There’s a bright side to every loss. The Clintons can now spend more time “saving the world” with their Clinton Foundation, which in no way was a self-enrichment/pay-for-play scheme.

While Hillary was Secretary of State, about half of her meetings were with Clinton Crime Family Foundation donors. Her husband was a past president and de-facto head of the Democrat Party. And Hillary was, by The NY Times calculations, a 95 percent sure lock winner for the 2016 presidency. 

Therefore, what nefarious and despotic leader, country or businessman would not like to donate to the Clintons, bundling funds through Canada where they can get a full tax deduction?

This scandal has brought the Clintons closer. Hillary, Bill, Chelsea and her husband were seen Christmas shopping together near Chelsea’s $15 million starter apartment in NYC. They all stick together now, fearful that if one family member breaks loose, he or she might go to FBI Director James Comey and turn state’s evidence on the others.

As someone who had his assertions (that the Clintons enriched themselves around the Clinton Foundation) called “outrageous” by a liberal pundit on a CNN panel, I have a challenge for CNN and that liberal pundit, Bill Press. I will give $1,000 to the Clinton Foundation for every million dollars raised beyond their last official filing of $330 million in donations that year, if he will give to my foundation $1,000 for every million dollars less than $330 million the Clintons raise in future years.

To recap so even a liberal can understand: If the Clintons raise $350 million for their fine work next year, I donate $20,000 to their foundation. Should they raise, say, $310 million, Bill Press donates $20,000 to mine — i.e., a $1,000 bet per million over or under $330 million.

It sounds fair. If the Clinton scam was all about charity and not influence peddling (and now with all the time Hillary has to devote to "charity work"), logic would dictate that donations should skyrocket. The Clinton Foundation has already eradicated the Haitian earthquake victims’ trust in foundations and the real charitable work they do. But with our help, they can do more.

The Clintons ran their charity (ostensibly) out of the publicly-funded “Clinton Library,” since Arkansas has lower taxes than New York. This was the only non-stripper charity Bill did not fund in Arkansas, and his is the only presidential library with a "Ladies Get in Free, 2-for-1 Drinks" night.

President Obama has decided to put his presidential library in Chicago, the town where he taught a college law school class: "How to Circumvent the Constitution." Trump’s will be The Donald J. Trump Presidential Library, Golf Course and Casino.

WikiLeaks dogged Hillary. Leaking is historically an issue for folks approaching 70. It was how we learned that Bill and Hillary’s business model was to rake in the money personally. Clinton pimp Doug Band, who leaked email around the Clinton Foundation, said, "President Clinton's business arrangements have yielded more than $30 million for him personally, with $66 million to be paid out over the next nine years…"

The Clintons probably learned their self-enrichment techniques from Vice-Hypocrite Al Gore. When Gore ran for president in 2000, the federally-required filing of his net worth was $700,000. According to CBS News, his net worth now exceeds $200 million. Fellow career “public servants” Clintons are worth about the same. It’s a good thing they are libs and the money doesn’t mean anything to them.

Gore made his money by shaking down Silicon Valley and selling government-issued TV station licenses to that oil-rich/carbon emissions monster, the government of Qatar. Captain Crony Capitalist Al Gore set the model for the Clintons. Act like you are doing something noble like “saving the planet,” and then set about shaking down governments and corporations for money. It kinda feels like the way the Castro brothers got to a billion dollar net worth.

Shakespeare summed these two up best in Henry VI, Part II: “Virtue is choked with foul ambition.”

This reminds me of a great line from an Alabama Democrat congressman facing a challenge for his seat. He leveled with voters and told them he had been in Washington for 8 terms and had already stolen all he needed; this new guy would have to start from scratch, and it would cost them.

It’s a good thing Trump already has his money.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: My Clinton Foundation Challenge

It's easy to get tired of the same routine. We bring out the same old Christmas tree, same decorations and with almost the same holiday schedule.

For good or bad, though, Christmas is rarely exactly the same each year. Every Christmas brings a change.

Rarely will you celebrate Christmas with all the same people every year. Consider yourself fortunate if you do. In many households, someone will be missing. Sadly, the missing person is often someone who has been lost in death. Human life is frail and not much is required to eliminate us from living.

The human body is awesome but disease, old age and unfortunate events can take us out of this world easily. Your Christmas celebration may not be impacted this year but if you live long enough you will eventually celebrate the season without parents, siblings, a spouse or even a child. We don't like to think about such loss and grief, but every Christmas brings an empty chair or a reason to experience grief.

The people of Christmas are God's greatest gift to us. Our health and our family and friends are the best of life. Take time this Christmas to enjoy the people in your life. Hug on them, love them and be very kind to them. You may not have them next year and you'll be glad you cherished them.

Or, you may be the one missing next Christmas. Hopefully, everyone will sit around the table and talk about what a kind and loving person you were … or maybe they won't. Don't take the chance; turn up your kindness, love and thoughtfulness this year.

You don't have to shower people with gifts. Gifts are nice and it helps the economy, but most people just need a little love and a few kind words. A little affirmation and appreciation always go a long way. Make a list of people you need to call, send a kind email to or visit in person.

My wife and I love going to see a woman in our town. She is 95 years old and still very independent. She is a greeter at her church, gardens and drives wherever she wants to go. She visits people in the nursing home who are 15 to 20 years younger. She is an easy person to visit because she always inspires us and makes us laugh. She is always kind, never grumpy and has a sweet spirit about life. She exercises every day and eats her vegetables. We always take her a little something when we go to see her like a poinsettia or something simple. You would think we had taken her a bar of gold or diamonds because she is always so appreciative and grateful.

She is our mentor and we want to be just like her. Therefore, be kind, eliminate grumpiness and be sweeter. People might want to come and spend a little time with you.

We need people in our lives because life is not that exciting staring at walls for 24 hours a day. This is what happens to people in nursing homes so often.

Every Christmas has problems. Life is filled with problems. Mary and Joseph had lots of problems their first Christmas. No room in the inn, taxes to pay, an unplanned pregnancy, and eventual threats from King Herod, which caused them to flee into Egypt for safety.

People all over the planet will deal with problems this Christmas. What is your problem this Christmas? How are you going to deal with it and move forward? Sometimes there is no answer to life's problems except to work over or around them. Whatever your problem is this year, please try to not allow it to mess up your Christmas.

Finally, this Christmas, try to take a new look at the person of Christmas — a baby. Whatever your religious spin in life is, you can't feel too ill about the baby of Christmas. Years before Jesus' birth it was told that a babe would be born in Bethlehem and the government would rest upon his shoulders.

He would be called wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father and the prince of peace.

If you see or experience nothing else about Christmas this year, hopefully one descriptive word about the baby will penetrate your life and that is peace.

Also, be further blessed with routine.

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Enjoy some peace and a routine Christmas

President-elect Donald Trump must be successful in multiple areas, but the following are vital. Americans will be unforgiving in four years if he fails in these key areas.

Keep Social Security solvent. America is getting older. Fewer Americans have pensions they can count on because factories closed early. Unfulfilled promises were made to many Americans who worked for companies for years.

Unfortunately, and sadly, America currently cannot survive without monthly Social Security payments. Millions, getting large payments at early ages, have abused the system. This abuse must stop. New efforts must be made to stop lawyers, doctors and of course citizens from cheating the system. However, the elderly who have paid into the program all their lives expect it to be there and it should be.

Get rid of Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act is not even close to affordable. Medical insurance costs are rapidly rising all the time. Deductibles are increasing and, once again, Americans are suffering from medical care.

Allow insurance companies and citizens to buy and sell across state lines. Make Medicaid available to the very poor and allow those with pre-existing conditions to buy into Medicare. Hospitals and doctor bills are ever increasing and, sadly, this is the biggest part of the problem. As long as the government and insurance companies will pay the medical community, they will gladly bill them excessively.

The cost of medications and all forms of medical suppliers have gone out of the roof. Making medical insurance accessible and affordable to all will not happen if those who are billing the companies have free reign to gouge them.

Beef up national security: A wall is not the answer, but it is part of the formula. I've seen walls separating America's highways and suburban subdivisions. Many of these are taller and more formidable than what can be found on parts of our border with Mexico. We need to at least construct something of this nature.

Raise the numbers in our military. Trump should add 50,000 troops to our military his first year in office. Morale in the military is at an all-time low. Promote those who have been in for several years as new ones are brought into the service.

Promote freedom to bear arms. Everybody carrying a gun and banning all Middle Easterners from entering the country will not prevent attacks like the one that recently happened at Ohio State University.

Unfortunately, some people spend too much time on the computer watching too much crazy stuff and then act crazy. We can only be thankful that a university police officer was able to shoot the attacker before he stabbed anyone else with his butcher knife. Too bad a student didn't have a gun and could have shot the attacker more rapidly.

I'm not excited about college students being allowed to carry guns on campus, but as long as there are crazy people in the world, everyone should have the chance to protect themselves. A strong police force, military and the freedom to protect ourselves are all vital in this nation.

Bring jobs back home. The announcement that Carrier in Indianapolis will keep approximately 1,000 jobs in Indiana is terrific news for Trump and for our country. He must also deliver the lower tax rate he promised to corporations.

I'm not excited about paying more for anything made in Mexico, Vietnam or China. However, if we start adding a small tax to these goods coming into the country with a lower corporate tax rate here, more corporations will find it cheaper to make their products in America and will come home.

Illegal immigrants pouring into the country must stop. And we must stop hiring them. The only problem is who will work our jobs? I see Asians, Hispanics, Indians and Middle Easterners working all over America. Possibly all of these people are legal. I don't know. If some of them go home, will Americans show up to take these jobs? They probably won't if they can sit home and draw government assistance without working.

Trump has to do a lot more than this, but these are areas where he has to start.

Finally, I am concerned about all the names circulating for Trump appointments. Gen. David Petraeus? Sarah Palin? She resigned as the Alaska governor. How could we ever count on her? Mitt Romney? He's a backstabber. Would Jesus have made Judas the chief disciple after he led the mob to his very place of prayer? I do realize Peter went on to do great things after denying he even knew Jesus. However, Jesus understands forgiveness and restoration better than Americans do. Putting past failures into positions of leadership is not a great formula for success.

People will not be forgiving of Trump if these appointments fail, resign or backstab us, even though any appointment has these capabilities.

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 7 vital ways to improve our country

I went to Cuba in February and observed that, while Cuba is realizing the futility of central command-and-control government, President Barack Obama was embracing it.

Like Obama, Fidel Castro — Cuba’s 90-year-old communist dictator who recently died — held grudges. A Yale professor in our group was denied his visa at the last minute because he wrote decades ago that Fidel overstated his baseball prowess. Castro remembered.

Castro took over this once economically vibrant island in 1959, pretending to be selflessly for the "people" and for "democracy." It turned out that he, and his family, were just out for themselves. Castro later decided that socialism/communism was the way to go; that way he'd be in power forever.

Castro seized assets from landowners, corporations and Mafia casino operators. He lived longer than anyone could expect for a man who stole hotels and casinos from gangster “Lucky” Luciano.

After 55 years of rule — and a personal net worth stolen from his people of about $1 billion — he felt that, at age 85 and with his government pension, he had enough money to get him to the barn. Just imagine how much more Castro would have been worth had he not been a "share the wealth" communist.

Fidel Castro realized he was not going to live forever; he's not Larry King. So he appointed his brother and closest family confidant, Raul, to rule.

Desperate for a positive legacy item, Obama set about normalizing relations with Cuba. This means that soon they will have nukes and we will get a box of cigars. In that island nation, Obama is more popular than Castro. When Obama visited Cuba, murals of Obama, Che Guevara and Fidel were everywhere.

My main takeaway: Cuba is a political and economic lesson not taught well enough to our schoolchildren. With the rise in popularity of Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein, it's clear that Americans do not understand the dire lessons of socialism's poisonous ideology and the devastation it brings to every country that has fallen prey to its hollow temptations. In a troubling Pew Research Center survey, 49 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds had a positive reaction to the word "socialism."

U.S. teachers, who generally lean left, romanticize Marxist revolutionaries. Kids today wear iconic Che T-shirts, unaware of the 3,000 political murders he committed and economic devastation he caused.

Fifty years of Cuban socialist rule have turned a prosperous country into an impoverished one. Cubans earn $20 a month. Everything is "free" — it's just that there is none of it. Store shelves are empty; even toilet paper is scarce. All the "evil" businesses were run out of Cuba. Seventy percent of the people work for the government, so there is no one left to tax.

Trump should stick with Obama’s stance toward Cuba and see what happens. 

Ron Hart, a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author, is a frequent guest on CNN. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Look to Cuba, see socialism's perils