Money, money, money!

Money, money, money! Maureen Dowd WASHINGTON Clinton nostalgia is be- ing replaced by Clinton neuralgia. Why is it that America's roil family always seems better in abstract than in concrete? The closer it gets to running the world once more, the more you are reminded of all the things that bugged you the last time around. The Clintons' neediness, their sense of what they are owed in material terms for their public service, their as- sumption that they're entitled to every- one's money. Are we about to put the "For Rent" sign back on the Lincoln Bedroom? If Americans are worried about money in politics, there is no larger concern than the Clintons, who are cos- seted in a world where rich people end- lessly scratch the backs of rich people. They have a Wile E. Coyote problem; something is always blowing up. Just when the Clintons are supposed to be floating above it all, on a dignified cloud of do-gooding leading into 2016, pop-pop- pop, little explosions go off everywhere, reminding us of the troubling connec- tions and values they drag around. There's the continuing grotesque spectacle of Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin. And there's the sketchy in- volvement of the Clintons' most prolific fund-raiser, Terry McAuliffe, and Hil- lary's brother Tony Rodham in a ven- ture, GreenTech Automotive; it's under federal investigation and causing fire- works in Virginia, where McAuliffe is running for governor. Many Israelis were disgusted to learn that Bill Clinton was originally sched- uled to scarf up $500,000 to speak at the Israeli president Shimon Peres's 90th birthday festivities in June. I guess be- ing good friends with Peres. and broker- ing the accord that won Peres the Nobel Peace Prize were not reasons enougho for Bill to celebrate. The Israeli branch of the Jewish National Fund had agreed to donate half a mil to the Clinton foun- dation. Isn't the J.N.F. "supposed to plant trees with donor cash?" Haaretz chided before the fund pulled back. "I guess money does grow on trees." I never thought I'd have to read the words Ira Magaziner again. But the man who helped Hillary torpedo her own health care plan is back. In an article in this newspaper last week headlined "Unease at Clinton Foundation," Nicholas Confessore and Amy Chozick offered a compelling chronicle about an internal review of the rechristened Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation that illuminated the fungible finances and tensions between Clinton loyalists and the foundation ar- chitects Magaziner and Doug Band, former bag carrier for President Clin- ton. You never hear about problems with Jimmy Carter's foundation; he just quietly goes around the world eradicat- ing Guinea worm disease. But Magaziner continues to be a Gyro Gearloose, the inept inventor of Donald Duck's Duckburg. "On one occasion, Mr. Magaziner dis- patched a team of employees to fly around the world for months gathering ideas for a climate change proposal that never got off the grouhd," Confessore . and Chozick said. We are supposed to believe that every dollar given to a Clinton is a dollar that improves the world. But is it? Clinton- world is a galaxy where personal en- richment and political advancement blend seamlessly, and where a cast of jarringly familiar characters pad their pockets every which way to Sunday. "Efforts to insulate the foundation from potential conflicts have high- lighted e n ta n g jeu tsht eh co iof nf i sc th iatrcan i7 wbeortko dis - from Mr. Clinton's moneymaking ven- tures and Mrs. Clinton's political fu- ture," Confessore and Chozick wrote. waTahaet,n-ii—rra founded by ntatiotiagetuivi cottflit ti called Teneo. a scarnm blend rate consulting, Y tkirPri.' merchant banking, relate and son to put Huma, a a sum:1°1e daughter to Htllary. on tshuermgate Even Big Daddy Bill was a Payrdi. As this newspaper renonediPaidTeneeadviser worked on retainer, charging monthly fees up to $250.000 and recruiting cheats from among Clinton Foundation donors. while encouraging others to become foundation donors. The Clintons dis- tanced themselves from Teneo when they got scorched with bad publicity after the collapse of its client MF Global. the international brokerage firm led by the former New Jer- sey governor Jon Corzine. And Chelsea is now t shaping the founda- I tion's future, and her i political future. So there may not be as much oxygen for her troublesome surrogate siblings. As George Packer wrote in The New Yorker, Bill Clinton earned $17 million last year giving speeches, including one to a Lagos company for $700,000. Hil- lary gets $200,000 a speech. Until Harry Truman wrote his mem- oirs, the ex-president struggled on an Army pension of $112.56 a month. "1 copidszater lendmtialtatiogitrazisar- t ion, however respectabla:themnidi "that would commercialize on thi . Clintonworid is a galaxy where personal enrichment and political advancement blend seam- lessly. prestige and dignity of of e of the presidency." So quaint, Packer wrote. observing, "The top of American life has het lime a very cozy and lucrative place, where the social capital of who you are and who you know brings unimaginable returns." The Clintons want to do big worthy things, but they also want to squeeze money from rich people wherever they live on planet Earth, insatiably gob- bling up cash for politics and charity and themselves from the same incestu- ous swirl. St 0! EFTA01132130