Hillary's Debt (to Mark Penn)

Yesterday the Democratic National Committee sent out an email urging Obama supporters to help pay off Hillary Clinton's outstanding campaign debt. DNC exec director Jen O'Malley Dillon wrote:

When she ran for President, Hillary Clinton showed America just what kind of party we are -- one that believes in breaking new ground, with opportunities for everyone to reach our highest office. She blazed a trail for women across the country and represented the values and ideals of all Democrats.

Now she needs our help. When Hillary agreed to join President Obama's administration, she made the decision to continue her lifelong commitment to serving our country. But with that commitment came the reality that she could no longer be personally involved in paying down the debt from her historic campaign.

They're auctioning off a day with Bill as an incentive to give--along with a chance to attend the American Idol finale or spend a weekend with War Room vets James Carville and Paul Begala--so you know things must really be dire. Clinton's been trying to pay off her debt for almost a year after spending a shocking amount of money on a losing campaign. According to Politico, she raised $5.6 million in the last three months and has just one more person to pay off: her infamous pollster, Mark Penn. She paid Penn $3 million last quarter but still owes his firm $2.3 million, which gives you a sense of just how much he was (over)paid. Readers of this blog will be all-too-familiar with Penn and his antics during the campaign. In case you needed a reminder, here's a refresher course from The Atlantic's Josh Green about some of the invaluable advice Penn gave Hillary on how to attack Obama:

The Penn memo suggesting that the campaign target Obama's "lack of American roots" said in part: "All of these articles about his boyhood in Indonesia and his life in Hawaii are geared towards showing his background is diverse, multicultural and putting that in a new light.

"Save it for 2050. ... Every speech should contain the line you were born in the middle of America American to the middle class in the middle of the last century. And talk about the basic bargain as about the deeply American values you grew up with, learned as a child and that drive you today. Values of fairness, compassion, responsibility, giving back.

"Let's explicitly own 'American' in our programs, the speeches and the values. He doesn't.

So let's get this straight. Obama DNC is now helping to reimburse a rival pollster who tried to slime Obama as anti-American?! Doesn't strike me as the most just use of resources. Plus, Penn seems to be doing just fine at his day job running the massive PR conglomerate Burson-Marsteller. Burson just hired former Bush press secretary Dana Perino, where she'll be reunited with Bush advisor Karen Hughes. Maybe they can find a few extra dollars to ease the burdens of their new boss.

Comments (24)

1. No way should we pay off the Clinton's debt.

   Let the rich Clintons pay it themselves.

   Not a penny for Buson & Penn ... who, btw, rep AIG & Blackwater inter al.

   Posted by sloper at 04/21/2009 @ 1:27pm

2. Uh, Ari, doesn't Ms Clinton work for said Obama? Doesn't that mean they kissed and made up so to speak?

   Posted by antisocialist at 04/21/2009 @ 1:51pm

3. Posted by antisocialist at 04/21/2009 @ 1:51pm

   does that mean jesus will pay off your debts to satan?

   Posted by frosty zoom at 04/21/2009 @ 2:39pm

4. BERMAN: "So let's get this straight. Obama DNC is now helping to reimburse....Plus, Penn seems to be doing just fine......Maybe they can find a few extra dollars...."

   Let's really, really "get this straight"! Flat out, your morality is toiletingly & shockingly flushable! Hope you don't have any kids!

   You advocate Your Messiah to treat his deal w/HRC--that of helping her retire her debt--as just another meaningless, `Use it and Toss it under the Bus' campaign promise?

   Truth is, as long as HRC's campaign debt are incurred legitimately, what difference does it really make that her debt is to Penn or anybody else?

   You f**king Libs are disgusting!

   Posted by Happy at 04/21/2009 @ 4:28pm

5. One of the Ads running here.....got curious....on GM's Debt......does it really matter who holds GM bonds? or should the Gubbers only `help' some bondholders but not others?

   ================================

   The 60 Plus Association enlists your support. Help ensure seniors are protected throughout the auto restructuring negotiations.

   Nearly a quarter of bondholders invested in General Motors (GM), including many seniors, could fall victim in the current fight of the Obama Administration and automobile unions.

   If you are a GM bondholder, or know someone who is, sign up today for updates and developments on the GM negotiations. 60 Plus is gathering a coalition of affected bondholders to voice our concerns and protect the life savings of our seniors!

   Contact Information

   *Name:

   *E-Mail Address:

   *Zip:

   The Protect Seniors Campaign is a project of the 60 Plus Association, a non-partisan seniors advocacy group.....

   Posted by Happy at 04/21/2009 @ 4:58pm

6. does that mean jesus will pay off your debts to satan?

   Posted by frosty zoom at 04/21/2009 @ 2:39pm

   He already did on the cross.

   Posted by antisocialist at 04/21/2009 @ 5:19pm

7. Precisely why I don't donate funds to the DNC, or especially the DLC. I like to know what my money is being used to support.

   Posted by CitizenPain at 04/21/2009 @ 5:39pm

8. Because, Mr Berman....

   that's....how...it....works.

   Posted by Mask at 04/21/2009 @ 8:20pm

9. Did the DNC agree to take on this debt before it was spent. If yes, then there's an agreement. If no, then its Clintons debt.

   so simple!

   Posted by notsleepy at 04/21/2009 @ 9:14pm

10. Way I see it is Clinton ought to be paying us off - she got the Secretary of State job didn't she. This was a done deal consumated at AIPAC Moma's house Diane Feinstein. Let AIPAC pay her off. They have alot money to pass around - especially after the Wall Street bailout. These a-holes have no shame. Wait till the taxman comes to call on our children. Hat in hand aristocrats. What a sorry picture.

    Posted by OneVote at 04/21/2009 @ 9:20pm

11. The Protect Seniors Campaign is a project of the 60 Plus Association, a non-partisan seniors advocacy group.....

    Posted by Happy at 04/21/2009 @ 4:58pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    Suppose that is why BO just threw more money at them today? Thought he was telling them to get ready for bankruptcy proceedings. What the hell is happening here - "go on take the money and run."

    Chrysler getting money too....bolstering that balance sheet for Fiat?? John Snow (Chairman of Cerberus Capital de facto Chairman of Chrysler) must be o' so tickled pick - former Treasury Secretary under Dubya.

    Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., along with its affiliates, is one of the world's leading private investment firms. Through its team of investment and operations professionals, Cerberus specializes in providing both financial resources and operational expertise to help transform undervalued companies into industry leaders for long-term success and value creation. Cerberus holds controlling or significant minority interests in companies around the world.

    Transform undervalued companies into industry leaders using taxpayer dollars. Nice job. Beggar's Banquet.

    Posted by OneVote at 04/21/2009 @ 9:33pm

12. Suppose that is why BO just threw more money at them today? Thought he was telling them to get ready for bankruptcy proceedings. What the hell is happening here - "go on take the money and run."

    Chrysler getting money too......

    Posted by OneVote at 04/21/2009 @ 9:33pm

    What a cluster fuck.....circular firing squad of idiots! The Gubbers want Chrysler's bondholders/bankers to take an 85% haircut......guess who they are? "JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs Group (GS, Fortune 500), Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500)...." mostly the same financials getting the TARP bailouts.....

    See the latest, from CNN:

    White House spurns Chrysler lenders' plan Administration official says proposal to write off only 35% of $7 billion they are owed by the automaker in exchange for stock is not in the national interest.

    Last Updated: April 21, 2009: 9:25 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The latest debt reduction offer by Chrysler LLC's lenders is unacceptable because it would yield the lenders an unjustified return, an Obama administration official said Tuesday....

    Chrysler's first-lien lenders have offered to take equity in a restructured automaker allied with Fiat SpA in exchange for writing off about 35% of the $7 billion they are owed.....

    The Obama administration's autos task force had proposed that creditors write off $6 billion of what they are owed......That would represent a write-down of 85% of the loan value.....

    Chrysler, which is now 80% owned by Cerberus, lost $8 billion in 2008 and has warned that it could be forced to liquidate in bankruptcy.......But Chrysler's first-lien creditors could still be paid out at a higher rate than the 15 cents on the dollar they were first offered by U.S. officials earlier this month.....

    Posted by Happy at 04/21/2009 @ 10:36pm

13. If I am a Chrysler (or GM) bondholder, I will take my recovery chances through the bankruptcy process and end up with full exit w/hard dollars rather than take an 85% haircut demanded by the Gubbers AND still end up being OWED MONEY (the 15% balance) by a still-shaky, but even more fucked up Chrysler now wedded to building cars that can't be sold w/out huge Gubber subsidies!

    Oh My God......just let GM and Chrysler go under! Let the Bankruptcy process work!

    Posted by Happy at 04/21/2009 @ 10:41pm

14. Oh My God......just let GM and Chrysler go under! Let the Bankruptcy process work!

    Posted by Happy at 04/21/2009 @ 10:41pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    I am with ya Happy. I would rather let the bankruptcy court handle it. Just unbelievable.

    Posted by OneVote at 04/21/2009 @ 11:36pm

15. that's....how...it....works. Posted by Mask at 04/21/2009 @ 8:20pm

    and it "works" so well......

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/22/2009 @ 12:24am

16. You f**king Libs are disgusting!

    Posted by Happy at 04/21/2009 @ 4:28pm

    I'm sorry happy, but you sound like an idiot. You have lost all rational thought. I used to think you had some rational things to say. Nowadays you bark like Rio and every other insane far right nut holding up signs at those tea parties saying we shouldn't have a black person in the White House. Is this the real Happy? Or are you have a breakdown because you lost money?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/22/2009 @ 01:21am

17. Posted by frosty zoom at 04/22/2009 @ 12:24am

    FZ, you're free to keep dreaming of Utopian ideals and perfect people in politics...

    just be prepared for a lot of disappointment in your life....forever.

    Posted by Mask at 04/22/2009 @ 07:49am

18. You f**king Libs are disgusting!

    Posted by Happy at 04/21/2009 @ 4:28pm

    oooh, from you that hurts.

    no it doesn't.

    Seeing as you don't have an ethical bone in your body, your comments mean nothing to anybody.

    -----

    Asking the voters to pay off her debt. Sounds like the prominent paradigm of our "leaders". The Paulson/Summers/Geithner Plan.

    Posted by crabwalk at 04/22/2009 @ 08:42am

19. Rule 1 Never invest any more money in the stock market than you are willing to lose!!!

    Let them go bankrupt...that will sort out the mess...airlines do it all the time and stay in business

    Posted by notsleepy at 04/22/2009 @ 11:45am

20. I have been waiting for someone to ask this question. The entire proposition is ridiculous.

    Posted by hivanh at 04/23/2009 @ 12:46pm

21. We were solicited by e-mail for funds to help pay off this debt. We live on a modest middle class income. Let me think about this - Hillary and Bill, who are making multi-millions every year from speaking engagements, in part due to the attention they received from Hillary's campaign, are asking ordinary folks to help pay off their debt? What they owe is a drop in the bucket compared to what they earn every year. Not us. We will be putting all of our - very modest - support into promoting Obama's policies for the future.

    Posted by wba at 04/23/2009 @ 12:57pm

22. I think it's time for debt forgiveness from Mr. Penn. He didn't get her thru the primaries. If memory is correct, someeone (Bill C.) came in and revised the campaign course in the last few months. She almost took it all--had it not been for Penn's "help." It's also true that people of lesser means should not be asked to contribute to reducing that debt. Clintons can make it up themselves; however, Penn should write it off and leave us and the Clintons alone. He was their poor choice. Sometimes it seems as if these guys are just punching a clock and not really trying to earn the ridiculous amounts of money they charge campaigns. On the other side: McCain spent disastrous amounts of money early on and almost had to fly cargo for a few months. What did he get from his hirelings?! It appears that both (all) political sides are not getting what they are paying for. They're just contributing to a DC version of Wall Street greed.

    Posted by White Tiger at 04/23/2009 @ 2:27pm

23. It is one big club or don't you get it? Obama was slow to join but now that he has he is one of them, it's the American way.

    Posted by esthermem at 04/23/2009 @ 2:47pm

24. Why don't you all move on and exile Penn to ignominy. I remind you that I support Mr. Obama wholeheartedly even though he has been less than wise in appointing his lame economic team (especially Li'l Timmy "TurboTax" Geithner who should be dismissed)

    My slogan for Hillary's campaign was and is still accurate:

    We've had 2oo+ years of motherf---ers, it's time for a mother.

    Let Hillary do what she must to retire her debts; you are not required to give as I have. To date, she is the single flawless member of the cabinet. Only one who comes close is Ms. Solis.

    Peace, people, peace. -- Peter Sharma III anoracle@gmail.com greenwindmill.com

    Posted by anoracle at 04/24/2009 @ 4:27pm