Earmarks for Obama
March 14th, 2008 at 01:44pm Mark Noonan
So much for change you can believe in:
Sen. Barack Obama requested $8 million for a military defense contractor that has close ties to one of his most prodigious fundraisers.
Obama disclosed the 2006 request on a long list of earmark requests his campaign made public today. The $8 million was for something called a “High Explosive Air Burst Technology Program.” The request led to $1.3 million in funding for the program. According to the campaign’s earmark disclosure, the defense project was overseen by General Dynamics, one of the nation’s largest military contractors. Obama’s Illinois finance chairman, James S. Crown, serves on the company’s board of directors and his family holds a sizable stake in the company.
Crown and his wife, Paula Crown, are members of Obama’s National Finance Committee and have raised more than $200,000 for the Obama campaign, according to a list of fundraisers posted on Obama’s campaign website.
If you can see a difference between Obama and the rest of the corrupt Democratic leadership, then you are much more perceptive than I am. All I can see is an ultra-liberal extremist who makes certain the money men get paid for their support…
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Corruption, Democrats
15 Comments
1. OhioOrrin | March 14th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I’m old school.
I don’t trust any of ‘em, R or D.
another reason 4 public financing…
and voting checks n balance.
at least that way, they rat each other out.
2. SEW | March 14th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Yea, he’s in the tank with war mongering defense contractors. And now he has lied about his March 08 withdrawal from Iraq date, and is getting in bed with Exxon and Halliburton. He will base withdrawal decisions on conditions on the ground!
Obama lied, more people will die.
Obama just wants the oil!
3. Joe | March 14th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Hey… ALL earmarks should be fully vetted before put into any bill.
Mark… why does this blog keep lobbing these accusations against the wall hoping something sticks. Yep, he asked for an earmark. That went to a massive company (General Dynamics). Yep, his Ill. finance chairman serves on the board.
I guess you are insinuating something illegal here? I guess you are suggesting it was only done because he has a friend on the board?
If you are going to go down this route, let’s look at ALL congress earmarks and see who is related to who as it relates to their earmarks.
You people are too funny.
4. Barack Obama News »&hellip | March 14th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]
5. Barack Obama Chronicles &&hellip | March 14th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
[...] Another fellow blogger added an interesting post today on Earmarks for Obama [...]
6. Mark Noonan | March 14th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Joe,
Lob? Hardly - Obama says he is the new man to bring a new way of doing things to DC…turns out, he’s just another ultra-liberal hip-deep in the normal, liberl Democrat way of doing business…
7. Joe | March 14th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
“just another ultra-liberal hip-deep in the normal, liberl Democrat way of doing business”
I assume you mean what? That earmarks go to friends? I guess that means ONLY Dems do something like that I’m sure.
Mark, earmarks are earmarks. Every single earmark should be vetted, but they aren’t. Everyone gives earmarks to donors/friends/etc. That is on both sides of the isle. To claim it is a Dem-only thing is being a bit disingenuous.
To point to earmarks (that are rampant all over the place right or wrong) and saying he is lying about bringing a new way to DC is a bit of a stretch as well.
8. Michael | March 14th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Obama’s earmark is suspicious to say the least. His wife just happens to work at the place that gets the million dollars? Her salary triples? All just coinky dinkies, I suppose. It is also interesting that the Democrat majority leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, has announced his intention to not support a moratorium on earmaarks. Ever wonder why?
9. Joe | March 14th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Michael,
Where exactly did it say that Obama’s wife worked some place that got millions of dollars?
Certainly not in Mark’s post above. Do you have other information?
10. Sunny | March 14th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I want to see ear marks stopped and I respect John McCain for NEVER asking for or getting pork. However, in the scheme of things, ie, Halliburton, KGB, Blackhawk etc, $1.3 million just doesn’t seem like that much. As you said a couple of days ago Mark, $12 Billion a month for Iraq was “chump change” if I remember your term correctly. Wasn’t that what you said?
11. Sunny | March 14th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Michael | March 14th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Obama’s earmark is suspicious to say the least. His wife just happens to work at the place that gets the million dollars? Her salary triples? All just coinky dinkies
Cool you jets Michael - if you are referring to Obama’s wife. She has been employed by a major hospital in Chicago for some time in an executive position. Her job has nothing to with this earmark.
12. Michael | March 14th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Joe, try this link.
They asked for and got all of Obama’s earmarks and said it took over 50 pages to print them all out.
13. phil | March 14th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Deleted - off topic.
14. Rich | March 15th, 2008 at 2:45 am
“Mark, earmarks are earmarks. Every single earmark should be vetted, but they aren’t. Everyone gives earmarks to donors/friends/etc. That is on both sides of the isle. To claim it is a Dem-only thing is being a bit disingenuous.”
Everybody does it, so what? How much money does McCain have in earmarks?
15. Almiranta | March 16th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Sunny and Joe, Obama put in a one million dollar earmark for the hospital where his wife is a vice president. She was promoted, and her salary nearly tripled to more than $300,000 a year, at about the time he was elected to the Senate.
The hospital says there is no connection between her promotion and the subsequent effort to give the hospital a million dollars of taxpayer money.
This is a different earmark—which means there is more than one.