PACs and Lobbyists Aided Obama's Rise
The Boston Globe
"The people in this stadium need to know who we're going to fight for," Obama said at Soldier Field. "The reason that I'm running for president is because of you, not because of folks who are writing big checks, and that's a clear message that has to be sent, I think, by every candidate."
But behind Obama's campaign rhetoric about taking on special interests lies a more complicated truth. A Globe review of Obama's campaign finance records shows that he collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from lobbyists and PACs as a state legislator in Illinois, a US senator, and a presidential aspirant.
In Obama's eight years in the Illinois Senate, from 1996 to 2004, almost two-thirds of the money he raised for his campaigns -- $296,000 of $461,000 -- came from PACs, corporate contributions, or unions, according to Illinois Board of Elections records. He tapped financial services firms, real estate developers, healthcare providers, oil companies, and many other corporate interests, the records show.
Obama's US Senate campaign committee, starting with his successful run in 2004, has collected $128,000 from lobbyists and $1.3 million from PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit organization that tracks money in politics. His $1.3 million from PACs represents 8 percent of what he has raised overall. Clinton's Senate committee, by comparison, has raised $3 million from PACs, 4 percent of her total amount raised, the group said.
In addition, Obama's own federal PAC, Hopefund, took in $115,000 from 56 PACs in the 2005-2006 election cycle out of $4.4 million the PAC raised, according to CQ MoneyLine, which collects Federal Election Commission data. Obama then used those PAC contributions -- including thousands from defense contractors, law firms, and the securities and insurance industries -- to build support for his presidential run by making donations to Democratic Party organizations and candidates around the country.
Obama Soften Ban on Lobbyists
The Boston Globe
During his campaign, Obama declared: "I have done more to take on lobbyists than any other candidate in this race. I don't take a dime of their money, and when I am president, they won't find a job in my White House."
Obama Appoints Lobbyist to Head FCC
CNET News
Telecom policy circles are a buzz with the news of Barack Obama's pick to head the Federal Communications Commission transition team. Obama is reported to have chosen lawyer and DC insider Henry Rivera, a former Democratic FCC commissioner, lobbyist, and currently a partner at communications law firm Wiley Rein.
2. Obama Protects Bush
Obama Administration Tries to Kill E-Mail Case
New York Times
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration, siding with former President George W. Bush, is trying to kill a lawsuit that seeks to recover what could be millions of missing White House e-mails.
Two advocacy groups suing the Executive Office of the President say that large amounts of White House e-mail documenting Bush's eight years in office may still be missing, and that the government must undertake an extensive recovery effort. They expressed disappointment that Obama's Justice Department is continuing the Bush administration's bid to get the lawsuits dismissed.
3. Obama Sides with Bush: No Trials for Detainees
Obama Holds Detainee Policy in Afghanistan
New York Times
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has told a federal judge that military detainees in Afghanistan have no legal right to challenge their imprisonment there, embracing a key argument of former President Bush’s legal team.
In a two-sentence filing late Friday, the Justice Department said that the new administration had reviewed its position in a case brought by prisoners at the United States Air Force base at Bagram, just north of the Afghan capital. The Obama team determined that the Bush policy was correct: such prisoners cannot sue for their release.
“Having considered the matter, the government adheres to its previously articulated position,” wrote Michael F. Hertz, acting assistant attorney general.
4. Obama Keeps the Bush Administration's Defense Secretary
Defense Secretary Robert Gates was a key player in the Bush Administration; he took part in lying about WMDs, falsifying evidence to suggest that Iraq was working with Al-Qaeda, dividing up Iraqi Oil Refineries between Shell, Exxon Mobil, BP, and Chevron, giving Halliburton a no-bid contract, torturing prisoners and "losing" billions of dollars in cash shipments.
Obama, Gates In Sync On Many Defense Issues
MSNBC
WASHINGTON - For a Democrat whose opposition to the Iraq war was a campaign centerpiece, President-elect Barack Obama is remarkably in sync with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on many core defense and national security issues — even Iraq.
The list of similarities suggests the early focus of Obama's Pentagon may not change dramatically from President George W. Bush's.
Given that Obama made the unprecedented decision to keep the incumbent Republican defense secretary, it would seem natural to expect that they see eye to eye on at least some major defense issues. But the extent of their shared priorities is surprising, given Obama's campaign criticisms of Bush's defense policies.
And then Obama appointed Raytheon lobbyist Bill Lynn to be Deputy Secretary of Defense.
Raytheon Profits Rise On High Missile Sales
Reuters 2/1/07
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Raytheon Co. (RTN.N) said on Thursday fourth-quarter profit rose 32 percent, meeting Wall Street's estimates, on strong sales of its air-to-air missiles and electronic battle systems.
The company, which is the No. 5 Pentagon supplier, follows other defense contractors which over the past two weeks all posted higher profits on the back of record U.S. military spending.
5. Obama's Vice-Chief of Naval Operations: Guantánamo Meets Geneva Rules
Guantanamo Detainees Treated Humanely, Pentagon Report Says
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) A new Defense Department review of detainee operations at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, concludes that the operation does not torture detainees but rather treats them humanely and in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
The report, released to the public Monday, was prepared for President Obama, who has ordered the closing of the facility within a year. The report, prepared by the vice chief of naval operations, Vice Adm. Patrick Walsh, was sent to the president over the weekend.
Administration Draws Fire for Report on Guantanamo
The New York Times
Admiral Walsh, appointed by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates to conduct a review of Guantánamo conditions that was ordered by the president, conceded that there had been widespread accusations of violence against detainees, humiliating treatment and other abuses.
But “we found no such evidence,” he said at a Pentagon news conference.
6. Obama Administration Requested Michigan Vs. Jackson Be Overturned
[Take note that the following like leads to google's saved archive of the news article. The article itself has been deleted from the AP's website.]
Court: Suspects Can Be Interrogated Without Lawyer
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a long-standing ruling that stopped police from initiating questions unless a defendant's lawyer was present, a move that will make it easier for prosecutors to interrogate suspects.
The high court, in a 5-4 ruling, overturned the 1986 Michigan v. Jackson ruling, which said police may not initiate questioning of a defendant who has a lawyer or has asked for one unless the attorney is present. The Michigan ruling applied even to defendants who agreed to talk to the authorities without their lawyers.
The Obama administration had asked the court to overturn Michigan v. Jackson, disappointing civil rights and civil liberties groups that expected President Barack Obama to reverse the policies of his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush.
[Also take note that this decision was not covered in the mainstream media.]
7. Seven Broken Promises
8. Obama Promised 5 Days to Read Bills, Gives Congress 10 Hours to Read $787 Billion Feb 09 Stimulus Bill and then Waits Four Days to Sign It
9. Obama's Signing Statements and Lack of Transparency
Signing Statements Reappear in Obama White House
The Wall Street Journal
Obama Looks to Limit Impact of Tactic Bush Used to Sidestep New Laws
The Wall Street Journal
10. Obama Still Working to Make His "Administration the Most Open and Transparent Administration in History"
White House Begins Publishing the Names of Visitors
CNN
Last month, Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, said records of White House visitors would be made available to the public on an ongoing basis beginning in December.
"We will achieve our goal of making this administration the most open and transparent administration in history not only by opening the doors of the White House to more Americans, but by shining a light on the business conducted inside it," he said. "Americans have a right to know whose voices are being heard in the policymaking process."
11. Obama Proposes New Unconstitutional Legal System
President’s Detention Plan Tests American Legal Tradition
New York Times
President Obama’s proposal for a new legal system in which terrorism suspects could be held in “prolonged detention” inside the United States without trial would be a departure from the way this country sees itself, as a place where people in the grip of the government either face criminal charges or walk free.
Obama Would Move Some Detainees to U.S.
New York Times
WASHINGTON — Despite stiff resistance from Congress, President Obama said Thursday that he intended to transfer some detainees from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to highly secure facilities inside the United States. He also proposed “prolonged detention” for terrorism suspects who cannot be tried, a problem he called “the toughest issue we face.”
12. Obama Breaks Health Care Promises
Five Health Care Promises Obama Won't Keep
CBS
Complete Transparency
Candidate Obama promised that health care deliberations with Congress and special interests would be transparent to the extreme.
"That's what I will do in bringing all parties together, not negotiating behind closed doors, but bringing all parties together, and broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are," Mr. Obama said during his Jan. 31, 2008 debate with Clinton. "Because part of what we have to do is enlist the American people in this process. And overcoming the special interests and the lobbyists who -- Senator Clinton is right. They will resist anything that we try to do."
The president, members of Congress from both parties and special interest groups have indeed all participated in negotiations, but those conversations have not been broadcast. Instead, the president has announced deals with groups like the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance industry after they were worked out in backroom deals.
Allow Drug Importation
During the campaign, Mr. Obama said his plan (PDF) would "Allow consumers to import safe drugs from other countries" because "some companies are exploiting Americans by dramatically overcharging U.S. consumers."
As noted above, the Obama administration secretly conceded to forgo the importation of cheaper drugs in its deal with the pharmaceutical industry.
Obama Said He'd Televise Health Care Reform Negotiations on C-SPAN
Politifact
To achieve health care reform, "I'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We'll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies -- they'll get a seat at the table, they just won't be able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we'll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies. And so, that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process." - Barack Obama, Town Hall Meeting on Aug. 21, 2008, in Chester, Va.
13. Obama Administration: State Secrets
Obama Secrecy Watch II: A State Secrets Affidavit Straight from the Bush Era
Newsweek
When Attorney General Eric Holder invoked the “state secrets” privilege to quash a lawsuit alleging illegal National Security Agency spying last Friday night, his department’s lawyers sounded a lot like those who worked for President George W. Bush. In fact, they justified the action by filing an affidavit from President Obama’s director of national intelligence that is nearly identical to one filed by President Bush’s intelligence director two years ago.
The strikingly similar affidavit—making the same arguments in the almost exactly the same language—is among the strongest examples yet of how Obama administration officials are adopting Bush-era secrecy positions in major national security cases.
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