The Clintons talk about the importance of campaign finance reform, but money and power ride together. If there is any indication of the power currently residing in the Capitol and in the White House, its not only the millions flowing into campaigns, but the wanton disregard for who it comes from. Access goes to those willing to pay.
Despite the claim by politicians that they are in it to support the poor and downtrodden, it is the wealthy and big donors who get to hobnob with the President and First Lady.
Jorge Cabrera, a drug smuggler and supporter of President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign, was asked in November 1995 for a campaign contribution in a Havana hotel by a prominent Democratic fund-raiser. On his return to the United States several days after that meeting, Cabrera wrote a check for $20,000 to the Democratic National Committee from an account that included the proceeds from smuggling cocaine from Colombia to the United States. Already a two time convicted felon, this earned him a visit to the White House.
In early January 1996, three weeks after having attended the Christmas reception at the White House, Cabrera was arrested and charged with importing 6,000 pounds of cocaine into the United States on boats through the Florida Keys. He pleaded guilty to those charges and was sentenced to 19 years in federal prison and fined $1.5 million.
Macau criminal boss Ng Lapseng. Ng has made most of his money through prostitution. Ng also, on occasion, deals in heroin, murder for hire and gun smuggling. Ng also donated thousands of dollars to the DNC through the Clintons which earned him 12 visits to the White House-- despite knowledge by law enforcement officials of his criminal background.
Pleaded guilty to illegally donating money to the 1996 Clinton-Gore reelection campaign. He also pleaded guilty to bank fraud and tax evasion and to illegally donating to the campaign of Massachusetts Democrat, Sen. John Kerry.
"I see the White House is like a subway -- you have to put in coins to open the gates." Johnny Chung talking about the $50,000 he gave Hillary Clinton's top aide while seeking VIP treatment at the White House.
In 1987, Sharpton loudly supported Tawana Brawley, insisting a 15-year-old black girl had been kidnapped and raped by white men (which turned out to be a hoax). He told reporters that one of the rapists was a prosecutor named Steve Pagones. When Pagones, who had never met Brawley objected, Sharpton responded, "If we're lying, sue us!" Sharpton was sued and lost.
In 1991, anti-semitic riots erupted in Brooklyn when a 7-year-old black child, Gavin Cato, was accidentally killed by a Hasidic driver. With Sharpton leading demonstrations, three hours after the child was killed, a gang of 20 young black men shouting "Kill the Jews!" knifed to death an Orthodox Jew, a visiting Australian scholar named Yankel Rosenbaum.
At Cato's funeral, Sharpton blasted Jewish "diamond merchants" for the boy's death. "We must not reprimand our children for outrage," he insisted. "It ... was put in them by an oppressive system." He mobilized hundreds of anti-Jewish demonstrators. They marched along Eastern Parkway, chanting, "No justice, no peace."
In 1995, Sharpton led protests against Freddy's Fashion Mart, a Harlem clothing store with a Jewish owner. On his radio show, he demanded that the "white interloper" be forced out of Harlem. The head of Sharpton's Buy Black committee vowed to "make this cracker suffer." On Dec. 8, one of the protesters walked into the store, began shooting, and set Freddy's Fashion Mart on fire. Eight people died.
Dr. Joseph Douze - Another "contributor" invited to a White House Christmas party. He was indicted for mail fraud and conspiracy for staging false accidents and filing $5 million worth of fraudulent insurance claims. Douze, who ran for president in Haiti in the late 1980's was once jailed for trying to blow up a bridge.
Kathy Bush - A woman who once lobbied the White House for improved health insurance was sentenced to 5 years in prison for making her daughter so sick that the girl's gall bladder, appendix and part of her intestines had to be removed. She went to the White House in 1994, met with the first lady and drew national attention as she and her daughter testified before Congress. She suffers from Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
David Chang - Another "contributor" attended two State dinners this year. He has recently pleaded guilty to felony charges for illegal campaign contributions.
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