Reply #56: They had a monopoly on issuing bonds for the state. [View All]

[AP]

Because they had the monopoly, they made tons of money.

In the Hunting of the President, they pin the starting point for Clinton hatred on the fact that, as governor, Clinton started a state bureau which also issued bonds and with which Stephens, Inc. had to compete. This cost Stephens millions in easy profit (which they earned from doing nothing more than being cronies with a corrupt state government which wasn't interested in protecting taxpayer money and making sound investments).

Ironically, some Clinton enemies also had bad blood with Stephens, (and invented stories connecting Clinton and Stephens in criminal behavior). As a result, Stephens eneded up withdrawing support for some of the people who ran against Clinton over the years, thus helping Clinton (even though they hated him).

This is all from memory. However, if you're really interested, it's all in the first couple of chapters of The Hunting of the President (by Conason and Lyons).