Dear Bill,
Thanks for the letter. It’s always nice to hear from you. Send my love to Chelsea and tell her congratulations on the marriage. We weren’t able to make it out there, but saw the pictures and she looked happy and radiant. I know you caught a little flack for the amount you spent on her wedding, but I think it’s great that you went all out. If I had an extra three million dollars to spend on my only child’s wedding, I’d probably do it also.
Well, the reason I’m writing you is to let you know that we’re not going to be able to help you retire Hillary’s campaign debt. There are a couple of reasons. First, we have quite a bit of debt that we’re trying to retire ourselves -school loans, back taxes, etc… Terri hasn’t been working for the last 2 years, so there’s not as much left after we make those debt payments. The money that is left doesn’t go as far it used to, with our two oldest being in high school and Michael starting college this fall. We’re planning to take a trip out to NY after he graduates, so I’m trying to put money aside for that too. I’m not complaining. We’re getting along. But I do have to prioritize my spending and taking care of our family comes first.
The second reason is a bit awkward to bring up, but I feel that I need to. Everyone needs a helping hand from time to time, and there’s no shame in that. But when I got your letter it seemed odd, because I remember hearing last year that you had raised all the money you needed to retire the debt. So I did a quick search on google and found this article on abcnews.com. It’s dated July 31, 2009 and it says that you actually raised $1 million more than you needed to retire the debt. It also quotes a staffer who said that the campaign didn’t plan to immediately retire all the debt, which seems a little disingenuous.
A few of us can’t help but wonder if you’re hanging on to that debt so that you can use it as reason to continue fundraising. Since you’ve raised the money to pay off the debt, we really feel that you should just do so. Then, if you want to raise funds, tell us why you really need the money. I know you’ll feel a lot better for being honest with your friends.
Thanks for your time. I know you have a lot going on, but I really felt like I needed to address this with you before it affected our relationship. Give Hillary a kiss for me, but just on the cheek this time.
All my best,
Shane.
