The lie that will not die -- and how Hillary can turn it to her advantage

It's making the rounds again: The Republicans are spreading the story that only a small percentage of the money given to the Clinton Foundation goes to charity.

The infuriating thing about this Daily Caller story is that pseudoreporter Peter Hasson must know the truth of the situation. By leaving out key information, he conveys the false impression that only 5.7% of the Foundation's money goes to help poor people.

Not true.

The same game is played by propagandist Sean Davis at the Federalist and a creature named Jacky Murphy here.

This Big Lie was first exposed when Carly Fiornia and Reince Priebus told it. For the truth of the situation, go here.

Priebus’ case is built on the notion that the only charitable work the Clinton Foundation does is in grant-making and, by extension, everything else is overhead.

The Clinton Foundation is not a family foundation (despite the name) -- it is a charity, utterly transparent in its operations. It spends money on poor people directly. Grants to other organizations are only a small part of what this charity does. See here.

In its most recent audited financials, the Clinton Foundation reported spending 87.2 percent on programs and services, which means 12.8 percent is going to “overhead” – administrative and fundraising costs. While not the ultimate arbiter of effectiveness, such a figure is well above the 65 percent to 75 percent range of program spending often suggested as a rule-of-thumb.

That's the key point which the propagandists never tell you. They keep misrepresenting the facts to confound a gullible public.

The Clinton Foundation, which spends much less on overhead than do most other charities, was rated higher than the Red Cross by Charity Watch.

So: How can Hillary Clinton turn this Big Lie into a Big Plus?

I suggest a simple, bold course of action: Fight Like Trump.

Make a grand, attention-grabbing gesture. Embrace drama. Let a little "reality TV" seep into Hillary's act. Make big, big charges against the opposition. Dominate the news cycle. Always double down, triple down, quadruple down, on everything.

To be specific: Hillary should offer this challenge to Trump...

"I'm willing -- as I've always been willing -- to let all of the Clinton Foundation's financials be examined by any trustworthy, independent, third-party analyst amenable to both Republican and Democratic leaders. All the books will be opened. Nothing will be held back. No locked doors. Total transparency.

"At the same time, Trump must open up the Trump Foundation to outside scrutiny by an independent, third part analyst chosen by the leaders of both parties. Nothing held back. Total transparency.

"Donald, if you do not accept this challenge, then everyone in the world will know that you are nothing but a double-talking LIAR. Any refusal on your part to go along with this challenge -- NOW -- is an admission that the Trump Foundation is a slush fund being run by a crook with a long history of Mafia ties."

That should do it. If Hillary makes that challenge, she will dominate.

She has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Much of the public does not understand that the Clinton Foundation's financials are already out in the open.

Trump dare not accept the challenge because his Foundation really is crooked. This new NYT article looks into Trump's shady (downright disgusting) use of tax breaks. If he were to open up his Foundation to outside scrutiny, we inevitably would learn even more about his schemes to avoid taxes -- information which he cannot let the public learn.

Hillary: If you're defending, you're losing. Don't punch back. Punch first. Force the other guy to respond to your words.