Truthiness about Barack & Big Money
By SusanUnPC on September 28, 2008 at 10:50 AM in Barack Obama, Campaigns & Campaign Financing, Lobbyists, Obamedia
Somehow I doubt the ‘bot blogs will be running this video of Barack Obama on his close ties to lobbyists and all the money he’s taken from the boys on Wall Street. Nor will the mainstream media. You know what: They need a new acronym. MSM is old. Help me. How about MOB? MOB = Media Orgasmic (over) Barack? Surely you readers, smart as you are, can do better. ‘course, there’s Obamedia, coined by one of our readers last winter. That works very well, sad to say, every day, all day.
Anyway, watch this CLASSIC FLINEO VIDEO, and drag every one of your relatives and neighbors over to watch it too. Amidst the omniscient deification, there have to be a few people doing some reality checks on Obama:
Below are the notes Flineo attached to this video, along with a couple additional comments:
Flineo’s videos are so brilliant, and I’m upset with him for taking on a time-consuming task that makes it impossible for him to do more videos at the moment.
He launched this great video on — get this — March 27, 2008. Remember those days? Remember? Back then, when we still had a qualified candidate running for the Democratic nomination? Yes, Hillary has taken money from many lobbyists too (they all do), but Saint Barack has escaped the scrutiny of his associations that other candidates have historically been subjected to.
Here are Flineo’s accompanying notes at the YouTube page:
USA Today, April 15, 2008
Obama takes plenty of money from special interests (from individuals or groups) despite his rhetoric otherwise. Those who contribute $1000 or more constitute 60% of his campaign fund (www.fec.gov). Every politician takes special interest money. Only Obama preaches about not taking it, but backdoors just as much and more than anyone. Also, remember the pledge of “public financing”? NOT!
That USAToday article, which Flineo linked, checks out Obama’s claims in a primary battle ad (posted in the article) that he ran in Pennsylvania where — as you’ll recall — Hillary trounced Barack.
Hillary trounced Barack in Pennsylvania because, the PEOPLE KNEW, Hillary had the real goods and Barack is all smoke and mirrors.
From the article which reminds us of Obama’s ridiculous bragging that he doesn’t take money from oil companies, and more:
Obama’s claim of independence questioned
[...]
It’s accurate that Obama doesn’t take money from oil companies; neither do his opponents, because corporate contributions are illegal. But Obama, like Clinton and John McCain, has accepted donations from oil and gas company employees — $222,309 in Obama’s case from donors from Exxon, Shell, Chevron and others, according to campaign-finance data. Two oil company CEOs have pledged to raise at least $50,000 each as part of Obama’s fundraising team.
[..]
“The Obama campaign is trying to create a distinction without very much of a practical difference,” said a statement on the website of FactCheck.org, an affiliate of the University of Pennsylvania. “We’re not sure how a $5,000 contribution from, say, Chevron’s PAC would have more influence on a candidate than, for example, the $9,500 Obama has received from Chevron employees.”
$193 million — and counting
The episode underscores the pitfalls confronting a candidate who rails against special interests while raising $193 million and counting — the most of any presidential campaign. Obama’s fundraising tests the limits of his claim that he is independent of Washington’s influence industry because he doesn’t take money from federal lobbyists and PACs.
Other examples that strain against that claim:
•Obama holds fundraisers at law firms that lobby in Washington. Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor confirmed the campaign held five fundraisers at New York and Boston offices of three firms that lobby, including Greenberg Traurig, whose lobbying clients include gambling and handgun interests.
Obama counts lobbyists among his informal advisers, including Broderick Johnson, who heads the Washington lobbying practice of Bryan Cave, which represents Shell Oil, records show. Nine campaign staffers have been lobbyists, public records show. Johnson did not respond to requests for comment.
•Obama accepts money from spouses of federal lobbyists. In December, the campaign returned a $250 contribution from lobbyist Thomas Jensen of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, but a few days later, it cashed a $500 check from his wife, Sarah, records show. Jensen said his wife had “personally chosen” to contribute to Obama.
•Obama accepts contributions and fundraising help from state lobbyists. Florida lobbyist Russell Klenet hosted a fundraiser for Obama Aug. 25, according to the St. Petersburg Times. Two months before, Klenet had withdrawn as a lobbyist in Washington for a kidney dialysis company that relies heavily on federal revenue, Senate records show. Klenet did not return phone calls.
•Obama is raising more than his opponents from executives of some of the corporate interests he criticizes. Obama has received more money from people who work at pharmaceutical and health product companies, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics. He’s taken in $528,765 through February, compared with $506,001 for Clinton and $139,400 for McCain, despite saying last July that “I don’t take pharma money.” …
(Read all of “Obama’s claim of independence questioned.”)
I’ve never seen such a fake get a huge pass from the media. It’s astonishing. And if the American people vote this fake into office, god help us all.
, the basis for the Best Motion Picture Nominee (Golden Globes) starring Brad Pitt.
, the novel by John Le Carre, a new motion picture starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.
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.by David Fredosso who wrote 2008's 
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