It's not posted yet but, the Annenberg fact check guy just blasted Clinton

[cali]

on Rezco on NPR. I think the guy's name is Jackson and he was on "All Things Considered" examining all the claims made by the dems last night. He stated that Clinton was way off in her claim about Obama representing Rezco. He said that Obama was representing a group looking to put up low income housing partnering with Rezco.

Anyone else hear it?

[Konza]

1. yep. but don't let facts confuse us here n/t

[cali]

2. oh well,

I gave it a shot.

[ccpup]

6. the NY Times is covering it nicely today.

Here you go:

Real estate developer and fast-food magnate Antoin ''Tony'' Rezko spent years pouring thousands of dollars in campaign contributions into Barack Obama's climb from the Illinois legislature to Capitol Hill -- and helped him raise tens of thousands more.

But these days Rezko is snared in a nasty political scandal and facing a federal corruption trial that begins next month. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton invoked his name and his ''slum landlord business'' in a debate with Obama on Monday. A plainly embarrassed Obama has been sending the campaign money to charity in an effort to distance himself from the Chicago businessman, including $41,000 over the weekend.

The Democratic presidential hopeful has also been forced to explain how Rezko got tangled in the purchase of the Obama family home and other ties to Rezko -- some of them going back more than 15 years. If federal prosecutors are right, his ties to Rezko may even mean Obama's campaign unwittingly accepted money generated by illegal activities.

more at link:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Obama-Indicted-Donor.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=rezko&st=nyt&oref=slogin

[Kittycat]

7. Maybe Clinton should give back all the money she's received from questionable acquaintences in her

past.

Oh wait - she'd be broke.

[Lucinda]

11. Thanks! I hadn't seen the NYT piece.

[babylonsister]

3. I guess Clinton trying to draw Obama into the muck just didn't work.

I'll be looking for an article.

[ccpup]

24. try the NY Times

link:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Obama-Indicted-Donor.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=rezko&st=nyt&oref=slogin

worked like a charm and Uh-bama made the amateur mistake of falling right into it

[Iceburg]

4. Cali ...you know better than that

Obama stated on Meet the Press that he is a long time friend of Rezco and had known him for 17 years.

What are you up? Where did you come from? You've posted some very unusal commentary here for someone who claims to be an ardent Obama supporter.

[mopinko]

5. no, but

this whole thing smells to high heaven if you ask me. these people don't know a god damn thing about chicago. this deal may or may not have been shady, i honestly do not know. but do these people understand that this city has a crisis, are real crisis, in affordable housing? that is what "they" were trying to do. build low income housing. maybe resko fucked up, maybe he is a crook, maybe he was just stupid enough to think that he could make this kind of a deal work. but let me tell you, this was a thankless, risky, sorely needed venture that they were involved in. exactly the kind of thing that obama would TRY to accomplish. trust me, there was not a long line of people waiting to do this. no one wants to do it, and as far as i can see, pretty much no one can do it with the resources that are available these days.
jesus, you would think the guy was building strip clubs or something. i know it went wrong. but i doubt that anyone involved, least of all obama, had anything but the best of intentions. for what that is worth.

[K Gardner]

8. That's been known for awhile. It doesn't matter to Hillary. Truth is nothing to her. If

Truth hit her in the face, she'd still never admit she was wrong. The fact that she lies, knows she lies and continues to lie (about anything and everything) makes her the equivalent of George W Bush. She has her eye on the prize and nothing, especially not the truth, will stand in her way.

[KennedyGuy]

10. I think Barack is the one who got hit in the face..

by some pretty inconvienient facts..

[Tellurian]

19. yes, Big Time..

I saw him blushing when Hillary hit him with Rezco.. usually he ah...ah...ahs... anyone to death to get his word in..but Obama fell silent when the matter came up.. very telling. I wonder if Obama would be willing to take a Lie Detector Test to dispel any ideas of wrong doing?

[Tom Rinaldo]

13. DING DING DING DING

Congratulations.

You have just entered the 10,000th devoid of actual substance full frontal Rovian grade smeer against Hillary Cliton posted on the Democratic Underground Web site.

Click here to claim your prize:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/browse

[Cha]

14. hilary and bill are liars..

deal with it.

[Tellurian]

20. So, you say..

any proof, zidzi?

[thoughtcrime1984]

49. They ARE liars

I guess it works for them, so it must be right.

[K Gardner]

16. DING DING DING: You have just demonstrated perfect compliance with

your candidate's tactics: Use Rovian tactics then accuse others of doing same. CONGRATULATIONS!! You get the Karl Rove Prize for Candidate Imitation !

[Tom Rinaldo]

18. "makes her the equivalent of George W Bush." is hard to top. n/t

[Auntie Bush]

27. You deserve an Oscar yourself for the way you act

and post on this site.

[Auntie Bush]

43. Good one Tom. Tell it like it is. n/t

[Auntie Bush]

23. Its funny how every time there's a dispute on this board that has do with

who said what...Hillary is alway guilty. Obama is right and Hillary is lying. When Obama takes the wrong meaning of what someone says...he's just wrong or misunderstood...but Clinton is called a liar. I personally don't like those tactics of Obama supporters...very unfair!

[hedgehog]

37. Maybe because Clinton lies about Obama's record?.........

Misquotes him, repeats the misquotes, quotes him word for word on her Web site, then claims theat he said something different.........


When did Obama take the wrong meaning of what someone said?

[Auntie Bush]

42. How about the fake outrage at the MLK and fairytale comment?

How about his denying he said that Rethug Raygon had all the good ideas and not Pres. Clinton. Then he had the nerve to deny it (talk about what the meaning of "is" is) at the debate and go about a long explanation of what he said.
Maybe that's what he meant but that's not what he said. Seems like he always has to explain many of his comments. So he's/you are the pot calling the kettle black or you have to take your blinders off...you've had enough kook-aid for one election. Stop drinking :beer: that stuff...it obviously isn't good for you.

[superkia]

48. If the media repeats it enough, it is truth to the sheeple that cant...

think for themselves and they are allowed to vote.

[K Gardner]

9. Dupe, self delete

[suston96]

12. "...partnering with Rezco"? Better drop it.....

Obama may be the unnamed politician in the Resco indictment.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/1/19/10433/7280

"Obama is not named in the Dec. 21 court document. But a source familiar with the case confirmed that Obama is the unnamed "political candidate" referred to in a section of the document that accuses Rezko of orchestrating a scheme in which a firm hired to handle state teacher pension investments first had to pay $250,000 in "sham" finder's fees. From that money, $10,000 was donated to Obama's successful run for the Senate in the name of a Rezko business associate, according to the court filing and the source.

Rezko, who was part of Obama's senatorial finance committee, also is accused of directing "at least one other individual" to donate money to Obama and then reimbursing that individual -- in possible violation of federal election law. "

[Barack_America]

15. Spin it baby!

That's right, disregard the meaning of the entire statement and pull out the one fraction of a sentence that is appealing. Then RUN WITH IT!

[suston96]

17. Yeah, I have this terrible habit of reading for content so I read every word....

...that's why I get into trouble.....LMAO!

[ccpup]

26. now be fair

I get the feeling some of these Uh-bama supporters are still struggling with multi-syllable words and, therefore, tend to skip much of what's offered in the articles we post, instead just going for whatever the day's convenient spin is.

:evilgrin:

[Tellurian]

21. No worries. Obama is a Constitutional Law Professor, doncha know..

I'm sure the Constitution will protect him!

[Nailzberg]

22. Yes, because when you bring charges, you must show where the money came from and where it went

If Rezko bought some savings bonds, the bank would be an unnamed financial institution. If he bought 1000 soft tacos, Taco Bell would be the unnamed fast food restaurant. There is a reason they remain unnamed, because they are not being accused of involvement.

Obama has donated the money to charities. All candidates at some time unknowingly accept money from shady folks. And the Repubs will bring them up no matter who our candidate is. We need to stop stupid attacks like this and start offering our ideas as a party, or the Repubs will.

[Debi]

25. STOP THE LOGIC!!! STOP THE LOGIC!!

[ccpup]

28. "unknowingly" is a very interesting way

of describing a man Obama had been close friends with for 17 years. If he was unaware of what kind of man Tony is -- as most of Chicago seems to be --, then I shudder to think of what kind of people he'll trust in his Cabinet!

Add to that the $1.6 million house he bought for $300,000 under the list price and the neighboring parcel of land he got for a song from Rezko's wife for $104,00 -- and which he later admitted was a "boneheaded decision" --, and "unknowingly" starts to sound a bit too much like fervent "hope".

[Nailzberg]

30. As in "I can't believe Hillary unknowningly took money from Hsu"

Should have known what kind of man he was.

[ccpup]

33. I wouldn't go there, if I were you

Norman Hsu is also linked with Obama as well as introducing him to his current largest donor and present campaign finance helper Mark Gorenberg.

...

Federal Election Commission records show that Hsu gave $5,000 to Obama's Hopefund PAC in connection with the fundraiser and that people publicly identified with Hsu and his companies gave an additional $19,500 to the PAC in 2005 and 2006.

Mark Gorenberg, who now sits on Obama's national finance committee and is one of his biggest fundraisers, said Hsu organized an early 2005 event for the Hopefund and invited him to help raise money.

"He introduced me to Barack Obama," Gorenberg said of Hsu. "He was working on an event for Barack's PAC, and he asked me to help, and I did. Barack came up to San Francisco, and introduced him to a bunch of people."

link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/07/AR2007090703047.html

[Nailzberg]

36. And Hillary took , what $850K? I'm not afraid of going there.

See what I said.

Hillary took money. Obama took money. They both gave it away when it came to light what their contributors were up to. No one in politics has not taken some dirty money. The question is, where they involved in the dirt? And there is nothing to show either one was.

[ccpup]

40. After buying a house for $300,000 under the 1.6 million

asking price -- two parcels of land were available; Obama approached Tony, despite the fact he was under investigation by US Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald at the time, to get together and purchase them jointly --, Obama then purchased the second parcel of land to expand his yard for $104,000 from Tony and his wife, way below the $625,000 they originally paid. He later admitted it was a "mistake".

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/124171,CST-NWS-obama05.article

As State Senator he wrote letters to city and state officials supporting Rezko's successful bid to get more than $14 million from taxpayers to build apartments for senior citizens despite the fact he already had buildings lacking in heat, the basic necessities and which were considered by many to be slums. This contradicts Obama's assertion in December 06 that he had "never done any favors for him (Tony).''

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/425305,CST-NWS-obama13.article

Obama's links to Tony do indicate that if he wasn't involved in the dirt -- and I'm not saying he was --, the warning signals were certainly there for him to realize that this may not be an ethical friend to have. Obama continued his association with him anyway.

Ergo, he now finds himself with a mess on his hands and a lengthy piece in tomorrow's NY Times.

[hedgehog]

38. So the people who sold him the house for under their original asking price,

are they in on this, too?


I don't think he bought the land for a song, either:



To preserve the aesthetic balance, Obama also wanted to put some space between his house and the proposed fence, so he personally asked Tony Rezko if they would sell a portion of their lot without restricting their ability to build in the future.

"I told them if you can spare another 5 or 10 feet, I'd be happy to purchase it from you," Obama said. "They came back and said they could sell us up to 10 feet."

Using a standard formula, Obama's appraiser estimated the 1,500-square-foot portion at a market value of $40,500.

But Obama felt it would be fair to pay the Rezkos $104,500, or a sixth of their original $625,000 purchase price, because he was acquiring a sixth of their land. The sale closed in January 2006.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0611010273nov01,1,2852476.story?page=3

[ccpup]

41. he then later admitted the purchase had been a "mistake".

...

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama expressed regret late Friday for his 2005 land purchase from now-indicted political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko in a deal that enlarged the senator's yard.

"I consider this a mistake on my part and I regret it," Obama told the Chicago Sun-Times in an exclusive and revealing question-and-answer exchange about the transaction.

...

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/124171,CST-NWS-obama05.article

[Auntie Bush]

45. I hate to say it bu,t isn't that sort of the way it was (to a much lesser degree)

between Enron and Bush? Sleep with fleas..............

[Auntie Bush]

44. AGREED!

[Auntie Bush]

29. Wow! This seems like it has potential to become a problem and

huge divide/riff between our party. Rightly or wrongly (probably wrongly)
This could be a mess. It's just a shame the subject had to be brought up...but, you could be assured if it had been about Clinton it would be all over the news and this board would be in total flames denouncing Clinton to hell and back calling her a liar and absolutely no understanding of the nature of politics and EVERYONE does what ever they can do to win.
I don't approve of the subject being brought up until more facts are known...but this is all out war we're experiencing. I say both parties are guilty. Truce anyone?

[suston96]

32. It has been an undercurrent. The Norman Hsu thingy was intentionally muffled....

...because the Obamites had the Rezco indictment pending with its "unamed politician" (Obama) in there.

Yeah, it's a mess for Obama. Something for him to stutter over when he is confronted with it.

[Auntie Bush]

34. I really hope he's not involved even though I'm a Hillary supporter. nt

[ccpup]

35. He isn't involved, I believe

But it does point to his judgment -- he knew the guy for 17 years -- and, as all of Chicago was aware of what kind of business Tony was in, one has to strongly suspect Obama must have been warned or made aware of it by close associates at one point.

So, either Obama's incredibly naive -- which I doubt -- or he finds it shockingly easy to excuse potentially illegal activity by a very close friend of his. Not to mention the huge house he bought for a song as well as the neighboring parcel of land (from Tony's wife, of all people) in order to expand his yard, a decision Obama himself described as "boneheaded". Add to that the unsafe rental buildings in Obama's district which Tony owned and refused to heat for five weeks during one of Chicago's coldest winters on record and a disturbing pattern begins to emerge.

Once one strips away the soaring rhetoric and talk of Unity and Hope and Change, it's quite possible one finds yet another politician doing his best to pull the wool over our eyes.

[hedgehog]

39. Yeah, that's the ticket - Obama concentrated on the issues instead

of throwing mud because......


because he wanted to concentrate on the issues and not get into a mud fight?


By the way, the man's name is Rezko.

[Auntie Bush]

47. Funny how no one criticises Obama's Walmart comment which

instigated the whole Rezko comment in the first place. Only Hillary gets blamed for hitting below the belt. BOTH ARE GUILTY and I'm not proud of either one! John has the right message.

[hedgehog]

50. Maybe because it came in the middle of a longer exchange

based on Hillary's accusation that Obama endorsed Reragen's policies:

"OBAMA: Hillary, we just had the tape. You just said that I complimented the Republican ideas. That is not true.

What I said -- and I will provide you with a quote -- what I said was is that Ronald Reagan was a transformative political figure because he was able to get Democrats to vote against their economic interests to form a majority to push through their agenda, an agenda that I objected to. Because while I was working on those streets watching those folks see their jobs shift overseas, you were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I was fighting these fights. I was fighting these fights. So -- but I want to be clear.

So I want to be clear. What I said had nothing to do with their policies. I spent a lifetime fighting a lifetime against Ronald Reagan's policies. But what I did say is that we have to be thinking in the same transformative way about our Democratic agenda.

We've got to appeal to Independents and Republicans in order to build a working majority to move an agenda forward. That is what I said.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Now, you can dispute that, but let me finish.

Hillary, you went on for two minutes. Let me finish.

The irony of this is that you provided much more fulsome praise of Ronald Reagan in a book by Tom Brokaw that's being published right now, as did -- as did Bill Clinton in the past. So these are the kinds of political games that we are accustomed to.

CLINTON: Now, wait a minute.

Wolf, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Just a minute.

BLITZER: Senator Edwards, let them wrap up. Then I'm going to come to you.

Yes?

CLINTON: I just want -- I just to clarify -- I want to clarify the record. Wait a minute.

EDWARDS: There's a third person in this debate.

BLITZER: Wait a minute, Senator Edwards. Hold on.

There has been a specific charge leveled against Hillary Clinton, so she can respond. Then I'll bring in Senator Edwards.

CLINTON: I just want to be sure...

OBAMA: Go ahead and address what you said about...

BLITZER: We have got a long time to. You'll have a good opportunity.

CLINTON: We're just getting warmed up.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: Now, I just -- I just want to be clear about this. In an editorial board with the Reno newspaper, you said two different things, because I have read the transcript. You talked about Ronald Reagan being a transformative political leader. I did not mention his name.

OBAMA: Your husband did.

CLINTON: Well, I'm here. He's not. And...

OBAMA: OK. Well, I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: Well, you know, I think we both have very passionate and committed spouses who stand up for us. And I'm proud of that.

But you also talked about the Republicans having ideas over the last 10 to 15 years.

OBAMA: I didn't say they were good ones.

CLINTON: Well, you can read the context of it.

OBAMA: Well, I didn't say they were good ones.

CLINTON: Well, it certainly...

OBAMA: All right, Wolf.

CLINTON: It certainly came across in the way that it was presented, as though the Republicans had been standing up against the conventional wisdom with their ideas. I'm just reacting to the fact, yes, they did have ideas, and they were bad ideas.

OBAMA: I agree.

CLINTON: Bad for America, and I was fighting against those ideas when you were practicing law and representing your contributor, Resco, in his slum landlord business in inner city Chicago.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: No, no, no.

[madrchsod]

31. facts? we don`t need no stink`n facts!

don`t need to hear it cause it`s been in the news for almost a year now..yes both local and national...

shit i forgot- "sleazy chicago style politics"

[redqueen]

46. Is Rezco really a "slum lord"? Was this known before Obama represented the group

who wanted to partner with him?

[Cha]

51. clintons are always way off their

claims on Obama and just about anything that matters.