BS: Popular Views on Obama

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 11:02 AM

I think you are pretending these two statements contradict each other, Sawzwood.

One is about not using the strategic oil reserve. The other is about replacing part of the reserve with crude, which does not deplete the reserve (in case you didn't think the thought through).

It would be nice if you could evolve, when presented with new data, too.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: GUEST,beardedbruce
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 11:05 AM

A pair of Palestinian brothers named Hosam and Monir Edwan contributed more than $31,300 to the Obama campaign in October and November 2007, FEC records show.

Their largesse attracted the attention of the FEC almost immediately. In an April 15, 2008, report that examined the Obama campaign's year-end figures for 2007, the FEC asked that some of these contributions be reassigned.

The Obama camp complied sluggishly, prompting a more detailed admonishment form the FEC on July 30.

The Edwan brothers listed their address as "GA," as in Georgia, although they entered "Gaza" or "Rafah Refugee camp" as their city of residence on most of the online contribution forms.

According to the Obama campaign, they wrongly identified themselves as U.S. citizens, via a voluntary check-off box at the time the donations were made.

Many of the Edwan brothers' contributions have been purged from the FEC database, but they still can be found in archived versions available for CRP and other watchdog groups.

The latest Obama campaign filing shows that $891.11 still has not been refunded to the Edwan brothers, despite repeated FEC warnings and campaign claims that all the money was refunded in December.

A Newsmax review of the Obama campaign finance filings found that the FEC had asked for the redesignation or refund of 53,828 donations, totaling just under $30 million.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: GUEST,beardedbruce
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 11:12 AM

Not an open question at all, Amos.

Just under $30 million has been requested by the FEC to be refunded or redesignated. ANd Obama's campaign is dragging it's compliance.


"The latest Obama campaign filing shows that $891.11 still has not been refunded to the Edwan brothers, despite repeated FEC warnings and campaign claims that all the money was refunded in December. "


How much can Obama make off holding onto that $30,000,000.00 until after the election ( Like Clinton did with illegal foreign contributions)?


"I've carried my values with with me for a long time now and believe me, if Obama screws up I'll be on him like ugly on a gorilla... I just haven't seen the screw up yet but you can take it to the bank that if I see it I won't rationalize it and defend him..."

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: GUEST,beardedbruce
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 11:18 AM

Hmmm. Looking at the numbers and dates, Obama's campaign is lying.


"A pair of Palestinian brothers ...contributed more than $31,300 to the Obama campaign in *****October and November 2007******, FEC records show.

...In an *****April 15, 2008******, report that examined the Obama campaign's year-end figures for 2007, the FEC asked that some of these contributions be reassigned.

The Obama camp complied sluggishly, prompting a more detailed admonishment form the FEC on *****July 30*****.

...
The latest Obama campaign filing shows that $891.11 still has not been refunded to the Edwan brothers, despite repeated FEC warnings and campaign claims that all the money was refunded in *****December*****. "




"I've carried my values with with me for a long time now and believe me, if Obama screws up I'll be on him like ugly on a gorilla... I just haven't seen the screw up yet but you can take it to the bank that if I see it I won't rationalize it and defend him..."

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 11:34 AM

Well, that little detail was so important you had to post it twice. SOrry it took so long to process those mislabeled funds, but I'm glad to see the O. campaign is doing the tright thing, at last.
No embezzlement, misappropriation, etc. has occurred. Are you beating your chest because you like the hollow sound?


A

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: GUEST,beardedbruce
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 11:44 AM

"Well, that little detail was so important you had to post it twice. "


I think you need to be careful- YOU have posted many statements ( opinions) as facts, and demanded that some of us respond to the alledged impropriety. So, when I ask you to do the same, with facts from the FEC YOU claim they are getting around to it- after telling the FEC they did so last December....


"SOrry it took so long to process those mislabeled funds"

Seems like you are cutting Obama slack that you would not allow Palin or McCain: I know you are partisan, but you appear to be blind to anything that looks like a fault in Obama, as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 11:50 AM

Wife of former NH gov. backs Obama
September 30, 2008
Email| Print| Single Page| Yahoo! Buzz| ShareThisText size – + MANCHESTER, N.H.—The wife of former New Hampshire Gov. Walter Peterson has endorsed Barack Obama, putting her at odds with her husband, a big supporter of John McCain.

Dorothy Peterson announced her support for the Democratic presidential candidate Tuesday, saying Obama is the best prepared to lead the country on everything from women's rights to the war in Iraq.

Her husband, a Republican who served as governor from 1969 to 1973, was honorary chairman of McCain's winning New Hampshire primary campaign and is a member of his New Hampshire leadership team for the general election. He frequently attended McCain's town hall meetings around the state.

---

That has got to sting....

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 12:22 PM

Obama: "And once again, we are faced with a politics that makes all of this possible. In recent years, the doors of Congress and the White House have been thrown wide open to an army of Washington lobbyists who have turned our government into a game only they can afford to play. Year after year after year, they stand in the way of our progress as a country. They stop us from addressing the issues that matter most to our people. ?

....at the request of a hired representative for an Australian-owned chemical corporation Nufarm, Obama introduced nine separate bills exempting the company from import fees on a range of chemical ingredients it uses in the manufacture of pesticides and herbicides. is this Nufarm's U.S. subsidiary is based in Illinois.

Nufarm wasn't the only beneficiary of Obama's efforts to reduce customs fees and duties. In early May of 2006, two Washington lobbyists registered to work on behalf of Astellas Pharma, a Japanese-owned drug company which also has offices in Illinois.

The lobbyists' task? "Introduce legislation to temporarily suspend customs duties for the importation of a pharmaceutical ingredient," they wrote on their lobbying forms. Less than three weeks later, the men had earned their $20,000 fee, thanks to Obama. On May 26, he introduced S. 3155, a bill specifically exempting Astellas' key ingredient from tariff payments. The bill cost the federal government more than $1 million in lost revenue, according to government estimates.

Together, Obama's obscure measures -- known as tariff suspensions -- steered more than $12 million away from federal coffers, according to government estimates.....

The change we need to Keep Jobs in America????????????????????????

---

....Since 2003, Hunter Biden's Clients Have Paid His Firm A Total Of $3.8 Million. "Since 2003, Hunter Biden has been registered to lobby for an array of small universities, hospitals, and drug research companies seeking earmarks and other appropriations. Those clients have paid his firm a total of $3.8 million, jumping from $20,000 in 2003 to $1.6 million in 2007, according to lobbying disclosure records."

Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the lone Republican presidential candidate in the Senate, did not win a single earmark in the spending bills. He has chosen instead to position himself on the hustings as a leading critic of excessive government spending.....

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 12:50 PM

Excuse me, amigo. I completely supporty your position against earmarks as a bad way to allocate funds, and against lobbyists, as a bad way to represent the public interest to its representatives, believe me.

But just to keep things in perspective, you are poking at a budget item that represents, if memory serves, a per cent or so of the total budget, while completely ignoring the really big items that cause hemorrhaging, such as defense overspends and the close-knit no-bid contracts with huge firms beloved by the Bushites such as Blackwater, L-3 Communications/Titan, and Cheney's own special relationship, Haliburton.

Your friends in the Administration have run up a deficit of ~$500B.

The Federal budget is on the order of ~$3T (trillion) dollars.

Your high-finance amigos have gone to Washington demanding the taxpayers commit to ~$700B in a bailout program.

Mister Bush's brilliant war has run up a price tag around $580 billion and counting.

The total of all Republican And Democratic earmarks (including the Bridge/Road Across Nowhere)? Around $18B.

Just to keep things in perspective, as I was saying.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Riginslinger
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 12:58 PM

The word on the street is, the Obama campaign is swimming in foreign donations, and the name Khaddafi keeps coming up.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 01:07 PM

Wow, what a sweeping negative generality, no source, no stats, no fractual references, just "the word on the street", huh? Gues it depends on what street you live on.

I know one down in Southeast San Diego where the word is that Palin's rise to fame was funded by a back-room operation selling Alaskan high-school dropouts as sex-slaves to the Russians.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Riginslinger
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 01:25 PM

I was just trying to get your attention, Amos. It was on that News-Max thing, which is highly questionable I know, but no more so that the Daily.Kos or MoveOn.org.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 01:30 PM

Rig:

You are a world-class jerk, and when I get up in your neck of the woods I am going to hunt you down and make you buy me a beer and sit at the table while I drink it. You can have one too, if you wish.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Riginslinger
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 01:45 PM

You're on! I'll do that.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 04:04 PM

:>) Deal.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 11:18 AM

Ouch

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 11:59 AM

Gov. Blagojevich Releases Statement On Obama

CHICAGO February 10, 2007

"On this historic day, I am pleased to join many Illinoisans who are excited and proud to support Sen. Obama in his bid for the presidency. I know that Sen. Obama will fight to make sure that working families have access to health care, good paying jobs, and opportunities to provide for their children. Senator Obama supports the very best of these Democratic values; they are values that he and I share, values I know he will fight for.

"Sen. Obama has the vision, skills and dedication necessary to bring people together and make real progress in Washington to help solve our country's greatest and most pressing problems. Sen. Obama offers real hope for the American people and I am proud to give him my support.

"I want to take this opportunity on this historic day to urge the Legislature to immediately send me a bill to move our state's primary from March 18, 2008 to February 5, 2008. That will give Illinois voters an opportunity to send an early message in support of Senator Obama and send him to victory."

Then he rolls Obama under tha buss;

With Antoin "Tony" Rezko's federal corruption trial looming, Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday tried to deflect the heat he's been getting over his former adviser and top fundraiser by pointing out he's not the only politician who has received help from Rezko.

Blagojevich ticked off a list of elected officials who also have ties to the indicted developer. While not naming them, he made reference to everyone from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to House Speaker Michael Madigan, his political nemesis, and Madigan's daughter, Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Riginslinger
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 12:08 PM

He looks a lot like Alfred E. Newman. Are we supposed to take any of these characters seriously?

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 12:19 PM

Sawz:
How does tyhat "roll someone under the bus".

I mean, let's get clear: specific facts are specific facts. Let's have details, verified as true, or rejected as false.

All you armwaving just muddies the waters, I'm afraid.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 01:23 PM

Obama Holds Sizable Lead In Today's Tracking Polls
By Eric Kleefeld - October 1, 2008, 1:06PM

Here's a wrap-up of the four major national tracking polls for today. Barack Obama continues to hold a substantial lead over John McCain:

• Gallup: Obama 48%, McCain 44%, with a ±2% margin of error, compared to a 49%-43% Obama lead yesterday.

• Rasmussen: Obama 51%, McCain 45%, with a ±2% margin of error, unchanged from yesterday.

• Hotline/Diageo: Obama 47%, McCain 42%, with a ±3.2% margin of error, compared to a 47%-41% Obama lead from yesterday.

• Research 2000: Obama 51%, McCain 41%, with a ±3% margin of error, unchanged from yesterday.

Adding these polls together and weighting them by sample sizes, Obama is ahead 49.4%-43.7%, down just slightly from yesterday's 49.8%-43.3% lead, but still well ahead.

(TPM.com's Election Central)

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 01:38 PM

IF you shaved, Rig, you'd look a lot like AEN too.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 02:17 PM

"I mean, let's get clear: specific facts are specific facts. Let's have details, verified as true, or rejected as false."

You first.

"this "Bush conflict," which has cut off our crude oil imports from the big oil-producing nations"

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 02:33 PM

Journalist, Evelyn Pringle, has been doing a lot of indepth research into Obama's many long time connections to crime and corruption in Chicago and Illinois. Here are some exerpts from her research:

'...when the scandal is recorded in the history books it will be the "Barack Obama" case. "

'Dr Michel Malek gave Obama $10,000 a little over a month before the first meeting on June 30, 2003. He also donated $25,000 to Blagojevich three weeks later on July 25, 2003, and gave Obama another $500 in September 2003. Malek was an investor in Riverside Park. '

'Dr Fortunee Massuda donated $25,000 to Blagojevich on July 25, 2003, and gave a total of $2,000 to Obama on different dates. Massuda's husband, Charles Hannon, is a co-schemer in the pension fund case and testified against Rezko in the trial.'

'In the media, Obama always made it sound like he rarely saw Rezko, saying they met for breakfast or lunch once or twice a year. However, the FBI mole John Thomas helped investigators "build a record of repeat visits to the old offices of Rezko and former business partner Daniel Mahru's Rezmar Corp., at 853 N. Elston, by Blagojevich and Obama during 2004 and 2005," according to the February 10, 2008 Sun-Times.'

'On May 20, 2005, the Times said, 'Two Rezko associates gave Blagojevich $25,000 each just days after the governor named them to a state panel.'

However, the reporters either failed to notice, or failed to mention, that panel member Malek gave $10,000 to Obama on June 30, 2003....

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 02:35 PM

Sawz:

I suggest you ask the author of that remark. I don't know what he was thinking.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 02:49 PM

Feds track Obama's visits to Rezko

In the media, Obama always made it sound like he rarely saw Rezko, saying they met for breakfast or lunch once or twice a year. However, the FBI mole John Thomas helped investigators "build a record of repeat visits to the old offices of Rezko and former business partner Daniel Mahru's Rezmar Corp., at 853 N. Elston, by Blagojevich and Obama during 2004 and 2005," according to the February 10, 2008 Sun-Times.

During his March 14, 2008 interview, the Times told Obama, Thomas is an FBI mole and he "recently told us that he saw you coming and going from Rezko's office a lot."

"And three other sources told us that you and Rezko spoke on the phone daily."

"Is that true?" the reporter asked.

"No," Obama said, "That's not accurate.""I think what is true," he said, "is that, it depends on the period of time."

"I've known him for 17 years," Obama stated. "There were stretches of time where I would see him once or twice a year."

He told the Times, "when he was involved in finance committee for the U.S. Senate race, or the state senate races, or the U.S. Congressional race, then he was an active member."

"During the U.S. Senate race, there's be stretches of like a couple of weeks - for example prior to him organizing the fundraiser that he did for us - where I would probably be talking to him once a day to make sure that was going well," he said.

"But the typical relationship was one that was fond," he added. "We would see each other."

"But there would be no reason for me to be seeing him that often," he stated.

This issue may be sorted out soon enough because Fitzgerald's charts matching up Obama's contributions, visits and calls are bound to be every bit as thorough as the ones produced to prove Rezko is guilty as charged in the first trial. They simply were not produced because they were not needed to prove the defendant guilty in the first case....

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 04:42 PM

Strictly for the sensational arousal and gratification for sawz, BB, rig and Doug

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 04:42 PM

http://www.rense.com/1.imagesH/tarpbook.jpg

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 04:55 PM

The anti Micheal Moore film deleted a scene from the Zucker movie.
It was a scene with Kelsey Grammer as Patton picturing a world in which Lincoln declined to go to war. Coleman is a slave washing Patton's car and tosses the sponge to Barack.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Riginslinger
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 07:02 PM

Does he catch it, or does it smack him in the face, like all of this news about Rezko is about to do?

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 10:03 PM

Rezko trial

Bob Secter April 14, 2008

"Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama's name came up again at the Antoin "Tony" Rezko corruption trial today in Chicago and in a way that earlier filings in the case did not telegraph.

Stuart Levine, the prosecution's star witness, said he and Obama were at a party Rezko threw at his Wilmette mansion on April 3, 2004, for Nadhmi Auchi, a controversial Iraqi-born billionaire who Rezko was trying to get to invest in a South Loop real-estate development.

Auchi, now a citizen of the United Kingdom, has faced criminal charges in Europe. He also figured in the revocation of Rezko's bond early this year after attempting to wire him more than $3 million. Upon learning of that attempt, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve declared Rezko a flight risk and ordered him held in a federal jail in the Loop.

The Rezko party in 2004 was designed to induce Auchi to pour money into the South Loop investment. Obama's presence at the party was not previously known. At the time, Obama was fresh off a surprise win in the Illinois Democratic primary for U.S. Senate and was riding a crest of national publicity."

How come this is not being hooted all over the MSM like Sarah Palin's family life?

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 10:29 PM

Edwards, Obama, and lobbyist money
by Ted Frank

At YearlyKos, John Edwards and Barack Obama sought to distinguish themselves from Hillary Clinton by saying they didn't take money from registered lobbyists, and Clinton was booed for defending herself. (Also: Franke-Ruta.)

I found this curious: after all, Obama and Edwards showed up at the national convention of the lobbying group for the trial lawyers, the former Association of Trial Lawyers of America (who now call themselves the American Association of Justice). There, they gave speeches (as did Clinton, Biden, and Richardson). A look at the largest donors for Obama and especially Edwards shows a disproportionate number of active members of that lobbying group. Indeed, John Edwards's finance chairman is Fred Baron, the former president of ATLA. If Obama and Edwards want voters to believe that Clinton is influenced by lobbyist money, what should we think about these two candidates' debts to trial lawyers? Are we to believe that the critical difference is the lobbyist registration papers, at which point money becomes tainted and dirty? Are any reporters going to ask that hard question, or will they let the two candidates demagogue from the high ground as they take millions from the most pernicious special interest group in America?

Change we can believe in.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 11:23 PM

Daily Obama Earmark Update: Chicago Museum Of Science And Industry

Here is a series of earmark requests for the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Pay particular attention to the funds secured for the Henry Crown Space Center. The Crowns are bundlers for Barack Obama's campaign and have assisted in promoting his career. Obama has pursued questionable earmarks for the Crowns in the past.

"In 2005, Obama Requested $3 Million And Helped Secure $750,000 For The Renovation Of The Museum Of Science And Industry's Henry Crown Space Center." (Obama For America Website, Accessed 6/3/08)

"[Jim] Crown And His Wife, Paula Crown, Are Members Of Obama's National Finance Committee And Have Raised More Than $200,000 For The Campaign, According To Obama's Campaign Web Site." (Matthew Mosk, "Obama Lists Requests For Pet-Project Funding," The Washington Post, 3/14/08)

Paula And Jim Crown Are Part Of The Billionaire Crown Family. "Obama had substantial support from longtime Democratic donors as well, with a hefty portion of his money flowing from titans in his home town, Chicago, such as his national finance chair, Penny Pritzker, a Hyatt hotel heiress, and Paula Crown of the Henry Crown family. The Crowns are worth an estimated $4.1 billion and hold stakes in the Chicago Bulls, the New York Yankees, Hilton Hotels and Rockefeller Center." (Matthew Mosk and Perry Bacon Jr., "Clinton's Campaign Has Most In Bank," The Washington Post, 4/16/07)

Jim Crown Is The Chairman Of The Board Of Trustees At The University Of Chicago. "Chairman of the Board of Trustees: James S. Crown." (University Of Chicago Website, Accessed 5/16/08)

Obama Visited Jim Crown And His Father, Lester, As He Was Preparing To Run For The Presidency. "As Mr. Obama moved closer to running, he paid a visit to James S. Crown and his father, Lester, billionaire investors who presided over a sprawling Chicago business dynasty and prominent leaders in the Jewish community. As the meeting ended, the younger Mr. Crown said, his father — who is 'fairly hawkish' about Israel's security — was noncommittal about Mr. Obama. But, James Crown said, 'I pulled him down to my office, and I said, 'Hey, look, I think you should run, and I want you to win.'" (Jo Becker and Christopher Drew, "Pragmatic Politics, Forged On The South Side," The New York Times, 5/11/08)

The Crowns Helped Arrange Meetings For Obama In His Visit To Israel. "Mr. Crown, for his part, could not be more pleased. Since Mr. Obama was elected to the Senate Mr. Crown said that even his father had been won over, helping to arrange meetings for Mr. Obama in a visit to Israel. James Crown said he had 'never had even the slightest glimmer of concern that Barack wasn't terrific' on Israel — a view that Mr. Obama jokingly reinforced at a meeting last year in Mr. Crown's office." (Jo Becker and Christopher Drew, "Pragmatic Politics, Forged On The South Side," The New York Times, 5/11/08)

Obama Requested An $8 Million Earmark For General Dynamics; Jim Crown Sits On The Company's Board Of Directors. "But Obama's list raised questions because it includes $8 million for a defense contractor that has ties to one of his most prodigious campaign fundraisers. According to the earmark disclosure, the money was for a project overseen by General Dynamics. Obama's Illinois finance chairman, James S. Crown, serves on the company's board of directors, and his family holds a sizable stake in the firm." (Matthew Mosk, "Obama Lists Requests For Pet-Project Funding," The Washington Post, 3/14/08)

* Obama Ultimately Secured $1.3 Million For A High-Explosive Technology Program Run By General Dynamics. "His campaign's list said the senator had secured $1.3 million of an $8 million request in 2006 for a high-explosive technology program for the Army's Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The list said the program was overseen by General Dynamics." (Christopher Drew and Jo Becker, "Obama Lists His Earmarks, Asking Clinton For Hers," The New York Times, 3/14/08)...........Much Much More Here

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 11:33 PM

NYT:
As Mr. Obama moved closer to running, he paid a visit to James S. Crown and his father, Lester, billionaire investors who presided over a sprawling Chicago business dynasty and prominent leaders in the Jewish community.

As the meeting ended, the younger Mr. Crown said, his father — who is "fairly hawkish" about Israel's security — was noncommittal about Mr. Obama. But, James Crown said, "I pulled him down to my office, and I said, 'Hey, look, I think you should run, and I want you to win.' "

In courting families like the Crowns, Mr. Obama was gaining entree into the upper echelon of the city's corporate boardrooms, a ripe source of campaign money. But he was also seeking to broaden his appeal to Jewish voters, and he was wading more deeply into one of the touchiest issues in American politics: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

For years, the Obamas had been regular dinner guests at the Hyde Park home of Rashid Khalidi, a Middle East scholar at the University of Chicago and an adviser to the Palestinian delegation to the 1990s peace talks. Mr. Khalidi said the talk would often turn to the Middle East, and he talked with Mr. Obama about issues like living conditions in the occupied territories. In 2000, the Khalidis held a fund-raiser for Mr. Obama during his Congressional campaign. Both Mr. Khalidi and Mr. Abunimah, of the Electronic Intifada, said Mr. Obama had spoken at the fund-raiser and had called for the United States to adopt a more "evenhanded approach" to the Palestinian-Israel conflict.

Still, Mr. Khalidi said ascertaining Mr. Obama's precise position was often difficult. "You may come away thinking, 'Wow, he agrees with me,' " he said. "But later, when you get home and think about it, you are not sure."

A.J. Wolf, a Hyde Park rabbi who is a friend of Mr. Obama's and has often invited Mr. Khalidi to speak at his synagogue, said Mr. Obama had disappointed him by not being more assertive about the need for both Israel and the Palestinians to move toward peace. "He's played all those notes right for the Israel lobby," said Mr. Wolf, who is sometimes critical of Israel.

During the Senate campaign, Mr. Obama joined in a "Walk for Israel" rally along Lake Michigan on Israel Solidarity Day. The Crowns and other Jewish leaders raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for him. Several days before the primary in 2004, some of his Jewish supporters took offense that Mr. Obama had not taken the opportunity on a campaign questionnaire to denounce Yasir Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, or to strongly support Israel's building of a security fence.

But in a sign of how far Mr. Obama had come in his coalition-building, friends from the American Israel Political Action Committee, the national pro-Israel lobbying group, helped him rush out a response to smooth over the flap.

In an e-mail message, Mr. Obama blamed a staff member for the oversight, and expressed the hope that "none of this has raised any questions on your part regarding my fundamental commitment to Israel's security." Mr. Abunimah has written of running into the candidate around that time and has said that Mr. Obama told him: "I'm sorry I haven't said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I'm hoping that when things calm down I can be more upfront." ... Much Much Much More Here.........

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Ron Davies
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 12:19 AM

Sawsaw--

You certainly are expert at pillaging articles, guilt by association, etc. Two can play that game--but it's a waste of time--and proves nothing. Too bad you have nothing to say that makes any sense.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 12:33 AM

Obama and his Rezko ties

April 23, 2007 TIM NOVAK Staff Reporter suntimes.com

For more than five weeks during the brutal winter of 1997, tenants shivered without heat in a government-subsidized apartment building on Chicago's South Side.

It was just four years after the landlords -- Antoin "Tony'' Rezko and his partner Daniel Mahru -- had rehabbed the 31-unit building in Englewood with a loan from Chicago taxpayers.

It was just four years after the landlords -- Antoin "Tony'' Rezko and his partner Daniel Mahru -- had rehabbed the 31-unit building in Englewood with a loan from Chicago taxpayers.

Rezko and Mahru couldn't find money to get the heat back on but their company, Rezmar Corp., did come up with $1,000 to give to the political campaign fund of Barack Obama, the newly elected state senator whose district included the unheated building.

Obama has been friends with Rezko for 17 years. Rezko has been a political patron to Obama and many others, helping to raise millions of dollars for them through his own contributions and by hosting fund-raisers in his home.

Obama, who has worked as a lawyer and a legislator to improve living conditions for the poor, took campaign donations from Rezko even as Rezko's low-income housing empire was collapsing, leaving many African-American families in buildings riddled with problems -- including squalid living conditions, vacant apartments, lack of heat, squatters and drug dealers.

The building in Englewood was one of 30 Rezmar rehabbed in a series of troubled deals largely financed by taxpayers. Every project ran into financial difficulty. More than half went into foreclosure, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.

"Their buildings were falling apart,'' said a former city official. "They just didn't pay attention to the condition of these buildings.''

Eleven of Rezko's buildings were in Obama's state Senate district.

Obama appeared in Cook County court on behalf of Woodlawn Preservation & Investment Corp., defending it against a suit by the city, which alleged that the company failed to provide heat for low-income tenants on the South Side during the winter.
Allison Davis, a co-founder of the firm who since has left, is a major Chicago developer. Miner, Davis and other partners and clients have been a regular source of campaign money for Obama, giving him $100,000 over the years. Miner said he organized fundraisers for Obama's first state Senate run, his 2000 congressional campaign and his 2004 U.S. Senate race.

Davis, who could not be reached for comment, has been a partner with other Chicago developers who also are clients of the firm and are Obama backers. One Davis partner was Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a major Obama patron who is now on trial in a federal public corruption case.

In 1998 Obama used state Senate stationery to urge that state and city officials provide tax subsidies to help a partnership consisting of Davis and Rezko develop low-income housing, the Chicago Sun-Times reported last year....More...

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 01:04 AM

My, my. You must be highly motivated to rake all that muck.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: beardedbruce
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 10:59 AM

"You certainly are expert at pillaging articles, guilt by association, etc. Two can play that game--but it's a waste of time--and proves nothing."


Yes, we HAVE learned a lot by watching Amos and Ron D. on this and other threads.


And now they admit they have proved nothing, after years of claiming otherwise.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 11:47 AM

Neener nneeener, amigo.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: beardedbruce
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 11:54 AM

Another intelligent response by Amos!


As I have stated, you have been asking that we check our facts- how much trouble is it for you to do so as well?

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Amos
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 01:15 PM

Geoff Elliott, St Louis, Missouri | October 03, 2008

SUPPORT for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has surged according to a series of polls yesterday.

The Illinois senator now heads Republican rival John McCain nationwide, including significant leads in battleground states in the lead-up to the November 4 poll.

The polls reinforced trends witnessed in the past two weeks as the meltdown on Wall Street and the US economy worked in the Democrat's favour and as the Palin bounce - the surge in polls for Senator McCain after he chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate - evaporated.

Voters were also impressed with Senator Obama in the first presidential debate last week, watched by 56million people.

Even more could watch today's debate between Ms Palin and Senator Obama's vice-presidential pick, Joe Biden.

Reputable polls from Quinnipiac University Polling put Senator Obama well ahead in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and even Virginia, which has not been won by a Democrat since 1964.

The trends were confirmed in a separate poll released by Time/CNN which also had Senator Obama ahead in critical battleground states and with similarly big margins.

Among the CNN poll's most dramatic findings is that Senator McCain is losing female voters faster than Sarah Palin attracted them. Senator Obama now leads Senator McCain by 17 points with women, 55per cent to 38per cent.

Before the conventions, women preferred Senator Obama by a margin of 10 points, 49per cent to 39per cent. After Senator McCain picked Ms Palin as his running mate, the gap narrowed to a virtual tie.

Insiders in the Obama camp warned that the swings looked too dramatic. They said the campaign's internal polling had not reflected such a fall in support as was shown in the news polls when Ms Palin rallied conservatives to the McCain standard.

In a worrying sign for Senator McCain, the polls indicated that independent voters had started to drift away from the McCain-Palin ticket. In the most dramatic shift, independent voters went from leaning towards Senator McCain by 45per cent to 44per cent on September 11 to favouring Senator Obama by 59per cent to 29per cent in the Quinnipiac poll.

The polls also indicated that the working-class vote, which had been difficult for Senator Obama to attract, appeared to be now heading towards the 47-year-old Illinois senator.

Quinnipiac University Polling Institute assistant director Peter Brown said it was "difficult to find a modern competitive presidential race that has swung so dramatically, so quickly and so sharply this late in the campaign".

Mr Brown said that, in the past 20 days, Senator Obama had gone from "seven points down to eight points up in Florida, while widening his leads to eight points in Ohio and 15 points in Pennsylvania". (The AUstralian)

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: toadfrog
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 08:40 PM

This looks like a truly massive battle of the paste-ups. I thought that was contrary to the rules, but I haven't been around for a while.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 10:16 PM

MBA Applauds Senators Hagel R, Sununu R and Dole R for Re-Introducing Legislation to Reform GSE Oversight

Washington, DC (January 26, 2005) – The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today applauded U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE), John Sununu (R-NH) and Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) for re-introducing legislation to significantly improve oversight of the housing government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs).

"MBA has long supported legislation to ensure effective and well-funded regulatory oversight of the GSEs, which are critical to ensuring a healthy housing finance system," said Kurt Pfotenhauer, MBA senior vice president of government affairs. "We commend Senators Hagel, Sununu and Dole for introducing the Federal Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, and encourage the Senate Banking Committee to act quickly to advance this bill."

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were established by Congress to facilitate a strong secondary market for mortgage loans, freeing up capital to expand homeownership. With over 2,900 member companies who originate loans in the primary mortgage market, MBA has long advocated for statutory language clarifying where the primary mortgage market ends, and the secondary market begins. "This legislation draws a needed bright line between the primary and secondary markets which will empower the regulator to keep Fannie and Freddie Mac focused on their mission," said Pfotenhauer.

The new bill will create a strong, effective regulator modeled after other safety and soundness regulators. MBA has long supported this improvement.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the national association representing the real estate finance industry, an industry that employs more than 370,000 people in virtually every community in the country. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the association works to ensure the continued strength of the nation's residential and commercial real estate markets; to expand homeownership and extend access to affordable housing to all Americans. MBA promotes fair and ethical lending practices and fosters professional excellence among real estate finance employees through a wide range of educational programs and a variety of publications. Its membership of over 2,400 companies includes all elements of real estate finance: mortgage companies, mortgage brokers, commercial banks, thrifts, Wall Street conduits, life insurance companies and others in the mortgage lending field.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: GUEST,beardedbruce
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 07:25 AM

October 1st, 2008
Vatican official attacks U.S. Democrats as "party of death"

Vatican officials seldom single out political leaders who differ with the Church on issues like abortion rights or embryonic stem cell research. But now that the Vatican's highest court is led by an American, the former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, we can expect things to get more explicit in Vatican City — at least when when it comes to U.S. politics.

Burke, who was named prefect of the Vatican's Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature in June, told the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire that the U.S. Democratic Party risked "transforming itself definitively into a party of death for its decisions on bioethical issues." He then attacked two of the party's most high profile Catholics — vice presidential candidate Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — for misrepresenting Church teaching on abortion.

He said Biden and Pelosi, "while presenting themselves as good Catholics, have presented Church doctrine on abortion in a false and tendentious way."

Pelosi drew U.S. bishops' scorn for saying in a television interview last month that the Church itself had long debated when human life begins. Biden is a practicing Catholic who also supports abortion rights and analysts have said he could help woo wavering Catholics into Obama's fold. Both argue that they cannot impose their religious views on others.

Burke said pro-life Democrats were "rare" and that it saddened him that the party that helped "our immigrant parents and grandparents" prosper in America had changed so much over the years.

Burke made headlines as archbishop of St. Louis for his public attacks on public figures who strayed from Catholic teaching. He suggested during the 2004 presidential campaign that Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, a Catholic, should be denied communion because of his views on abortion. Several bishops said at the time they would not give him communion and the media staked out churches where he attended Mass to see if he received it.

"Lately, I've noticed that other bishops are coming to this position," Burke told Avvenire, which is owned by the Italian bishops' conference.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, wrote a letter in 2004 to American bishops restating the Church position that a priest must refuse to distribute communion to a Catholic politician who supported abortion rights. But Burke lamented that the letter was never distributed.

Burke's criticism isn't limited to Democrats. Last year, he accused singer Sheryl Crow of being "a high profile proponent of the destruction of innocent lives" for defending a woman's right to have an abortion and for being a proponent of stem cell research. He resigned as head of a children's medical charity that featured the singer for a benefit concert.

Pope Benedict has been encouraging Catholic bishops to speak out more openly on public policy issues to make the Church's voice heard. Any bets on when we'll hear from Burke next?

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: GUEST,beardedbruce
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 09:14 AM

Friday, October 3, 2008
FBI raids Obama friend's home

Andrea Billups (Contact)
The FBI on Wednesday raided the county offices of a former Illinois state senator who is a poker-playing buddy of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.

According to Chicago authorities, the FBI visited the offices in Joliet, Ill., of Will County executive Larry Walsh, a longtime friend of Mr. Obama's, and his chief of staff Matt Ryan.

Mr. Walsh, who served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2005, was endorsed by Mr. Obama in his county executive election bid. With the support of some of Mr. Obama's U.S. Senate volunteers, he easily defeated incumbent Republican Joseph Mikan.

Will County auditor Steve Weber confirmed that his office had been asked by the FBI to assist in an investigation, but he did not elaborate on the specifics.

Two FBI agents out of Chicago reportedly spent more than an hour in the Will County offices on Wednesday morning.

According to sources, the Walsh investigation may be tied to lobbying firm Smith Dawson and Andrews, which was hired in 2006 for $10,000 per month to help Will County acquire federal grants.

The firm, which is registered with the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, assists clients with communications and legislative strategies that better their public policy agendas, according to its Web site. Last month, Mr. Walsh announced that Will County was the recipient of a $750,000 federal government grant that would allow law enforcement and prosecutors to fight against domestic violence.

One of the firm's partners, James P. Smith, contributed $2,000 to help Mr. Walsh's county executive election bid.

A corn farmer from Joliet, Mr. Walsh has supported his friend's presidential bid, and campaigned for him in rural and farming areas of the state. They are seen hugging each other in photos before Mr. Obama's announcement that he was running for president.

The two men became tight friends during their tenure in the Illinois Senate and bonded over games of poker. According to a report in Time magazine, Mr. Walsh lost to Mr. Obama once with what he thought was a winning hand, and then slammed down his cards and said: "Doggone it, Barack, if you were more liberal in your card-playing and more conservative in your politics, you and I would get along much better."

Mr. Walsh denied any knowledge of any investigation.

"I don't have a clue what you are talking about," Mr. Walsh said in reports published Thursday in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 09:59 AM

Amos looking in the mirror:

My, my. You must be highly motivated to rake all that muck.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: GUEST,beardedbruce
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 12:10 PM

Sorry, Guest, you are wrong.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/citizen.asp


I may not want Obama to be President ( because of his political views) but there is no doubt that he is qualified to run.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 10:14 PM

Code Pink 'Bundles' for Barack
by Catherine Moy 04/14/2008

The co-founder of the radical anti-war group Code Pink has "bundled" more than $50,000 for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and pro-troops groups are demanding that he return the money.Jodie Evans, a Code Pink leader, gathered at least $50,000 from friends and associates and donated it to Obama's presidential campaign, according to information compiled by the nonpartisan watchdog group, Public Citizen.
------Evans and her son, a student who lives at her Southern California address, each also gave the maximum individual allowable donation of $2,300 to Obama's campaign. The donations have raised questions about Obama's association with the more radical elements of his base. Code Pink has harassed, vandalized and impeded military recruiters across the United States in a campaign it calls "counter-recruitment." The group also gave $600,000 to the families of Iraqi terrorists in Fallujah, whom it called "insurgents" fighting for their homes.
------Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission, Move America Forward, Military Families Voice of Victory, The Band of Mothers and FreeRepublic.com, issued a statement this week saying Obama should cut ties to his radical bundler.
------"Barack Obama's judgment to be commander-in-chief is seriously in question because of his association with Code Pink's Jodie Evans and her war against the American military," the groups said in a joint statement. "If Sen. Obama wants to earn the trust of the American people to send their sons and daughters in harm's way, he should immediately renounce Evans and return all contributions associated with her."
------Obama's campaign did not respond to repeated attempts to get comment on the latest controversy to hit his campaign.
------
"As somebody who has stood toe-to-toe with Code Pink, I am sickened that Senator Obama would accept large donations from the leader of the hateful, anti-American group," said Melanie Morgan, chairman of Move America Forward, the nation's largest pro-troop group.
------Code Pink has also waged a campaign of psychological warfare against America's wounded warriors and their families by protesting at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, targeting them with signs bearing messages such as "Maimed for a lie" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton," the joint statement from pro-troops groups said.
------Evans has a long history as a political organizer for radical causes and as a Democratic operative. She also worked for former California Gov. Jerry Brown, who is now the state's attorney general. Evans sat on the board of directors of the Rain Forest Action Network (RAN), a coalition of capitalist-hating environmentalist groups. The cofounder of RAN also founded the violent and radical Animal Liberation Front, which the FBI listed as one of the largest domestic terrorism threats in the United States.
The FBI reported that RAN and the Earth Liberation Front committed more than 600 criminal acts and racked up $43 million in damages over seven years.
------Evan's radical ideology fit with the other founders of Code Pink, which is notorious for its attempts to shut down the Berkeley Marine Recruiting Center, occupying congressional offices, intimidating families of soldiers who gave their lives in Iraq, attacking opponents and disrupting Congress while dressed in Pepto Bismol-colored outfits.
------Most of Evans' money comes from a failed marriage with Westside financier Max Palevsky, a billionaire who cashed in on a computer business in the late '60s. Evans took the cash and has invested in anti-American, anti-capitalist ventures.
------In federal documents relating to her donations to Obama, Evans listed Code Pink as her employer. "After the mess with his former pastor and another radical character, Jeremiah Wright, Obama needs to distance himself from Evan and Code Pink," Morgan said. "If he doesn't, it is clear that he is not ready to lead the best military in the world."

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: GUEST,Jack the Sailor
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 10:22 PM

Sawzaw that crap that you are reading is going to rot your mind.
Why don't you try to find some perspective man?
Obama has raised what? A quarter billion? 50,000 is coffee money for his North Carolina operations.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 04 Oct 08 - 12:16 AM

Novak:

On the campaign trail, Obama has been highly critical of corporate executives and promised them nothing but tougher regulation and higher taxes. But the unannounced, small evening sessions with them since he clinched the Democratic nomination have been nonconfrontational and cordial.

Obama scheduled the meetings without any hopes of winning the captains of industry over from Sen. John McCain, but to show them they would be able to do business with him in the White House and that the president's door would be open to the corporate leaders.

Subject: RE: BS: Popular Views on Obama
From: Sawzaw
Date: 04 Oct 08 - 01:01 AM

Obama suporter, Code Pink's treasonous behavior on foreign soil has been equally disgusting.

The organization traveled to Iraq to give $600,000 in aid to what they called "the other side" so they could resist Coalition Forces. The "other side" is a euphemism for Islamic terrorists. But remember, according to the worldview of Barack Hussein Obama, these terrorists have nothing to do with the jihad that's been declared against America.