Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Laura, Savannah, GA — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:24:10 GMT

We’ve seen what happens when CEOs are paid for doing a job no matter how bad a job they’re doing. We can’t afford to postpone reform any longer.

Is he talking about Congressional Elected Officials??

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Gregory Peek, Birmingham, Alabama — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:25:39 GMT

President Kennedy stated it thus:

"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."

Might another president state it thus:

"Ask not what your lobbyists can do for you. Ask what you can do for your lobbyists."

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Doles, Miami, FL — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:30:50 GMT

So, I guess democrats hate rich people, huh? No hit pieces can diminish the value of this record breaking campaign. If he becomes the nominee, I think we will see the true value of this effort. You have to understand the party is divided now. Wait till everyone's focus is more in line. All of those who have donated for the first time will not go down quietly. You will see the power of 1 million plus voices get to work to protect their investments.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

BL, Cincinnati OH — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:33:38 GMT

"The Wall Street Journal editorial page, which has been getting more aggressive in its Obama criticism, hits him today for appearing to back away from his promise on taking public campaign funding in the fall."

Imagine that, Rupert Murdoch's paper critisizing a democrat!

"Here's an interesting little pledge from Obama: Obama said he wouldn’t require his appointments to the Joint Chiefs of Staff to support gays in the military."

Yet another shoddy reporter taking this out of context to give it a different meaning entirely. You make it seem like he's against gays.

"He said his priority for the Joint Chiefs would be that they make decisions to strengthen the military and keep the country safe, not their position on the policy.

"I would never make this a litmus test for the Joint Chiefs of Staff," the Illinois senator said in an interview with the Advocate, a gay newsmagazine. "But I think there's increasing recognition within the armed forces that this is a counterproductive strategy.

"We're spending large sums of money to kick highly qualified gays or lesbians out of our military, some of whom possess specialties like Arab-language capabilities that we desperately need. That doesn't make us more safe."

As for the big donors? Old news... this was obvious to anyone last year that paid any attention. So what.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

NO-bama — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:33:52 GMT

"There is in fact a real parallel financing system already in place and ready to support Mr. Obama. It's called George Soros and so-called 527 groups such as the Democrat-supporting Fund for America or the newly named Progressive Media USA. Progressive Media recently announced plans for a $40 million, four-month campaign against Mr. McCain, and that's only one group in the game."
********
Sounds like old style politics to me! Why doesn't Barry disavow them since he is so adamantly against "old style politics."

And, Barry's "public parallel financing" statement is such an insult. Do we have "stupid" written on our faces? Barry, you brag about public financing legislation as one of your accomplishments. So, why are you now not even employing it? You're a fake, fraud.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Alan, NJ — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:36:05 GMT

Guess there is no cure for KOOL-Aid. Look he may be a great politician with unprecedented fund-raising abilities (then again so was GWB), but at the end of the day he is a politician. We just wish he was treated by the media as a politician and the not answer to all their (guilt-driven) dreams.

“I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views,” Mr. Obama wrote in “The Audacity of Hope, his I’m-running-for-president book. “As such, I am bound to disappoint some, if not all, of them.”

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

joan chicago il — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:36:08 GMT

SO Obama is not that innocent like he preach to be. I HOPE THE MEDIA CONTINUE BRING UP TO THE PUBLIC THE REAL OBAMA...
Obama is a half AA who is more into the white side than his black side... just mention his black side when he want to get some votes...

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

joan chicago il — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:42:17 GMT

WHY Obama doesnt talk about those big people like Soros? ohhh yeah,, he focus on the small donation as the only source...

it show again that Obama is not that genuine as he preach to be. While the media is focus on his nice speech, he is doing his things behind door.

while the media is focus on Hillary andlittle things, making it bigger than what it is, Obama is laughing at the media and the American people by engaging on all those things that in public he "is agaisnt it"

WHAT RIDICULOUS !!!

It is time to look deeper into Obama and his friends...

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Gloria, Mercersburg, PA — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:42:44 GMT

It was my understanding the media was just to report the news and not their opinion. I do not even watch MSNBC any more on T.V. I never liked Fox News - but - am liking them more and more on their campaign coverage.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Jane — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:44:23 GMT

Folks in the media, working with politicians behind the scenes, are trying SO hard to portray Obama in a bad light...SO hard. They assume the voters in the U.S. are dumb. They will be proven wrong this time, this election cycle will be the outlier.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Terry from IN — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:44:55 GMT

Obama doesn't control the life of Rev. Wright!

It's about time someone, with a spine, isn't caving in to the insecure homophobs.

It's obvious this article was designed to inflame the emotions of all the bigots.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

donna, pgh., pa. — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:45:36 GMT

It is proof positive, Obama appeals to the poor, middle class, and the rich. He appeals to all ages, and all races. He is bringing those of us, who want to be united, together.

Barack fighting for the little guy against these predator CEO's to stop their ravage of the American landscape of job opportuny. Wonderful.

I hope we will hear from the Reverend Wright. Let the ex-marine, ex-navyman, speak for himself; in words other than those edited for mischief.

Pulling for Obama '08

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

NO-bama — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:45:38 GMT

Look at Barry's legislation wanting to control business. Then, go look up the word FASCISM. You should find Barry's picture there.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

CC, boston, MA — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:46:14 GMT

From you Website:

The Democratic presidential front-runner favors repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays, which was instituted during the Clinton administration. He said his priority for the Joint Chiefs will be that they make decisions to strengthen the military and keep the country safe, not their position on the policy.

"I would never make this a litmus test for the Joint Chiefs of Staff," Obama said in an interview with The Advocate, a gay newsmagazine.

There is no mention that he said that he this: Here's an interesting little pledge from Obama: Obama said he wouldn’t require his appointments to the Joint Chiefs of Staff to support gays in the military.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Paul — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:54:44 GMT

I think the CEO's can have higher impact than lobbyists on how an administration acts.

So getting huge contributions from CEO/Senior management is more dangerous than lobbyists.

It is just misnomer to say I do not accept money from lobbyists.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Bill ( Hussein) Jones — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:56:28 GMT

Huge difference ...If people want to work for Obama's
campaign and work to put money toward those causes there are no strings attached. That's how donations are expressed and ingenuous it has been and it will stay that way...Obama has expressed this time after time...It's his word to his supporters..
..Lobbyist and packers expect favors...there are conditions attached to money..big money expects returns on it's venture...There has never been any expression from the McClinton's how/for their protracted funds are buying favors or not..but the tune of $800,000 from the Colombian government for free trade deals speaks volumes about how they value your jobs, your security, your needs and most of all their needs...

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

joe-pa — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:57:29 GMT

thank you for this post. In the interest of our country I believe he needs more looking into.We were stopped in the beginniong with any question being jumped on as racist or fear mongering. We wanting to be politically correct backed off. After Wright I think that has and should stop.The anti Jewish people around him also is unbelievable. Help us get out the truth now. Thanks again

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Allen Sutton, Lubbock, TX — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:59:26 GMT

All you Obama haters bashing him for taking money from DONORS that are rich are INSANE. check hillary's list and average donation amount per person, that should shut you up!
He is about different politics...the facts are if he doesn't have money, he wouldn't be in the race. Stop the hate, its ridiculous!

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

jan, nc — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:10:11 GMT

Here's another example of one of Obama's supporters' views. I wonder if he has made a donation to the campaign also.

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/04/10/media-misses-the-anti-semitism-in-los-angeles-rally/

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/04/11/rev-eric-lees-convenient-apology/

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Houston — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:16:59 GMT

[[The Wall Street Journal editorial page, which has been getting more aggressive in its Obama criticism, hits him today for appearing to back away from his promise on taking public campaign funding in the fall.]]

After Obama made that pledge, Bush's corrupt Supreme Court now permits private groups nominally unaffiliated with any political campaign to run smear attack ads right up until the November election. Obama would be foolish to hold himself to the earlier agreement now that the Supreme Court has changed the playing field so drastically.

McCain wealthy backers will spend hundreds of millions of dollars running "Rev. Wright" ads and other such garbage, and then the corporate media will rerun their ads for free, over and over, just like they reran the Swift Boat Liars' smears of John Kerry.

John McCain is an unpleasant and unappealing turkey of a politician who cannot inspire large numbers of ordinary people to make campaign contributions the way Obama can. That is Obama's only advantage over McCain and the military-corporate-media complex that supports McCain. Obama should use that advantage and let the Wall Street Journal hacks whine all they want about Obama's FAIR advantage over McCain in fund-raising ability. At least it's a change from the increasingly tiresome and increasingy racist hit pieces about the Rev. Wright.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Nickberry, Inchelium, WA — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:17:05 GMT

This is not about Obama taking big money from rich donors... This is about Obama's hypocrisy. He has put forward a "myth" that he is funded by grassroots and Hillary takes the big money from a rich. He harps on how Hillary will be beholden to those big guys. Guess what? Obama is deflecting, because he takes money the same way Hillary does... the same way Bush did... He is NO different.

And if one looks closely, Obama has already proven how in fact he does not look out for the little guy. He has been influenced by the largest nuclear power supplier in the nation... Excelon... in that legislation he proposed for mandatory reporting of nuclear spills was changed to "voluntary" after Obama let Excelon lobbyists rewrite it.

Obama voted FOR the Bush-Cheney energy bill AGAINST the Democrats... because of the payoff for the nuclear and ethanol (agri-corporations) industries. If he had stood with the Democrats there would have been a chance to modify that energy bill to increase funding for "real" alternative energy as well as to thwart the give-aways to BIG OIL.

That is the REAL Obama and that is how he will act as president... a Bush replica... beholden to BIG ENERGY companies.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

joan Chicago il — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:17:15 GMT

Allen Sutton, stop the hate? who express more hate, the Clinton's supporters or Obama's supporters?

if I am not mistaking, there have been more attack from the Obama side agaisnt CLitnon than Clinton toward Obama.
it is not about hate, itis about double standard and Obama like Clitnon and Mc, he has double standard in many issues.

Why to act so blind? Obama is just another politician, PLEASE, STOP TALKING OF HIM LIKE IF HE IS A ANGEL OR A SUPER MAN, HE ISN OT, HE IS USING YOU AND YOUR MONEY.

so, dont talk about hate, because the first racist and haters are those from Obama's supporters...

I am joan and i aproved the message!!!

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

jaylo — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:18:37 GMT

From Gonzales in Counterpunch:
Regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement, Obama recently boasted, "I don't think NAFTA has been good for Americans, and I never have." Yet, Calvin Woodward reviewed Obama's record on NAFTA in a February 26, 2008 Associated Press article and found that comment to be misleading: "In his 2004 Senate campaign, Obama said the US should pursue more deals such as NAFTA, and argued more broadly that his opponent's call for tariffs would spark a trade war. AP reported then that the Illinois senator had spoken of enormous benefits having accrued to his state from NAFTA, while adding that he also called for more aggressive trade protections for US workers."

Putting aside campaign rhetoric, when actually given an opportunity to protect workers from unfair trade agreements, Obama cast the deciding vote against an amendment to a September 2005 Commerce Appropriations Bill, proposed by North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan, that would have prohibited US trade negotiators from weakening US laws that provide safeguards from unfair foreign trade practices. The bill would have been a vital tool to combat the outsourcing of jobs to foreign workers and would have ended a common corporate practice known as "pole-vaulting" over regulations, which allows companies doing foreign business to avoid "right to organize," "minimum wage," and other worker protections.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

ugh — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:18:57 GMT

Donors who have given more than $200 account for about half of Obama's total haul, which stands at nearly $240 million.”

Maybe that is because its people like me giving 10, 15, and 20 dollars once a month and when they can afford it? It's not like they gave $200 in one donation in the first month of the campaign. He is continuously tapping small donors.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Anne,PA — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:23:19 GMT

A Letter to the voters of Florida,

Obama has taken your voice away from you. He is ignoring you hoping you go way. Every proposal that Clinton presented to seat your delegates was rejected by Obama. Obama doesn't care about Florida because He has a slight lead and doesn't want Florida's votes to count because the majority of votes will go to Clinton. This will tighten the race further.

Florida voters, I know you agree we live in a Democracy. No one can steal an election by ignoring voters. Voting is a sacred right that we value otherwise we would be no different than China.

Florida voters, Howard Dean, head of the DNC has pledged to seat your delegates. You need to email Howard Dean and let him know that we want the delegates seated fairly. We do not want the delegates fractionalized by declaring delegates valued at 1/2 or 1/4. Each delegate is worth 100%.

Clinton has worked tirelessly to get your delegates seated. When you are seated at the Denver convention cast all of you 210 delegates unanimously for Hillary Clinton- an experienced leader, who will fight for you every day, who will get the job done every day.
Anne, PA

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Carol, Long Valley NJ — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:40:32 GMT

NO-bama (Sent Friday, April 11, 2008 9:45 AM)

We already have fascism in the US, it's when the corporations control the government.

However, I know that you don't read any other posts, because you keep posting the same disproven drivel on every page.

Vote with your head, vote for the economy, vote for jobs.

Vote Democratic 2008 -- don't let the corporations and their Republican stooges win again.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

RENEA,PLYMOUTH,MI — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:51:18 GMT

WHAT ABOUT THE 600,000 DOLLAR CAMPAIGN BUNDLING DONATION GIVEN TO HILLARY CLINTON FROM A LAW FIRM THAT HAS BEEN CHARGED WTIH HARRESMENT OF WOMEN? THAT CASE IS GOING TO COURT OUT IN CA ON APRIL 25TH.YOU DO NOT HEAR MUCH ABOUT THAT ONE.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Mel — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:26:35 GMT

Okay - so 79 billionaires raised $200,000 each. That means that they raised around $18 million. And Obama has taken in $240 million. So, that would mean that the billionaires raised less than 8% of his total - and the other 92%+ came from people who are not billionaires - Okay. That's fine with me...50% of his financing came from people who have given less than $200.

Let's compare apples to apples here - the way you wrote the story is a little disingenuous and made it sound like the billionaires raised a lot more than they did.

Less than 8% of his financing came from these super-rich billionaires and 50% has come from people who gave less than $200.

Any way you slice it - he has well over a MILLION donors.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Pauline, Champaign — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:28:33 GMT

So Obama claims to be a "different kind of politician," huh? while he takes lots of money with folks with big ties to corporations and special interests? He likes to talk the talk of change and changing but he doesn't walk the walk now, so what do you think will happen if he is elected? He will be another George W. Bush, claiming to be a "compassionate conservative" and ending up responsible for the deaths of thousands. Obama is just another politician who has figured out how to package himself to be "fresh," but scrape below the image and there is more of the same cynical, insidious politics. Too bad it has taken the media so long to dig under that PR machine of his--we all will suffer as a result!

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

GDI in Michigan — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:41:23 GMT

I thought 90% of Obama's donations were under $100.00???
lets see 27,000 x $2,300 each = $62,100,000

interesting

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Delores Rose-Kennedy in the Stormy South — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:23:56 GMT

Obama knows that had Florida's & Michigan's votes counted then Hillary would have had the BIG MO and this race would be totally different. He doesn't want the votes counted but I do. The DNC should have found a way a long time ago to take care of this problem. Shame on them for not doing so. I have emailed Howard Dean weekly to complain about this mess the DNC has created. The Republicans don't have to shoot the Dems in the foot. The DNC did it.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

Delores Rose-Kennedy in the Stormy South — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:28:37 GMT

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

gene — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:34:03 GMT

You rabit Obama supporters need to wake up and "smell the flowers" as you are is not so Mr. Clean as he likes to portray himself. Read the article in the Wall Street Journal and will see an interesting part about a $100,000 contribution and a later ear mark involving a defense contractor, which was about $ 8,000,000. This was before he started to run for President. I will repeat, Obama can not win the general election. He will lose all of the south and border states, all of the normal red states, Michigan now for sure and one or both Ohio and Pennsylvania. Might even LOse California. They have a republican Govenor and McCain has support in the Hispanic community.

Obama: Big donors have chipped in, too

jg San Antonio, TX — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:40:45 GMT

Why do we as a country get upset at CEO's making millions when we don't even blink at sports figures and actors/actresses making as much and much more?

The CEO's have far greater responsibilities and impact. A succesful CEO improves lives for many thousands of people in his/her company and for our country in general.

As far as failing (or bad) CEO's, in all things human we are not able to always make the right decisions. Boards do make mistakes and hire the wrong person to be CEO. CEO's are also human and do make mistakes that end up harming their companies. I really doubt that you could find many, if any, who deliberately made the wrong decision.

The proper running of our country's companies is important to all of us. Unless we are willing to say that no one, including all the celebrities of the country, should be allowed to earn more than some arbitrary level we set ($1,000,000, $5,000,000, or whatever) it makes no sense to begrude top pay to the people running our companies.

I personally also believe that we vastly underpay our politicians. Possibly if we paid similar to a sports star or actor/actress, we could draw some much more highly talented people to those jobs.