Obama "Living In A Glass House."

[wyldwolf]

White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who is making government transparency a centerpiece of the latest phase of his campaign, does not always practice what he preaches when it comes to his own business.

Obama is accusing chief rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) of being secretive and slowing down the release of her official first lady papers in the Clinton Library, documents that could help buttress -- or erode -- her claim of presidential experience.

Since last Tuesday's Democratic debate in Philadelphia, Obama has been stepping up his criticism of Clinton on the matter of transparency, which makes it timely to look at his own record.

<-----snip---->

the Obama transparency record is lacking.

• • An Obama spokesman, Ben Labolt, last week declined to say where Obama's records from his years in the Illinois State Senate are located. There is no law mandating the state to archive the records. The records from Obama's office -- if he kept them -- would potentially show appointments with lobbyists, policy memos, meetings, etc.

• • Obama has supported more earmark disclosure to bolster government transparency. Last June, Obama disclosed the earmarks he requested for Illinois and national interests. However, his office, after repeated requests since June, has yet to disclose earmarks Obama sought in 2006, before he was running for president.

• • Obama does list the names of hundreds of bundlers -- people committed to raising at least $50,000 for the campaign -- on his Web site. He brags about the disclosure on the stump.

But that's literally all Obama does, list a name. No cities or states, information that is available to his campaign. Some names are well known because the bundlers are celebrities or longtime activists. But it's a big country, and there are more than one Bob Clark and Lou Cohen. Just listing a name does lip service to meaningful disclosure.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, in a memo sent last week after the debate, said Obama is "setting a new standard of openness in campaign fund-raising." That's because the bar is very low.

• • Obama's campaign has refused to identify the biggest bundlers, people who are raising at least $200,000 for him and are given membership in his National Finance Council. Obama, as all major candidates, declines most of the time to disclose details about most fund-raising events.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/635462,CST-NWS-sweet05.article

[Bullet1987]

1. Did you guys recieve your opposition research in the mail

or do you go around to find it yourselves?

[wyldwolf]

2. psst. Go to "news.google.com" and enter in words like "obama" and "hillary" or in your case...

..."illuminati"

[Bullet1987]

3. So you go around to find it yourself?

Gotcha...

[wyldwolf]

4. uh... yeah. So?

Look at all the threads here that quote articles. How do you think they were found? oooh. Gotcha!

[ccpup]

5. if they can't defend the message

they just go and attack the messenger.

[Bullet1987]

6. Gotcha Gotcha....lol

[MethuenProgressive]

7. Barack H(ypocrisy) Obama

With more experience. perhaps he'll learn to be honest about his record.
What little record he has, that is..

[Evergreen Emerald]

8. thanks...too often people here blindly follow someone without really looking into them

Here is an example were people have regurgitated Obama's talking points on Clinton without question. It is time to question

[Bitwit1234]

9. OPEN government???

Does that mean the republican way...you know, like telling the public what he thinks they want to hear.

Five years ago Bill Clinton filed his own request for his papers to include them in his library. He's still waiting. Bush signed Executive Order 13,233 which covers the fact that ONLY the incumbent president has the right to release presidential papers. He did this to cover his father's ass. The public wanted Bush#41's papers pertaining to his help to cover up the Iran-Contra Affair and his pardons.

[wyldwolf]

10. we can't let ittle things like federal laws get in the way.