REPORTER: “Sir, you said in your speech . . . you’re going to talk about some of the excesses of the 1990s, when a lot of money was flying around, people were playing a lot of games with money. You weren’t president then, Bill Clinton was president. Do you think in some way he contributed to that, set a moral tone in any way?”
PRESIDENT BUSH: “No.” (President Bush, Press Conference, July 8, 2002)
(This is a statesman, ed. note)
Clinton: Republicans Derailed Accounting Reform
Clinton Rhetoric (. . . and this is a politician. ed. note) Clinton Accused Congressional Republicans And SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt Of Derailing His Corporate Accounting Reform Proposals. “I’m sure that some of the people in Congress that stopped a lot of the reforms I tried to put through are probably rethinking that now. Arthur Levitt tried to stop the Enron accounting issues — using the same accounting company being consultant and accountant — and the Republicans stopped it.” Clinton added that Republicans fought Levitt’s effort, and Harvey Pitt was the leader trying to stop us from ending those abuses. That is a matter of record.”
David M. Halfbinger, Clinton Says Republicans Blocked His Audit Reforms, The New York Times, July 25, 2002
Clinton Said Republicans Stopped Him From Addressing Corporate Malfeasance:
“There was corporate malfeasance both before he took office and after. The difference is I actually tried to do something about it and their party stopped it. And one of the people who stopped our attempt to stop Enron account was made Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.”
Interview With Bill Clinton, ABC 7 News, July 26, 2002
The Facts:
- Senator Lieberman Has Been Responsible For Sinking Two Regulations That Would Have Required Higher Accountability Standards In The Industry. [Lieberman] played a key role in killing two major pieces of accounting reform in the last eight years.
- In 1994, the Financial Accounting Standards Board proposed rules that would require companies to charge the value of stock options granted to workers against current earnings.
- The Senate passed a Lieberman-sponsored resolution urging the Financial Accounting Standards Board to back off on its proposed rules.
- In 2000 Lieberman joined with 13 colleagues to write a letter to the board, urging it to postpone rules that would have called for new disclosure on mergers and acquisitions.
- Again the board backed off critical parts of its new rules.
Jim Jubak, An Enronitis Cure, TheStreet.com, February 13, 2002
In November 1993, Senator Lieberman Scolded SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt For Not Stepping In To Overrule The Accounting Proposal Put Forth By The Financial Accounting Standards Board. Lieberman urged the SEC to step in. The FASB process is broken. It’s time for the SEC chairman [Arthur Levitt] to step in and put an end to this misguided exercise in accounting theory. He should do so because the process is flawed. He should do so because the proposal is bad policy, bad economics and bad accounting.
Sen. Lieberman Mocks FASB, Bloomberg News, November 17, 1993
Senator Lieberman Said He “Had No Regrets” About His Role In Killing The Accounting Standards Proposals. Lieberman said he was “proud to consider myself a pro-business Democrat,” and that he “had no regrets” about his opposition to the FASB and IASB proposals.
David E. Rosenbaum, “Lieberman’s Pro-Business Views May Haunt Him,” The New York Times, July 14, 2002
Shortly Before The Enron Scandal Broke, Senator Lieberman Repeated His Opposition To Forcing Companies To Account For Stock Options. In an October 15, 2001 letter to the International Accounting Standards Board, Senator Lieberman said it was “unfortunate that IASB is now relitigating the issue [of stock options].” The Senator said that the IASB’s proposal was “inconsistent with its mission,” and charged that IASB was biased because it had “already expressed a view on the desired outcome.”
Senator Lieberman, Letter To IASB Chairman Paul Volker, October 15, 2001
Clinton: Republicans Derailed Securities Litigation Reform Clinton Rhetoric ( . . . who still can’t get his facts straight. ed. note)
Clinton Blamed Republicans For Overriding His Veto Of A Securities-Industry Bill. “Clinton said he was overridden by Republicans when he vetoed a securities-industry bill that would have basically cut off investors from being able to sue if they were getting the shaft.” And he recalled that Treasury secretary, Lawrence Summers, tried to crack down on the use of offshore accounts to conceal corporate financial information, but that Sen. Gramm and other Republicans stopped that.
David M. Halfbinger, “Clinton Says Republicans Blocked His Audit Reforms,” The New York Times, July 25, 2002
The Facts:
Senator Lieberman Voted To Help The Securities Industry Protect Itself Against Lawsuits.
H.R. 1058, Roll Call #589: Agreed to 65-30: R 46-4; D 19-26, December 5, 1995
After President Clinton Vetoed The Securities Litigation Act, Senator Lieberman Voted To Override His President’s Objections.
H.R. 1058, Roll Call #612: Agreed to 68-30: R 48-4; D 20-26, December 22, 1995
Corporate Joe Helped Companies Protect Themselves Against Lawsuits. Senator Lieberman has opposed tighter accounting rules and supported restrictions on lawsuits against companies and their accountants.
David E. Rosenbaum, “Lieberman’s Pro-Business Views May Haunt Him,” The New York Times, July 14, 2002
SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT (H.R. 1058)
Description: “An Act to amend the Federal securities laws to curb certain abusive practices in private securities litigation, and for other purposes. Introduced by Representative Tom Bliley on February 27, 1995, it became Public Law No. 104-67 on December 22, 1995 over the President’s veto. (H.R. 1058, Roll Call #589: Agreed to 65-30: R 46-4; D 19-26, December 5, 1995)
Note: The original vote on passage in the Senate was vetoed by President Clinton.
Tally: 19 Democrats voted “Aye” with Republicans to pass the bill. They include: Baucus, Johnston, Moseley-Braun, Bingaman, Kennedy, Murray, Dodd, Kerry, Pell, Exon, Kohl, Reid, Feinstein, Lieberman, Robb, Ford, Mikulski, Rockefeller, Harkin
Note: 20 Democrats voted with Republicans to override the President’s veto. Baucus, Bradley, Johnston, Moseley-Braun, Bingaman, Kennedy, Murray, Dodd, Kerry, Pell, Exon, Kohl, Reid, Feinstein, Lieberman, Robb, Ford, Mikulski, Rockefeller, Harkin.
H.R. 1058, Roll Call #612: Agreed to 68-30: R 48-4; D 20-26, December 22, 1995
Clinton: President Bush Should Do More To Fight AIDS Clinton Rhetoric ( . . . because it never was about telling the truth. ed. note)
Clinton Attacked The Bush Administration For Concentrating Too Much On The War On Terrorism And Too Little On The Global AIDS Epidemic.
I’m all for fighting in Afghanistan . . . but no one believes that we can build a safe world just by preventing and punishing bad things, Clinton said at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition’s annual convention. Clinton urged world leaders to spend the $10 billion a year recommended by experts to fight AIDS globally, with the United States contributing about $2 billion.
The United States now spends up to $1 billion on worldwide anti-AIDS efforts. That sounds like a lot of money, Clinton said. But it’s less than two months of the Afghan war.
Kate Grossman, “Clinton Bashes Bush For Lack Of Focus On AIDS,” Chicago Sun-Times, July 24, 2002
Clinton Criticized The Bush Administration During An MTV HIV/AIDS Special For Its Lack Of AIDS Funding.
“Clinton” took a jab at President Bush. Pointing out that the United States produces 22 percent of the world’s GDP, and that the poorest countries can’t afford to spend anything on AIDS, Clinton told the group that the nation’s contribution should equal 25 percent of the U.N. fund, or $2.5 billion. “We should be able to come up with money like this,” Clinton said. “Where we need to be [would cost] less than two months of the
war in Afghanistan.”
Clinton spent an impromptu second hour helping the youths brainstorm how they could do more to fight AIDS”
Fred Tasker, “Young Men And Women Talk Facts, U.S. Funding With Clinton,” The Miami Herald, July 12, 2002
At A Global AIDS Conference, Clinton Said He Wishes He “Could Have Done More” To Fight HIV. Bill Clinton said, “AIDS is an issue that was not getting the requisite amount of effort, I thought the potential for destruction was breathtaking, America was a little slow on the uptake, and there it was exploding.”
He called the epidemic an economic, security and humanitarian issue for which the United States should pay its fair share, adding, That requires us to go from $800 million a year now to $2.5 billion, which is a couple of months of the Afghan war.
Asked about what he had done to fight AIDS as president, Mr. Clinton said: Do I wish I could have done more? Yes, but I do not know that I could have done it.
Lawrence Altman, “Clinton Urges Global Planning To Halt H.I.V.,” The New York Times, July 12, 2002
Clinton Regrets Not Fighting Harder For A Needle Swap Program While In Office.
“Former president Bill Clinton said Thursday that he should have fought harder while in office to fund needle-exchange programs that help reduce the rising AIDS toll among drug addicts. “I think I was wrong about that,” Clinton said. “We were worried about drug use going up again in America.” Clinton said Congress was evenly divided on the issue during his last term, and he may have been able to get enough GOP votes to fund needle-exchange programs. “But I’m not sure that even if a Republican administration had proposed that, it would pass.”
Steve Sternberg, “Clinton Wrong On Needle Swaps,” USA Today, July 12, 2002
The Facts:
AIDS Activist Groups Have No Criticism For Bush’s Efforts. “Bush hasn’t received the same criticism his dad, or even former President Clinton, did from the HRC and other AIDS activists. That’s because he’s sustained funding for AIDS programs. And Bush put the AIDS czar’s office right across the street from the White House, while Clinton made sure it opened a couple of blocks away. In a community that reads symbolism into everything, that’s made a difference.”
“Gays Approve Of AIDS Move By Bush,” White House Weekly, July 23, 2002
President Bush Has Aggressively Funded AIDS Research Efforts. “U.S. officials said they are doubling international spending on AIDS in the next 18 months. At the AIDS conference in Spain, they described a new $500 million program aimed at preventing mother-to-child transmission and improving health care delivery in Africa and the Caribbean.
President Bush also has pledged $500 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, a quarter of the fund’s pledges and more than any other nation, U.S. officials said. America’s total spending on AIDS/HIV this year is more than $16 billion, up from $14.2 billion two years ago, with most spent in the United States.”
Kate Grossman, “Clinton Bashes Bush For Lack Of Focus On AIDS,” Chicago Sun-Times, July 24, 2002
The Bush Administration Has Spent More Money To Prevent AIDS Than Clinton Administration.
“The U.S. delegation is headed by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, who will address the gathering on Tuesday. At a news conference yesterday, he said the United States is committed to the
fight against global HIV/AIDS. We want to serve those most in need, and we’re ready not just to discuss and learn, but to act. He noted that the Bush administration has provided more money to fight AIDS overseas than any previous administration, including that of former president Bill Clinton, who will speak at the conference’s closing ceremonies.”
David Brown, “Study: AIDS Shortening Life In 51 Nations,” The Washington Post, July 8, 2002
Clinton: Taxpayers Owe Clinton For Whitewater Legal Mess Clinton Rhetoric ( . . . it was always about power, control, money and ego. ed. note)
According To The Clintons, The Federal Government Should Pay Their Legal Bills. “Former President Bill Clinton and his wife have asked a court to have taxpayers reimburse them for legal costs related to the Whitewater investigation, their lawyer said in a statement late Friday. “The Clintons paid $1.3 million in legal bills last year, according the Senate filing. It is unknown how much of the outstanding bills are related to the probe into the failed Arkansas land deal. The Clintons were never charged in connection with the Whitewater probe. In a statement, first reported by ABC News, Clinton lawyer David Kendall said he was seeking reimbursement under the independent counsel statute and was following the precedent set by ex-presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, both Republicans.
Shannon McCaffrey, “Clintons Ask Taxpayers To Reimburse Whitewater Legal Bills,” The Associated Press, July 26, 2002
CNN’s Aaron Brown Reported That It’s “Payback Time” For Bill Clinton
“It may be payback time for the Clinton, the Clinton family in terms of Whitewater in a strangely literal sense. Former President Clinton and Senator Clinton have asked the federal government to pay the legal fees they racked up during the Whitewater investigation. Under the law, those who are investigated but not indicted have the right to request reimbursement. They’re said to be asking for $3.5 million in legal fees.
CNN’s “NewsNight,” July 26, 2002
The Facts:
The Clintons Have “Raked In Millions” Since Leaving The White House. “The Clintons raked in millions of dollars last year after leaving the White House. The former president earned $9.2 million on the lecture circuit, and Hillary Clinton – now New York’s junior senator – received an $2.85 million advance on her memoirs. But they still have legal bills totaling between $1.75 million and $6.5 million, according to the financial disclosure form Mrs. Clinton was require to file as a member of the Senate.”
