Goldman Sachs Executive Helped Bill Clinton Write His State of the Union Address

Former President Bill Clinton received a faxed draft from a top Goldman Sachs executive to help him write his State of the Union address during his re-election year of 1996.

As Hillary Clinton tries to fend off controversy surrounding her close relationship with the New York-based investment firm, documents released by the Clinton Library (p. 57) reveal that then-Goldman Sachs vice chairman Bob Hormats faxed the White House a document entitled “SUGGESTIONS FOR THE PRESIDENT’S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS” on December 22, 1995.

“Below are a few thoughts for the State of the Union Address,” Hormats wrote. He continued:

We are nearing the end of this century and the end of this millennium. As we approach the new millennium we need to be strong at home and strong abroad – to ensure that our society remains dynamic and cohesive. That Is the legacy we must leave to the next generation of Americans. That will enable America to shape a world in which our interests and our values can thrive and, in turn, can reinforce our own prosperity and security.

Hormats’ ideas, and the general construction of his sentences, clearly made it into the speech that Clinton delivered in January 1996. Here’s a passage from Hormat’s draft:

1995 was the best year for the American economy in the last two decades. The US economy registered the fastest rate of growth of any major industrialized country. We created XXX millions of jobs. Our stock and bond markets have soared; that increased the value of the pension funds and mutual funds of millions of Americans. Once criticized for our large budget deficit, the US now has the lowest deficit among the large western economies. Our I declining deficit has made lower Interest rates possible and shifted more funds into productive private investment which, in turn, has led to declining inflation for American consumers. Continuing to cut deficits, increase productive Investment and control inflation will leave a great legacy for the next generation of Americans.

And here’s a segment from the very beginning of Clinton’s speech:

The state of the Union is strong. Our economy is the healthiest it has been in three decades. We have the lowest combined rates of unemployment and inflation in 27 years. We have completed—created nearly 8 million new jobs, over a million of them in basic industries like construction and automobiles. America is selling more cars than Japan for the first time since the 1970’s. And for 3 years in a row, we have had a record number of new businesses started in our country.

Here’s a bit from Hormats:

To better utilize the productive potential of all Americans in this Information Age, we need to strengthen our system of education and training. If we do not improve the capabilities of our educational system, and better utilize the productive potential of all of our citizens, we will fall short of our potential at home and in the international competitive race. The single most critical factor in increasing our long-range competitive capability and our nation’s economic and political strength as we enter the next century is the effectiveness of our educational system – from kindergarten through adult training and retraining.

And here’s Clinton in his actual speech:

Our third challenge is to help every American who is willing to work for it achieve economic security in this new age. People who work hard still need support to get ahead in the new economy. They need education and training for a lifetime. They need more support for families raising children. They need retirement security. They need access to health care. More and more Americans are finding that the education of their childhood simply doesn’t last a lifetime.

So I challenge Congress to consolidate 70 overlapping, antiquated job training programs into a simple voucher worth $2,600 for unemployed or underemployed workers to use as they please for community college tuition or other training. This is a “GI bill” for America’s workers we should all be able to agree on.

Here’s Hormats on the challenges of technological advancement:

“But American economic strength and dynamism – while enormously beneficial to most of our fellow citizens – has also required painful adjustments. The flexibility of our work force, its ability to adapt to the accelerating pace of technological and competitive changes, is a great strength. But it also means less economic security for many and a more unsettled work environment. We cannot ignore this. Job insecurity and wage stagnation are problems for large numbers of our fellow citizens. Our goal is to broaden the benefits of prosperity and to ensure that those who do not immediately benefit from our nation’s growth and prosperity do not suffer the insecurity of the collapse of their incomes or of their health care and are assisted to obtain the tools to contribute to the country’s economy.

And here’s Clinton on the challenges of technological advancement:

We live in an age of possibility. A hundred years ago we moved from farm to factory. Now we move to an age of technology, information, and global competition. These changes have opened vast new opportunities for our people, but they have also presented them with stiff challenges. While more Americans are living better, too many of our fellow citizens are working harder just to keep up, and they are rightly concerned about the security of their families.

Hillary Clinton is under fire for refusing to release transcripts of her paid speeches to Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs. At a town hall in Columbia, South Carolina, Clinton doubled down on her refusal to release the transcripts.

“Sure if everybody does it and that includes the Republicans because we know they have given a bunch of speeches. But, look, what is this about?” Clinton complained.

“Why is there one standard for me and not for everybody else?” Clinton asked.

As Breitbart News has reported, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s son-in-law successfully helped his buddy at Goldman Sachs get his business-related request to Secretary Clinton.

Dan Beksha of the Clinton campaign’s financial strategy and budget team joined the campaign directly from Goldman Sachs, where he was a vice president.