Bill Clinton’s speech at Columbia College

Bill Clinton in favour of Keystone; wife to decide its fate

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton weighed in Wednesday in favour of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, the controversial project whose ultimate fate is in the hands of his wife.

Updated: Wed Feb. 29 2012 16:08:11

The Canadian Press

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. president Bill Clinton weighed in Wednesday in favour of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline, the controversial project whose ultimate fate is in the hands of his wife.

Clinton, the keynote speaker at the Department of Energy’s conference for clean-technology startup companies in Maryland, wondered aloud why TransCanada didn’t originally propose to build the pipeline around an environmentally fragile area of Nebraska.

“One of the most amazing things to me about this Keystone pipeline deal is that they ever filed that route in the first place, since they could have gone around the Nebraska Sand Hills and avoided most of the dangers, no matter how imagined, to the Ogallala with a different route,” he said.

“The extra cost of (rerouting the pipeline) is infinitesimal compared to the revenue that will be generated over a long period of time,” he added.

“So, I think we should embrace it and develop a stakeholder-driven system of high standards for doing the work.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, testifying later in the day to the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee hearings into energy security, was asked about her husband’s remarks.

“He’s a very smart man,” she said to laughter.

“But he, unfortunately, is not bound by the laws and regulations any longer of the United States to make decisions that follow a certain procedure. And that’s what we have to do.”

Bill Clinton’s comments are certain to cause a stir given his wife has already been accused of a pro-pipeline bias. The State Department is deciding the fate of the $7.6 billion pipeline since it crosses an international border.

In November, the Obama administration deferred making a decision on the pipeline until after this year’s presidential election, citing concerns about the risks Keystone XL’s proposed route could pose to the Ogallala aquifer.

Pipeline proponents cried foul, saying it was a cynical political move aimed at pacifying the environmentalists among President Barack Obama’s base in advance of the election.

In January, facing a mid-February deadline imposed by congressional Republicans, the Obama administration rejected TransCanada’s permit outright, saying it didn’t have enough time to thoroughly review a new route before giving it the green light.

But Obama also assured Prime Minister Stephen Harper that the decision was not based on the pipeline’s merits, but was merely necessitated by the Republicans’ pressure tactics.

Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that TransCanada has submitted a new application for a route that would carry Alberta oilsands bitumen from the Canadian border to Steel City, Nebraska.

“At the same time,” she said, “they’re moving forward with parts of the pipeline like from Oklahoma to Texas, that don’t cross the border and don’t need State Department evaluation or decision.”

The Calgary-based company has also said it is reapplying soon for a presidential permit that incorporates the alternate route around the Nebraska aquifer.

Republicans have not eased up on their attempts to force approval of the pipeline. Earlier this month, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed legislation that would strong-arm the Obama administration into green-lighting Keystone XL as soon as possible.

They believe the pipeline will create thousands of jobs and help end U.S. dependency on oil from often hostile OPEC regimes.

At the White House daily media briefing on Wednesday, spokesman Jay Carney decried the tactics of congressional Republicans.

“Calls to approve Keystone XL right away, again, are insulting to the American people because there is no permit to approve,” he said.

The pipeline has become a rallying cry for Republican presidential candidates as well. After narrowly winning the Michigan primary on Tuesday, Mitt Romney vowed to keep fighting for Keystone XL.

“I’ll get us that oil from Canada that we deserve,” he said to cheers in Columbus, OH.

The Obama administration, meantime, signalled a shift in attitude toward Keystone XL earlier this week when the president praised TransCanada’s decision to carry on constructing the pipeline from Oklahoma to Port Arthur, Texas.

Hillary Clinton denied the administration was shifting gears in her testimony on Wednesday.

“So why the flip-flop on the Keystone XL pipeline?” Florida congressman Connie Mack asked Clinton.

“I don’t think there was any flip-flop, Congressman,” she replied.

“I think that this was always a matter that had to be evaluated in accordance with legal and regulatory standards. Certainly energy security considerations was a key factor, but not the only factor. There was a lot of concern on the part of one state through which the pipeline traveled.”

Edmonton Paper

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Bill Clinton’s Vision

To the Editor:

In his Dec. 11 review of Bill Clinton’s “Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy,” Jeff Madrick trots out the three fallacies that have prevented conventional liberals from understanding the importance of the Clinton administration’s approach and achievements.

First, he posits an imagined tension between Clinton’s criticism of reflexive antigovernment thinking and his work to end big, bureaucratic government. He also chides Clinton for not pushing for a return to the 80-year-old policies of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. And he wraps everything up in an accusation of political timidity.

What Madrick and others haven’t accepted is that Clinton actually believed in the new vision of government he put into action. “For at least a decade, the system we constructed in the Great Depression has been breaking down,” he said in a speech in July 1980 — long before he became president and long before his latest book. “Our challenge today, as Democrats, is to recognize that this is the time of transition and respond to it. . . .

I honestly believe the issue is not less government and the issue is not more government. The issue is what kind of government we are going to have.” Clinton’s remarkable consistency over a long career has been a testament to his personal faith in his vision. Madrick and others may not agree, but they should at the very least grapple with the ideas Clinton promoted during a presidency that stands as the most economically successful in the past half-century.

ANDREI CHERNY
Phoenix
The writer is president of the journal Democracy and a former Clinton White House aide

NYT LINK

To our French speaking Friends in Canada and the World… enjoy!

French speaking Video profiling Hillary

video: BILL and HILLARY CLINTON take a walkabout in downtown Manhattan..

http://videos.oneindia.in/watch/45938/bill-hillary-clinton-walk-york-city.html

You will have to copy and paste in your web address box.. Vodpod does not accept the link as workable…

UPdated: New Wedding Pics…

Wedding guests wait for a bus to depart the Delamater Inn to go to Chelsea Clinton's and Marc Mezvinsky's wedding in Rhinebeck, N.Y., on Saturday, July 31. (Mike Groll / AP)

Vera Wang, Bridal Couture to the Wedding Party

You all know who these people are- They are YOUR nosey neighbors. 🙂

UPDATE:

“With “great pride and overwhelming emotion,” Bill and Hillary Clinton announced that Chelsea and Marc Mezvinsky were officially wed.”

Everything went according to plan—and it has been an impressively prepared quasi-military operation: nuptials as the Normandy Invasion. They are now officially husband and wife.

Investment banker Marc Mezvinsky (this will be a rare mention of the groom in this story, and the only time he’ll get top billing) married former presidential daughter Chelsea Clinton in the sleepy upstate New York village of Rhinebeck, on the banks of the Hudson River. Accounting for the bride and groom’s disparate religious heritage, Rabbi James Ponet and Reverend William Shillady conducted the interfaith ceremony.

“Today, we watched with great pride and overwhelming emotion as Chelsea and Marc wed in a beautiful ceremony at Astor Courts, surrounded by family and their close friends,” Bill and Hillary Clinton said Saturday night in a joint statement. “We could not have asked for a more perfect day to celebrate the beginning of their life together, and we are so happy to welcome Marc into our family. On behalf of the newlyweds, we want to give special thanks to the people of Rhinebeck for welcoming us and to everyone for their well-wishes on this special day.”

Check back later on…. there will be new postings and  new pics as they become available…

Chelsea’s and Marc’s Royal Wedding Day is here….

RHINEBECK, N.Y. — Chelsea Clinton is poised to marry her longtime boyfriend at an exclusive estate along New York’s Hudson River after weeks of secrecy and buildup that had celebrity watchers flocking to the small village for the Saturday evening nuptials.

The crowd began forming midmorning after weeks of intrigue and secrecy about a ceremony with a VIP guest list said to include such luminaries as TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey and filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

The 30-year-old daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was expected to wed her boyfriend, investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, at a ceremony with 400 to 500 guests. Details of the wedding were kept fanatically close to the vest, with shopkeepers, innkeepers, vendors and restaurateurs sworn to secrecy. Roads were blocked off, the skies were closed over the estate and inconvenienced neighbors were soothed with a complimentary bottle of wine.

Donna Vena drove 50 miles to Rhinebeck from her home of Mount Kisco, New York, in the hopes of spotting a celebrity.

“Why not?” she asked Saturday morning, a camera slung over her shoulder. “Big story. Maybe see Oprah.”

Nearby, two young women passed out slices of pizza with “I do” written in pepperoni.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the hotel where many of the guests are staying were rewarded Friday night when the Clintons exited a van arm-in-arm outside the Beekman Arms Hotel.

Shortly before 11 p.m.,last night, the former first lady, wearing a long green dress, waved to the cheering crowd waiting behind metal barricades and quickly went into the hotel. She left with the former president about a half-hour later.

We’ve Got Pictures

These two look familiar... as they are caught leaving their daughter's rehersal dinner..

People stand outside the Delamater Inn waiting for guests to arrive in Rhinebeck, N.Y., for the wedding of Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky on on Saturday, July 31. (Mike Groll / AP)

ctor Ted Danson and wife Mary Steenburgen arrive at the Delamater Inn. (Mike Groll / AP)

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright waves as she leaves a party for Chelsea Clinton in Rhinebeck, N.Y., on July 30. (Jessica Rinaldi / Reuters)

Former President Bill Clinton walks down the streets of Rhinebeck, N.Y., on July 30, 2010, the day before his daughter Chelsea's wedding. (Andrew Gombert / EPA)

A man walks on East Market Street in Rhinebeck, where a sign hangs congratulating the couple. (Mike Groll / AP)

Earlier Friday, Bill Clinton made an appearance around lunchtime Friday, popping out of a car and walking a few blocks, greeting people on his way to a restaurant. Looking fit and relaxed in blue jeans and a black knit shirt, he gave easy answers to questions shouted by well-wishers and reporters.

The former president’s half brother, Roger Clinton, was spotted early Saturday afternoon with his son Tyler, picking up food at the same restaurant. When asked by reporters if he was excited, Roger Clinton said, “Yes, very excited” as they slipped into a waiting SUV.

The wedding is set to take place at Astor Courts, a secluded estate along the Hudson River built as a Beaux Arts style playground for John Jacob Astor IV more than a century ago. The estate features the sort of commanding view that once inspired Hudson River School painters, as well as 50 acres of buffer space to shield the party from prying eyes.

Chelsea Clinton and Mezvinsky were friends as teenagers in Washington, and both attended Stanford University. They now live in New York, where Mezvinsky works at G3 Capital, a Manhattan hedge fund. Mezvinsky worked previously at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker.

Clinton completed her master’s degree in public health earlier this year at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

Mezvinsky is a son of former U.S. Reps. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky of Pennsylvania and Ed Mezvinsky of Iowa, longtime friends of the Clintons.

Clinton/ Mezvinsky Rehearsal Dinner To Be Held At Grasmere

The Hudson Valley News has confirmed the rehearsal dinner for the marriage of Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky will take place at Grasmere, a magnificent 500-acre estate that traces it’s roots to the 19th century in Rhinebeck, New York.

The dinner will take place in the spectacularly refurbished barn on the property with a breathtaking view of hayfields and a Hudson Valley sunset.

The barn itself has a completely open southern exposure. Grasmere is owned by architect and philanthropist Steve Mensch and his wife. It has been the site of numerous charity benefits and is located on at the end of a secluded dirt road.

Our reporter visited the location and was told any further information would have to come from the Secret Service.

More information on the venue for the rehearsal dinner,  see link below:

http://www.grasmerefarm.com

NY Town Expecting Clinton Wedding Approves X-tra Police

But Not Before Rhinebeck Residents Shout Demands That Former First Family Pay For All The Extra Security

and they will…. gladly!

RHINEBECK, N.Y. (CBS) ―

Wedding bell buzz is kicking into high gear in Rhinebeck, and as the town prepares for Chelsea Clinton’s big day more details are emerging about the groom.

Clinton’s fiancé, investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, is about to become the man of the hour.

The daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to marry Mezvinsky on a private estate on the river on Saturday.

The two met as teenagers at a leadership retreat in 1993, both went to Stanford and, like Chelsea, Mezvinky has dealt with adversity — his father, a former congressman, served time in prison for fraud.

Town officials in the Hudson Valley bracing for Clinton’s wedding this weekend approved spending $2,500 for extra police coverage.

The Rhinebeck Town Council authorized the spending during a meeting Monday.

The Clintons have refused to disclose the location of the wedding. But Rhinebeck Supervisor Thomas Traudt said based on his conversations with state and county police, the extra service this weekend will be helpful.

One resident at the council meeting shouted that the extra expenses should be paid for by the father of the bride.

Rhinebeck, a town of about 8,000 residents, is just 75 miles from the Chappaqua, N.Y., home the former president and first lady bought before her successful run for the U.S. Senate in 2000. The Clintons have passed through the town a number of times.

Wedding presents rolling in for Chelsea from ALL over the World!

Hillary Clinton given wedding presents for Chelsea

The wedding presents are rolling in from around the world.
Today, while in Hanoi for diplomatic meetings a little over a week before the July 31 wedding of Chelsea Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State and mother-of-the-bride Hillary Clinton was given a wedding present — a white tablecloth — for her daughter by the Vietnamese government. She was also given a gemstone mosaic portrait of her with Chelsea during their 2000 visit to the country.

“Very nice,” Clinton said when Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem presented her with the gifts, reports AP. Clinton is on the last leg of a four-nation tour that also took her to Afghanistan, Pakistan and South Korea — all while helping to plan the wedding. Clinton said that traveling while “trying to help organize my daughter’s wedding is proof … that I may be lacking in common sense.”

Chelsea Clinton’s July 31 Wedding at Opulent Astor Courts-

Astor Courts selected for it's beauty and simplicity.

The closely held details of Chelsea Clinton’s wedding have begun to leak out, and the first major morsel may well be the venue.

The Bride and Groom

She will marry investment banker Marc Mezvinksy, 31, at Astor Courts, a Beaux-Arts masterpiece overlooking the Hudson River designed in 1902 by famed architect Stanford White for American oligarch John Jacob Astor IV. From the outside, it evokes Louis XIV’s Grand Trianon at Versailles. And inside? It’s straight out of an Edith Wharton novel.

Astor Courts, overlooking a spectacular view of the Hudson River

Speculation about everything from Chelsea’s wedding gown (Vera Wang? Oscar de la Renta?) to the officiant (a Protestant minister? A rabbi? Both? Neither? ) to the honeymoon destination (still a secret) have been swirling around the publicity-shy only child of former president Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for months.

Trois Clintons-Un Bush

Never mind that the bride’s publicist, members of her mother’s inner circle, the Boston wedding planner and the owners of the 50-acre estate on the outskirts of Rhinebeck, N.Y., have zipped their lips about all aspects of the celebration. The venue story first broke in the Hudson Valley News on Thursday, based on a unauthorized tip from a local resident. The July 31 guest list is said to be a nice, round 400, with each invitee personally known to the bride, reports New York magazine.

Now 30 and a Columbia University graduate student in public health, Chelsea will marry a man she’s known since she was a teenager living in the White House and attending Washington’s swank, private Sidwell Friends School. Both were at Stanford University, but the romance did not escalate until the past few years. He is the son of two former Democratic members of Congress: Marjorie Margolies of Pennsylvania, defeated after a single term in 1994 for backing President Clinton’s budget, and her ex-husband, Edward Mezvinsky of Iowa, who served two terms in the House in the 1970s, and was later sentenced to seven years in prison for masterminding $10 million in fraud schemes; he was freed in 2008 and remains on parole.

The nuptial couple announced their engagement just after Thanksgiving via e-mail, following numerous false reports they would marry last summer on Martha’s Vineyard.

Astor Courts, two hours north of New York City, is easy to reach by train or car, and elegant enough to provide a picture-perfect wedding backdrop while sufficiently secluded to offer security and privacy for the high-level guests, said to include foreign dignitaries, top U.S. officials and boldface names from the social, financial, entertainment and political worlds.

Built as a sporting pavilion at the turn of the last century, this onetime playground for American aristocrats — think indoor clay tennis court and Moorish-style enclosed swimming pool — is now home to Hillary Clinton supporters Kathleen Hammer, a former Oxygen Media producer, and developer-businessman Arthur Seelbinder. The couple spent three years restoring the decrepit wreck, guided by architect Samuel White, a great-grandson of Stanford White. Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz lives down the road.

Although there has been speculation that the festivities will take place under a tent for added privacy — who wants paparazzi shooting pictures from the other shore? — the building’s ornate 2,100-square-foot main hall, which looks like a Gilded Age ballroom, might work nicely for the ceremony.

What more could a 21st-century bride want?

If you have an interest in learning more about the journey of Kathleen Hammer and husband, Arthur Seelbinder’s restoration project… Astor Courts… click on the link-