ANALYSIS: Obama-Clinton battle at historic social crossroads first election results after 0200 GMT Wednesday
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Mar 4, 2008, 15:50 GMT
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SEE OBAMAS CONNECTION WITH SADDAM HUSSEN AND REZKO!
Land deal 'mistake' piles the pressure on Obama Mr Auchi, leading supplier of arms to Saddam's regime and convicted for corruption in France, the British-Iraqi billionaire lent millions and millions of dollars to Barack Obama's fund just weeks before an imprudent land deal investigation. In addition money transfer from Nadhmi Auchi, Obama used to buy his Georgian mansion in Chicago. Mr. Auchi says the loan, through the Panamanian company Fintrade Services SA, was for $3.5 million!!!. Mr. Auchi's money was made doing business with the regime of Saddam Hussein, Mr. Auchi was a leading supplier of arms to Saddam's regime. A former Belgian ambassador to Luxembourg charged that a bank in Luxembourg owned principally by Mr. Auchi laundered funds -- including oil for food money -- for Saddam and other Islamic dictators. Auchi helped French and Italian firms win a huge oil pipeline contract in Iraq, chiefly by paying off Iraqi officials, according to testimony given by an Italian banker to prosecutors in Milan. In 2003, he was convicted for his role in what was then the largest scandal in French history, involving payoffs from executives of the oil company now known as Total to political figures in Spain, Germany and Africa.. The connection between Mr. Auchi and Sen. Obama is cause for great concern in the U.S. The national news media have been remarkably incurious about Sen. Obama's relationship with Mr. Rezko, and his with Mr. Auchi. The Obamas bought the house for $1.65 million -- $300,000 below the asking price -- perhaps because Mr. Rezko's wife purchased from the owner an adjacent garden plot for $625,000. (The sellers deny they offered the Obamas a discount.) The Times of London wondered where Mrs. Rezko got the money to buy the garden plot. At the time, she had a salary of $37,000 and assets of only $35,000, the Times learned. Her husband told a court that at the time he had 'no income, negative cash flow, no liquid assets,' the Times said. Auchi participated in more than just Rezko's pizza and property ventures, however; he also contributed to Barack Obama's campaign by donating to a 2005 fundraiser through a company of which is wife is a Director. I quote the relevant paragraph from a London Times exclusive: Times has, however, discovered state documents in Illinois recording that the Panamanian company Fintrade Services SA lent money to Mr Obama's fundraiser. Fintrade's directors include Ibtisam Auchi, the name of Mr Auchi's wife. Mr Auchi's spokesman declined to respond to a question about whether he was linked to this business. The donation is significant, obama is the Ill politican mentioned in the following ABC News report on the FBI affidavit filed in US Attorney Fitzgerald's case against Rezko before Obama's political godfather was arrested on Monday: According to an FBI affidavit filed in the case, Rezko sought to get a visa for Auchi to visit the United States by contacting 'the same Illinois government official (Obama).
OBAMA WOULD VOTE FOR HILLARY!
I think very highly of Hillary. I admire her. I think she's one of the most disciplined strong dedicated people I know. She's one of the toughest. She's got an extraordinary intelligence, and outstanding public service record, she's somebody who's in this stuff for the right reasons and no doubt would make an excellent “President of the United Sates”. She's passionate about moving the country forward especially on issues like economy, health care and children. “Barack Obama “
... are stumping for Hillary.
They recognize the only chance they'll have in the general election is to go against someone as devisive as Hillary and they know they can't win against Obama.
What are your thoughts around Cheney and Haliburton? His stock holdings in the company, and him giving no-bid multi-billion dollar contracts to them year after year?
I wouldn't get your panties in a bunch over it.
The Clintons, in the 1990's had Sandy Berglar selling influence to oil companies all over Asia, while HE held stock in them.
They sold influence to China for campaign funds, greenlighting Nafta, GATT, WTO and MFN status for China.
They sold pardons to the likes of Marc Rich and freed Dan Rostenkowski.
Compared to the Clintons, Cheney is a boy scout. One other thing: none of what he has done is either a crime or a conflict of interest.
And don't forget that Halliburton had massive contracts under every major administration going back decades.
I'm all for more efficient and transparent procurement procedures, but the idiots who really believe that there is some evil Cheney / Halliburton conspiracy are a greater threat to this country.
It seems there's just no cure for stupid.
... Cheney has made millions from his Haliburton stock since he started giving them contracts.
re: your other comment '... Cheney is a boy scout. ... none of what he has done is either a crime or a conflict of interest.'
Your conflict of interest comment is laughable ... Uh Yeah, the guy giving no-bid contracts to a company who's stock he holds is 'no conlfict of interest' ... too funny.
And please SP4 ... list ANY crime that Obama has been charged with ...
'It seems there's just no cure for stupid.'
I know you've probably been hoping they would invent one for you since early childhood ... hang in there, they may develop a cure for you yet.
Excellent rebuttal.
Are you disputing that Halliburton/subsidiaries have done tens of millions of dollars in business with the US government prior to Bush taking office?
Obama? Oh bummer!
... that Cheney holding stock, and then awarding no-bid contracts IS a conflict of interest?
If he wanted to avoid a conflict of interest ... Why didn't he sell the stock? ... or at minimum, Why didn't he open it to competitive bids from other companies? (without an act of congress)
'that Cheney holding stock, and then awarding no-bid contracts IS a conflict of interest?'
Cheney had to sell his stock and resign his position with the company in order to take the office of vice president. 'No-bid' contracts? Who else is going to bid on the kind of things KBR does? Besides, KBR split from Halliburton.
In recent years the company has become the center of several controversies involving the 2003 Iraq War and the company's ties to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney retired from the company during the 2000 U.S. presidential election campaign with a severance package worth $34 million.[25] As of 2004, he had received $398,548 in deferred compensation from Halliburton while Vice President.[26] Concerns have been raised regarding the possible conflict of interest resulting from Cheney's deferred compensation and stock options from Halliburton. However, before entering office in 2001, Cheney bought an insurance policy that guaranteed a fixed amount of deferred payments from Halliburton each year for five years so that the payments would not depend on the company's fortunes.[26] He is legally bound by an agreement he signed which turns over power of attorney to a trust administrator to sell the options at some future time and to give the after-tax profits to three charities. The agreement specifies that 40% will go to the University of Wyoming (in Cheney's home state), 40% will go to George Washington University's medical faculty to be used for tax-exempt charitable purposes, and 20% will go to Capital Partners for Education. The agreement states that it is 'irrevocable and may not be terminated, waived or amended,' preventing Cheney from taking back the options at a later date.
If Sen. Obama rejects the Rev. Wright’s warped view of this country, why does he continue to attend his church?
Monday, January 7, 2008 10:16 AM
By: Ronald Kessler Article Font Size
Imagine if Mitt Romney’s church proclaimed on its website that it is “unashamedly white.”
The media would pounce, and Romney’s presidential candidacy would be over. Yet that is exactly what Barack Obama’s church says on its web site — except in reverse.
“We are a congregation which is unashamedly black and unapologetically Christian,” says the Trinity United Church of Christ’s website in Chicago. “We are an African people and remain true to our native land, the mother continent, the cradle of civilization.”
That’s just the beginning. The church has a “non-negotiable commitment to Africa,” according to its website, and its pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. subscribes to what is called the Black Value System.
While the Black Value System includes such items as commitment to God, education, and self-discipline, it refers to “our racist competitive society” and includes the disavowal of the pursuit of “middle-classness” and a pledge of allegiance to “all black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System.” It defines “middle-classness” as a way for American society to “snare” blacks rather than “killing them off directly” or “placing them in concentration camps,” just as the country structures “an economic environment that induces captive youth to fill the jails and prisons.”
In sermons and interviews, Dr. Wright has equated Zionism with racism and Israel with South Africa under its previous policy of apartheid. On the Sunday after 9/11, Wright said the attacks were a consequence of violent American policies. Four years later, Wright suggested that the attacks were retribution for America’s racism.
...
if Obama rejects Wright’s warped view of this country, why does he continue to attend his church, raising the question of whether Obama secretly agrees with his friend and mentor? At the least, Obama’s membership in Wright’s church suggests a lack of judgment and an insensitivity to views that are repugnant to the vast majority of white Americans who are not bigots.
That same lack of judgment has shown up in Obama’s gaffes—threatening to invade Pakistan and offering prompt negotiations with anti-American despots. More frightening, Obama voted last August to give Osama bin Laden and other terrorists the same rights as Americans when it comes to intercepting their overseas calls in order to pick up clues needed to stop another attack.
Jen Psaki, a spokesman for Obama’s campaign, has tried to paper over the candidate’s support of the Black Value System by saying that Obama “believes its basic tenets of commitment to God, to community, to self-discipline and self-reliance continue to have applicability not only to the African-American community but to all people.”
But that is not what the Black Value System says. One can only imagine the outrage that would erupt if a white presidential candidate like Romney subscribed to something called the White Value System. Yet while Obama has been referred to in the media tens of thousands of times in the past month, only one story in the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire offhandedly mentioned Obama’s church’s “unashamedly black” slogan.
In contrast, in an exquisite example of the double standard they apply to Democrats versus Republicans, the media love to focus on Romney’s religion, which is not relevant to how he would perform as president. Close to half the media references to Romney refer to the fact that he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Very few of them mention that he is both a Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School graduate, credentials that are relevant to how he would perform as president.
...
If his church membership calls into question Obama’s judgment, the dichotomy in the coverage of his and Romney’s religious affiliations spotlights the media’s double standard and how its skewed reporting influences who will become president.
But media bias or not, if Obama is his party’s nominee, his Republican opponent will rightly be able to make use of Rev. Wright and his radical teachings as effectively as supporters of George H.W. Bush used Willie Horton’s furlough to help Bush win the presidency.
None of that still makes me wrong.
1) Cheney gets deferred bonuses from a legitimate position he held with Hallibuton - This is not against the law
2)Halliburton has complied with every law concerning their contracts - not against the law.
3)No investigation has ever uncovered any improprieties
So, unless you are either clairvoyant, or just another libnazi co-ks--ker, that pretty much makes you just a little more than full of crap.
And yes, Obama has the distinction of no ties to Halliburton - But let's see what unfolds with Mr. Rezko and scrutinize Obama's relationship with some major coal companies.
You can get an Obama anytime you want. This guy has been talking out both sides of his mouth(ass) now for years. In 2004 he was extolling the virtues of Nafta to Illinois farmers. Now, he think it's the boogeyman?
Funny again how SP4 is defending Cheney while the entire world knows of the ties still existing between Cheney and Haliburton,these are called loyalty ,the highest regarded asset for any person that works for corporate bussines .At the same time he is smearing Obama for something similar except it is all smear without any logic except guilt by association from knowing somebody that apparently (if proven) has done something unethical .Double standards a la sauce neocon....
Is there any reason to believe Haliburton ,Exxon,Raytheon,and others are not the only profiteers from the Bush administration?Only the top 0,1 percent of the US population have gained from the 8 years of republican governance .A few decades ago General Motors was the biggest employer in the USA,now it is Wal-Mart.I'd like our republican friends to consider how wages,pensions,health care have evolved between those years.Just compare the benefits from working for Wal-Mart with the bygone days when GM was the top employer.I hope the republicans have not lost touch with reality in such an way as to deny that living conditions and buying power have diminished in the last years .The unavoidable questions are,can any person working for Wal-Mart have their children sent to higher education ?
Do they enjoy decent health care ?
Of course not .It is high time those basic human rights (not acknowledged as such by republicans ) are introduced in politics to give every person equal opportunities .There is not a country in the world ,to my knowledge,where these tokens of a civilized society are not recognized as ssuch.
The outcome of these elctions are probably the most important issue in world politics ,because they not only influence the lives of millions of americans,,they also affect the rest of the world as nothing in the Middle East will move without an intelligent US president.I have little hope for the future as AIPAC already has Obama in it's pocket .Mc Cain seems to be yet another republican with ties to corporate bussines .The fact that he is used by Boeing in their fight with Northrop EADS is sufficient to label him as yet another republican in the hands of the corporate lobbies.
After watching the BBC and CNN for weeks on the american elections it became clear that Hillary Clinton is the candidate of the working class,the unions and the poorest parts of the american people .As this part of the population has grown ,not diminished during the last decade,it is time to give them more opportunities and rights.Health care and education or trhe real issues in this campaign.If you guys have a heart for your own population.It is all very nice to defend the symbols of a country,like your flag .But it is much more important to defend the rreal substance of your country,your own population.Some of you will feel insulted if somebody tramples your flag,a piece of cloth.Yet these verey same people do not care a bit if your poorset are trampled .Some of you are in need of real values.
'the entire world knows of the ties still existing between Cheney and Haliburton'
Why the innuendo? Are you saying that VP Cheney was involved in the procurement process that awarded Halliburton contracts? Do you know ANYTHING about government procurement? Did you ('the world') know that Halliburton/subsidiaries have been working with the government for decades? To avoid the impression of impropriety, Cheney donated all Halliburton stock profits to charities.
'he is smearing Obama for something similar'
Is this the real estate thing? I must say it is disappointing. Obama's real estate deal looks like cut and dried political corruption. Rezko's wife (with no assets) buys adjacent plot of land at above market price on the very same day that Obama purchases home at below market price from same seller. Rezko then sells land to Obama at below market value. This was planned in advance and coordinated between Obama and Rezko. There is no other plausible explanation. It is a shame that such petty corruption could derail such a talented guy - but this is corruption.
'it is all smear without any logic except guilt by association'
Wrong. Obama - Rezko is very clear and direct corruption.
'Is there any reason to believe Haliburton ,Exxon,Raytheon,and others are not the only profiteers from the Bush administration?'
Tonny, government contractors - especially defense contractors, do business with the government. Do you think this started with Bush? Is there something wrong with this? Are you implying that your glorious EU companies do not do business with EU governments???
'Only the top 0,1 percent of the US population have gained from the 8 years of republican governance.'
The world economy is undergoing massive and rapid structural change. Increasing free trade is disruptive. Bush is not to blame for world trade.
'A few decades ago General Motors was the biggest employer in the USA,now it is Wal-Mart.'
Isn't Hillary Clinton on the Walmart board?
'when GM was the top employer.'
Are you seriously contending the Bush has something to do with this? What has Bush done to make GM less competitive? I suppose he could ban imported cars...
'The outcome of these elctions are probably the most important issue in world politics'
So you want Clinton (who sat on Walmarts board) who will raise taxes to make manufacturers less competitive? Whose husband pushed for opening US markets even wider to cheap imports? Or Obama who has no track record experience at all other than blatant petty personal corruption?
'The fact that he is used by Boeing in their fight with Northrop EADS is sufficient to label him as yet another republican in the hands of the corporate lobbies.'
You are such an ass Tonny. Which senator led the fight against boeing for corruption in government procurement deals? Your total ignorance of the US is well represented in the nonsense you write.
Cheney gets deferred options from his former employer (at least until 2006). That being the case, there is a very definite tie between Cheney and Halliburton. No one disputes this. In America, Tonny, this is neither against the law or financial unethical, in all 50 states. There is not one scintilla of evidence he tampered with any contracts, no matter how many times you propagandize it.
Now, if you want to discuss ethics, let's suppose that a President sent his National Security Advisor to, say, Sandy Berg(l)ar to Kazakhstan, and, for dem campaign funds, got them greenlights with the commerce department on oil deals (AMOCO)., all the while holding AMOCO stock.
Or, my favorite, they send the VP, in this case let's say it was...Al Gore(and it was)...to get campaign funds from Chinese businessmen (read chinese intel). In return, China suddenly has Most Favored Nation status.
Then, you ramrod NAFTA, GATT, and WTO through, and business like...Enron and Boeing start bundling money for you. Add to that, White Water, FBI records scandal, and some greasy commodity trades in the 1970's and it's quite a litany, huh?
Now Cheney COULD have done these things, although not one scintilla of evidence exists that he did but...
The Clintons did ALL these things and none of them are contested. Now if some one wants to discuss Cheney and Halliburton, I want to discuss the Clintons and AMOCO.
Cheney and Hillary: Guess who's running for office?
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I'd likeMar 4th, 2008 - 16:09:31
to be the first to congratulate Hillary Clinton for being the first Female president of the USA. Congratulations Hillary;)
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