Legal Fee Deadbeats.
Much to the duo’s annoyance, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled last week that Bill and Hillary can be reimbursed only about $85,000 in legal fees resulting from the Whitewater investigation. This was just a small fraction of the $3.5 million the former (and future?) First Couple had sought. The three-judge panel rejected the Clintons’ argument that they would never have faced such an expensive, lengthy process-a process that resulted in 24 indictments and at least 16 convictions-if not for their positions as President and First Lady (For excerpts from the judges; opinion see humanevents.com.). Sen. Hillary’s most recent financial disclosure forms show that, despite their huge incomes, the couple owed between $1.7 million and $6.5 million in outstanding legal fees at the end of last year. According to the New York Daily News, the Clintons have made "at least" $37 million in speeches, book deals, investments and salaries since they left the White House.
The latest court ruling did not touch the Monica Lewinsky and Paula Jones cases, because former President Clinton agreed not to seek reimbursement for legal work related to the former case, and paid over $850,000 to settle Mrs. Jones’s sexual harassment lawsuit, $375,000 of which came out of Hillary’s blind trust.
Fight Over Funds.
Sen. Clinton is doing her best to grab federal funds for New York City to protect it from terrorist attacks, albeit at the expense of smaller cities. She recently argued that federal money to fight terrorism is being wrongly funneled to places that don’t need it and called for the funding to be redirected toward urban areas, such as New York, that are under heightened threat.
Said Hill: "There needs to be a formula that more realistically assesses the threat across the country. It needs to be based on threat and critical infrastructure. This is a new era in which we have to be more realistic about what we are protecting. We are wasting money if we send it out all over the country just because it’s there." Hillary wants to change the current formula of spending anti-terrorist funds, under which about $3.5 billion is to be distributed to states based on population. A second pool of money of $700 million goes to high-threat locations such as New York City.
Sen. Clinton vowed to fight to change the formula so that more of the $3.5 billion would go to high-threat areas, such as urban areas and regions with nuclear power plants, bridges and dams. She said she would try to make the change in the Homeland Security spending bill headed to the Senate floor later this month.
But she faces high-profile opposition within her own party, as Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont has argued that rural states must not be overlooked in favor of cities when it comes to homeland security funding.
Slowing Sales.
There is a good possibility that sales of Living History may have finally peaked. Although the memoirs have sold more than one million copies, a record fast start for a bestseller, there are 600,000 unsold copies still in print. Hillary’s book will continue in the No. 1 slot on the July 20 New York Times bestseller list, but there are signs that other books are ready to take over the top spot. For example, Ann Coulter’s Treason is No. 2 on the same Times list for the second week in a row. "We’re hearing reports that it’s outselling Hillary in some outlets," said Stuart Applebaum, a spokesman for Crown publishing, which published Treason. Living History has also been knocked from the top on some other lists. Hillary is behind The South Beach Diet by Arthur Agatston, on the most recent Wall Street Journal list and the Barnes & Noble list.
Beating Bush in New York.
After over a month of nonstop gushing book publicity, Hillary is now running neck and neck with President Bush in the latest presidential survey of New York State voters. A Quinnipiac University poll of registered voters showed Mrs. Clinton and President Bush tied with 47% each, which is the first time a potential Democratic candidate has pulled even with the GOP standard bearer in New York. Back in December 2002, a Quinnipiac survey showed that President Bush led Clinton 48% to 45 % among New Yorkers. The latest poll also shows that New York women prefer Hillary over President Bush, 54% to 40%, while men prefer President Bush 56% to 39%. Survey Director Maurice Carroll explained that New York voters would basically "choose Bush over any Democrat except Sen. Clinton."
