I applaud his international efforts. Maybe now he can dedicate some cash to help out the millions of Americans caught in the TANF quagmire.

Great post. =)

Just as a point of clarification, the Clinton foundation referred to in the income tax discussion is the Clinton Family Foundation. That's where the Clinton's made their charitable donations. They are the only contributors, and they direct all its activities. They've contributed about $10 mil to it, and as of the end of 2006, they'd distributed about half that.

What you're talking about is the William J. Clinton Foundation. The Clintons haven't actually put any of their own money into the WJC foundation. That's not a criticism, just an observation. The WJC Foundation has does some amazing things.

Anyway, I just wanted to be clear that there are two separate foundations, and it's important to distinguish between them in discussions.

Information and tax returns about both foundations can be found at foundationcenter.org.

The tax returns for both foundations can also be found at guidestar.org.

Except, the ones for 2006, due in May 2007, aren't there.

It's possible that they've been filed with the IRS, but not scanned and posted at guidestar.

If that's what's up, then anyone who wants to ask the foundation directly is entitled to get a copy of the form.

What's cool about guidestar is that you can learn about the nonprofit without asking their staff to do anything at all to give you access. If you adore the foundation, you aren't taking a minute out of their work. If you're feeling less friendly, you aren't giving them a heads up that you're curious about their tax-free work.

Except, if you want to know what the Clinton foundations did in 2006, you do have to intrude.

Okay, I looked it up for fun...
2006
Mikva Challenge (Organization of Frm Clinton White House Counsel) sponsors programs to involve kids about democracy 3300

Wellstone Action 5000
American Nurses Foundation 35,000
Shakespeare Theater Company 20,000
School of american Ballet 40,000
Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund 75,000
Friends of the Fountain Fund 500 (Maintains a fountain in Colo. springs!)
Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund 25,000
Pulaski Heights Baptist Church (AR) 5000
Central Ark Library System 25,000
National Bureau of Asian Research 25,000
Clinton Birthplace Foundation 10K
Univ of Arkansas Foundation 5K
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS 5K
Georgetown U 25K
Immanueal Baptist Church (AR) 50K
WVU Foundation/Trauma Center 5K
WAMU 5K
Wellesley 35K
WYNC 5K
Yale 25K
University of Ark (Clinton School) 75K
Thea Foundation --a Little Rock organization devoted to arts advocacy for youth. Funds scholarships 75K
Vital Voices Global Partnership (microfinance for women in developing countries) 25K
Columbine Memorial Fund 50K
Pediatric Cardiac CEnter for Africa 30K

Okay, there's like two more pages. Cancer research, educational institutions,scholarships, churches (including a bunch to that hotbed of hatred, the UCC), Chappaqua stuff, other foundations. In other words, they are giving plenty, and giving to the Family Foundation and then distributing it is just the way they're doing it.

Great post! Thnx.

When Bill Clinton dies, he will have left the world a far better place—outside of anything that happened in his presidency.

So true!

I doubt the current WH occupants (Dumbya and Dick) will ever achieve anything close to this level of involvement for the good of the world, when they leave the WH.

I have to disagree.

The tax returns for 2006 were due May 2007, or August if they filed for the standard extension.

Many 2006 forms filed in August 2007 were on Guidestar in September and October 2007: that's when I did my most recent round of analysis of other nonprofits.

The additional six months of delay on politically interesting returns is grounds for legitimate curiousity.

No, you're right, Anna. I made a mistake. Scroll up for discussion of the family foundation.

Billy Glad,
Further up the post you lament the fact that the Clintons have had to defend themselves against the accusation of racism. I agree. It strains reason to suggest that they are racists as does the cynicism that renders the Foundation work in Africa a political ploy to help get Hillary Clinton elected.

Accusing the Clintons of being racists is different, though, than saying that the Clinton campaign has sometimes played along with, or into, or played up racist sentiments among voters. I am thinking here, especially, of the very early, post-Iowa, deployment of Clinton supporters (Cuomo, Johnson, for instance).

It is my admiration for the Clintons work in Africa and domestically that makes the campaign's manipulation of racism so hard to bear.

Do you disagree that the campaign has sometimes played upon racism?

The Clintons left the White House with substantial legal debts. Where did the money for these foundations really come from?

They do do admirable work, but they do invest money, that is the whole point of the Foundation, and who gets that money (for example, who gets the big contract for handling fertilizer or pharmaceuticals, etc) and why is important. I'm not saying they have done this, but how these things work at times is that someone donates to them directly or helps them politically in some way, and then they get a large grant from the Foundation later on.

So I do agree that the Foundation does great things, but it isn't beyond being usable for political reasons. That's just the nature of these agreements.

In 2007, Bill Clinton made about $10 million giving speeches. It seems that words do matter sometimes, for some things.

Bill has joined his predecessors Ford, Reagan, and GHW Bush in cashing in on the presidency. The only former president I have any respect for is Jimmy Carter. He has helped to house and feed people. You would think that those who had their own housing in a mansion and the finest meals -- always free -- might feel an obligation to the American public who paid for these benefits.

And please don't discuss charities. That's just a small fraction of disposable income.

I could never understood why wealthy people kept so much of their money (as opposed to earning it -- I understand competitiveness). Like, how much does it cost to live in the finest style? Certainly not hundreds of millions or billions of dollars. We all admire Bill Gates for donating so much money (which he only started after marrying Melinda). Bill Gates could have given away 90% of his wealth and still made the Fortune top twenty richest people in America. He would still have been a billionaire if he gave away 98% of his wealth.

Clinton's foundation is a wonderful thing. I'm unsure why the Clintons need to be in the White House again, after serving there for the full 8 years. I don't understand why Bill is not satisfied with the great good he is doing through this remarkable foundation. The petty ambition of the presidential run has always bothered me.

I don't think people are suggesting this is a money laundering scheme. However, favor can be curried through donations that can affect the decisions of a potential President Hillary Clinton. That is the abuse that must be looked at. No one should seriously consider Hillary for president until the public knows who the donors are to the library and the foundation.

After tearing the Democratic apart in the early '90's and virtually turning the country over to Bush in 2000 because of Monica, the Clintons should be happy to do the good works of the foundation and not expect a coronation for a third term at the White House.

It was only a matter of time until the grackles moved in to crap on this fine post. I guess it took a day for grackle central to get the talking points posted.

I've considered awarding the first Greta Grackle award to either goldspinner, exerjis, terje. luxveritas or observor2. Was hard to decide. I even considered a group award to display in the echo chamber.

However, I believe only terje displayed the slickness of a professional snark. The others were fairly amateurish in comparison.

So here it is, terje. The first Greta Grackle award for crapping on positive information about the Clintons.

(The Greta Grackle is a life-like 4" tall molded plastic Grackle available exclusively from Billy Glad and Oriental Trading Company. The supply is limited.)

Guess what - my mom was a single mother raising 2 girls in a catholic School making $45K - we still gave $10 a week to the Church and she gave to other charities as well.

The AVERAGE American family making less than 1/4th of the Obamas gives 2.2% and has to pay off student loans, raise children, pay for their mortgages etc. And if Obama had student loans to pay off, then he can indicate that - but given that he went to Harvard Law where they have loan forgiveness programs for public interest work, I'd be interested to see how much loans he really had. If that's the "excuse," show the goods. I'm not buying it.

From 2000 - 2004, they gave $10,772 of the $1.2 million they earned from 2000 through 2004 to charities. That's less than 1 penny on every dollar they earned. Talk about "change" you can believe in.

Thanks for the compliment, Billy-boy! Here's some guano aimed at your head:

Clinton Library Got Funds From Abroad
Saudis Said to Have Given $10 Million

By John Solomon and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, December 15, 2007; A03

Bill Clinton's presidential library raised more than 10 percent of the cost of its $165 million facility from foreign sources, with the most generous overseas donation coming from Saudi Arabia, according to interviews yesterday.

The royal family of Saudi Arabia gave the Clinton facility in Little Rock about $10 million, roughly the same amount it gave toward the presidential library of George H.W. Bush, according to people directly familiar with the contributions.

The presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has for months faced questions about the source of the money for her husband's presidential library. During a September debate, moderator Tim Russert asked the senator whether her husband would release a donor list. Clinton said she was sure her husband would "be happy to consider that," though the former president later declined to provide a list of donors.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has made an issue of the large yet unidentified contributors to presidential libraries, saying that he wants to avoid even the appearance of impropriety in such donations. Obama has introduced legislation that would require disclosure of all contributions to presidential libraries, including Clinton's, and Congress has actively debated such a proposal. Unlike campaign donations, money given to presidential libraries is often done with limited or no disclosure.

The Clinton library has steadfastly declined to reveal its donors, saying they were promised confidentiality. The William J. Clinton Foundation, which funds the library, is considered a charity whose contributors can remain anonymous.

In response to questions from The Washington Post, the foundation reiterated that it would not discuss specific sizes or sources of donations to honor the commitment it made to donors. But it acknowledged that some of the money Clinton received from the library came from foreign sources.

"As president, he was beloved around the world, so it should come as no surprise that there has been an outpouring of financial support from around the world to sustain his post-presidential work," a foundation statement said.

Bill Clinton has solicited donations for the library personally, aides said, but he also delegated much of the fundraising to others, especially Terence R. McAuliffe, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and the chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. The foundation statement stressed that he has turned over the facility to taxpayers, as other former presidents have.

A handful of major donors' names to the Clinton library were disclosed in 2004 when a New York Sun reporter accessed a public computer terminal at the library that provided a list of donors. Soon after the article appeared, the list of donors was removed.

The amount of the contribution from Saudi Arabia and several other countries, as well as the percentage of the total given by foreigners, had not been revealed.

The Post confirmed numerous seven-figure donors to the library through interviews and tax records of foundations. Several foreign governments gave at least $1 million, including the Middle Eastern nations of Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the governments of Taiwan and Brunei.

In addition, a handful of Middle Eastern business executives and officials also gave at least $1 million each, according to the interviews. They include Saudi businessmen Abdullah al-Dabbagh, Nasser al-Rashid and Walid Juffali, as well as Issam Fares, a U.S. citizen who previously served as deputy prime minister of Lebanon.

Spokesmen for Kuwait and Taiwan confirmed that each government has given the library $1 million. Both governments also donated to other presidential libraries. Kuwait contributed at least $1 million to the library of former president George H.W. Bush, and Taiwan gave $2 million to the Ronald Reagan library.

Calls to the other governments were not returned, and the Middle Eastern individuals could not be located for comment.

Jack Kuei, a press officer for Taiwan in Washington, said his government's donation "is a way to promote a mutual understanding and it's a kind of public diplomacy." Kuwaiti counselor Jasem Albudaiwi called his nation's contribution "a friendly donation from the people and the government of Kuwait to the cause of the library."

The Reagan library does not disclose its donors, a spokeswoman said. The Bush and Jimmy Carter libraries have made a very broad disclosure. Except for a few donors who asked to remain anonymous, the Bush contributors have been named publicly, and the names of the largest among them are either chiseled into a wall or onto the bricks of a walkway at the library in Texas. The Carter library also has a wall of founders.

Bush's large foreign donors include Kuwait, Japan, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The family of Bandar bin Sultan, former Saudi ambassador to the United States, contributed $1 million or more. Carter's donors include the late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.

Clinton has been criticized for asking for donations, including from Saudi Arabia, at questionable moments. In an op-ed column in the Wall Street Journal last year, former FBI director Louis J. Freeh said Clinton "hit up [Saudi Arabia's head of state] Prince Abdullah for a contribution to his library" during a meeting in which Freeh wanted Clinton to ask about the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing. Clinton has publicly disputed Freeh's account.

Clinton has also been challenged by members of Congress for accepting a reported $450,000 donation to his library from the former wife of fugitive financier Marc Rich before he granted Rich a pardon for tax evasion in 2001. Neither Clinton nor the Rich family confirmed the donation.

The Clinton Foundation was formed in 1997 soon after Clinton chose its 30-acre site near downtown Little Rock. The foundation not only helps to run the library, but it also oversees and finances Clinton's many policy initiatives.

The library is an imposing glass and metal structure overlooking the Arkansas River. Also on its landscaped grounds is the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.

The Clinton library has also received large donations from Americans and American entities. The Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable Trust has pledged $4 million, a person familiar with the gift said. The Wasserman Foundation of Los Angeles has given between $6 million and $7 million. Casey Wasserman, the foundation's president, has long been close to Bill Clinton.