Secretary of State-appointed Hillary Clinton had multimillion in presidential campaign debt at the end of the the election. Clinton had $6.4 million debt according to a filed report with the Federal Election Commission on Saturday
The amount represents the debt the New York’s senator had with her previous failed presidential campaign this year. Clinton’s campaign has reportedly reached the pinnacle that amounts to $12 million at the end of the first half of the year. The said debt initally decreased as the months passed by.
Clinton bids her high hopes of paying the said presidential debt before her confirmation as the state’s official secretary
Clinton had an initial $985,000 in her campaign account in November and raised nearly $290,00 by the end of the month. Her campaign paid out $1.2 million that ends the month with only $188,000 in the bank.
The stated multimillion campaign debt is owed to a total of 16 creditors which includes unpaid amount to Penn, Schoen & Berland.
(Clinton has also officially forgiven the $13.2 million she personally loaned her campaign. Under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, presidential candidates who loan their campaigns money from personal funds may only be paid back if they do so by the national party convention — in this case, the Democratic National Convention held last August in Denver.) -sidebar from CNN
America could now be waiting for President-elect Barack Obama’s probable reversals on some of President Bush’s executive orders.
Some of the most controversial issues that have been scrutinized over the years might be overturned by President-elect Obama after taking the assuming the office. These are the the restrictions and control on the embryonic stem cell research, the so-called “gag” order on international aid organizations with regards to abortion.
These EOs, according to the Obama’s Transition party Chair John Podesta, is now in further review as of press time.
Martha Kumar of the White House Transition Project stated that a president is capable of deciding on executive actions and he or she alone has the capacity of doing that. The Congress is obliged to do what the president does, but executive orders are still solely from the president.
Other past executive orders that remain questionable are those that pertains to family planning, military prisons, and security affairs.
George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley sees that the reversals of Bush’s executive orders is a good way of presenting Obama’s ideal of a new era.
“Until President Obama gets rid of all these executive orders, he’ll be sharing his presidency with his predecessor,” Turley said. “Now that’s a particularly obnoxious thought for an administration that was elected for change.”
New presidents often use executive orders to put their stamp on Washington quickly. Unlike laws, which require months to complete and the consent of Congress, presidents can use their executive authority to order federal agencies to implement current policies. -CNN
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that there is a “gwoing frustration” felt around the world with Myanmar’s ruling generals.
Ban spoke, in a closed-door meeting, to other nations and persuaded them to participate in influencing Myanmar. All of the nations, 14 in number that is, expressed their support in Ban’s statement.
All share “not only a higher expectation but also a growing frustration that our efforts have yet to yield the results we all hope for. I share this sense of expectation and frustration,” Ban said.
A letter was sent to Ban that is signed by 112former president and prime ministers stating their plea and encouraging UN to once again return to Myanmar and press its military rulership and for once, free all the political detainees.
Ban already travelled to Myanmar in the first second quarter of this year and was able to talk with the country’s top leaders.
“At this time I do not think that the atmosphere is ripe for me to undertake my own visit there,” Ban said. But, he quickly added: “I am ready to visit any time, whenever I can have reasonable expectations of my visit to be productive and meaningful.”
The U.N. Security Council stated last year that the junta-ruled country must open up democratically open up .
All five permanent Security Council members are members of Ban’s Myanmar group, along with Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. - CNN
