Donating to the Clinton Foundation has suddenly taken on some terrible connotations. And that is incredibly sad. The Foundation does amazing work..
And if people used it to try to ingratiate themselves to Hillary - screw it. Sheldon Anderson gave over $100 million because Newt Gingrich gave him a woody by saying the right things about Israel. The Koch Brothers are going to spend upwards of $800 million (by their own comments) to get a Republican elected.
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Fine.
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But the Clinton Foundation actually does shit. Shit that is great and needed. Here are some things they do:
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They have worked throughout the Caribbean to help local artisans, farmers and workers. Within the same area, they have supported increased and improved supply chains Acceso Oferta Local Productos del Caribe (Acceso Local Offer – Products of the Caribbean). There they have also built industrial parks AND trained women for sales skills. That is a cohesive plan to help a region from production, through distribution to consumption.
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They have developed new farming methods, product delivery and supported new farmers in Malawi (link).
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They have partnered with local countries to increased Malaria and HIV funding, prevention and care. They spent over $1 Billion dollars in 2010 on Malaria. Now some of these areas (and the funds) are moving from treatment to prevention.
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They have specifically worked on preventing HIV spread from mother to child.
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Look, you can hate on Hillary and Bill and Chelsea all you want. But when you pony up a billion dollars to fight Malaria, or hundreds of millions to build sustainable economies, well when that happens, then I will listen to you trash the Clinton Foundation. Right now, that means I would take shit from Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.
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I feel much the same way about World Vision, a very Christian organization that I support. They work with impoverished children around the world. Yes, they are mildly anti-gay, but they do great stuff. Eddie and I donated big during the Nepal quake because they were already there, working on the ground with children and had doctors and hospitals.
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You don't have to agree with the politics of people that do great work. And I fear that associating Hillary with the Clinton Foundation will lessen their ability to do amazing work.
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Sad.