your citizens, and it would be change we could believe in.
