Denver, June 28 – Hillary Rodham Clinton has published a book Hard Choices. But interestingly, Clinton is not in news because of her book or her take on a future bid at the top US post, but because how she has talked about her wealth.
Hillary Clinton’s book Hard Choices is the world’s longest CV:
Clinton is a hardworking champion of women, children and the poor. Or she’s a wealthy elitist. Which is it? If Clinton decides to again run for US president, how voters answer that question could play a role in whether she’s able to win the White House in 2016.
Perhaps the biggest news to come from the recent launch of Clinton’s memoir of her time as secretary of state isn’t what the book says about the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, but what she’s said about her personal finances while promoting the book.
It started with an interview with ABC News in which she said she and husband Bill were “dead broke” when they left the White House in early 2001, wrestling with millions of dollars in legal bills.
Then came an interview with The Guardian, in which Clinton appeared to draw a distinction by saying her family paid an “ordinary income tax, unlike a lot of people who are truly well off.” AP reports how the former Secretary of State and former President Bill Clinton have discussed their family’s wealth in recent interviews.
Hillary Clinton to ABC News, broadcast June 9:
“We came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt. We had no money when we got there, and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for Chelsea’s education. You know, it was not easy. Bill has worked really hard – and it’s been amazing to me – he’s worked very hard. First of all, we had to pay off all our debts, which was, you know, he had to make double the money because of obviously taxes and then pay off the debts and get us houses and take care of family members.”
Hillary Clinton to the Guardian, published June 21:
“They don’t see me as part of the problem because we pay ordinary income tax, unlike a lot of people who are truly well off, not to name names, and we have done it through dint of hard work. We know how blessed we are. We were neither of us raised with these kinds of opportunities, and we worked really hard for them. But all one has to do is look at my record going back to my time in college and law school to know not only where my heart is, but where my efforts have been.”
Bill Clinton to NBC News, interviewed June 24:
“She’s not out of touch. And she advocated and worked as a senator for things that were good for ordinary people. And before that, all her life. And the people asking her questions should put this into some sort of context.
“I remember when we were in law school, she was out trying to get legal assistance for poor people. I remember she was working on believing in paid leave for pregnant mothers in the 1970s. So I think if you don’t give the most in-depth answer to a question because you immediately remember what you felt like the day we left as opposed to what it looks like to everybody else now who’s having trouble, you can say, ‘Ok, I’ve got to clean that up,’ which she did.”
Hillary Clinton to PBS “NewsHour,” broadcast June 25:
“I shouldn’t have said the five or so words that I said, but my inartful use of those few words doesn’t change who I am, what I’ve stood for my entire life, what I stand for today. Bill and I have had terrific opportunities, both of us, you know, have worked hard, but we’ve been grateful for everything that we’ve been able to achieve, and sadly that’s just not true for most Americans today.
So many Americans are feeling, you know, shut out, shut down, the great recession hasn’t ended for too many Americans, wages are flat, families are struggling, not enough new jobs or new businesses are being created, and it’s important that we all try to figure out what we’re going to do, and that’s what I’ve done my entire life, fighting for a higher minimum wage, or family leave, now paid family leave which I believe in, equal pay for equal work, I have a very long record.”
-INDIA TODAY
