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A nobody; a nitwit; a pilot; a motorcyclist; a raconteur; a lover...of life - who loves to laugh, who tries to not take myself (or anything) too seriously...just a normal guy who knows his place in the universe by being in touch with my spiritual side. What more is there?

22 October 2019

Throwing Good Money After Bad?

One last thing on politics before I stop...

Apparently, it is common for those in government to use foreign countries to enrich themselves.  As the Trump-Ukraine debacle unfolds, we discover how money flows out of the country only to flow back in as "commissions" or "consulting fees" to those who set up the deals.  I am not even surprised by this.

I read an article on the Daily Caller website that listed all of the companies Hunter Biden formed with his buddy, Devon Archer.  It was quite complicated.  Together, they were working for foreign companies in both China and Ukraine.  The amount of money these two jokers amassed in various fees may never be tallied and known.

What is interesting to me is that there are absolute, undeniable financial ties between China and Ukraine.  I ask myself, "Why would China be interested in business in Ukraine?"  I suspect it's so people can keep money moving around so much that others lose track of it.

And no, I don't think these activities are limited to the Biden boy and Devon Archer.  What were the nationalities of the biggest foreign donors to the Clinton Foundation?  By their own admission: Ukraine.  Not Great Britain or any other source you might imagine.  Ukraine.


What's so goddam special about Ukraine?  And what does the "humanitarian" Clinton Foundation do for the people of Ukraine?

It's clear, at least to me, that the phony-baloney "consulting" jobs (like those give to Hunter Biden - and others), and "donations" by foreign nationals to organizations like the Clinton Foundation...it's all just a means of obtaining access.  

And maybe that's just how global politics works.  "We'll make sure your country gets $1 billion in aid, but you hire my people as 'consultants' and 'advisors' at $50,000 per month.  Got it?"  Money flows out; money flows in; the economic world keeps turning.  Unless there's some big scandal, nobody (surely not the American public) is any the wiser.

Vice President Bigmouth Joe Biden bragged...bragged! that he and President Obama were all set to withhold $1.8 billion in aid to Ukraine unless a particular General Prosecutor was fired and replaced.  Sure enough, the deed was done.  As was the loan.

My question: What happened to all that money?  I mean, we know that "some" of it came back into the U.S. in the form of consulting fees, bogus agency fees and kickbacks, but where did the rest go?  Does nobody care that the U.S. can simply give away a billion dollars or so to help the economy of some shithole ex-Russian country just so they don't side with Vladdy Putin?  Is this why our national debt is so high?  How much more money do we give away every year to other nations?  

And why do we keep doing it?

4 comments:

Ed said...

Whenever I've scrambled, pulled, clawed my way up an echelon from where I was before, I have realized that there is a whole set of "perks" that come along with it that I hadn't known about. Kind of like a good old boys club.

The whole Biden thing reeks of someone getting those "perks" of status even if it can never be proven.

Have you heard that one about how to tell a corrupt politician? They are the one moving their mouth.

Bob Barbanes: said...

Well, I mean... Even Hunter admits that he wouldn't have gotten some opportunities if he wasn't for his last name. Could it be that he's too naïve to understand that *other* people were benefitting from having him "onboard" just as he was benefitting financially? What's the old expression: "Follow the money?" When you look at the number of different companies the young Biden was part or partners of, it all seems contrived to generate profits and hide the money.

But how many other politicians are doing the exact same thing? We know that the Clintons are. Who else? Who else is brokering "access" for consulting fees, or accepting "advisory" positions on Boards of Directors in exchange for their favorable influence in Congress.

Surely it did not start with Donald Trump!

Ed said...

"How many politicians are doing the exact same thing?"

I would guess it is probably all of them.

"Surely it did not start with Donald Trump!"

Well the emolument clause was added to the constitution due to concerns that ambassadors for our country, Ben Franklin included, were becoming corrupt due to accepting gifts so the answer to this is that it started even before we had our first president. The better question to which I would like to know the answer is which president did absolutely nothing illegal or morally wrong during their tenure in office? I'm guessing it is a very small list.

Bob said...

Didn’t you hear, Ed? The emoluments clause is phony.