Let me first say that I think Hillary Clinton is FULLY capable of filling the position of Secretary of State. Not only does she qualify on her own merit, but she also has the support of ex-President Bill Clinton who left office with an extremely favorable opinion from the international community.

For the last week, we’ve been waiting to hear if Hillary would continue to represent the state of New York as their Senator or choose to be President Obama’s Secretary of State.  Now, either way, she would wield incredible influence either domestically or internationally as a senior Senator or Sect. of State.

That’s when I find articles like this a little disturbing and, possibly, influential in her decision:

Clinton owes nearly $7.5 million, down from $12 million high at end of June

Of the $7.5 million owed to vendors, nearly $5.4 million was to her former adviser and pollster, Mark Penn. Clinton owed vendors a high of $12 million at the end of June. That was the month she abandoned her presidential campaign and ceded the Democratic nomination to now President-elect Barack Obama.

The amount she owes Penn has been her longest outstanding debt.

She also lent herself nearly $13.2 million. Under federal law Clinton can only repay herself $250,000 with private donations. The report also showed that she had nearly $1 million cash on hand at the end of October.

Obama is considering Clinton for secretary of state. As a Cabinet member Clinton would face fundraising restrictions to retire her vendor debt.

A 2001 advisory opinion by the federal Office of Special Counsel said a federal employee who still had a campaign debt would be prohibited from “personally soliciting, accepting or receiving political contributions.”

Clinton could name an agent from her campaign committee to continue to organize and hold fundraising events to retire the debt. Clinton would be limited to attending a fundraising event and simply stating her appreciation to donors.

Soooo….   apparently, if Clinton accepts the Secretary of State gig, she legally has to PUSH OFF her debt to someone else.   Sounds like a pretty sweet incentive to take the job offer, doesn’t it?

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