BlueBloggin

Lies, lies and yet another lie. How many more lies can Hillary Clinton tell before the convention? Apparently a lot. Hillary has lied about her Bosnia trip, failed the commander in chief test , and lied about NAFTA. Obviously Clinton and her overpaid team, overlooked the internet with information on just about everything that’s been said or written. And, I think they forgot that Clinton’s first lady papers have been released, which makes exposing Hillary’s lies easier.

Which brings us to another Hillary lie; Family and Medical Leave Act. Hillary has been taking credit on her campaign web site, on her U.S. Senate web site, and on the campaign trail, for helping to pass the bill. Big lie. In Clinton’s first lady papers, there’s no mention of her lobbying Congress on the Family and Medical Leave Act. Hillary is sounding more like George Bush every day.

(AP) THE SPIN:

On her Web site, Clinton includes a list of issues she “has fought for and will make a priority as president.” These include: “helping to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act to enable new parents to take time off without losing their jobs, and expanding it to make it available to more parents and to provide for longer leave.” Obama’s campaign scoffs at Clinton’s claim that she helped pass the law, pointing out that it was signed just weeks after her husband became president, and it had passed Congress twice previously.

THE FACTS:

Bill Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act on Feb. 5, 1993, 16 days after he became president. It was the first major legislation of his presidency, and the fulfillment of a key campaign promise. Former President Bush had twice vetoed similar legislation. The first lady joined her husband at an elaborate Rose Garden signing ceremony, where the president singled out 10 legislators from both parties for their work on the bill. He did not give a shout-out to his wife.

• Former Rep. William Clay of Missouri, who sponsored the bill on the House side, says the bill easily passed the Congress in 1993, and he recalls no involvement by Hillary Clinton. “The bill never was in trouble,” he said.

When Hillary Clinton became First Lady on January 20,1993 the FMLA didn’t need any
help to pass, which is the reason it sailed through congress 16 days
later by huge margins.

• The bill had been around for years, had strong support in both houses of Congress, and had already passed, yet been vetoed, twice before during the preceding George Bush Sr. Presidency. All it needed was a president who wouldn’t veto it. Everyone knew this.

Dana Goldstein of The American Prospect’s TAPPED , “uncovered” in the First Lady papers is that Hillary never held or attended any meetings on the Family Medical Leave Act, which was the first piece of legislation President Bill Clinton signed, 10 days after entering office. Having just written a piece about the FMLA for the upcoming print issue of the Prospect, I can tell you that anyone familiar with the law should have already realized Hillary’s very limited involvement. The non-profit organization the National Partnership for Women and Families originally drafted the bill, which was then championed in the House by former Colorado Congresswoman Pat Schroeder and in the Senate by Chris Dodd and Ted Kennedy. These three were at work trying to pass the FMLA from the late-1980s on, while the Clintons were in Arkansas and running a national campaign. So while Hillary did indeed have a history of involvement with work-family issues, she couldn’t have possibly been a big player in the original Beltway push to pass the FMLA.

More information at 100 Reasons Not to Vote for Hillary Clinton:

Posted by nytexan March 28th, 2008 | Category: Clinton, Democrat, Election, Family and Medical Leave Act, Politics, lies | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL