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The Student News Site of University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Badger Herald

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College Republicans: I’m not ready for Hillary, and you shouldn’t be either

College+Republicans%3A+Im+not+ready+for+Hillary%2C+and+you+shouldnt+be+either

You’d have to be living under a rock to not know by now that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has officially declared she is running for president in 2016. As of now, she seems to be the coronated candidate of the Democratic Party. Other Democrats may end up getting into the race, but right now she is polling at nearly 60 percent among Democratic primary voters. Her candidacy has surprised no one, and people are already lining up to support her.

I am not one of those people, and I find it hard to understand how anyone else could be. Already I’ve seen numerous students on campus with “I’m Ready for Hillary” stickers and for the life of me I cannot imagine why college students are excited for her candidacy. Here are my three reasons why I think college students should rethink supporting Clinton:

Transparency

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President Barack Obama declared his administration would be the most transparent ever. The National Security Agency spying scandal showed us that this administration was far from that and that our future presidents will have to be much more accountable to the American people. So far Clinton has shown that she will go even farther than Obama to protect herself and her actions.

It was discovered Clinton used a private email address on a private server to conduct government business while she was secretary of state. When she was asked to turn over her emails to the government, she and her team of advisers hand-picked which ones they deemed necessary to hand over. Her team then decided to delete the rest of the emails they did not hand over to the government.

All of these emails should have been available to reporters and the public to decide what was newsworthy. Instead Clinton’s team may have deleted emails that contained material that would have been disparaging against her. If she had nothing to hide, why did she feel the need to delete all of these emails? Americans deserve a president who they can trust will be open and transparent with them, and I highly doubt Clinton will be willing to do so.

Pay to play politics

A new book titled “Clinton Cash” generated news this week for allegations of “a pattern of financial transactions involving the Clintons that occurred contemporaneous with favorable U.S. policy decisions benefiting those providing the funds.” The New York Times reported this week about a business deal in which a Canadian company sold its uranium mines in the United States and Kazakhstan to a Russian state-run company at the same time that Bill Clinton accepted a $500,000 speaking fee from a Russian bank with ties to the Kremlin.

“Clinton Cash” contains numerous other allegations of payments and backdoor deals while she was secretary of state. Time and time again the Clintons have acted as if they are above the law. Public officials should be held to a high standard, and these allegations reek of corruption from the Clintons. International relations are a large part of what presidents engage in, and the American people need someone who is willing to make the tough decisions based on facts and reason, not on who paid the most.

Hypocrisy

There’s no doubt that one tenet of Clinton’s campaign will center around her work on women’s rights. The fact that she could be our country’s first female president will no doubt win her voters’ support. However, Clinton has complicated record of advocating for women’s rights while she was secretary of state.

The Clinton Foundation has accepted tens of millions of dollars from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. All of these countries have dismal records when it comes to women’s rights and show the hypocrisy that exists within the Clinton sphere. The Obama administration had requested the Clinton Foundation not receive foreign donations while Clinton was secretary of state, but again the Clintons thought they were above the law.

These donations represent a huge conflict of interest and again display her willingness to avoid confrontation as long as a payday is involved. It’s tough to imagine how Clinton advocates for women’s rights while some of the worst abuses just because those countries donated to her foundation.

Hillary Clinton has been dogged by scandal after scandal, and collectively they add up to show she believes she and others around her are above the law. The American people need a trustworthy president who will be willing to stand up for American values no matter the cost, and that’s why I am not “Ready for Hillary.”

Charlie Hoffmann ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in economics and journalism, and is the former chair of the College Republicans.

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