Hillary and Bill Clinton Stiff the Little People

I don't know why anyone is surprised by Hillary Clinton's failure to tip a waitress.

Rule number one when campaigning at a diner: always leave a good tip -- and, apparently, make sure it gets properly 'disbursed'.

In early October, Sen. Hillary Clinton's 'Middle Class Express' made a pit stop at the Maid Rite diner in Marshalltown, Iowa.

The New York senator, joined by local political luminaries Christie Vilsack and Ruth Harkin, enjoyed a famous loose meat sandwich and attempted to hand caucus cards to the Iowans inside.

Clinton also spoke to one of the diner's waitresses, Anita Esterday. It was her first day on the job and she and Clinton shared a short exchange. Esterday, who has three jobs and works 12 hour shifts, said to Clinton "both of my sons have worked since they were 14 years old"; Clinton told her, "I'm proud of you."

But, according to Esterday, that's where Clinton's gratitude ended as the campaign crew left with nary a gratuity for any of the hard working Maid-Riters.

"I mean, nobody got left a tip that day," Esterday said in an interview with NPR after a visit by Senator Clinton.

UPDATE: The Clinton campaign contacted ABC News to assert that they did, contrary to Esterday's claim to NPR, pay $157 for food at Maid-Rite and left a $100 tip to be split among the staff.

Sensing the story was reaching the tipping point, ABC News' Eloise Harper contacted Brad Crawford, manager of Maid-Rite caught in the political mixer, who said the senator's staff did pay a tip but "it might have not been disbursed properly."

Ah, yes. Disbursing that tip money can be a touchy issue. NPR has more on the Hillary camp's explanation.

Hillary Clinton's campaign contacted NPR to say that the campaign paid Maid-Rite a bill for $157 the day of Clinton's visit and left $100 in tip money. NPR contacted Maid-Rite manager Brad Crawford, who confirmed that a bill was paid and tip money was left. Crawford, who was not in the restaurant at the time, said that he believes a campaign staffer left the money with one of his employees, but "where Hillary was sitting, there was no tip left."

I wonder WHEN the bill really was paid and WHEN the $100 tip was left. You'd think that Esterday would have been aware of the payment if it had happened at the time of Clinton's visit.

This sort of disregard for working people is a pattern with the Clintons.

We all know that Bill's been stiffing people for years.

I'm reminded of an incident when Bill was in Italy back in 2005.

This comes from The Scotsman:

WHEN the owner of one of Rome's most fashionable restaurants received a booking from Bill Clinton and his entourage, he was happy to clear the tables and order in his best food and wine.

But Romeo Caraccio was left furious after the former president of the United States and his party failed to show up without bothering to cancel their reservation.

Now the owner of the Michelin-starred Agata e Romeo restaurant is considering claiming compensation for lost takings after the high-profile no-show.

The restaurant, which is popular with visiting celebrities, had been called by one of the former president's staff requesting a table for 18. The delighted owner cleared away a corner of his dining room and ordered in more than £1,000 worth of extra food and wine for his VIP guest and entourage.

However, an hour after the 1:30pm reservation there was still no sign of Mr Clinton, who was in Rome as part of a week-long visit promoting links between Africa and Europe.

Yesterday, a waiter at the restaurant said: "We had a call from one of his security team making the reservation and then a visit to check out the place.

"It was all confirmed and the boss even ordered in more food and wine - he spent an extra £1,000, but he [Clinton] never turned up.

"The boss was furious as he didn't even have the decency to cancel. When he called the security guard to find out what was happening he said 'change of plan' and just put the phone down."

..."We were expecting Mr Clinton, but he never arrived and he didn't even cancel his reservation."

Last night, a US embassy spokeswoman in Rome confirmed that the booking had been made, but said it was not a matter for the embassy.

"I can confirm that Mr Clinton was due to eat at the restaurant.

"However, he had to pull out and was not able to attend. I don't know why; he is a private citizen," the spokesman said.

"We are also aware that the owner is very upset and is looking for compensation, but there is nothing we can do about that."

As I said, it's a pattern with the Clintons.

It's as if they believe people should consider themselves to be adequately compensated just because they had a brush with them.

The Hillary "loose meat" story is significant beyond the tip issue.

The waitress is ticked off that Hillary referred to her in a speech.

"I wished I would have been asked first," the waitress, Anita Esterday, said of Clinton's decision to insert her in a speech. "I wish she would have asked if she could talk about me later. I didn't like it when someone called me up and said Hillary Clinton is talking about you. It's like, what'd I do now? What's she saying?"

When I returned to the Maid-Rite a few weeks later, Esterday said the senator had caught her off guard. But once they got talking, she was honest with Clinton about her need to work two to three jobs.

"I've been doing it all my life. Why should it change now that I'm old," Esterday said.

Esterday does not think Clinton got it. "I don't think she understood at all what I was saying," Esterday said. "I mean, nobody got left a tip that day."

...The visit hurt Esterday in another way. The local paper ran photos of her with Clinton. She said her supervisor at the nursing home isn't a big Hillary Clinton fan and she thinks that may be related to why her hours were almost totally cut.

Now, Esterday is looking for a different second job. However, she said she's not upset that Clinton visited the restaurant.

"I got my 15 minutes of fame out of the world," Esterday said. "There you go. I got her autograph. That's something I'll treasure forever."

But as far as the attention she's received? "It hasn't helped me. It's made things worse."

Will Hillary blame "the all-boys club of presidential politics" for her latest mess?

She should. It's because she's a woman. This is all because she's not a man.

It's vast male conspiracy.

It's obvious.