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04 Dec 2011 09:13

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Culture: Chelsea Clinton’s slow reinvention: Now she’s embracing the spotlight

“For most of my life, I deliberately led a private life in the public eye,” Clinton notes. The former first daughter has worked out a different tactic in recent weeks — it involves being a journalist for NBC News. source

01 Dec 2011 10:54

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U.S.: World AIDS Day: Obama boosts U.S. stake in the battle against AIDS

  • $50 million in new funding to continue to fight AIDS source
  • » How that money would help: The Obama administration has a couple of goals for that money. First, they plan to get antiretroviral drugs to 2 million more people by 2013. Second, they plan to give the drugs to 1.5 million more HIV-positive pregnant women, in an effort to prevent the disease from getting passed on to their children. The president, with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush by his side, is announcing the renewed anti-AIDS initiatives (as a part of World AIDS Day) as we write this.

09 Nov 2011 14:21

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Politics: Bill Clinton: why not three terms for a president?

  • Wonder where he got that idea? To be clear, Clinton is not proposing this as some sort of self-interested scheme to sweep back into the White House — he emphasized that it shouldn’t count for anybody who’s already served, and with a recurring history of heart issues and the Clinton Global Initiative to run, it seems unlikely a third Presidential effort would be in the best interests of his health or professional life. That said, his argument is simple and seems reasonable enough: that citizens should have the right to elect a president to a third term, but only after he’s taken a term off. (Photo by Mortiz Hager, courtesy of World Economic Forum) source

15 Aug 2011 17:50

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Politics: Clinton: Rick Perry is a “good looking rascal”

  • I got tickled by watching Governor Perry announce for governor, for president. He’s a good looking rascal.
  • Bill Clinton • At a firefighter’s conference in New York. He went on to illustrate the hypocrisy of someone like Perry, whose political career has hinged on hatred and mistrust of the federal government, running for president; “I mean, this is crazy,” Clinton said. But that’s boilerplate Perry criticism; as far as we’re concerned, the real story is that he called him a “good looking rascal.” We’re now going to utilize every resource at our disposal to try and find video of this. source

06 Jul 2011 14:26

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Politics: Bill Clinton puts recovery ahead of deficit reduction

  • Almost nobody’s talking about one of the central points that everyone who has analyzed this situation makes – including the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission – which [is] you shouldn’t do any of this until the economy is clearly recovering.
  • Bill Clinton • Discussing the deficit-reduction fight going on in Washington, with dealing over the debt limit functioning as a negotiating tool for the GOP to push for spending cuts. This is an angle that’s been taken by many mainstream economists (though obviously, the world of economics can be as contentious as anywhere else), namely that the ability to put off paying down the deficit for a while, though it may not jive with the popular notion of fiscal responsibility, is a valuable tactic to avoid straining the economic recovery. To use an overly simplistic metaphor, if we were to gain thirty pounds over the course of a year, working out twelve hours every day wouldn’t be a healthful way to slim back down. It takes a while to gain the weight, so it’s only natural and measured that it’ll take a while to safely cast it off again. source

16 Jun 2011 00:09

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Politics: Sex scandals hurt Republicans more than Democrats

  • -7.7% effect of a sex scandal on the average Republican politician’s vote share
  • -4.9% effect of a sex scandal on the average Democratic politician’s vote share source

19 Mar 2011 03:34

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U.S.: RIP Warren Christopher: Clinton Secretary of State dies at 85

Christopher, who served during Clinton’s first term, “died from complications of kidney and bladder cancer.” That’s his signature on the Oslo Accords. source
 

21 Feb 2011 12:50

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Politics: University of Arizona announces new Institute in wake of Tucson

  • the talk Much discussion was had in the wake of the Tucson, Arizona shootings at the hands of Jared Loughner regarding civil political discourse. As these things tend to, we expected this surge of goodwill to not really go anywhere.
  • the walk? The University of Arizona will establish the National Institute for Civil Discourse, a non-partisan organization with honorary chairmen Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush (those two do everything together). source

09 Feb 2011 15:26

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U.S.: VA Senate: Terry McAuliffe might run to replace Webb

  • Fresh off Jim Webb’s retirement announcement, Clinton super-fundraiser, former DNC chair and failed gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe’s name has surfaced as a possible replacement. Asked about it, he said that he “can’t rule it out.” If he does run, expect to see Slick Willy making tons of appearances on his behalf: the two have been close for the better part of two decades, and Clinton is nothing if not loyal. source

18 Jan 2011 20:38

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Politics: Rahm Emanuel wins award for “biggest guest star in mayoral race”

Doesn’t matter who the other guy brought to his pep rally in Chicago. RAHM BROUGHT SLICK WILLY! Rahm wins the PR battle. (Unless the other guy brings Obama.) But will he win the election? source