Obama Timeline

Used with permission from http://colony14.net/id41.html.

The Obama Timeline: 1961-2009

The following timeline presents the important aspects of Barack Obama’s life, from birth to the present. Every attempt has been made to present accurate information, names, and dates. If errors or significant omissions are noted, please free to contact the author at[email protected]. Although the timeline’s content will frequently change as events occur, the author will gladly send you a .pdf version if you would find that useful.

NOTE: Considerable time and effort has gone into the research and creation of this timeline. This work is the intellectual property of the author and is fully protected by copyright law ©. Any non-profit re-posting or re-printing of this timeline without crediting the author (Don Fredrick at www.colony14.net) and without the consent of the author is prohibited. Any for-profit re-posting or re-printing of this timeline is prohibited.
1961-1966

Hawaii

Barack Obama Jr. is born on August 4, 1961 to Stanley Ann Dunham (1942-1995). Ann Dunham (who understandably dropped her first name “Stanley,” given to her because her father wanted a male child) married Obama’s father, Barack Obama, Sr. (1936-1982), on February 2, 1961. Obama, Sr. was a Kenyan studying at the University of Hawaii. Dunham met him in a Russian language class. Obama, Sr., an Arab-African Muslim by birth, but an atheist by admission, already had two children with a woman in Kenya named Kezia (b. 1938). The senior Obama may or may not have been legally married to Kezia. Some have speculated that their marriage was only a tribal marriage, and therefore not legally recognized. Depending on his marital status in Kenya, Obama’s marriage to Dunham may or may not have been legal. (Obama and Kezia eventually re-unite after he separates from Ann Dunham, and Kezia bears two more of his children.) [1,3,7,289,299,324]

Barack Obama, Sr.’s Hawaiian education was sponsored partly by the Laubach Literacy Institute (LLI), which has links to the Nation of Islam, and which considers a socialist world without national borders one of its goals. A financial supporter of the LLI was Elizabeth Mooney Kirk, who co-authored books with its founder, Charles Laubach. Kirk was also a friend of civil rights activist Malcolm “X” (Malcolm Little). It is likely that Malcolm X met Obama, Sr. while visiting the Secretary General of the Kenya Federation of Labour, prominent Kenyan politician Tom Mboya, in 1959, because Mboya and Obama were close friends. [408]

Obama Sr. was able to attend the University of Hawaii also through the efforts of Mboya, who visited the United States in 1959 and 1960 to obtain financial support for the American education of 81 Kenyan students. Presidential candidate Obama was incorrect in relating that his father was part of the “Kennedy airlift” of Kenyan students. That did not occur until after Obama was already in Hawaii. (John F. Kennedy was not sworn in as President until January of 1961.) Obama’s “JFK helped my father” story was no doubt intended to attach some of the “Kennedy mystique” to his candidacy. [561]

Obama states that he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. If that is the case, he was then both an American citizen and a British citizen at birth because his father was a citizen of the British East African Protectorate of Zanzibar. Because Zanzibar had, in 1961, not yet declared its independence from Great Britain, Obama was, like his father, a British citizen under Section 32(1) of the British Nationality Act of 1948. Both Obama, Sr. and Obama, Jr. then automatically became citizens of Kenya when the independent nation was formed (from what had been Zanzibar) in 1963. Obama’s British citizenship automatically expired when he turned age 21. As a person born with dual citizenship, Obama is not a natural born citizen and is ineligible to serve as President. The framers of the U.S. Constitution excluded dual citizens from qualifying as natural born. [219,258,492,549]

Kenyan Birth Allegations

Some speculate that Obama was born not in Hawaii but in Kenya. Only one of Obama’s parents was American. If Obama was born in Kenya (or any country other than the United States), he cannot legally serve as President of the United States because he is not a “natural born citizen,” even though he may have become a “naturalized citizen.” Obama’s American citizen parent, Ann Dunham, had to have been a resident of the United States for 10 years, at least five of which were over the age of 14. Dunham did not meet that requirement (of the Nationality Act of 1940, revised June, 1952) until her 19th birthday in November of 1961, three months after Obama was born. [801]

A significant and understandable fuss has been made about Obama becoming the first African-American President. Obama is arguably not, however, “African-American.” His father, Barack Obama, Sr., is allegedly one-eighth African (on his mother’s side, from the Luo tribe in Kenya) and his father’s remaining ancestry is purported to be Arabic. Candidate Obama is thus more accurately referred to as “Arab-American.” Obama is not (like many black Americans) the descendant of African slaves owned by white American slave-owners. Having Arab ancestors, Obama is, in fact, most likely a descendant of slave owners, because Arabs have for many centuries traditionally owned slaves and been active slave traders. Further, the names Barack and Hussein are of Arab origin. (There is insufficient publicly-available evidence to state with certainty the percentages of Obama’s national ancestries.)  [513,514]

Obama, Sr. and Ann Dunham were granted a divorce on March 20, 1964 and therefore appear to have been legally married, although the State of Hawaii would certainly not have known of Obama, Sr.’s wife Kezia in Kenya when it issued a marriage certificate. During the campaign Obama’s wife Michelle stated in an interview that Ann Dunham was “very young and very single when she had him (Barack Obama, Jr.).” In any event, Dunham was unmarried and barely 18, or possibly even under age 18, when she became pregnant in late 1960. (Michelle Obama may have meant to say that Dunham was very young and very single when she became pregnant.) [4,6,8,10,324,352,564,772]

Stanley Ann Dunham

Ann Dunham was, at various times, an atheist, an “Adlai Stevenson liberal,” a secular humanist, leftist social-activist, and student of cultural anthropology.  She was an excellent debater at school, and allegedly excelled at defending the concepts of Karl Marx’s “The Communist Manifesto.” [2,4,5,9,10,324,612,744]

In 1955, Ann Dunham had moved with her parents from Dorado, Kansas, to the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. (It has been alleged that Ann Dunham’s father, Stanley Armour Dunham, had been suspected of espionage during World War II and that Boeing has a 1944 security file on Dunham in connection with suspected sabotage of B-17 aircraft at its Wichita, Kansas plant, and the theft of B-29 blueprints which made their way to the German intelligence agency, the Abwehr. Those suspicions may have prompted Dunham to move his family from Kansas to Washington.) Ann Dunham attended Eckstein Middle School. The family then moved to Mercer Island in 1956 so that Ann could attend Mercer Island High School. The Mercer Island School Board was led by John Stenhouse, who, according to his testimony to the House Committee on Un-American Activities, was a member of the Communist Party USA. Dunham’s teachers included communists Jim Wichterman, whose assignments included the reading of “The Communist Manifesto.” The hallway between Wichterman’s class and that of another teacher, Val Foubert, whose reading assignments included Margaret Mead’s writings on homosexuality, was known as “anarchy alley.” (Foubert also had his students read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged,” the pro-individual, pro-liberty, anti-collectivist novel which, if she read, Dunham clearly did not understand and which clearly was not allowed to influence her son’s view of the world.) Dunham graduated from high school in 1960. Dunham also attended the East Shore Unitarian Church in Bellevue, which was known as the “little Red church on the hill” because of its communist leanings. [408,558,612,743]

In 1960, Dunham emphasized her “free spirit” with a statement to her high school friends that, “I don’t need to date or marry to have children.” Teacher Wichterman later recalled that Dunham would question anything, asking, “What’s so good about democracy? What’s so good about capitalism? What’s wrong with communism? What’s good about communism?” [408,612]

Dunham was apparently a “free spirit” sexually. One former friend said that “She couldn’t be the girl you went steady with, but she could be the one you spent time with.” That friend was not alone in that opinion. Dunham was also known to engage in inter-racial relationships; friend Susan Blake said that Dunham never dated “the crew-cut white boys.” [564,614]

Shortly after Dunham’s high school graduation in 1960 the family abruptly left Washington and moved to Hawaii, where she attended the University of Hawaii. Taking his daughter with him to Hawaii was perhaps Stanley Armour Dunham’s way of keeping an eye on her. He may have been reluctant to leave her behind at the University of Washington, after at least one “false pregnancy” scare. At the University of Hawaii in her freshman year, Dunham was described as shy and reluctant to participate in classroom discussions. Out of the classroom she was friendly with the boys, frequently flirting and repeatedly touching them. [558,564]

Knowing of her sexual reputation, Obama, Sr. supposedly told Dunham, “It’s not mine” when she informed him, in December of 1960, that she was pregnant. Obama, Sr.’s classmates knew he had a wife in Africa. [564]

Dunham’s acquaintances recall that they often had difficulties knowing when she was telling the truth. One remarked that, “She would make you believe anything while you were face-to-face but, a few minutes after she’d leave, you’re realize what she said wasn’t very… realistic or true,” explained one. Another friend recalls joining Dunham for dinner with her parents. Dunham told an incredible story about a car accident. Her mother, knowing the tale was fabricated, let her finish… and then said, “That never happened.” [564]

One Obama birth theory speculates that Dunham’s parents were disturbed by the news of the pregnancy (understandably, considering the scandal an inter-racial couple and an unwed pregnancy would bring in 1961), and likely tried to persuade her to give the child up for adoption and then claim she had miscarried. There is speculation that Dunham left Hawaii and gave birth to Obama in Washington State (or perhaps Canada) at a facility for unwed mothers… and then decided to keep the baby. She then would have returned to Hawaii and registered the child’s birth there, claiming the child was born at home in Honolulu. Dunham also visited a friend in Seattle that same month, August of 1961. Her friend recalls having to show Dunham how to change the baby’s diaper. [564]

Almost immediately after giving birth to Obama in 1961, Dunham returns to Washington State to attend the University of Washington, leaving her infant to be cared for by her mother. Obama, Sr. remains at the University of Hawaii. [408]

According to the University of Hawaii (UH), Ann Dunham first attended classes at UH on September 26, 1960. Dunham was also a student at UH between the spring of 1963 and summer of 1966, and sporadically at other times between 1972 and 1992. She received a BA in Mathematics in the summer of 1967, an MA in Anthropology in the fall of 1983, and a PhD in Anthropology in the summer of 1992. [408]

According to the University of Washington (UW), Dunham was enrolled at UW in the fall of 1961 (almost immediately after having given birth to Obama), the spring of 1962, and the winter of 1962. The Obama campaign places Dunham only in Hawaii until she later moves to Indonesia with Lolo Soetoro; it omits any reference to her attending UW. These dates indicate that Ann Dunham was not even living with Barack Obama, Sr., because she attended UW while he remained at UH. [408]

Barack Hussein Obama, Sr.

In the fall of 1962, Obama’s father leaves Hawaii to attend Harvard and then to return to Kenya, with Ruth Nidesand. He had met Nidesand at Harvard. Obama, Sr. marries Nidesand in Kenya in 1967. They are eventually divorced, with Nidesand claiming physical abuse. With Obama, Sr., Nidesand has a son, a half-brother of Obama, who lives in Shenzhen, China and allegedly works in the export business. Obama, Sr. eventually has at least eight other children with four women (two of those additional children are borne by his former wife Kezia, while Obama, Sr. was still married to Nidesand.) Obama, Sr. does not see his son Barack, Jr. again until 1971, when he visits Hawaii for one month to attend a gathering of former UH classmates. Obama, Sr. is eventually killed in 1982, at age 46, in an automobile accident. An automobile accident a year earlier left him with both legs amputated. Alcohol is believed to have been a factor in the final, fatal accident. The earlier accident was an apparent attempted hit-and-run assassination in retaliation for Obama having testified against the man who murdered his friend Tom Mboya in 1969. [6,7,11,271,324,408,562, 842 p. 22]

Obama, Sr. had received two fellowships, one to pursue a doctorate in economics at the New York School for Social Research in New York City, the other for Harvard. The former would have allowed him enough money to provide for his wife and child in New York; the latter would provide only for him. He abandoned his new family and chose the latter, telling a friend, “How can I refuse the best education?” Strangely, Dunham allowed him to leave without demanding child support, thus acting against the interests of her own son. The lack of support from her child’s father led her to receive food stamps for a time. [564,842 p. 27]

In 1965, Obama’s father writes an article for the “East Africa Journal” called, “Problems Facing Our Socialism,” in which he criticizes Kenya for not being socialist enough. He writes, “Theoretically, there is nothing that can stop the government from taxing 100 per cent of income so long as the people get benefits from the government commensurate with their income which is taxed.” Obama the candidate and President has so far suggested a maximum federal income tax rate of “only” 39.6 per cent (not counting Social Security and Medicare taxes, and state income taxes). Obama, Sr. advocated the elimination of private farming in Kenya, the nationalization of businesses, and high taxes on the wealthy for “redistribution.” (Obama, Jr., with the eager assistance of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, may very well end up attempting to nationalize America’s banks and its auto, oil, and utility industries.) [271,1008]

In his second book (his campaign book, “The Audacity of Hope”) Obama clearly states that, like his father, he is also no great fan of the American system of free enterprise capitalism. He describes capitalism as “chaotic and unforgiving,” and says he has a desire to roll back the “ownership society.” [271]

Obama’s Birth Certificate

Throughout the latter stages of the campaign, a myriad of rumors arose suggesting that Obama was not born in Hawaii and was actually born in Kenya. Those stories were fueled by reports that his father’s relatives had witnessed the birth in Kenya.

In an effort to squelch the “born in Kenya” rumors, Obama’s campaign posted an image of his Hawaiian birth certificate on the Internet. That birth certificate image was almost immediately suspected of being a forgery. The image showed evidence of being computer-generated, and it represented the limited “short form” birth record document rather than the more detailed “long form.” If Obama does have a legitimate long form Hawaiian birth certificate, it possibly does not list a father if Dunham and Obama, Sr. were (as some have claimed) not married. At that time, the custom was to omit the father’s name when the father and mother were not married. Or, the document may list a father other than Obama, Sr., or a birth place other than Hawaii. (Of course, the infant’s mother can give the hospital the name of just about anyone as the father and it will likely be recorded.) By July, 2008, there were unconfirmed allegations that the forgery had been performed by a Jay McKinnon, who describes himself as a “Department of Homeland Security-trained document specialist.” [12,325,494,548]

Researcher Dr. Ron Polarik performed an exhaustive examination of the various Obama birth certificate images available on the Internet and states that the “document” is a fake. Polarik states that an original paper “certificate of live birth” (COLB) corresponding to the image on the Internet does not actually exist. He alleges that the document was computer-generated, and was not a scanned image of any authentic Obama COLB. Polarik also points out that the 2007 seal shown on Obama’s alleged 2007 COLB looks nothing like the authentic 2007 Hawaiian seal on actual documents for that year. [548]

The Internet site “FactCheck.org” stated that the birth certificate provided by the Obama campaign is legitimate, but it should be noted that FactCheck.org is politically left-leaning and is affiliated with the Annenberg Public Policy Center of Pennsylvania, which, in turn, is run by Obama supporters and funded by the Annenberg Foundation. (The Annenberg Foundation also funded the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, from which Obama and William Ayers distributed tens of millions of dollars to predominantly liberal and leftist organizations). In defense of FactCheck.org some point out that the Annenberg Foundation was originally funded by a wealthy Republican, the late Walter Annenberg, and therefore it could not possibly have contributed to leftist causes. That argument fails to consider the fact that wealthy benefactors often do not retain strict control over (or live long enough to control) the foundations they set up, and a grant that looks reasonable on paper does not necessarily result in a wise investment. Annenberg once donated $50 million to the United Negro College Fund and supported public television, neither of which would be considered conservative-leaning. “If it’s Annenberg it must be conservative” is not a valid argument. The Ford Foundation, for example, has distributed funds in ways which clearly would not have been advocated by Henry Ford. In fact, Henry Ford II quit the Ford Foundation in disgust in 1977. The fact that Annenberg is no longer alive to influence the spending of his foundation is not irrelevant. (The simple truth is that tax-exempt foundations frequently “lurch left” in their distribution of funds. They have also been known to be used as covers for CIA activities.) [302,548,733,842, p. 90]

The birth certificate provided by the Obama campaign lists the father’s race as “African,” a term that likely would not have been used for a newborn child’s race in 1961. A birth certificate then would probably have listed the race as “negro” or “colored.” Those may not be politically correct terms today, but they were in widespread use in 1961. The use of the word “African” on the Obama form thus further suggests that the document provided by his campaign was a newly-created fabrication, prepared by someone unfamiliar with 1961 society. [372]

On August 13, 1961, nine days after his birth, an Obama birth notice appears in two Honolulu newspapers. The “Sunday Advertiser” and the “Star Bulletin” announcements read, “Mr. and Mrs. Barack H. Obama, 6085 Kalanianaole Hwy., son, Aug 4.” The address listed in the notices is purportedly that of Ann Dunham’s parents. The place of birth is not indicated. Most argue that the newspaper birth notices prove Obama was born in Hawaii, others that it proves only that Obama’s mother or grandparents placed the notice in the newspaper. (One individual who is familiar with Linotype machines used by newspapers in the 1960s argues that the spacing of the lines in the Obama birth notice suggests it is a forgery.) Current long-time – since before 1961 – residents of 6075 Kalanianaole Highway state that the residents of 6075 in 1961 were not Obama and Dunham, but Orland and Thelma Lefforge.) [362,1902,1908,1909]

Some have suggested that Obama, Sr. and Dunham visited his homeland of Kenya at the beginning of their long summer break from the University and that Obama was born there. As the summer progressed the airlines would likely not have allowed a very pregnant Dunham to return home to Hawaii. The airlines were stricter about such issues in 1961 than they are today. Relatives of Obama in Kenya, who likely were unaware of the eligibility requirements of the U.S. Presidency, stated that he was born in Kenya. [197,199,248]

Dunham’s high school classmate Susan Blake recalls that, during a 1961 visit to Seattle, Dunham was excited about her husband’s plans to return to Kenya. Blake does not indicate whether Dunham was going to Kenya with her husband, but it is not illogical to believe that the newlyweds would travel together to Obama Sr.’s homeland in order for Dunham to “meet the parents,” with the trip taking place over the summer when University classes were not in session. Such a trip would also be consistent with reports that Obama’s family was less than thrilled when they met his new wife, a white woman. [743]

Obama’s campaign has given the names of two different Hawaiian hospitals where he was supposed to have been born (Kapiolani Medical Center and Queens Medical Center, both in Honolulu). No one has been able to confirm the birth from either hospital’s records. There is allegedly a register of the birth in the public records office, dated August 8, 1961, one week after the birth, but it purportedly does not list a place of birth. (Note that a register of birth is not the same as a birth certificate.) [248]

Between November 20 and December 2 of 2008, 13 separate Hawaiian hospitals were contacted to determine if Obama had been born there. None of them could or would confirm it was the facility where he was born. The hospitals contacted included Queen’s Medical Center (where Obama says be was born) and Kapiolani Medical Center (where Obama’s half-sister Maya says he was born). [584]

A writer for “Online Journal” published an article on June 9, 2008 claiming that a research team went to Mombasa, Kenya, and located a certificate of the Kenyan birth of Barack Obama, Jr. It is unclear why that story, if it is true, did not get “traction.” There is also speculation that certified copies of a Kenyan birth certificate, with embossed raised seals and with birth witness signatures, are now in the hands of three individuals. Those documents allegedly state that Obama was born at 7:24 p.m., on August 4, 1961, at Coast Provincial General Hospital, in Mombasa, Kenya. Government authorities in Kenya have stated that all documents regarding Obama would be under seal until after the November 4 election. That statement itself raises questions, because if Obama was born in Hawaii, Kenya would have no Obama birth records to seal. [248,299,301,407]

Some say that the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, has done some investigating and allegedly believes Obama was born in Mombasa, Kenya. The British Secret Service, MI6, purportedly has documents relating to Obama, Sr., because he was a politically active communist at a time when Kenya had not yet received its independence from England. [558]

There have been claims that Obama’s paternal grandmother (his father’s mother), Sarah Hussein Obama (or Sarah Onyango Obama, born in 1922), told reporters that Barack Obama, Jr. was born in Kenya, when her son came to visit… accompanied by a pregnant Ann Dunham. Sarah Hussein Obama further stated that she was present in the delivery room when Obama was born in Kenya. One half-brother and one half-sister of Obama also claimed he was born in Kenya. That would be consistent with a reported stop by Dunham to the state of Washington on the return trip to Hawaii, and with the possible existence of only a Hawaiian “register of birth,” rather than an actual Hawaiian birth certificate. The Chicago Tribune was told by Dunham friend Susan Blake that Dunham visited her in Seattle with the newborn infant shortly after his birth. Arguably, that visit to Blake makes more sense as part of a necessary return trip from Kenya to Hawaii through Seattle, than as an optional pleasure trip from Hawaii to Seattle to show off a newborn baby. [248,289,299,324,367]

Note that Hawaiian law (Hawaii Revised Statute 338-17.8) allows the State of Hawaii to issue a certificate of live birth even if the child is born outside the State, provided the parents have been legal residents of Hawaii for at least one year immediately preceding the birth. Obama, Sr. may or may not have been a legal resident of Hawaii for at least one year prior to August, 1961. Ann Dunham graduated from Mercer Island High School in Washington in 1960. If, as of August, 1961, she had been a legal resident of Hawaii for one year, it was just barely one year. Such a Hawaiian certificate of live birth does, however, require that the place of birth be correctly recorded. Thus, had Obama been born in Kenya and shortly thereafter brought to Hawaii, Dunham could nevertheless have requested a Hawaiian birth certificate for her son, but that document would have been in addition to the birth certificate issued in Kenya. Such a Hawaiian certificate does not, of course, make the child a natural born citizen of the United States, it is merely a birth-recording convenience offered by the State. [301]

The Hawaiian statute reads, in part, “Certificates for children born out of state. (a) Upon application of an adult or the legal parents of a minor child, the director of health shall issue a birth certificate for such adult or minor, provided that proof has been submitted to the director of health that the legal parents of such individual while living without the Territory or State of Hawaii had declared the Territory or State of Hawaii as their legal residence for at least one year immediately preceding the birth or adoption of such child.” Those who argue that a Hawaiian birth certificate undeniably proves a birth was in Hawaii have to reconcile their argument with Hawaii Revised Statute 338-17.8. [301,583]

Some argue that the Hawaii statute was intended to artificially increase the number of Hawaiian citizens in order to get additional federal money for welfare benefits. Welfare benefits were not, back then, provided to illegal immigrants, and Hawaii was overburdened with immigrants – most in poverty and many involved in crime. The Hawaiian practice of issuing birth certificates to children born somewhere else allowed it to boost the population numbers of “citizens,” thus increasing the amount of money it received from Washington. (In other words, the State of Hawaii was engaged in massive welfare fraud to obtain federal tax dollars.)

Some have also argued that Hawaii’s status as the nation’s 50th state is questionable because the proposition voted on by its citizens only asked the question, “Should Hawaii immediately be admitted into the Union as a State?” and did not also offer the option of total independence. The legal choice should therefore have been not solely between statehood and remaining a territory of the United States, but between statehood, remaining a territory, and independence. Further, the statehood vote (on June 27, 1959) was open to any U.S. citizen who had resided in Hawaii for at least one year, including members of the military and their families – non-Hawaiians who should perhaps have had no say in the matter. The argument persists in the minds of many island citizens that Hawaii has never legally been a state of the United States. [1589]

States typically have a “long form” (certificate of live birth) and a “short form” (certification of birth) for their birth documents. The long form, or vault copy, contains the more detailed information, such as the hospital name, names of parents, date, time, infant’s weight and length, footprint, doctor’s name, mother’s signature, and signature of the doctor. (The signature is sometimes certified.) In the pre-computer era of 1961, the long form document would have been filled in by hand or with a typewriter. The short form (or “abstract”) contains more limited information, and is the less desirable of the two forms when “absolute” proof is desired. When someone requests a copy of a birth certificate from a state (or county), the document provided is typically the short form, typed or (nowadays) computer-printed at the time of the request, and based on information on computer databases; the vault copy is generally not retrieved and examined. The short form is then stamped or embossed with an official seal before being given to the person who requested it. Had Obama been born in Kenya, Ann Dunham could have returned with him to Hawaii and had his birth recorded there. The long form would state the place of birth as Kenya, while the short form might make no mention of that birthplace. [694]

The birth document provided by the Obama campaign, whether valid or forged, is the short form. But having a Hawaiian certification of birth proves only that the birth was registered in Hawaii, it does not prove that the named individual was born in Hawaii. The place of birth is recorded on the vault copy document… but that is precisely the document which Obama has refused to produce. [492,574]

To those who argue, “That is all nonsense, if you have a Hawaiian birth certificate you must have been born in Hawaii,” consider Chinese leader Sun Yat-Sen. Sun Yat-Sen was born in China but was nevertheless granted a Hawaiian registration of birth showing he was “born in Hawaii” four years after his actual birth in another country. Sun Yat-Sen lived in Hawaii for a time, studying at the Iolani School where he mastered the English language, and eventually became a citizen if the United States and was issued a U.S. passport. Although Sun Yat-Sen had a Hawaiian “birth certificate” and was an American citizen, he was born in China and would therefore not have been eligible to serve as President of the United States. He was a naturalized citizen of the United States, not a natural born citizen. (Sun Yat-Sen also attended Oahu College, which later became the Punahou School attended by Obama.) [783]

Only a few sources have been listed here for the many Obama birth speculations; there are far too many, and rumors and stories can readily be found on the Internet. (One can no doubt find stories suggesting that Obama’s father was a visitor from another planet.) Speculation will not end until original birth and citizenship documents are released, and the likelihood of that may be minimal. Various lawsuits have been filed to block Obama from running for or serving as President without his first proving he is an eligible, natural born citizen of the United States. Whether those lawsuits lead to anything remains to be seen, but if the truth damages Obama, there will certainly be continued efforts by many to keep that truth successfully hidden. But even if Obama was born in Hawaii, an important issue may be whether he became and may still be an Indonesian citizen. [13,258,305,543]

One of Obama’s official web sites, “Fight the Smears,” affirms that “When Barack Obama Jr. was born on Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Kenya was a British colony, still part of the United Kingdom’s dwindling empire. As a Kenyan native, Barack Obama Sr. was a British subject whose citizenship status was governed by The British Nationality Act of 1948. That same act governed the status of Obama Sr.’s children. Since Sen. Obama has neither renounced his U.S. citizenship nor sworn an oath of allegiance to Kenya, his Kenyan citizenship automatically expired on Aug. 4, 1982.” This statement by the Obama campaign thus admits that he was a British (Kenyan) citizen at birth. With such “split loyalties” at birth, he is arguably not a “natural born citizen” and is ineligible to serve as President of the United States. [507]

Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution states that “No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution shall be eligible to the Office of President.” The “grandfather clause” portion of the rule refers only to those persons who were living in the United States at the time the Constitution was ratified, and is therefore irrelevant to anyone living today. Thus, for all people alive today, the requirement is essentially, “No person except a natural born Citizen shall be eligible to the Office of President.” [923]

Some have argued that Section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution allows Obama to serve as President. The relevant part reads, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” This Amendment was meant to prevent the Supreme Court from ruling as unconstitutional the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (which granted citizenship to former slaves). Nothing in the 14th Amendment, however, changes the requirement that a President must be a “natural born citizen,” rather than simply a “citizen” or a “naturalized citizen.” California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria, is a “naturalized citizen,” but he nevertheless cannot legally serve as President because he is not a “natural born citizen.” The 14th Amendment notwithstanding, an individual can serve as President only if he or she is a natural born citizen of the United States. (Note that the term “natural born citizen” appears in the U.S. Constitution only in Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5.) [509,923]

One Internet web site offers to pay Obama $2 million if he will produce his original long-form birth certificate. The $2 million amount will be increased until “…the amount of the reward until it is so huge that the American people will begin to question why he has sealed all his background info to hide something.” [1939]

Further complicating the Obama history (and fueling rumors) are the existence of photographs taken by a school friend (allegedly in July, 1961) of Ann Dunham on a Honolulu beach. In the photos Dunham is wearing a bikini and is decidedly not pregnant. The media has not broadcast interviews with any former school friends of Dunham who remember her being pregnant. (On the other hand, the media has not broadcast many interviews at all of people from Dunham’s or Obama’s past.) The bikini-at-the-beach photos were more likely from July of 1960 than July of 1961. (Their very existence, of course, prompts some to suggest that Dunham was not Obama’s father at all, and that she merely agreed to raise the illegitimate child of Malcolm X. Why she would have agreed to do that is not explained by those who make the claim, although Dunham did tell high school friends “I don’t need to date or marry to have children.”) The originator of the July bikini story also suggests that Dunham attended Notre Dame de Jamhour in Lebanon, because of a possible “NDJ” emblem seen on Dunham clothing in a childhood photograph. That school, however, did not admit female students before 1975. (Clearly, jumping to conclusions is not only possible, it can readily be stimulated by a candidate who is less than forthcoming about his past.) [408,558]
1966-1970

Indonesia

In 1966 or 1967 Ann Dunham married Indonesian Muslim Lolo Soetoro Mangunharjo (1936-1987), who she had met at the University of Hawaii. By birth, Soetoro was Malaysian, but he had lived in Indonesia most of his life. Soon after his marriage to Dunham, Soetoro returned, alone, to Indonesia. Obama and Dunham later moved to Indonesia to join Soetoro, probably in 1967. Soetoro then adopted Obama, whose name was changed to Barry Soetoro. Elementary school records in Indonesia list Obama’s name as Barry Soetoro, his religion as Islam, and his citizenship as Indonesian. While in Jakarta, Obama attended Franciscus Primary School (1967-1969) and Besuki State Elementary School Menteng 01 (1969-1971). [6,14,172,289,324,329,801]

Interestingly, while in the third grade in Indonesia, Obama wrote an essay saying he wanted to become president. Perhaps as a foreshadowing of future questions about his status as a natural born citizen of the United States and the constitutionally relevant issue of divided loyalties, Obama included in his essay the remark that he was not sure of “what country” he would like to be President. [842, p. 30]

Lolo Soetoro had been an official of the Director General’s office in the TNI Topograohy division of the Indonesian Army. He later became an executive with American Mobil corporation, where he was a key liaison between the oil company and the Suharto regime. Suharto had been “installed” as the American friendly Indonesian President in 1967, after a CIA-engineered 1965-1967 coup that deposed President Sukarno – who was considered soft on communism and a threat to American oil interests. Strangely, the leftist Ann Dunham, who would have been more politically sympathetic to the deposed Sukarno, married Soetoro, a man with ties to the bloodthirsty dictator Suharto. [615,842 p. 29]

Obama practiced Islam half-heartedly while in Indonesia, irregularly attending prayer services at the mosque. According to one of his Indonesian school principals, Tine Hahiyary, the young Obama studied “Mangaji” (or “Mengagi”), which involves the recitation of the Quran (or Koran). Note that Mangaji, in Indonesian schools, requires learning to recite the Quran in the Arabic language, and not the student’s native tongue. Non-Muslims or even moderate Muslims would not send their child to Mangaji classes. Mangaji is much more involved than a Christian child attending “Sunday School” classes. Although Obama may insist he was never a Muslim, many Indonesians wonder why Obama is hiding his Muslim past. [15,251,332,336]

A former classmate of Obama in Indonesia, Rony Amiris, later described Obama as having enjoyed football, playing marbles, and being a very devout Muslim. Amir said, “Barry was previously quite religious in Islam.” Classmate Emirsyah Satar stated that Obama “was often in the prayer room wearing a sarong.” Obama was frequently observed in the school’s prayer room and at the local mosque for traditional Friday prayers. [332,521]

Publicly, Obama denies he ever was a Muslim and claims he is a devout Christian. (Obama also alleges he was never in church when his pastor of 20 years, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, was spewing anti-white and anti-American rhetoric in his sermons.) Many, if not most, of the world’s Muslims feel that “Obama may not want to be counted as a Muslim, but Muslims are eager to count him as one of their own.” One Obama problem may be that if he is seen by radical Islamists as someone who denounced the Muslim religion to become a Christian, his background can be exploited to “argue that an apostate is leading the war on terror…” which can then help terrorists “…galvanize (additional) sympathizers into action.” But many Muslims may not care that Obama professes to be a Christian if his policies are pro-Muslim and anti-Israel. [252]

Obama was legally adopted by his step-father, Lolo Soetoro, which made Obama an Indonesian citizen, according to Indonesian law. Because Indonesia does not allow dual citizenship, Obama thus lost his U.S. citizenship when he became an Indonesian citizen, in or about 1967. At that point Obama also ceased to be a Kenyan citizen, according to both Indonesian and Kenyan law. Indonesian law would also have required Ann Dunham to renounce her U.S. citizenship for her marriage to Lolo Soetoro to have been considered legal. If, after Obama returned to Hawaii, he applied for and was granted American citizenship, he would be a naturalized citizen (like California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger) and not a natural born citizen, and would therefore be ineligible to serve as President of the U.S. It is possible that Obama did not even bother to become a naturalized citizen of the United States, and remains an Indonesian citizen even today. Appropriate federal records would exist if Obama made application for naturalization. If they exist, they have not been made public. [258,300,305,492]

Indonesia’s policy of not allowing dual citizenship must be respected by the United States in accordance with the Hague Convention of 1930. Further, Obama, as a child, was not required to personally renounce his U.S. citizenship – that would have been an automatic result of his adoption by Lolo Soetoro. [492]

According to Indonesian legal experts, it is extremely difficult for non-Indonesian citizens to enroll in public schools in that country. That was especially true during the 1960s, when Indonesia was a police state, and Indonesian immigration employees and the police performed weekly checks on public schools to confirm citizenship compliance. This further supports the assumption that Obama was adopted by Soetoro. (Some argue that he was not adopted by Soetoro.) Obama’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro Ng, has stated that Obama was adopted by their father, Lolo Soetoro. Maya Soetoro, who was born in Indonesia, has a Hawaiian birth registration, and is a naturalized American citizen. (It is illogical to argue that Obama’s short-form Hawaiian certificate of legal birth proves he was born in the United States when his half-sister has the same document and was born in Indonesia.) [329,801,1810]

Indonesia today still does not allow dual citizenship. Under Indonesia law, once Obama became a naturalized citizen by virtue of adoption, he could not lose that status without relinquishing his citizenship in writing, under oath. If he did that, the government of Indonesia would have those records. If he did not do so by age 21, Obama is to this day still an Indonesian citizen. His place of birth or the nationality of his mother is irrelevant; Indonesian law takes precedence under “The Master Nationality Rule of Article 4 of the Hague Convention on 1930.” The United States accepts dual nationality only if the other country does; Indonesia does not. [801]
1971-1979

Hawaii and Frank Marshall Davis

In 1971 or 1972, Obama is sent back to Hawaii to live with his mother’s parents; his mother remains in Indonesia. (Dunham likely traveled with Obama to Hawaii, and then promptly returned to Indonesia without him, but with his half-sister, Maya Soetoro.) Obama’s grandfather, Stanley Armour Dunham (1918-1992), manages a furniture store, and his grandmother, Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham (1922-2008), is a bank employee. She eventually becomes bank vice-president. [16,289,324,329]

In December of 1971, Barack Obama, Sr. returns to Hawaii to attend a party and visit with former University friends Neil Abercrombie and Pake Zane. Obama, Sr. apparently spends minimal time with his son during that visit. A few photographs of Obama, Sr., Ann Dunham, and Obama, Jr. are taken at the airport. In later years, Abercrombie and Zane state they have no recollection of ever seeing Ann Dunham and Barack Obama, Sr. together. Abercrombie later becomes Hawaii’s first district’s Congressman and member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus; he works openly with the Democratic Socialists of America. [408,562,1362]

Obama’s maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, age 86, resides in Hawaii until her death. The Obama campaign keeps her off-limits, prohibiting interviews with her. (Note: Madelyn Dunham dies on November 3, 2008, the day before the election.) [329,515]

Dunham left Lolo Soetoro in 1972 and returned briefly to Hawaii. She listed her name as “Sutoro” in her 1992 PhD dissertation, rather than the name “Soetoro,” which appeared on her 1980 divorce decree; no explanation for the discrepancy has been uncovered. Dunham rarely saw her son after 1975, when Obama was age 14. [289,324,747]

Aside from a few visits to Hawaii, Ann Dunham spent most of the rest of her life based in Indonesia, but she traveled extensively, to Ghana, Thailand, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and China. Dunham took her daughter Maya with her on a 1986 trip along China’s “silk road.” Dunham eventually returned to Hawaii before her death in 1995. [329,614]

While in Indonesia, Dunham spends time in Yogyakarta, where she studies native handicrafts; she eventually returns to the University of Hawaii to receive a 1992 PhD in anthropology, and writes her dissertation on “Peasant Blacksmithing in Indonesia: Surviving and Thriving Against All Odds.” Dunham’s employment includes teaching English at the American embassy in Jakarta, consulting (setting up a “village credit” program) for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID, also known as the International Development Agency), “program officer” specializing in women’s work for the Ford Foundation in Jakarta, bank consulting work in Pakistan (microfinance programs for the poor), and employment with Women’s World Banking. Note that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is alleged to have used both the USAID and the Ford Foundation as “front” agencies. (One infamous employee of the International Development Agency was David Sanchez Morales, a CIA operative who some believe was involved in the assassination of President Kennedy.) Whether Dunham had any CIA connections is unknown, but it is also unclear how Dunham could afford a life of globe-trotting and post-graduate education without higher-paying employment. Dunham was passingly fluent in Urdu (the national language of Pakistan) and several other languages, something the CIA normally finds valuable. [607,608,609,610,611,612,613,614,615,933]

Obama, after returning to Hawaii from Indonesia and upon turning age 18, could possibly have relinquished his Indonesian citizenship and become a naturalized U.S. citizen, with the proper paperwork filed through the U.S. State Department and by swearing an oath of allegiance to the United States. It is believed that Obama did not do so. It is also believed that he never legally changed his name from Barry Soetoro (granted upon adoption) back to Barack Obama, Jr. [258,300,301]

If Obama did not relinquish his Indonesian citizenship and become a naturalized U.S. citizen upon his return to Hawaii, he remained an Indonesian citizen, with the legal name of Barry Soetoro, and has not been a U.S. citizen since being adopted by Lolo Soetoro in Indonesia in 1966 or 1967. Thus, he is ineligible to be President of the United States. (He would also have been ineligible to be a United States Senator.) Obama’s repeated failure to provide documentation to prove he is a U.S. citizen suggests to many that it does not exist, and he is therefore possibly perpetrating a colossal fraud on the 300 million citizens of the United States. Obama may, in fact, be an illegal resident alien, subject to arrest and deportation to Indonesia. Obama could also be subject to a massive class action fraud lawsuit by everyone who made donations to his Presidential campaign (over $600 million), under the mistaken belief that he was legally eligible to serve as President. Arguably, Obama and key leaders of the Democrat National Committee can also be prosecuted under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). [258,300]

In Hawaii, Obama attends the elite, expensive, private Punahou High School (1971-1979). The school is racially diverse and whites are not in the majority. The young Obama is sometimes called “Barry the Butt.” (Apparently he was pudgy in his early years.) In public schools in Hawaii (but perhaps not at the Punahou private school) the final day of school is traditionally known as “Kill Haole Day” (“Kill Whitey Day”), where Caucasian students are beaten up, usually in the school bathrooms. [16,17,324]

Because of his drug abuse Obama’s grades are poor in his final two years of high school. Obama later writes that “Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though.” (Note: by “blow” and “smack” Obama meant cocaine and heroin, respectively.) His grades may also have been affected by peer pressure, because his “choom gang” friends on the basketball court and football field would likely have teased him if he had earned good grades. His jock friends are known as “choomers” (smokers), who smoked pakalolo (pot) and drank beer (alcohol could be legally purchased at age 18 in Hawaii). Obama also sang in a school chorale group. [18,575]

Bryon Leong, a former classmate of Obama’s at Punahou, states that Obama “…was known as a partier, as a guy looking for a good time, but not much more,” and, “There was pot in Hawaii in the 1970s, but it wasn’t a big deal.” [332]

By his own admission, Obama’s high school grades are not exemplary. Rather than do homework, he reads the works of black authors like James Baldwin (who believed that America was hopelessly irredeemable), communists Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, and W.E.B. DuBois, and civil rights activist Malcolm X (who was killed in 1965, and whose history led Obama to write in “Dreams From My Father” that “Only Malcolm X’s autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me”). Malcolm X had written, “We’re not Americans, we’re Africans who happen to be in America. We were kidnapped and brought here against our will from Africa. We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, that rock landed on us.” (The “Plymouth Rock” line was lifted from composer Cole porter’s song, “Anything Goes.”) [20,190,558,1091,1092]

High school friend Keith Kakugawa relates later that Obama “…made everything out like it was all racial.” After Obama complains about being picked on at the basketball court because of his race, Kakugawa’s father tells Obama, “No, Barry, it’s not because you’re black, it’s because you missed two shots in a row.” [20]

While a teenager in Hawaii, Obama spends considerable time with Frank Marshall Davis (whose identity Obama hides by describing him only as “Frank” in his self-absorbed book, “Dreams From My Father”). Davis is a dope-smoking drinking buddy of Obama’s grandfather, Stanley Dunham, and the two had known each other in Kansas. Obama meets Davis shortly after arriving in Hawaii, at age 10, but was most influenced by him during his high school years. In place of his absent father, stepfather, and mother, Davis becomes Obama’s mentor. [19,21,389]

Davis is a member of the Communist Party of the USA, a poet, propagandist, “bitter opponent of capitalism,” and radical agitator. In 1948, Davis had fled Chicago after the FBI and the House Un-American Activities Committee investigated his subversive anti-American activities. Davis is also a bi-sexual, sex pervert, child molester (bragging of repeated sexual encounters with a 13 year-old girl), and pornographer, and is the author of the book “Sex Rebel: Black” under the pseudonym Bob Greene. Davis “…would cruise in Hawaii parks looking for couples or female tourists to have sex with. He derived sexual gratification from bondage, simulated rape and being flogged and urinated on. He boasted that ‘the number of white babes interested in at least one meeting with a Negro male has been far more than I can handle’ and wished ‘America were as civilised as, say, Scandinavia.’” He concluded: ‘I regret none of my experiences or unusual appetites; for me they are normal.’” [21,259,261]

Obama joins Davis at his home on most evenings, shares alcohol and drugs, is tutored in socialism, and taught not to trust the white establishment. “They’ll train you so good,” Davis said, “you’ll start believing what they tell you about equal opportunity and the American way and all that shit.” Davis teaches Obama, “Black people have a reason to hate” and “You may be a well-trained, well-paid nigger, but you’re a nigger just the same.” [22,33,261]

Davis’ Marxist-inspired poetry includes lines like, “Smash on, victory-eating Red Army!” Titles of his poems include, “Christ is a Dixie Nigger.” [261]

Davis sometimes works as a street vendor, selling hot dogs from his Chicago-style wheeled cart near his home in Waikiki. From the cart Davis also sells drugs (marijuana and cocaine), frequently accompanied by Obama and his grandfather, Stanley. Davis is the main source of drugs used by Obama while in high school. [429]

It is believed that Davis was a close friend of Thomas Ayers (father of William Ayers) in Chicago, and that it was Davis who encouraged Obama to attend Columbia College in New York and hook up with William Ayers. [259]

Was Frank Marshall Davis Obama’s Father?

In Davis’ autobiography, he writes of his seduction of a young white girl, age 13, named “Anne.” This fuels speculation that the “Anne” in Davis’ book is Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, and that Obama may actually be the child of Frank Marshall Davis. Obama’s grandfather and Davis were close friends, but there is no known documented evidence that Obama’s father was Davis. When Ann Dunham moved to Hawaii with her parents in 1959 or 1960 she was already age 16 or 17. Davis had known the Dunhams in Kansas, however, so Davis would have had contact with Ann Dunham before she moved to Hawaii. The Dunhams also lived in Seattle, where Ann Dunham attended Mercer Island High School. There is speculation that Davis had been in Seattle, doing organizing work for the communist-infiltrated International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), and that may have placed Davis with Dunham when she was 13. The ILWU is linked to the Honolulu Recorder, the newspaper Davis worked for in Hawaii. Lastly, nude photos of a woman purported to be of Ann Dunham and alleged to have been taken by Frank Marshall Davis are circulating on the Internet, but faked photos are not terribly difficult to produce using computers and can thus be the work of simple mischief-makers. [21,259,260,365,370,389]

The Davis-as-father speculation is listed here only to provide the reader with as much information as possible about Obama’s background – it is not meant as an endorsement of the speculation itself.

Some have noted that Frank Marshall Davis’ son, Mark Davis, bears a reasonable resemblance to candidate Obama – and what some would consider a much stronger resemblance than shared by Obama Jr. and Obama Sr. The mother of Mark Davis, Helen Canfield, was, like Ann Dunham, a white woman. One could speculate that Obama’s father was not Barack Obama, Sr., but Frank Marshall Davis. Because Davis and Ann Dunham could certainly not have let that relationship be known (Davis was married and age 55, Dunham was only 17, and Davis was Stanley Dunham’s friend), Dunham may have convinced Obama, Sr. that he was the father-to-be. When he, Obama, Sr., later learned that was not the case, he abruptly left Dunham, moved on to Harvard and then returned to Kenya. There has been speculation that Dunham and Obama, Sr. never actually lived together in Hawaii; this is supported by the fact that Obama, Sr. continued to attend the University of Hawaii, while Dunham attended the University of Washington during late 1961 and early 1962, before returning to Hawaii to again attend UH. [369,408]

If the Davis-as-father speculation is true, Dunham may have continued the lie for the benefit of her son and her own parents. Davis would later be eager to be Obama’s mentor if he was, in fact, Obama’s father. Obama may not have learned the true identity of his father for some time, perhaps not until after the death of his grandfather, Stanley Dunham, in 1992. It was not until after his grandfather’s death that Obama began work on his book, “Dreams From My Father.” At that point he may have understood who his real father was. His book needed to include the “Kenyan history” in order to continue the charade for the sake of his family and his planned political career, but the “dreams” Obama needed to pursue perhaps had more to do with a continuation of Davis’ legacy than those of an alcoholic communist bureaucrat in Kenya. It is worth noting also that Obama’s reluctance, if not outright refusal, to give financial support to his poverty-stricken half-brother George, in a Nairobi slum, or to his destitute aunt living in Boston public housing, may be due to his knowing that they are not actually related to him. This is speculation based only on photographs and circumstantial evidence; the disclosure of appropriate original documentation by Obama would resolve unanswered questions and end speculation. [369]

Was Malcolm “X” Obama’s Father?

There is also speculation that Obama is the son of the civil right activist, Malcolm X (Malcolm Little), who was murdered in 1965, allegedly by members of the Nation of Islam. Ann Dunham graduated from high school in the Seattle area in 1960. Malcolm X formed the Nation of Islam Temple No. 67 in Seattle that same year, and was a guest speaker at various universities, including the University of Washington. The “out of the mainstream” Dunham was certainly the type of person who would have been attracted to a Malcolm X speaking event. She also had a history of dating non-white students, and could have met the civil rights leader at one of his public events. It is not difficult to see that Obama resembles Malcolm X considerably more than he resembles Barack Obama, Sr., but resemblance is certainly not the same as evidence. Perhaps the truth will never be known without the release of original birth records or DNA testing, and the likelihood of that is minimal. (Obama himself may not even know his real history.) But Dunham was already in Hawaii when she became pregnant in late 1960. In order for Malcolm X to be Obama’s father the civil rights leader had to have been in Hawaii in late 1960 or Dunham had to leave Hawaii to be with him. No evidence of either circumstance has been produced, but it is not out of the realm of possibility. [408,524,526,1095]

Far-fetched or not, the Malcolm-X-as-father scenario would explain why Obama seemed to be “looked after” – both financially and otherwise – throughout his college years and his political career. Obama would later receive a letter of recommendation to attend Harvard Law School from Percy Sutton, who happened to have been Malcolm X’s attorney. Khalid al-Mansour (aka “Donald Warden”) became the main financial backer for Obama. Al-Mansour has been a close associate of Nation of Islam (NOI) leader Louis Farrakhan, and of Malcolm X, who was the national spokesman for NOI. It is not unreasonable to assume that, if Obama was indeed the son of Malcolm X, those who were close to the civil rights leader would promise to “look after him” in any way possible, making sure he was taught in the ways of Islam and socialism, funded perhaps by Arab and Syrian financiers. Obama’s financial and political benefactors eventually included Tony Rezko, Percy Sutton, Khalid al-Mansour, Muhammadian Mian Soomro, Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said, and William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn (who would have known Malcolm X , Donald Warden, and associates like Black Panther members Huey Newton and Bobby Seale). A close neighbor of Obama in Chicago is Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Malcolm X split with the Nation of Islam partly over the issue of the illegitimate children of its leader, Elijah Muhammed. If Malcolm X then fathered his own illegitimate child (Obama), he certainly would have had to cover that up in order to retain his reputation of being “above the fray” – and to protect his son from the criminal record, death threats, and violence he himself experienced. Barack Obama, Sr., who Malcolm X had met in Kenya, became the fall guy. Many pieces of the puzzle would fit – and the Obama birth certificate may be one of the key pieces. [408,524,526,1095]

That the father of candidate Obama was someone other than Barack Obama, Sr. is, of course, only speculation. Right or wrong, therefore, the remainder of this timeline continues with the assumption that the father of Barack Obama, Jr. was Kenyan Barack Obama, Sr.
1979-1981

Occidental College and the Pakistan Visit

Obama moves to Los Angeles, and attends Occidental College, where he plays basketball and continues taking drugs. He becomes friends with Pakistani Muslims Mohammed Hasan Chandoo (perhaps spelled Chandio) and Wahid Hamid, and Indian Vinai Thummalapally. At Occidental College Obama indulges in alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. He becomes interested in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. While at Occidental Obama is mentored by an openly gay professor, Lawrence Goldyn, who has a strong influence on Obama’s acceptance of gays. Fellow student Thummalapally lives with Obama in the summer of 1980. Obama’s freshman year roommate at Occidental is Imad Husain, a Pakistani. [20,28,188,189,191,245,332]

Safely away from his grandparents Obama starts smoking cigarettes while at Occidental College, as many as 10 per day, and continues the habit until an attempt to quit in February of 2007. On the campaign trail in 2008, however, reporters with a keen sense of smell recognize that Obama was still sneaking occasional cigarettes. (Obama’s refusal to release his medical records may arguably relate to his 25-year smoking habit.) [842, p. 50]

Obama’s friends at Occidental tend to be the more politically active blacks, foreign students, Chicanos, Marxist professors, structural feminists, and punk-rock performance poets. Obama is rebuked on one occasion for calling another black student, who wasn’t “black enough,” an “Uncle Tom.” One female student criticizes Obama with the remark, “You always think it’s about you” [187,192]

While attending Occidental Obama joins the Students for Economic Democracy (SED), which is a branch of the Campaign for Economic Democracy (CED), a group that was founded by radical, anti-American, Marxist activist Tom Hayden (former husband of actress Jane Fonda), who was also active with the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). William Ayers’ subsequent radical group, the Weather Underground, was comprised of many former SDS members. In 1969 the Weather Underground – then called simply “Weatherman” – declared “war on Amerikka.” In 1970, Ayers explains the philosophy of he movement, “Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home; kill your parents; that’s where it’s really at.” Ayers dedicates his book, “Prairie Fire,” to Sirhan Sirhan (Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin) and others he considers “political prisoners.” Obama’s first known public speech takes place at an Occidental College event sponsored by the SED. [259,332,432,454]

An FBI informant who had infiltrated Ayers’ Weather Underground witnessed a meeting at which the group discussed a future communist takeover of America in which some 25 million “diehard capitalists” would need to be killed. The members discussed a future in which Cuba, North Korea, China, and the Soviet Union would establish “re-education centers” in the Southwestern United States. [373]

Obama may have made a 1980 trip to Kenya to visit his father. During that trip, he may also have visited Pakistan, and Indonesia (to visit his mother). It is possible, however, that the reports of a 1980 trip are mistaken, and Obama’s only such trip was in 1981. [194,195,196]

On November 5, 1980, Ann Dunham is granted a divorce from Lolo Soetoro. The divorce decree states that “The parties have 1 child(ren) below age 18 and 1 child(ren) above 18…” This further suggests, but does not prove, that Obama was adopted by Lolo Soetoro. (Dunham’s attorney in the divorce, Gilardy H. William, Jr., later becomes the Hawaii attorney for the Democrat National Committee.) The divorce decree lists the names as Stanley Ann Soetoro and Lolo Soetoro. [719,746]

During his college years, Obama maintains limited contact with his father through correspondence, until his death in 1982. [271]

Probably in late 1980, Obama decides to stop using the name Barry Soetoro and returns to the name Barack Obama, Jr. Whether that was done legally through the courts is not known. [194]

Obama is disappointed in a grade he receives from political science Professor Roger Boesche, and complains he is being graded “on a different curve” because of his race. [20]

In 1981, Obama visits his mother and half-sister in Indonesia, and then continues on for three weeks to Karachi, Pakistan and Hyderabad, India, with his friends Chandoo and Hamid, and finally to Kenya to visit his father’s family. [23,25,26,194,195,196,245,549]

Indonesian passports expire every five years. If Obama became a citizen of Indonesia through adoption by Lolo Soetoro in 1967 and was then issued a passport, by 1982 he would have needed to again renew the document. Obama turned age 18 in 1979. If he renewed his Indonesian passport at any point after his 18th birthday, Obama would have officially lost U.S. citizenship – if he even still had it – according to 8 USC Sections 1481(a)(2) and 101(a)(1), because of “…taking an oath or making allegiance or other formal declaration of allegiance to a foreign state… after having attained the age of 18.” [549]

Obama stays with the family of Hassan Chandoo while in Karachi. Another of Obama’s hosts, in Jacobabad, Pakistan, is Muhammadian Mian Soomro, Obama’s senior by 11 years, son of a Pakistani politician (Ahmadmian Soomro, the deputy speaker of the West Pakistan Assembly) and himself a politician, who later becomes interim President of Pakistan when Pervez Musharraf resigns in August of 2008. Soomro states that “someone” personally requested that his father “watch over” Barack Obama, but Soomro will not name that individual… who allegedly is an American, possibly with CIA ties, now living in South America. [24,615,617]

It is unknown who financed Obama’s costly, multinational 1981 trip. There are also allegations that Obama may have visited gay friends on the journey. [842, p. 46]

Note that a trip to Pakistan in 1981 was generally not possible for Americans, except for those who were on official government business, because it was on the list of dangerous nations banned by the State Department for U.S. travelers. Pakistan was also under martial law at that time. It is possible that Obama was able to enter Pakistan on an Indonesian passport, but he would have had that document only if he was an Indonesian citizen. If he had become an Indonesian citizen, he was no longer an American citizen and his use of an American passport would have been illegal. Pakistan, being almost 100 per cent Muslim, would have welcomed foreign Muslim visitors in 1981. The U.S. State Department would not have known Obama was in Pakistan had he traveled on an Indonesian (or a Kenyan) passport. [549]

Obama’s Pakistani host, Soomro, worked for several major banks, including the Bank of America, which owned the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). BCCI has been involved in money laundering, bribery, terrorist support, tax evasion, smuggling, and illegal immigration; its nickname is the “Bank of Crooks and Criminals International.” American intelligence used BCCI for funneling money to the mujahadeen to assist in its fight against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. [617]

Obama’s school records from Occidental College have been kept secret. This may simply be to hide poor grades or an embarrassing list of non-challenging classes he took, but it is also possible that those records list Obama as a foreign student from Indonesia, rather than an American student. Being classified as a foreign student may have allowed Obama to tap into government education grants. California records allegedly show evidence of an educational grant to a foreign exchange student named “Soetoro” from Indonesia. The records may also indicate that Obama actively applied for “affirmative action” treatment and support. If Obama accepted foreign student education grants at Occidental College because he was a foreign student, then he is not a natural born citizen and is ineligible to serve as President of the United States. If, however, Obama was born in Hawaii but used his Indonesian adoption papers and Jakarta school records to make it appear as though he was a foreign student in order to obtain foreign student grant money, then he was committing fraud to obtain government funds. [259,380,1182]

While at Occidental College Obama studies the works of Frantz Fanon, a critic of Europe and, even more so, of the United States. The origins of Obama’s anti-American attitudes can perhaps be found in Fanon. [842, pp. 47-49]
1981-1984

Columbia University

Obama leaves California and Occidental College and heads to New York City in 1981. He arrives late and is not able to get into an apartment he was offered by a friend of a friend. Although he had just returned from an expensive trip to Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Kenya, Obama doesn’t have the cash for a hotel room and he spends his first night in New York in an alley on West 109th Street. [1807]

Obama enrolls at Columbia University. He attends socialist conferences “for inspiration.” His roommate is Pakistani Muslim Sohale Siddiqi. Siddiqi is a drug user, but Obama allegedly stops using drugs while at Columbia. Living a few blocks away from Obama and Columbia is William Ayers (at 520 West 123rd Street). [26,27,206,297]

William Ayers attended Bank Street College of Education, which was located within walking distance of Columbia University. Ayers also attended the Teachers College of Columbia University. Obama’s English professor at Columbia is Edward Said, a pro-Palestinian, political activist, anti-Israel activist. Said was called the “professor of terror” by the American magazine, “Commentary.” Both Ayers and Obama remain friends of Edward Said. (In 1998, Obama and his wife attend a banquet at which Said is the keynote speaker; Obama is seated next to Said at the well-attended dinner.) [332,334,335,387,1006]

Obama meets Zbigniew Brzezinski while at Columbia. Brzezinski, a CIA expert on the Soviet Union, teaches international relations and is the head of the Institute for Communist Affairs at Columbia. Obama is heavily influenced by Brzezinski – who would later, as National Security Advisor for President Jimmy Carter, be instrumental in encouraging America’s betrayal of the Shah of Iran (which then led to the takeover of Iran by Ayatollah Khomeini, the 444-day American hostage debacle, and the rise of Ahmadinejad). [615,616,618,1661,842, p. 53]

At Columbia Obama studies political science and international relations. His thesis is on Soviet nuclear disarmament. (Obama will not release copies of his thesis or his Columbia records.) Obama graduates from Columbia in June of 1983, with a degree in political science, without honors. [29,264]

Both at Occidental College in California and at Columbia University in New York, Obama’s roommates are foreign Muslims. That may be indicative of something, and it would be worth knowing if the students themselves chose roommates or had them assigned to them. Whether chosen or assigned, the pairings may have been due to Muslim backgrounds, foreign backgrounds, or foreign citizenship. Obama’s hidden college records may reveal that information.

While attending Columbia Obama lived off campus, near William Ayers. It is likely that Obama first met Ayers during those years, 1981-1983. There is speculation that Frank Marshall Davis arranged for Obama to meet William Ayers in New York, and their being neighbors was not a coincidence; Ayers then possibly suggested that Obama return to Chicago with him. Years later, Obama and Ayers are again neighbors, in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. (His long-time association with Ayers leads some to refer to Obama as the “Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers.”) [259]

Looking for evidence of Obama’s past, Fox News contacted 400 Columbia students from that time period, but none remembered Obama. Wayne Allyn Root was, like Obama, a political science major at Columbia who also graduated in 1983. In 2008 Root says of Obama, “I don’t know a single person at Columbia that knows him, and they all know me.  I don’t have a classmate who ever knew Barack Obama at Columbia. Ever! … Nobody recalls him. I’m not exaggerating, I’m not kidding.” Root adds that he was also, like Obama, “Class of ’83 political science, pre-law” and “You don’t get more exact than that. Never met him in my life, don’t know anyone who ever met him. At the class reunion, our 20th reunion five years ago, 20th reunion, who was asked to be the speaker of the class? Me. No one ever heard of Barack! Who was he, and five years ago, nobody even knew who he was… the guy who writes the class notes, who’s kind of the, as we say in New York, the macha who knows everybody, has yet to find a person, a human who ever met him. Is that not strange? It’s very strange…” Obama’s photograph does not appear in the school’s yearbook, and Obama consistently declines requests to talk about his years at Columbia, provide school records, or provide the name of any former classmates or friends while at Columbia. (It may be that the regular school yearbook does not include foreign students, and Obama may possibly have been a foreign exchange student from Indonesia. California state records purportedly show an educational grant having been awarded to an Indonesian student named “Soetoro.”) [332,346,1182]

While attending Columbia Obama regularly attends Marxist-socialist conferences at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan. [332,337]

Obama writes an anti-war article for Columbia University’s magazine, “Sundial.” “Breaking the War Mentality” contains grammatical errors, atrocious punctuation, bad spelling, and contradictory statements. Even the best English teachers would be hard-pressed to diagram this sentence from Obama’s article: “When Peter Tosh sings that ‘everybody’s asking for peace, but nobody’s asking for justice,’ one is forced to wonder whether disarmament or arms control ensues, severed from economic and political issues, might be another instance of focusing on the symptoms of a problem instead of the disease itself.” In the article Obama bemoans the fact that the introduction of additional Pershing II and Cruise Missiles will “cut down (the) warning time for the Soviets to less than ten minutes,” suggesting that Obama apparently prefers a U.S. policy that gives the Soviets as much advance warning as possible, in order to provide them with a better chance of defeating Americans. [990]

After graduation from Columbia Obama joins the New York Public Interest Research Group, an organization founded by Ralph Nader. Obama becomes an organizer at Harlem’s City College, working with student volunteers on recycling programs. [31]

Obama works briefly for Business International Corporation in New York, a small newsletter-publishing and advisory firm that prints articles relating to global business and which assists American companies operating overseas. Obama later “embellishes” that job, saying he was hired as a research assistant by a “consulting house to multinational corporations” where he had his own private secretary and dealt with Japanese financiers and German bond traders. His former co-workers say Obama’s accounts of his job are grossly inflated, and that he wore jeans, shared cubicles with others in a dumpy office, had no secretary, and merely re-wrote articles for newsletters. Obama remarks later in life that the job exposed him to the “coldness of capitalism.” (The company had been used by the CIA as a “front operation,” primarily from 1955 to1960.) [30,31,32,1038]

In 1983, Obama falls in love with a white woman, but ends the relationship after he realizes he will have to adapt to her white world, rather than the other way around. [357]
1985-1988

Chicago and “Community Organizing”

Obama moves to Chicago and hangs out with black militants and leftists. Obama works as a community organizer and activist for the “Industrial Areas Foundation” (IAF), an organization founded by Marxist and radical agitator Saul “the red” Alinsky. Its national activities have included a “Citizens USA” project to obtain citizenship for over one million illegal aliens. (Coincidentally, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s senior honors thesis at Wellesley College, “There is Only the Fight,” is about Alinsky. In 1968 Alinsky offered Clinton a job, which she declined.) [33,45,46,192,229]

Obama also works with the Alinsky group “Developing Communities Project” (DCP), as well as “ACORN” (the “Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now”) and Project Vote, both Alinsky-network creations. Obama’s duties include organizing residents of the Altgeld Gardens housing project on Chicago’s south side. ACORN is an off-shoot of what had been the National Welfare Rights League (NWRL), a militant 1960s group that staged protests in welfare offices and, often successfully, demanded increased benefits with threats of violence. ACORN was founded by William Ayers’ SDS associate, Wade Rathke, and is currently the largest and most powerful leftist organization in the United States. Among other tasks, ACORN “trains” people on how to collect welfare benefits. Strategies include encouraging welfare applicants to be aggressive, loud, and obnoxious – not enough to get arrested but enough to overwhelm and annoy the welfare worker to approve benefits just to get the individual, qualified or not, out of the office. [45,324,227,322]

Obama’s Altgeld Gardens work involves forcing a clean-up of asbestos. Obama’s mentor during his time on the project was Hazel Johnson, who argues that she, not Obama, discovered the asbestos problem and led the efforts to resolve it. According to Johnson, Obama exaggerated his role in the project in his book, “Dreams From My Father.” [345]

Alinsky’s “training manual” for community organizers, “Rules for Radicals,” states that community organizers (called “poverty pimps” by some critics) are primarily agitators, who must “Fan the resentments of the people of a community; fan the latent hostilities of many of the people to the point of overt expression – he must search out controversy and issues… An organizer must stir up dissatisfaction and discontentment [sic]…. He knows that values are relative…. Truth to him is relative and changing.” [315]

Note that Alinsky’s work also influenced the creation of the “Cloward-Piven Strategy,” named after Columbia University professors Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven. Their strategy involves taking action to force deliberate failure in society to foster change toward socialism, by overloading the bureaucracy with impossible demands, lawsuits, holding officials to the extreme letter of the law, etc. The Cloward-Piven method is to push society into an economic collapse, thus forcing a fear and resentment of capitalism, making it easier to usher in socialism. The Cloward-Piven strategy is one of the tactics frequently used by “community organizers” (e.g., storming welfare offices and violently demanding immediate action) to impose intentional strains on the system, and to force the hiring of more government workers than necessary to deal with their ever-increasing demands. Obama has no doubt already met William Ayers by this time. Obama may also have met and been personally influenced by Cloward and Piven. [259,327,1281]

While at IAF, Obama reports to Gerald Kellman (whose identity Obama attempts to hide in his book, “Dreams from My Father”). Kellman is a follower of Alinsky, whose book “Rules for Radicals” was widely read by 1960s youths, such as members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Weather Underground, and the students who rioted at the 1968 Democrat Convention in Chicago. (Obama’s line about “the world as it is and the world as it should be,” which his future wife swooned over and which she repeated twice in her speech to the Democrat National Convention, comes from Chapter 2 of Alinsky’s book.) [20,33,352]

Obama is hired with $25,000 Kellman receives from the Woods Fund. Obama will later serve on the Woods Fund board, along with former Weather Underground domestic terrorist, Pentagon bomber, radical, leftist, communist, and fugitive from justice, William Ayers. [33,204]

Note that the Woods Fund was founded by the wealthy Woods family, which owned a coal business, Sahara Coal (run by Frank Woods, Jr.), that was a major supplier of coal to Commonwealth Edison. The CEO of Commonwealth Edison was Thomas Ayers, father of William Ayers. By 1990 the Woods Fund is controlled by George Kelm, who moves its activities to the left. (Kelm, who died in 1998, was a lawyer and philanthropist who raised money to obtain the Picasso sculpture for Chicago’s Daley Plaza.) [346,1282,1283]

Gerald Kellman later relates that Obama’s job “largely consisted of interviewing community members and creating a narrative out of their experiences, the problems the community faced.” Kellman also noted that “It is clear that the benefit of those years to Mr. Obama dwarfs what he accomplished…. On issues, we made very little progress, nothing that would change poverty on the South Side of Chicago.” In other words, according to his boss, Obama was a failure as a community organizer. But, like many ”poverty pimps,” Obama was able to parlay his experience into something fashionable for his politically-correct resume, even if he did little to help those who he had led on ill-conceived crusades. As a community organizer, Obama, despite being a “master of agitation,” has limited success working for more welfare programs for the poor on the south side of Chicago. Obama is less a “community organizer” than a “community agitator,” getting people to demand more welfare benefits and government hand-outs. [35,47,190,842, p 8,64,88]

Obama also works on voter registration drives during this period, and comes into contact with leftist political groups like the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and Socialist International (SI). Obama is likely to have met Carl Davidson during this period. Davidson, who traveled to Cuba during the Vietnam War to sabotage the U.S. war effort, is a former member of the SDS, and later is a member of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS) – which organized the 2002 Chicago rally where Obama announced his public opposition to the looming Iraq War. [34,1282]

Obama learns from the Alinsky crowd the method for getting people to support radical change they would ordinarily not be willing to accept. “They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and change the future.” Thus, just as it has been the unstated theme of most Democrat Presidential campaigns over the last 40 years, so is it Obama’s: “Everything is terrible and headed in the wrong direction, your lives are in shambles, greedy capitalism is at fault, and you need to trust a bigger government and my plans to solve all your problems.” [192]

For three years Obama is the director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), part of the “Gamaliel Foundation,” another Alinsky-like group which uses “in your face” tactics and threats against banks to obtain more loans to people in poor neighborhoods. Gamaliel’s co-founder and executive director is Gregory Galluzzo, who served as a trainer and mentor during Obama’s community activist days in Chicago. [227,228,337]

Probably in 1987 or 1988, Obama joins the Trinity United Church of Christ (TUCC), the wealthiest black congregation in Chicago. It’s pastor is Reverend Jeremiah Wright, a fiery orator who preaches Marxism, black liberation theology (a Marxist version of Christianity that worships a white-hating black Jesus, and whose founder, James Cone, stated, “If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer and we had better kill him”), gives controversial sermons, supports communists in Cuba and Nicaragua, and who later says America deserved the 9/11 terrorist attacks and that America intentionally spread the AIDS virus to remain wealthy at the expense of poor Africans. (Some accounts state that Obama joins TUCC as late as 1992.) Note that joining the church requires swearing an oath of belief in its black liberation theology. Obama will eventually attempt to distance himself from Wright’s outrageous remarks which are, arguably, not crazy or unusual outbursts but expressions of standard Black Liberation Theology (which one may assume is why Obama joined the church in the first place). [33,268,324,336,688,745]

Although TUCC is a Christian church, it also has Muslim members. When a TUCC member was asked, “If I am Muslim and believe in prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him and I also believe in Jesus, peace be upon him, do I have to give up my Islamic faith to be a member in your church?” the individual replied, “No. We have many Muslim members in our church.” (Many Muslim men attend Christian churches and marry Christian women in order to infiltrate society, and Islam condones lying when its aim is to perpetrate Islam.) [1799]

Obama considers Wright to be his “moral compass,” “sounding board,” and “confidant.” Obama is more likely an agnostic than a Christian or perhaps even an atheist, like his mother and father (or a “mystic” like his future avid supporter, Oprah Winfrey), but joins TUCC for “street cred,” possibly to satisfy his wife, and to end the flak he receives from people in the community for his lack of religion. Obama alleges that he was baptized at TUCC, but no one has been able to obtain a record of the event. Obama was not raised as a Christian if, as he claims, he was baptized at TUCC. If his mother or grandparents had raised him as a Christian he would have been baptized as an infant or child. [202,239,271,336,564]

For what it calls a “commitment to truth, education, and leadership,” Obama’s church magazine, “Trumpet Newsmagazine,” gives a “lifetime achievement award” to Louis Farrakhan, a virulent anti-Semite whose quotes include, “Hitler was a very great man,”  “Judaism is a gutter religion,” and “white people are potential humans, they haven’t evolved yet.” Obama alleges that his church is “fairly conventional,” and that he “wasn’t in church” when Wright made his more inflammatory statements. (Some reports have suggested that Obama had not attended church regularly in the five years leading up to Election Day of 2008.) [36,37,38,39,825]

Reverend Wright, along with Louis Farrakhan, visits Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 1984. Obama’s church presents Louis Farrakhan with its “Empowerment Award.” References to that award are, in 2008, removed from the church’s web site after Obama’s relationships with Wright and Farrakhan are questioned. [315]

Lolo Soetoro, Obama’s step-father, dies of a liver ailment in 1987. [560]

An unpopular strike by the Chicago public school teachers in 1987 leads to a “Chicago School Reform Collaborative,” which is connected to the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. William Ayers is active in the school reform effort through the “Alliance for Better Chicago Schools,” or ABCs. ABCs is an alliance of various activist and reform groups, which includes “Chicago United,” a business group headed by Thomas Ayers, and the Developing Communities Project, which is headed by Obama. Clearly, even if Obama had not met William Ayers while attending Columbia University, he would have known Ayers through the coordinated work of the ABCs and the Developing Communities Project. [1282]

In the spring of 1988 (or possibly 1985 or 1986), Obama visits his family in Kenya. [40,329]

It is believed that Obama visited his mother, Ann Dunham, in Pakistan some time during 1987 and 1992, while she was working there. [329]
1988-1991

Harvard Law School

In the fall of 1988 Obama begins his studies at Harvard Law School (HLS). Helping Obama gain acceptance at Harvard is a letter of recommendation from civil rights activist and Malcolm X attorney Percy Sutton. Asking Sutton to write the letter is Khalid Abdullah Tariq al-Mansour (aka “Donald Warden”), a radical Muslim and vitriolic anti-Semite, mentor of Black Panther Party founders Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, close associate of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, and friend of Obama. Al-Mansour alleges in his 1995 book, “The Lost Books of Africa Rediscovered,” that the United States is plotting genocide against black Americans. (Mansour has called for a national “bloodbath” of white Americans, and has said that the black “killing and mutilating” of whites and Jews is part of God’s plan.)  Mansour is believed to have been the main financial backer and planner for Obama for as long as 25 years, and is a principle financial advisor to Prince Alwaleed bin Talal – nephew of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdallah, and the world’s 19th wealthiest person (worth $29.5 billion, who donated $20 million to Harvard to fund “Islamic studies”). It is unclear why a financial advisor to one of the world’s richest men would have an interest in funding the education of the young Obama, whose grades at Occidental College had been less than stellar because he was more interested in drugs than studying. [41,43,380,380,381,382,408,558]

It has been suggested that it was William Ayers who persuaded Khalid al-Mansour to raise funds for Obama’s Harvard tuition. Ayers associated with al-Mansour when he was still known as Donald Warden. Warden was a lawyer and advisor to the Black Panther Party, whose offices were next door to his. At a marina in San Francisco (where they were hiding from federal authorities) Ayers, Warden, Dohrn, and others had planned the overthrow of the United States. [259,380]

A Harvard letter of recommendation for Obama is also written by John McKnight, who serves on the Gamaliel Foundation’s Board of Directors, as well as the board of National People’s Action (NPA), another Alinsky-inspired activist group. The NPA consists of thugs and agitators who, when picketing the homes of business and government leaders to demand more benefits and hand-outs sing: “Who’s on your hit list, NPA? Who’s on your hit list of today? Take no prisoners, take no names. Kick ‘em in the ass when they play their games.” [230,267]

It is unclear how Obama gets into Harvard Law School. HLS has exceptionally high admissions standards, with applicant LSAT scores expected in the 98 to 99 range, and a grade point average of 3.8 or higher. It is assumed that if Obama had such scores, his campaign would be bragging about them. It has not, and will not release any of his school records. One assumption is that Obama simply had connections, such as Khalid al-Mansour, who both paved and paid his way. Percy Sutton states that al-Mansour had been “raising money” for Obama. Obama denies knowing al-Mansour, but al-Mansour, in an interview with Newsmax reporter Kenneth Timmerman, admits he had spoken with Obama and told him he would keep a “low profile” in order to avoid embarrassing the candidate. [56,264,315]

It is unclear how Obama paid for his education, especially his years at Harvard Law School. (Occidental College and Columbia are also far from being easily affordable.) He appears not to have held any steady jobs during the period, and he also took several extensive and expensive trips overseas. (Obama doesn’t mention his Pakistan trip(s) in his books.) He and his wife later say they needed many years to pay off student loans, but those loans are not recorded on the financial disclosure statements Obama was required to submit when he became a Senator.

Attorney Percy Sutton tells reporters in 2008, “I was introduced to (Obama) by a friend who was raising money for him. The friend’s name is Dr. Khalid al-Mansour.” Gifts from al-Mansour may have funded Obama’s years at Harvard. In April of 2008, however, Obama’s wife states that Obama had “just paid off his loan debt” for his Harvard Law School education. But that statement is not consistent with a review of Obama’s financial disclosures, which go back to 2000 and which did not list any outstanding college loans. As a candidate for the U.S. Senate, Obama was required, in 2004, to file a financial disclosure form detailing his assets, income, consulting contracts, and liabilities. Obama listed zero for liabilities in 2004 and in all subsequent U.S. Senate financial disclosure forms. (Obama had mortgage liabilities, even if he had no other debt.) [211]

If Obama’s school loans had been paid off earlier, then his wife’s statement that he “had just paid off his loan debt” was a lie – a pandering lie intended, no doubt, to make the Obamas appear to be “just another struggling middle class family.” If the loans had, in fact, just been paid off, then the candidate lied on his financial disclosure forms, which could subject him to impeachment from the Senate.

Another possibility is that candidate Obama and his wife are both lying, and the school loans were actually gifts from Khalid al-Mansour, which were expected to be paid back with future political favors – such as promoting a Palestinian state at the expense of Israel. If Obama’s tuition and expenses were financed by others without any expectation of direct reimbursement, they were not loans but gifts that should have been listed on his income tax filings. Obama’s failure to do so would mean he violated income tax regulations and is subject to additional taxes, interest, and penalties – and perhaps criminal fraud charges.

Obama is selected as one of 40 editors of the Harvard Law Review (HLR), but he apparently wrote only one article. In it he argued against placing any limits on abortion, with the remarkable statement that abortions would “…prevent increasing numbers of children born into lives of pain and despair.” (In other words, “Their lives will be miserable anyway, so why not just abort them now?”) His fellow editors elect Obama President of the HLR, partly in response to the demands of Professor Derrick Bell that a black woman be appointed to the law faculty. [55,56,385]

While at Harvard, Obama is already planning his political career. Former Harvard classmate Christine Spurell states, “It was clear to me from the day I met him that he was thinking about politics.” [332]

One of Obama’s professors at Harvard is Lawrence Tribe, a favorite of media liberals. (Tribe later argues Al Gore’s case before the Florida Supreme Court after the November, 2000 election). Many would not be surprised if Obama nominates Tribe to the Supreme Court. [842, p. 67]

Another Harvard professor and friend of Obama is Charles Ogletree, who is the faculty advisor to the Black Law Students Association. Ogletree is an advocate of slavery reparations (who will later become an Obama advisor). [936,1085,842, p. 68]

While on a break from class at Harvard, Obama spends eight days in Los Angeles taking a national training course taught by Saul Alinsky’s “Industrial Areas Foundation.” [47]

Sidley Austen and Michelle LaVaughan Robinson

In 1989, Obama works briefly at the Sidley Austin LLP Law Firm, as a summer associate from Harvard Law School, where he meets future wife Michelle LaVaughan Robinson. Robinson is his mentor at the law firm. Also working at the firm (from 1984 to 1988) is Bernadine Dohrn, former Weather Underground radical, terrorist bomber, fugitive from the FBI (having achieved “most wanted list” status), and wife of fellow radical William Ayers. Although Dohrn works for the Sidley law firm her criminal record prevents her from being admitted to the Illinois bar. (A former SDS associate of Dohrn and William Ayers is University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill, best known for calling the workers who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks “little Eichmanns.”) [50,55,324,1544,824, p. 144]

Obama’s summer job at Sidley Austin is likely arranged by William Ayers and his father, Tom Ayers (1975-1986 CEO of Commonwealth Edison). Sidley is chief counsel to Commonwealth Edison, and senior Sidney partner Howard Trienans serves on the Board of Trustees of Northwestern University, along with Tom Ayers and Sidley partner Newton Minow (FCC head under President Kennedy, and famous for having called television a “vast wasteland”). When asked why terrorist fugitive Dohrn was hired by Sidley, Trienans replied, “We sometimes hire friends.” [259,842, pp. 91-92, 116]

Paul Schmitz, who worked with Michelle Robinson at Sidley, later recalls that she was “very deliberate in her thinking” and would be called on for difficult tasks like firing people. (Schmitz is currently CEO of Public Allies, a position also once held by Michelle Robinson.) [1085]

In 1990, Obama serves as a summer associate at the law firm Hopkins and Sutter in Chicago. [357]

Tony “the Fixer” Rezko

In 1990, Obama turns down a job offer from Antoin “Tony” Rezko’s low-income housing development company. This may have been one of Obama’s first contacts with Tony “the fixer” Rezko. Rezko, born in Aleppo, Syria, maintains varied contacts with Obama until he is convicted and jailed in 2008. It is not known how Obama first met Rezko. Ayers, Obama, and Rezko have all dealt with the Broadway Bank in Chicago, run by the mob-tied Giannoulias family, and it may have been Ayers or a Giannoulias family member who brought Obama’s name to the attention of Rezko. That first Obama-Rezko contact may have been initiated by David Brint, a Rezko partner (along with Daniel Mahru). [48,245,664,1278]

Rezko has been alleged by some to have had ties with the Syrian Mukhabarat, or Shu’bat al-Mukhabarat al-’Askariyya (the Syrian Department of Military Intelligence). [558]
1991-1992

ACORN, Slum Housing, and “Dreams”

In 1991 Obama receives his law degree from Harvard Law School. He returns to Chicago, where he is named the Illinois head of “Project Vote” (an affiliate of “ACORN,” a group infamous for its involvement in voter registration fraud) to help increase the number of black voters. Project Vote is required to remain non-partisan to retain its tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3) organization under the IRS Code, but it adds an estimated 125,000 new voters in Illinois in 1992, mostly Democrats, to help Carol Moseley Braun win a United States Senate seat. [45,55,240,283]

In 1991, Michelle Robinson is hired by Valerie Jarrett to work as a mayoral assistant for $60,000 per year. (Jarrett is later rumored to be first choice for chief of staff in an Obama Administration.) Jarrett was born in Iran in 1956, to American parents, while her father was working there on the staff of the Nemazee Hospital. It is said that Obama makes few major decisions without referring to Jarrett. After Robinson interviews with Jarrett, they are joined by Obama for dinner, where Robinson tells Jarrett, “My fiancé wants to know who is going to be looking out for me and making sure that I thrive.” The dinner meeting with Jarrett introduces Obama to the inner circle of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Chicago politics. Michelle Robinson is already familiar with Chicago politics. Her father is a precinct captain and is employed by the city’s incredibly corrupt water department. (A substantial number of buildings in Chicago never pay any water bills or property taxes. With a “wink and a nod,” and a bribe to the right city official, the buildings are eventually put up for sale for payment of unpaid bills. They are then purchased by the same owner, under a new company’s name. The process is repeated ad infinitum. While the bills go unpaid, the city doesn’t bother shutting off the water service. Many buildings in the city do not even have water meters. Employees of the Water Department who are not corrupt have at least witnessed some of its corruption.) [245,246,352,664,1278,1363]

Soon after Michelle Robinson is hired as a mayoral assistant, Jarrett is transferred from the Chicago Transit Authority’s “citizen advisory committee” to run a new Department of Planning and Development. Michelle Robinson follows Jarrett, serving as a “troubleshooter.” [1278]

Valerie Jarrett is the daughter-in-law of the late Vernon Jarrett. Vernon Jarrett was a friend of Frank Marshall Davis, with whom he worked at the Chicago Defender, a leftist newspaper that advocated the radicalism of the Communist Party. Vernon Jarrett later became the Chicago Tribune’s first black syndicated columnist, and was a strong supporter of Chicago’s black mayor Harold Washington, who had defeated the Daley machine’s candidate with the help of Chicago’s Communist Party and the Democratic Socialists of America. (Jarrett later moved to the Chicago Sun-Times and eventually became a member of its editorial board.) Valerie Jarrett is CEO of Habitat Co., a company which managed Grove Parc Plaza, a 504-unit housing project in Chicago that fell into disrepair and is famous for its pathetic living conditions (collapsed roofs, unrepaired fire damage, rodent infestations, and backed up sewage). Another even larger of Chicago’s subsidized housing complexes managed by Jarrett’s company was seized by the federal government in 2006 after widespread problems were identified. While Jarrett was CEO of Habitat she also served as Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s planning commissioner. [478,479,480,545,832,1660]

On December 17, 1991, Obama is admitted to the Illinois Bar, enabling him to practice law. On his application he lies at least three times, failing to disclose that he had previously used other names (“Barry Soetoro”), neglecting to disclose his record of drug use, and failing to disclose his approximate $400 in unpaid parking fines. [345]

In October of 1992 Obama marries Michelle LaVaughan Robinson. The ceremony is performed by Reverend Jeremiah Wright, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. [329]

One of Obama’s tasks at ACORN, where he works with Madeline Talbott, is training “community activists” how to use “direct action” and be more forceful in demanding change. The “in your face” style preached by Obama is used by activists to stage sit-ins and demonstrations at banks to garner publicity and support for more bank loans for unqualified poor people. (ACORN stages a two-day sit-in at the House Banking Committee room in1991.) ACORN Tactics include picketing at the homes of bank executives and calling them racists for not lending to the poor. Among the banks targeted by Talbott and Obama is Chicago’s Bell Federal Savings (which no longer exists). The Chicago Tribune, in September of 1992, referred to the ACORN agenda as “affirmative action lending.” Critics later refer to those types of mortgages as “Ninja” loans (“No Income, No Job, no Assets”). [225,227,491,836]

Obama plans his first book, “Dreams From My Father.” Using literary agent Jane Dystel, he receives a $125,000 advance from publisher Simon and Shuster’s Poseidon Press imprint, but fails to write the book (which is supposed to be about race relations, not an autobiography). Obama uses some of the advance to travel with his wife to Bali, in Indonesia, to gain the “peace and quite” to write, but he produces no manuscript. The contract is canceled by the publisher, and Obama is asked to return part of the advance payment he received. (The amount Obama was made to return is not known.) Obama returns to Chicago, signs a new contract (with Times Book, a Random House Division) for $40,000, and subsequently delivers a completed manuscript. It is believed by some that “Dreams From My Father” was ghost-written by Obama’s friend, William Ayers, based on the startling similarities of Ayers’ writings and the Obama book, the fact that Obama’s only previous public writings were atrocious poetry he had written in college, and Obama’s frequent difficulties speaking well when not reading from a script or off a TelePrompTer. Some also argue that the later audio version of the book, recorded by Obama, comes across as unnatural, as though the words are not entirely his. (In January of 2009, an 1,800-word anti-war article written by Obama in 1983 is discovered. Its many errors and poor writing quality lend credence to the argument that Obama had considerable help with “Dreams From My Father.”) [57,58,224,250,812]

It is unclear how Obama managed to obtain an enormous $125,000 advance for his book, when he had no writing experience and the publisher had no guarantee of high-volume book sales of an autobiography written by a 31 year old no one had ever heard of. An advance of $5,000 – $10,000 for an unknown is not uncommon today, and would have been generous in 1992. (“Dreams From My Father” sells only a few thousand copies when first published in 1995, and the publisher loses money on the initial printing.) [1275,1276]

In 1992, Obama helps found “Public Allies,” a voluntary public service organization (modeled after Alinsky’s AIF) that recruits youths to perform public service – while they are indoctrinated in socialist ideology. Obama’s wife Michelle becomes the group’s Executive Director in 1993. The program is the model for candidate Obama’s “Universal Voluntary Public Service” program, which he stealthily promotes as an expansion of Kennedy’s “Peace Corps.” [51,52,461]

Obama is hired by Miner, Banhill and Galland, a law firm which specializes in negotiating government contracts to develop low-income housing, and which deals with Tony Rezko’s firm “Rezar.” Obama’s specific duties at the law firm are not known. (He refuses to provide a list of his clients.) Obama is also a law lecturer at the University of Chicago during these years, but is believed to have never published even a single work of legal scholarship. Obama likely remained on the payroll of the Miner law firm until his 2004 Senate campaign, although his law license became inactive in 2002. He worked only during the summers after 1996. It is believed that Obama never actually tried a case in court; he instead worked on teams with other lawyers to draw up briefs and contracts. (It is assumed that Obama never tried a case because he is unable to effectively “think on his feet,” as is required in a trial setting. There is no TelePrompTer between the lawyer and the jury.) [42,53,245,324,345,420]

Note that Judson Miner had been a classmate of Bernadine Dohrn at the University of Chicago Law School in the late 1960s, when both were involved in anti-war activity. Miner had also been counsel to Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, and former Illinois Senator Carol Mosely Braun had worked briefly at the firm. Mr. Allison Davis, co-founder of the firm, later became a wealthy Chicago land developer, with ties to Tony Rezko. [345]

Allison Davis has had 51 per cent ownership in several Chicago real estate development businesses. Because he is black, his ownership allows him to take advantage of laws favoring minority ownership. Davis is, however, a multimillionaire with no need for special minority treatment, and is thus merely taking advantage of rules meant to help others. As a state senator, Obama steers millions in state development money to firms owned by Rezko and Davis. Some of the housing developments built by Davis are managed by a company owned by Davis’ son, Cullen Davis. Robert Vanecko (a nephew of Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley) owns 49 per cent of DV Urban Realty Partners, and Davis owns 51 per cent. Davis has donated more than $400,000 to dozens of political campaigns; top beneficiaries include Obama, Daley, and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. [664,842, p. 133]

Judson Miner later says of Obama’s work at his law firm, “The ‘game of law’ irritated (Obama) more than fascinated him. There are people who just like the game. Barack didn’t like the game.” Former Miner partner Allison Davis states that Obama “…spent a lot of time working on his book (‘Dreams From My Father’).  Some of my partners weren’t happy with that, Barack sitting there with his keyboard on his lap and his feet up on the desk writing the book.” [1607]
1993 – 1996

The Foundations

In 1993, Obama is placed on the board of the Woods Fund by William Ayers. In his first year on the board, Obama votes to approve a $1 million payment to the Neighborhood Rejuvenation Partners, a partnership run by Allison Davis. Davis is the founder of the law firm where Obama works (Miner, Banhill and Galland). [259,297,664]

During 1993 Obama also runs leadership training sessions on the subject of “power” for ACORN leaders, and continues to do so until at least 2003. Obama also helps train the staff of high-ranking ACORN leader Madeline Talbott, who promotes intimidating and often illegal direct action protest techniques; Obama is a “fellow traveler.” (Talbott is later arrested, in 1997, for heading an aggressive protest confrontation at the Chicago City Council.) [283,836]

Obama buys a townhouse in Chicago’s Hyde Park for $277,500 with a loan provided by the city’s Broadway Bank. Obama’s down payment is $110,000 (arguably a substantial amount for someone who, according to Michelle Obama, was still saddled with substantial education loans until shortly before his Presidential campaign). The bank, owned by the politically-connected Giannoulias family, is alleged to have long-standing mob ties, as well as connections with Tony Rezko and William Ayers. Obama gets a “sweetheart deal” on the townhouse, ostensibly in exchange for future favors. Obama later endorses Alexi Giannoulias when he runs for Illinois State Treasurer, even though the chairman of Illinois’ Democrat Party and Speaker of the Illinois House, Michael Madigan, refuses to do be associated with him. [281,291,329,1278]

Obama’s townhouse is purchased by (or for him) in 1993, but various names are listed as the owner and the payer of the property tax while Obama lives there. The Warranty Deed changes from the name of the prior owner, Stephen Anderson, to Obama, in 1993, but the release of the Anderson mortgage is not recorded until 1998, at which point it is sent to Obama’s former law firm. There may be reasonable explanations for the various names and events, or Cook County, Illinois bookkeeping may be less than perfect, but the oddities (not all of which are listed here) may also be the result of a complicated real estate “deal” arranged for Obama. [291]

Sometime in 1993 Michelle Obama’s law license is suspended. It is unclear why. The Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) reports her malpractice insurance status as “No malpractice report required as attorney is on court ordered inactive status.” Note that the ARDC is an agency of the Supreme Court of Illinois (not the Illinois Bar) which investigates attorney malpractice complaints. The inactive status is court ordered; it is not the result of a voluntary request by Michelle Obama – who had failed to pass the bar on her first attempt. [677,738,739,1087,1096]

In 1994, Obama represents ACORN in a lawsuit against redlining, and represents a client suing Citibank for denying mortgages to blacks (Buycks-Roberson v. Citibank Federal Savings Bank). The lawsuit is an attempt to force the bank to give loans to customers it feels are poor credit risks. [225,263,497,531,1252]

While serving as director of the Joyce Foundation board (1994-2001), Obama gives millions of dollars to gun control organizations like the Council Against Handguns and the Violence Policy Center. (Between 1994 and 2001, the Joyce Foundation gave $18.6 million to about 80 anti-gun and anti-Second Amendment projects, including $1.5 million to the Violence Policy Center.) The Joyce Foundation is closely linked to the “Soros Open Society Institute,” which advocates a worldwide ban on civilian firearm ownership. [346,444,834,1282]

In the fall of 1994, Obama’s mother becomes ill with ovarian cancer. [324]

In 1995 Obama’s first book, “Dreams From My Father,” is published. It sells only a few thousand copies and has to be remaindered. Critics call it “overwrought” and “self-indulgent.” (For a narcissist no subject is as important as himself.) An autobiography by someone not even 35 years old, it is essentially a book by someone obsessed with himself, and about his confused mental state, desires, yearnings, and race. This is not altogether surprising inasmuch as Obama was abandoned by his father, his step-father, and his mother. A family friend remarked that Obama is “…haunted by his father’s failures. He grew up thinking of his father as a brilliant intellectual and pioneer of African independence only to learn that in Western terms he was basically a drunken lecher.” (Feelings of inferiority promoted by abandonment can cause shame and an unstable self-image, which prompts some individuals to conceal their feelings by hiding them, wearing an emotional mask, and creating an artificial image. The image then becomes that of others, and the individual becomes a blank slate upon which others project themselves. Obama even writes in his second book, “The Audacity of Hope,” that he serves “as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.” Some argue that these traits of narcissistic personality disorder describe Obama, as well as Bill Clinton. Being “all things to all people,” however, likely works better on the campaign trail than in the Oval Office.) “Dreams From My Father” is re-published with some changes in 2004, after Obama becomes famous, and it then earns him a fortune. Obama dumps his original literary agent, Jane Dystel (despite her having negotiated for him an unbelievable $125,000 advance a few years earlier), replacing her with Washington lawyer Robert Barnett. Dystel was reportedly, and justifiably, furious. [57,58,1100,1154,1276,842 p. 23]

A 1995 article in the “Chicago Reader” describes how Obama had rejected the “…unrealistic politics of integrationist assimilation.” [264]

In 1995, Obama sues the State of Illinois on behalf of ACORN to get the state to comply with the federal “Motor Voter Law” law which Republican Governor Jim Edgar correctly argued would invite voter fraud, partly because government officers registering new voters are “under orders not to ask anyone for identification or proof of citizenship.” ACORN has been prominent in the fight against photo I.D. for voting and other means of voter identification. ACORN specifically sought out Obama to represent them in the lawsuit. (It was not simply assigned to him by a law firm.) [54,240,255,284]

Obama and several other attorneys represent black voters and aldermen to force the City of Chicago to re-draw its ward boundaries. An appeals court states the ward map violates the federal Voting Rights Act. Attorneys for both sides draw a new map, and a district that favors an Obama State Senate run. [1281]

Urged by Obama, the Woods Fund gives more money to “community organizer” groups like ACORN. The Woods Fund publicly lies about its ideology, which allows it to more easily obtain donations from many who aren’t aware of its radical intentions. Obama’s committee’s own report even brags that its claim to be “…non-ideological has enabled the Trustees to make grants to organizations that use confrontational tactics against the business and government ‘establishments’ without undue risk of being criticized of partisanship.” During Obama’s tenure with the Woods Fund, and under his direction, the organization gives money to the Gamaliel Foundation and more than $200,000 to ACORN. [232,297,835]

William Ayers (who may have met Obama as early as 1981) selects Obama as chairman (1995-2000) of the “Chicago Annenberg Challenge on Excellence in Education” (CAC), an educational reform program which proves to be remarkably unsuccessful. (A 2003 audit states, “There were no statistically significant differences between Annenberg schools and non-Annenberg schools in rates of achievement gain.”) Ayers and Obama approve grants of $175,000 and $482,662 to groups founded by Ayers and run by former communist party leader Mike Klonsky. Ayers’ “small schools workshop,” run by Klonsky, receives over $1 million from the CAC. (Obama may have worked with the CAC as early as 1993.) The Woods Fund and the Joyce Foundation give $761,000 to the “Leadership for Quality Education” (LQE) organization, run by John Ayers (William’s brother). Obama is also happens to be on the board of the LQE. [59,60,61,155,156,201,204,428,1282]

For several years (at least until 1999 or 2000) the offices of the CAC are at 115 South Sangamon in Chicago. The Small Schools Workshop (Mike Klonsky is co-director and his wife Susan Klonsky, another former SDS member, is an employee) is also located at 115 South Sangamon. Both organizations are on the third floor. [366,1282]

Obama approves so many grants with CAC money that the “Chicago Reader” refers to Obama as a “philanthropist.” Obama’s time with the CAC is arguably his only executive experience. While with the CAC, Obama and Ayers distribute amounts totaling as much as $100 million, and achieve essentially none of the group’s stated educational goals. The selection of Obama, a 33 year-old junior lawyer at a small law firm, as chairman of the educational reform group CAC is strange inasmuch as the board also includes several older and experienced university presidents. One of them, Stanley O. Ikenberry of the University of Illinois, later remarks, “It was unusual, here you had a person trained in the law chairing a board on school reform.” [65,297,428]

Into Politics

In 1995, Obama’s political career starts with a fundraiser at the home of Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn. Ayers and Dohrn are former 1960s radicals and former Weather Underground militants, who disappeared in 1970 after their bomb – designed to kill United States Army officers in New Jersey – accidentally destroys a Greenwich Village townhouse. Ayers and Dohrn eventually turn themselves in to authorities in 1980, but because of improper FBI surveillance Ayers and Dohrn are never prosecuted for their involvement in 25 bombings. [60,66,67,71]

Ayers and Dohrn (who has met with communists in Cuba and Viet Cong representatives in Budapest) are alleged to have been occasional baby-sitters for the Obama children. The North Vietnamese have presented both Ayers and Dohrn with rings made with metal from an American plane shot down in North Vietnam. Obama falsely claims that the 1995 fundraiser is the first time he met William Ayers. [68,69,70,71,259]

Ayers and Dohrn are the adoptive parents of Chesa Boudin, whose parents, David Gilbert and Kathy Boudin, are serving three consecutive 25 year prison terms for felony murder, having killed three Brinks guards in a 1981 robbery to get cash to fund their Weather Underground, SDS, Black Liberation Army, and Black Panther Party activities. Chesa Boudin was named a Rhodes Scholar, through the help of Dennis Hutchinson, a professor at the University of Chicago, where Ayers and Obama taught. (It will be interesting to see if a President Obama grants pardons to Boudin and Gilbert.) Both William Ayers and Chesa Boudin serve on an education advisory board of Venezuelan socialist President Hugo Chavez. [205,1347]

Valerie Jarrett is Obama’s campaign finance chairman for his Illinois State Senate run. Helping Obama’s campaign are Tony Rezko, Rita Rezko, Allison Davis, and William Daley (brother of the mayor). David Axelrod is Obama’s top campaign strategist. On July 31, 1995, Obama’s campaign receives a $1,000 donation from Rezko Foods. [1278]

In October of 1995, Obama attends the male-only “Million Man March,” organized by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. [284,286]

Obama successfully seeks the endorsement of the “New Party” (NP), a Marxist third party in Chicago, for his 1996 state senate run. The endorsement of the New Party requires that the candidate “…sign a contract with the NP. The contract mandates that they must have a visible and active relationship with the NP.” Obama receives the endorsement with an in-person appearance with the NP – it is not an unsolicited endorsement. After his victory in the election, the NP states that “Barack Obama, victor in the 13th State Senate District, encouraged NPers to join in his task forces on Voter Education and Voter Registration.” (Democrat candidates need to cater to the New Party or risk New Party candidates running against them in the primaries. The New Party essentially blackmails the Democrat into taking far-left positions.) [72,243,253,431,1280]

The platform of Obama’s New Party’s includes: full employment, shorter work week, a guaranteed minimum income for all adults, a universal “social wage,” full public financing of all elections, universal voter registration, more progressive taxes, reductions in military spending, and the nationalization of the banking system. The New Party has worked with ACORN on a number of issues. (Activist Al Sharpton once considered seeking a New Party endorsement for a U.S. Senate run.) [1281]

Obama also receives the support of the Democrat Socialists of America (DSA). Obama was then (and may still be) an associate of the DSA’s Chicago branch. The members of the New Party, the DSA, and ACORN are, to a great extent, interchangeable. Obama is a panelist for a discussion, “Employment and Survival in Urban America,” sponsored by the DSA on February 25, 1996. (The DSA is associated with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, of which Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is its most prominent member. After an expose of the DSA in 1999, it scrubs its web site of connections to the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and removes a number of inflammatory postings (such as song lyrics about “shootin’ that Wall Street throng.”) [239,243,253,432,1282]

The Marxist New Party refers to Obama as one of its own party members in an October, 1996 “Running to Win: The Key Races” announcement, that reads, “Illinois: Three NP-members won Democratic primaries last Spring and face off against Republican opponents on election day: Danny Davis (U.S. House), Barack Obama (State Senate) and Patricia Martin (Cook County Judiciary).” [244,422]

The “Progressive Populist” magazine runs an editorial that states, “New Party member Barack Obama was uncontested for a State Senate seat from Chicago.” The New Party’s parent organization is the Democrat Socialists of America (DSA). The New Party’s short-term objective is to move the Democrat Party far to the left, helping establish the conditions for an eventual Marxist party. [253]

Obama’s state senate run also receives the support of Dr. Quentin Young, a neighbor of Obama and a long-time advocate of a socialized health care system. Young is believed to be a member of the Communist Party of the USA, and had been active in Chicago socialist circles since the 1930s. In 1992 Young received from the Chicago Democratic Socialists its highest honor, the (Eugene) Debs Award. While in the Illinois State Senate, Obama supports Young’s single-payer health care program and introduces several bills in failed attempts to get it established state-wide. [73,74]

On November 7, 1995, Obama’s mother dies of ovarian cancer. Her body is cremated and there is no funeral. Involved with his State Senate campaign, Obama, who rarely saw his mother after 1975, is not with her in her final days. Obama did not attend a memorial service for Dunham held at the University of Hawaii, but reportedly helped scatter her ashes in the ocean. [324,560]

Although Ann Dunham died of cancer in Hawaii in 1995, researchers have not been able to identify the hospital where she was treated. There are unconfirmed reports that Dunham’s Social Security Number is purportedly still active and being used by a “Kelly Ann Dunham” or “Anna Soetoro.” The story, if true, certainly warrants investigation because the odds against the Social Security Administration reissuing Stanley Ann Dunham’s number to someone with either of those names are astronomical. The first three digits of Dunham’s number, 535, are used only for SSNs assigned in the state of Washington, even further limiting the odds of reissuing her number to another Dunham or Soetoro in that state alone. [674,675,676]

Ann Dunham’s mother, Madelyn Dunham, purportedly worked as a volunteer in the probate department of the Oahu Circuit Court. She would have had access to the Social Security Numbers of deceased individuals, which could have been given to Ann Dunham or Obama to falsify records. While a student at Harvard Law School, Obama is said to have fraudulently used a Social Security Number that had been issued in Connecticut to someone who would now be 118 years old. [1182]
1996-1997

The Illinois State Senate

In September of 1996, as a candidate for the Illinois State Senate, Obama completes a candidate questionnaire. In the document Obama states he supports increasing the personal exemption “as part of a shift to higher income tax,” supports increasing Illinois income taxes to reduce local property taxes, supports public campaign financing, favors adding sexual orientation to the (Illinois) Human Rights Act, opposes mandatory AIDS testing for insurance or employment, favors “comparable worth” programs, supports the right of public employees (including police and fire department employees) to strike, supports a single-payer state-run health plan for Illinois, supports Medicaid funding of abortions, supports parental abortion notification only for the very young (age 12-13) but opposes all other abortion restrictions, supports cost-of-living adjustments for public aid recipients, supports “workfare” (but only if coupled with government-funded training, child care, and health care), opposes restrictions on welfare benefits for teen mothers, opposes restrictions on benefits for women on welfare who have additional children, favors repealing the six-month limit on general assistance benefits, supports energy assistance for the poor, supports more tax money for the Chicago Transit Authority, opposes electronic eavesdropping, opposes capital punishment, opposes mandatory sentencing guidelines, opposes the manufacture, sale, and possession of all handguns, and supports banning assault weapons.

Obama is elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996. He takes the seat long held by Democrat State Senator Alice Palmer (also an official of the U.S. Peace Council, an affiliate of the Soviet front group “World Peace Council”), who agrees to let Obama run for her state seat only if she loses her bid for U.S. Congress. By a wide margin Palmer then loses the Congressional election (a special election held in November of 1995), but Obama reneges on his agreement and works with lawyers to get Palmer and three other opponents removed from the primary ballot on technicalities, in order to insure an opponent-free victory. On January 2, 1996, a group of Obama operatives descends on the offices of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to challenge, one by one, all the signatures on the nominating petitions of all of Obama’s challengers; they do not stop until Obama is the sole name on the ballot. [75,269]

The Congressional seat Alice Palmer attempted to win had been held by disgraced Congressman Mel (“I won the Lotto”) Reynolds, who was sentenced to seven years in jail for having sex with a 16 year old campaign volunteer. His resignation had prompted the special election in November, 1995. (Reynolds’ sentence was later commuted by Bill Clinton, who perhaps had a special affinity for elected officials who have sex with young campaign workers. After leaving prison, Reynolds is hired by Reverend James Meeks in early 2001 to work at his Salem Baptist Church in Chicago. Reynolds also works with Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition/PUSH organization as a youth counselor – an arguably unlikely position for someone who served prison time for sex with a minor.) Palmer was popular among the district’s voters, but her fate was sealed when Jesse Jackson Jr. ran against her. (This explains some of the animosity between Obama and Jesse Jackson. Had Jackson’s son not entered the Congressional race, the Alice Palmer would have won the seat and Obama would not have had to resort to signature challenges to get Palmer off the State Senate ballot. The main animosity, of course, is that Obama could win the Presidency which Jackson failed to win because he was considered too radical, when, in fact, Obama is exponentially more radical than Jackson ever was.) [269,1361,1470,1471]

With the Palmer petition signature challenges, Obama follows the practice preached by his campaign consultant and “guru of petitions” Ronald Davis, as well as Chicago political machine hack David Axelrod: don’t try to beat the opponents, remove them from the playing field entirely. Obama’s reliance on petition challenges runs counter to his self-made image of a reformer and crusader for voter’s rights. (Palmer will campaign for Hillary Clinton in 2008.) [75,329]

Timuel Black, a mutual friend, tries unsuccessfully to mend the rift between Obama and Palmer. Black is a long-time socialist who associated with communists and Trotskyists in the 1930s, allegedly joined the Communist Party of the USA, was active in the Progressive Party, was president of the local chapter of the communist Negro American Labor Council, and was involved with the annual Chicago Debs Day Dinners, an awards celebration for Illinois socialists. [74]

Obama’s campaign is alleged to have received financial assistance from the politically-connected Giannoulias family, possibly in exchange for future favors. (Obama will later support and endorse the young, inexperienced Alexi Giannoulias in his run for Illinois State Treasurer.) [281]

Note that Obama also benefited from a process called “fusion,” where a candidate would appear on primary the ballot for more than one party. Obama appeared on the ballot as a Democrat, but also as the candidate for the New Party. He this drew the votes of traditional Democrats, but voters who leaned far-left or socialist understood that Obama was actually “one of them.” Obama’s final vote tally would be the total of his Democrat votes and his New Party votes. (The Supreme Court eventually ruled the “fusion” practice unconstitutional, but not until after Obama had become an Illinois State Senator.) [1281]

More Rezko

In January and February of 1997, renters of several Chicago slum tenements owned by Tony “the fixer” Rezko go without heat for five weeks. (The City of Chicago sued Rezko’s real estate development company, Rezmar, at least a dozen times during 1996-1997 to get heat turned on it its apartment buildings.) Rezko doesn’t come up with the money to turn on the heat, but manages to contribute $1,000 to Obama’s Illinois State Senate political campaign; Obama then seeks state funds for even more Rezko housing developments. The Syrian-born Rezko can afford to travel widely in the Middle East, yet at one time has as many as 11 run-down and foreclosed properties in Obama’s State Senate District. Obama continues to have associations with Rezko and other corrupt housing developers in Chicago. Obama gets state money for them and, in exchange, they contribute to his campaigns. Obama thus becomes, indirectly, one of the biggest slum-lords in Chicago. [76,238,408,664]

In 1997, Obama and William Ayers appear together as speakers on several occasions; at the University of Chicago their topic is, “Should a child ever be called a ‘super predator?’” The announcement of their November, 1997 appearance together states, “Ayers will be joined by Sen. Barack Obama, Senior Lecturer in the Law School, who is working to combat legislation that would put more juvenile offenders into the adult system.” [71,83,237]

In 1997, Obama endorses William Ayers’ book on juvenile justice, praising it with an article in the Chicago Tribune in which Obama calls the Ayers book a “searing and timely account of the juvenile court system.” Michelle Obama (who at the time is the University of Chicago’s dean of student services and director of the school’s Community Service Center) hosts a panel discussion of the book, in which both Obama and Ayers participate. (In 2008, seeking to distance Obama from Ayers, the campaign claims Obama did not “write a blurb for his book.”) [77,84,279,333]

Ayers mentions Obama in his own book, where he writes, “Our neighbors include Muhammad Ali, former mayor Eugene Sawyer, poets Gwendolyn Brooks and Elizabeth Alexander, and writer Barack Obama. Minister Louis Farrakhan lives a block from our home and adds, we think, a unique dimension to the idea of ‘safe neighborhood watch’: the Fruit of Islam, his security force, has an eye on things twenty-four-hours a day.” In April of 2008, when Obama’s relationship with Ayers is brought up in a primary debate, Obama lies, saying he doesn’t know him well and that he is only “a guy who lives in my neighborhood.” (Obama repeatedly votes for and introduces anti-gun legislation, perhaps unaware that the average Chicago citizen does not also enjoy the security of Louis Farrakhan’s “Fruit of Islam” 24 x 7 bodyguards.) [78,279,297,333]

Obama introduces Illinois Senate Resolution 110, declaring November 1, 1997 “Islamic Community Day.” [347]
1998-1999

Still More Rezko and ACORN

In March, 1998, Obama delivers the eulogy at the funeral of Saul Mendelsen, a leader of Chicago’s far left and a socialist “community organizer” and activist. [79]

In July of 1998 Obama’s daughter Malia Ann is born. Some wonder if she was named in honor of one of the daughters of Malcolm X, Malika Shabazz, or after Malcolm X himself, whose tombstone is inscribed with “Hajj Malik.” Malik means “king” in Arabic, while Malikah means “queen.” [527]

In October, 1998, Obama writes a letter supporting plans for low-income senior citizen housing. The project’s site, an empty lot owned by the city of Chicago, is sold to Obama’s friend Tony Rezko, and Obama’s former law-firm boss, Allison Davis, for one dollar. The project, “Cottage View Terrace,” eventually consumes $14.6 million in taxpayer dollars, with a substantial amount going to Rezko and Davis as development fees. Taxpayer funds are later given to Rezko for additional housing projects, despite the fact that many of his prior projects had fallen into significant disrepair. (In 2007 and 2008 Obama says he “never did any favors” for Rezko.) Obama’s former boss, Davis, donates more than $400,000 to dozens of political campaigns, including those of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and Obama. [80]
 
In  November of 1998 Obama is re-elected to Illinois State Senate.

Obama attends a speech given by Columbia University Professor Edward Said, who calls for a non-violent campaign “against settlements, against Israeli apartheid.” [387]

In 1999, Obama casts the only vote against Illinois Senate Bill 485, which would make felons convicted of sexual abuse crimes serve their full sentences without getting credit for time served in the county jail. Obama votes against a bill that specifically allows homeowners the right to use a gun in self-defense during a home invasion. The Illinois Governor vetoes the bill; Obama votes to uphold the veto. Obama proposes increasing Illinois firearm and ammunition excise taxes by 500 percent. (A $55 tax on a $500 rifle would increase to $330.) The tax would thus change from a fee to fund wildlife preservation programs into a gun-punishing penalty. [93,315,444]

Obama continues to serve (until 2002) with William Ayers on the board of the Woods Fund, a liberal Chicago non-profit organization. Grants from the fund are given out to Reverend James T. Meeks (a fiery, anti-white and anti-Semitic Chicago preacher, in the style of Obama’s reverend Jeremiah Wright), and Father Michael Pfleger, who stated that “America is the greatest sin against God.”  Pfleger is perhaps best known for encouraging his parishioners to buy time from prostitutes as a way of inviting the women to counseling and job training. [81,842, p. 110]

The Woods Fund also gives money to ACORN, which registers voters in poor black neighborhoods – conveniently to garner additional support for Obama. Arguably, these actions by Obama and ACORN are illegal. As an allegedly independent, apolitical, tax-exempt, non-profit group, ACORN cannot legally “pimp for Obama,” but that is essentially what it does in registering voters while at the same time drumming up support for the candidate who is financing its operations. Its tax-exempt status is thus flagrantly violated by ACORN. Obama and Pfleger are involved in an ACORN demonstration protesting “payday loans.” [227,284]

Obama addresses a 1999 fundraiser for the Deheisha refugee camp in Israel’s occupied West Bank. Obama’s anti-Semite friend, Ali Abunimah, introduces him to the audience. Abunimah serves on the board of the Arab American Action Network (AAAN), an anti-Israel group. [974]

On September 30, 1999, the New York Times reports that Fannie Mae is easing credit requirements on loans it will purchase from banks and mortgage lenders. The Times notes that “Fannie Mae, the nation’s biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.” It continues, “In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates – anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.” Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines brags that “Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990′s by reducing down payment requirements,”’ but argues that “…there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.”’ The Times states that by moving into this new (subprime) area of lending, Fannie Mae is “taking in significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn.” The Times quotes Peter Wallison of the American Enterprise Institute, who warns, “If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out.” [1320]

On November 6, 1999 Obama allegedly shares crack cocaine and homosexual activities in the back of a limousine with a man named Larry Sinclair. The activities allegedly continue the next day at a Comfort Suites motel in Gurnee, Illinois. Sinclair makes these allegations in late 2007, when he states that he also had telephone conversations about the 1999 activities with the gay choir director of Obama’s church, Donald Young… who was murdered on December 23, 2007. [1242]
2000-2001

The Election Obama Lost

Obama enters the 2000 Illinois primary for U.S. Congress. In a television interview during the campaign he cites as a qualification his experience with the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, the educational reform project on which he worked with William Ayers. (The project ended up wasting over $100 million, without accomplishing any of its stated goals.) [60,204]

To help finance his run for Congress, Obama secures a $20,000 personal loan. The Chicago scuttlebutt is that Obama’s 2000 campaign for Congress is funded by what some call the “Hyde Park mafia,” a group of University of Chicago leftists, and that there is a master plan to “push him up the political ladder.” [86,332]

Obama’s tone in the campaign comes off as condescending by many (“I gave up a career with a high-priced law firm to run for public office!”) and he loses the primary to opponent Bobby Rush – who defeats him by 30 per cent. Rush says of his elitist opponent, “Barack Obama went to Harvard and became an educated fool. Barack is a person who read about the civil-rights protests and thinks he knows all about it.” Rush is correct, Obama talked a good game but had never accomplished anything but self-promotion. Obama reviews the demographics of his loss and works with Democrat consultant John Corrigan to get the district’s borders re-drawn (“gerrymandered’) to favor his political goals. They are able to establish a new district which is still heavily black but which also includes liberal North Shore whites, who would be more inclined to vote for Obama than Rush (a former member of the radical Black Panthers). Obama acquaintance and political scientist Adolph Green, of the University of Pennsylvania, later calls Obama a “vacuous opportunist, a good performer with an ear for how to make white liberals like him.” [87,88,193,1600, 842 pp. 93,219]

Obama’s dislike for the Clintons may have originated at this time. Obama had been executive director of Project Vote in 1992, which helped the outrageously unqualified black candidate Carol Mosely Braun get elected to the U.S. Senate. (The Chicago Tribune editorial board interviewed Mosely-Braun and later described the discussion. “We were asking her fairly obvious questions. Things you’d expect a candidate for Senate to be familiar with. She was dumbfounded the entire time. She just sat there…. Then she’d fumble around with some half-baked answer. It was very awkward for all of us.”) From Obama’s viewpoint, he had also helped Clinton get elected President. When Clinton endorsed Bobby Rush for the Congressional seat that Obama wanted in 2000, he likely felt betrayed. [1253,842, p. 93]

Having lost the Congressional primary to Bobby Rush, Obama returns to drumming up support for his re-election to the Illinois State Senate. Campaign volunteer Kenny B. Smith donates $550 to Obama’s Illinois State Senate campaign, and in 2001 Obama steers $100,000 in state tax dollars to a newly-formed Smith organization to build a gazebo, “parrot sanctuary,” and “walk of fame” in a blighted Chicago neighborhood. (By 2008 only the gazebo had been built, the neighborhood was still blighted, and there was no sign of the rest of the $100,000.) [89]

Obama’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro, fails to pay taxes due the State of New York and is served with a tax lien dating back to 1996 totaling $6,837.99 with penalties and interest. [1184]

More Votes and Guilt by Association

In 2000 Rashid Khalidi, a former PLO operative and backer who justified Palestinian terrorism as contributing to “political enlightenment,” hosts a fundraiser for Obama. Khalidi taught at a university in Beirut in the 1970s, and frequently spoke to reporters on behalf of terrorist Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organization. From 1976 to1982 Khalidi was reportedly director of the Palestinian press agency, Wikalat-al-Anba al-Filastinija (WAFA), which was operating in exile from Beirut with the PLO. In the 1990s Khalidi advised the Palestinian delegation during peace negotiations. He is currently a professor of Arab studies at Columbia University. Khalidi also taught at the University of Chicago, lived near the Obamas in Hyde Park, and was their friend and frequent dinner companion. [384,387,395,416,521]

Obama reported income from speaking fees on his 2000 and 2002 federal income tax returns. Because it is illegal for state legislators in Illinois to accept fees for speeches, Obama was in violation of Illinois law in both those years. [394]

Obama attends the 2000 Democrat National Convention in Los Angeles, where his credit card is rejected when he attempts to rent a car. Obama and his wife Michelle declare income of $240,505 for 2000. [1278]

Obama’s daughter Natasha (Sasha) is born in 2001.

In 2001, Obama votes against Illinois House Bill 1812, a law designed to toughen penalties for crimes committed in furtherance of organized gang activities. He also votes against a bill that would allow people who receive protective orders (such as domestic violence victims) to carry firearms. When the bill fails, Obama remarks, “…authorizing potential victims to carry firearms would potentially lead to a more dangerous rather than less dangerous situation. It was a bad idea and I’m glad it failed.” [92,444]

While Obama serves on the board of the Woods Fund, it approves (in 2001) a $40,000 grant to the Arab American Action Network (AAAN). A second grant, for $35,000, is approved in 2002. President of the AAAN is Mona Khalidi, wife of Rashid Khalidi, the professor Obama had met while at Columbia University. Khalidi, former spokesman for Yassir Arafat, anti-Semite, strong critic of Israel, and supporter of Palestinian terrorism, later holds fundraisers for candidate Obama. AAAN calls the founding of Israel a “catastrophe,” supports liberal immigration reform in the United States, and encourages giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens. [85,395]

Serving on the board of the AAAN is Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian-American, anti-Semite, co-founder of “Electronic Intifada,” and long-time friend of Obama. Abunimah refers to Jews as malicious liars and suggests they lied about the Holocaust, writing, “if Zionists could lie about their present and ongoing torment of my (Palestinian) people, usurpation of my homeland and arrogation of my rights, and they do it rather obscenely, couldn’t they likewise lie, equally obscenely, about the holocaust, an event that took place over half a century ago?” [335]

Other groups receiving money from the Woods Fund include the voter-registration group ACORN (which has been highly criticized for thousands of questionable and illegal voter registrations), Bernadine Dohrn’s “Children and Family Justice Center,” and Trinity United Church of Christ (Obama’s church, and home of Reverend Jeremiah “God Damn America” Wright). The Woods Fund gives Obama’s church $6,000 in 2001, after which Wright purchases a new Porsche. [62,63,64,82,842, p. 97]

In a 2001 radio interview with Chicago station WBEZ-FM, Obama discusses the “redistribution of wealth” from whites to blacks. Obama remarks, “…and one of the, I think, the tragedies of the civil rights movement was, because the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and, and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change. And, uh, in some ways we still suffer from that.” He continued, “I’m not optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the courts. The institution just isn’t structured that way.” (Obama is thus not opposed to the redistribution of wealth, he merely feels that the courts shouldn’t be the institution forcing it.) “You can craft theoretical justifications for it legally,” he added, without elaborating on why or how it should be legal to take money from someone who earned it to give directly to someone who didn’t. After Fox News broadcasts the interview in October of 2008, the Obama campaign, not wanting the voters to know what the candidate had in mind for their futures, cries foul, charging Fox with creating a “fake news controversy.” [383,386,396]

In August of 2001, William Ayers is photographed trampling on the American Flag for a cover article in the “Chicago Magazine” titled “No Regrets.” The magazine is very popular in Chicago and is prominently displayed on newsstands throughout the city; Obama would have had a difficult time not seeing the magazine cover. [279]

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks Obama writes, in a “blame America” op-ed piece in the Hyde Park Herald, that the essence of the tragedy “derives from the fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others,” that the terrorist attackers “lacked empathy,” and their attitude “…grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.” (It is unclear why Obama believes the terrorists could not “imagine” the “suffering of others” when that suffering was, in fact, the desired outcome of their attack.) [90]

At least six of the 19 terrorists involved in the attacks of September 11 are illegally registered to vote in the United States, partly because of ACORN’s activities in spreading “motor voter” laws. [240]

In a September 11, 2001 article in the New York Times, William Ayers is quoted as saying, “I don’t regret setting bombs… I feel we didn’t do enough.” At the time Ayers makes that statement, he and Obama are serving together on the Board of the Woods Fund. [279]

In 2001, Obama introduces Senate Bill 750, the “Halal Food Act,” which requires the Illinois Department of Agriculture to conduct inspections to insure that all food labeled Halal is prepared according to Islamic law. [348]

Obama obtains $75,000 in state funds for a charity called Forum, Incorporated, to help churches and community groups obtain Internet access. Five Forum employees, including one who had filed bankruptcy, had each donated $1,000 to Obama’s state senate campaign. After the Illinois Attorney General files a suit against the charity on unrelated kickback scheme charges, Obama quietly returns the $5,000. [842, p. 207]

During 2001 Obama is given a legal services contract with a business owned by Robert Blackwell. The legal services Obama performed for Blackwell are unknown, and Obama did not fully disclose his relationship with Blackwell as required by Illinois legislator ethics rules. (In 2004 Obama writes a letter on Illinois State Senate stationery recommending a grant for another Blackwell company involved in tourism. The next day Blackwell donates $1,000 to Obama’s U.S. Senate campaign.) [1314]

Obama opposes a bill that defines as a “person” a fully born baby who survives an abortion. He votes “present” on legislation that would require doctors to give medical attention to babies who survive abortions.  Obama argues that defining “…a pre-viable fetus” that survives an abortion as a “person” or “child would essentially bar abortions, because the Equal Protection Clause does not allow somebody to kill a child, and if this is a child, then this would be an anti-abortion statute.” Testifying in favor of the law is an Illinois nurse, Jill Stanek, who had witnessed infants being left to die by abortionists, and who later writes, “Obama articulately worried that legislation protecting live aborted babies might infringe on women’s rights or abortionists’ rights. Obama’s clinical discourse, his lack of mercy, shocked me.” Although a “pre-viable fetus” that survives an abortion is not considered a “person” by Obama, he has yet to provide a reasonable or legally acceptable name for those living, breathing, kicking, and crying “non-persons.” [346,412]

Obama and his wife Michelle declare income of $272,759 for 2001. [1278]
2002-2003

Controversial and Missing Votes

Obama is re-elected to Illinois State Senate, with no opponent on the ballot.

In 2002, Obama, still an Illinois state legislator, votes against the “Induced Infant Liability Act,” a law meant to protect the lives of babies who “inadvertently” survive attempted abortions and then need medical attention to survive. Obama’s is the only vote against the state bill, and a similar bill later passes unanimously in the United States Senate. Obama’s vote is consistent with the Alinsky philosophy (in “Rules for Radicals”) that “…all values are relative in a world of political relativity.” Obama also votes against an Illinois bill banning state funding of late term abortions. [91,272]

Obama is the only Illinois State Senator to vote against a bill that prohibits early release for sexual predators. Obama also votes to make a criminal out of a homeowner who uses a gun in his own defense in his own home. Obama refuses to vote for a bill in the Illinois State Senate that would increase penalties for drug traffickers. Obama votes against making it a criminal offense for convicts on probation or on bail to have contact with a street gang. Obama votes against a bill that imposes the death penalty to gang members who murder first responders (paramedics, firemen, police officers). [346]

Ayers and Obama appear together at the University of Illinois for a discussion called, “Intellectuals: Who Needs Them?” [94]

During the course of his Illinois State Senate career, Obama votes “present” at least 130 times. A “present” vote is a way to avoid responsibility on a controversial issue if something goes wrong; it is usually an effort by a politician to avoid being pinned down on issues that might later be used against him by an opponent in a campaign. (No matter what the issue, the candidate can say he did not vote for the bill, or he could say he did not vote against the bill, depending on what works to his advantage at that moment.) Obama’s is the sole present vote on a bill to allow victims of sexual crimes to petition judges to seal court records to protect their privacy. All other State Senators (Democrats and Republicans) vote in favor of the bill. (Obama apparently believes that if a woman is raped she is not entitled to privacy, although he uses a right to privacy as his argument in support of unrestricted abortions.) [95,96,328]

Obama votes for a bill in the Illinois Senate that would ban most hunting rifles, shotguns, and target rifles. The bill would also authorize the Illinois State Police to raid homes and forcibly confiscate banned guns. Obama also votes for a bill that would shut down all Illinois firearm manufacturing businesses (Springfield Armory, Armalite, Rock River Arms, and Les Baer). Obama votes for a bill (S 2579) prohibiting Illinois citizens from purchasing more than one gun per month. [326,445]

Obama votes for a bill that bans most single-shot and double-barreled shotguns as “semi-automatic assault weapons” (even though they are not semi-automatic), along with hundreds of models of rifles and handguns. (Had the bill had passed, Illinois residents would have had 90 days to turn their guns in or face felony charges.) [444]

During his Illinois Senate career Obama votes four times against legislation that would allow a homeowner to use a firearm in defense of his home and family. To avoid criticism of his anti-gun agenda, Obama enlists an organization known as the “American Hunters and Shooters Association” (AHSA) to distribute literature stating that he is “pro-Second Amendment.” On its surface, the AHSA supports hunting, but it also supports strict gun controls on non-hunters. (The AHSA is known to be a “sham” organization set up solely to endorse leftists who need political cover for their anti-gun leanings.) [326,353]

As a State Senator Obama opposes legislation prohibiting the sale of pornography near churches and elementary schools, and supports allowing criminals to sue their victims if the victim injures the criminal while defending himself or his property. [1281]

Against the War… But With Some Cover

Obama speaks at an anti-war demonstration on October 2, 2002, in front of a crowd of about 2,000 people at Chicago’s Federal Plaza. The event is organized by Marilyn Katz, former SDS activist, Chicago public relations consultant, and long-time friend of Obama’s political guru David Axelrod. (Katz’s Vietnam War protest activities included throwing nails in the street to stop police cars.) There are no known recordings of Obama’s speech, giving him the opportunity to now recreate his words to his liking at any time. Before the event Obama talks with Axelrod about the “political ramifications” of the speech, because he was looking ahead to his Senate run in 2004. The speech turned out to be only mildly critical of the likely war. While Obama remarked that a war in Iraq could lead to “an occupation of undetermined length with undetermined costs,” he also emphasized that military intervention is sometimes necessary. The speech was clearly not anti-war enough for the crowd, but it gave him the opportunity to say he was against the war “from the beginning” if it turned sour, while providing some cover if it proceeded successfully. (The text of Obama’s 2002  anti-war speech no longer appears on his web sites.) [837,842, pp. 224-226]

Inflating the Resume

Democrats take control of the Illinois Senate after the November 2002 election. Essentially a non-productive water carrier for Chicago’s Mayor Daley during his previous years in the State Senate, Obama persuades Senate President Emil Jones to “steer bills” his way in 2003 so he can make a name for himself. Democrat colleagues in the Illinois State Senate are intensely critical of Obama’s legislative tactics in getting credit for bills he had virtually nothing to do with. State Senator Ricky Hendon says, “No one wants to carry the ball 99 yards all the way to the one-yard line, and then give it to the half-back who gets all the credit and the stats in the record book.”  (Hendon is the original sponsor of Illinois’ racial profiling and videotaped confession legislation. Jones takes it away from Hendon to give to Obama so that Obama can put his name on it as his.) Once in the U.S. Senate, Obama repays Jones with tens of millions of dollars in federal spending for his district, which Jones glibly refers to as “steak” rather than “pork.” [98,99,239,292]

Obama and his wife Michelle declare income of $259,294 for 2002. [1278]

During Obama’s seven year Illinois State Senate career he works, on average, less than two days per week, has virtually no accomplishments during his first six years, and then gets 26 bills passed in his final year – with the help of Senate President Emil Jones, who has Obama’s name placed on bills as their author even though they were written by others. The Illinois State Archives never receives any request from Obama to archive any records in his possession, suggesting it was his intention to personally retain details of his work and not make records public. [346]

By late 2003, with a slew of Jones-fed legislation under his belt and “substance” for him to run on, Obama starts working on his plans to enter the 2004 U.S. Senate race. Aiding him is political pro David Axelrod. Even before being elected to the United States Senate, Axelrod has camera crews following almost all of Obama’s public appearances. (Axelrod eventually uses the footage for a five-minute Internet video linked to Obama’s announcement that he is running for President.). [245,1314]
Anti-Israel and Pro-Abortion

In 2003 Obama attends a dinner held in honor of Rashid Khalidi, a former PLO operative, harsh critic of Israel, and advocate of Palestinian rights. Obama, who has consistently denied a close relationship with Khalidi (the Obamas have dined more than once at the home of Khalidi and his wife, Mona, and even used them as occasional baby-sitters), praises Khalidi during the decidedly anti-Semitic event. William Ayers attends the dinner, and both Ayers and Obama sign Khalidi’s guest book. The event is a going away party for Khalidi, who is leaving Chicago and moving to New York. The dinner is sponsored by the Arab American Action Network, to which Obama had several times funneled cash while serving on the board of the Woods Fund. One speaker remarks that if Palestinians cannot secure a return of their land, Israel “will never see a day of peace.” [384,387,395,418,419]

The Los Angeles Times has a videotape of the Khalidi dinner but refuses to make it public. It is assumed the tape’s contents are damaging to Obama, likely because the event includes anti-Semitic sentiments and Obama heaping praise on Khalidi. Further, appearing as entertainment at the Khalidi dinner was a children’s dance group, the “Sanabel AlQuds Dabka” troupe. The Milwaukee-based Muslim children’s dance group typically performs the “debka,” a Middle-Eastern dance. The children’s dance group’s performances have been known to include “simulated beheadings” with fake swords, and stomping on American, Israeli, and British flags. It has been alleged that, in his speech at the Khalidi dinner, Obama states that “Israel has no God-given right to occupy Palestine,” and there has been “genocide against the Palestinian people by (the) Israelis.” [438,439,440]

Obama tells the AFL-CIO in 2003 that “I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal healthcare program… and that’s what I’d like to see. But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate, and we have to take back the House.” Throughout the 2008 Presidential campaign Obama denies that he seeks a single-payer universal healthcare system, despite proposing legislation for just such a system while in the Illinois State Senate. [74,404]

In 2003 the Born Alive Infant Protection Act again comes up in the Illinois Senate. As chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, Obama shelves the bill, preventing it from even being brought to the Senate floor for a vote. Obama’s Health and Human Services Committee is known for its “kiss of death” treatment of any legislation that is not leftist. Although “specialty license plate” legislation (for example, license plates to honor veterans or to support other causes) is normally directed to the Transportation Committee, legislation supporting “Choose Life” and “Choose Adoption” license plates is instead directed to Obama’s committee, where he refuses to allow a vote. Obama states he is “not in favor of a (license) plate benefiting adoption,” even though he says on the campaign trail that he “favors adoption as a means to reduce abortion.” [412,413]

Reverend Scott and Janet Willis, whose six children were killed in a tragic accident involving a truck driver who had obtained his commercial drivers license through bribery, drive three hours to the state capital in Springfield to testify in favor of a “Choose Life” license plate. Proceeds from the specialty license plate would be used to help fund adoption expenses. Echoing pro-abortion groups, Obama calls the issue “contentious.” NARAL calls it “aggressive propaganda,” and the vice president of the Illinois National Organization for Women calls it “a violation of free speech.” Reporters fill the hearing room, eager to record the expected emotional Willis testimony. Obama instead calls only his friendly witnesses, ignoring Scott and Janet Willis, and then abruptly adjourns the hearing. Obama reconvenes the hearing the next day (after the reporters have returned to Chicago), listens to brief testimony from the Reverend and Mrs. Willis, and then has his Democrat-controlled committee kill the legislation. [412,413,414]

Obama and his wife Michelle declare income of $238,327 for 2003. [1278]
2004

Loose Ends and Toward Washington

Obama pushes legislation in the Illinois Senate (SB1332) to reduce the number of members of the Health Facilities Planning Board from 15 to 9, and (with the help of Tony Rezko, Stuart Levine, and Governor Rod Blogojevich) gets three of his campaign contributors appointed to the Board. One of the doctors on the Board, Robert Weinstein, is later convicted, along with Stuart Levine, of embezzling millions from charities and a medical school. FBI agents record Rezko telling Levine that he influences the Board. Michael Malek, one of those appointed to the board, donates $10,000 to Obama on June 3, 2003, and $25,000 to Governor Rod Blagojevich on July 25, 2003. Appointee Fortunee Massuda gives $25,000 to the governor $25,000 and $2,000 to Obama. Dr. Imad Almanaseer gives $3,000 to Obama. [207,209,346]

During 2004 Obama illegally uses state funds for a political mailing. [97]

In 2004 Obama enters the Democrat primary for U.S. Senate. There are 15 candidates, and Obama’s most formidable is wealthy executive Blair Hull. Obama’s campaign manager is David Axelrod, a long-time political pro in Chicago (whose frequent job has been to go on television to defend Mayor Daley from corruption charges). Hull leads in the polls, but four weeks before the primary an operative (probably Axelrod) leaks to the Chicago Tribune information that Hull’s divorce documents reveal a request for an “order of protection” from Hull’s wife. A wife-beating assumption (whether true or not) sinks Hull, and Obama wins the primary with 52 per cent of the vote and the help of Chicago’s large black population. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Obama team had “worked aggressively behind the scenes” to push the Hull divorce story. [100,1314,842, p. 242]

During the primary campaign in February, Michelle Obama had sent a fund-raising letter with “alarming news” that “right-wing politicians” had passed a law preventing partial-birth abortions – which she called “a legitimate medical procedure.” She asked supporters to pay $150 to attend a luncheon for her candidate husband, who would fight against “cynical ploy[s]” to stop late-term abortions. [412]

By 2004 Obama and ACORN are old friends. Over the years Obama receives campaign support and voter registration help from ACORN. In exchange, Obama helps obtain funding for ACORN via the Woods Fund, Joyce Foundation, and the Illinois legislature, and introduces or supports ACORN-friendly legislation (like job-killing minimum wage increases, preventing the construction of new Wal-Mart stores in poor neighborhoods that need its jobs, forcing banks to lend more to unqualified poor people and donate to voter turn-out drives, fighting welfare reform and “workfare” rules, and imposing large “exit fees” for businesses that dare to relocate outside the city of Chicago). [243]

In 2004, Obama says he is “…consistently on record and will continue to be on record as opposing concealed carry,” and that he would back “federal legislation that would ban citizens from carrying weapons, except for law enforcement.” He also votes, in March, to allow prosecution of citizens who use guns for self-defense in their own homes (SB 2165). [444,445]

The Chicago Communist Party endorses Obama for the U.S. Senate. He also receives volunteer support from the Young Communist League. [101]

On April 3, 2004, Iraqi-born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi attends a dinner party held in his honor at the home of Tony Rezko. Obama and his wife are guests, and Obama toasts Auchi. Auchi later says he never met Obama, and Obama says he can’t recall attending the event. (In 2005, Auchi loans Rezko $3.5 million, three few weeks before Rezko’s wife, Rita, pays full price for an empty lot adjacent to a mansion that Obama buys on the same day.) [296,651,842, p. 199]

In June of 2004, leftist billionaire George Soros (who bankrolls leftist activities like the radical web site moveon.org) hosts a fundraiser in New York for Obama’s Senate campaign. Soros chips in $60,000, but the total “take” for the evening is unknown. [239]

Between June 26 and July 1 of 2004, Michelle Obama joins a “Women’s Event” panel discussion at a Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Conference held at Trinity United Church of Christ. Those in attendance include Louis Farrakhan and his wife, Khadijah, and Mrs. Jamell Meeks (wife of Reverend James Meeks). Bill Clinton and Bill Cosby speak at the conference, but at different events than Michelle Obama. Allegations later surface that Michelle Obama’s talk developed into a rant against the evils of America and how whites are to blame for Africa’s problems. The more the crowd reacted, the more rabid she became in her comments. Her repeated denunciations of “whitey” were allegedly recorded. If such comments were made and a recording exists, it has not been made public. The recording (purportedly on DVD and briefly sold via the Church web site) allegedly reveals Michelle Obama saying, “Once again, the white man keeps us down, what’s up with Whitey, why’d he attack Iraq? Why’d he let Katrina happen? Why’d he leave millions of children behind? This is the legacy the white man gives us.” When asked about the incident, candidate Obama refused to deny that his wife made the remarks, and instead criticized the reporter for asking the question. Obama’s tap-dancing suggests to some that the story is true, and arms have been twisted (or money has exchanged hands) to suppress the evidence. [843,844,842, pp. 304-307]

The Speech

On July 27, 2004, Obama gives the keynote address at the Democrat National Convention which nominates John Kerry for President. This is a clear signal that the “powers in control” have bigger plans for the mediocre Chicago machine politician. Although Obama’s speech is mundane, boilerplate, and unoriginal, he nevertheless impresses the crowd with his delivery. The television commentators do their best to persuade those who were unimpressed that it was impressive. (The speech reminds some of the remark by Austrian writer and journalist Karl Krauss, who wrote, “A demagogue tries to sound as stupid as his audience so that they will think they are as clever as he is.”)

U.S. Senate Campaign

With support for the Iraq War strong in mid-2004, Obama softens his stance and says, “There’s not that much difference between my position and George Bush’s position at this stage.” The statement is made two years after Obama’s 2002 ant-war speech in Chicago. [842, p. 255]

On July 28, 2004, Obama tells a crowd in Boston that the United States has an “absolute obligation” to remain in Iraq long enough to make it a success. “The failure of the Iraqi state would be a disaster,” he then says at a Christian Science Monitor luncheon. “It would dishonor the 900-plus men and women who have already died. It would be a betrayal of the promise that we made to the Iraqi people, and it would be hugely destabilizing from a national security perspective.” Over time, as the media pounds on President Bush and support for the war declines, Obama changes his tune to match the tone of the impatient voters. [346]

Obama’s Republican opponent in the fall campaign for the U.S. Senate is Jack Ryan, a handsome, articulate, and wealthy investment broker with three Ivy League degrees. The press (with the prodding of Axelrod and the Obama camp) works to get Ryan’s sealed divorce documents and child custody records unsealed (his ex-wife is actress Jeri Lynn Ryan), and their contents cause an embarrassed Ryan to withdraw from the race in June. Although Obama’s team works feverishly to smear the popular Ryan, in public Obama makes statements such as, “I don’t think it’s an appropriate topic for debate.” The Republicans field a last-minute replacement, Alan Keyes, a black, anti-abortion, fiery speaker who is ridiculed by the press and never taken seriously. (The ultra-conservative Keyes does not help his case by saying things like “Jesus Christ himself would not vote for Barack Obama.”) Obama wins easily. [102,103,359,842, p. 243]

During the 2004 debates with Obama, Keyes charges in an off-camera remark that Obama is not a natural born citizen. Obama allegedly responded not by saying he is a natural born citizen, but by saying it doesn’t matter because he’s not running for President. Attempts have been made to find a video recording of the incident, which purportedly had been on YouTube.com but was removed. [1418]

In 2004 the “Code Pink” anti-war group delivers $600,000 in cash and supplies to Iraq – not to American soldiers, but to the terrorists who are fighting them in Fallujah. Jodie Evans, co-founder of Code Pink, later donates $2,300 to the Obama Presidential campaign. (Evans later says in a June, 2008 interview that Osama bin Laden had a “valid argument” for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.) [104,355]

In 2004, London resident but Iraqi born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi flies to Chicago in a private jet and meets at the Four Seasons Hotel with Tony Rezko, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and Obama. At this point both Blagojevich and Obama are aware that Rezko is already under investigation for illegal activities involving kickbacks for political favors. [249]

During his 2004 Senate campaign one of Obama’s advisors is Charles Ogletree, a professor who is one of the leading advocates of slavery reparations. (It is believed that Ogletree remains an advisor to Obama through the 2008 Presidential campaign as well.) [936, 842, p. 68]

Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown hosts a fundraiser for Obama at the Waterfront restaurant. Obama tells Brown he would appreciate it if he does not have to have his picture taken with the new Mayor, Gavin Newsom – presumably to avoid an association with Newsom and his support of gay marriages. Newsom is outraged. [851,842, p. 261]

In November of 2004, before he is even sworn in as a United States Senator, Obama has “toe in the water” conversations with close associates about his running for President in 2008. Publicly, however, Obama says “I can unequivocally say I will not be running for national office in four years, and my entire focus is making sure that I’m the best possible senator on behalf of the people of Illinois.” [210,239,351]

A Los Angeles paralegal, Joe Anthony, starts an unofficial fan page for Obama on MySpace.com. Anthony devotes thousands of hours maintaining the page, and by the time Obama announces his candidacy for President it has over 160,000 “friends.” [1317]

On another occasion Obama tells reporters, [881]

Although Obama tells reporters he will not be running for President in 2008, by the end of his Senate campaign he already has workers visiting Iowa to develop contacts for its primary caucus. [1278]

In 2004 Rashad Khalidi publishes a book called “Resurrecting Empire.” In the book’s acknowledgements Khalidi thanks William Ayers for his assistance, thus further establishes links between Khalidi, Ayers, and Obama. [983]

Obama signs a three-book deal with Crown, covering, “The Audacity of Hope” another non-fiction book, and a children’s book. The contract is for seven figures (probably $1.9 million), and is signed before Obama is sworn in as U. S. Senator – to keep him from falling under various disclosure and income reporting rules that apply to members of Congress. [1276]

Obama and his wife Michelle declare income of $207,647 for 2004. [1278]
2005

In the United States Senate

In January of 2005 Obama is sworn in as the junior United States Senator from Illinois. Obama is also sworn in as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. At the ceremony for Obama, Daniel Mudd, CEO of Fannie Mae, refers to the caucus as “our family” and “the conscience of Fannie Mae.” [1281]

Early in 2005 the mass media adopts its long-term “suck up to and cover up for Obama” posture, with Time Magazine naming Obama one of  “The World’s Most Influential People.” (MSNBC’s Chris Matthews will later say of Obama, “He seems to have the answers. This is the New Testament.” A starry-eyed Oprah Winfrey will gush that Obama’s “tongue (is) dipped in the unvarnished truth,” and author Deepak Chopra will predict that an Obama Presidency will “represent a quantum leap in American consciousness.”) [239,351,358]

Obama buys more than $50,000 worth of stock in two companies whose major investors include his biggest political donors. One of the companies is developing a drug to treat avian flu (H5N1). Just two weeks after buying shares in the company, Obama pushes for federal spending to battle the disease. The fear of the disease is hyped way out of proportion by politicians and the media, with frequent television news scare stories not backed up by facts. Obama also buys stock in a satellite communications business backed by four friends and donors who had raised $150,000 for him. A spokesman makes the remarkable statement that Obama “did not know” he had invested in either company. [351,842, p. 254]

Obama hires the son of one of his campaign donors, Joseph Aramanda, for a coveted summer job as an intern in his Washington, D.C. Senate offices. Campaign donations were funneled to Obama through Aramanda as part of a kick-back scheme involving a $50 million deal with Glencoe Capital. Obama’s part in the various deals was to grant favors when he was chairman of the Illinois Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. [664]

On March 3, 2005, Obama votes against a bill that would cap credit card interest at 30 per cent. He later defends his vote, arguing that the bill’s language did not meet his standards and set the interest limit too high – but he does not offer any amendments to the bill to make it acceptable to him. (Obama frequently uses this “the bill wasn’t up to my high standards” argument when defending his votes.) [852,842, p.p. 262-263]

The Mansion Purchase

In June of 2005 Obama purchases a mansion in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood for $1.65 million ($300,000 less than the asking price), with the help of friend, fundraiser, and political “fixer” Tony Rezko. (The original signed contract was dated January 23, 2005.) Although Obama’s eventual down payment is $330,000, his initial earnest money is an astoundingly low $1,000 – when one per cent of the purchase price ($16,500) would typically be expected. Tony Rezko’s wife Rita, who earns $37,000 per year in a position on a Cook County Board, purchases the empty lot adjacent to the Obama house for the full price of $625,000, with a down payment of $125,000. Both the house and the empty lot were owned by Fredric Wondisford and Sally Radovick of Hyde Park. Obama’s 5.625 per cent mortgage is for $1.32 million, through the Northern Trust Bank, and he pays no origination fee or discount points. At the time of the purchase it is already widely known that Rezko is under investigation by federal authorities, but Obama deals with him anyway. (Three weeks before the purchase, $3.5 million is loaned to Rezko by Nadhmi Auchi, a wealthy Iraqi who lives in England. Rezko is eventually convicted in 2008 of receiving kickbacks for political favors.) Mrs. Rezko then sells a 10-foot strip of the empty lot to Obama, for $104,500. The transaction thus leaves Rezko with an unusable empty lot with no street access – which cost her over $500,000. Rezko later asks Obama to help Auchi obtain a visa to travel in the United States in 2005. The State Department refuses – partly because Auchi, a member of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party and former high-ranking official in his oil Ministry, had been found guilty of corruption charges in France. [105,106,249,329,1278,1346]

The Syrian-born Rezko’s money ties to Iraq may go back decades, and to Saddam Hussein. Just as Rezko is Obama’s main money-man, Nadhmi Auchi is apparently 
Rezko’s main money-man. Auchi dealt with Hussein as early as 1959, and in a failed assassination attempt on Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qasim. [249]

It is unclear how the Obamas qualified for their enormous mortgage. Their reported income for 2004 was $207,647, which is clearly insufficient for a mortgage of $1.32 million that (assuming a then typical 6 to 7 per cent interest rate) would require payments in excess of $7,500 per month (not counting at least $1,400 or more per month for property taxes). The monthly mortgage payment would have been more than 50 per cent of the Obama’s gross income for 2004, and his 2005 U. S. Senate salary of $162,100 would not have been enough to support mortgage approval. Further, Obama still had substantial student loans to pay off – if Michelle Obama’s claims during the 2008 campaign season are to be believed. Obama later earns substantial royalties from the re-publication of his book, “Dreams From My Father,” but anticipated earnings would normally not be counted toward mortgage qualification when following prudent banking practices. [211,1278,1279]

Bank employees inflated the price of the vacant lot by 25 per cent as part of the deal for Obama. Obama bought the house at a discount, but the sellers lost little because Rezko overpaid for the adjacent vacant lot. The empty lot was appraised at less than $500,000 by bank employee Kenneth J. Connor, but his appraisal was later replaced with a more generous appraisal of $625,000 in order to finalize the deal for Rezko and Obama. Connor was then fired by the bank for complaining about its appraisal practices. (The FBI interviews Connor in late 2008 for information regarding the Rezko-Obama house purchase deal.) [696]

Note that the Board of Directors of Northern Trust Bank includes Susan Crown, a relative of billionaires Lester Crown and James Crown, who have ownership in many companies (including defense contractor General Dynamics Corp.) and are leading Obama campaign contributors. The Crown family also runs the Maytag appliance company. Obama had collected campaign donations from Maytag workers and pledged to them that he would keep their jobs in Galesburg, Illinois. Obama later accepted campaign contributions from Lester Crown, who then shipped the Maytag jobs to Mexico. The Crown family also sits on the board of energy company Exelon (formerly Commonwealth Edison, whose CEO was Thomas Ayers.) [842, p. 227-228]

Note also that Mrs. Rezko borrowed the money for the empty lot from the Mutual Bank of Harvey, which is run by Rezko pal Amrish Mahajan. Mahajan’s wife, Anita, has been charged with fraudulently receiving $2 million in Illinois taxpayer dollars for drug tests never performed by her company, K. K. Bio-Science – which had a no-bid contract with the state. (As of March, 2009, Mahajan is still awaiting her trial.) Her company’s computers suddenly disappeared right before investigators arrived to take them away for evidence. Patty Blagojevich, wife of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, is a real estate agent whose dealings with both Tony Rezko and the Mutual Bank of Harvey are under scrutiny by federal investigators. (Amrish Mahajan, a major fundraiser of Rod Blagojevich, resigned from the bank in February of 2009. Federal banking regulators said that Mutual Bank of Harvey had “unsafe and unsound banking practices and had violated laws or regulations.”) [530,1456]

Further investigation of the Obama mansion real estate deal shows that the empty lot was only temporarily deeded to Rita Rezko. According to Cook County land records, the empty lot was later deeded to Obama’s Northern Trust Company Land Trust Number 10209 on January 11, 2006 and recorded on February 16, 2006 (document number 0604733162). The vacant lot therefore appears to be legally owned by (deeded to) Obama, even though a Rezko limited liability corporation (“5050 S. Greenwood LLC”) holds its outstanding mortgage. The implied scenario is that the Obamas wanted the house but could not afford it. The sellers did not want to separate the house from the lot, sell only the house, and be left with an empty lot. A deal was therefore arranged by which the property would be divided into two, with Rezko’s wife overpaying for the empty lot and Obama underpaying for the house, helping Obama qualify for the mortgage. Rezko then deeded the empty lot to Obama a few months later. The Obama campaign later stated that Rita Rezko sold the empty lot to one of Tony Rezko’s attorneys, Michael Sreenam, but Cook County property records do not support that statement. (It may be interesting to see what happens should Rezko, who is currently in jail for fraud, fail to keep up with the monthly mortgage payments on the lot.) [1182]

Living within a few blocks of Obama’s mansion (which boasts a wine cellar containing over one thousand bottles, and bookcases made of Honduran mahogany) are Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, William Ayers, and Toni Preckwinkle. Preckwinkle is Chicago’s 4th Ward Alderwoman [329,842, pp.109,127]

More Wheeling and Dealing

In May of 2005, a Panamanian company, Fintrade Services, lends money to Obama fundraiser Rezko. On Fintrade’s board of directors is Ibtisam Auchi, wife of Nadhmi Auchi. Another of Nadhmi Auchi’s companies helps finance a power plant in Iraq, working with Rezko and Aiham Alsamarrae. Alsamarrae is a Chicago resident with dual (U.S. and Iraqi) citizenship. He was accused of graft with Iraqi construction projects and imprisoned for four months in Iraq in a $2 billion corruption case. Obama is thus a critic of the War in Iraq at the same time he is receiving political favors and contributions from Rezko, who is, in turn, dealing with Iraqis and kickback schemes. [249,351]

In April of 2005, while Alsammarae is Iraq’s Minister of Electricity, a $50 million contract is negotiated with a company called Companion Security to train Iraqi security guards in Illinois. Companion Security is run by Daniel T. Frawley and a partnership between Tony Rezko and Daniel Mehru. [249]

In 2005, Virginia officials reject an astounding 83 per cent of ACORN’s Project Vote new voter registrations as fraudulent, yet Obama continues to push for federal grants for ACORN. [204]

In the United States Senate Obama votes against the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act. The law would prevent minors from being taken across state lines to have an abortion without the consent of their parents. [97,108]

Although he publicly rails against “big oil,” Obama votes for an energy bill that includes billions of dollars in subsidies for oil and natural gas production. [109]

Obama votes for a bill (S 397) classifying most rifle ammunition larger than .22 caliber as “armor piercing ammunition” and prohibiting its manufacture for civilian use. The bill fails to pass. [444,445]

On June 25, 2005, Michelle Obama is named a “non-executive director” of the board of TreeHouse Foods, a supplier of Wal-Mart. Her annual salary is $51,200 (boosted to $101,083 in 2006), and she is also given 7,500 TreeHouse stock options, worth approximately $72,375. She has no experience in the retail industry or private sector which would justify giving her the appointment – but she is married to a United States Senator. [677,842, p. 109]

In July of 2005, Obama votes to allow extensive lawsuits designed to bankrupt the firearms industry (SB 397). That same month he also votes to re-authorize the Patriot Act, and against implementing the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). [97,445,842, p. 256]

In September 2005, in support of ACORN policies, Obama sponsors a resolution rejecting a requirement to show a photo I.D. in order to vote. [97]

Suggesting he cares less about the letter of the law and more about the status of the litigants, Obama argues against the confirmation of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, saying that the role of the justice is to favor the weak over the strong; “I hope he will recognize who the weak are and who the strong are in our society.” (Obama is alleged to be a “Constitutional lawyer,” but most legal scholars – and educated Americans – would argue that the role of a Supreme Court Justice is to interpret the law and rule on whether it complies with the United States Constitution.) [344,445]

In November of 2005 Obama votes to prevent oil leasing in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR), and votes no on a bill that would extend the Bush capital gains and dividends tax cuts. [97]

In December of 2005 Obama votes against a $40 billion reduction in overall federal spending, and against extending the Patriot Act’s wiretap provisions. [97]

During 2004 and 2005 the FBI takes note of repeated visits by Obama and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to the offices of Rezmar Corporation, a joint business venture of Daniel Mahru and Tony Rezko. [207]

Obama’s reported income was about $1.7 million in 2005, more than twice the income of President Bush, but they donated similar dollar amounts to charity. [1655]
2006

The Audacity of Obama

Obama’s second book, “The Audacity of Hope,” is published. The book’s title is inspired by a sermon given by Obama’s controversial pastor, Reverend Jeremiah “God Damn America” Wright. [137]

Obama pushes for a $1 million earmark for the University of Chicago Hospitals. His wife, Michelle, is promoted to “Vice President of Community and External Affairs” for the hospitals, and her salary jumps from $121,900 to $316,962. Her main responsibilities, in promoting an “Urban Health Initiative,” are to act as a “bouncer” – to encourage the poor, uninsured area residents to go to neighborhood clinics rather than diminish hospital profits by using the hospital emergency rooms. Assisting her with the public relations of the policy is David Axelrod. An executive vice-president of the University of Chicago Hospitals is Eric Whitaker. Obama had previously arranged for Whitaker to be hired as the head of the Illinois Department of Public Health, at a salary of $150,000. (Obama later says of the $1 million he obtained for his wife’s employer, “I don’t think that I was obligated to recuse myself from anything related to the university… But you could make a good argument that this is something that slipped through our cracks, through our screening system.” [110,111,112,664,1945]

The Board of Trustees of Chicago’s Adler Planetarium raises $250,000 for Obama’s campaign. Obama then obtains a $3 million earmark for the planetarium. (The sum of $300,000 had been sought by the Trustees to upgrade a projector system.) [113]

Obama votes against the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. [97]

In February of 2006, anti-military Congressman Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) votes against suspending aid to Hamas. His is the only vote against the bill. Abercrombie, an Obama supporter from Hawaii, had been a friend of Obama’s father and mother at the University of Hawaii, and is linked to the Socialist New Party. He is also, like most socialist members of Congress, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. [388,1362]

In February, 2006 Obama votes against a bill calling for the retention of  the Bush capital gains and dividends tax cuts. [97]

Sarah P. Herlihy, an associate of the Chicago law firm of Kirkland and Ellis LLP, writes a document called, “Amending the Natural Born Citizen Requirement: Globalization as the Impetus and the Obstacle,” in which she argues for eliminating the “natural born citizen” requirement of the U.S. Constitution – which she calls the “stupidest provision” in the document, because the rule “discriminates” against naturalized citizens. (That, of course, was the firm intention of the Constitution’s framers.) The employees of Kirkland and Ellis (which does not specialize in Constitutional law) later contribute $87,722 to the Obama campaign. Bruce I. Ettleson, a partner in Kirkland & Ellis, is a member of Obama’s campaign finance committee. [581,582,588,598]

In March, Obama tells a crowd, “I’ve been very blessed. Keynote speaker at the Democratic convention. The cover of Newsweek. My book made the best-seller list. I just won a Grammy for reading it on tape. Really, what else is there to do? Well, I guess I could pass a law or something.” At this point it is clear that Obama has his eye on the White House, even though he has made no public pronouncement and has accomplished nothing to suggest he is qualified to serve as President. [842, p. 247]

Illinois’ Cook County Board President John Stroger becomes ill during the 2006 primary election campaign. Chicago Democrats keep his illness a secret until the deadline for candidate filings passes, and then manage to place the name of his son, Todd Stroger, on the ballot. Despite his total lack of experience and history as a corrupt, machine-style ward boss, Obama supports the young Stroger, calling him a “good, progressive Democrat.” (“Progressive Democrat” generally means socialist.) More qualified Democrats are outraged, especially those who support reform of the corrupt and deficit-spending Cook County Board. As predicted by many, Stroger proves to be a disaster. (In early 2009 it is reported that Stroger failed to report at least $733,000 in political donations, and is fined $27,000 by the Illinois State Board of Elections.) [119,1578]

On April 6 a group of Senators (including John McCain and Edward Kennedy) completes work on an immigration bill and heads to a news conference. Obama asks, “Hey, guys, can I come along?” At the microphones, Obama then proceeds to congratulate a list of Senators, including himself, saying “I want to cite Lindsey Graham, Sam Brownback, Mel Martinez, Ken Salazar, myself, Dick Durbin, Joe Lieberman… who’ve actually had to wake up early to try to hammer this stuff out.” Senate staffers are outraged because they know Obama was never among the group that arrived at 7 a.m. to work on the legislation. Senator Arlen Specter comments that when a Senator is running for President, “embellishment of legislative records may be an inevitability.” [1607]

In April of 2006, Companion Security (run by Frawley, Rezko, and Mehru) works with Governor Rod Blagojevich to lease an Illinois military facility for training Iraqi security guards. In August of 2006, Frawley works with Obama’s Senate staff to complete the deal. [249]

Obama is Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe, but never convenes the committee for a meeting. [114]

On May 5, 2006, John McCain and 19 other Republican Senators send a letter to the Senate Majority Leader urging the passage of Senate Bill S190, which is intended to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (and could possibly have reduced the likelihood of the economic crisis in 2008). Obama does not sign the letter of support and the bill is not approved. When McCain introduces it again, it is blocked by Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and his fellow Democrats. The bill never makes it to the Senate floor for a vote. [278]

McCain’s letter, signed by nineteen other senators, states that it was “…vitally important that Congress take the necessary steps to ensure that (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac)…operate in a safe and sound manner. More importantly, Congress must ensure that the American taxpayer is protected in the event that either…should fail.” [278]

Obama votes in favor of establishing a foreign guest worker program and giving the guest workers a “path to citizenship.” He votes in favor of allowing illegal immigrants to participate in the Social Security program. [97]

Obama votes against a resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution authorizing Congress to prohibit the desecration of the United States flag, against a ban on same-sex marriages, and against repealing the estate (death) tax. [97,432]

In the summer of 2006, homes in Obama’s Chicago neighborhood are reassessed for property tax purposes. Houses surrounding Obama’s are reassessed for, on average, 28 per cent more. Obama’s house is assessed at only six per cent more. [329]

The federal government shuts down an Islamic charity called “KindHearts” because of its fund-raising for terrorist groups, including Hamas. The chairman of the organization, Hatem El-Hady, then directs his fund-raising efforts to helping Obama. [115]

Obama proposes legislation prohibiting gun stores from operating within five miles of a school or a park. Inasmuch as most communities have schools and parks scattered widely throughout their areas, the legislation would effectively ban gun stores or force them to re-locate far from population centers. [339]

Obama visits Kenya in 2006 to give support to Raila Odinga, a Muslim socialist candidate for President who has ties to both al Qaeda and Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi, was educated in communist East Germany, and who hopes to get Sharia Muslim law established. Odinga is a cousin of Obama; Odinga’s mother is the sister of Obama’s father. [294,329,452,1449]

During his 2006 Kenya visit Obama makes a speech to university students in Nairobi. In the speech Obama criticizes the existing pro-American Kenyan government, rallies the students against it, and talks of the need for change. This action is, of course, seen as an Obama endorsement of Odinga, the existing Kenyan President’s opponent. By making his speech, supporting Odinga, and standing beside Odinga at rallies, Obama violates the stated conditions of his Official Government Visa: “to nurture relations between the (African) Continent and the United States.” The Kenyan government lodges an official protest of Obama’s passport abuse and misconduct, and Obama’s actions are denounced by the U.S. State Department as being in direct opposition to U. S. National Security. After Odinga loses the election, his Muslim followers burn Christian women and children alive – in a church where they had sought refuge. Over 1,500 people are ultimately killed in riots, and Odinga is reluctantly given the position of Prime Minister to placate his radical supporters and stop further bloodshed. [126,127,207,208,271,293,313,329]

In support of Odinga, Obama raises approximately $950,000. The cash for Odinga comes from private meetings in 2006 arranged for Odinga by Mark Lippert, a foreign policy advisor on Obama’s staff. Odinga visits Obama during three separate trips to Washington in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Odinga promises his supporters in Kenya that he will “rewrite the Constitution of Kenya to recognize Shariah as the only true law sanctioned by the Holy Quran for Muslim declared religion.” In early 2006 Lippert had been sent by Obama to Kenya, at taxpayer expense, on a “fact-finding” mission, and to do advance work for Obama’s later visit. [313]

Odinga made the following pledges to his supporters: Re-write the Constitution of Kenya to recognize Muslim Sharia law for Muslim regions; facilitate the establishment of a Sharia court in every Kenyan divisional headquarters; order every primary school to conduct daily Madrassa classes; impose a total ban on open-air Christian gospel crusades; outlaw gospel programs on KBC; impose a total ban on the consumption of alcoholic beverages; and impose an immediate ban on women’s public dressing styles that are considered immoral and offensive to the Muslim faith. [329]

In August of 2006 Obama votes against making the temporary Bush estate tax cuts permanent. In September, 2006 Obama votes to give Habeas Corpus rights to Guantanamo detainees. [97]

On September 20, 2006, in a startling coincidence of similar names, Kelly J. McCrum Robinson (wife of Michelle Obama’s brother Craig Robinson) sells her Chicago condominium to a person named “Osama Barakat” for $376,500. The property is located at 1525 S. Sangamon, Unit 707. The Cook County property parcel number is 17-20-232-050-1168. Listed as creditor on the real estate transaction is Burlew Plumbing and Heating of New Jersey. Burlew allegedly owns Magic Touch Construction Company, located at 59 West Front Street in Keyport, New Jersey. Located at that same address is Magic Touch Plumbing and Heating. On September 11, 2001, Sakher “Rocky” Hammad drove from New York City to Memphis, Tennessee. Hammad was later arrested by the FBI in connection with an illegal driver’s license scheme. In Hammad’s wallet was found a security pass giving him access to the World Trade Center on September 5, 2001, and a business card for Magic Plumbing and Heating. Hammad stated he was a plumber, and had worked with his cousin on the WTC sprinkler systems. New York authorities have no record of a plumber’s license for Hammad or his cousin. Hammad’s mother lives in Jordan or Gaza. (Some have theorized that the WTC towers collapsed because their sprinkler systems were not functioning properly.) [1186,1187,1188,1189,1190]

On October 22, 2006 Obama publicly states he is considering a run for the Presidency – at age 45 and after only a year and a half as a Senator. [1314]

Alexi Giannoulias runs for Illinois State Treasurer in 2006 and receives a strong endorsement from Obama, who states Giannoulias is “…one of the most outstanding young men I could ever hope to meet” – despite the candidate’s youth (he is 29), total lack of experience, mob connections, and his family bank’s (Broadway Bank) financing of a Chicago crime figure. Giannoulias is elected, but may not have won without Obama’s endorsement. Ten years earlier the Giannoulias family had been rumored to have helped Obama with campaign financing, and also provided an alleged “sweetheart deal” mortgage for his Chicago townhouse (Obama’s residence before Tony Rezko helped him buy his Hyde Park mansion). [116,117,281]

Giannoulias is the money-man for Michael “Jaws” Giorango, a Chicago thug with convictions for bookmaking and promoting prostitution. Giannoulias is so tainted by mob connections that the powerful Illinois Speaker of the House and State Democrat Party Chairman Michael Madigan refused to endorse Giannoulias for State Treasurer. Even the Democrat Party does not endorse Democrat Giannoulias in the November election. Despite the hands-off attitude of all prominent Democrats in Illinois, Obama (who plays basketball with Giannoulias at the exclusive East Bank Club in Chicago) endorses him anyway. Obama uses Giannoulias’ Broadway Bank for his personal business and his Senate campaign fund. Giannoulias and his family donate more than $10,000 to Obama’s campaign. [318,319,842, pp. 206-207]

Obama campaigns in Vermont for socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, who calls rookie Senator Obama “one of the great leaders of the United States Senate.”  By the 2008 Presidential election, Obama’s voting record is farther left than that of socialist Sanders. [118]

In an article in the Jakarta Post of November 29, 2006, Julia Suryakusuma, a long-time friend of Obama’s mother and an outspoken feminist writer, states that Obama could run for President of Indonesia. It is assumed Suryakusuma means that Obama retains his Indonesian citizenship. (Indonesia does not allow dual citizenship and Obama cannot be an American citizen if he has not relinquished his Indonesian citizenship.) [120]

In a 2006 speech Obama says his mother’s parents were Baptists and Methodists, but in his book, “Dreams From My Father,” Obama wrote that, “In his only skirmish into organized religion, he (Obama’s grandfather Stanley Armour Dunham) would enroll the family in the local Unitarian Universalist congregation.” Obama refers to himself as a “lifelong” Christian, but his only Christian church affiliation appears to have been with Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. (Some critics might take exception to TUCC being called a Christian church, considering its black liberation theology – a Marxist version of Christianity that worships a white-hating black Jesus.) [744]

In December of 2006 the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) gives Obama a 100 per cent rating for his anti-religious stances on church-state separation. [97]

In a December 22, 2006 e-mail, Obama personally informs Kenyan Raila Odinga that “all our correspondence (should be) handled by Mr. Mark Lippert,” and says that using Lippert as their common contact would be for his (Obama’s) “…own security now and in the future.” Note that the Kenyan visits by Obama and Lippert may have been in violation of the Logan Act. [313,1017]

Obama donates $22,500 to Trinity United Church of Christ in 2006. In that year Obama earned more than three times the income of President Bush, but Bush donated more to charity. Obama’s charitable donations were 5.8 per cent of his income. (Senator Joe Biden donated an astoundingly low 0.15 per cent, despite being in the top one per cent of all income earners in the nation.) [1655,842, p. 97]
2007
The Campaign Begins

On January 16, 2007, after only two years in the U.S. Senate, Obama officially announces his candidacy for U. S. President; Obama’s main campaign strategist is David Axelrod (the “Karl Rove” of the Obama campaign). Obama’s theme of “hope and change” allows him to avoid specific commitments and skirt the issue of how programs would be paid for. (“Hope” being an inclusive word, the candidate doesn’t have to talk about the details of his plans, he merely has to suggest that he is the “hope” the voters have been waiting for, and they will fill in the details in their own minds. “Change” works to attract voters disillusioned with the President Bush and the Iraq War, who feel that any non-Republican alternative is an improvement.) Two weeks before he launches his Presidential campaign, Obama pays $375-$400 for two decades worth of parking tickets received while at Harvard Law School. He somehow manages to avoid the late fees and penalties that would be imposed on a “normal” citizen. [121,353,356,1314]

In addition to paying old parking fines, Obama also relinquishes his law license in early 2007 – to avoid the possibility of punishment for lying on his Illinois bar application. Obama’s application failed to disclose the fact that he had used a different name in the past (Barry Soetoro), had used drugs, and had unpaid parking tickets of approximately $400. A complaint against Obama was filed on March 13, 2007, but because he had just relinquished his license he escaped an investigation and punishment (such as disbarment). [1096]

Arguably (and putting his inflated ego aside), Obama may have decided to run for President, rather than attempting first to be the Vice-President of the more likely candidate, Hillary Clinton, partly because he knew he would never make it through the VP vetting process. There essentially is no Presidential vetting process – if the media gives the candidate a pass on investigating his past or challenging his political philosophies.

The unpopularity of President Bush is also a significant factor in Obama’s decision to run because the odds of the Democrat candidate beating the Republican candidate are high – regardless of who the eventual two candidates are. Thus the real race lies in the Democrat primaries, not the November election, and the odds in the primaries tend to favor the most liberal candidate because the more active party members are leftists. Obama knows he is the most liberal candidate in history, but he is also aware that 2008 may offer his best chance at the presidency because of the “Bush baggage” weighing down any conservative opponent.

At the time of his candidacy announcement, Obama has been present for work in the Senate a total of 143 days. Obama’s announcement includes this statement, “I know that I haven’t spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I’ve been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change.” (Obama’s remark was essentially lifted from John Edwards, who said when he announced his candidacy in 2003, “I haven’t spent much of my life in politics… but I’ve spent enough time in Washington to know how much we need to change it.”) [349,351,353,1595]

On January 24, the “Obama Exploratory Committee” releases the statement, “To be clear, Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the (Trinity) United Church of Christ in Chicago.” On March 14, that statement is clarified, as follows: “Obama was never a practicing Muslim.” Obama’s web site eventually includes this statement: “Obama Has Never Been A Muslim.” [353]

In early 2007, Obama states in a filing with the Federal Election Commission that he would work out an agreement with the Republican nominee to accept public campaign financing. On an FEC questionnaire, Obama states, “If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.” It later becomes clear that Obama had no plans to honor that commitment. [433]

On February 26, during a primary debate in Cleveland, Obama states he will work with John McCain to ensure they both use public financing. The Obama campaign never does so. (In his 1996 candidate questionnaire, when running for the Illinois State Senate, Obama had responded “Yes” to the question, “Do you support public financing of election campaigns?”) [433]

In February, Obama votes for a bill raising the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour, making it more difficult for unskilled minority youths to get hired. [97]

New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof interviews Obama and writes, “Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated… Mr. Obama described the Muslim call to prayer as ‘one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.’” The interview has since been deleted from the New York Times web pages. (Interestingly, although Obama says he was never a Muslim and never practiced the religion, he is able to recite from memory the “Adhan,” something he learned in a school in Indonesia more than 30 years earlier.) [122,353]

Robert Wolf, CEO of the American branch of the Swiss banking giant UBS, collects more than $370,000 in campaign contributions for Obama. UBS lies to the government and conceals the identities of over 19,000 clients in order to help them avoid paying U.S. income taxes. [123,448,1286]

In 2007, the Obama campaign receives $32,000 from companies affiliated with Robert Blackwell. While an Illinois State Senator, Obama had received $112,000 from Blackwell in monthly $8,000 retainers, funneled through the law firm at which he had previously worked. Obama had persuaded the Illinois legislature to award $320,000 in state grants to Blackwell’s company, “Killerspin,” a company that promotes table tennis (“ping pong”) and sells equipment and apparel and promotes tournaments. Blackwell, in turn, raises between $100,000 and $200,000 for Obama’s campaign. The University of Chicago Medical Center, with Michelle Obama’s encouragement, had granted a $650,000 contract to another Blackwell company, Blackwell Consulting, for upgrading the center’s intranet. [207,352,1314]

On March 4, 2007, Obama appears at the Brown Chapel A. M. E. Church in Selma, Alabama, and incorrectly states that it was the Selma civil rights march that brought together his parents, Ann Dunham and Barack Obama, Sr. (Obama was born in 1961, four years before the 1965 Selma march.) Obama also incorrectly states that his father was able to attend school in the United States because of the “Kennedy airlift” to help African students. (Obama’s father attended the University of Hawaii even before Kennedy had been elected.) These incorrect statements by Obama were likely meant to give him “street cred” in the civil rights movement and to associate him with the “Kennedy mystique.” [564]

In March, 2007, Obama votes against repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), and against raising the death tax exemption to $5 million. [97]

In March, Obama endorses for re-election Chicago’s controversial Alderwoman, Dorothy “the Hat” Tillman, even though she is being investigated for using city resources to hire her family and reward campaign donors. Tillman, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, routinely neglects to provide services for her constituents (her ward includes the largest concentration of weed and vermin-infested vacant lots in Chicago) while maintaining “an iron grip on every nickel that rolls into the 3rd Ward and has pulled in the backing of virtually every black big shot in the city.” Obama owes Tillman support in her tough primary campaign as re-payment for her support when he ran against Blair Hull in the 2004 Democrat primary for the U.S. Senate. Tillman loses the election. (In December of 2006 Tillman is arrested for criminal trespassing in her native Alabama, and spends two hours in jail before being bailed out. Charges are later dropped.) [1314,1315,1316]

Obama’s tax return for 2006 reports income of $991,296. The total includes $273,618 from Michelle Obama’s income from the University of Chicago Hospitals, and $506,618 in advances and royalties from Obama’s books. [1046]

Joe Anthony’s work maintaining the Obama MySpace.com page increases steadily. He asks the Obama campaign for remuneration for his thousands of hours of work – and for the tens of thousands of valuable supporter e-mail addresses he has collected. The Obama campaign tells Anthony it “doesn’t have any money,” and takes control of the site with the help of the MySpace.com owners. Anthony alleges he was “bullied” by the Obama campaign, while Obama’s staffers allege that Anthony was simply trying to shake them down for money. In either event, Obama ended up with valuable e-mail addresses he would not have had without Anthony’s efforts. [1316,1317]

On April 27, Obama tells Fox News host Chris Wallace, “I have promised that I would sit down with John McCain and talk about can we preserve a public [financing] system.” Obama never does that. [433]

To the Des Moines Register Obama makes the outrageous statement that “…nobody’s suffering more than the Palestinian people.” [387,419]

Obama, a member or the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, arrives late or leaves early for its meetings on May 17, 2005, September 28, 2005, April 26, 2006, May 18, 2006, July 13, 2006, September 13, 2006, September 19, 2006, January 17, 2007, January 23, 2007, and February 8, 2007. [421]

To raise money for her husband’s campaign, Obama’s wife charges $500 to have a photo taken with her. [124]

Obama gets Marshall Ganz to help train organizers and volunteers for his presidential campaign. Employees and volunteers go through several days of intense training sessions, called “Camp Obama.” The sessions are led by Ganz and Mike Kruglik (one of Obama’s past fellow “community organizers,” who may possibly be the “Marty Kaufman” in Obama’s “Dreams From My Father”). Ganz, Kruglik, and Obama all have long associations with ACORN and Alinsky-style activism and agitation methods. [284,287,842, p. 63]

Five ACORN employees are convicted in Washington State in “the worst case of election fraud” in the state’s history. Despite repeated charges of voter registration fraud and misuse of funds, Obama continues to support ACORN and repeatedly works to obtain federal funds for the organization. [240]

In 2007, Obama works to stop Hans von Spakovsky, an official in the Justice Department, from being named to the Federal Election Commission, because von Spakovsky had supported a Georgia photo I.D. law. Like his ACORN supporters, Obama opposes voter I.D. laws. ACORN also opposes welfare reform and the strengthening of U.S. border security. [255]

In an April, 2007 speech, Obama, paraphrasing a line from Saul Alinsky’s book, “Rules for Radicals,” says “We don’t care about the world as it is, we imagine the world as it might be.” [353]

In April, 2007, Obama endorses the idea of “comparable worth pay” by supporting a bill sponsored by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin. Under a “comparable worth” scheme, the federal government would define the value of every job in the United States, and then force employers to follow those rules. (A kindergarten teacher, for example, might be considered “worth” 82.7 per cent of a truck driver, while a truck driver might be considered to be “worth” 56.6 per cent of an electrical engineer.) The alleged “logic” of the plan is that it would “eliminate wage discrimination.” In practice, it would lead to substantially increased costs for all businesses, and introduce lawsuits into every aspect of wages and salary determinations. Asking for a raise would not mean meeting with your boss, but lobbying in Washington. [354]

In April, 2007, chief campaign strategist David Axelrod meets with Obama in Obama’s Senate office. Congressional ethics rules prohibit such use of federal office space for political and campaign activity. [356]

On April 30, 2007, in an interview with the New York Times, Obama’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, says, “My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim.” [353]

In an April primary debate, NBC’s Brian Williams asks Obama what his military stance would be if two American cities were simultaneously struck by terrorist attacks. Obama’s response was, “Well, the first thing we’d have to do is make sure that we’ve got an effective emergency response, something that this administration failed to do when we had a hurricane in New Orleans. And I think that we have to review how we operate in the event of not only a natural disaster, but also a terrorist attack.” (It is unlikely that Obama’s answer made al-Qaeda leaders nervous.) [1921]

In May of 2007 Obama votes for a bill requiring that “global warming” be factored into federal project plans. [97]

On May 8, Obama criticizes U.S. automakers for not making more hybrid vehicles, like those manufactured by Honda and Toyota. At the time, Obama drives a Chrysler 300C with a large, gas-guzzling, Hemi V-8 engine. [353]

To a gathering in Oregon, Obama talks about the need to “lead by example” with regard to “global warming,” and remarks that “We can’t just keep driving our SUVs, eating whatever we want, keeping our homes at 72 degrees at all times regardless of whether we live in the tundra or the desert and keep consuming 25 percent of the world’s resources with just 4 percent of the world’s population, and expect the rest of the world to say, ‘You just go ahead, we’ll be fine.”  Obama’s statement suggests that Americans must drastically reduce their standard of living, rather than encourage residents of other nations to improve theirs. Obama’s method of accomplishing that reduced standard of living goal will likely be a “global-warming tax” or a “carbon tax” – which would cause utility bills to skyrocket. [481]

Obama remarks that “ten thousand people died” in a Kansas tornado; the death toll was 12. [854,842, p. 362]

On May 24, 2007, Obama votes to cut off all funding of military efforts in Afghanistan, but on the campaign trail Obama says more American troops need to be shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan. [125]

On May 24, Facebook unveils a new platform which allows independent developers to easily create applications that plug into the Facebook pages of users. The Obama campaign had been given access to the development process (along with Microsoft, the Washington Post, Digg, and others). The Obama campaign, but not the McCain campaign, was thus able to unveil new applications just hours after Facebook introduced it publicly. Chris Hughes, one of Facebook’s founders, had been working full-time for the Obama campaign since early 2007. Some argue that Facebook and Hughes made an illegal in-kind donation to the Obama campaign. [1318]

In June of 2007 Obama votes against a resolution that declares English the official language of the United States. [97]

Despite a long history of corruption in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Teamsters Union), Obama tells the union he will end its federal oversight if he is elected. Obama receives substantial campaign donations from the Teamsters Union. Obama also promises to support legislation allowing unions to avoid secret ballots in organizing campaigns, and legislation making it illegal for an employer to hire new workers to replace striking employees. Such rules would effectively allow unions to blackmail employers. [128,256]

In July, 2007, Obama says he would meet, without pre-conditions, the leaders of Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela. [353]

On July 18, 2007, ABC News reports that Obama told Planned Parenthood that sex education for kindergartners is “the right thing to do.” [337]

On July 25, Obama tells media big-wigs and corporate CEOs in a meeting at the Time-Warner Center in Manhattan, “One thing I’m very confident about is my judgment in foreign policy is, I believe, better than any other candidate in this race, Republican or Democrat.” [353]

In a Colorado campaign appearance – in a proposal worthy of Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro – Obama announces plans for a “civilian national security force.” After a flurry of inquiries about Obama’s intentions with his “security force,” the proposal is dropped from his speeches and all references to it are deleted from the campaign’s official web site. [129,276]

Obama tells friend Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian rights activist in Chicago, that he could not talk more about the “Palestinian cause” because his primary campaign had “constrained” what he could say. Abunimah tells radio talk show “Democracy Now!” he has known Obama for many years and “when he used to attend events in the Palestinian community in Chicago all the time.”  Abunimah responds to Obama’s sudden about-face and soft support of Israel during the campaign by remarking, “He is merely doing what he thinks is necessary to get elected and he will continue doing it as long as it keeps him in power.” 130,223,335]

Obama receives advisory support from Zbigniew Bzrezinski (Obama’s Chief Foreign policy Advisor and Carter Administration re-tread who, as National Security Advisor, was instrumental in encouraging Carter’s betrayal of the Shah of Iran and which subsequently led to the takeover of Iran by Ayatollah Khomeini, the American hostage situation, and the rise of Ahmadinejad); Samantha Power (senior foreign policy advisor); General Merrill A. McPeak (senior military advisor, who believes the U.S. drove Iran to hate Israel and America); Joseph Cirincione (Obama’s advisor on nuclear threats, who denies the known fact that North Korea assisted Syria in the development of a plutonium plant); Daniel Kurtzer (Middle East advisor, who has received criticism for pushing Israel to withdraw from the Golan Heights); and Robert O. Malley. All are known for their anti-Israel views. [356,1583]

Robert O. Malley’s father, Simon Malley, was an Egyptian-born journalist, member of the Egyptian Communist Party, close friend of Yassar Arafat, anti-Semite and anti-American. Malley had been expelled from France in 1980 for, according to government officials, “political activities which do not correspond with, and even run contrary to, French interests in certain countries…” and some articles written by Malley that were “genuine appeals to murder foreign chiefs of state.” Robert Malley served as Clinton’s Special Assistant for Arab-Israeli Affairs (1998-2001). In May of 2008, Obama removes Malley from his list of official advisors after it is learned that he had met with the terrorist group Hamas – but continues to rely on his advice and support. [453]

Also advising Obama are Richard Clark (foreign policy advisor, who has said that if he is captured, Osama bin Laden should be allowed to appeal his case in U.S. courts); Wesley Clark (who commanded the Fort Hood military forces at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in which 76 people – including 21 children – were killed); Richard Danzig (national security advisor, who said the U.S. war on terrorism should follow a lesson from the pages of Winnie the Pooh); Sam Grahan-Felsen (Obama’s official “blogger,” who has written for a socialist magazine); Austan Goolsbee (chief economic advisor who, in 2007, wrote a defense of sub-prime mortgage loans); Penny Pritzker (financial chairperson, and former head of Chicago’s Superior Bank FSB, which eventually failed because many of its assets were invested in sub-prime mortgages while Pritzker cooked the books long enough for her to make millions, resulting in RICO charges and $450 million in penalties); and Susan Rice (a known anti-Semite, and senior foreign policy advisor who, as assistant secretary of state under Bill Clinton, and with the afore-mentioned Richard Clark, persuaded Clinton not to accept Sudan’s offer to hand over Osama bin Laden to the U.S.). [356,360,831,1282]

Obama economic advisor Goolsbee wrote in 2006 that, “Future increases in tax rates potentially threaten to significantly reduce the value of your retirement savings and may even mean that you should not save in 401(k) accounts at all.” (Goolsbee was perhaps looking ahead to working with Obama and a Democrat majority in Congress, because it is reported in October of 2008 that “House Democrats are looking at eliminating most of the $80 billion in annual tax breaks for 401(k) investors.” That would allow capital gains to be taxed every year, instead of deferring the taxes to retirement.) [378,379]

Obama ousts his campaign’s Muslim outreach director, Chicago lawyer Mazen Asbahi, when questions about his ties to a radical Muslim imam and the Muslim Brotherhood surface – along with links to the Islamic Society of North America (an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas terrorist funding case). Asbahi was a board member of the Allied Asset Advisor Fund (associated with the North American Islamic Trust), with Jamal Said (imam of a radical Chicago area mosque who raised money for Hamas and families of its suicide bombers). Despite losing his official position with the campaign, Asbahi continues to work for Obama, participating in conference calls. [131,419,829]

On September 17, at a gathering in Indianola, Iowa, Obama is photographed during the playing of the National Anthem holding his hands together below his waist, while primary opponents Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton respectfully hold their right hand over their heart. [353]

Obama pledges a “full withdrawal” of American troops from Iraq. [1314]

In September, Obama again agrees to use public financing for his campaign. He makes that promise several more times, eventually disregarding it totally. [353]

In September of 2007, Orlando Jones is found dead of allegedly self-inflicted gun wounds. Jones was the subject of an FBI corruption inquiry, and had left his position in Cook County government to create a lobbying firm with Obama’s pal Tony Rezko. [842, p. 192]

On September 20, Obama submits a letter to a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hearing encouraging diversity in the media and the promotion of “localism.” One month later Obama sends another letter to FCC Chairman Martin emphasizing that the Commission has failed in that regard. The FCC “localism” rule can be used to remove a radio station’s broadcast license, putting it off the air and out of business. The liberal organization, “Center for American Progress” (CAP), issued a report in 2007 concluding there were too many conservatives on the radio and called on the FCC to use the localism rule accordingly. The CEO of CAP is John Podesta, former Clinton staffer and the eventual head of Obama’s White House transition team. Obama’s pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, had successfully lobbied the FCC to take away the broadcast license of a station it felt was not covering the civil rights movement fairly. [520]

In October of 2007, Obama co-sponsors legislation, the “Helping Families Save their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2007,” which makes it easier for homeowners to protect themselves from losing their homes. The bill also intentionally shields ACORN and other “middleman” groups from being charged for violations of the “Truth in Lending Act” in connection with obtaining mortgages for clients. [310]

The New York Times, on October 30, 2007, reports that “Obama has declined repeated requests to talk about his New York years, release his Columbia transcript or identify even a single fellow student, co-worker, roommate or friend from those years…”

Obama promises Planned Parenthood that the first piece of legislation he will sign if elected will be the “Freedom of Choice Act,” which would overturn all state pro-life laws, including prohibitions against partial-birth abortions and parental notification requirements for minors seeking abortions. [132,133]

On November 1, Obama says, “We’ve got to make sure that people who have more money help the people who have less money.” The Federal Reserve injects $41 billion into the money supply for banks to borrow at a low rate. [353,1238]

On November 2, 2007, Obama tells a Manning, South Carolina crowd, “I’m not just asking you to take a chance on me. I’m also asking you to take a chance on your own aspirations.” (On June 3, 2006, Massachusetts candidate for Governor Deval Patrick told a crowd, “I am not asking anybody to take a chance on me. I’m asking you to take a chance on your own aspirations.” On more than one occasion Obama has lifted lines from Patrick.) [842, p. 315]

In a November, 2007 speech to ACORN members, Obama brags that when he “…ran the Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it.” (When, in 2008, critics connect Obama to ACORN and Project Vote, Obama disavows having worked for or with the groups.) [283]

In a November 9, 2007 interview on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” Obama declares that Americans would have to change their habits because of global warming. He advocates government-created “price signals” to encourage people to use less electricity and gas. He states, “I think it is important for us to send some price signals to change behavior. You know, if electricity goes up, people start becoming more mindful of their electricity bill.” Obama is here suggesting that government artificially force energy prices higher in order to change consumer behavior. [447]

On December 1, 2007, Obama speaks to the “Heartland Democratic Presidential Forum,” at a gathering held exclusively for community organizers and members of the Gamaliel Foundation and ACORN. Obama tells the group that even before he is sworn in as President, “During the transition (period) we’re gonna be calling all of you in to help us shape the agenda,” and assures them that they will be actively involved in the first 100 days of his administration. [280]

Obama avoids casting a Senate vote on a November, 2007 resolution that declares the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, an elite part of the Iranian military, a terrorist organization. [351]

Oprah Winfrey campaigns with Obama in Iowa and South Carolina in December. [1314]

On the primary campaign trail in Iowa in December, Obama boasts that he passed a bill requiring nuclear plants to report radioactive leaks promptly. The bill, which would have affected energy company Exelon, had never actually been passed, and each time the bill went through Obama’s staff its language was weakened. Exelon executives and employees have donated at least $227,000 to Obama campaigns since 2003. (Exelon was formerly known as Commonwealth Edison, and its CEO was Thomas Ayers, father of Obama friend William Ayers.) [842, p. 258]

While campaigning in corn-rich Iowa, Obama says he supports corn-based ethanol – even though it takes seven barrels of oil to produce eight barrels of ethanol, and food prices would rise drastically if corn were to be used extensively as a fuel. [842, p. 259]

On December 23, 2007, Donald Young, a friend of Obama and the gay choir director of Obama’s Chicago church, is murdered, gangland style. Choir director Young “knew more,” according to Larry Sinclair, a man who claims he shared crack cocaine and homosexual activities with Obama in the back of a Chicago cab in 1999, and again in a hotel in Gurnee, Illinois. The media has chosen not to interview the cab driver, whose name is either Paramjit Singh Multani or Jagir P. Multani. (Sinclair publicly admits to having a 20 year old arrest record for crimes involving forgery and passing bad checks.) One other gay member of Obama’s church, Larry Bland, is also murdered within a few weeks of Young. A third man, Nate Spencer, dies of an illness, although some have suggested he was also murdered. (It has been suggested that Obama’s campaign guru David Axelrod, through AKP Message and Media, paid the pornographic website whitehouse.com $750,000 to discredit Sinclair.) [134,135,136,392,393,409,1242,842, pp. 143,352-353,358]

During the Christmas service at Trinity United Church of Christ, Obama’s pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright says, “Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a process that is controlled by rich white men. Hillary can never know that, Hillary ain’t ever been called a nigger!” (Wright made that statement during a Christmas service.) Obama contends he never heard such remarks from Wright, or he would have condemned them. Apparently the allegedly church-going Obama (who records show was in Chicago at Christmas in 2007) failed to catch that part of Wright’s sermon. Whether Obama’s children were in church to hear Wright’s remarks is unknown. Note that Obama does not believe in giving Christmas presents to his children. [357,361]
2008

“Hope and Change”

Obama is one of the Illinois politicians cited in the indictment of his long-time friend and fund-raiser, Tony Rezko, for having received political contributions from Rezko’s kickback funds. Obama allegedly returns between $85,000 and $250,000 in political contributions received from Rezko. [138,139,207]

In 2008, ACORN feverishly registers new Democrat voters in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, and other states to boost Obama’s chances of winning the primaries and the general election. In Cuyahoga County, Ohio alone, ACORN registers more than 75,000 new voters. Fraud is certainly involved, inasmuch as the voter rolls in that county already exceed the number of adult residents living there by 200,000. ACORN’s Project Vote activity has a tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code, which prohibits its involvement in partisan political activity, but its workers consistently violate those laws when they pass out Obama literature and advocate his candidacy as they register new voters. [54,240]

During 2007 and 2008, Obama requests $860 million in “earmarks” (according to Taxpayers for Common Sense); they include $1 million for his wife Michelle’s employer, $62 million for the “Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy,” $8 million for “Human Genome Expression,” $4.8 million for a “Light Emitting Diode Healing Program,” $2 million for a “Soybean Disease Biotechnology Center,” and money for projects linked to campaign donors. [140]

In January of 2008, Obama confirms that he supports drivers licenses for illegal immigrants (which his campaign refers to as “undocumented people”) and will take up immigration reform during his first year in office. [341]

On January 17, in a recorded interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Obama explains his expensive “cap and trade” tax to deal with “global warming.” With regard to using coal for power plants, Obama states, “So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.” (Obama does not repeat that remark when campaigning in coal-producing states like Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Colorado.) Note that roughly one-half of the nation’s electricity comes from coal-fired power plants, which would either be bankrupted or would have to charge much higher rates, based on Obama’s statement that he “…would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else’s out there.” [442,443,450]

Obama goes on to say, “Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket… even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad, because I’m capping greenhouse gasses, coal power plants, natural gas… you name it… whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retro-fit their operations. That will cost money… they will pass that money on to the consumers.” [455]

In January, Obama tells “American Morning” host John Roberts that high taxes are in the best interest of the American economy. [353,1620]

In January of 2008, Michelle Obama says, “…sometimes it’s easier to hold on to your own stereotypes and misconceptions. It makes you feel justified in your own ignorance. That’s America.” [352]

Obama tells a Dartmouth College audience – with a straight face – that his job “…is to be so persuasive… that a light will shine through that window, a beam of light will come down upon you, you will experience an epiphany, and you will suddenly realize that you must go to the polls and vote for Barack.” [1121]

On January 30, 2008, Obama reiterates his support for driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. [353]

In February of 2008, the Obama campaign releases copies of his wife Michelle’s Princeton thesis on racial divisions. (It had originally planned on keeping it secret until after the election). In the introduction to her angry paper Michelle Robinson writes, “It is possible that Black individuals either chose to or felt pressured to come together… because of the belief that Blacks must join in solidarity to combat a White oppressor.” Her thesis also includes the statement, “By actually working with the Black lower class or within their communities as a result of their ideologies, a separationist may better understand the desparation (sic) of their situation and feel more hopeless about a resolution as opposed to an integrationist who is ignorant to (sic) their plight.” Critics who have read the thesis say it is the most sophomoric, non-scholarly piece of drivel ever, and claim it exposes a lack of academic rigor at Princeton. The bitter young student wrote, “My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my ‘Blackness’ than ever before. I have found that at Princeton no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my White professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I really don’t belong.” (One may wonder why, if Michelle Robinson wanted to avoid wealthy white snobs, she decided to go to Princeton in the first place when there were a myriad of leftist schools which would have welcomed her.) [352,597,842, p. 121]

Michelle Obama has stated that her SAT scores were not good enough to get her into Princeton, but she was admitted with a scholarship – suggesting racial quotas greased the skids for her. Once at Princeton, she learns that the students are more interested in studying and preparing for their careers than the feelings of a quota student who believes she is a victim of racial prejudice. Her thesis is thus much ado about nothing; it is essentially (like her husband’s autobiography) about herself and her “feelings.” [842, pp. 115,124]

In February of 2008, Michelle Obama remarks at a rally in Milwaukee, “…for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country.” The comment, made with eyes full of unconcealed rage, draws severe criticism and allegations that she is un-American, or at least unappreciative of the wealth and privilege she has been able to accumulate as a citizen of a country for which she has considerable contempt. [352]

On February 29, Michelle Obama visits a daycare center in Zanesville, Ohio, where she complains about how difficult it is to survive financially in America, because she has to spend $10,000, on “piano and dance and sports supplements” and “summer programs and so on and so forth,” for her daughters. [352]

Michelle Obama typically tells her audiences, “I don’t care where I am, the first question is ‘How are you managing it all? How are you holding up?’” The remark is meant to get the crowd to feel sorry for her, to believe that she is enduring a great hardship, as though she is doing them a favor by consenting to speak to them. [842, p. 128]

In February, a photo is released that show a Cuban flag, adorned with the picture of communist murderer Che Guevara, hanging on the wall of Obama’s Houston campaign office. [353]

In February, Obama denies that Austen Goolsbee, one of his economic advisors, told the Canadian government during his visit there that Obama does not mean what he says publicly about opting out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and that his criticism of NAFTA was just campaign rhetoric. The Canadian government confirms that the statement was, in fact, made. (During the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries, to garner union support, Obama pledges to renegotiate NAFTA.) [353,1688]

Obama names Penny Pritzker his national finance chairman. Pritzker is the former chairman of the board of the Superior Bank S&L, which went under because of irresponsible sub prime mortgage lending in the 1990s. Obama names Martin Nesbitt treasurer for his presidential campaign. Nesbitt, a close friend of Obama (with whom he plays basketball), is also vice president of the Pritzker Realty Group, and is the chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA). Nesbitt contributed at least $10,000 to Obama campaigns, and the Pritzker name appears frequently in lists of Obama contributors. Fundraising for Obama by Nesbitt and Pritzker was instrumental in his winning his U.S. Senate seat in 2004. (Nesbitt’s wife, Anita Blanchard, is an obstetrician who delivered Michelle Obama’s two children.) [353,664,1185]

While Nesbitt is the chairman of the CHA, a company called Habitat manages its housing program. Habitat is run by Valerie Jarrett, who hired Michelle Obama in 1991. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley had appointed Michelle Obama to the Chicago Landmark Commission, and Nesbitt as chairman of the CHA. [664]

Obama defends his association with William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn with the statement, “The notion that…me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago… somehow reflects on me and my values doesn’t make much sense.” Dohrn once publicly praised Charles Manson and his followers for killing actress Sharon Tate. Dohrn’s words were, “Dig it. First they killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room with them. They even shoved a fork into a victim’s stomach! Wild!” In 2007 (considerably more recent than 40 years ago) Ayers describes the United States as an “…incipient fascist country,” and talks about overthrowing capitalism, while Dohrn, at a reunion of the radical group Students for a Democratic Society, says that “…living in America constitutes living in the belly of the beast” and “the heart of the monster.” [141,142,143]

When further criticized for his friendship with William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, the Obama campaign issues a lengthy document trivializing their actions as 1960s radicals and defending them as “respectable fixtures of the mainstream in Chicago.” In a September 11, 2001 New York Times interview, Ayers says of his bombing history, “I don’t regret setting bombs; I feel we didn’t do enough.” In a memoir published by Ayers after 9/11, he wrote that America is “not a just and fair and decent place… it makes me want to puke.” The cover of Ayers’ book is a photograph of him trampling on an American flag. [143,144]

“Accountable America,” an organization which supports Obama, sends threatening letters to nearly 10,000 citizens who often contribute to Republican causes, warning them of potential legal problems if they finance conservative groups. [145,146,338]

Obama supports a Democrat housing bill that provides $200 million to community groups (including ACORN) for homeowner foreclosure counseling. ACORN, in turn, pledges to spend $35 million in 2008 to register new Democrat voters. [147,148,149]

The audio book version of Obama’s “Dreams From My Father” is released. A line-by-line comparison with the print version shows that the audio version Obama recorded omits a substantial number of references that many white people might call controversial.

When Reverend Jeremiah’s controversial, anti-American sermons are brought up by the media, Obama says he knows nothing about such remarks – and adds a “dog ate my homework” statement, “I wasn’t in church that day.” [239]

Before the Ohio primary in 2008, Obama’s campaign gives ACORN $832,598, allegedly for get-out-the-vote activities. The money was paid to ACORN through “Citizens Consulting, Incorporated” (CCI), which ACORN uses for distributing funds. Wade Rathke, founder of ACORN, also exercises control over CCI. At the same time Obama gives ACORN almost one million in cash, it is dealing with the IRS over liens of almost one million. [240,1971]

In February, Obama votes against raising the death tax exemption from $1 million to $5 million. [97]

On February 28, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduces Senate Bill 2678, the “Children of Military Families Natural Born Citizen Act.” The bill is intended to allow both McCain and Obama to be considered natural born citizens eligible to serve as President, when arguments can be made that neither is, in fact, a natural born citizen. The bill is co-sponsored by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but does not pass. McCaskill’s motives in sponsoring the bill may relate to her being mentioned as a possible Vice President for Obama, to whom she gave early support. [820]

On February 29, Michelle Obama – in complete disregard for the truth about the lucrative careers she and her husband have had – encourages a crowd in Zanesville, Ohio, “Don’t go into corporate America. You know, become teachers. Work for the community. Become social workers. Be a nurse. Those are the careers that we need, and we’re encouraging our young people to do that. But if you make that choice, as we did, to move out of the money-making industry, then your salaries respond.” (The Obama couple’s “move out of the money-making industry” led to a 2006 reported income of $991,296. The total included $316,962 from Michelle Obama’s income from the University of Chicago Hospitals.) [110,111,1046,842, p. 125]

On March 1 Obama tells an Ohio gathering that “America is at its best when it’s not fearful. I mean, if you think about our history, our most shameful times have been when we were afraid.” [1221]

The government of Columbia raids a camp in Ecuador run by the leftist narco-terrorist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (“Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Columbia,” or “FARC”). Items confiscated include several laptop computers which contain thousands of documents, spreadsheets, multimedia files, web pages, images, written documents, and e-mail addresses. Obama’s name appears on more than one document on the confiscated laptop. In one document FARC leader Raul Reyes (who was killed in the raid) relates that he met “two gringos” who assured him “the new president of their country will be Obama and that they are interested in your compatriots. Obama will not support ‘Plan Columbia’ nor will he sign the TLC (Free Trade Agreement).” The identities of the “two gringos” are unknown and it is unclear who might have authorized them to speak to FARC terrorists on Obama’s behalf. Information on the laptop also suggests that FARC is receiving aid from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. (FARC’s tentacles spread worldwide. Reyes’ son, Ariel Robespierre Diva, visited Berlin in 2005 to persuade Germany’s Party of Democratic Socialism – the successor to the East German Communist party – to remove FARC from the list of terrorist organizations.) During the campaign Obama says little about Columbia, other than to criticize President Bush’s good relations with President Alvaro Uribe, a U.S. ally. FARC holds three American hostages. [1614,1615,1616]

In March, 2008, Obama says of his controversial pastor, Jeremiah Wright, “I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.” [150]

In San Antonio on March 3, several Chicago reporters ask Obama about his connections with Tony Rezko. Obama avoids the questions, saying “These requests, I think, could just go on forever. At some point, what we need to try to do is respond to what’s pertinent.” [249]

Obama’s foreign policy advisor, Samantha Powers, resigns from his campaign after having been caught calling Hillary Clinton a “monster.” Powers nevertheless expects a top position in an Obama Administration, despite having publicly discussed the possibility of invading Israel to help create a Palestinian state. [233,234,235,236]

In the March 11 issue of the New Yorker, Michelle Obama, with a seemingly endless supply of racial hatred, criticizes the United States as a mean country. “We’re a divided country, we’re a country that is just downright mean. (We are) guided by fear… We have become a nation of struggling folks who are barely making it every day. Folks are just jammed up, and it’s gotten worse over my lifetime.” [842, p. 121]

One of Obama’s supporters is billionaire James S. Crown. Crown is a member of Obama’s National Finance Committee, and also serves on the board of General Dynamics. In 2006 Obama had secured federal funds for General Dynamics’ “High-Explosive Technology Program” for the Army’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle (an inadequate machine ridiculed by soldiers as an “Exploding Coffin”). [830,842, p. 274]

On March 13, former Congresswoman and 1984 Vice-Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro steps down from her fundraising post in Hillary Clinton’s primary campaign after intense media criticism for her comment to the Daily Breeze (Torrance, California) newspaper that Obama was benefiting from being black. “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman – of any color – he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.” In defending her politically incorrect but accurate comment Ferraro recognized that her own prior national-ticket candidacy was because of her gender, with the admission that “In 1984, if my name were Gerard Ferraro instead of Geraldine Ferraro, I would never have been chosen as the vice president (nominee).” [1173]

On March 16, J. P. Morgan Chase acquires Bear Stearns for $2 per share. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is at $11,972.25. [1238]

On March 18, Obama makes the remarkable comment, “All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn.” (In other words, “If anyone has ever said anything that offended you, then I’m against what he said.”)  [353]

On March 18, Obama delivers a “race speech” in Philadelphia, in response to questions raised about his association with his controversial pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Instead of criticizing Wright and suggesting that he, Obama, was wrong to associate with the hate-filled, racist minister, Obama condescendingly blames the American people for their inveterate racism. He turns what could have been a transformational apology into an accusation. With the help of an uncritical and supportive media, Obama gets away with it. [842, pp. 112-113]

In March Obama votes to continue allowing federal funds to be distributed to declared “sanctuary cities” (cities which support hiding illegal aliens from immigration authorities and interfering with deportation attempts). He also votes for a bill increasing taxes on those who earn more than $1 million per year, and votes against allowing a reduction in the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). [97]

On April 1, Obama visits Tama Manufacturing in Allentown, Pennsylvania. After some gratuitous flirting with an employee, Obama praises the company as a success story, saying “I’m glad to see we still have a good company here with a good owner looking after his workers.” Obama is unaware that Tama workers make $10.50 per hour and had recently been on a 15-week strike. [842, p. 331]

Obama, wooing blue-collar votes in Pennsylvania, goes to a bowling alley – where his score is an almost unbelievable 37. This prompts some critics to ask, “If he bowls like a fag, does that mean he is one?”  [856,842, p. 404]

On April 6, in a speech in San Francisco, Obama remarks that because of lost jobs the residents of small-town America “…get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or (become) anti-immigrant.” His imprudent comment, full of patronizing condescension and contempt, draws severe criticism from gun-owners and church-goers. [273,315,1609]

During that same speech Obama mentions his 1981 trip to Pakistan in an effort to “shore up” his foreign policy credentials, saying “I knew what Sunni and Shia was (sic) before I joined the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.” Obama’s press secretary Bill Burton later confirms the trip, which prompts questions from those who wonder how Obama could get into Pakistan during a period of martial law when Americans (as well as Christians and Jews) were prohibited from entering that nation. [1609]

On April 10, Obama says he favors repealing Bill Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” practice for gays serving in the military. [337]

In April Michelle Obama addresses a Pennsylvania crowd. The rally is staffed by volunteers from Carnegie Mellon student organizations, including Carnegie Mellon Students for Barack Obama, Student Senate, AB Political Speakers, and College Democrats. Obama’s staffers make a special effort to control the seating of people who will appear on camera behind Mrs. Obama. Witnesses hear one coordinator say to another, “Get me more white people, we need more white people.” [352,842, p. 321]

In a debate on April 17, Obama makes the statement, “I believe that the Constitution confers an individual right to bear arms. But just because you have an individual right does not mean that the state or local government can’t constrain the exercise of that right.” (While an Illinois State Senator, Obama voted four times against legislation that would allow citizens to use firearms to defend their homes and families.) [337]

On April 18, Citigroup reveals an additional $12 billion in sub-prime losses. Its $40 billion total loss exceeds that of all other banks. The DJIA is at $12,849.36. [1238]

Under political pressure, Obama, in May of 2008, half-heartedly disowns Reverend Jeremiah Wright and (at least temporarily) quits his controversial church. It is not clear if his wife and children still attend the church. [151]

Reverend Wright responds to Obama’s new-found criticism by saying, “He had to distance himself, because he’s a politician, from what the media was saying I had said, which was anti-American.” Wright tells the media that friends had written to him and said, “We both know that if Senator Obama did not say what he said, he would never get elected.” Wright then added, “Politicians say what they say and do what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls.” [446]

A birth certificate purported to be Obama’s is alleged to be that of his younger half-sister, Maya Kassandra Soetoro (b. 1970), which was altered to make it look like the candidate’s. Although Maya Soetoro was born in Indonesia, shortly after Maya’s birth her mother took her to Hawaii to have her birth registered there.) [153,289]

On April 10, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduces Senate Resolution 511 to “recognize that John Sidney McCain is a natural born citizen.” The resolution is allegedly meant to clarify that McCain is eligible to be President even though he was born in Panama. Because McCain’s parents were both Americans and he was born in Panama because his father was stationed there while in the military, existing law arguably already covers McCain and he is eligible to serve as President. McCaskill’s resolution is therefore unnecessary and serves no purpose – but an attempt is made by McCaskill and Obama to change the resolution’s language to provide a “blanket cover” for other foreign born candidates without military backgrounds (in order perhaps to enable Obama to be eligible to be President should it be discovered that he was not born in Hawaii). McCaskill and Obama have the following language inserted, “Whereas previous presidential candidates were born outside of the United States of America and were understood to be eligible to be President…” They also unsuccessfully attempt to remove the following language, “…and Whereas John Sidney McCain, III, was born to American citizens on an American military base in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936.” [301,303]

Hillary Clinton beats Obama in the April 22 Pennsylvania primary 55 to 45 points. Obama was harmed partly by the over-saturation of his ads (he outspends Clinton by a margin of two-to-one or more), and partly by voters who had simply tired of seeing and hearing him and listening to his condescending tone. Obama is also harmed by his homophobic refusal to grant interviews with gay publications. The Philadelphia Gay news featured an interview with Clinton, with the headline, “Clinton Talks, Obama Walks.” At a campaign appearance the day after losing the primary to Clinton, Obama crudely and childishly “gives her the finger” by scratching his face with his middle finger while mentioning her by name. [853,842, p. 332]

It is reported that the Obama campaign’s “official blogger,” Sam Graham-Felsen, has participated in labor riots in France, written articles for a socialist magazine, and hung in his dorm room a communist flag he had purchased on a trip to Russia. [1244]

In the few weeks following his defeat in Pennsylvania, Obama loses enthusiasm. He puts forward no new proposals, repeats his standard stump speech, and appears stale and tired. One British journalist notes that Obama is an “Adulation addict: he needed the adoration of the mob as his emotional fuel” – and he wasn’t getting it after Pennsylvania. Most of Obama’s primary wins were early; he was ahead of Clinton in delegate count as a result, but she was winning the later primaries. [842, p. 335]

On April 29, Obama states, “I still believe in affirmative action as a means of overcoming both historic and potentially current discrimination.” [337]

Obama states “I will make ending the genocide in Darfur a priority from day one.” [1680]

In a primary debate statement that reveals Obama’s hatred of capitalism, Obama tells ABC’s Charlie Gibson, “I would look at raising the capital-gains tax for purposes of fairness” even though raising that tax would ultimately result in shrinking federal revenues. Gibson correctly points out that a higher capital gains tax typically means less tax revenue for the federal government, but Obama would raise it anyway – just to punish people who made money through the capitalist system. [265,295]

In May of 2008, the New York Times reports that Obama quietly dumps his anti-Israel advisor Robert Malley after the media learns he has regular contacts with the Iran-financed terrorist group Hamas.

In May of 2008, Nevada issues an arrest warrant for Tony Rezko for having written at least $450,000 in bad checks to Caesar’s Palace and Bally’s. Rezko also allegedly owes $331,000 to the Bellagio casino. The checks are from Rezko’s account at Broadway Bank, which is run by the mob-connected Giannoulias family. The checks date back to 2006, when the bank’s vice-president, Obama-endorsed Alexi Giannoulias, was running for Illinois State Treasurer. [319]

Sometime in May, 2008, Obama meets with Hassam Qazwini, a pro-Iranian lobbyist and head of the Islamic Center of America. [1973]

While in Oregon, Obama states he has campaigned in “57 states.” [855,842, p. 362]

On May 15, Obama blows off a female reporter, WXYZ’s Peggy Agar, by ignoring her question and calling her “Sweetie.” Obama has referred to women as “sweetie” on other occasions as well. [353,842, p. 331]

It is reported that the Obama campaign hired 400 bloggers to post comments on the Internet to sway Hillary Clinton supporters to defect to Obama and not allow Democrat divisiveness to cost them the election. [1243] 

In New Mexico on Memorial Day, Obama states, “As our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes – and I see many of them here in the audience today – our sense of patriotism is particularly strong.” Obama also boasts that his grandmother’s brother, in the 89th Infantry Division, had liberated a Buchenwald camp in April of 1945, when it was the Soviet Red Army that had actually done that. [842, p. 362]

In a commencement address at Wesleyan University, Obama advises graduates not to pursue the American dream, but to serve others, saying, “You can take your diploma, walk off this stage and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should. But I hope you don’t.” (In other words, “Do as I say, not as my wife and I did.”) [276]

In June, Obama tours a solar power plant in Nevada, where he says that renewable energy “isn’t some pie-in-the-sky, far off future, it is now… providing cheap alternatives to $140 per barrel oil.” That facility powers only 75 homes, and took ten years to build, at a cost of almost $300,000 per home. [154]

Certain he has the nomination sewed up, Obama gives a self-congratulatory victory speech in St. Paul on June 3 in which he states, “I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless.”  He then takes credit for superhuman tasks he has yet to accomplish, with the words, “…this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” [353,1035]

When questioned about attempts by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to introduce legislation (a “Fairness Doctrine”) that would restrict conservative radio talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, Obama’s campaign press secretary, Michael Ortiz, says Obama supports “media-ownership caps, network neutrality” and more “public broadcasting.” Obama will support the Pelosi legislation. Ortiz further states that Obama considers the fairness doctrine debate to be “…a distraction from the conversation we should be having about opening up the airwaves and modern communications to as many diverse viewpoints as possible.” Obama’s approach to silencing radio critics like Limbaugh and Hannity will likely rely, instead, on an existing “localism” rule in FCC regulations. That rule requires stations to serve the interests of their local communities in order to keep their FCC broadcast licenses. As President, Obama will have the opportunity to replace at least one FCC member, which could allow him to define “localism” in a way that reduces the influence of conservative broadcasters, and allows radio station licenses to be revoked and given to liberal minority owners. Obama and Pelosi will attempt to re-instate a “fairness doctrine” – they’ll simply give it a different name. [152,520]

On June 4, Obama’s main money-man, Tony “the fixer” Rezko, is convicted of 16 (out of 24) counts of felony charges for influence-peddling, fraud, money laundering, and bribery conspiracy, after a lengthy FBI investigation known as “Operation Board Games.” Obama’s response is, “I’m saddened by today’s verdict.  This isn’t the Tony Rezko I knew, but now he has been convicted by a jury on multiple charges that once again shine a spotlight on the need for reform.” [316,842 p. 9]
On June 6, reporters traveling with Obama boarded his campaign plane at Dulles International Airport to head with him to his next destination, Chicago. Obama never boards the plane, and instead heads off to a “secret meeting.” Reporters on the plane are outraged, and are less than pleased with unsatisfactory and evasive information given by Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs. One reporter asks, “Why were we not told about this meeting until we were on the plane, the doors were shut and the plane was about to taxi to take off?” Gibbs answers, “Senator Obama had a desire to do some meetings, others had a desire to meet with him tonight in a private way, and that is what we are doing.” Another reporter asks, “Is there more than one meeting, is there more than one person with whom he is meeting?” Gibbs replied, “I am not going to get into all the details of the meeting.” Reporters initially believed the meeting was with Hillary Clinton at a private location. Others believe that both Obama and Clinton were at the nearby Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia, where Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller, and other globalists were gathered for the annual “Bilderberg Group” conference. At a convenient moment the hotel’s fire alarm goes off, enabling staff to clear the premises of investigators trying to cover the group. Investigators say the hotel was swarming with security, and they were “tailed” as they drove their cars nearby. At least seven convoys with armed Secret Service escorts were seen arriving at the hotel, and many observers are certain Obama and Clinton were among the attendees of the conference (along with former Fannie Mae chairman James A. Johnson, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle). Although the mainstream media gives little or no coverage to the Bilderberg Group, alternative media, using the Internet, has been able to report of the semi-secret group’s existence and its possible agenda. The Bilderberg Group itself issued a press release with these comments, “The conference will deal mainly with a nuclear free world, cyber terrorism, Africa, Russia, finance, protectionism, U.S.-European Union relations, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Islam and Iran. Approximately 140 participants will attend, of whom about two-thirds come from Europe and the balance from North America. About one-third is from government and politics, and two-thirds are from finance, industry, labor, education and communications. The meeting is private in order to encourage frank and open discussion.” There would seem to be no reason to hide the presence of Obama and Clinton at the Bilderberg Group meeting if, in fact, its agenda 
On June 12, 2008, Obama agrees to a Democrat budget proposal that calls for raising income taxes from 25 to 28 per cent for individuals with gross incomes of at $42,000 or more. [315]

In June, the pro-Obama web site “Daily Kos” receives from the Obama campaign’s Tommy Vietor an alleged scanned copy of Obama’s “birth certificate.” The original computer image is 2550 x 3300 pixels, and is provided to four pro-Obama organizations for on-line posting. Between June 12 and June 16, the “Daily Kos” site posts it at 2427 x 2369 pixels, “Fight the Smears” posts it as 575 x 585, “Factcheck” posts it at 2550 x 3300, and “Politifact” posts it at 811 x 786. (The various images may possibly still be available at dailykos.com, fightthesmears.com, factcheck.org, and politifact.com.) The posted “birth certificate” is not the “long form” with all the important birth details, but the “short form” – which the State of Hawaii will issue even if the child is born somewhere other than Hawaii but the parents are residents of Hawaii. (Note that the “Fight the Smears” image was originally posted at 1024 x 1100 pixels, but was replaced the very next day with a lower-resolution image of 575 x 585, possibly because people were finding evidence of forgery in the larger document image.) [548,549]

Document expert Dr. Ron Polarik examines the scanned image of the Obama birth certificate, subjecting it to over 700 tests, and determines that it is a forgery, created with the intent to defraud the American people into believing that the images were scans of an original, valid birth certificate. [548,549]

The image provided by the Obama campaign has text written with bitmap fonts, rather than vector fonts – an indication that the text was superimposed over a blank form, using a graphics program. Image “Exif” data also supports the argument that the document is a computer forgery. The original .jpg scan was likely saved as a .gif file, edited as a .gif image, and then saved as a .jpg file. (This process explains, for example, the color loss that appears in between the letters of the words “child’s name” on the document.) [548,549]

The forgery process likely involved scanning someone’s valid Hawaiian document as a .jpg file, converting it to a .gif file, using a graphics program to cover the existing text with copied background image, placing the new Obama text over that, and then saving the file as a .jpg document with enough compression (a 45 per cent compression ratio) to attempt to hide the alterations. Lending credence to the forgery suspicion is the fact that the “certificate” used a 2007 form for the background but copied a 2008 seal and signature stamp. [548,549]

Obama receives endorsements, albeit with reservations, from Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il. North Korea’s press release remarks, “We will see a better relationship between the U.S. and the Korean Peninsula with Obama, who sternly criticizes Bush and who would meet the leader of Chosun (North Korea) without pre-conditions, than with the ‘Bush clone’ and scarecrow of the neocons McCain.” [1360]

In June, 2008, two Muslim women at an Obama rally in Detroit are prevented from sitting behind Obama in order to prevent the women’s headscarves from appearing in photographs with the candidate. [353]

In June, Obama delivers a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, in which he states that if he is elected president, “Jerusalem would remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided.” Immediately following the speech Obama reverses himself during a CNN appearance, explaining he only meant that Jerusalem shouldn’t be divided with any physical partition. [512]

In June of 2008, Obama’s campaign reveals a customized “Obama Presidential Seal” that hangs from the lectern as he speaks. The “seal” doesn’t last long, and its use is discontinued after intense criticism of Obama’s arrogance… and after the campaign is told that it is illegal to create and use a false seal. [353]

In June of 2008, Michelle Obama tells a crowd, “The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more.” (It doesn’t occur to her – or her candidate husband – that the economy is not a fixed size and it can grow, thus allowing everyone to earn a bigger “piece of the pie” without having to confiscate any from someone else.) [352]

On June 18, a press conference is held by Larry Sinclair at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., during which he charges that he had shared crack cocaine and had sex with Obama on two occasions in November of 1999, in a Chicago cab and at a hotel in Gurnee, Illinois. Sinclair also discusses the murder of Donald Young, the gay choir director of Obama’s church who was alleged to have had sex with Obama. Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod allegedly pays Dan Parisi, of the porno site whitehouse.com, $750,000 to discredit Sinclair. Parisi calls off his “counter press conference” when Sinclair is arrested immediately his press conference, apparently on an old, outstanding warrant from Delaware. The warrant to arrest Sinclair is issued by Beau Biden, Attorney General of Delaware and son of Senator Joe Biden. [842, pp. 358-359]

By June of 2008, apparently in support of Obama, Google has sporadically restricted access to at least seven anti-Obama (mostly Hillary Clinton-supporting) web sites. (After Obama is elected he is frequently seen accompanied by Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who also attends a closed-door meeting with Obama and his economic advisory team. Schmidt is on the “Leadership Council” of a leftist group called “The New America Foundation.” Also on the council is Jonathan Soros, the son of billionaire leftist George Soros, a significant donor to leftist candidates and organizations like Daily Kos, ACORN, Media Matters, MoveOn.org, and the Democrat Party.)  [353,467,505,712]

A writer for “Online Journal,” Wayne Madsen, publishes an article on June 9, 2008 claiming a research team went to Mombasa, Kenya, and located a certificate of the Kenyan birth of Barack Obama, Jr. [248]

Fearing additional publicity of his links to radical socialists, Obama removes all of Mike Klonsky’s blogs from his official campaign web site. Klonsky, a political activist and leader of the New Communist Movement, was a 1960s radical in the Students for a Democratic Society and an avid advocate of Maoism who formed a pro-Chinese sect called the October League – which then evolved into a Beijing-recognized Communist Party. Klonsky, a disciple of Saul Alinsky, was chairman of the party. He was also one of the first westerners allowed to visit the People’s Republic of China, and was honored with state dinners in Beijing. [155,201,408]

In an interview with the New Republic, Mike Kruglik, one of Obama’s early mentors in the art of community activism, said of Obama, “He was a natural, the undisputed master of agitation, who could engage a room full of recruiting targets in a rapid-fire Socratic dialogue, nudging them to admit that they were not living up to their own standards… he could be aggressive and confrontational. With probing, sometimes personal questions, he would pinpoint the source of pain in their lives, tearing down their egos just enough before dangling a carrot of hope that they could make things better.” That modus operandi  is what Obama follows on the campaign trail: list the many things that people believe are wrong with America, get the crowd riled up and angry and feeling hopeless, and then present himself as the one who can save them from their problems – regardless of whether he can. [239,337]

On June 26 a letter sent by New York Senator Charles Schumer to the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is made public. The letter expressed doubts about the solvency of the IndyMac Bancorp Inc., which specializes in mortgages. On June 27, Schumer tells the Los Angeles Times, “I am concerned that IndyMac’s financial deterioration poses significant risks to both taxpayers and borrowers,” and the “bank could face a failure if prescriptive measures are not taken quickly.” Although the bank had been receiving net inflows of money from depositors, the release of Schumer’s letter prompts a rush of withdrawals totaling $1.3 billion. Within a few weeks federal regulators seize the bank. It is argued that Schumer’s release of his letter caused a run on the bank and caused potential buyers of the bank to change their minds about acquiring it. Schumer’s actions may have been illegal. Schumer denied having anything to do with the run on the bank, instead blaming the OTS. [1179,1180]

On June 27 the Boston Globe reports Obama’s associations with Cecil Butler, a campaign contributor who controlled Lawndale Restoration, Chicago’s largest subsidized-housing complex. With Obama’s assistance Butler received $51 million in state funds for renovations. Butler also received assistance from Valerie Jarrett’s Habitat Company. After a woman making a drug deal drove her SUV into one of the buildings and caused it to collapse in 2004, city inspectors found more than 1,800 code violations in the 97 buildings and 1,200 apartments, including roof leaks, exposed wiring, and raw sewage. The federal government eventually seized the complex in 2006. Lawndale residents staged a protest against Obama in 2004, complaining that he ignored their slum conditions at the same time he accepted $3,000 in campaign donations from Butler. Obama took no action to improve their housing. [842, p. 202]

Obama’s lawyers file a complaint with the Justice Department in an effort to stop the broadcasting of an “American Leadership Project” campaign ad linking Obama to William Ayers. [157]

According to the State Department, Obama’s federal passport file was improperly viewed at least three times, at least once by someone sympathetic to his campaign. [158]

In July of 2008, a complaint is filed with the Illinois Bar Association alleging that Obama should be disbarred as a result of lying on his bar application. His application concealed his use of another name (Barry Soetoro), his felony drug use (cocaine) in New York, and approximately $400 in unpaid parking fines. (The bar application requires listing all aliases, drug use, and fines in excess of $200.) The complaint is too late to be effective because Obama had already voluntarily relinquished his law license in early 2007 – perhaps to avoid an embarrassing disbarment. [217,1096]

Obama addresses the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at its 99th annual convention in Cincinnati, where he says, “I’ve been working my entire adult life to help build an America where economic justice is being served,” and pledges that he will “ensure that economic justice is served.” He does not have to translate “economic justice” to the audience, which understands that when a Democrat uses the term it means “punishing the successful and redistributing their wealth” through government policies and programs. Another of Obama’s comments, “restoring fairness to the economy” means “soak the rich with tax increases. [33]

On July 12 the federal government takes over IndyMac Bank. [1385]

The satirical web site “The Onion” posts an article called, “Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble To Invest In,” which reports, “A panel of top business leaders testified before Congress about the worsening recession Monday, demanding the government provide Americans with a new irresponsible and largely illusory economic bubble in which to invest. What America needs right now is not more talk and long-term strategy, but a concrete way to create more imaginary wealth in the very immediate future… ‘We are in a crisis, and that crisis demands an unviable short-term solution.’” Although the article is meant to be humorous, more than one reader no doubt will recognize some truth in it. [1852]

In a July speech Obama says, “But understand this, instead of worrying whether immigrants should learn English, they’ll learn English, you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish.” It is not known if Obama can speak another language, but he has recited the Muslim call to prayer, in perfect Arabic, to a New York Times reporter. [122,257,353]

Candidate Obama remarks about Hillary Clinton, “I am confident I will get her votes if I’m the nominee. It’s not clear she would get the votes I got (black votes) if she were the nominee.” [159]

When discussing slavery reparations with a group of “minority journalists,” Obama states, “I consistently believe that when it comes to…reparations, the most important thing for the U.S. government to do is not just offer words, but offer deeds.” Several days later, to calm fears of white taxpayers who read his remarks, Obama adds that he’s not calling for direct cash payments to descendents of slaves, but indirect aid through government programs to “close the gap” between white America and black America. The government programs will be “universal” – such as universal health care, mortgage credits, college tuition, job training, and even universal 401(k)s – programs that Obama feels “disproportionately affect people of color.” (In other words, Obama does not dare propose a program to directly tax whites to give payments to blacks so he instead offers “universal” programs for everyone, but will design them so that blacks will benefit disproportionately.) One of Obama’s advisors is Professor Charles Ogletree, a prominent proponent of slavery reparations. Another avid supporter of slavery reparations is the anti-gun Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush. [275,1600,842, p. 68]

Obama continues to oppose school voucher and school choice programs, including the successful and popular experimental program in the Washington, D.C. system (where students do better using $7,500 vouchers at private schools than they do at the $13,400 per-student public schools). To gain the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers (union), Obama tells its members he won’t be swayed by “tired rhetoric about vouchers and school choice.” Obama’s own children attend the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where annual tuition ranges from $15,528 for kindergarten to $20,445 for high school. In a YouTube debate Obama says that was “the best option” for his children. (In his 1996 candidate questionnaire when running for the Illinois State Senate, Obama responded “No” to the question, “Do you support vouchers or other means of public funding for private or parochial schools?”) [274]

Dr. Alveda King, a niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, remarks that Obama’s “…answer to the ills of society, of higher government spending, weaker national defense, continued tax dollars to Planned Parenthood, and support of gay marriage, are diametrically opposed to everything African Americans truly believe and an anathema to the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” [160]

Several times on the campaign trail Obama refers to an incident where his white grandmother was approached by a black panhandler, and remarks about her response being that of a “typical white person.” This remark stuns her former co-workers at the Bank of Hawaii, who state that Madelyn Dunham never made comments about anyone’s ethnicity. [744]

Obama defeats Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in enough of the primaries to become the likely Democrat candidate for President of the United States. Obama arrives at the Democrat National Convention without technically having won enough committed delegates in the primaries to win the nomination, but manages to persuade enough “super delegates” to vote for him to win the nomination. The “persuasion techniques” include DNC Chairman Dean and his surrogates telling delegates they must vote for Obama or he (Dean) will work to defeat them by funding primary challengers in their Congressional or local races. [161]

In an appearance at the Saddleback Church, Pastor Rick Warren asks Obama when he believes human life begins. Obama, wanting to avoid his controversial pro-abortion votes, responds, “Well, (sigh), you know, I… I… eh, er, I think that whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or, uh, a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, uh, you know, is above my pay grade.” [315,430]

Obama’s campaign accuses the McCain campaign of being fed in advance the questions Warren asked at the Saddleback Church appearance – and makes sure NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell repeats the unfounded charges on the evening news. Warren categorically denies the charge. No apology to Warren or McCain is issued by Obama. [162]

Reverend Leah Daughtry is named by Obama and DNC chair Howard Dean to be the Democrat National Convention chief. In Daughtry’s home-town “House of the Lord Church” in Brooklyn hangs a banner supporting slavery reparations, which reads, “They Owe Us.” [163]

Eric Holder, who was instrumental in persuading Bill Clinton to pardon members of the terrorist group FALN and fugitive financier Mark Rich, leads Obama’s team to select his Vice-Presidential running mate. Holder is also rumored to be a potential Attorney General in an Obama Administration. Working with Holder on the selection committee is James Johnson, former CEO of Fannie Mae, who was found “cooking the books” at the mortgage giant to inflate its earnings and boost his executive bonus. Another former CFO of Fannie Mae, Tim Howard, is a chief economic advisor to Obama. [164,353]

Among the groups supporting Obama is “Progressives for Obama,” supported and/or founded by Mark Rudd (who had been trained by the KGB in Cuba and was a former Weather Underground member and close ally of William Ayers); Tom Hayden (former husband of actress Jane Fonda and principle founder of the radical Students for a Democratic Society, who traveled to North Vietnam to give support to the Viet Cong); Bill Fletcher (founder of the Marxist Black Radical Congress); Barbara Ehenreich (honorary chairman of the Democratic Socialists of America); and actor Danny Glover (recipient of $20 million from Venezuela’s dictator Hugo Chavez to make a movie about a Haitian communist revolutionary). Ayers is also on the board of a Venezuelan government think tank assigned the task of bringing Cuban-style education to Venezuela. [218,262]

During the campaign, in support of abortion, Obama remarks that if his daughters ever make a mistake and get pregnant, he wouldn’t “want them punished with a baby.” [165,315]

Obama tells Jeffrey Goldberg of “The Atlantic” that Israel is a “constant sore” that “infects all of our foreign policy.” [343]

Obama takes credit in campaign ads for “…extending health care for wounded troops who had been neglected,” referring to the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act. Obama was not, however, present for voting when that legislation was passed, nor was it drafted by him. [351]

A review of campaign donations filed with Federal Election Commission shows that Obama’s campaign receives a substantial number of contributions in unusual amounts, such as $74.37 or $42.95, suggesting they were illegal foreign contributions originally made in “even amounts” which were then converted to U.S. dollars. The Obama campaign appears to have made no effort to identify or return illegal foreign contributions. Obama has over $200 million in contributions of less than $200, but his campaign has done little to insure that they are legal. The campaign illegally accepts contributions without requiring donor addresses. Hedge funds around the world are suspected of massive donations to the Obama campaign in an effort to influence his future actions as President. [166,167]

Obama’s wife criticizes President Bush’s $600 economic stimulus checks at a “working-women’s round table discussion,” saying, “The short-term quick fix kinda sounds good, and it may even feel good that first month when you get that check, and then you go out and buy a pair of earrings.” [168] 

Obama visits Iraq in July. Although campaigning publicly for a quick and steady withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, Obama – not wanting the Bush Administration to receive credit for any successes – tries in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a reduction of American troops. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari confirms that Obama demanded the delay during discussions with Iraqi leaders, stating that Obama “…asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington.” Obama tells the Iraqis it is in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its “state of weakness and political confusion.”  Zebari relates that he responded to Obama, “As an Iraqi, I believe that even if there is a Democratic administration in the White House it had better continue the present policy instead of wasting a lot of time thinking what to do”–  meaning that Obama was attempting to thwart U.S. policy, and Zebari was telling Obama not to not interfere. [169,200,350]

That action by Obama in Iraq is possibly in violation of the Logan Act, which prohibits unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments. The crime is a felony, and can be punished with a three year prison sentence. After the story is disclosed Obama denies having made the statements. Either Obama or Zebari is therefore lying, but even Obama’s own protestations suggest Obama is making the false statements. (Note that Zebari is fluent in English, and thus would likely not have misinterpreted Obama’s words.) [203,1017]

During the July trip Obama privately remarks that it would be “crazy” for Israel to refuse a deal that would “give them peace with the Muslim world.” The source reporting the comment is likely Robert O. Malley, an Obama advisor with strong anti-Israel leanings. [497]

In July, Obama tells Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad that he “supports the rights of Palestinians to East Jerusalem, as well as their right to a stable, sovereign state,” but asks them to keep his pledge confidential. Obama’s promise is meant to calm Palestinian fears that developed from a June speech in which he said that if he is elected, “Jerusalem would remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided.” [512]

At a press conference in Sderot, Israel, when asked about his commitment to protect the Jewish state, Obama responds, “Just this past week, we passed out of  the U.S. Senate Banking Committee – which is my committee – a bill to call for divestment from Iran as a way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that they don’t obtain a nuclear weapon.” (The committee is not Obama’s… the Senate Banking Committee is chaired by Christopher Dodd.) [1608]

When former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asks Obama how his trip is going, Obama responds, “I could fall asleep now standing up.” (One assumes Netanyahu was not inspired by Obama’s answer.) [1608]

At a meeting with Democratic lawmakers on July 29, Obama says he represents the “world’s hopes for America” and “This is the moment the world is waiting for.”  He then adds, “I have become a symbol of restoring America to its best traditions.” [170]

On a daily basis Obama receives two e-mails from his staff. One e-mail briefs him on major world events over the prior 24 hours, the other e-mail is a set of questions he is likely to be asked during the day, with suggested answers. [353]

In July of 2008, Obama sponsors the Global AIDS Spending Bill. The bill adds $50 billion to the $200 billion in tax dollars already spent on fighting HIV/AIDS around the world. The bill also lifts a ban on entry into the U.S. of AIDS-infected aliens.  The Congressional Budget Office estimates that U.S. taxpayers will end up spending $83 billion treating those aliens and their infected children. [351]

In July, the American flag is removed from the tail of the Obama campaign plane and replaced with his trademark “O” symbol. (After receiving considerable and immediate criticism, a much smaller U.S. flag is added.) [353]

On July 14, Obama speaks to the National Council of La Raza (“The Race,” the nation’s largest Hispanic special interest group) and promises amnesty for the 12 million or more illegal immigrants in the United States, saying, “That’s why we need to offer those who are willing to make amends a pathway to citizenship. That way, we can reconcile our values as both a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws.” [342]

In Berlin, Germany on July 24, Obama addresses a crowd estimated at 200,000 (already gathered for a free rock concert), pretty much telling it what it wants to hear in order to ensure enthusiastic applause. During the same trip, Obama cancels a visit to wounded soldiers at an Army hospital after he learns the military won’t allow campaign photographers to politicize the event. Obama had originally wanted to give his speech at Berlin’s historic Brandenberg Gate, where Presidents Kennedy and Reagan had given speeches, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel was against that because Obama is only a candidate, not a President, and is thus only electioneering. Berlin’s socialist mayor, Klaus Wowereit, eventually manages to arrange for Obama to speak to the rock concert audience. (Some argue that expenses incurred by the city of Berlin to accommodate and protect Obama, who is only a candidate, represent an illegal campaign contribution from a foreign source, and a complaint is filed with the FEC on February 26, 2009.) [353,1407,1408,1409]

While on his July tour of Iraq and Europe, Obama meets with the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy. In private, Sarkozy refers to Obama’s position on Iran as “utterly immature” and consisting of “formulations empty of all content.” According to Israeli sources, Sarkozy tells Obama that if the next American president changes his country’s policy toward Iran, that would be “very problematic.”  [415]

In July and August of 2008, the head of Nigeria’s stock market holds Obama fundraisers in Lagos, Nigeria. An estimated $900,000 is raised for Obama, despite the fact that it is illegal for the campaign to collect contributions from foreign countries. The media fails to investigate illegal Obama campaign contributions but, in response to a comedy skit on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” that mocked Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, sends a reporter to Alaska’s remote Little Diomede island in order to confirm whether Russia can, in fact, be seen from the United States. (It can… Alaska and Russia are separated by only 2.4 miles of open water at their closest point.) [245,1658]

The “Las Vegas Review-Journal” reports that a Clark County official “sees rampant fraud in the 2,000 to 3,000 registrations ACORN turns in every week.” Nevada is one of the states targeted by Obama as one he can switch from Republican to Democrat. Vote fraud may be the reason for his confidence. [240]

In August, Obama vacations in Hawaii. He spends a mere one hour with his maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham. He is not accompanied by his wife or two daughters, who may very likely never again see Dunham, age 86. [329]

In a letter to a homosexual rights group called the “Family Equality Council,” Obama pledges he will overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. [337]

At a campaign appearance in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Obama states that he would eventually consider a single-payer health care system, but not immediately. He admits that, “If I were designing a system from scratch, I would probably go ahead with a single-payer system.” Although Obama’s preference is for a single-payer socialized system that would eliminate private insurance companies and have the government pay all health-care bills with tax dollars, he remarks that “People don’t have time to wait… My attitude is, let’s build up the system we got (sic), let’s make it more efficient, we maybe over time… (can insure) that there are other ways for us to provide care more effectively.” [426]

The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates that Obama’s tax plan would add at least $3.4 trillion to the national debt, including interest, by 2018. [171]

The media reports that Obama’s half-brother, George Obama (b. 1982), lives in poverty in a slum outside Nairobi. Obama provides his brother with no financial assistance (possibly because doing so would do nothing to help his candidacy), but supports a United Nations “anti-global poverty tax” that would cost Americans approximately $65 billion per year, with much of it going to Africa – through the incompetent, fraud-laden United Nations. [173,174,175,277,289]

In addition to Obama’s half-brother George in a Nairobi slum, it is learned that the candidate has a half-aunt and half-uncle living in a Boston, Massachusetts slum neighborhood. Zeituni Onyango walks with a cane and, despite being poor, manages to scrape together a $260 donation for the Obama campaign. Onyango is in the United States illegally. She refuses to talk to the media about Obama, but says she will do so after the election. Her request for asylum was rejected by a judge in 2004. Onyango’s brother, Omar Onyango Obama, also lives in poverty in Boston. He had been evicted from a one-room flat for failing to pay his rent. [427,441,968]

Obama’s “global poverty program,” to the extent it follows the United Nations “Millennium Goals” on which it is based, would be paid for with a “currency transfer tax,” a “tax on the rental value of land and natural resources,” a “royalty on worldwide fossil energy production – oil, natural gas, coal…  fees for the commercial use of the oceans, fees for the airplane use of the skies, fees for the use of the electromagnetic spectrum, fees on foreign exchange transactions, and a tax on the carbon content of fuels.” Obama has already introduced the legislation as Senate Bill S 2433. Co-sponsors of the bill include Democrats Maria Cantwell of Washington, Dianne Feinstein of California, Richard Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and Republicans Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Richard Lugar of Indiana. [277]

Reporter Stanley Kurtz asks to view the historical public records of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC), an education reform program led by Obama and William Ayers. There is an initial refusal to release the records, orchestrated by Ken Rolling, former executive director of the CAC and an associate of Obama and Ayers. The records are eventually released – after being “cleansed” of sensitive documents by Rolling and others. Rolling, like Obama and Ayers, is a former board member of the Woods Fund. [176,177]

Obama states, “Nobody has spoken out more fiercely on the issue of anti-Semitism than I have,” a claim that is widely ridiculed for its outrageousness. Obama also states that Hezbollah and Hamas have legitimate grievances, and offers to sit down with their leaders and the leaders of Muslim nations to listen to their complaints. (Their number one grievance is the very existence of Israel and Jews.) [202]

The Democrat National Convention

At the Democrat National Convention, despite the enormous convention center being good enough for the Kennedy and Clinton speeches, Obama insists on giving his acceptance speech at a football stadium that seats 76,000. Saul Alinsky’s son, Lee David Alinsky, praises Obama for learning his father’s socialist revolution “lesson well.” The over-inflated Obama ego is consistent with Alinsky’s advice that “Ego must be so all-pervading that the personality of the organizer is contagious, that it converts the people from despair to defiance, creating a mass ego.” [267,272]

Obama is able to get away with such arrogance because he knows how to “play the crowd.” In his book, “Dreams From my Father,” he wrote, “It was usually an effective tactic, another one of those tricks I had learned: People were satisfied so long as you were courteous and smiled and made no sudden moves. They were more than satisfied, they were relieved – such a pleasant surprise to find a well-mannered young black man who didn’t seem angry all the time.” [337]

Obama’s acceptance speech is wildly applauded by Democrats and the media. MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann swoons, “For forty-two minutes not a sour note, and spellbinding throughout in a way usually reserved for the creation of fiction.” Republicans listening to the speech likely believe it is, in fact, a work of fiction. [1588]

Obama versus McCain

The Obama campaign runs an anti-McCain ad criticizing him for not being computer savvy and not sending e-mails. Apparently Obama’s team did not realize McCain has his wife and other people type e-mail responses for him because the North Vietnamese broke his fingers and shattered his arms while imprisoned in Hanoi. The Obama campaign never issues McCain an apology. [185]

Obama receives about $300,000 in contributions each year from Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Countrywide Financial, and Washington Mutual. After less than four years in office those companies and their employees had given Obama a total of $1,093,329.00. Just over half is from Goldman Sachs alone. [212]

In late August, the Washington post reports that Obama sought more than $3.4 million in Congressional earmarks for clients of lobbyist Hunter Biden, son of Senator Joe Biden. That same month Obama obtains $192,000 for St. Xavier University, in Orland Park, Illinois, although he requested $1.4 million. [839]

When Chicago’s WGN radio interviews David Freddoso, author of “The Case Against Barack Obama,” Obama’s campaign sends an “Obama Action Wire” to key supporters, encouraging them to protest the program and call in repeatedly to tie up its telephone lines so that regular listeners can’t get through. The same had been done when WGN interviewed Stanley Kurtz, a reporter who had been prevented from trying to gain access to public documents of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. [183,184]

It is learned that the Obama campaign funneled over $800,000 to “Citizens Services, Inc.” (CSI), a “shell corporation” set up by ACORN in December of 2004. (There are conflicting reports of the name; it may be “Citizens Consulting, Inc.”) To hide the fact that Obama was giving money to ACORN, the money was instead given to CSI. The campaign then misled the Federal Elections Commission by listing the funds as going toward “stage, lighting, and sound” expenses when, in fact, the cash went toward get-out-the-vote projects. CSI and ACORN headquarters have the same business address. (ACORN and CSI also have over $3 million in outstanding IRS tax liens.)  [284,285,400,1971]

In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopolous, Obama discusses his lack of military experience, stating that “I had to sign up for selective service when I graduated from High School. I actually always thought of the military as an ennobling and, you know, honorable option.” Obama then makes the remarkable statement that he chose not to enlist only because the war in Vietnam had ended: “I graduated in 1979. The Vietnam War had come to an end. We weren’t engaged in an active military conflict at that point. And so, it’s not an option that I ever decided to pursue.” (That is, he is making the remarkable argument that he did not enlist only because the U.S. was not at war, and expects people to believe he would have eagerly joined if he had the chance to serve in combat in Vietnam.) Note that Obama did not, in fact, have to sign up for selective service when he graduated from high school in 1979. Draft registration ended on March 29, 1975, and was not re-instated until July 21, 1980… more than a year after Obama’s high school graduation. [483,991,1002]

On September 4, 2008, Senator John McCain leads Obama in a Gallup poll, 48-45 per cent. McCain has his largest lead, 49-44 per cent, on September 6. On September 4, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is at $11,188.23. [1237,1238]

On September 6 word starts to spread that Fannie Mae is having financial problems. [1385]

On Thursday, September 11, 2008, with the DJIA at $11,433.71 and John McCain leading Obama in the polls, an unprecedented amount of cash is electronically withdrawn from money market accounts – as much as $550 billion over a period of a few hours. The unprecedented electronic run on the banks leads the Treasury department to temporarily halt withdrawals. Some speculate the withdrawals are part of an organized, orchestrated plan of economic terrorism to disrupt the American (and world) economy and lower the value of many banks and investment firms, making it easier for others to swoop down and purchase them at reduced prices, while also creating the confusion, fear, and uncertainties to help elect Obama and make it easier to expand the role of government in socialist directions. The intentional run on the money market accounts has barely been publicized and, if it has been thoroughly investigated, the results of the investigation have not been disclosed. Hungarian-born leftist billionaire George Soros, who funds Democrat campaigns and organizations like moveon.org, is among the buyers of the suddenly de-valued businesses. (Soros made an astounding $2.4 billion in 2008, much of it by betting on a rise in the price of oil and a collapse of the housing market. While most Americans were losing 40 per cent of their 401(k) and IRA investments, Soros’ $17 billion Quantum Endowment Fund made 32 per cent. His successes lead some to wonder if Soros was able to manipulate events for his purposes, as he had successfully done in the past with currency manipulations. For tax purposes the Quantum Fund, like most Soros enterprises, is based outside the U.S.) [1152,1177,1183,1201,1215,1238,1389,1390]

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fail, partly because of Enron-like accounting practices, and are rescued in a multi-billion dollar federal bail-out. An Obama economic and housing policy advisor, Franklin Raines, had been chief executive of Fannie Mae in 2002. When staff advised him of bookkeeping problems and earnings manipulations, Raines fired the whistleblowers rather than correct the problems. Raines also forced Fannie Mae employees to falsify accounting records to enable him to receive larger pay bonuses. Another recipient of improperly inflated bonuses was Jamie Gorelick, formerly of the Clinton Administration. Raines was eventually forced out of Fannie Mae because of accounting fraud, after obtaining nearly $50 million in improperly calculated bonuses. Raines paid back only a small portion of that amount. (Obama and Christopher Dodd are the top Senate recipients of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.) Raines was also involved in the collapse of Countrywide Financial, which provided “special loan rates” for “well-connected” people like James Johnson (an advisor to Obama who was on his vice-presidential selection team and who preceded Raines as CEO of Fannie Mae), and Senator Christopher Dodd. Note that Democrats added tens of millions of dollars for ACORN in the original Fannie Mae “bail out” bill. Those funds were removed before the final bill was passed (but restored in a future bill. [179,284,364]

Although the Obama campaign states that Raines has not been an official advisor, the Washington Post reported that Obama has sought “his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters.” [364]

On September 12, Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy protection. The DJIA is at $11,421.99 [1238]

In Dover, New Hampshire, Obama states, “I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes” (Obama later breaks that pledge just two weeks into his Presidency when he raises cigarette taxes from $0.39 to $1.00 per pack.) [1076]

On September 13, Obama suggests re-instating the military draft, with his remarks that his job as President would include demanding that the American people recognize an “obligation” for military service. “If we are going into war, then all of us go, not just some.” [340]

On September 14, according to a Gallup poll, Obama re-takes the lead from opponent McCain, 47-45 per cent. [1237]

On September 17, the DJIA is at $10,609.66. The Federal Reserve loans $85 billion to the insurance giant, American International Group (AIG), to avoid bankruptcy. (AIG’s U.S. business had been successfully led by Maurice R. “Hank” Greenberg from 1962 until early 2005, when New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer went after Greenberg and AIG business practices, some say largely to enhance his public image for a later run for Governor. Spitzer’s pressure led the AIG board to replace Greenberg with Martin J. Sullivan, who promptly led AIG to colossal losses. Spitzer was elected Governor of New York in 2006, proposed a bill legalizing same-sex marriages and issued an executive order allowing illegal aliens to get drivers licenses. After being identified as a frequent patron of prostitutes Spitzer, citing “private failings,” resigned in March of 2008. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson had called Spitzer the “future of the Democratic Party.”) [1238,1741,1742]

Key decisions in the handling of the Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG bail-outs are made by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and New York Federal Reserve Bank president Timothy Geithner. Success or failure of the bail-outs belongs to that threesome. The Washington Post writes (under the headline, “In the Crucible of Crisis, Paulson, Bernanke, Geithner Forge a Committee of Three”), “As they chart a government response to the crisis, the stakes could hardly be higher. If they succeed, they could tame the economic downturn and orchestrate a restructuring of Wall Street with minimal collateral damage. If they fail, the toll could be millions of jobs, trillions of dollars in lost wealth and a crisis of confidence in global capitalism.” So far the trio has shown inconsistency, allowing Lehman Brothers to fail but bailing out AIG. [1785,1786]

On September 18, President Bush reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was stepping up its enforcement actions “against illegal market manipulation.” Bush did not elaborate on what those manipulations were. One might suspect that Bush was referring to the $550 billion in money market withdrawals just a week earlier, on September 11. [1215]

On September 19, President Bush announces that the SEC had “…launched rigorous enforcement actions to detect fraud and manipulation in the market. Anyone engaging in illegal financial transactions will be caught and persecuted (sic).” It is unclear if Bush is referring to the September 11, 2008 money market withdrawals. The SEC announces, on the same day, a “sweeping expansion of its ongoing investigation into possible market manipulation in the securities of certain financial institutions.” [1215]

Federal Election Commission records reveal that Obama received $137,950 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae (and $68,750 from Freddie Mac), second only to Christopher Dodd (who received $165,400). John Kerry is in third place with $111,000. As of September, 2008, Obama’s Senate and Presidential campaigns had also received significant contributions from failed financial institutions that included Bear Stearns ($570,614) and Lehman Brothers ($370,524). Lehman Brothers is owed at least $250 million by BNP Paribas, a French bank whose biggest shareholder is Nadhmi Auchi. Auchi, a friend and financer of Toney Rezko and contributor to Obama campaigns, made a fortune through the United Nations “Oil for Food” scandal with Saddam Hussein. [178,179,180,181,182]

Obama encourages supporters to be rude to Republicans and undecided independents, telling them, “I want you to argue with them and get in their face.” [213,214]

On September 24, lawyers for Obama and the Democrat National Committee file a Joint Motion to Dismiss (on the last day to file a response) the case of Berg v. Obama, No. 08-CV-04083, which purports that Obama is ineligible to be President of the United States because he was born in Kenya. Inasmuch as it should have been easier to produce proof of Obama’s birth and citizenship than fight the lawsuit, this delay tactic suggests Obama does not, in fact, have the proof. One of Obama’s lawyers is Joe Sanders, of the Washington law firm of Sandler, Reiff, and Young. Sanders also represents the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization with terrorist ties which is an un-indicted co-conspirator in the Holyland Foundation Hamas Funding trial. (Interestingly, out of more than one million lawyers in the United States available to represent Obama, he chose one with direct ties to CAIR and who is also named as a co-conspirator in a case involving fraud.) [216,226,325,368]

Although current lawsuits challenging Obama’s status as a natural born citizen may be unlikely to get him removed from office, they may have the effect of prompting several states to toughen the rules for getting his name on future ballots. Obama may therefore find it impossible to appear on the ballot of some states in 2012 unless he provides those states with proof that he is, in fact, a natural born citizen. (In early 2009 Oklahoma State Representative Mike Ritze proposes a bill requiring that anyone running for elected office show proof of U.S. citizenship, and Ohio Representative Diana Fessler proposes a resolution that asks the Electoral College to “exercise due diligence to ensure that the persons for whom they cast their ballots for president and vice president of the United States are citizens of the United States” by examining candidates’ birth certificates.) [1328]

On September 24, as the Wall Street crisis is unfolding and his Republican rival John McCain returns to Washington, Obama remains on the campaign trail and gives a press conference. When asked if he would be going back to Washington he responds, “So, you know, I think the message is, if you need us, if I can be helpful, I’m prepared to be there at any point.” (In other words, “If they need me they’ll call me.”) Neither Obama nor McCain make any public comments about the $550 billion withdrawn from money market accounts on September 11, which arguably precipitated the economic crisis, and neither candidate calls for an investigation of the unprecedented withdrawals, which would disclose who made the withdrawals and for what purpose. [1200,1201]

On Friday, September 26 the House of Representatives rejects the first attempt at the $700 billion Bush-Paulson bail-out plan. The DJIA is at $11,143.13. On Monday the DJIA drops to $10,365.45. [1238]

Leading “Code Pink” activists and Obama fundraisers Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York in September. While in New York, Ahmadinejad gives a speech at Columbia University. His appearance is coordinated by long-time Obama friend Rashid Khalidi, and possibly encouraged by Zbigniew Brzezinski, an anti-Semite and Obama foreign policy advisor who taught international relations at Columbia University. [215,220,395]

Obama and his wife attend the wedding of one of Rashid Khaildi’s daughters. Other guests include William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn. The date of the event is believed to be in the months immediately preceding the November election. [521]

Obama enlists St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, and Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer as a so-called “truth squad” in an effort to intimidate radio and television stations into not airing ads critical of Obama. They warn citizens that they will bring criminal libel prosecutions against anyone who makes false statements about Obama. The tactic is immediately criticized by Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, who says, “The only conceivable purpose of Messrs. McCulloch, Obama and the others is to frighten people away from expressing themselves, to chill free and open debate, to suppress support and donations to conservative organizations targeted by this anti-civil rights, to strangle criticism of Mr. Obama, to suppress ads about his support of higher taxes, and to choke out criticism on television, radio, the Internet, blogs, e-mail and daily conversation about the election.” [221,256]

In the first Presidential debate with Senator McCain on September 26, Obama brings attention to a bracelet he is wearing in honor of a slain Wisconsin soldier, Brian Jopek, despite requests from Jopek’s family that Obama stop wearing it and stop referring to it. McCain proposes a spending freeze on all federal spending other than defense, veterans, and entitlement programs. Obama says that is “using a hatchet when you need a scalpel,” but is unable or unwilling to name any significant programs he would cut. [222,1205]

Public Middle Schools in Racine, Wisconsin issue a new (copyright 2008) textbook to students that contains 15 pages complimenting candidate Obama on his “life of service.” The book is published by McDougal, Littell and Company. Alfred L. McDougal contributes to the Obama campaign, and is apparently confident enough he will win the election to have the books printed. [401,402]

In late September, former Presidential candidate and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson tells a group of Hispanics that “Barack Obama is the best candidate for the Hispanic community because our community wants a united country. Obama is an immigrant. When he speaks to Latinos, he doesn’t just speak about immigration and civil rights…” Richardson does not elaborate on what he means by “Obama is an immigrant.” It may be an inadvertent public recognition by Richardson that he knows Obama was not born in the United States. [629]

In September and October of 2008, an auditor at the federal Election Commission requests a formal investigation into Obama campaign contributions, suspecting it of collecting $200 million or more in illegal contributions, including illegal foreign donations. The auditor states, “I believe we are looking at a hijacking of our political system that makes the Clinton and Gore fundraising scandals pale in comparison.” [231]

In September, all references to Obama’s previous opposition to the successful troop surge in Iraq are removed from the official Obama web sites. [270]

The Obama staffers in charge of the campaign’s “small” (less than $200) Internet campaign contributions are Obama’s former college roommates from Pakistan, Muhammad Hasan Chandoo and Wahid Hamid. Those “small” contributions total at least $223 million, and many are believed to be illegal contributions from foreign countries. Campaigns are required to keep track of names of those who contribute more than $200 in aggregate, and verify their nationality as U.S., but the Obama campaign does not – in direct violation of federal election laws. Note that in addition to working directly for the Obama campaign, Chandoo, with his brother, maintains a web site that is arguably anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-women, and vulgar. [245,332]

Allegations surface that proof of Obama’s Indonesian citizenship and adoption are being suppressed by the Indonesian government in exchange for cash and political favors. U.S. Congressman Eni Faleomavaega (a non-voting Democrat Congressman from American Samoa and Obama supporter) visited Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in July of 2007 and is suspected of having secured government records damaging to Obama’s candidacy. In exchange for document turnover and document suppression, money was to be given to the school attended by Obama, more cash for the government would come later, and the Congressman would attempt to foster a “hands off” policy with regard to the Indonesian government’s continuing suppression of rights of Christians in Papua. If these allegations are true, and Faleomavaega acted at Obama’s request, both are guilty of felonies and violations of the Logan Act. [303,321,323,337,1017]

On October 1, Congress passes a “bail-out bill” to give more than $700 billion to Wall Street to rescue it from bad investments in sub-prime mortgages – mortgages that had been aggressively encouraged by the government itself for 30 years. The bail-out bill includes over $112 billion in “pork,” including $6 million in tax breaks for wooden-arrow manufacturers in Oregon, $148 million in tax breaks for wool-producing companies, $128 million in tax breaks for the manufacturers of automobile race tracks, $10 million in tax breaks for small television and film producers, $223 million in tax breaks for Alaskan fishermen, and $192 million in tax breaks for rum producers in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Both Obama and his opponent, John McCain, vote for the bail-out bill. Over the next seven trading sessions the stock market drops 24 per cent. [247,1151]

The bail-out bill also includes $33 million in tax breaks for corporations operating in American Samoa. One of the two largest employers there is Star-Kist Tuna. Star-Kist’s parent company, Del Monte, has headquarters in San Francisco, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district. Star-Kist is also a major Pelosi contributor, and Pelosi’s husband owns $17 million in Star-Kist stock. Star-Kist is the only company operating in U.S. territories that is exempted from federal minimum wage laws. Despite the obvious conflict of interest, Pelosi supports the Star-Kist tax breaks. Obama raises no objections and votes for the bill. [397,398,399]

On October 6, 2008, Obama and the Democrat National Committee file a “Joint Motion for Protective Order to Stay Discovery Pending a Decision on the (9/24/2008) Motion to Dismiss.” With that motion, Obama and the DNC attempt to further stall the lawsuit demanding that Obama provide his actual birth certificate to prove he is technically a U.S. citizen eligible to become President. The assumption is that Obama cannot provide a certified copy of a Hawaiian “vault” birth certificate because it somehow damages his candidacy, perhaps by confirming a place of birth other than Hawaii or a father other than Barack Obama, Sr. The attorney who filed the lawsuit, attorney Philip J. Berg, asserts that Obama is ineligible to be President, and that he “…is an illegal alien and therefore should be arrested, tried, and deported. He certainly cannot hold his Senate seat.” [241,299]

On October 7, WND staff reporter, researcher, and author (“The Obama Nation”) Jerome Corsi is detained by authorities in Kenya just as he is about to hold a press conference in which he planned to describe evidence of Obama’s dealings and connections with controversial Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The news conference would allegedly be used to “expose details of deep secret ties between U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and a section of Kenya government leaders, their connection to certain sectoral groups in Kenya and subsequent plot to be executed in Kenya should Senator Obama win the American presidency.” Corsi’s detainment is ordered by Obama’s cousin, Raila Odinga, who had received almost one million dollars in campaign support from Obama. While on a taxpayer-funded trip to Kenya, Obama had even appeared publicly with Odinga to support his pro-Sharia candidacy. [242,726]

During the October 7 televised debate with John McCain, Obama states, “I’m cutting more than I’m spending so that it will be a net spending cut.” [718,1048]

In October of 2008, Obama’s newly appointed “Muslim Outreach Advisor,” Minha Husaini, is criticized for having met with extremist Islamic groups on September 15. Husaini’s predecessor had resigned because of connections to a radical Muslim cleric. Among those meeting with Husaini was Mazen Asbahi (who Husaini had just replaced as outreach director), Mahdi Bray, who has publicly supported Hamas and Hezbollah, and Johari Abdul Malik, a Falls Church, Virginia cleric, who told followers in November of 2004, “You will see Islam move from being the second largest religion in America – to being the first religion in America.” [254,829]

In October, ACORN works to remove potentially damaging information connecting Obama with the group from its web pages. Among the items deleted is an article that discusses Obama’s training of ACORN leaders. By October, the Obama campaign claims he had never organized with ACORN and had nothing to do with voter registration drives. [283]

On October 10, stories surface that Tony “the fixer” Rezko may be giving up incriminating information about Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and Obama, in order to receive a lighter prison sentence for his 16 felony convictions for receiving kick-backs for political favors. Word also leaks that federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is leading a team of FBI investigators in 10 states working on a RICO case involving ACORN. The investigation may be focused on a conspiracy to commit multi-state voter fraud on Obama’s behalf. Fitzgerald is the prosecutor who convicted Tony Rezko and Lewis “Scooter” Libby. If elected, Obama can fire prosecutor Fitzgerald and shut down the investigation. [281,282,290,315]

At an October 12 campaign appearance in Holland, Ohio, Obama is asked by a self-employed plumber, Joe Wurzelbacher, who was considering starting his own business, why he must pay higher taxes for everyone else’s benefit. Obama’s response is, “It’s not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody that is behind you, that they have a chance for success too.”  Obama then adds a sentiment straight from the socialist handbook, “I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.” [295,312]

After “Joe the plumber” was brought up by John McCain in the third Presidential debate to illustrate Obama’s socialist leanings, Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, approves a search of the state’s child-support records to find damaging information on Wurzelbacher. Jones-Kelley, who contributed $2,300 to the Obama campaign, said there were “no political reasons” for the query. It was later disclosed that Jones-Kelly also looked into whether Wurzelbacher was receiving welfare assistance or was behind in unemployment compensation taxes. At least four separate government agencies have been found to have conducted checks into his background. Ohio’s Inspector General is investigating the incident. Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, a Democrat, said he is satisfied there were no “political overtures” in Jones-Kelley’s actions. [405,436]

It is worth noting, in relation to Obama’s response to “Joe the plumber,” that Obama advisor Cass Sunstein advocates Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proposed “second bill of rights” in his book, “The Second Bill of Rights: FDR’s Unfinished Revolution and Why We Need It More than Ever.” Roosevelt’s list of rights includes a right to an education, home, health care, and a “right to protection against monopolies.” Sunstein argues that these rights should be instituted, but neglects to mention, for example, who will be paying for someone else’s “right to a home.” [403,404]

It is reported that Obama’s public relations staffer, Marilyn Katz, was the “security chief” for the Students for a Democratic Society, and was involved in the 1968 Democrat Party Convention riots. Katz advocated throwing studded nails in front of approaching police car tires, and throwing plastic bags of human excrement, cans of urine, and golf balls with nails at the police.  As PR person for Obama, one of Katz’ jobs is to downplay the candidate’s past relationship with William Ayers. Katz herself, as a prominent SDS leader, was an associate of Ayers in the 1960s. Of her 1960s activism, Katz says she was for “sexual freedom and a democratic socialist paradise.” Katz, a member of Obama’s National Finance Committee, has held fundraisers for Obama in her home and has collected $50,000 – $100,000 on his behalf. (A now-revived SDS was behind some of the violence at the 2008 Republican National Convention.) [320,837,1282]
 
On October 15, 2008, in what later appears to be a massive hoax, “African Press International” (API) reports that Michelle Obama telephoned its offices to complain about reports of people challenging her husband’s eligibility to be President. In the conversation she allegedly states, “African press International is supposed to support Africans and African-American view(s). It is strange that API has chosen to support the racists against my husband. There is no shame in being adopted by a step-father. All dirt has been thrown onto my husband’s face and yet he loves this country. My husband and I know that there is no law that will stop him from becoming the president, just because some American white racists are bringing up the issue of my husband’s adoption by his step-father. The important thing here is where my husband’s heart is at the moment. I can tell the American people that my husband loves this country and his adoption never changed his love for this country. He was born in Hawaii, yes, and that gives him all the right to be an American citizen even though he was adopted by a foreigner.” [306,307,308,309,317]

The story is likely illegitimate but, if true, the candidate’s wife, in her statement, unknowingly admits that Obama was adopted by Indonesian Lolo Soetoro, which may mean he may still be an Indonesian citizen ineligible to be U.S. President. She is incorrect in saying there is “no law” that will stop him; there certainly are laws defining the eligibility requirements, and if he doesn’t satisfy them he cannot be President. Obama’s wife also allegedly tells API that if it writes a “complimentary story” about her husband they will then be invited to an Obama inauguration ceremony. The Obama campaign denies that his wife spoke with API. API says the conversation was recorded and the tape will be released, after it gives Mrs. Obama a chance to clarify her side of the story. [306,307,308,309,317]

API purportedly agrees to allow Fox News to broadcast the tape of the telephone call from Michelle Obama, but Fox News denies the story. In late October, API is allegedly offered $2 million by Ed Hale, President of Plains Radio in Texas, to cancel its agreement with Fox. The Obama campaign itself then supposedly offers API a $3 million bribe to suppress the information, withhold the tape, and renege on its agreement with Fox. API says it will work with its lawyers and treat the cash offer as an illegal bribery attempt. It is likely that the entire API story is untrue. [417,435]

A review of major Obama contributors shows the name James Reynolds, Jr., of Loop Capital Markets, LLC. Reynolds is a close friend of Obama and a member of his National Finance Committee. In 2003, Reynolds was recorded by the FBI wiretaps arranging a “sham” consulting contract and dealing in no-bid contracts. [833]

A lawsuit is filed in the State of Washington by Steven R. Marquis demanding that the Secretary of State obtain proof that Obama is eligible to be President of the United States or remove his name from the November 4 ballot. [307,331,406]

James Pethokopukis, reporter for the U.S. News and World Reports, relates on October 16 that a University of Chicago professor he spoke with and who knew Obama considered him “…as close to a full-out Marxist as anyone who has ever run for President of the United States.” [314]

The media reports that, at an October 15 Sarah Palin campaign event in Scranton, Pennsylvania, someone in the crowd shouted “Kill him!” when Obama’s name was mentioned by the speaker, Congressional candidate Chris Hackett. The report gets quick, widespread coverage by the pro-Obama media, despite the fact that no one in the crowd heard the shout – except the reporter for the ScrantonTimes-Tribune. Secret Service agents and police officers present state they did not hear the threat, and interviewed attendees who all denied having heard it. [311]

Key Obama policy aide Jason Grunet, executive director of the “National Commission on Energy Policy,” states that if Congress doesn’t move within 18 months to tighten rules with regard to carbon dioxide emissions, Obama would instruct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to institute its own unilateral enforcement crackdown anyway. (In other words, if Congress doesn’t pass the “global warming” laws Obama wants, he’ll go ahead and implement his own regulations on carbon dioxide emissions.) Grunet is concerned that Congress – even a Democrat Congress – will be unlikely to go along with excessive taxes on carbon emissions because they would cause skyrocketing prices, business failures, and massive job losses. Obama would avoid the issue of Congressional approval by forcing the EPA to enforce strict “pollution” guidelines – but they will have the same disastrous price increase effects. (Note that “Rules for Radicals” author Saul Alinsky suggested using environmental issues as a convenient, and possibly non-legislative, way for a socialist-leaning government to control industry and take over businesses.) [330]

There is speculation that Obama would reward Hillary Clinton with a Supreme Court nomination if he is elected. [337]

Obama receives the endorsement of General Colin Powell, who says on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Obama “is a transformational figure.” Powell admits that Obama has a thin resume, but is “surrounding himself with people who will be able to give him the expertise that he at the moment does not have.” For the endorsement Powell receives considerable criticism from his fellow Republicans, although Powell is known to be a “Republican in Name Only” (“RINO”) because of his generally weak – if not almost non-existent – commitment to conservative principles. Powell cites no concrete justifications for endorsing Obama, leading many to believe the move was primarily due to race. [1596]

Obama complains to a North Carolina crowd about attacks suggesting he is Muslim, warning that “they (meaning whites and Republicans) will try to hoodwink you, to bamboozle you.” His words are immediately recognized by blacks as those of Malcolm X, repeated in Spike Lee’s film biography of the slain civil rights leader: “You’ve been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok.” (Ironically, Obama uses the words of a black Muslim socialist to respond to those who are calling him a racist, Muslim, and a socialist.) Obama is able to use socialist “code words” with black audiences (like “tax fairness” to mean “soak the rich white folks”), while enjoying the enviable position of deflecting almost any criticism – valid or not – simply by suggesting his attackers are racist. [1594,1595,1596]

In Fayetteville, North Carolina, a heckler shouts “Socialist, socialist, socialist!” at Obama until his supporters make her stop. [1596]

Without realizing reporters are present, Obama’s Vice-Presidential running mate, Joe Biden, says to a public gathering, “Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. Remember, I said it standing here, if you don’t remember anything else I said. We’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.” [363]

On October 23, attorney Philip J. Berg states he has a recording of a telephone conversation in which Obama’s paternal grandmother, speaking long distance to someone in the United States, confirms the candidate was born in Kenya and that she was present in the hospital delivery room. The same day Obama heads to Hawaii to visit his ailing maternal grandmother. There is speculation that the purpose of Obama’s trip may also be to search her apartment for documents that may help him fight the lawsuits demanding that he prove he is eligible to serve as President. [367,371,558,580]

The Urban Institute Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center analyzes the McCain and Obama tax policies and calculates that McCain’s proposals would cut taxes by $628 billion over 10 years, while Obama’s would raise them by $734 billion over the same period. [337]

Obama’s list of accomplishments in the U.S. Senate consists of getting two bills passed: one to send foreign aid to the Congo and another to name a post office. [337]

By October 24, at least seven additional lawsuits have been filed in state and federal courts in Hawaii, Washington, California, Florida, Georgia, New York, and Connecticut to demand that Obama release his birth records. Lawsuits in Washington and Georgia seek to force the states’ secretary of state, as the chief state elections officer, to require Obama to produce original birth records from Hawaii, or remove him from the November 4 ballot. [372]

On October 24, Federal Judge R. Barclay Surrick in Philadelphia, a Clinton appointee, tosses out the Berg lawsuit. A plaintiff, such as Berg, who wishes to have standing to sue must show (1) a particularized injury-in-fact, (2) evidence showing that that the party being sued actually caused the plaintiff’s particularized injury-in-fact, and (3) that adjudication of the matter would actually provide redress. Inasmuch as Berg is an American citizen, that in and of itself should suggest he has standing. Judge Surrick chose to avoid responsibility in the case and instead dumped the issue in the lap of Congress, knowing that a Democrat Congress will not address the issue. Motions filed by Obama’s lawyers prior to Surrick’s ruling argued that revealing certain Obama information (birth certificate, citizenship papers, school records, etc.) would “cause a defined and serious injury” to Obama, would raise a “legitimate privacy concern,” and create a risk that “particularly serious embarrassment will result from turning over the requested documentation.” (Coincidentally, Christopher B. Seaman, former law clerk for Judge Surrick, is currently employed by Sidley Austin LLP, the former employer of Obama, Michelle Robinson Obama, and Bernadine Dohrn.) [374,375,425]

Judge Surrick states, “If, through the political process, Congress determines that citizens, voters, or party members should police the Constitution’s eligibility requirements for the Presidency, then it is free to pass laws conferring standing on individuals like Plaintiff. Until that time, voters do not have standing to bring the sort of challenge that Plaintiff attempts to bring in the Amended Complaint.” This response by the judge suggests that a Presidential candidate need not have been born in the United States; it is apparently sufficient for him to simply say that he was born in the United States – and the voters can’t do a thing about it unless and until Congress feels like passing a law. Attorney Philip J. Berg will appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. [374,375,376]

Judge Surrick illogically states that challenger Berg “would have us derail the democratic process by invalidating a candidate for whom millions of people voted and who underwent excessive vetting during what was one of the most hotly contested presidential primary (sic) in living memory.” Berg’s lawsuit cannot, of course, “invalidate” an eligible candidate, it could only lead to the removal of an ineligible candidate from the ballot. Berg is thus only asking the Court to require proof of eligibility, not to deny anyone the right to vote for a qualified candidate. In a remarkable statement that many voters might vehemently disagree with, Judge Surrick argues that a “candidate’s ineligibility under the Natural Born Citizen Clause does not result in an injury in fact to voters.” (According to the judge, voters are not harmed by fraud perpetrated by an ineligible candidate.) [424]

On October 24, Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) tells the editorial board of The Standard-Times that Obama and the Democrats will slash military spending by 25 per cent, forcing America to withdraw troops from Iraq. [377]

In October, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) suspends all funding for ACORN, Obama’s main voter-registration drive organization, after learning that $948,000 had been embezzled from ACORN by Dale Rathke, the brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke (friend of William Ayers and former SDS member). The embezzlement occurred in 1999, but the information did not become public until June of 2008 – Wade Rathke had kept the embezzlement secret even from ACORN board members. No charges have been filed against Dale Rathke, and Wade Rathke remains chief organizer for ACORN International LLC. Wade Rathke also runs a subsidiary of the Tides Foundation called the “Tides Center,” a “social action” network and community activist group. The Tides Foundation (a favorite charity of Theresa Heinz Kerry) contributes to leftist organizations like ACORN, the ACLU, CAIR, Earth Justice, PETA National Lawyers Guild, Center for American Progress, and the Institute for Policy Studies [390,391,1280,1971]

In October, U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus, a 1996 Clinton appointee, rules that Ohio counties must allow homeless voters to list park benches and other locations that are not buildings as their addresses. [410]

The Obama campaign intentionally fails to apply basic security measures to prevent illegal and anonymous contributions from being submitted by credit card via the Internet. Approximately two-thirds of the $150 million Obama collected in September of 2008 came through Internet credit card donations, including untraceable pre-paid “gift cards” that can readily conceal illegal contributions (such as foreign contributions or donations in excess of the $2,300 individual limit). [423]

Pittsburgh attorney Heather S. Heidelbaugh tries a case against ACORN in October alleging voter fraud, misrepresentation, and violation of the equal protection clause and due process. A witness testifies in court about Obama’s links to ACORN. Although CNN has a reporter and camera at the trial, the story is never aired. Heidelbaugh is told by CNN, “We’re not going with this story, (because) it’s a game-changer.” She is told essentially the same thing by ABC, which also did not want to air a story detrimental to Obama close to election day. [1469,1472]

A Washington State lawsuit challenging Obama’s eligibility to serve as President is dismissed by King County Judge John Erlick, who states the challenge “may be a positive idea,” but Washington law clearly prevents the Secretary of State from getting involved and performing any external fact-checking. [411]

On October 27, Leo Donofrio sues the Secretary of State of New Jersey (Donofrio v. Wells), demanding that she execute her duties to police the security of ballots from fraudulent candidates ineligible to hold the office of President. Candidate Roger Calero, of the Socialist Workers Party, also appears on the New Jersey Ballot. Calero, a native of Nicaragua, clearly is not a natural born citizen of the United States, yet his name was allowed on the ballot by the New Jersey Secretary of State. Donofrio’s lawsuit argues that the Secretary of State, whose office is responsible for running the elections, should insure that a candidate is eligible to serve as President before adding his or her name to the ballot. Secretaries of States in states other than New Jersey had, in fact, refused to place Calero’s name on the ballot. The Donofrio case appears to be heading to the Supreme Court. (In 1968 the Peace and Freedom Party’s Presidential candidate, Eldridge Cleaver, was not allowed on the California ballot because the state reviewed his birth certificate and confirmed that he had not met the required age of 35; he was 34. There is therefore precedent for checking a candidate’s birth certificate.) [485,507,509,585,1581]

After a late October campaign stop in Sarasota, Florida, an Obama supporter named Peggy Joseph gushes to a reporter, “It was the most memorable time of my life. It was a touching moment, because I never thought this day would happen. I won’t have to worry about putting gas in my car. I won’t have to worry about paying my mortgage. You know, if I, if I help him (Obama), he’s gonna (sic) help me!” [449]

In retaliation for their newspapers’ endorsement of John McCain, Obama prohibits reporters from the Dallas Morning News, the New York Post, and the Washington Times from boarding his campaign plane – to keep them from covering the final week of his campaign. They are replaced with writers from magazines like “Glamour.” [482]

On October 31, the Director of the Hawaii Department of Health, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, and the Director of the OHSM and State Registrar, hold a press conference and jointly state that they have “Obama’s original birth certificate on record.” They do not provide any details about the document’s contents, they merely state that a document exists. Note that the state’s “long form” birth certificate, per Hawaii Statute 883.176, allows a birth in another state or country to be registered in Hawaii. Merely having a Hawaiian birth certificate does not therefore prove one was born in Hawaii, the long form document itself must be examined to ascertain the place of birth. (The original, detailed long form birth certificate is retained by the state of Hawaii, and a short form COLB is usually given to the individual unless the long form is requested.) The Obama document in Hawaii is in a sealed envelope, unavailable for viewing by anyone other than Obama himself, and that document may very well indicate that his birth occurred somewhere other than Hawaii. [492,1647]

Fukino’s statement is, “I as Director of Health for the State of Hawaii, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawaii State Department of Health has Senator Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.” Again, this statement means only that the document exists. It does not prove that Obama was born in Hawaii, because that state issues birth certificates to children born elsewhere under Hawaii Statute 883.176. Hawaii will release the birth certificate only with Obama’s permission, but he refuses to grant that permission. (Obama wrote in “Dreams From My Father” that he “found” his birth certificate while looking through a book. He could easily make that document public, without even having to contact Hawaiian officials.) [1647]

On November 2, a San Francisco radio announcer at KGO 810-AM is caught saying, on the air, “I want mother-fucking Joe the plumber dead.” [451]

New York Congressman Jerald Nadler appears at a gathering of Jewish voters in Boca Raton, Florida, to drum up support for Obama. As Nadler leaves the synagogue, he is asked why Obama did not denounce Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Nadler suggests that Obama didn’t have the “political courage” to make a statement by leaving the church. [522]
 
On November 3, Obama congratulates McCain on “the tough race that he has fought.” While making the remark Obama – as he had done to Hillary Clinton in the primaries – scratches his face with his middle finger, “flipping McCain off.” [456]

Dr. Vibert White, Jr., a former top-ranking official of the Nation of Islam, confirms in an interview that Obama has deep ties to the group and its vitriolic, anti-Semitic leader, Louis Farrakhan. Farrakhan had hailed Obama as the “new messiah” in his February, 2008 endorsement of the candidate. Farrakhan has a history of anti-Jew statements, calling them “bloodsuckers” and “satanic.” Farrakhan states that he enjoys an “open channel” of communication with Obama. [471,558,559]

Obama aides confirm that his senior foreign policy advisor, Robert O. Malley, had been sent to Egypt and Syria to discuss the new administration’s Middle East plans and to pledge that Obama would “seek to enhance relations with Cairo (Egypt) as well as reconcile with Damascus (Syria).” The anti-Israel Malley had previously been pressured to leave the Obama staff because of he had been in regular contact with the terrorist group Hamas. Obama eventually felt comfortable bringing him back on board, correctly assuming the media would not make Malley an issue. Obama also agrees to sell advanced F-16 fighter planes to Egypt. [472,473,474]

Obama continues to refuse to provide the media with school records, passports, college theses, law school records, law firm clients, medical records, Illinois State Senate files, and other documents about his record:

Original vault copy (long form) birth certificate – not released
Certificate of live birth (short form) – alleged counterfeit released
Obama/Dunham marriage license – not released
Soetoro/Dunham marriage license – not released
Soetoro adoption records – not released
Besuki School application – released
Punahou School records – not released
Selective Service Registration – alleged counterfeit released
Occidental College records – not released
Passport (Pakistan) – not released
Columbia College records – not released
Columbia thesis – not released
Harvard College records – not released
Harvard Law Review articles – none released
Baptism certificate – none released
Medical records – not released (except for a one-page statement saying he is healthy)
Illinois State Senate records – not released
Illinois State Senate schedule – not released (alleged to have been lost)
Law practice client list – not released
University of Chicago scholarly articles –  none released (and none perhaps ever written) [23,29,56,186,239]

The Election

On November 4, 2008, Obama is elected President of the United States. Obama wins 365 electoral votes, John McCain wins 173. Obama garners 52.9 per cent of the vote, McCain gets 45.7 per cent (with Nader, Barr, Baldwin, McKinney, and others receiving the remainder). Approximately 69 million people cast votes for Obama; about 59 million vote for McCain. [457,1112]

Obama appears before a large crowd at Chicago’s Grant Park on election night to give his victory speech. Obama wears a black suit with a red tie. One daughter wears a back dress, the other wears a red dress, and Michelle Obama wears an arguably unattractive red and black dress that appears to portray a large “X.” The colors and the “X” suggest to some that the outfits are meant to honor Malcolm “X,” who some also believe is the “real” father of Obama. (Red is also the traditional color of socialism, and is associated with social-democrat and socialist political parties. In its coverage of political elections, however, the television media – perhaps defensively and intentionally – tends to use blue on its maps to represent Democrat victories and red for Republican wins.) [1093,1094,1591]

During election night celebrations in Chicago, most people in the downtown crowds are orderly – partly because police searched people to make sure liquor was not present. Nevertheless, several young people overturned portable toilets while people were using them (including an elderly woman who required a walker); a Chicago Police vehicle was shot at in the 900 block of north Ridgeway; 14 other Chicago squad cars were damaged by people throwing brick, bottles, and rocks, leaving six officers injured; clothing stores and liquor stores were broken into on Madison Street, Chicago Avenue, 16th Street, 47th Street, 63rd Street, Martin Luther King Drive, Cottage Grove Avenue, and Howard Street; police used tear gas to disperse crowds in the 2nd, 5th, 11th, and 15th police districts; in the 7th district, 104 reports of shots fired were received within 30 minutes of Obama being declared the winner of the election; and snow plows were lined up as mobile barricades to control unruly crowds.

Transition and Pay-Back

On November 5, at the news of Obama’s election, the DJIA plunges almost 500 points, closing at $9,139.27, and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev promptly announces that Russia will deploy missiles in Kaliningrad in response to U.S. plans to deploy a ballistic missile defense system in Poland and radar installation in the Czech Republic. [477,1238]

On November 6 the DJIA drops an additional 400 points, to $8,695.79. [1238]

On November 6 Obama meets for one hour with top intelligence officers for his first classified briefing on national security. He is not smiling when he leaves the meeting. [1756]

Tough Chicago politician and Congressman Rahm Emanuel is chosen by Obama to be his chief of staff. The profanity-prone Emanuel, known as “Rahmbo” to many, has a “take no prisoners” approach, and once sent a large, rotting, dead fish to someone who had ticked him off (in a manner reminiscent of the horse’s head in the film, “The Godfather”). Some observe that it does not bode well for Obama’s pledge of bi-partisan cooperation that Emanuel once said, “Republicans are bad people who deserve a two-by-four upside their heads.” [458,459,966]

On November 6, Detroit radio station WRIF hosts Mike Clark, Trudi Daniels, and Marc Fellhauer conduct an on-air interview with Kenyan Ambassador Peter N. R. O. Ogego. Fellhauer asks, “One more quick question, President-elect Obama’s birthplace over in Kenya, is that going to be a national spot to go visit, where he was born?” Ogego responds, “It’s already an attraction. His paternal grandmother is still alive.” Fellhauer asks, “His birthplace, they’ll put up a marker there?” Ogego answers, “It would depend on the government. It’s already well known.” A spokesperson for Ogego later said she could not explain his comments but would later have him call the station to do so; he does not. [551]

On November 7, ABC News reports that Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, served on the board of Freddie Mac, the Government-Sponsored Entity which (along with GSE Fannie Mae) was involved in fraudulent bookkeeping and the massive sub-prime mortgage lending that contributed to the financial collapse in 2008. Emanuel, who served on the board of Freddie Mac during 2000-2001, was appointed to the position by Bill Clinton. Emanuel resigned to run for Congress, where he voted against the Partial Birth Abortion Ban three times. Note that Emanuel’s election to Congress was aided by a hefty amount of assistance from City of Chicago patronage workers, who were illegally working for his campaign when they should have been performing work for the city’s taxpayers. (For shenanigans like that Chicago’s water department boss, Donald Tomczak, went to jail.) Emanuel also spent about two years at the New York investment firm of Wasserstein Perella (“Wasserella”) where he earned more than $18 million. [464,596,1011,1963]

With regard to the Berg lawsuit arguing that Obama is not an American citizen and is ineligible to serve as President of the United States, Supreme Court Justice David Souter issues a Writ of Certiorari (with the concurrence of at least three other Justices) and gives Obama and the Democrat National Committee (DNC) until December 1 to respond. [489]

Shortly after the election, Obama’s official President-elect web site (change.gov) is introduced. The site announces that “Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year.” After being flooded with questions and complaints, the Obama staff modifies the language, and the word “require” is removed. In his book, “The Plan: Big Ideas for America,” Congressman Rahm Emanuel endorses mandatory service for young Americans. He wrote, “We propose universal civilian service for every young American. Under this plan, all Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five will be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic training, civil defense preparation and community service…” Rahm also wrote that “…Republicans will squeal about individual freedom.” [460,463]

Note that web sites with the suffix “.gov” (“dot gov”) are limited to government agencies and government use. The General Services Administration (GSA) controls the use of “.gov” domain names, and the law specifically forbids political or campaign information on any “.gov” site, including organizations that engage in lobbying or political campaigning. The Obama campaign was originally properly denied the use of the “change.gov” domain name, but caved in to intense pressure from Obama staffers and illegally granted the use of the name. [734]

At his first post-election news conference, on November 7, Obama is asked if he had spoken with former Presidents. He replies that he had, and added, “I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about doing any séances.” (Obama’s comment was meant to ridicule Mrs. Reagan for having consulted with astrologers while in the White House, but it was Hillary Clinton who was said to have spoken with the “ghost” of Eleanor Roosevelt.) After an immediate firestorm of criticism, Obama calls Nancy Reagan to apologize for his remark. [465]

Obama has a telephone conversation with Lech Kaczynski, President of Poland. A Kaczynski staffer, Mariusz Handzlik, later relates that Obama promised he would proceed with plans to build the missile defense shield promised by President Bush. Obama senior foreign policy advisor Denis McDonough later denies that Obama made the pledge, as does the Polish Foreign Affairs Ministry. [470]

On November 9, John Podesta, Obama’s transition-team chief, confirms that Obama is considering reversing President Bush’s executive orders on stem-cell research and oil and gas drilling. Obama would also likely reverse plans to open up 360,000 acres of land in Utah for oil and gas drilling, reverse a rule barring international family-planning groups (which receive U.S. aid) from counseling women about abortions, and allow California authorities to regulate automobile carbon dioxide emissions. [462,468,476]

ABC 7’s Ben Bradley reports that Valerie Jarrett is Obama’s preferred choice for filling his Senate seat. He states, “Whether that is merely Obama’s personal opinion, or if he intends to lobby on Jarrett’s behalf, remains to be seen.” CNN also reports that Obama wants Jarrett in his Senate seat. (Obama attorney Gregg Craig later states that Obama had “ruled out communicating a preference for any one candidate.”) [667,678,679,1945]

Just days after the election, before Obama has even been sworn in – let alone done anything – his supporters start pushing for a “national holiday” to honor the candidate. [488]

USA Today reports that Obama staffers have already begun drafting plans to move prisoners of war from the military’s Guantanamo Bay facility (“GITMO”) to the United States for criminal trials. [466]

On November 10, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, his chief of staff John Harris, Blagojevich’s wife Patti, and his Governor’s office general counsel, speak on a conference call for about two hours with an Obama transition team member and/or other “Washington, D.C.-based advisers” about a “deal” in which the governor would name a replacement Senator desired by Obama (probably Valerie Jarrett) in exchange for Obama appointing the governor as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. They also discuss a less-suspicious deal in which Blagojevich would appoint the desired replacement and Obama would assist the governor in getting a high-paid position with the organized labor-related “Change to Win” organization. Blagojevich states in the conversation that he would not name Obama’s preferred choice, Valerie Jarrett, to Obama’s open Senate seat unless he is offered in return a position that pays between $250,000 and $300,000 per year. The call is secretly recorded by federal authorities investigating Blagojevich. The identity of the person representing Obama and Valerie Jarrett in the conversation has not yet been made public; it may have been someone from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), possibly Andy Stern or Tom Balanoff. [645,656,657,658,661,678,1165]

“Change to Win” is a partnership of unions founded in 2005 to strengthen union power. The unions are the SEIU, United Here, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (which had separated from the AFL-CIO), Laborers’ International Union of North America, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, and United Farm Workers of America. [667]

By November 10, Obama’s Presidential-transition web site, “Change.gov,” had been “scrubbed” of much of the agenda which had appeared on his campaign web site, www.barackobama.com, suggesting that some of his campaign promises were nothing more than campaign promises. [469]

Only hours after the Blagojevich marathon conference call earlier that day, on the evening of November 10 CNN reports that two anonymous Democrat sources confirmed that Valerie Jarrett will not be appointed to Obama’s Senate seat, and that he instead wants her serving him in the White House. [667,678]

It is learned on November 11 that the Obama campaign had been in contact with the terrorist group Hamas for months, but Hamas had been asked to keep the discussions secret until after the elections. (These contacts are arguably in violation of the Logan Act.) [475]

Despite massive evidence of acceptance of illegal campaign contributions, the Obama campaign likely will not face an audit by the federal Election Commission because its six commissioners are split evenly between Republicans and Democrats. [487]

Reuters reports that Obama plans to try a “more regional approach” to the war in Afghanistan and may work toward that by having “talks with Iran.” [484]

General Electric (GE) announces that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) would guarantee up to $139 billion in GE capital debt. The FDIC (which doesn’t have enough assets to cover $139 billion) is a federal agency that insures banks, but GE is not a bank. It is, however, the parent company of NBC and MSNBC, two television networks that heavily promoted Obama’s candidacy by giving him largely uncritical and repeatedly “soft” coverage. GE’s indebtedness to the federal government likely means that its NBC and MSNBC coverage of the Obama administration will remain fawning, as it tries to avoid biting the hand that is feeding it. [494,1155]

On November 12, Obama associate Valerie Jarrett appears on “The Newshour” and tells host Jim Lehrer that she is not interested in taking Obama’s open Senate seat. There is later speculation that Jarrett was placed out of the running because Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich couldn’t “get his price” for appointing her. [657]

Obama remarks that his administration will offer Israel an “nuclear umbrella” against the threat of a nuclear attack by Iran, leading many to believe that he expects he will be able to do nothing to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and, even worse, arguably sends a signal to Iran that Obama will not try very hard to halt its nuclear program. Israel likely won’t be too impressed by any “nuclear umbrella” offer if it believes Obama will be reluctant to ever open it. [713]

Ambassador Alan Keyes, Presidential candidate of the American Independent Party, files a lawsuit against California’s Secretary of State, Obama, the DNC, and others, questioning Obama’s eligibility to run for and serve as President, and asking that the electors from the state of California be barred from casting their votes for Obama. While the Keyes lawsuit may have some merit, it incorrectly asserts that “Box 7C” on the Hawaiian “long form” birth certificate – which is labeled “County and State or Foreign Country” – is for indicating the place of birth; it is, in fact, for the place of the mother’s birth. [492,730]

On November 12, Illinois Governor Blagojevich discusses a deal for Obama’s Senate seat with an SEIU official (SEIU President Andy Stern, or an Illinois union official, Tom Balanoff). Blagojevich considers the SEIU official to be the “emissary” or “go-between” with the Obama team – a third-party used to keep some distance between Obama and Blagojevich in the event any deal goes sour. [678]

On November 13 allegations surface that the Selective Service System registration form showing that Obama registered for the draft is a forgery. The form’s document location number (DLN), 0897080632, indicates a 2008 entry into the federal system, because the first two digits (08) indicate the year. (Had Obama registered in 1980, the first two digits of the DLN would have been 80, rather than 08.) Obama’s document also appears to be a 1990 form, modified to look like a 1980 form. The date the form was signed is July 30, 1980, yet the form has a date stamp of July 29. The date stamp reflects the letters “USPO” for United States Post Office, but in 1980 the letters would have been “USPS,” for United States Postal Service. A retired federal agent had requested the Obama form via the Freedom of Information Act. It took almost a full year for the document to be “found.” Note that Obama’s story about registering for the draft has changed more than once. He originally said he registered for the draft in 1979, when he turned age 18, but there was no requirement to register at that time. Note that failure to register with the Selective Service is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or up to five years in prison. It also renders the individual ineligible for any job in the Executive Branch of government or the U.S. Postal Service. (Thus, if Obama’s draft registration is a forgery, not only would he be removed from the Presidency he would not be able to get a job with the Post Office.) [483,493]

An Obama campaign spokeswoman tells reporters that lawsuits attempting to force the candidate to prove he is eligible to serve as President are “garbage.” At the same time, Obama continues to refuse to produce his birth certificate, and has sheriff’s deputies stationed at two hospitals in Honolulu where they prevent press inquiries and attempts to request copies of records. [490]

Obama’s Weather Underground and Pentagon-bomber friend William Ayers appears at a Washington, D.C. coffeehouse, “Busboys and Poets,” to promote two of his books, “City Kids, City Schools,” and “City Kids, City Teachers.” [486]

On November 14, Obama names Valerie Jarrett the Senior White House Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison. [636,678]

The Wall Street Journal reports that “Obama may decide he wants to keep the road open in certain cases for the CIA to use (prisoner interrogation) techniques not approved by the military.” This is in direct conflict with Obama campaign promises to apply the Army field manual interrogation standard to all agencies, including the CIA. (Publicly, Obama thus criticizes the Bush administration, but privately he realizes he will need to follow some of the same policies he criticizes.) [501]

Obama resigns from his Illinois Senate seat on November 16, shortly after the election. This surprises many because it eliminates the possibility of Obama being able to cast any critical votes in the Senate for two months – votes which may be especially important considering the financial crisis and the fact that his vote could perhaps be needed to prevent a filibuster. It may be possible that the early resignation is meant to provide more time to “wheel and deal” for his Senate seat. [704]

On November 16 the British Times reports that Obama would support a Middle East peace proposal calling for Israel to return to its 1949 borders (known as the “Auschwitz borders”). Obama allegedly tells Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that the “…Israelis would be crazy not to accept this initiative.” The one-sided “deal” would also require Israel to give up the entire eastern half of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount (the holiest site in Judaism), and retreat from the Golan Heights. Obama advisor Dennis Ross later denies that Obama is planning to make a deal based on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. [496,498,500]

Obama appears on “60 Minutes” and confirms that he intends to close the military base at Guantanamo, Cuba and suspend military commission hearings meant to hear the cases of the detainees. Obama does not elaborate on what he intends to do with the approximately 250 terrorists and enemy combatants held there. Some documents describing the prisoners and their activities had been made public through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Even the leftist New York Times reported that the files contain “sobering intelligence claims against many of the remaining detainees” – ordinary criminals these prisoners are not. It is later reported by the Pentagon (on January 13, 2009), that 61 former Guantanamo detainees have returned to terrorist activities since being released from custody. One former detainee, Said Ali al-Shihri, became the deputy leader of the al-Qaeda branch in Yemen. Another, Abdallah Ali al-Ajmi, made a martyrdom video before blowing himself up and killing 12 Iraqis in the process. (Note that Eric Holder, Obama’s pick for Attorney General, is a senior partner in the law firm Covington and Burling, which represents 17 Yemeni prisoners who are held at GITMO. Obama’s order to close GITMO increases the likelihood that Holder’s firm can obtain U.S. trials and their release from custody.) [544,803,901,905,960,962]

Obama names Gregory B. Craig as his White House Counsel. Craig has a reputation for representing high-profile thugs. He is perhaps best known for defending John Hinckley, Jr., the man who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Craig also defended Bill Clinton during his impeachment after the Monica Lewinsky cover-up, represented Elian Gonzalez’s father in order to get the child taken from his family in Miami and returned to Cuba, and defended former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan during the investigation of the Saddam Hussein “oil for food” scandal. Craig’s list of clients also includes Senator Ted Kennedy (during the rape trial of his nephew, William Kennedy Smith), Pedro Miguel Gonzalez Pinzion (a Panamanian who murdered a U.S. soldier in 1992), the Panamanian government (during the Manuel Noriega trial), and Victor Posner (a prominent Miami tax evader). [499,502,503,848]

Obama selects Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State, despite having said during the primary campaign debates that he did not trust her judgment and that she lacked foreign policy credentials. (Clinton’s confirmation hearing is likely to be marred with questions about the millions of federal dollars she steered to a developer’s mall project at the same time he was donating $100,000 to her husband’s foundation.) [504,573,784]

Eric Holder, who was Clinton’s Deputy Attorney General, is selected by Obama to be his Attorney General. Holder’s appointment is immediately controversial because he was instrumental in persuading Bill Clinton to pardon members of the Puerto Rican terrorist group FALN (to encourage votes for Hillary Clinton’s Senate run from New York Puerto Ricans). In exchange for large donations by Denise Rich to the Clinton Presidential Library fund and Clinton’s legal defense fund (approximately $1 million), Holden worked for the pardon of her husband, Marc Rich, who had renounced his U.S. citizenship and fled to Switzerland to avoid prosecution for wire fraud, racketeering, tax fraud, and tax evasion. Holder’s role in securing the Clinton pardons was called “unconscionable” by a Congressional committee, partly because he kept the deliberations hidden until the last minute in order to avoid protests from U.S. district attorneys. Holder was second-in-command to Janet Reno when he made the decision to send in INS officers with automatic weapons to kidnap Elian Gonzalez and return the child to Cuba. Holder wrote an amicus brief (for the controversial Washington, D.C. Heller case) arguing that Americans have no right to keep firearms in their own homes. In the past Holder has advocated government regulation and censorship of Internet speech. [164,408,508,530,536,566,572,796,1326,1662]

Holder also worked to grant Clinton pardons for Susan Lisa Rosenberg and Linda Evans. Rosenberg and Evans were Weather Underground associates of William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who had been imprisoned for bombing government facilities. As with other pardons, Holder kept prosecutors from learning about the Rosenberg and Evans pardons to prevent objections. Bernadine Dohrn served one year in prison for refusing to testify against Rosenberg, who was the getaway driver in a Weather Underground robbery in which one Brinks armored car driver and two police officers were killed. Rosenberg was set free by Clinton on his last day in office. Note also that Holder supported the intelligence “wall” implemented by Clinton and Janet Reno that arguably contributed to U.S. intelligence agencies failing to “connect the dots” prevent the 9/11 terrorist attacks. [164,408,508,530,536]

Holder is antagonistic toward the Second Amendment right to bear arms, and had supported the Washington, D.C. ban on all hand-guns – even for self-defense in the home. (That law was later found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.) Holder supports federal licensing of all handguns, three-day waiting periods, one gun per month purchase limits, national gun registration, and strict limits on gun shows that would effectively shut them down. The Supreme Court’s decision in Boumediene v. Bush granted habeas corpus rights to terrorist prisoners at Guantanamo, prompting dissenting Justice Scalia to state that the decision “…will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.” Holder said the decision “…is an important first step but we must go further.” Holder had, however, said in a 2002 CNN interview that terrorist detainees “…are not, in fact, people entitled to the protection of the Geneva Convention.” Holder also supported the Patriot Act, which passed the Senate in a 98 to 1 vote. Obama voted for its renewal in 2006. Holder is a senior partner in the law firm Covington and Burling, which represents 17 prisoners from Yemen who are imprisoned at GITMO in Cuba. [536,815,879,960]

In March, 2004, Holder had been appointed as special investigator to the Illinois Gaming Board by Governor Rod Blagojevich. Holder neglects to disclose that appointment in a 47-page questionnaire he is required to complete for the Senate Judiciary Committee. [720]

On November 17, the Washington Times Weekly runs a full-page ad questioning whether Obama was born in Kenya, raising the issue of Obama’s possible Indonesian citizenship, and asking, “Does the Constitution Still Matter?” [506]

The mainstream media has clearly not bothered to investigate whether Obama is eligible to serve as President, and simply assumes that the “short form” birth document his staff posted on the Internet is sufficient “proof” that he is a natural born citizen. Due to the almost total lack of news reporting and fact-checking regarding Obama’s hidden “long form” birth certificate and his exact citizenship status, a large number of web sites created by ordinary citizens emerge to counteract the web sites of official Obama organizations and Obama supporters. Obama fans (if not Obama staffers themselves) do their best to “hack” those opposing sites and shut them down.

Obama selects former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services. As HHS Secretary, Daschle would work toward a single-payer, nationalized health care system. In Daschle’s revealing book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis,” he argues that the failure of the Clinton plan in 1993 was the result of providing too much detailed information, which its critics then used against it. Daschle instead recommends passing an intentionally vague bill, which would set up a “Federal Health Board… charged with establishing the system’s framework and filling in most of the details. This independent board would be insulated from political pressure.” In other words, Obama and Congress should deceive the American people in order to stage a national health care coup. As Senate Majority Leader, the pro-abortion Daschle blocked a Senate vote on the Partial Birth Abortion ban. Daschle has earned over $5 million in the last two years acted as an “unofficial” lobbyist for various industries, among them are health care business that paid him $220,000. [510,556,596,1014]

Speculation arises that Obama could easily eliminate the possibility of drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) by simply reclassifying the area as a “National Monument,” something he could do without Congressional approval. [511]

On November 18, Obama telephones Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and promises to work to establish a Palestinian state as soon as possible. [512]

In mid-November, the United States Supreme Court schedules a “Rule of Four Conference” for December 5 to review the merits of the Donofrio v. Wells lawsuit challenging the inclusion of Obama’s name on New Jersey’s ballot. The lawsuit charges that the Secretary of State, Nina Mitchell Wells, failed to exercise her official duties by not disqualifying ineligible candidates. If at least four of the Supreme Court Justices vote to hear the Donofrio case, oral arguments from both sides would be scheduled. The Donofrio action questions whether Democrat candidate Obama, Republican candidate McCain, and Socialist Workers Party candidate Calero are considered “natural born citizens” and eligible to serve as President. [516,518,580]

Although there is no requirement for a Federal Election Commission (FEC) audit of the Obama campaign because it did not accept public financing, public statements by some FEC officials suggest there may be an “audit for cause” because of widely-publicized allegations of fraud, donations in excess of the $2,300 limit, and indications of significant amounts of illegal foreign contributions. (In 2007 Obama had worked to stall the confirmation of a Republican FEC Commissioner, wanting to keep the deck stacked in his favor.) [517]

On November 19, Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, tells the Wall Street Journal, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”  Emanuel’s argument is that a crisis allows the government to usurp power and pass socialist legislation which the citizenry would ordinarily not accept. (Emanuel follows the advice of the Russian communist Lenin, who wrote, “Deepen, exacerbate existing problems, crises, differences, and if they don’t exist, create them or convincingly claim that they exist, and then deepen, exacerbate them…and profit [politically, ideologically and even financially] the most from them in any way you can, and, in the resulting chaos, blame our enemies for the whole thing.”) [523]

By November 20, there is speculation that Obama will select Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as his Secretary of Homeland Security. Napolitano had been on the legal team advising Anita Hill, who testified against Clarence Thomas in his Supreme Court nomination hearings. Napolitano was accused of coaching a witness into changing her testimony. Some suggest Napolitano has no experience to be in charge of Homeland Security, and has been “soft on crime” and “easy on illegal immigrants,” having vetoed a bill that would cut tuition aid to illegals, vetoed a bill that would have required local police to enforce immigration laws, opposed a border fence, and supported a temporary guest worker program. While Napolitano has been Governor of Arizona trafficking of drugs, weapons, humans, and money have increased, along with crime and gang warfare. Napolitano, as Governor of Arizona, was careful to be politically correct and not offend Jews or Muslims (on November 29, 2007), by referring to the state capitol’s Christmas tree as the “holiday tree.” As Arizona Attorney General, Napolitano issued a memo describing “acceptable seasonal decorations,” which included snowflakes, icicles, garlands, and poinsettia plants, but prohibited “trees under which gifts could be placed, or Santa himself.” Napolitano approved a bill requiring Arizona officials to not comply with the “Real I.D.” program, which had been passed by Congress in 2005 in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and which requires states to verify the residency of all drivers license applicants. (Hani Hanjour, one of the terrorists who flew a hijacked plane into the Pentagon on 9/11 had an Arizona driver’s license.) [353,356,519,534,546,565,589]

There is also speculation that Obama will select Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker as his Secretary of Commerce. Although billionaire Pritzker, Obama’s campaign’s national finance chairwoman, ran the candidate’s record-breaking fundraising efforts, she was also the former head of the Superior Bank S&L, which failed in 2001 because of improper accounting and irresponsible sub prime mortgage lending in the 1990. (It also failed too early for her to blame President Bush for her incompetence.) Pritzker’s bank’s failure resulted in $360 million in penalties, and caused over 1,400 depositors to lose their life savings. [353,356,519,534]

Obama ultimately decides against Pritzker as his Secretary of Commerce, choosing instead New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson for the position. Richardson had, in the past, offered Monica Lewinsky a job at the United Nations in order to “buy her silence” when her relationship with Bill Clinton became known. Richardson had also met with criticism for what some saw as a failure to safeguard nuclear secrets while he was the Secretary of Energy. (West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd said he would never again support Richardson for any public office.) [534,586]

Obama’s transition team includes unprecedented detailed questions about gun ownership in questionnaires for potential cabinet and staff nominees, prompting criticism from the National Rifle Association. Questions include, “Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage.” [626]

ABC News reports that the Ludlum Elementary School in Long Island, New York, is renamed the “Barack Obama Elementary School.” Most of the school’s students are black or Hispanic. The school’s original name was in honor of Dr. Charles Ludlum, who had been president of the Hempstead Board of Education for 40 years. It is assumed the Ludlam family is not pleased by the name change. [528]

CBS refuses to air an advertisement produced by “Americans for Job Security” which is critical of the ill-named “Employee Free Choice Act,” legislation supported by Obama which would allow labor unions to organize employees without the protection of secret ballots. Other networks approved the ad (called “Secret”) for airing. A CBS representative argues that viewers would be “confused” by the ad’s content. [532]

Obama chooses New York’s Federal Reserve Bank President, Timothy Geithner, as his Secretary of the Treasury, and Clinton’s former Secretary of the Treasury, Lawrence Summers, as head of the National Economic Council. Geithner worked at the Treasury Department during the Clinton years, was also with the International Monetary Fund, and was involved in the decision to allow Lehman Brothers to fail in September of 2008, while scheming to bail out AIG and Bear Stearns. Geithner had also worked for Kissinger and Associates, a Chinese financial lobbying firm with ties to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, before beginning a series of government jobs. (CNBC’s Jim Cramer had previously criticized Geithner, saying that if he “…gets a top spot in the (sic) Barack Obama’s cabinet, we are done, finished, kaput. It is that simple.”) Geithner’s father, Peter Geithner, is director of the Asia program at the Ford Foundation, and oversees the microfinance program that Stanley Ann Dunham worked on while she was with that same foundation. Obama names Peter Orszag to direct the Office of Management and Budget. Geithner, Summers, and Orszag are all disciples of Robert Rubin, former Clinton Treasury Secretary and Obama advisor who made more than $100 million giving bad investment advice to Citigroup – which led to the firm eventually getting tens of billions of dollars in federal bail-out money. (Citigroup still plans on spending $400 million to get its name on a new baseball stadium for the New York Mets.) With his selection of Geithner and Summers, Obama is arguably placing in charge of fixing the nation’s economic problems two of the Wall Street insiders who were responsible for creating them. [520,533,540,541,542,554,555,1176,1735,1736]

Christina Romer is named Obama’s Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. Romer is a professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley, and will likely advocate expanding the money supply (which can improve an economy in the short term, at the cost of high inflation in the long run). Melody Barnes is named director of the Domestic Policy Council. Barnes is executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress (a leftist organization headed by John Podesta, which has worked to remove conservative commentators from the radio). Attorney Barnes has also served as Edward Kennedy’s chief counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and is an advocate of abortion and affirmative action programs. Barnes has served on the board of Planned Parenthood and “Emily’s List” (an organization devoted to getting pro-abortion Democrat women elected). Barnes, like Obama, is an advocate of a “loose interpretation” of the Constitution, and told Fox News that Obama views the document as “…a living and breathing document and that the law and the justices who interpret it have to understand that.” [520,533,540,541,542,596,598]

Podesta’s Center for American Progress has received several million dollars from left-wing activist and hedge-fund billionaire George Soros, who contributed $60,000 to Obama’s 2004 U.S. Senate campaign. [547]

Obama’s advisors discuss an “economic stimulus package” of from $175 billion to $700 billion. [533,540]

Mark Halperin, a writer for Time magazine, tells a group of media analysts at a Politico/USC conference on the 2008 election that the mainstream media engaged in “extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama coverage.” He remarks that it was “…the most disgusting failure of people in our business since the Iraq war.” [535]

In a November 22 radio address, Obama promises he will “save or create” 2.5 million jobs by 2011. That pledge is arguably modest; despite the media’s gloom and doom reporting about the economy, the employment rate is at least 93 per cent and the American economy is likely to create 2.5 million or more jobs over two years – even if Obama does nothing. The creative “save or create” con-artist language also makes it impossible to measure whether Obama’s policies are a success or a failure. If, for example, the economy grows by one million jobs, no one can prove Obama wrong if he argues that he also “saved” another 1.5 million. That is, he can argue that, without his policies, the economy would have lost 1.5 million jobs. Even if the economy loses five million jobs, Obama can argue that it would have lost 7.5 million jobs had his policies not been in effect. Thus, no matter how many jobs have been created or have been lost, Obama can say he fulfilled his promise. Obama subsequently modifies his pledge to 3.5 and then 4 million jobs “saved or created,” knowing full well that he has a built-in “out” no matter what the employment and unemployment numbers are at any point in the future. [594,595,1284]

Obama chooses the private Sidwell School for his daughters, Malia and Sasha. Tuition at Sidwell approaches $30,000 per child per year. The Washington, D.C. public schools are reputed to be the worst in the nation, despite their very high expenses of about $13,400 per student. A trial voucher system, opposed by Obama, had received high marks from parents in Washington, D.C. [274,537]

The New York Times reports on November 23 that when Robert Rubin “…was Treasury Secretary during the Clinton administration, Mr. Rubin helped loosen Depression-era banking regulations that made the creation of Citigroup possible by allowing banks to expand far beyond their traditional role as lenders and permitting them to profit from a variety of financial activities. During the same period he helped beat back tighter oversight of exotic financial products, a development he had previously said he was helpless to prevent.” Despite Rubin’s involvement in causing the general economic crisis – and especially at Citigroup – Obama nevertheless relies on Rubin as an advisor and selects several of his followers (Geithner, Summers, and Orszag) to head his financial team. [557]

Obama campaign guru David Axelrod appears on Fox News Chicago and states that Obama “has talked with the Governor (Blagojevich, about his open Senate seat) and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them.”  (After Blagojevich is arrested, Axelrod contradicts this November 23 statement.) [678]

On November 24, one brief report about one of the many lawsuits questioning Obama’s eligibility to serve as President appears in the “mass media.” [538]

Judge Bert Ayabe dismisses a lawsuit filed by Andy Martin that demands Obama prove he is a natural born citizen, arguing there was “insufficient evidence to indicate that the public interest supports” the release of the candidate’s birth certificate. It is unclear why Ayabe would not recognize that there is “public interest” in confirming whether Obama is eligible to serve as President, considering the tens of thousands of signatures on petitions demanding proof of eligibility. Further, Ayabe, following the logic of the earlier Berg lawsuit, rules that Martin does not have “standing” under state law, because he does “not have a direct and tangible interest in the vital statistic records being sought, namely the birth certificate of President (-elect) Obama.” [539]

Delaware Governor selects Ted Kaufman to fill Joe Biden’s vacant Senate seat. Kaufman is a publicly-unknown longtime Biden advisor. Kaufman agrees to accept the position on the condition that he step down in 2010 in order for Biden’s son, Beau, to run (after returning from his overseas military obligation). [715]

During a November 25 press briefing, Deputy White House Press Secretary Tony Fratto ignores a question about the legitimacy of Obama’s birth certificate. Journalist Lester Kinsolving asks, “The CEO of WorldNetDaily has called on the President-elect to release a birth certificate listing the hospital and names of parents. The White House believes that this would fully satisfy the constitutional requirement, don’t you?” Fratto responds, “I don’t think I have anything to say on that, Lester, and I think we’re going to end it right there.” [550]

Gary Kreep, attorney with the United States Justice Foundation, states that his group will continue to file lawsuits challenging every bill signed by Obama even if he takes office, arguing that he is ineligible to serve because he is not a natural born citizen. Kreep was one of the lawyers involved with the Alan Keyes lawsuit, which argues that “Should Senator Obama be discovered, after he takes office, to be ineligible for the Office of President of the United States of America and, thereby, his election declared void, Petitioners, as well as other Americans, will suffer irreparable harm in that (a) usurper will be sitting as the President of the United States, and none of the treaties, laws, or executive orders signed by him will be valid or legal.” [552]

Obama plans to create an “Economic Recovery Advisory Board,” chaired by Austan Goolsbee, who will also be a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisors. Members of the board will include former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker – who pushed the prime rate up to 22 per cent and effectively destroyed American export industries when he was head of the Federal Reserve Board. Some of the other board members will apparently be Rich Trumka (AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer), Jeffrey Immelt (General Electric CEO), Ann Burger (union leader), John Doerr (Silicon Valley venture capitalist), William Donaldson (former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman), David Swensen (Yale investment chief), Mark Gallogly (director of Dana Holding Corp., who raised $200,000 for Obama), Robert Wolf (UBS chairman who raised $370,000 for Obama), and Penny Pritzker (Hyatt Hotel heiress and former head of Chicago’s Superior Bank FSB, which failed as a result of sub-prime mortgages – while she made millions). [553,1930,842, p. 178]

On November 25, Obama states, “We are going to go through our federal budget, as I promised during the campaign, page by page, line by line, eliminating those programs we don’t need and insisting that those that we do need operate in a sensible, cost-effective way.” [718]

On November 27, the AtlasShrugs web site charges that Google rigged its search results to omit links to that site. AtlasShrugs was instrumental in breaking the first phony birth certificate stories about Obama, and the site now prompts “forbidden” or missing search results where there used to be valid responses. Note that Google CEO Eric Schmidt, a friend and supporter of Obama, may be named his “tech advisor,” a new position in the government. [563,567]

On November 29, it is reported that Obama selects Cecilia Muñoz as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, coordinating White House relations with local and state governments. Muñoz is Senior Vice President of La Raza (“The Race”), a Hispanic group dedicated to open borders, amnesty for illegal immigrants, and increased benefits for Hispanics crossing the border into the United States. Muñoz was born in Detroit, and her parents are from Bolivia. In an essay describing her Hispanic activism, she wrote, “My outrage… became a propellant of my life, driving me straight to the civil rights movement, where I’ve worked ever since. I guess outrage got me pretty far. I found jobs in the immigrant rights movement. I moved to Washington to work as an advocate. I found plenty to be angry about along the way and built something of a reputation for being strident.” Muñoz will, like Obama, be a supporter of amnesty for illegal immigrants. Muñoz has called opponents of amnesty programs “hate groups,” while calling for allowing illegal agriculture workers to become immediately eligible for permanent legal residency.  [690,691]

On December 1, Obama introduces his national security team, Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, Robert Gates (continuing as Secretary of Defense), General James L. Jones as national security advisor, Janet Napolitano as Homeland Security chief, Susan Rice as Ambassador to the United Nations, and Eric Holder as Attorney General. Jones and Clinton are likely to support a plan to establish East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian Authority. Jones has advocated replacing Israeli forces in the West Bank, Judea, and Samaria with NATO-based international troops (which would significantly reduce Israel’s intelligence-gathering capabilities and prompt Hamas to install rockets launchers on any new land gained from Israel). Rice, as assistant secretary of state, along with Richard Clark, had persuaded Clinton not to accept Sudan’s offer to hand over Osama bin Laden to the U.S. Rice, also along with Clark, authored the controversial “Presidential Decision Directive 25” (PDD-25), which some argue was incredibly naive and led to the 1993 Somalia fiasco (the “Blackhawk Down” battle) in which American troops were killed by crowds and dragged through the streets. Clinton’s non-response to that incident allegedly led Osama bin Laden and others to believe terrorist attacks could weaken the resolve of the American people and allow greater progress by the radical Islamists. Rice also encouraged, or at least supported, Clinton’s decision to do nothing to prevent the Rwanda genocide. Rice has been considered “wildly incompetent” by some Washington insiders, and one critic who had worked with her said, “She doesn’t know what she doesn’t know. And she doesn’t tolerate dissenters. To have her head the U.S. mission to the U.N. is a mind-boggling decision. It is frightening.” Rice is married to an ABC news producer, prompting the likelihood that ABC will be unable to objectively evaluate Rice’s performance. [356,360,568,569,590,670]

Former Clinton staffer Mansoor Ijaz states that efforts to capture or kill Osama bin Laden were “overruled every single time by the State Department, by Susan Rice and her cronies, who were Hell-bent on destroying the Sudan.” Rice also thwarted the acceptance of anti-bin Laden intelligence aid from the Sudanese, and worked to keep Clinton from preventing genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Despite her apparent incompetence, Obama nevertheless names Rice the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. [628]

An argument surfaces that Hilary Clinton cannot legally serve as Secretary of State because the U.S. Constitution forbids members of the Senate from being appointed to positions in government when the salary was increased during the Senator’s term. Because the Senate had voted to increase the salary of the Secretary of State, Clinton cannot legally be appointed to the position. It is unlikely, however, that Obama or Clinton will allow the Constitution to stand in their way. [571]

After the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, MSNBC’s Alex Witt naively remarks that she hoped that with the “…incoming Obama administration there would be something of a lull in terrorism attacks. There had been such a global outpouring of affection, respect, hope, with the new administration coming in, that precisely these kinds of attacks, it was thought – at least hoped – would be dampered down. But in this case it looks like Barack Obama is getting a preview of things to come.” (The terrorists were apparently not as fooled by Obama’s rhetoric as was Witt.) [689]

On December 1 and 3, a group called “We the People Foundation” runs a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune challenging Obama to produce his birth certificate and prove he is eligible to serve as President. The ads prompt at least a few rebuttal columns, including one by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell, in which she ridicules Obama critics and makes incorrect statements about his “birth certificate,” and another by Tribune writers Sara Olken and James Janega (which also contained misstatements and misrepresentations). [570,579,601,602,603]

Cort Wrotnowski, who filed a lawsuit relating to Obama’s eligibility to serve as President (Wrotnowski v. Bysiewicz, Supreme Court Docket No. 08A469), is told that his application to Justice Scalia would be delayed for seven days due to “anthrax screening.” [576]

Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) responds to constituent questions about Obama’s status as a natural born citizen with an insulting form letter that says the issue is essentially irrelevant because the candidates are “vetted by voters” during the primary and general elections. [606]

Former Black Panther and racist Congressman Bobby Rush (a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus) demands that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich select a black to complete the remaining two years of Obama’s open Senate seat, saying it would be a “national disgrace” if he does otherwise. (Obama’s preference is likely Valerie Jarrett.) [577,1362]

On December 2, Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss is re-elected in a run-off election. Chambliss beats his opponent, Jim Martin, by 14 points, despite a concentrated effort by the Democrats to win the seat in an attempt to get Obama a filibuster-proof Senate. [578]

Obama meets with many of the nation’s governors at a conference on December 2. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich attends the conference and speaks with Obama. [781]

On December 3, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is officially announced as Obama’s Secretary of Commerce. Richardson, formerly Bill Clinton’s ambassador to the United Nations, is an opponent of offshore oil drilling. Richardson was on the board of Peregrine Systems when the company was, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission, engaged in massive fraud. The CEO (Richardson’s brother in law) pleaded guilty. [587]

Obama’s communication’s director will be Ellen Moran, the executive director of “Emily’s List,” an organization devoted to getting pro-abortion female Democrat candidates elected. [596]

Obama’s “ethics advisor,” Alta Charo, has ties to the human embryo experimentation industry and supports federally funded embryonic research. The “ethical” Charo opposes the right of health care professionals to refuse to participate in abortions. [596]

On December 3, Dr. Orly Taitz files a California lawsuit, Lightfoot v. Bowen, requesting a stay of the December 15 vote of the Electoral College because of Obama’s ineligibility to serve as President. [622]

The Chicago Triune reports that Tony Rezko, tired of being in solitary confinement at Chicago’s Metropolitan Correction Center, asked for a sentencing date from the judge. The judge selects January 6, 2009 for the sentencing. [662]

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid telephones Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on December 3 to tell him he should not select Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., Congressman Danny Davis, or Illinois Senate President Emil Jones as Obama’s successor. (All three are black.) Instead, Reid suggests Illinois Veteran Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. (Both are white.) The assumption is that Reid prefers a white female replacement for Obama, because she would be more likely to win re-election in 2010 than a black male candidate. When later asked on “Meet the Press” to confirm that he made the telephone call, Reid labels Blagojevich a liar. (Reid himself is likely to face a tough re-election battle in 2010.) [779]

Rahm Emanuel reportedly telephones Blagojevich and says that Illinois State Comptroller Dan Hynes, Congressman Jan Schakowsky, and Lisa Madigan are “acceptable” candidates for Obama’s vacant Senate seat. [779]

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga calls for Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to be ousted. Odinga’s criticism of “power sharing” in Zimbabwe is inconsistent with his own position in Kenya where, after losing his bid for the Presidency in 2006 despite support from Obama, he used force and violence to broker the deal that made him Prime Minister. [591]

Obama considers giving the job of U.S. trade representative to Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA), an advocate of changing the North American Free Trade Agreement. Becerra was involved in Bill Clinton’s controversial pardon of a cocaine dealer. The dealer’s family had donated $15,000 to the Becerra’s campaign and paid Hugh Rodham (Hillary Clinton’s brother) $200,000 to negotiate the release of Carlos Vignali, who had been caught shipping 800 pounds of cocaine from Los Angeles to Minneapolis. Vignali had served half of his 14 and one-half year sentence when Clinton set him free. [592,593]

On December 5, it is revealed that an employee of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services was threatened with being fired by a Democrat superior if she did not go along with a scheme to “cover up” an improper search of Office of Child Support records in an effort to discredit Joe “the plumber” Wurzelbacher. [599]

Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, allegedly tells New York Governor David Paterson she would like him to appoint her to the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton. Kennedy has no political experience and is a terrible public speaker. An alleged “close relationship” between Schlossberg and New York Times publisher Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger may contribute to “good press” for her.  [620,714,740,761]

Mark Rudd and Jeff Jones, former Weather Underground radicals, friends of William Ayers, and Obama supporters through the “Progressives for Obama” group, comment that Obama’s cabinet picks are a “smokescreen” meant to suggest he will be taking centrist positions when, in fact, he will be moving the government as far to the left as he can, redistributing financial resources downward so that “even Lenin would be impressed.” (Rudd, as a member of the Weather underground, had supported planting a bomb at an Army dance at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Instead, the bomb exploded prematurely and killed three of Rudd’s co-terrorists. Rudd, in reference to the Vietnam War, stated that he wanted “this country to have a taste of what it had been dishing out daily in Southeast Asia…” [600,1659]

On December 5, the Supreme Court delays deciding whether to grant a hearing of the Donofrio lawsuit which questions whether Obama is a natural born citizen eligible to serve as President. [619]

A lawsuit (Broe v Reed) is filed by 12 voters in the state of Washington demanding that votes cast for Obama be set aside because he failed to prove he is eligible to serve as President, and because the Secretary of State (Reed) did nothing to confirm Obama’s status. The case should not have the “standing” issue that confronted the earlier Berg lawsuit, because Washington State law specifically allows any registered voter to challenge the election of someone ineligible to hold the office. The Washington Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case on January 8, 2009. [621,754]

On December 6, Obama says he will call for the most expansive public works program since the creation of the interstate highway system, arguing it will create jobs. “We will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s.” Obama neglects to mention how his stimulus program will be paid for ($400 to $700 billion has been rumored) or how paying for the expensive program will not cost jobs elsewhere in the economy. Many of the jobs will be in construction (bridge and highway repair), insuring work for experienced, high-paid union workers, which will do little to help chronic unemployment in traditionally poor areas of the nation. Obama argues, “We won’t just throw money at the problem (of unemployment),” although the program will likely do just that – because temporary public works projects don’t result in permanent employment. [623,625]

Obama names General Eric Shinseki as his head of the Veterans Affairs Department. [623]

Although Obama campaigned on a promise to end the influence of lobbyists, the Associated Press identified at least 34 current or former lobbyists on Obama’s transition team. One Obama apologist, James Thurber (who teaches “lobbying skills” at American University), remarks, “I don’t think you can govern without them. The important thing is to be honest and transparent.” [624]

On a December 7 “Meet the Press” appearance, Obama twice makes a “lowering the voters’ expectations” comment, “The economy is going to get worse before it gets better.” Obama also hints that one or more of the CEOs of GM, Ford, and Chrysler should not be allowed to stay in their positions if federally funding is provided to bail them out. Obama also tells host Tom Brokaw, “We don’t want government to run companies,” implying he is against nationalization of industries only on practical, and not philosophical, terms. Unstated by Obama is the problem of no longer being able to criticize other nations for subsidizing their industries if the United States does the same. [623,630,632]

On December 8, the “We the People Foundation” holds a press conference at Washington’s National Press Club to summarize the controversy surrounding Obama’s questionable “natural born citizen” status. Invited are hundreds of DC-area newspapers and radio and television stations. (A video of the presentation, lasting 2 hours and 37 minutes, is available on YouTube.com.) After the meeting, ABC reporter Vickey Mabrey (an African-American) rudely tells one of the presenters, Dr. Orly Taitz, to “go back home to Russia.” (Dr. Taitz emigrated from the former Soviet Union.) [604,605,671,674]

Also on December 8, the Supreme Court decides not to rule on the Donofrio lawsuit challenging Obama’s eligibility to serve as President. The case also challenged the legitimacy of John McCain’s candidacy (because he was born in Panama to American parents while his father served in the Navy) and Socialist Workers Party candidate Roger Calero (who was born in Nicaragua to Nicaraguan parents). The Supreme Court’s failure to rule on the issue essentially means that political candidates can effectively ignore the Constitution’s “natural born citizen” requirement, inasmuch as no one seems allowed to present a challenge to a clearly ineligible candidate. [631]

The Supreme Court, while refusing to hear the Donofrio case, agrees to discuss considering another “Obama-is-ineligible” case, filed by Cort Wrotnowski (Wrotnowski v. Bysiewicz), on December 12. [642,648]

At 6:15 am on December 9, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, are arrested, in handcuffs, by the FBI on federal corruption charges. Federal prosecutors had been investigating Blagojevich (known locally as “Blago,” and who was first elected as a self-proclaimed “reformer” in 2002) since 2003, but current prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald apparently chose to (or was ordered to) act before the Governor had the chance to appoint a replacement for Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat in Illinois. The charges against Blagojevich include multiple “pay to play” schemes, ”shaking down” a children’s hospital, and trading his office’s influence for campaign contributions and financial benefits. Blagojevich is accused of seeking to be named Secretary of Health and Human Services by Obama in exchange for appointing an “Obama-friendly” replacement. (The HHS job is eventually offered to former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, and then to Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius.) Blagojevich is also accused of conspiring to have Chicago Tribune editorial board members (who have been critical of his administration) fired, in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field (the baseball stadium of the Chicago Cubs, who are owned by the Tribune, which filed for bankruptcy on December 8). Critics quickly argue that Fitzgerald had Blagojevich arrested and the investigations ended prematurely – before Obama could be implicated. Blagojevich had met in the past with both Obama and Obama’s convicted “money-man,” Tony Rezko. Attorney Fitzgerald states that “the breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering. They allege that Blagojevich put a for sale sign on the naming of a United States senator.” [633,634,635,637,638,684]

Wiretaps in the Blagojevich investigation catch him saying, “I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden, and I’m just not giving it up for fucking nothing. I’m not gonna do it.”  He also says that Obama’s open Senate seat “is a fucking valuable thing, you just don’t give it away for nothing” and “I’m going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain. You hear what I’m saying. And if I don’t get what I want and I’m not satisfied with it, then I’ll just take the Senate seat myself.” Blagojevich allegedly talked about trading the Senate seat for a cabinet post or ambassadorship. In a November 10th telephone conversation, Blagojevich calls Obama a “motherfucker” and says he would not appoint an Obama ally to the Senate if he doesn’t get anything in return. “Fuck him. For nothing? Fuck him.” Potential Senate candidates may have included Valerie Jarrett (a close Obama ally), Lisa Madigan (Illinois Attorney General), Emil Jones (Obama’s Illinois State Senate “promoter”), J.P. Pritzker (a wealthy Chicago businessman and husband of Obama fundraiser Penny Pritzker), Penny Pritzker, Rahm Emanuel (Obama’s chief of staff), Danny Davis (Congressman), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (Congressman), Luis Gutierrez (Congressman), and Tammy Duckworth (Iraq War veteran who failed in her attempt to win a Congressional seat). Blagojevich also attempted to use the open Senate seat “sale” to get his wife, Patti (whose father is Chicago alderman Dick Mell), placed on a corporate board or to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) where she could collect as much as $150,000 in salary. In one conversation, Blagojevich remarks, “I want to make money.” [635,638,639]

Blagojevich also remarks in one of the conversations that his wife, Patti Mell Blagojevich, could be given a job on a corporate board as she is as qualified or more qualified than Michelle Obama (who managed to get appointed to the TreeHouse Foods board at a $51,200 salary despite having no experience in the private sector; TreeHouse Foods is a Wal-Mart vendor). As a board member, Michelle Obama took part in a 2005 decision to close a pickle plant in La Junta, Colorado, costing 150 laborers (mostly Hispanic) their jobs and devastating the town’s economy.  [677,842, p. 119]

Blagojevich’s contact at the SEIU was possibly its president, Andy Stern, or another union official, Tom Balanoff. Note that the SEIU COPE-PAC spent over $13 million on behalf of Obama during the campaign (phone banks, door-to-door canvassing, voter registration), and Obama gave the SEIU over $2 million from his campaign fund during the months leading up to the election. Stern or Balanoff was the alleged intermediary between Blagojevich and Obama, who would have arranged a high-paying job for the Governor, as well as his wife, in exchange for Valerie Jarrett’s appointment as Senator. (The founder of ACORN, Wade Rathke, was also the founder of SEIU Local 100. Rathke was also an SDS associate of William Ayers.) [661,678]

The complaint against Blagojevich alleges that “Advisor B” felt that, from Obama’s perspective, that there would be fewer “fingerprints” on a deal involving Blagojevich taking a position with the SEIU “Change to Win” organization,  because it already has funding and thus wouldn’t require a new money trail, and “you won’t have stories in four years that they bought you off.” Advisor B was thus expressing concerns about leaving a trail that would implicate Obama in a quid-pro-quo “job for Senate seat” deal. To any reasonable observer it is clear that Obama knew what was going on in the negotiations, but had go-betweens making the contacts with Blagojevich in order to keep his “fingerprints” off the negotiations. [667]

When questioned about Blagojevich’s “pay for play” arrest, Obama said “I had no contact with the governor or his office” with regard to filling the open Senate seat. (Obama did not say that his staff had not had any contact with Blagojevich, or that Obama had not been in contact with anyone else regarding the open Senate seat.) However, Obama’s advisor, David Axelrod, had said on November 23 that Obama had “talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced…” Further, the media had reported at the time of the meeting that Obama had met with Blagojevich, on November 5, to discuss his replacement. Obama’s December 9 denial is therefore a lie. Obama’s staff states that Axelrod “misspoke,” but the reported and witnessed November 5 meeting is not something Obama can believably deny. Axelrod later personally tells the media that he was “mistaken” when he told an interviewer in November that Obama had spoken with Blagojevich. He does not explain how he could have made the mistake. [641,643,645,646,647,652,659,660]

One web page that had shown the Obama-Blagojevich discussion had taken place was immediately removed from the Internet after it was used as confirmation of the meeting. [655]

It is believed that Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, was one of the people recorded on some of the telephone calls taped during the Blagojevich investigation. Rod Blagojevich was the Congressman for the 5th District before Emanuel won the seat. As of December 9 Emanuel has not yet resigned his Congressional seat and, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, Emanuel discussed with Blagojevich a “deal” which would allow him to return to his Congressional seat after a few years as Obama’s Chief of Staff. [672,705,737]

Senior Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin had provided Obama with a list of potential candidates for Obama’s open Senate seat and open cabinet positions, and had allegedly been advising both Obama and Blagojevich. [654]

Obama has had a long relationship with Blagojevich, and was arguably (along with Rahm Emanuel and campaign co-chair David Wilhelm) one of the top strategists of the governor’s 2002 victory. Obama endorsed Blagojevich in his 2006 re-election campaign, even though by that time there were serious questions about the governor’s “hiring practices” and it was widely known in Illinois that federal investigations into his activities were already being conducted. In July of 2006, Obama told the Daily Herald, “I have not followed closely enough what’s been taking place in these investigations to comment on them,” and then supported Blagojevich and campaigned on his behalf, telling a crowd at the Illinois State Fair in August, “We’ve got a governor in Rod Blagojevich who has delivered consistently on behalf of the people of Illinois.” [641]

In 1960, the election of John F. Kennedy to the Presidency left his Massachusetts Senate seat open. The Democrat governor of the state, Foster Furcolo, named Benjamin A. Smith II to fill the vacancy. Smith had been Kennedy’s college roommate. Smith held the seat only until the November 1962 election, when Edward Kennedy ran for the Senate and won. (Edward Kennedy first needed to reach age 30 before he could run for the office.) Smith was named Senator only to “keep the seat warm” for Teddy. It is unknown if any cash exchanged hands in the deal, but Joseph P. Kennedy, father of John and Edward, certainly had a lot of it. There is a long history of wheeling and dealing for Senate seats. Blagojevich happened to get caught working a deal in recorded phone conversations. [685]

Obama advisor Franklin Raines testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and says that “Fannie Mae did not cause the current (financial) crisis,” despite the fact that its purchase of tens of billions of dollars in risky sub-prime loans while Raines was CEO led to the federal bailout of the government sponsored entity. [640]

It is reported on December 9 that a grand jury has issued subpoenas relating to the Obama purchase of his Chicago mansion and the empty lot next door, which was owned by Rita Rezko, the wife of Obama’s now-jailed money-man, Tony Rezko. The case involves a former Illinois bank official, Kenneth J. Connor, who charges that the appraisal work he performed for Rezko’s empty lot was improperly replaced by a more favorable appraisal. Connor was then fired for questioning the action. Bank officials could be guilty of making false statements, willfully overvaluing property, bank fraud, witness retaliation, willful violation of a subpoena, FDIC violations, and state banking regulations. (When Obama bought the empty lot from Rita Rezko he was aware that Tony Rezko was under investigation for fraud.) [649,650,696]

On December 10, Obama calls for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to resign, saying that “under the current circumstances, it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois.” Obama’s remarks are expected, but could lead an embittered Blagojevich to tell federal prosecutors of any involvement by Obama in previous illegal schemes with the governor. [644]

Obama announces on December 10 that Steven Chu will be his Secretary of Energy. Chu is a Nobel Prize winning physicist, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, and an advocate of alternate energy sources. A believer of the “global warming” theories of global socialism advocates, Chu is likely to advocate or go along with Obama’s “cap and trade” scheme to dramatically increase the cost of using electricity, oil, and coal as a means of promoting conservation and alternate fuels. (Chu said in 2008 that the price of electricity in the United States is “anomalously low” – meaning he thinks Americans pay too little for power compared with consumers in other nations.) Lisa Jackson is named by Obama to head the Environmental Protection Agency; Carol Browner will be Obama’s “climate czar.” Together, Chu, Jackson, and Browner will likely work against the use of coal. They are “believers” in Al Gore’s theory that “global warming” is a significant mankind-caused danger. Browner was a legislative director for Al Gore when he was Vice-President, head of the Environmental Protection Agency under Clinton, and on the board of Gore’s “Alliance for Climate protection.” Browner is also one of 14 leaders of a group called “Socialist International.” The group’s “Commission for a Sustainable World Society” calls for “global governance” and the shrinking of the economies of wealthy countries to address climate change. (Soon after her appointment by Obama, Browner’s name and biography are removed from the Socialist International web site.) In defense of Browner, Democrat commentator Bob Beckel asks, on Fox News, “What’s wrong with socialism?” [653,707,708,810]

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Obama states, “I have not discussed the Senate seat with the governor (Blagojevich) at any time.” When asked if Rahm Emanuel or anyone else on his staff spoke with Blagojevich, Obama responds, “Let me stop you there because… it’s an ongoing… investigation. I think it would be inappropriate for me to, you know, remark on the situation beyond the facts that I know. And that’s the fact that I didn’t discuss this issue with the governor at all.” Obama does not say that his staff wasn’t dealing with Blagojevich; nor does he say that his staff wasn’t keeping him informed of any deal that was in the works. [680]

It is reported that Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel had multiple conversations with Rod Blagojevich and John Harris about filing Obama’s vacant Senate seat. The Saturday before the election, Emanuel telephoned Blagojevich and gave him a list of Obama-approved Senate candidates (Valerie Jarrett, Illinois Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, state Comptroller Dan Hynes, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan). In addition to dealing over the Senate replacement, Emanuel brings up the 5th Congressional District, which will have a vacancy as soon as Emanuel resigns from his House seat. It is likely that those phone conversations were recorded by the FBI. It is unlikely that Obama was not aware that Emanuel was talking with Blagojevich. [681,683]

At the annual meeting of the Council on American Islamic relations (CAIR), Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN, and member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus) encourages Muslims to apply for some of the 8,000 jobs available in the upcoming Obama administration. He remarks that now that they have a President with the middle name “Hussein,” no Muslims should shy away from work in the government. Ellison had recently made a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he said “You forget who you are – black or white ad American or African – and where you come from when you are before God circling the Kaaba in a two-piece unstitched garment.” Ellison did not indicate whether he would again consider himself an American when he returns to the United States Congress. Note that Ellison’s trip to Mecca is paid for by the “Muslim American Society,” which is a front group for the radical “Muslim Brotherhood,” whose “…work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within…” (The media largely ignores the story, even though it is illegal for a Congressman to accept a gift – including travel and travel accommodations – in excess of $50.) [665,721,1362]

The judge in the Rezko case cancels filing deadlines for sentencing comments, suggesting that Rezko’s January 9 sentencing date will be postponed. The delay may be related to additional facts having come to light as a result of the arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, for whom Rezko raised campaign contributions. [663,700]

On December 12, John Harris, chief of staff of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, resigns. Harris was also charged in the criminal complaint against Blagojevich. [668]

The December 12 Supreme Court meeting to discuss whether to hear the Wrotnowski v. Bysiewicz case is rescheduled for December 15. [669]

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich tells CNN on December 12, “I’ll have a lot to say at the appropriate time.” Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr, meanwhile, tells reporters he is fighting to get his name back after being identified as “Senate Candidate 5” in the Blagojevich criminal complaint. Businessmen connected to both Jackson and Blagojevich planned on raising at least $1 million for the Governor to persuade him to select Jackson for the open Senate seat. [673,682]

On December 15, it is reported that a federal grand jury in Albuquerque is reviewing the case of a company, CDR Financial Products, Inc., that in 2004 collected at least $1.5 million is fees from the New Mexico Finance Authority after donating $100,000 to Governor Bill Richardson (Obama’s chosen Secretary of Commerce) for voter registration drives and 2004 Democrat convention expenses. [686]

The Supreme Court, on December 15, denies the Wrotnowski request to issue a stay in the Electoral College vote based on the lawsuit’s challenge to Obama’s eligibility. [687]

Ii is reported on December 15 that Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, while working for Clinton and Gore in 1996, went to incredible lengths to help the administration get tens of thousands of immigrants granted citizenship in time to register to vote for Clinton in the fall elections. Emanuel worked with Hispanic community organizers in Chicago, going so far as to have immigration ceremonies at stadiums, like Chicago’s Soldier Field, where 11,000 new citizens were sworn in. Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) officer Tom Conklin said he was pressured to rubberstamp immigrants even before criminal and national security background checks were completed. Immigrants with arrest records were among those quickly naturalized and registered to vote. Emanuel began pushing Clinton to take advantage of the immigrants’ likelihood of voting Democrat. Clinton then had Emanuel and Daniel Solis, head of a Chicago Hispanic group called the “United Neighborhood Organization,” fast-track the process of turning immigrants and illegals into citizens who could vote for Clinton. INS commissioner Doris Meissner aid she was uncomfortable with the pressure Emanuel was exerting on her. Emanuel later refused to cooperate with an Inspector General investigation of the activities. An investigation found that “the INS had compromised the integrity of naturalization adjudications” in attempting to meet a goal of naturalizing at least one million new citizens, and had followed “inadequate procedures for checking criminal histories and fingerprints.” [695]

Obama picks Arne Duncan as his Secretary of Education; Duncan, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public School system, is immediately criticized by conservatives for his acceptance of a proposal for a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Chicago high school (the “Social Justice High School Pride Campus”). Duncan had done a reasonable job of improving the Chicago schools from their near-bottom reputation (in 2005 the high school graduation rate was 54 per cent and only 6 per cent went on to college). Nevertheless, Chicago parents continue to pull their children out in droves, either to enroll them in private schools or by moving to the suburbs. (The city’s school system has lost more than 45,000 students, more than 10 per cent of its population, over the last five years.) Chicago schools still lag many others after Duncan’s seven year rein, partly because he was unable to get concessions from the powerful teachers union. (Note that Obama’s faith in Duncan was not enough for him to send his two daughters to public schools in Chicago. Also, Duncan has ties to The Annenberg Challenge, where Obama and William Ayers wasted tens of millions of dollars on ineffective school initiatives in Chicago.) [692,693,706]

At Obama’s press conference announcing Duncan as his Secretary of Education, he is asked about Rahm Emanuel’s involvement with Blagojevich and the naming of his Senate successor. Obama arrogantly responds, “…let me just cut you off, because I don’t want you to waste your question.” [702]

On December 17, it is announced that Obama’s Secretary of Agriculture will be former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack. Colorado Senator Ken Salazar will be Obama’s Secretary of the Interior. Salazar is likely to oppose obtaining additional oil and coal from public land, making it more difficult for America to reduce its dependence on foreign energy sources. [697]

Chicago’s ABC-7 reports that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich once operated as a bookie, regularly paying off the mob in order to operate. The claim came from a former Chicago police officer, Robert Cooley, who later became a mob lawyer, and then became an FBI informant. He had made the charges prior to Blagojevich’s re-election in 2006, but ABC did not then report the story. Cooley said that, “I predicted five years ago when he (Blagojevich) ran the first time that he was a hands-on person who would be selling every position in the state of Illinois and that it exactly what happened.” Blagojevich’s lawyer told ABC he was too busy to talk about Cooley’s accusations. [710]

The Chicago Sun-Times reports on December 17 that Obama’s pick for Attorney General, Eric Holder, neglected to mention ties to Rod Blagojevich in the 47-page questionnaire he was required to submit to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Holder signed the document five days after Blagojevich’s arrest. In 2004, Blagojevich had named Holder “special investigator” for the Illinois Gaming Board, which controls Illinois casino licenses. Blagojevich was under scrutiny for his possible involvement in attempts to grant a casino license to the city of Rosemont (whose mayor was alleged to have mob ties). There were suspicions in 2004 that Blagojevich would use Holder to “steer” any investigations away from him (and Tony Rezko), while still allowing a casino in Rosemont. Rezko was also involved in the casino plans, and had an option to lease a hotel next to the casino site (which he would likely exercise only if the casino deal went through). A Rezko business partner, Christopher G. Kelly, was involved in casino site negotiations. Kelly is also a close friend and fundraiser of Blagojevich. There is speculation that Holder intentionally neglected to list his association with Blagojevich on his Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire to keep association from harming his confirmation as Attorney General. Perhaps sensing that “the fix was in,” the Gaming Board refused to hire Holder. A casino has yet to be approved for Rosemont, Illinois. [720]

The Democrat National Committee (DNC) states that it is a “private organization” and thus has no authority to tell the 50 states what to do with regard to ensuring that candidates are qualified to run for office, thus the state Attorneys General cannot expect the DNC to properly vet candidates. (That same DNC readily told Florida and Michigan they could not change the dates of their Presidential primaries, thus contributing to Hillary Clinton’s loss to Obama. Apparently the DNC cannot bother to inform the states as to whether its candidate is a natural born citizen, but it can dictate to the states when to hold their primary elections.) [729]

On December 17 the Supreme Court schedules Philip J. Berg’s lawsuit (Berg v. Obama, et al.) for conference on January 9. [741,742]

Time Magazine names Obama its “Person of the Year.” Runners-up are Hank Paulson (Treasury Secretary), Nicolas Sarkozy (President of France), Sarah Palin (Governor of Alaska), and Zhang Yimou (Chinese Director). [698]

Democrats in the Illinois State House and Senate push to quickly impeach Governor Rod Blagojevich so that the new Governor can appoint another Democrat to Obama’s open Senate seat. They oppose a special election because they fear a Republican (such as Congressman Mark Kirk) could win. [699,701]

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that just days after the November 4 election Rahm Emanuel began pushing Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to name Valerie Jarrett to Obama’s soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat. Emanuel may also have discussed the appointment with Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris. Sources report that Emanuel called Harris’ cell phone on November 1, before the election, to give him a list of names acceptable to Obama. [705]

It is announced that Time magazine’s Washington bureau chief, James Carney, will become Joe Biden’s White House communications director. Carney is married to Claire Shipman, of ABC’s Good Morning America. Shipman is thus unlikely to be reporting news that is critical of Biden or Obama. ABC new correspondent Linda Douglass works on Obama’s inaugural committee, suggesting her reporting will likely be “Obama-favorable.” [709]

It is reported on December 18 that Obama will select Mary Schapiro to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Schapiro is CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FIRA). It should be noted that the while SEC received significant criticism for not identifying and stopping the Ponzi scheme run by Bernard Madoff that allegedly cost investors $50 billion (some say the figure is closer to $20 billion), Schapiro’s FIRA also failed to do anything about Madoff’s massive fraud scheme. [711,723,724,1567]

Ray LaHood will be Obama’s pick for Secretary of Transportation. LaHood is a Republican Congressman from Illinois, known for his introduction of wasteful spending via earmarks. His rating from “Citizens Against Government Waste” (CAGW) in his final year in Congress was only 11 (on a scale of 1 to 100). LaHood has twice been named “Porker of the Month” by the CAGW. [725,1071]

Obama’s decision to have Pastor Rick Warren deliver the invocation at his inauguration prompts criticism from both the left and the right. Leftists are angry with Obama for selecting a minister who is opposed to gay marriage give the prayer, while conservatives are upset with Warren for agreeing to be a part of a ceremony honoring the pro-abortion Obama. Gene Robinson, the controversial, egotistical and first openly gay Episcopal Bishop, is asked to offer a prayer at the Lincoln Memorial at an inaugural event. Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), is slated to speak at an inaugural prayer service. The ISNA, which receives financial support from the jihad-promoting Muslim Brotherhood, is alleged to have ties to the terrorist organization Hamas and was labeled an “un-indicted co-conspirator” in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism trial. [716,805,827]

On December 19 the Chicago Sun-Times reports that sources have confirmed conversations that took place, shortly after the election, between Rahm Emanuel and Rod Blagojevich about naming Valerie Jarrett to fill Obama’s vacant Senate seat. Obama continues to deny that any such conversations took place. [717]

Obama selects California Congresswoman Hilda Solis to be the Secretary of Labor. Solis is the daughter of Mexican and Nicaraguan immigrants. Solis is firmly in the “union camp,” will be an advocate of easing restrictions on illegal immigrants, and is far to the left politically. A member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (which essentially consists of socialists serving in Congress), she has addressed the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and sent a representative from her office to a worker’s rights forum held by Socialist International. Solis, along with Obama and his designated Commerce Secretary Bill Richardson, support expanding the H-1B visa program, which lets U.S. companies hire tens of thousands of foreign workers (in jobs like software design, which could just as easily be performed by Americans). [731,732,751,1362]

Obama and Congressional Democrats indicate they hope to have an “economic stimulus package” of as much as $850 billion ready for the first 100 days of the new Congress. Obama tells reporters on December 19, “We’re going to have to be bold,” but does not indicate where he would get the $850 billion. (Raising taxes would cause unemployment in areas which do not receive the “stimulus,” printing money will lead to inflation, and selling government bonds will require getting China to finance more of the U.S. national debt.) Obama states he will ignore the growing budget deficit – even though balancing the budget was an issue on which he campaigned. [727]
 
On December 20 Obama announces that John Holdren will be his science advisor, and Jane Lubchenco will lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Holdren is a Harvard physicist, and Lubchenco is a marine biologist. Both are believers in “man-made global warming,” and will thus likely support expensive and restrictive taxes and regulations on manufacturing and energy production which will lead to increases in the costs of goods, services, and utilities. [722]

On December 21 it is reported that Obama’s family in Kenya has been silenced with a gag order and told not to grant any interviews with the media unless they are first approved by the government. Arguably, this results from relatives of Obama’s father having stated that Obama was born in Kenya, and that various family members were present at his birth. The Kenyan government says its actions are to “ensure better flow of information.” [728]

Obama’s Chief of Staff-designate, Rahm Emanuel, heads to Africa for a “long family vacation.” There is no official word on whether Emanuel will “tidy up” any Obama birth records while in Kenya, or why he chose that less than common destination for a vacation. [758]

On December 23, the Supreme Court re-schedules Philip J. Berg’s lawsuit (Berg v. Obama, et al.) for conference on January 16. [741,742]

On December 23, Obama holds a memorial service for his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, at the First Unitarian Church in Nuuanu. The choice of church conflicts with Obama’s allegation that his maternal grandparents were Baptists and Methodists. A few days later he and his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, toss their grandmother’s ashes into the Pacific Ocean, while standing on the shore. Their action is illegal because environmental laws require that the dumping of ashes be done at least three nautical miles from shore. [745,748]

The Obama team’s “internal report” of contacts with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich completely exonerates everyone on the Obama staff of wrongdoings with regard to the “pay for play” Illinois Senate appointment. The report (which claims Obama “had ruled out communicating a preference for any one candidate”) is essentially meaningless because the “investigation” of Obama’s staff was performed by members of Obama’s staff.  [757,1945]

It is reported on December 25 that, according to county property records, Obama’s $1.65 million home in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood (5046 S. Greenwood) is owned by William Miceli, and not Obama. Miceli is an attorney with Miner, Barnhilll and Galland, Obama’s former employer, and was Obama’s supervisor when Obama worked on Tony Rezko public housing deals. Cook County, Illinois records also show that the property tax bills on the mansion are addressed to Miceli. [760]

Larry Sinclair charges that Obama’s grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, died on October 21 (not November 3) and was cremated on October 24. Sinclair cites sources in the Honolulu coroner’s office as saying that death records were falsified at the request of Obama and his half-sister, Maya Soetoro Ng. Sinclair has requested that the Hawaii Attorney General’s office conduct an investigation. It is unclear why Obama would have delayed the death disclosure until November 3, other than to obtain some “sympathy votes” the next day. [1299]

Obama campaign advisor David Axelrod appears on a Sunday morning talk show and says that retaining the Bush tax cuts is “something we plainly can’t afford moving forward.” The Bush tax cuts are in the neighborhood of $25 to $40 billion, clearly less than the $750 billion (or more) “stimulus package” Obama has proposed. Axelrod’s remark indicates that Obama is philosophically opposed to tax cuts for productive Americans while attracted to big-government programs that favor non-productive Americans (and campaign donors). [752]

The New York Times reports, on December 28, that ABC, CBS, and NBC have stopped sending full-time correspondents to Iraq, even though it is an active war zone involving U.S. forces. With the troop surge having been successful, there is not enough negative news to discredit President Bush, and with the election over there is no longer any need for the media to link the war with John McCain. [750]

In late December, Democrats and the mainstream media are in an uproar over a parody on racism called “Barack the Magic Negro.” The parody song, written by satirist Paul Shanklin, relates to Obama having been called a “Magic Negro” by David Ehrenstein in a March 19, 2007 Los Angeles Times article. The article itself prompted no widespread criticism as it was written by a Democrat, and the parody was played countless times on the radio without raising eyebrows, but its recent distribution by Republicans changed the standard and prompted Democrats and media to cry racism. [755,756,762]

Michigan radio station WRHC cuts the program of Martin Dzuris from two hours to one because of his repeated criticism of Obama, rather than discussion of local issues. [749]

Obama states he supports Senate Democrats in their decision not to seat as his Senate replacement anyone appointed by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. [764]

On December 30, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich selects former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to fill Obama’s open Senate seat, defying U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid, who had stated he will refuse to allow the Senate to accept any “tainted” replacement appointed by Blagojevich. The 71 year old Burris, a career politician and lackey of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, is black, which will make it politically difficult for Reid to oppose his appointment. Burris ran for governor of Illinois three times, losing to Blagojevich in one Democrat primary. Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush, a former Black Panther militant, warns the media not to “hang or lynch” Burris, thus issuing a thinly-veiled racist dare to Reid. (Many suggest that Reid and his fellow Democrats do not want a black to replace Obama in the Senate because it may be easier for Illinois Republicans to defeat that individual in the 2010 election.) [753,768,779]

The dull but ambitious Burris, a former undistinguished state comptroller, lost the Democrat primary elections for Illinois Governor in 1994, 1998, and (against Blagojevich) in 2002. Burris ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Chicago in 1995 and for U.S. Senator in 1984. Burris, whose ego (his children are named Roland and Rolanda) exceeds his talents by a wide margin (he has already built an enormous cemetery tombstone/monument with his accomplishments chiseled in stone), donated more than $20,000 to past Blagojevich campaigns. Burris’ consulting firm received $290,000 in state contracts with the Illinois Department of Transportation. Burris, eager for another accomplishment to put on his tombstone, was willing to accept the appointment from Blagojevich even though almost everyone else in Illinois politics is distancing themselves from the disgraced Governor. Burris had previously arranged for the Governor’s wife to be given the job of development director and political fundraiser for the Chicago Christian Industrial League. [759,763,766,770,771]
2009

More Transition and More Pay-Back

On January 2, several of the pages of the 1964 Dunham/Obama divorce decree are made public. The document confirms that Obama’s mother and father were, in fact, married on February 2, 1961. There had been speculation that Dunham and Obama, Sr. had never been legally married, partly because candidate Obama’s wife Michelle had stated in an interview that Ann Dunham was “very young and very single when she had him (Barack Obama, Jr.)” and because there was evidence that Dunham and Obama, Sr. had lived apart. Their divorce decree notwithstanding, it may be the case that their marriage was not legal if Obama, Sr. was still legally married to his first wife in Kenya when he married Dunham. [772]

A group of investors agrees to buy the remaining assets of the IndyMac Bank (which failed because of the release of a letter by New York Senator Charles Schumer), for $13.9 billion. Among the investors is a fund controlled by leftist Obama supporter Gorge Soros. [1385]

A poll of active members of the U.S. Armed Forces shows that 60 per cent of the military is “uncertain” or “pessimistic” about the prospect of Obama as their commander in chief. [765]

On January 3, Obama says his goal is to “create three million new jobs, more than 80 per cent of them in the private sector.” Obama is thus promising to add 600,000 new government employees at a time when massive deficits should prompt the reduction of government payrolls to help balance federal, state, and local budgets. Depending on the level of salaries and benefits paid to those 600,000 new employees, the cost of such a promise would likely be at least $30 billion per year. Obama does not indicate where he will get the funds for those new employees. [774]

On January 4, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson withdraws from the Secretary of Commerce position offered to him by Obama, citing a pending investigation involving his administration. It is unclear why Obama chose Richardson when it had been widely reported that an investigation into possible “pay to play” activities was underway, and when Obama knew that prominent West Virginia Senator Byrd would oppose Richardson’s approval (for Richardson’s failure to safeguard nuclear secrets as Clinton’s Secretary of Energy). Rather than admit to a poor vetting process, Obama complains that Richardson wasn’t “forthcoming.” The investigation into Richardson involves his dealings with California financier David Rubin. Rubin donated $28,500 to the Democrat National Committee and the Obama campaign. [534,586,767,769,782]

It is reported on January 5 that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) plans on changing House rules to make it essentially impossible for Republicans to have any input or impact on legislation. Republicans would be barred from offering alternative legislation, offering amendments to Democrat legislation, or even offering motions for debate. Abuse of the rules by prior Democrat Congresses led to the 1994 Republican Congress instituting reforms. Pelosi’s action will reverse those changes, restoring the one-sided “closed door” processes of the past. [773]

Reporters described the first day of school (the expensive, private Sidwell Friends) for the Obama children. Reporter Claire Shipman (whose husband James Carney is Vice-President Joe Biden’s White House Communications Director) gushes that the students enjoy “an entirely green building, complete with organic lunches, one of the many things that appealed to her (Malia Obama) and her family.” (This appears to be the first official word that the 10 year old child is enthused about “green buildings” and “organic lunches.”) No mention is made by Shipman of Obama’s opposition to school vouchers for those parents in Washington, D.C. who can’t afford to send their children to private schools but must send their children to suffer the indignities of public schools that are among the worst in the nation. [709,775]

New York resident Christopher Earl Strunk files a lawsuit demanding that Obama-related documents he requested through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) be provided to him as required by law. Both the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security have refused to release the requested documents, which include passport applications for Obama and his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham. [801]

Obama selects Leon Panetta, another Clinton re-tread, as his CIA director in a move that surprises many because Panetta’s experience is political and not from within the intelligence community. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is less than pleased with Obama’s choice. Panetta’s criticism of “waterboarding,” which some consider to be torture, may give terrorists an indication they can expand their activities with only weak responses expected from the Obama administration. Panetta would take over from Air Force General Michael Hayden, who has been strongly supported by and popular with CIA employees. Panetta will face tough questioning from Republicans who are likely to assert that the Clinton administration “dropped the ball” with regard to counter-terrorism in the 1990s. Panetta may also receive criticism over the $700,000 in lobbying and speaking fees he received in 2008. Obama selects Admiral Dennis Blair, a China expert and former associate director of the CIA, as his national intelligence director. [776,777,1067]

Complicating the confirmation of Leon Panetta as CIA chief is his anti-military daughter, Linda, who has been seen publicly with Hugo Chavez and Daniel Ortega, and who is a leader of the “School of the Americas Watch,” an organization dedicated to shutting down the “School of the Americas,” a CIA-related training ground for pro-U.S. military officers in the Western Hemisphere. [850]

While other new Senators are being sworn in on January 6, Roland “tombstone” Burris, Obama’s designated successor as Illinois Senator, is denied entrance to the U.S. Senate by an official from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office. Burris is told his forms are incomplete because his certificate of appointment had not been signed by the Illinois Secretary of State. [778]

Documents obtained by Judicial Watch, through a Freedom of Information Act request, disclose that there was, in fact, contact between the Obama team and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in the days leading up to the Governor’s arrest. Documents include a December 3 letter from Obama, and a letter from Valerie Jarrett and John Podesta. The December 3 letter thanks Blagojevich for meeting with him (Obama) the day before. The Jarrett/Podesta letter is dated November 17, and expresses “strong interest in working with you (Blagojevich) in the months to come.” [780,781]

In an interview with “The Hill,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) states that the Senate will not be a rubber stamp for the new President and that “If Obama steps over the bounds, I will tell him. I do not work for Barack Obama. I work with him.” [785]

On January 6, al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, releases an audio message accusing Obama of doing nothing to stop Israel’s incursion into Gaza to eliminate Hamas rocket attacks. Al-Zawahiri calls Obama’s inaction a “gift to Israel,” and accuses Obama of killing his Muslim “brothers and sisters in Gaza mercilessly and without affection.” [786]

Obama warns of “trillion dollar deficits for years to come, even with the economic recovery program that we are working on,” after meeting with his economic team. Obama’s plans to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on a “stimulus package” would have to be paid for though massive tax increases, foreign borrowing, or simply printing money (which would cause inflation). He has not made clear how he will finance his plans, or explained how his massive deficit-spending will not harm the economy he is trying to improve; in fact, Obama’s use of the words “even with” are an admission that his plans will not work, and will merely postpone the day of fiscal reckoning. [788,789]

Joe Biden tells reporters on January 6 it was “a mistake” for Obama to have selected Leon Panetta as his CIA director without consulting Senator Feinstein and the Intelligence Committee. Biden states that both he and Obama called Feinstein to apologize for the blunder. [787,790]

Congressman Jose E. Serrano (D-NY) introduces House Joint Resolution 5, proposing an Amendment to the Constitution to repeal the Twenty-Second Amendment in order to allow Obama not to be restricted to only two terms as President. [818,823]

The Supreme Court’s Chief Justice John Roberts agrees to review the case, Lightfoot v. Bowen, which challenges Obama’s eligibility to serve as President. The case is scheduled to be heard January 23. [793,794,799]

On January 7, President George W. Bush is joined at the White House for photos with former Presidents George H. W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Obama. President Bush tells Obama that Clinton had been helpful and supportive in his dealings with foreign leaders, but warns Obama to be wary of “James Earl Carter” because of his “extremely meddlesome” and counter-productive interference in foreign policy. [930]

At a January 7 “Economic recovery Plan” meeting, Obama advisor Robert Reich discusses infrastructure spending as part of the “stimulus package” and says he is concerned “…that these jobs not simply go to high skilled people who are already professionals or to white male construction workers.” Reich argues that “criteria can be set so that the money does go to others, the long term unemployed, minorities, women… people who are not necessarily construction workers.” Reich’s comments likely will not sit well with average Americans, who would probably prefer that the bridges they drive over be built by experienced engineers and tradesmen, and not inexperienced people who are hired because they happen to be part of a population minority. [873]

Obama remarks on January 8 that the recession could “linger for years” unless Congress approves his “economic stimulus” package – ignoring the fact that many critics believe his plans will worsen the economy and extend the recession, just as Franklin Roosevelt’s massive federal programs extended, rather than ended, the Great Depression of the 1930s. Obama pledges to his critics that he would fund only those programs that work, failing to admit that there is essentially no funding for any of his programs and that history has shown that such programs will not be effective. Obama states that the private sector cannot boost the economy, and “only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe.” Obama fails to recognize the opposite, that only the private sector can end a recession, and cutting corporate and capital gains taxes allows the private sector to do so by generating the capital needed for new business start-ups and expansion of existing businesses. Drafts of the stimulus package, in the $825 billion range, show that it will include the usual wasteful government programs, such as Community Development Block Grants, Community Services Block Grants, and Community Action Programs. [791,841]

The Supreme Court is scheduled to review Philip J. Berg’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari on January 9. The case relates to Obama’s ineligibility to serve as President of the United States because he is alleged to not satisfy the natural born citizen requirement. [792]

Obama’s long-time friend, Columbia professor Rashad Khalidi, writes an anti-Israel article called “What You Don’t Know About Gaza” that appears in the New York Times. A few weeks later, the newspaper issues a retraction of a quote used in the article by Khalidi, which turned out not to have been in the Israeli newspaper Khalidi improperly used as the source. [1007]

Obama chooses CNN correspondent Sanjay Gupta as the next Surgeon General. (It is unclear why the nation needs a surgeon general.) [795]

The British press reports on January 9 that Obama will abandon the U.S. policy of isolating Hamas and will implement communications with the terrorist organization. This policy change contradicts Obama’s (albeit weak) pro-Israel stance during the election campaign. [797]

Obama says on January 9, “There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help jumpstart the economy.” The CATO Institute later runs ads listing the names of more than 200 economists who do, in fact, disagree with Obama’s Keynesian premise that massive federal spending will improve the economy’s performance. The CATO Institute argues for “reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.” [1041]

The Illinois House votes on January 9 to impeach Governor Rod Blagojevich. A second impeachment vote is held on January 14 because of the seating of new House members elected in November. The only vote against impeachment came from freshman Representative Deb Mell… who is the sister of the Governor’s wife. [808]

In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer House Speaker Nancy Pelosi raises her hand and pledges – with a straight face – that there will be absolutely no pork barrel spending or earmarks in the economic stimulus bill. (The bill eventually passed by the House on January 28 contains so much pork that it also includes $227 million just for oversight of the pork.) [1055,1056]

Anticipating the swearing in of an anti-gun President and Attorney General, Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL) introduces H.R. 45, the Blair Holt Act of 2009, which will place significant licensing restrictions on gun owners. (Rush himself is no stranger to violence and guns. He went AWOL from the Army in 1968 to co-found the radical Illinois Black Panther Party, which generated “revenue” by intimidating local businesses into making “donations.” Rush, who served six months in jail in 1969 for a weapons conviction, barely escaped being shot when Chicago police raided the party’s Chicago headquarters on December 4, 1969 and killed activists Mark Clark and Fred Hampton in retaliation for the murder of two Chicago police officers on November 13. Rush’s son Huey, who was named after radical activist Huey Newton, was murdered in 1999. Rush is an avid supporter of slavery reparations legislation who said, “The future of race relations will be determined by reparations for slavery.” Rush has no qualms about ignoring the Second Amendment to the Constitution, and “…would like to see the manufacture and possession of handguns banned… that’s the endgame.”) [1597,1598,1599,1600]

The Washington, D.C. mass transit system announces it will issue 40,000 fare cards with Obama’s picture. The transit system’s hope is that many purchasers will buy the items and save them as “collector’s items” rather than use them for transit, thus generating additional revenue. [798]

It is reported that Obama plans on keeping the 45 per cent estate tax (“death tax”) instead of allowing it to expire as scheduled in 2010. Retaining the tax means that owners of many businesses and farms will have to devote time and money to special estate planning to avoid depriving their families of their inheritances. [806]

It is reported on January 12 that John O. Brennan, Obama’s terrorism and intelligence advisor, heads a firm that was involved in the March, 2008 breach of Obama’s passport file at the State Department. A contract employee of Brennan’s reportedly accessed Obama’s passport file to cleanse it of incriminating or damaging information. Coincidental attempts to access Hillary Clinton’s and John McCain’s files were intended solely to confuse any investigation. Passport files may include copies of birth certificates or naturalization documents which Obama would not want made public if they showed he is not a natural born citizen. A 104-page report of the investigation of the security breach, marked “Sensitive but Unclassified,” was heavily redacted and includes multiple pages blacked out to hide all information. [807]

On January 13, Obama dines with conservative political writers at the home of columnist George Will. It is an attempt by Obama to indirectly plead for as long a “honeymoon” as possible, and allows Obama to try to choose the “opposition” columnists he will then expect others to defer to. It also gives Obama an opportunity to attempt to charm potential critics, getting them to like him in order to water down future criticism. Guests include Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol, Larry Kudlow, David Brooks, Rich Lowry, Peggy Noonan, Michael Barone, and Paul Gigot. [802,1694]

Two Alabama teachers uncover a scheme in which their union dues are illegally diverted to the Obama campaign after they were led to believe the funds were to be used for an NEA “Fund for Children.” The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation intends to file a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission. Although the practice is commonplace, it is also illegal for unions to contribute to political candidates using “dues, fees, or other moneys required as a condition of membership in a labor organization.” [982]

There is speculation that a certified copy of an INS form signed by Stanley Ann Dunham has been found which states she entered the United States from Kenya on August 10, 1961. The rumor even includes a document number, CD E509B TECX SQSQPQ. There is, however, no evidence that such a document has been found or exists, and skeptics argue the alleged document number is not consistent with INS practices.

At the invitation of Chief Justice John Roberts, Obama and Joe Biden visit the Supreme Court on January 14. They meet in private, with no reporters present, leading to ethics questions from litigants who have Supreme Court cases pending that question Obama’s eligibility to serve as President. [804,895]

The confirmation of Obama’s Secretary Treasurer, Timothy Geithner, is enveloped in controversy after it is learned that Geithner failed to pay over $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes for the several years (2001-2004) he worked for the International Monetary Fund – despite signing forms recognizing the requirement for him to do so. (He ended up paying over $48,000 in delinquent taxes and interest, coughing up the final $26,000 only after being named by Obama for a cabinet post.) Geithner’s initial, public confirmation hearing for January 13 is canceled as a result of the issue, and members of the Senate Finance Committee meet with Geithner privately instead. Obama’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, remarks that “Geithner’s service should not be tarnished by honest mistakes.” It is not made clear whether Geithner (who, as Treasury Secretary, would also be responsible for Internal Revenue Service), Obama, or the IRS will consider “honest mistake” a reasonable defense for average Americans who neglect to pay their taxes during the new administration. Also at issue are Geithner’s improper deductions as a child-care expense the clearly non-deductible cost of “sleep away” camps attended by his child, and the illegal use of an immigrant maid by Geithner for three months after the expiration of her work authorization documents. When Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) questions Geithner about his failure to pay required taxes, Geithner (who earns $398,000 per year as head of the New York Federal Reserve) blames it on the TurboTax computer software.  (The software developer later states the error was not caused by its product.) Several nominees of Presidents Clinton and Bush (Kimba Wood, Linda Chavez, and Bernard Kerik) were denied confirmation because of similar tax and “nanny problems.” (Vice-President Joe Biden, who said on the campaign trail that paying taxes is “patriotic,” was not asked whether he though Geithner was unpatriotic for failing to pay his taxes.) [809,811,824,889,890,937]

Estimates of the cost of Obama’s inauguration and related festivities approach $170 million, more than four times the $42 million price tag of the 2004 events for President Bush. The media criticized Bush heavily for his 2004 expenses. (One 2004 editorial commented, “In the first inauguration since Sept. 11, 2001, is the image we want to present abroad one of upscale excess?” and “…do we really think it’s appropriate to throw a boy-we-can-waste-cash bash?” Another criticized, “Bush extravagance exceeds any reason during tough economic times.”) Criticism of Obama is minor, in comparison. Comments include, “Historic Obama inauguration will cost only $170 million,” and “Obama spends $170 million on inauguration; America needs a big party.” Strangely, President Bush declares the District of Columbia a “disaster area” in order to free up additional funds from FEMA to cover the inaugural events. On duty for the inauguration will be 10,000 National Guardsmen, 7,500 active duty soldiers, 25,000 police from 99 federal, state, and local law-enforcement agencies. Communication command centers will watch over crowds via 5,265 surveillance cameras, and an entire Army brigade will be on call. [813,814,816,817,845]

Obama’s pick for “regulatory czar” is Cass Sunstein, a Harvard Law School professor whose advocacy for almost unlimited extension of rights includes rights for animals. (Sunstein believes all hunting and meat-eating should be banned, and has argued that animals should be permitted to file lawsuits, with human beings as their representatives in court.) Sunstein is married to Obama advisor Samantha Power. [819,1311]

The New York Times prints a shameless letter Obama wrote to his daughters explaining why he wanted to be President. The self-serving and trite (“hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself”) letter was clearly intended by Obama to be published, as its language – and content – was not at a level reasonable for a private letter to his young daughters. (“I want us to push the boundaries of discovery” is not the language a child would appreciate.) In the letter Obama claims that his “…own life wouldn’t count for much unless” he was able to ensure that his daughters “had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment” in theirs. [821]

In a January 14 interview with Katie Couric of CBS, in response to a question about the status of Osama bin Laden, Obama says, “I think that we have so weakened his infrastructure that, whether he is technically alive or not, he is so pinned down that he cannot function. My preference obviously would be to capture or kill him. But if we have so tightened the noose that he’s in a cave somewhere and can’t even communicate with his operatives, then we will meet our goal of protecting America.”  Obama’s comment unintentionally gives credit to the Bush administration for keeping bin Laden’s influence at a minimum, but also intentionally gives Obama “cover” in the event that his administration also finds itself unable to kill or capture the terrorist leader. [1797]

On January 15, Roland Burris is sworn in as U.S. Senator from Illinois to fill Obama’s vacant Senate seat, despite earlier opposition from Senate majority Leader Harry Reid and Illinois’ senior Senator, Dick Durbin. (In Burris’ failed bid for Illinois Governor in 2002 more than 70 per cent of his campaign contributions came from one man, Joseph Stroud., who gave Burris loans of $800,000 and $400,000, of which Burris has paid back only $6,000. Burris told reporters that Stroud hasn’t asked for the money back, that “he’s a friend,” and “that’s all you need to know.” Congressman Jim Durkin (D-IL) asked, “Who walks away with $1.2 million?” and “It’s just human nature to think that with a loan of this nature that there is a monetary and a personal indebtedness to this individual.”) [822,1123]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid states on January 15, “If the actions of the President-elect on TARP are any indication, a new day is dawning in Washington, DC, and a good day, a bright day… Barack Obama has also said there will be transparency, there will be oversight, and Barack Obama has said the disbursal of TARP funds will require his signoff; not a Secretary, not somebody in some clerk’s office, not a group of people, but every penny will require Barack Obama’s personal signoff.” Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) adds, “I am going to be voting with the faith that this new administration, with new leadership and new eyes and new vision and new values, will invest this money properly so that we can turn this economy around and build a strong American future.” Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CN) remarks, “That is what this President has asked for – both the outgoing and incoming one – to give this incoming President the tools necessary to move forward. Now, I know, as well, there is going to be far better accountability, far more transparency.” Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) confirms, “I spoke with the President-elect. He indicated he was totally comfortable with my coming to the Senate floor and saying that he personally guarantees closure on all of those issues… that there will be limits on executive compensation; and that there clearly are going to be strong proposals, to re-regulate the financial markets.”  [1903]

Other Democrat Senators chime in that the bail-out money will be spent wisely because Obama is now in charge. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) states, “So I say to my constituents I will vote for this, and I will do it because of the assurances I have gotten from the President-elect himself that it will be different, that he will use these funds judiciously, that he needs to make sure he has this tool in his pocket. I hope my constituents understand that after hearing that from this President… I feel he deserves my trust at this time.” Tom Harkin (D-IA) says, “We have someone new holding that ball, someone by the name of Barack Obama and Joe Biden and their team.” Patty Murray (D-WA) adds, “Today, the President will limit executive compensation for executives of companies that take advantage of taxpayer bailout funds. This is the right thing to do.” Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) states, “We need to give President Obama the tools he needs to get our economy going again. We shouldn’t hold the misdeeds of the Bush administration against him… This week, the President-elect huddled with us, to talk about how his plan is different than the previous administration. We need vigilance and responsibility that’s what President Obama has pledged.” [1903]

On January 16 Congressman John Conyers (D-MI, and member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus) introduces House Resolution 40, “Reparations for African-Americans,” to create a commission to study slavery in the United States and “recommend appropriate remedies.” (Conyers has introduced the bill every year since 1989.) Obama advisor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. is a prominent advocate of slavery reparations, and the co-chair of the “Reparations Movement Coordinating Committee.” [935,936,1362]

It is reported on January 18 that Occidental College officials have been served with a demand by Gary Kreep, of the United States Justice Foundation, to produce records of Obama’s attendance at the school in the early 1980s. One assumption is that the records will show Obama was registered as a foreign national student, with Indonesian citizenship. (Obama’s roommates were foreign national Muslims.) Obama is fighting the release of his school records. [826]

The University of Chicago Hospitals eliminates the position held by Michelle Obama, leading some to wonder what she did to warrant her $316,962 salary. [828]

Obama selects Elizabeth Alexander to compose an original poem for the inauguration festivities. Alexander, a Yale African-American Studies professor, is known for outrageous writings. Her poem “The Venus Hottentot” includes lines like, “her genitalia will float inside a labeled pickling jar,” “Since my own genitals are public I have made other parts private,” “I am a black cutout against a captive blue sky,” and “Monsieur Cuvier investigates between my legs, poking, prodding, sure of his hypothesis. I half expect him to pull silk scarves from inside me, paper poppies, then a rabbit!” It is assumed that Alexander will tone it down a bit for her inaugural poem. Alexander has received tax-payer funding from the National Endowment for the Arts for her work. [840,871]

On Sunday, January 18, an inauguration celebration is held at the Lincoln memorial with the theme “We Are One.” Golf great Tiger Woods, whose father was a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Armed Forces, appears and gives a speech honoring the military. Woods is followed by a performance by the Naval Glee Club. (Woods, who shuns politics, later receives criticism from blacks and liberals for a speech that neither praises nor even mentions Obama.) [849,1528]

En route to Canada for a series of educational events and media interviews, William Ayers is refused entry into the country by immigration officials in Toronto. Ayers later says he did not know why he was turned away. [846]

In a sign that not everyone will be giving the new President of the United States a “honeymoon,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez states on television that Obama “brings the same stench” as President Bush. The remark is in response to Obama’s criticism of Chavez for supporting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC). [847]

A complaint for an emergency injunction is filed in New Jersey by members of the Reserves of the Armed Forces of the United States demanding that Obama prove he is a natural born citizen. The civil action claims violations of the First, Ninth, Fourteenth, and Twentieth Amendments to the Constitution, and argues that military orders issued by Obama would be illegal if he is not, in fact, eligible to serve as Commander in Chief, and would therefore violate the due process rights of members of the Armed Forces. [898]

The day before the inauguration, Ali Abunimah, a long-time friend of Obama, writes in “The Electronic Intifada” that Israel’s days are numbered, and “It is within reach, in our lifetimes.” With the election of Obama, Abunimah assumes that “…the other pillar of Israeli power – Western support and complicity – is starting to crack. We must do all we can to push it over.” [974,975]

The day before the inauguration of Obama, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closes at $8,281.22. [1434]

On and shortly before January 20, as many as 600 “greenhouse gas-spewing” private jets arrive at Dulles Airport, bringing celebrities, lobbyists, politicians, and corporate heads to Washington for the inauguration of the environmentally-conscious Obama. [930]

The Inauguration

On January 20, 2009, Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. The oath of office is flubbed by both Chief Justice Roberts and Obama. (To correct the error, Obama is later sworn in again, in the White House.) [870,874]

Members of Congress are each given several hundred tickets to the inauguration with the understanding that they are to be given out for free. Many tickets, not surprisingly, are sold to the highest bidder. (Web sites offer tickets for as high as $40,000.) Many tickets go to lobbyists, big-money political donors, party loyalists, or people to whom Congressmen and Senators owe favors, and lobbyists pay tens of thousands of dollars to attend inaugural events. The Presidential Inaugural Committee sells tickets for as much as $50,000 in contributions, despite committee member Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) having said, “These tickets are supposed to be free for the people” – and a special law that was passed prohibiting sales of inauguration tickets. [1570]

Obama’s presidential address is rather pedestrian and does not live up to its media-driven, sky-high expectations. The media continues its non-stop Obama adoration, however, offering up such gushing remarks as, “The new president’s name, simply his name, was just the restorative the enormous crowds needed.”  ABC’s Bill Weir says, “Never have so many people shivered so long with such joy… (while) from above, even the seagulls must have been awed by the blanket of humanity.” At the ceremony Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s Chief of Staff, rudely thumbs his nose at the outgoing administration. [857,862,863,869,891,892,899,919]

Obama’s speech discusses the “…noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.” Tellingly, that is a re-phrasing of the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation of a God-given right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” with Obama omitting the “right to life” as an indication of his pro-abortion policies – and downgrading the right to pursue happiness to a mere chance to pursue it. [953]

Michelle Obama wears a dress to the inauguration which, not surprisingly, prompts praise from some and criticism from others. [861]

The inaugural poem, written and recited by Elizabeth Alexander, leaves many in the crowd saying, “Huh?” There is no official word on how much the taxpayers were charged for Alexander’s contribution. [860]

After the inaugural address a prayer by the anti-Semitic, 87 year old civil rights leader Joseph Lowery arguably insults all white Americans when he asks God to help mankind work for a day “when white would embrace what is right.” The remark is remarkably inappropriate inasmuch as a mostly white America had just elected its first half-black President. Lowery, in a sign that many people are apparently not ready to put race behind them, also asks for help in working for the day when “black will not be asked to get back” – despite the fact that the celebration is to honor a half-black man being given the job of perhaps the most powerful man on the planet. Obama smiles during the prayer. [858]

Obama’s inauguration is the second most watched in history, with 37.8 million American viewers. The first Reagan inauguration was watched by 41.8 million. [900]

After the inauguration Democrat Party strategist Donna Brazile admits taking Obama’s blanket from the ceremony, after he had left it on his chair. She jokes the theft is not a criminal offense because, “We have a black president… this was free.” It is unclear what Brazile, herself a black, meant by the comment. [876]

Within minutes of the swearing in ceremony the official White House web page is updated to reflect Obama’s plans for supporting the “gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender” agenda, including working against Constitutional amendments to define marriage as between a man and a woman, repealing the Defense of Marriage Act, ending the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays in the military, expanding hate-crimes legislation (to include, for example, protection for cross-dressers), passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which would (among many other things) force churches to hire gays, and expand gay adoption. [926]

Almost immediately after the swearing in of Obama, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel issues a memorandum attempting to rescind recent executive orders issued by President Bush. [859]

Gatherings are held at American Embassies around the world to view the inauguration festivities. In Brussels, Belgium, members of the Vlaams Belang Party who had been invited to the festivities were “dis-invited” at the last moment. The Vlaams Belang Party has been active in opposing the rioting Muslims in Europe and escalating anti-Semitic demonstrations. The unprecedented banning of Vlaams Belang may have been the result of Obama being more fearful of offending Muslims than Jews. [887,888]

One inaugural ball guest is Zeituni Onyango, Obama’s aunt from Kenya. Onyango has been in the United States illegally for several years (a judge refused her request for asylum in 2004), illegally collecting welfare payments. Joining Onyango at the ball is her attorney, Margaret Wong, who likely assumes that having a President in the family will help her client continue to avoid immigration laws. Onyango, who had been living in Boston public housing, now lives in Cleveland. [918,968]

Obama is the first President to not attend the “Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball,” which was created in 1953 to honor recipients of the nation’s highest military award, the Medal of Honor. Forty-eight of the 99 living recipients attend the event. Obama chooses not to honor those 48 brave military heroes, but he does attend 10 other balls in his own honor. [925]

The 1.8 million “not so green” visitors to the National Mall to attend the inauguration leave behind an estimated 100 tons of garbage. Clean-up efforts begin the evening of the inauguration. [924]

The First 100 Days

Immediately after the inauguration the web site WhiteHouse.gov is updated with the communications priorities of the new President, including “…a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.” (By February 6, Obama will have broken the promise twice, with the signing of his first two non-emergency bills.) [1084,1230]

An unsubstantiated story relates that when he entered the Oval Office for the first time and saw Sir Jacob Epstein’s bust of the great British Prime Minster Winston Churchill (which is on loan to the United States from the British government’s art collection), Obama boomed, “Get that God damned thing out of here!” Obama’s anger likely relates to the fact that his father was a Kenyan. Kenya, which became an independent nation in 1963, had previously been under British rule for more than 50 years – it was known as the British East African Protectorate of Zanzibar – and Obama may therefore harbor resentments against the British. (Obama may want to reconsider his resentment. Had the British not brought railroads, trade, the rule of law, and education to the area, his father would never have learned English and traveled to Hawaii to study Russian and meet Stanley Ann Dunham. Obama would not have been born, let alone become President, had the British and other European nations not brought civilization to East Africa.) [1710,1711,1712,1729]

Obama cranks up the thermostat on his first day at the Oval Office, enabling him to work in shirtsleeves. (Obama advisor David Axelrod says, “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”) There is no word on how much the move will cost taxpayers in higher heating bills, how much it will increase Obama’s “carbon footprint,” or whether Obama asked global-warming alarmist Al Gore for advice on the efficient use of natural gas. (During the campaign, Obama told a crowd in Oregon that “We can’t just keep driving our SUVs, eating whatever we want, keeping our homes at 72 degrees at all times…”  [481,971,1000]

In his first full day as President, Obama issues a draft order calling for the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be closed within one year. There is no clarification as to where the approximately 250 prisoners would be placed instead. As he signs the Executive Order to close the detainee facility, Obama, apparently unclear as to exactly what he is signing or what his specific order was, says, “And we then provide, uh, the process whereby Guantanamo will be closed, uh, no later than one year from now. We will be, uh… Is there a separate, uh, executive order, Greg, with respect to how we’re going to dispose of the detainees? Is that, uh, written?” Greg Craig, Obama’s White House counsel, responds, “We’ll set up a process.” [864,1269]

Obama signs an executive order capping salaries of approximately 100 White House aides at $100,000 per year. Obama’s $400,000 salary is set by law, but he makes no offer to decline it. (Obama is a millionaire, partly as a result of royalties from sales of his two books.) [896]

Obama’s first Presidential telephone call to a foreign leader is to Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and President of the Palestinian National Authority, pledging to immediately engage in pursuit of a permanent Arab-Israeli settlement. Obama makes no call to Israeli leaders. [865]

The White House indicates that Obama will engage in “direct diplomacy with Iran without preconditions.” The Bush administration had been willing to talk with Iran only if it suspended its uranium enrichment program. [886]

Obama calls for a repeal of the “Defense of Marriage Act” and moves to extend more than one thousand federal marriage benefits (such as filing joint tax returns) to homosexual couples, repeal bans on gays in the military, expand federal hate-crime laws, and include the definition of workplace discrimination to include sexual orientation. [872]

Obama calls for a repeal of the ban on U.S. taxpayer funding of abortions performed in other countries. Since 1984 non-government organizations receiving federal funds had been prohibited from funding or promoting abortions abroad. Obama’s change thus forces Americans who oppose abortion to pay for the procedure throughout the world. The Obama administration argues that for the government not to fund abortions would be an “unconstitutional limitation on free speech.” The policy change is announced late on Friday afternoon, a move designed to give the controversial action as little media attention as possible. [877,959]

The Buffalo News produces a story about a former Hawaiian resident, Barbara Nelson, who stated, “I may be the only person left who specifically remembers his (Obama’s) birth.” In fact, Nelson was not present at the birth, and the story consists merely of her having been told by an acquaintance, Dr. Rodney West, about an infant whose mother had the unusual name of “Stanley.” The story suggests that West had delivered the baby in Hawaii. West, an obstetrician, had actually retired from his practice in December of 1956, five years before Obama was born. Nelson later clarifies the situation, saying “I don’t know in what capacity (West) knew about this particular birth.” West died in February of 2008, at age 98. [948,949,950]

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi releases a statement regarding “Chairman Barney Frank’s TARP Reform and Accountability Act, which bolsters transparency, accountability and addresses the foreclosure crisis directly.  The House approved the measure late this afternoon by a vote of 260 to 166.” Pelosi’s statement continues, “President Obama and Congress are committed to seeing that funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) are used responsibly, with full accountability and transparency, and that help is provided to Americans in danger of losing their homes.  Chairman Frank’s bill achieves these objectives and ensures that the TARP functions as Congress originally intended. The TARP Reform and Accountability Act will help ease the credit crunch for workers and small businesses, provide at least $100 billion to help homeowners avoid foreclosures, and end golden parachutes for executives whose banks receive TARP assistance.” [1895]

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) states on January 22, “It should strengthen our confidence to know that President Obama has learned from the mistakes that were made during the Bush administration in administering this sum of (Wall Street bail-out) money. That is not a criticism. Mistakes are made. But we can learn from those mistakes, and we will learn from those mistakes.” Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) says, “We saw bankers saying, ‘I got the money. It’s none of your business what we do with it.’ We saw bonuses given that shouldn’t be given. I am confident that the Obama administration has learned from that,” and  “We believe the Obama administration will abide by its commitment to follow this bill if it’s passed. I understand the skepticism on the Republican side because we’re telling them that we have a commitment which we accept as valid from a new administration that they will abide by the bill as it passes the House.” Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) remarks, “And by the way, my friends, in this language it says so more of these big bonuses and compensation and grandstanding resort packages, no more of that.”  [1903]

A Rasmussen poll on January 22 shows Obama’s “Presidential Approval Index” at +30. The index represents the difference between the percentage of voters who “strongly approve” of Obama’s performance (44 per cent) and those who “strongly disapprove” (14 per cent). [1809]

The Supreme Court is scheduled to discuss the California case, Lightfoot v. Bowen, on January 23. It is reported on January 21 that the case (docket No. 08A524), along with all other cases questioning whether Obama is a natural born citizen (both pending and resolved cases, including Berg, Donofrio, Wrotnowski, and Schneller), have been removed from the Supreme Court web site. Cases not related to Obama’s legitimacy to serve as president do not disappear from the docket. [868]

Hillary Clinton is confirmed as Secretary of State, and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, according to the New York Post and the New York Times, withdraws her bid to obtain Clinton’s vacant New York Senate seat. Although Schlossberg had the stated public support of Obama, criticism of her in the media was more intense than many anticipated. She is considered a lightweight with no qualifications, and her constant use of “you know” and “um” while speaking makes her subject to ridicule as a “valley girl.” Later the same day (January 21) MSNBC quotes a person close to Schlossberg as saying that she is not, in fact, out of the running and is still interested in the Senate seat. By the next day, reports were that Schlossberg is out of the running because of issues involving taxes or a household employee. (It is known but not widely reported that the Kennedy clan has done an extraordinary job of sheltering its fortunes from income taxes by having assets in trusts in Fiji.) [866,867,882,883,913]

CatholicVote.com’s “Life: Imagine the Potential” campaign produces an anti-abortion ad featuring a baby within its mother’s womb, and the words, “This child’s future is a broken home. He will be abandoned by his father. His single mother will struggle to raise him. Despite the hardships, he will endure. This child will become the first African American President.” NBC later refuses to air the ad during its February 1 Super Bowl broadcast. [875,1024]

An initial draft of the $850 billion Obama/Democrat “stimulus package” includes one billion dollars for the manufacturing of “advanced batteries,” hundreds of millions of dollars for contraceptives, and $600 million to “prepare our country for universal health care.” [878,911,916]

Republicans in the Senate obtain a delay in the conformation vote of Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder in order to investigate his failure to pay some taxes, and to review the controversial Presidential pardons he negotiated at the end of the Clinton administration. The media charges the GOP with “denying President Obama the chance to have a key member of his national security team in place as planned.” (When Democrats forced a 2001 delay in the confirmation of John Ashcroft, Bush’s Attorney General, the media reported the delay with the headline, “Ashcroft Vote is Postponed in Maneuver by Democrats.” Ashcroft had no legal, tax evasion, or pardon issues.) [884]

On January 22, Obama calls on Israel to open its border with Gaza. He does not indicate how he would keep Hamas from smuggling arms across the border or sending suicide bombers into Israel, other than to say there should be an “appropriate monitoring regime.” Obama says, “Our hearts go out to Palestinian civilians who are in need of immediate food, clean water, and basic medical care.”  (Obama does not comment on the fact that it was Hamas which had had prevented those Palestinian civilians from fleeing to safety and had used women and children as human shields, or about the plight of Israel residents who have been under rocket attack from Hamas in Gaza for more than five years.) Israeli leaders respond that they will never consider opening the border if it results in the strengthening of Hamas. [885,893,903]

Commentator John Ridley, appearing on PBS station KCET on January 22, remarks that “Quite simply, quite plainly, just by virtue of his being, Obama is America, and the first true American to lead our nation.” [996]

Anti-abortion activists demonstrate in Washington, D.C. to protest abortions on the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that struck down state abortion bans. The “March for Life” organization challenges Obama to witness an abortion and “watch the evil deed of a surgical abortion to know what it looks like to pull off the head, arms and legs of a pre-born human.” Obama issues a statement reaffirming his support for abortions. [894]

Obama visits the White House press corps to pay the media a friendly visit and is annoyed when he is asked why he nominated a lobbyist for defense contractor Raytheon, William J. Lynn III, to be Deputy Defense Secretary. Obama does not answer the question. The selection of Lynn conflicts with Obama’s executive order prohibiting lobbyists from taking government jobs for the first two years after leaving their lobbying jobs. [904,906]

Perhaps signaling terrorists worldwide that they will have a freer rein under the new administration, Obama signs executive orders closing CIA “black sites” (overseas terrorist detention camps) and banning some detention and interrogation methods used by the United States since the September 11 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. But Obama also orders an inter-agency review of “enhanced interrogation techniques” that could lead to exceptions for “high-value targets,” thus providing him with some wiggle room on the issue of torture and waterboarding. [902,922,1171]

New York Governor David Paterson surprises and upsets liberals after he picks neither Andrew Cuomo nor Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg to fill Hillary Clinton’s vacant Senate seat. Paterson instead selects Kirsten Gillibrand, age 42, a Congresswoman from upstate New York who is little known, supports gay marriage, voted against the Wall Street bail-out, is backed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), and has a rating of eight (on a scale of 100) from the American Conservative Union (ACU). Gillibrand has the support of New York’s senior Senator Charles Schumer. Gillibrand will likely face a primary challenge in 2010 – assuming she was not forced to agree to a deal not to run after her temporary term expires. [907]

The news media is angered by Obama’s actions to limit the usual access Presidents have allowed reporters and photographers. The self-proclaimed “most transparent” administration refuses to allow the media to photograph Obama’s first day in the Oval Office and instead distributes photographs taken by official White House photographers. That prompts AP, Reuters, and other news services to refuse to run the pictures. Reporters are given information on the Guantanamo detention center, but are told not to release the names of the administration officials who provided the information. In a “pay-to-play” move, Obama grants his only inauguration day interview to ABC, in exchange for the network having paid millions of dollars to finance the DC Neighborhood (Inaugural) Ball. [908,909,910]

At a meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee, Thomas Barthold, deputy chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, is asked how many jobs will be created by the Obama/Democrat $825 billion stimulus package. Barthold responds that he can’t, and admits that there is no estimate of the economic effect the legislation would have on the economy. [914,915]

The first press performance of Robert Gibbs, Obama’s spokesman, is arguably less than impressive. Asked if Obama should “lead by example,” an overly-cautious Gibbs responds, “We’ll check on that.” [910]

Possibly the first enemy combatant (or civilian) deaths under the Obama administration occur on January 23, when U.S. missiles killed as many as 18 people on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border. The strikes are approved by the Obama administration. Pakistanis state that 10 people killed in the first strike were civilians and not militants. A second attack later kills eight more people. [912,917,964]

Obama names former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke (and recent member of the board of directors of the failed insurance giant AIG) as envoy to the Pakistan-Afghanistan region. Obama also selects former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to be his Middle East envoy. The media makes little note of Holbrooke’s previous remark in Foreign Affairs magazine that “The situation in Afghanistan is far from hopeless. But as the war enters its eighth year, Americans should be told the truth: it will last a long time – longer than the United States’ longest war to date, the 14-year conflict (1961-1975) in Vietnam.” (Few of Obama’s supporters likely expect having 70,000 American troops in Afghanistan for six more years.) Mitchell’s appointment is immediately followed by Israeli bombing of Hamas weapon-smuggling tunnels on the Egypt-Gaza border. [944,945,1013]

The Supreme Court denies an emergency hearing of attorney Orly Taitz’s case Lightfoot v. Bowen and the case reverts to the lower courts for review. Taitz moves to file a motion to compel the Chief Justice to produce records of his meeting with Obama, which took place on January 14, because it is inappropriate for one party in a case (Obama) to meet with the judge (Chief Justice Roberts) while the case is pending. [956]

When Republican leaders complain about the enormity of the $825 billion stimulus package (and the extensive pork it contains), Obama tells them, “You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.” When Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) remarks that giving income tax “rebates” to people who paid no income taxes was essentially welfare, Obama says, “I won! I’m the President!” (Obama neglects to consider that the Republican legislators who oppose his plans also won their elections.) Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh responds that an effort to focus on him shifts attention from Obama’s ill-conceived “trillion-dollar debacle” of a stimulus package, which Limbaugh believes is “…aimed at re-establishing ‘eternal’ power for the Democrat Party rather than stimulating the economy” by allowing “a majority of American voters to guarantee no taxes for themselves” in perpetuity. At the January 23 meeting Obama also incorrectly complains that Merrill Lynch had used $1.2 million in federal bail-out money to remodel executive offices. The remodeling was done prior to the distribution of the funds, and thus did not involve “TARP” money. Obama uses the same decorator as Merrill Lynch to redecorate the White House, and neglects to explain why White House decorating stimulates the economy while Merrill Lynch decorating does not. [920,931,932,1030]

Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money includes $12 million to OneUnited, a minority community bank under fire for poor lending practices and executive pay abuses. The bank donated $12,500 to the campaign of Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA). Her husband, Sidney Williams, was one of the bank’s directors. Both Waters and Williams have made money buying and selling stock in the bank. Waters had – without disclosing her ties to the bank – originally requested $50 in TARP money but, perhaps because of its “operating without effective underwriting standards and practices,” “operating without an effective loan documentation program,” and “engaging in speculative investment practices” her request was whittled down to $12 million. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) eventually cracked down on the bank and its CEO, Kevin Cohee, who had been driving an expensive Porsche SUV provided by the bank. (Cohee now charges racism.) [1662,1700]

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants the Geron Corporation permission to begin embryonic stem cell treatments on human subjects. The FDA says the decision is not related to Obama having been sworn in as President, and the cells to be used by Geron are from lines established prior to the moratorium President Bush placed on creating new, taxpayer-funded lines from aborted babies. [921,929]

Iowa artist Matthew J. Clark honors the new President by arranging for an Obama-mannequin riding a donkey to parade down Des Moines streets, accompanied by waving palm fronds and a simulated Secret Service escort. Clark calls his creation, “A Simulacrum of Hope: Simulation of the Triumphal Entry of the Christ.” There is no word as to whether taxpayers funded Clark’s project with grant money from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA). [928]

It is reported on January 24 that federal prosecutors are looking at the possibility of filing additional criminal charges against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and have subpoenaed information about any contacts he had with Obama or Obama advisors David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett. [927]

On “Meet the Press” on January 25, Obama’s senior economic advisor, Lawrence Summers, makes it clear that Obama will allow the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010. Wage earners in the 35 per cent tax bracket, for example, will thus see their tax rate increased to 39.6 per cent. Bush advisors have said that allowing the tax cuts to expire will cause the average family of four to pay about $1,900 more in income taxes. [938]

Senator John McCain announces that he will oppose the Obama/Democrat stimulus bill as it is currently written. The bill includes tax money for a “mob museum” and a water park. [952]

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi defends the addition of birth control funding (which would fund both contraceptives and abortion) to the Democrats’ stimulus bill by arguing that it “will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.” Using tax dollars to pay for abortions is, in Pelosi’s view, more cost-effective than providing benefits for poor children who are born. [943]

After Republican criticism over the waste in the stimulus package, Obama privately urges Democrats to remove funds for contraception from the bill. The Democrats (who realize they will eventually be able to get the funds restored into another future bill anyway) agree to the removal. Republicans, leery of being overly critical of the popular new President, focus their attacks on the unpopular House Democrats for loading the bill with “pork.” Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL) exaggerates but makes a valid point when he complains that the stimulus bill contains more money for new sod on the National Mall ($21 million out of $200 million for mall renovations) than for small-business tax cuts ($41 million). The U.S. has approximately 23 million small businesses, each of which would therefore benefit by an average of $1.78 if their tax cuts total $41 million. [940,952,957]

On January 26, Obama directs federal regulators to move quickly to approve applications by California and other states to tighten local automobile emissions standards. The standards of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) generally take precedence over state rules. Obama’s action will lead to different standards across the nation, making compliance with the varying regulations difficult and expensive for automakers (which, if they are able to remain in business, will pass the costs on in the price of the vehicle). Automakers will likely respond by selling only small, high-mileage vehicles in states with the more strict controls, thus making desired larger vehicles unavailable to many customers. [934]

On the January 26 telecast of the O’Reilly Factor, NPR’s Juan Williams remarks about the new First Lady, “Michelle Obama, you know, she’s got this Stokely Carmichael in a designer dress thing going. If she starts talking… her instinct is to start with this blame America, you know, I’m the victim. If that stuff starts coming out, people will go bananas and she’ll go from being the new Jackie O to being something of an albatross.” NPR later asks Fox to hide Williams’ connection to NPR by not showing its logo. [1198]

Chicagoans moving to Washington to work for Obama include Valerie Jarrett (Obama’s senior advisor for intergovernmental relations and public liaisons, who years before hired Michelle Obama to work for the City of Chicago); David Axelrod (White House senior advisor and political guru, Obama’s “Karl Rove”); Rahm Emanuel (White House Chief of Staff, political hard-ball player and friend of Axelrod); Christina Tchen (White House director of public liaison and friend of Valerie Jarrett); Arne Duncan (Secretary of Education and former head of the failed Chicago school system); Susan Cher (White House associate counsel, who worked for the University of Chicago Medical Center and as corporate counsel for Chicago’s Mayor Daley); Cass Sunstein (Office of Management and Budget, taught at University of Chicago Law School, married to Obama advisor Samantha Power); William Daley (advisor to Obama and brother of Chicago’s Mayor Daley). [1311]

The Iranian ship “Iran Shahed” enters the Mediterranean Sea on January 26 and is observed by vessels form the U.S. Sixth Fleet, Israeli missile boats, and a Russian anti-submarine destroyer. The Israelis prevent the ship from accessing the shore at Gaza, where it would likely have unloaded Iranian weapons for Hamas. Because the Iranian ship is flying a Cypriot flag (to disguise its true mission), the Cypriot Navy intercepts the vessel. There is speculation that Obama ordered the U.S. Navy to prevent the Israelis from seizing the ship, out of fear of provoking Iran. [994,995]

Obama’s first formal television interview as President is granted to an Arabic cable network, “Al-Arabiya.” In the close to apologetic interview Obama admits that “We sometimes make mistakes. We are not perfect.” He also remarks that Iran’s terrorist support was not helpful, but is a thing of the past – in complete contradiction to the facts of Iran’s ongoing efforts to provide Hamas and Hezbollah with weapons and ammunition. Obama states that America is a land of “Muslims, Christians, Jews” and others. In placing Muslims first Obama no doubt means to appease the Muslim audience, but likely offends many Americans in the process. Obama also asks Iran to “unclench its fist” and engage in unconditional talks with the United States. Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, responds to Obama through an address to a crowd of militants that the United States must apologize for crimes against Iran and the Islamic world, and withdraw all American troops from other countries. With the remark that he wants a return to “the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago,” Obama fails to realize that the 30 year period included, among other incidents, the 444-day hostage stand-off at the American embassy in Iran and the murder of hundreds of Marines sleeping in their barracks in Lebanon. [939,979,981,1022]

Republicans, angered over the incredible amount of wasteful “pork” in the Democrats’ $825 billion stimulus package, attempt to get Obama to remove some of it by reminding him of his campaign pledge to eliminate “earmarks” from spending bills. Some of the spending includes:

$200 million to refurbish the National Mall (including $21 million for new sod),
$50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts,
$650 million in coupons to help people switch from analog to digital televisions,
$2.4 billion for “carbon capture” demonstration projects,
$4.19 billion for ACORN and other “Community Stabilization Activities” groups (even though ACORN is the subject of a RICO corruption lawsuit),
$400 million for “global warming” research, 
$335 million for sexually transmitted disease education, 
$2.1 billion for Head Start, 
$2 billion for day care programs,
$500 million to speed up the processing of Social Security Disability claims,
$150 million for “livestock insurance,”
$6 billion for colleges and universities,
$13 billion in Title I grants for academic support,
$13 billion for special education grants to states, 
$20 billion for food stamps,
$1.7 billion to help the homeless, 
$1 billion to pay heating bills for poor people, 
$200 million for senior nutrition programs, 
$200 million for Americorps, 
$300 million for “green” golf carts,
$30 million for “smart” appliances,
$5 billion for public housing, 
$87 billion in Medicaid funds for the states, 
$2.5 billion for the National Science Foundation, 
$2 billion for the National Park Service, 
$2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization programs,”
$650 million for the National Forest Service, 
$600 million for NASA, 
$600 million for new cars for the government,
$75 million for programs to help people quit smoking,
$800 million for Amtrak (which hasn’t earned a profit in four decades),
$150 million for maintenance at the Smithsonian Institution, 
$79 billion to help pay down state debt from reckless spending (in California, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts),
$17 billion for Pell Grants, and
$400 million for “habitat restoration projects,”
$726 million for an after-school snack program,
$2.25 billion for national parks (essentially doubling the park service’s budget), and
$30 million to save the habitat of the “salt marsh harvest mouse” (which lives in the area of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi). [940,961,965,1001,1077,1108,1175,1214,1662]

The bill also includes $88.6 million for the construction of new schools in Milwaukee, even though that city’s school system is experiencing a declining student population, has 15 vacant school buildings, and has no need for any new schools. [1077]

Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) warns that Obama’s stimulus package will cause inflation, lead to a depression, and burden every American with an additional $6,700 in federal debt. The bill also includes a provision that only American iron and steel can be used in construction projects that are part of the package. That protectionist clause may prompt retaliation from other nations, leading to a worsening of the global economy. Columbia economics professor Jagdish Bhagwati, a supporter of Obama, writes in the New York Times that the “buy American” restrictions will invite certain retaliation. [941,1036,1223]

The Obama administration promises to engage in direct diplomacy with Iran. [942]

Timothy “I forgot to pay my taxes” Geithner is confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of the Treasury, in a 60-34 vote. Geithner later selects Mark Patterson as his chief of staff. Patterson is a former Goldman Sachs lobbyist whose hiring violates Obama’s promise not to have former lobbyists in his administration. (The White House “waived the rules” for Patterson, as well as for Raytheon defense contractor lobbyist William Lynn, who was chosen by Obama as Deputy Secretary of Defense. Records show that Obama has hired at least 21 lobbyists.) [946,1754]

A week after being sworn in as President, Obama’s approval rating drops 15 points (from 83 to 68 per cent). [947,964]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refuses to discount the idea of nationalizing the nation’s banks, and the New York Times reports that the Obama administration is considering creating one, large “bad bank,” which would nationalize the “worst underperforming loans.” [951]

On January 27, South Carolina Senator James DeMint warns that the Obama administration will “create crisis and widespread panic,” as President Bush and Henry Paulson did in requesting Wall Street bail-out funds, in order to get Congress to act on the stimulus package without fully evaluating its deficiencies. [954]

Obama publicly applauds a “Saudi Peace Initiative” which would normalize Arab ties with Israel in exchange for extreme concessions from the Jewish state. Prior to his election Obama had denied supporting the plan – which would cost Israel territory, give it difficult to defend borders, and force it to accept hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The plan would require that Israel withdraw military and civilians from Gaza, the West Bank, Golan Heights, and eastern Jerusalem (where its sacred Temple Mount is located). [958]

As a first step toward a government-run universal health care program, Obama’s economic stimulus legislation includes a requirement that all Americans release their medical records to the government to place in a federal database. Google CEO Eric Schmidt, a friend and supporter of Obama, is an advocate of the medical database. Schmidt hopes to be able to access the data in order to sell patient information to Google advertising clients. (A company that sells diabetes supplies, for example, would want access to a file of all Americans who have that disease.) Privacy activists are alarmed by the government’s plans, but the issue is given little attention by the mainstream media. [955]

After Washington, D.C. schools are closed on January 28 because of inclement weather, Obama, who has endured brutal winters in Chicago, pokes fun at Washington wimps who can’t handle ice and snow. [963]

A report appears of an enraged parent in the Las Vegas area whose son’s first grade class was forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance while facing a huge image of Obama projected on the class room wall – rather than the American Flag which stands in the corner of the room. [967]

Congressman John Carter (R-TX) introduces HR 735, the “Rangel Rule Act of 2009,” which would give all taxpayers the same special treatment given to Congressman Charles Rangel and Secretary Treasurer Tim Geithner for neglecting to pay proper income taxes. Carter states, “We must show the American people that Congress is following the same law, and the same legal process as we expect them to follow. That has not been done in the ongoing case against Chairman Rangel, nor in the instance of our new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. If we don’t hold our highest elected officials to the same standards as regular working folks, we owe it to our constituents to change those standards so everyone is abiding by the same law.  Americans believe in blind justice, which shows no favoritism to the wealthy or powerful.” The bill will never get out of committee, let alone get passed into law, but Congressman Carter was able to make a public point. Carter also points out that his bill would stimulate the economy because it would free taxpayers from any debts owed the IRS. [1702]

In a speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin remarks that “The entire economic growth system, where one regional centre prints money without respite and consumes material wealth, while another regional centre manufactures inexpensive goods and saves money printed by other governments, has suffered a major setback.” Putin warns against protectionism, and even warns against embracing socialism. “Excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state’s omnipotence is another possible mistake. True, the state’s increased role in times of crisis is a natural reaction to market setbacks. Instead of streamlining market mechanisms, some are tempted to expand state economic intervention to the greatest possible extent. In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state’s role absolute. In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated.” Obama appears not to have listened to Putin’s warnings. [1274]

On January 28, the House of Representatives approves Obama’s $825 billion economic stimulus package (which turns out to be “only” an $819 billion bill, which is roughly equivalent to Australia’s entire economy, and greater than 168 of 180 national economies measured by the World Bank). The vote is 244 to 188, with no Republicans voting for the bill and 11 Democrats voting against it. (The Republicans were perhaps following Napoleon’s rule, “Never interrupt your enemy while he’s making a major error.”) An alternative Republican bill consisting mostly of tax cuts is defeated, 266-170. Obama and House Speaker Pelosi had wanted Republican support to “provide cover” in the event the legislation fails to do as they hope. When Republicans complained a few days earlier that the bill was heavy in pork and needed tax cuts to stimulate the economy and provide jobs, Obama told them “Feel free to whack me over the head because I probably will not compromise on that part.” The bill, which still needs Senate approval, includes $544 billion in federal spending and $275 billion in tax cuts. The tax “cuts” include $800 payments to millions of couples ($400 for individuals) who do not make enough in wages to pay taxes in the first place (which arguably makes their checks welfare payments and not tax cuts). The bill also includes tens of billions of dollars for state governments (which would not be a job-creating stimulus but a bail-out for irresponsible legislators who refused to balance their state budgets). The bill also contains billions in increases for food stamps and unemployment benefits, which arguably allows people the opportunity to postpone finding a job. Although Obama “got a win” with the vote because the bill passed the House, he arguably loses some future negotiating strength because his failure to allow Republicans any input on the seriously flawed bill suggests they will not be eager to cooperate with him when he finds himself in need of their votes. With his lack of any willingness to compromise on the bill Obama demonstrates not “hope and change” and bipartisanship… but “business as usual in Washington, D.C.” [969,970,992,1053]

The stimulus package passes the House after only eight hours of debate allowed by the Democrat leadership. Neither Obama nor any member of Congress reads the entire bill (which contains 680 pages). Only 10 per cent of the funds will be spent in 2009, and roughly half of the spending is allocated to agencies or businesses that sponsor or employee members of the Service Employees International Union, federal, state, or municipal employee unions, and other unions connected to the Democrats. The $819 billion bill is equivalent to giving every unemployed person in the United States a check for $75,000. (A study by the Heritage Foundations estimates that the $819 billion “stimulus” will end up adding $1.34 trillion dollars to the national debt because of the welfare spending hidden in the bill.) Democrats who opposed the bill were under intense pressure from the House leadership to vote for it anyway. Tennessee Congressman Jim Cooper later comments on Nancy Pelosi’s strong arm tactics, “We’re just told how to vote. We’re treated like mushrooms most of the time.” [1003,1080,1393]

It is reported that the economic stimulus package may end up allowing $400 and $800 tax refund checks to go to illegal immigrants. Although the bill specifies that only American citizens will be entitled to the payments, there is no significant enforcement mechanism in place to prevent payments to non-citizens if the worker has a Social Security number or an IRS-assigned individual taxpayer identification number. The term “refund” is a misnomer for millions of Americans, because those workers with incomes too low to require the payment of federal income tax will nevertheless be entitled to the $400 (single) or $800 (married) payments. [1010]

Obama signs his first bill as President, the “Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act,” which extends by 180 days the statute of limitations for filing a claim of pay discrimination based on gender. Ledbetter, who had worked 19 years for Goodyear Tire and Rubber in Alabama, earned less than her male co-workers. After she retired she sued Goodyear, which correctly argued that the statute of limitations had run out. The Supreme Court ruled in Goodyear’s favor. The court did not address the issue of whether there had been discrimination. Goodyear argued there had not – and submitted Ledbetter’s substandard performance appraisals to support its case. After the bill signing ceremony Michelle Obama remarks that Ledbetter “…knew unfairness when she saw it, and was willing to do something about it because it was the right thing to do,” when, in fact, Ledbetter took no action for 19 years. (In signing the bill Obama broke the campaign promise he had made to pro-abortion supporters that the first piece of legislation he would sign would be the “Freedom of Choice Act” – which would overturn all state pro-life laws, including prohibitions against partial-birth abortions and parental notification requirements for minors seeking abortions. Obama also signed the Ledbetter bill without first posting the text on the Internet for five days, as he promised he would do with all non-emergency legislation.) [132,133,1054,1084]

On January 29 the Illinois Senate votes 59-0 to remove Governor Rod Blagojevich from office. Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn is sworn in as the next Governor of the state. Later that evening Blagojevich tells the media, “I’d like to tell you some of the inside stuff, some of the things they were trying to do, and I’ll talk about that later, if you’re interested.” It is assumed the media will be interested. [972,973]

It is disclosed on January 29 that Obama will name Harvard University professor Samantha Power to the position of Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs at the National Security Council. Power had previously been removed from Obama’s team of advisors during the primary campaign because she publicly referred to Hillary Clinton as a “monster.” Power’s new job will require close contact with Secretary of State Clinton. (In the past Power had advocated sending U.S. troops to “impose a solution” on Israel. Power joins a growing list of Obama advisors with anti-Israel sentiments.) [967]

A military judge denies the Obama administration’s request to delay the case of a terrorist detainee accused of planning the 2000 attack on the USS Cole. [977]

Odds increase that Senate Republicans will attempt a filibuster to stop Obama’s economic stimulus package, after the House vote receives the support of no Republicans and after public outrage increases over the amount of “pork” and waste in the massive bill. A filibuster would force Senate Democrats to come up with 60 votes to bring the bill to the floor for a vote, rather than the simple majority needed to pass the bill if there were no filibuster. Although the Republicans may not be able to stop the bill’s passage, a filibuster may allow them to force some changes in the legislation that results in reductions in wasteful spending or increases in tax cuts. [978]

It is reported in the New York Post that the economic stimulus package includes the creation of a council for “Comparative Effectiveness Research.” The council would identify medical treatment that it considers insufficiently effective or too expensive. According to the House Appropriation Committee, “Those items, procedures, and interventions… that are found to be less effective and in some cases, more expensive, will no longer be prescribed.” In an effort to save federal money, such expenses would then not be paid for by Medicare or any future universal health care plan. Tax deductibility for private health insurance might also be limited to policies that meet federal criteria. Preventing private policies from being more generous than a national plan would thus encourage more people to accept the national plan, and taxpayers would have to pay for “non-approved” procedures or treatment out of their own pockets – if the procedures or treatments are even allowed by the government. (In Great Britain, similar policies prohibit the use of the drug Tarceva because the government feels it is not cost-effective. Lung cancer patients are thus prevented from obtaining the drug even though it has been shown to extend the lives of such patients.) [980,1172]

Further evidence that Obama’s book, “Dreams from My Father,” was ghost-written – perhaps by his close friend William Ayers – appears when an anti-war article written by Obama in 1983 surfaces. The article, “Breaking the War Mentality,” was published in Columbia University magazine’s Sundial magazine. It contains atrocious grammar and punctuation, and is written in a style which clearly does not match that of the author of “Dreams From My Father.” [983]

It is disclosed that Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has private daily phone conversations with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, and James Carville and Paul Begala of CNN. The discussions are for the purpose of planning media coverage and ideological strategy. While the discussions are not illegal, they are a clear violation of journalistic ethics and make it impossible for ABC and CNN to report objectively on the Obama administration. They also give Obama the opportunity to “grease the skids” in advance when controversial actions are planned. ABC and its parent company Disney receive tens of thousands of complaints about the conflict of interest and demands that the behind-the-scenes contacts be stopped. President of the Media Research Center Brent Bozell asks ABC to “address Stephanopolous’ apparent conflict of interest,” and states that Stephanopolous should “recuse himself from reporting on an Obama administration whose plans and messaging he spends every morning helping to craft.” [989,1029,1191]

It is reported on January 29 that the Obama administration is preparing a conciliatory letter to Iran, intended to “warm relations” between the two nations in preparation for direct talks between them. The letter would assure Iran that the United States does not intend to topple the Islamic regime. Obama’s intention is clearly to “tone down” the tough rhetoric of the Bush administration, but his softer stance is unlikely to persuade Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to stop its nuclear weapons program or reduce its support of anti-Israel terrorists. Ahmadinejad’s response to Obama’s defensive and apologetic Arab television interview was to demand a U.S. apology for “war crimes” and significant “be nice to the Muslim world and turn your back on Israel” changes from Washington. Obama’s interview comment that Iran’s support for terrorists was in its “past” – when Iran is clearly still supporting Hamas and Hezbollah – suggests that Obama may be willing to “look the other way” in exchange for negotiations with Iran that appear publicly successful. [985,986]

Obama criticizes “shameful” Wall Street bankers who received bonuses of $18 billion in 2008, neglecting to recognize that the amount was down substantially (from $34 billion in 2006) and that bonuses are often required by employment contracts and cannot be eliminated. Obama also neglects to explain why billions spent by the federal government would stimulate the economy while billions spent by Wall Street executives would not. The significant decline in bonuses to Wall Street employees will also cause the state of New York to lose an estimated $1 billion in tax revenue. [997,998,999]

Seeing weakness in the new American president, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro demands that the United States end its long-term (since 1903) lease of its naval base at Guantanamo and return the property to Cuba. Castro’s demand is met with immediate support from Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. [987]

It is reported on January 31 that Obama’s half-brother, George Obama, was arrested in Kenya and charged with possession of “bhang” (marijuana). From behind bars in Nairobi, George Obama, who did not travel to Washington to attend Obama’s inauguration, denied the charges – which were later dropped. [988]

Allegedly at the suggestion of Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid, Obama considers selecting New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg as Secretary of Commerce, in place of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (who was forced to withdraw because of “pay to play” investigations). Obama’s offer can enable him to get an additional Democrat in the Senate because the New Hampshire Governor, who would name Gregg’s appointment, is a Democrat. New Hampshire Governor Lynch said he is “open to appointing a Republican to the seat.” [993,1015,1203]

It is reported that Tom Daschle, Obama’s pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services, neglected to report as income the services of a chauffeured Cadillac provided to him by his employer during 2005, 2006, and 2007. Daschle illegally avoided over $101,000 in federal income taxes because of the failure. Daschle also failed to report $83,333 in consulting income in 2007, and had to file amended returns for 2005 through 2007 to reduce by $14,963 the amount of charitable contributions he was legally allowed to claim. Daschle’s amended returns cost him an additional $128,204 in taxes, plus $11,964 in interest. Daschle’s wife’s returns are also being reviewed. (A 1999 C-SPAN archives clip shows Daschle telling the Senate, “Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter.”) Since leaving the Senate, Daschle has made millions lobbying for health care and other industries, and his wife is a lobbyist for Boeing, Lockheed, and various airlines. A General Electric (GE) subsidiary, GE Healthcare, has paid Daschle for speeches. GE Healthcare, which specializes in the electronic processing of medical records, would greatly gain from Obama/Daschle plans to computerize the medical records of all Americans. NBC and MSNBC are both owned by GE, suggesting that those networks will be less than critical of Daschle’s tax and lobbying issues. (On NBC’s “Meet the Press” program of February 1, host David Gregory discusses Daschle without mentioning his connection to GE Healthcare, or the financial gains GE would make if the Obama/Daschle health care plans are implemented.) Obama says he is “absolutely” standing behind Daschle, despite his tax avoidance issues. [1004,1005,1014,1023,1027,1028,1034]

During January, in the middle of an economic crisis, Congress votes to give $93,000 in “petty cash” to each Congressman. They also give themselves a $4,700 raise. [1662,1844]

On February 1, Obama signs an executive order allowing the CIA to continue using “renditions,” which involve agents executing warrants against terrorist suspects in other countries. With this action Obama continues a practice followed by former President Bush, and which prompted worldwide criticism. [1066]

Successful national elections are held in Iraq, with a very strong turn-out and no major acts of violence. Islamist and religious parties do not fare well, while Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s party gains, suggesting a continuing movement to a stable, representative democracy. Iraqis walk for miles to vote and the polls remain open for an additional hour to accommodate the crowds of citizens who risked their lives by lining up as targets for potential suicide bombers. The success of the elections, made possible by the troop surge opposed by Obama, now makes it easier for Obama to reduce the number of American soldiers in the country. The New York Times, which had previously ridiculed President Bush and John McCain for even suggesting that victory in Iraq was possible, writes “This is what victory in the war in Iraq was supposed to look like: Fifteen million Iraqis voting in free and fair (largely) elections, emerging from their polling stations with their purple-stained fingers in an atmosphere that was free (largely) of intimidation or violence.” (Having a Democrat in the White House is apparently enough to change the tune played by the New York Times.) [1059,1145]

Another lawsuit is filed challenging Obama’s eligibility to serve as President. It challenges his status as a natural born citizen and names Congress as a defendant for its failure to uphold the Constitutional demand to make sure that a candidate is qualified before it certifies the Electoral College vote that officially makes him President. [1009]

Oprah Winfrey’s “Harpo Productions” produces a YouTube video with celebrities who “pledge to be a servant to our president and (to) all mankind.” [1012]

Less than two weeks into his presidency, some critics of Obama begin portraying him as the “new Jimmy Carter” for his foreign policy naiveté and the likelihood of his causing rampant inflation through reckless spending. [1013]

Obama asks the Joint Chiefs of Staff to reduce the military budget by more than 10 per cent. It is unclear how those reductions can be accomplished with Obama expected to send 70,000 troops to Afghanistan. [1019]

It is disclosed on February 1 that Obama initiated secret negotiations with Iran and Syria even before the November 4 election, according to an international organization of scientists working for nuclear disarmament. Discussions revolved around Iran’s nuclear program and the Middle East peace process. Former Secretary of Defense under Clinton, William Perry, served as an Obama campaign advisor and was allegedly part of the discussions. If the allegations are true, Obama and his agents may have broken the law. The Logan Act prohibits private citizens (like Perry) to negotiate on behalf of the United States government. Breaking the law is a felony, punishable by up to three years in prison. (Obama himself is a private citizen between the time he resigned from the Senate on November 16 and when he was sworn in as President on January 20. During that period he had no legal authority to negotiate or speak for the United States government. Thus Obama could possibly be prosecuted for Logan Act violations.) [1016,1017,1018,1232]

Perhaps as an indication that many Americans believe Obama will clamp down on gun purchases and strengthen gun registration rules, National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) records show that over 900,000 more firearms purchase requests were processed in the last quarter of 2008 than in the last quarter of 2007. Certain types of guns are selling out quickly, and many people would apparently rather have a gun and end up not needing it than needing it and not being able to get one. (Rock River Arms in Illinois, which Obama tried to shut down in an anti-gun vote in the Illinois Senate, sells 10 AR-15 M4 weapons in less than an hour.) [326,445,1020]

Although there has been no “official ban” on the phrase “war on terror” within the Obama administration, Obama is making a deliberate attempt not to use the term. [1021]

Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett states at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland that the economic crisis is the result of America’s “profound irresponsibility.” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barraso, perhaps noting the size of Obama’s government-expanding stimulus package, predicts that “Obama is moving toward a European-style (i.e., socialist) model.” [1022]

Severe winter storms kill 55 people nationwide (24 in Kentucky alone) and leave 470,000 homes and businesses without power for almost one week. The Katrina-sensitive media nevertheless does not criticize FEMA or Obama. [1025,1026]

On February 2 Obama authorizes the expenditure of $20.3 million “…from the United States Emergency Refugee and Migration and Assistance Fund for the purpose of meeting unexpected and urgent refugee and migration needs… related to humanitarian needs of Palestinian refugees and conflict victims in Gaza.” No money is authorized for Israeli victims of Hamas rockets fried from Gaza. A portion of the $20.3 million will apparently be used to relocate to the U.S. refugees from Gaza (many of whom support Hamas and terrorism). [1245,1288,1674]

Palestinian Authority (PA) officials say they are enthusiastic about the tone of the Obama administration and their recent meetings with Obama’s Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, because they expect Obama to force concessions from Israel. Obama essentially guarantees to the PA that Israel will withdraw from the West Bank, and will impose sanctions on Israel if it begins any new construction there. Approximately 200,000 Jews live in the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day War. [1031]

The group “Americans for Legal Immigration PAC” (ALIPAC) files an arrest request with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demanding that Obama’s aunt, Zeituni Onyango, be arrested and that Obama order her deported in order to show that he honors the laws of the United States – which he swore to uphold when he took the Constitutionally-required Presidential oath. Onyango has been living in the United States illegally and was denied a request for asylum in 2004. Onyango had been living on welfare in a Boston slum, but media attention forced her to hide with friends in Cleveland. She nevertheless attended Obama’s inauguration and an inaugural ball. (According to the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, asylum is granted only to persons who face persecution in their home country based on race, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social group or political opinions. As the aunt of Obama, Onyango would have a difficult time arguing to the immigration judge that she would be subject to persecution in Kenya.) [1032,1789]

New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg accepts Obama’s invitation to become Secretary of Commerce. New Hampshire Governor Lynch, a Democrat, names a Republican, J. Bonnie Newman, to temporarily fill the open seat. Judd would likely have won re-election in 2010, but in accepting the cabinet position he leaves the Senate seat vulnerable to a Democrat takeover. The deal made by Obama likely requires that Newman not run for re-election in 2010, further improving the chances of a Democrat win. (It is unclear why Obama can deal with Gregg and Lynch over a Senate seat while former Illinois Rod Blagojevich could not.) [1039]

Former Senator Tom Daschle withdraws his bid to become Secretary of Health and Human Services after intense criticism for failure to pay $128,000 in income taxes. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, seemingly unaware that most Americans believe even Obama cabinet members should pay their income taxes, remarks that Americans will see the GOP as having “brought him down.” Only a few hours before Daschle’s announcement, Nancy Killefer also withdrew her bid to become Obama’s “chief performance officer.” Killefer also faced questions relating to taxes. In Killefer’s withdrawal letter to Obama she wrote, “I have also come to realize in the current environment that my personal tax issue of D.C. unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid.” (Killefer did not describe the environment in which it would be acceptable for her to fail to pay required taxes.) Although NBC’s Mitchell blames the Republicans for going after Daschle and causing his downfall, she fails to explain how they could be held responsible for his improper tax filings and disregard for the law. [1033,1037,1040,1130]

An early February Rasmussen Reports opinion poll shows that only 37 per cent of Americans are in favor of the Obama economic stimulus package while 45 per cent support a plan that consists only of tax cuts. Half of those surveyed believe the stimulus plan will likely make things worse. According to a Gallup poll nearly 80 per cent believe the plan will not stimulate the economy enough. [1042,1047]

In a February 3 interview with NBC’s Brian Williams, Obama says he “screwed up” with his cabinet appointment of tax-dodger Tom Daschle, and then says he needs to send a message that “there aren’t two sets of rules – you know, one for two prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes.” Obama defends his other appointees, despite some of their tax issues, and brags that “…not only have we gotten in place a functioning government in record time, but overall the quality of (my appointments) are outstanding.” It is unclear what record Obama believes he has broken or set. All President-elects have the time between the November election until the January inauguration to make their cabinet appointments and fill staff positions. (Arguably, George W. Bush “set the record” in 2000, because his transition was delayed by the Gore lawsuit challenging his win. Bush had about five weeks of preparation, less than half of the 11 weeks enjoyed by Obama – and the Bush appointments were not guilty of tax evasion.) [1174,1705]

Impeached Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, although not permitted to call witnesses before the Illinois Senate on his behalf, tells Fox News that at his eventual criminal trial he will call “every single person” he “ever talked to about who the next U.S. Senator should be,” including Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Dick Durbin (D-IL). Blagojevich states he is not ruling out calling Obama as a witness. [1043]

Attorney General nominee Eric Holder is confirmed by the Senate on February 3, despite Republican concerns over Holder’s soft-on-terrorists, soft-on-criminals, and anti-gun stances. [1113]

Former Vice President Dick Cheney slams Obama in an interview with Politico, saying the new administration’s policies dealing with terrorism and international enemies are naïve and dangerous. Simply by closing the detainee camp at Guantanamo will, Cheney argues, inadvertently aid terrorist enemies because they will perceive the United States as weaker under Obama than under President Bush. Cheney remarks, “When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an al-Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry.” [1044]

On February 4, the House of Representatives votes to delay for 155 days the final switch from analog television broadcasts to all-digital. The delay will cost the broadcast industry millions, while benefiting a wireless communications company called Clearwire (with which one of Obama’s advisors was associated). [1045]

Legislators in the House of Representatives introduce House Resolution 133, honoring Obama for the “significance of his becoming the first African-American President of the United States.” [1125]

Trying to drum up support for his economic stimulus package, Obama warns that “A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe.” These words are just two weeks after Obama’s inaugural address, in which he said “we have chosen hope over fear.” [1077]

Obama signs into law changes to the “State Children’s Health Insurance Program” (SCHIP), giving an additional $32.8 billion to states to fund medical care for about 11 million uninsured and allegedly poor children. (Former President Bush had vetoed similar bills because the health care would be going to “poor” children of families making as much as $125,000 per year.) The bill includes a $0.62 raise in the federal cigarette tax (from $0.39 to $1.01 per pack), and allows illegal immigrants to immediately enroll their children in the SCHIP program. Republicans had argued for a provision to prohibit coverage for them unless they had lived in the U.S. for at least five years, but Rahm Emanuel threatened key Democrat Senators that the bill would not be signed by Obama unless benefits for illegal immigrant women and children were included. [1075,1255,1332]

On February 4 Iran successfully launches a communications satellite, indicating an accelerating development of its ballistic missile technology. (The Safir-2 rocket that launched the satellite into orbit can also be used to launch conventional and non-conventional warheads, and has a range of 2,000 – 3,000 kilometers; i.e., from Iran to Israel and southern Europe.) At about the same time, Iran’s President Ahmadinejad signals that talks with the Obama administration will succeed only if the United States accepts Iran’s right to a nuclear program. Iran will likely draw out talks with the United States as long as it can while continuing its nuclear program in the background, assuming that Obama will do little or nothing to prevent its activities. [1063,1079]

It is reported that 17,000 additional soldiers and Marines will be sent to Afghanistan within a few weeks, giving U.S. Commander General David McKiernan only about two-thirds of the troops he had requested. Obama’s exit strategy for that warfront has not been announced, nor is it even clear what Obama’s military objectives are. “There is no military solution for Afghanistan,” remarks Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. U.S. Commander General David McKiernan said American and NATO forces are “stalemated.” The 17,000 troops include two Marine brigades and an armored Stryker brigade. [1086,1294,1298,1627]

A “Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act” is re-introduced in Congress. Similar bills have failed in the past, but Obama is likely to support and sign the bill. Allowing Americans to travel to Cuba will give the poverty-stricken nation tourist dollars to help the communist Castro regime stay in power. Arguably, the bill would mean the abuse of refugee status by Cuban exiles, because it would be difficult for someone to claim he is a “persecuted political refugee” if he is able to travel freely between the United States and Cuba. [1254]

The stimulus bill also allows Cuba to buy agricultural and food items from the U.S. on credit. The U.S. has always demanded upfront payment from Cuba for those purchases because its government is notorious for late payments. Obama and the Democrats are apparently willing to let the U.S. taxpayers foot the bill to prop up Castro’s government while he takes his time paying for American products and food. In opposition to the changes in U.S. relations with Cuba, Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) says, “The last thing we need in this economic time is for us to be providing credit to a country that is un-creditworthy.” [1617]

The Senate version of the economic stimulus bill removes the House version’s requirement that none of the legislation’s construction projects may employ illegal immigrants. The Heritage Foundation estimates that the change by the Senate may cause as many as 15 per cent of the expected new construction jobs to go to illegals. [1049,1617]

Obama’s Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, orders the Bureau of Land Management to cancel leases for oil and gas drilling in Utah’s redrock area, and to return payments to the companies that had submitted winning bids for the rights. Salazar offers no public comment as to where replacement oil and gas would come from. [1050]

New rules proposed by Obama’s Treasury Department will place a limit of $500,000 on the annual salaries of executives of companies receiving monetary assistance from the federal government, and limit termination packages (“golden parachutes”) for top executives. The move will likely prompt many of the most talented executives to flee Wall Street and move to private equity partnerships, at the precise time their skills may be needed most. (Bloomberg later quotes compensation consultant James Reda, who states that “On Wall Street, $500,000 will get you someone five years out of Harvard Business School or a sixth-year associate at a major law firm. It’s not going to get you a lot.” Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) argues for pay caps to extend to all businesses (but not to politicians), a move that would likely violate the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (“…nor shall [any person] be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law).” [1051,1052,1078,1162,1163]

On February 5, the Washington Post publishes an op-ed piece by Obama in which he argues for the passage of the Democrat stimulus package. Obama complains that, “In recent days, there have been misguided criticisms of this plan,” and warns, “…if nothing is done, this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose five million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse.” His fear-mongering remarks are meant to reverse the trend of worsening public support for the bill, as Americans recognize that there is perhaps more waste and pork in the legislation than stimulus. The comments by Obama also provide him with some future cover: if the economy improves he will take credit, but if the economy worsens he can put the blame on the failure of Congress to act fast enough in approving his request for massive spending. His unstated message is, “the problems of the economy are too important for anyone to be wasting time asking where I’m going to spend $819 billion dollars,” and “every minute counts” – although many economists argue that doing nothing would probably help the economy rebound sooner. The stimulus legislation is called “an astounding mishmash of tax cuts, public investments, transfer payments, and special treats for insiders” by Jeffrey D. Sachs of Columbia University. Alice Rivlin, former budget director for Bill Clinton, warns that “money will be wasted because the investment elements were not carefully crafted.” Nevertheless, Obama wants it passed as quickly as possible – or else. In support of Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi states, “every month that we do not have an economic recovery package 500 million (sic) Americans lose their jobs. I don’t think we can go fast enough to stop that.” [1057,1058,1065]

Obama’s Washington Post article also lashes out at what he calls the “misguided criticisms” of Republicans who believe tax cuts will solve many of the nation’s economic problems. “I reject these theories,” writes Obama, “and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change.” (Obama must have forgotten that he promised “misguided” tax cuts to 95 per cent of all Americans, which undoubtedly garnered him millions of votes.) [1061]

While Obama is frightening citizens and legislators into supporting his stimulus package, his Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, beats the global warming drum by warning that farms and vineyards could disappear from California. Chu says in an interview that “We’re looking at a scenario where there’s no more agriculture in California… I don’t actually see how they (Californians) can keep their cities going either.” (Note that Chu’s scientific experience is unrelated to climate study.) [1178]

Another tax-evasion issue surfaces to embarrass Obama when it is reported that the husband of his pick for Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, paid $6,400 to settle tax liens against his business the day before Solis’ nomination was to be considered by a Senate committee. The tax liens resulted partly from unpaid county health and safety permit fees, yet as Secretary of Labor Solis would be responsible for health and safety in the American workplace. The confirmation of the far-left Solis, who advocates reducing restrictions on illegal immigrants, had already been delayed due to questions about her role on the board of “American Rights at Work,” and by Senators who are disturbed by Solis’ refusal or inability to answer questions at her initial confirmation hearing. Solis also supports organized labor’s “card check bill,” which will eliminate the right to a secret ballot in union organizing drives – yet she was upset that the election of the head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus was not held by secret ballot. [1060,1105,1106,1695]

The “Buy American” provisions of the economic stimulus bill prompt criticism from trade groups and officials of European nations, who recall that the protectionist “Smoot Hawley Tariff Act” of 1930 caused a severe reduction of U.S.-European trade that worsened and prolonged the Great Depression. Thirty-one Senators (30 Republicans, plus Democrat Joe Lieberman) vote to remove the “Buy American” requirement from the legislation, but their attempt is defeated 65-31. With that provision in the bill odds increase that other countries will retaliate by raising tariffs or blocking American products, thus escalating the global economic problems. [1061,1062,1126]

Obama’s pick for Deputy Attorney General is David Ogden. Ogden is a supporter of on-demand abortions and opponent of abortion restrictions, including parental notification requirements for minors getting abortions. Ogden also believes that people have a constitutional right to view pornography at public libraries, that owners of private property cannot expel protestors from their own property because that would violate their right to free speech, and that there is a “right” to create child pornography. [1064,1110]

The Times of London reports that Obama has plans to offer a deal with Russia to reduce each nation’s nuclear weapons by 80 per cent. (In a 2007 speech Obama said, “America seeks a world in which there are no nuclear weapons.”) The deal likely would involve a re-examination of the U.S. missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, which Russia opposes, and a Russian demand that Georgia and the Ukraine not join NATO. Russia aggressively reacts to Obama’s disarmament plans by paying Kyrgyzstan a reported $2 billion to close, within six months, the US Air Force base at Manas – which Obama would need to supply troops in Afghanistan. Pushing Obama to see how far he will lean, Russia also announces plans to establish a Black Sea naval base in Abkhazia, formation of a “rapid reaction force,” and deployment of offensive missiles in Kaliningrad (if Poland and  the Czech Republic allow installation of an American missile defense system). Pakistan’s release from prison of its nuclear weapons guru Abdul Qadeer Khan (the father of the Pakistani atom bomb, who also helped Iran and North Korea with their nuclear programs) increases the odds of nuclear proliferation, further working against Obama’s disarmament plan. (One Obama advisor naively proposes persuading Israel to give up its nuclear weapons in order to encourage Iran to end its nuclear program.) The fear of a nuclear Iran is prompting other area nations like Saudi Arabia and Egypt to also pursue nuclear programs. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stated, “A nuclear armed Iran with hegemonic ambitions is the greatest threat to Arab nations today.”
[1068,1140,1202,1308,1974]

Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) states that she has “already had some discussions with colleagues” about holding Senate hearings relating to political fairness on talk radio. In the House, Speaker Pelosi is also eager to do something to restrain or censor conservatives on talk radio. It is assumed that a hearing would be planned to discuss political fairness on television or in newspapers, where the liberal viewpoint is predominant. The Stabenow/Pelosi argument is that conservative viewpoint needs to be offset by “equal time” from liberals – while their liberal viewpoint needs no such offset. Stabenow’s husband is Tom Athans, co-founder of the liberal Democracy Radio and TalkUSA Radio Network, and executive Vice-President of the failed liberal Air America. Should Stabenow succeed in getting “equal time for liberal talk shows” legislation passed, her husband’s business will essentially be guaranteed levels of success it has been unable to generate on its own in the free market. (Athans paid 21 year old Alycia Martin for sex. Martin was then charged in a February, 2008 prostitution sting and sentenced to six months probation. Athans, who has been married to Stabenow since 2003, was not charged.) [1069,1098,1099,1225]

The Senate version of the stimulus bill reaches $924 billion, as Senators work into the night on February 5 to get it approved. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) warns that if negotiations don’t proceed quickly enough, he will force a cloture vote to cut off debate, and says that if Republicans “think they’re going to re-write this bill, Barack Obama is going to walk away.” Obama, in the meantime, continues to warn Republicans not to make “the perfect enemy of the essential.” (There is no word on whether Obama believes $21 million in new sod for the Washington Mall or $75 million for smoking-cessation programs are an “essential” part of the legislation.) [1070]

On February 5, Obama orders the charges against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri withdrawn without prejudice. Al-Nashiri was the mastermind for the October, 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole that killed 17 American sailors and injured 39. Obama had ordered a 120-day delay in al-Nashiri’s trial, but was overruled by the supervising judge, Army Colonel James L. Pohl. Obama, apparently peeved by Pohl’s ruling, trumped his action by dropping the charges. (Al-Nashiri will remain in custody and the charges can later be reinstated, but Obama’s action will cause additional work and expense for the prosecution’s legal team. The likelihood of al-Nashiri being set free increased with Obama’s actions.) Families of the Cole bombing victims are outraged by Obama’s move. [1072]

At the National Prayer Breakfast Obama says “There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being. This much we know.” Strangely, this statement comes within days of his signing an executive order restoring the use of federal funds for foreign abortions, and certainly conflicts with his consistent pro-abortion legislative record. Critics argue, however, that because Obama does not consider an unborn fetus “an innocent human being,” he can make such statements while still being “consistent” with his abortion record. [1074]

To a large group of Democrat legislators on February 5, Obama defends the pork and earmarks in their stimulus bill, “When was the last time that (sic) we saw a bill of this magnitude move out with no earmarks in it? Not one.” (On January 6 Obama had promised “We are going to ban all earmarks.” ) Obama adds a Clintonesque qualification that an earmark is “the process by which individual members insert pet projects without review,” without defining what he means by “review.” Obama also tells the lawmakers that he will reverse former President Bush’s executive order prohibiting federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. The research requires aborting a fetus in order to “harvest” the cells. (Bush’s order did not prohibit private funding of stem cell research.) [1083,1137,1157]

Chicago’s Mayor Richard M. Daley tells WTTW television’s Elizabeth Brackett that although he has a list of projects to be paid for with Obama’s stimulus package money, he won’t disclose what’s on the list. Daley, no doubt aware of the criticism directed at Obama and Congress over the massive pork and waste in the bill, says “Yes, we do, we have our list, we’ve been talking to people. We did not put that out publicly because once you start putting it out publicly, you know, the newspapers, the media is going to be ripping it apart… it’s very controversial.” The Mayor apparently believes that the taxpayers do not deserve to know what they will be getting for their hundreds of billions of dollars in increased taxes. [1081]

As payback to the unions for their support during the campaign, Obama signs an executive order on February 6 that effectively requires federal agencies to use union contractors on all construction projects, thus eliminating the possibility of giving that work to approximately 85 per cent of the nation’s non-union construction workers. The order will necessarily increase costs for all federal construction because lower bids from non-union construction firms will be rejected. [1133,1610]

On February 6, Obama meets with families of some of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the October, 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole. Obama has the audacity to tell the group that Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri (who planed the Cole attack) is an “evil man” who “will be charged,” even though Obama had recently issued an executive order halting trials of the Guantanamo terrorist detainees (which include al-Nashiri). Because Obama halted his military trial, if al-Nashiri is ever tried and convicted in a civilian court, he will not face the death penalty a military court might have imposed. Several families of the victims refused to meet with Obama because of his actions. Diane McDaniels, whose son James Roderick McDaniels was killed in the Cole attack, was among those who were disillusioned and upset with Obama. In a television interview McDaniels states she now feels she made a mistake in voting for Obama. One of the individuals who does visit Obama is Beverly Eckert, chairperson of “Voices of September 11,” whose husband Sean Rooney died in the World Trade Center. (Tragically, Eckert dies just six days later, on February 12, in the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 in a Buffalo suburb.) [1072,1089,1090,1114,1119,1419]

Throughout the day on February 6, Obama and top Democrats continue to press Senate Republicans to support the stimulus package. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid warns, “Republicans must decide today whether they will join the President and Congressional Democrats on that road to recovery. If we succeed, there will be plenty of credit to go around. But if we fail, our entire country will suffer the consequences.” Republican Senator Mitch McConnell responds that his Senate colleagues would not agree to “an aimless spending spree that masks as a stimulus.” Obama cautions, “We are not going to get relief by turning back to the very same policies that for the last eight years doubled the national debt and threw our economy into a tailspin”– while at the same time advocating legislation that precisely does repeat those policies (deficit-spending and a refusal to cut federal spending) on a larger scale. [1082]

Senator John McCain criticizes the Democrat/Obama stimulus bill on the floor of the Senate on February 6, saying “The whole point, Mr. President, is to enact tax cuts and spending measures that truly stimulate the economy. There are billions and tens of billions of dollars in this bill which will have no effect within three, four, five or more years, or ever. Or ever.” McCain adds, “Fifty million dollars in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts – all of us are for the arts, (but) tell me how that creates any significant number of jobs? (An) after-school snack program is probably a good idea. (But) do we really want to spend $726 million on it?” [1108]

Alarmed by the incredible deficit-spending planned by Obama and the 111th Congress, lawmakers in eight states introduce resolutions declaring state sovereignty under the U.S. Constitution’s Ninth Amendment (“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people”) and the Tenth Amendment (“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”) The resolutions are an attempt to roll-back the powers unconstitutionally usurped by Congress over the last few decades. (The Civil War was arguably fought over the federal abuse of power, at the expense of state power, more than it was fought over the issue of slavery.)  The sovereignty legislation serves notice to the federal government that states will reclaim their Tenth Amendment rights and refuse to comply with burdensome regulations that impose costs on the states and exceed the Constitutionally-limited powers of the federal government. Some governors are considering refusing federal stimulus money because they oppose the expensive conditions that will last beyond the cash. (The actual wording of the sovereignty resolutions will determine whether Obama and Congress actually change the way they do business or simply laugh at the states. A sovereignty resolution without any enforcement provisions would be no more effective than the United Nations resolutions and “strongly worded letters of condemnation” that are routinely ignored by dictators. An effective sovereignty resolution would be one that authorizes that federal tax dollars, such as gasoline tax receipts, be held by the state and not turned over to the U.S. Treasury until Congress starts rescinding burdensome regulations and policies.) [1111,1296,1717]

In what is likely a violation of the U.S. Constitution, Obama takes actions to move control over the Bureau of the Census from the Commerce Department to the White House. Putting the census under the direct control of a partisan in the White House (specifically Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel) will allow the data to be manipulated in a political manner that will benefit the Democrat Party and its constituents. (Emanuel had promised Hispanic and black legislators that Obama would place the census under White House control.) Although the Constitution requires an actual enumeration (a physical head count) of the nation’s citizens every 10 years, the Democrats seek to allow “statistical sampling techniques” which will enable them to inflate population counts for areas of the country where they believe census takers “missed” some people. “Cooking the books” in such a manner will allow Democrats to redraw Congressional Districts in their favor, and provide for the allocation of more taxpayer dollars (vote-buying “pork”) to Democrat-heavy areas. Obama’s nominee for Commerce Secretary, Republican Judd Gregg, opposes such “sampling.” In observing Obama’s power grab, Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, recalls Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s remark that “Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.” (Critics may wonder why Obama chose Gregg to be his Secretary of Commerce and then immediately removed one of the major responsibilities of that position.) A career professional at the Bureau of the Census tells the Wall Street Journal’s John Fund that “There’s only one reason to have that high level of White House involvement, and it’s called politics, not science.” In 2006, looking ahead to the 2010 census, Emanuel had said, “If you think redistricting is always partisan and political – which it is – it’s going to be on steroids this time.” ABC, CBS, and NBC fail to report Obama’s census power grab. [1102,1109,1127,1129,1160,1220,1332]

Obama’s Chief of Staff has a skirmish with ethics when it is disclosed that he is living in a basement apartment he is renting from Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Because the basement flat changes the building’s zoning status from a single-family home to a multiple-family dwelling, the arrangement is illegal. (The five years of free rent could also be considered taxable income, in excess of $100,000.) Emanuel then changes his story to say he is staying there as a guest, for free. That, in turn, means that Emanuel runs afoul of ethics standards because he is accepting private gifts from a powerful individual. He finally says he is now looking for a house to rent. Emanuel has served as chairman of the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). The DCCC paid pollster Stan Greenberg $239,996 in 2006 and $317,775 in 2008. Greenberg, who has also received $50,000 from Emanuel’s own personal campaign committee, is married to Congresswoman De Lauro. [1116,1117,1270,1362]

While living in Congresswoman DeLauro’s house rent-free, Rahm Emanuel also appears to be getting a tax deduction for the private school tuition of his children. Emanuel and his wife purportedly set up a “Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Foundation,” which lists his home address in Chicago as the office of the foundation. The only two donors to the charity have been Emanuel and his wife, Amy. The foundation has donated money to the synagogue he attends and to a Bill Clinton foundation and, in the process, Emanuel takes tax deductions for the donations and other foundation “expenses.” Money Emanuel donates to the synagogue enables his children to attend its private school, while he takes a tax deduction for the donation – a convenient way to make school tuition tax deductible. [1530]

On February 7, Senate Democrats persuade several Republicans to go along with the stimulus bill. Majority Leader Harry Reid schedules the bill for a vote on February 9. Democrats estimate the cost of the bill at $780 billion, while Republicans argue the total is closer to $827 billion. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi states she is “very much opposed to the cuts that are being proposed in the Senate.” (Many Washington insiders say that Pelosi holds considerable sway over Reid.) The Senate version of the bill also limits the (one-time) payroll tax credit to couples with incomes of $140,000 or less ($70,000 for singles) – a far cry from the $250,000 amount set by Obama during the campaign; 95 per cent of American workers will therefore not receive a tax credit, as he promised. The bill will likely pass with all Senate Democrats (58) and some liberal-leaning Republicans voting for it (such as Collins, Snowe, and Specter). A spending bill that costs $800 billion represents $2,666 for every man, woman, and child in the United States, assuming a population of 300 million; the economy would arguably be stimulated more quickly by simply giving each family of four a check for $10,000 (although that approach would likely not result in Americans spending $335 million on sexually transmitted disease education, as the legislation calls for). [1088]

Where FDR tried to encourage Americans during the 1930s depression by saying, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself,” Obama’s drive to get his stimulus bill passed essentially has him declaring, “We have everything to fear if we don’t do it my way – immediately!” In his February 7 Saturday radio address, Obama notes that the unemployment numbers are “the worst in more than 30 years.” He warns that his stimulus package must be passed quickly, or the “…economic crisis could become a national catastrophe.”  (Not quite a year earlier, on March 1, Obama said at a campaign appearance that “America is at its best when it’s not fearful. I mean, if you think about our history, our most shameful times have been when we were afraid.”) In his radio address Obama criticizes the Republicans for advocating “tired old theories” that offer only “tax cuts as the answer” to the problems, neglecting to recognize that tax cuts have always succeeded in getting America out of past recessions – while the FDR/Keynesian approach of deficit-spending to “prime the pump” is, in fact, the tired old theory that many economists feel should be permanently discarded. (Even Roosevelt’s Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau, Jr. eventually admitted as such when he testified before the House Ways and means Committee on May 9, 1939: “We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises. I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started… and an enormous debt to boot.”) [1097,1142,1221]

Although the Supreme Court has ruled against such limitations in the past, the Obama/Democrat stimulus bill includes a restriction against federal money going to colleges and universities that support religious activities, such as prayer services and religious clubs, or which allow “sectarian instruction” or “religious worship.” Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) offers an amendment to remove the restriction from the bill, but the Senate rejects his proposal. The American Center for Law and Justice anticipates filing an injunction against the anti-religion provision as soon as Obama signs the bill into law. [1103,1104]

The leader of the Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA), Sam Webb, expresses his approval of the new administration in his speech, “Off and Running: Opportunity of a Lifetime.” In his Ohio speech, Webb says “We now have not simply a friend, but a people’s advocate in the White House.” Webb and the CPUSA hope that Obama will act to nationalize the banking, energy, and health care industries. [1118]

The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the economic recession will end in the second half of 2009… without Obama’s stimulus bill. In fact, it estimates that the stimulus legislation will actually harm the economy. [1368]

A February 8 Rasmussen poll shows Obama’s “Presidential Approval Index” at +11, down from a high of +30 on January 22, (two days after his inauguration). The index represents the difference between the percentage of voters who “strongly approve” of Obama’s performance and those who “strongly disapprove.” The drop to +11 comes after several Obama appointees withdrew after uproar about their failure to pay taxes, and after the public became more aware of the amount of pork and waste in his incredibly expensive “stimulus package.” [1100]

Although Obama opposes broad tax cuts to revive the economy, an IBD/TIPP poll conducted in the first week of February shows that 67 per cent of Americans favor cutting business taxes, 79 per cent favor cutting individual income taxes, and 62 per cent favor cutting the capital gains tax. [1107]

Obama’s “gloom and doom” scenarios of the economy become so severe and frequent that the Washington Times and other media outlets begin accusing him of seeking to “terrify Americans into supporting his $800 billion-plus” economic stimulus legislation. Since inauguration day, when Obama said the voters had chosen “hope over fear,” he has switched to using fear tactics to get the massive deficit-spending bill passed. “There’s only so much negativity (the voters) will tolerate from him before they will feel betrayed,” said pollster Frank Luntz. Obama’s rhetoric also runs the risk of frightening businesses and consumers into “pulling back,” retreating from expansion and spending plans that would help the economy. Also discouraging businesses and consumers are Congressman David Obey (D-WI), who states “The economy is in danger of absolute collapse,” and Senator Clair McCaskill (D-MO) “If we don’t pass this thing, it’s Armageddon!” (In 2001, President Bush was highly criticized by the media for even suggesting that the economy was “slowing down.”) [1115,1136]

A Rasmussen survey shows that 62 per cent of the voters want the stimulus bill to have more tax cuts and less spending. Although polls show that Americans oppose the massive amounts of waste in the bill, New York Senator Charles Schumer glibly complains about voters concerned about the massive spending in remarks to the Senate: “Let me say this, to all of the chattering class that so much focuses on those little tiny, yes, porky amendments – the American people really don’t care.” [1120,1150,1309]

On February 9, Republicans attempt to amend the economic stimulus legislation to require that any entities receiving funds from the bill use the federal “E-Verify” citizenship check system before hiring a new employee. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blocks the amendment, thus making it possible for illegal immigrants to gain jobs from the $800-plus billion stimulus bill. [1122]

Investment expert Marc Faber tells Bloomberg TV that the Obama/Democrat stimulus bill will make the economy worse, not better, and will ensure that “…the unproductive government will continue to grow at the expense of the private sector.” Faber adds, “If you have a stimulus package, fiscal deficits go up, and eventually you end up with higher interest rates and inflation. There is no free lunch. Someone has to pay.” [1124]

Obama holds his first prime time press conference on the evening of February 9, generating some criticism for allowing “non-traditional” media (like rabid liberal talk radio host Ed Schultz) to sit in the front row and ask questions. Obama also responds to a question from the far-left Huffington Post web site’s Sam Stein. (President Bush would have been crucified by the media had he allowed conservative talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity to sit in the front row at his press conferences and ask questions.) Questions posed to the generally defensive Obama are mostly un-provocative, and without vigorous follow-up questions when he fails to provide clear answers. (Obama staffers told the reporters in advance who would be called on by the President. It is therefore unclear why the other reporters bothered to show up for the press conference.) [1146,1148,1171]

Although Syria is on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, Obama decides to name an Ambassador to that country. Syria has not had a U.S. Ambassador since 2005, when it was blamed for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Obama also decides to lift sanctions against Syria despite its aid to al-Qaeda and assistance to North Korea’s nuclear operations. The new ambassador to Syria, Frederic Hof, is close to Obama’s Middle East envoy, George Mitchell. It is unclear what Obama expects by cozying up to Syria. One diplomatic source remarks, “Congress wants some sort of commitment that Syria will end support to Hamas and Hezbollah, but this (move by Obama) is not expected.” [1232]

Tennessee State Representative Eric Swafford agrees to be a plaintiff in the Orly Taitz lawsuit challenging Obama’s eligibility to serve as President of the United States. Dr. Taitz has four legislator plaintiffs (Swafford, Glen Casada, Stacey Campfield, and Frank Nicely) for a Writ of Mandamus to obtain original birth certificate, immigration records, passports, and other vital records of Obama/Soetoro. Swafford also introduced a bill in the state legislature reclaiming state sovereignty, to stop the federal government usurpation of state power under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. [1161,1166,1260]

Word spreads that Obama hired a 29 year old Democrat “researcher,” Shauna Daly, for the newly-created position of White House Counsel Research Director. Daly’s only experience has been “digging dirt” on political rivals. The official White House line is that Daly (who is not a lawyer even though she will be on the staff of the White House counsel) won’t be involved in political muckraking, despite that being her “area of expertise.” Before the election, Daly’s job was to prepare Obama for anticipated political attacks. [1128]

It is reported by Bloomberg that the stimulus bill also includes a provision for a “national Coordinator of Health Information Technology.” That bureaucracy will “guide” physician decisions about treatment and enforce uniformity and cost-saving measures. Health care providers that are not “meaningful users” will face penalties. The rules will likely reduce experimental treatment and medications because they are expensive, while discouraging treatment for those with “hopeless diagnoses.” (The health care provisions in the stimulus bill will give Americans a small taste of socialized medicine, as practiced in other countries.) [1143]

Liberal Republicans Collins, Snowe, and Specter join Democrats in a vote to invoke cloture (to cut off debate) on the economic stimulus package, essentially handing Obama and the Democrats a victory on the massive spending bill. [1131]

Obama makes a nationally televised appeal the evening of February 9 to convince Americans that the (now) $838 billion stimulus bill is needed to strengthen the economy. Obama’s “hope and change” campaign message becomes a “gloom and doom” and “full-blown crisis” warning, as he argues that “only government” can end the recession. He states that because “…the private sector (is) so weakened by this recession, the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back into life.” (Obama’s statement is reminiscent of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who wrote in “The Doctrine of Fascism” that “State intervention in economic production arises only when private initiative is lacking or insufficient, or when the political interests of the State are involved. This intervention may take the form of control, assistance or direct management,” and “Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power.”) It is unclear where the government will get the financial resources Obama mentions – because it does not have the $838 billion he plans on spending. While acknowledging that the legislation is not perfect, Obama states that “doing nothing is not an option.” (Many prominent economists argue that doing nothing is, in fact, an advisable option, especially with Congress refusing to cut the corporate and capital gains taxes or drastically reduce spending.) In pushing the stimulus bill, Obama pretty much tosses aside his campaign promises of bi-partisanship. Christopher C. Hull, adjunct government professor at Georgetown University and president of the public policy firm Issues Management Inc., remarks that Obama’s “appeals are very clearly breaking with the bipartisanship and changing-the-way-Washington-works that he talked about throughout his campaign. The tone that he is setting is relatively negative, relatively partisan, relatively political and relatively shrill, compared to what he said he was going to do.” [1131,1164,1780,1781]

Although retail sales in the United States increased one per cent in January of 2009, the largest increase in 14 months, Obama continues to paint a severe gloom and doom picture of the economy. He and the media represent it as the worst since the depression of the 1930s, but economists report that the 1973-1975 and 1981-1982 recessions were far worse than the current recession. The current unemployment rate (7.6 per cent) is less than the peak unemployment rates of both the 1973 and 1981 recessions (9.0 and 10.8 per cent, respectively), and certainly far less than the 25.2 per cent rate in 1932. The current inflation rate of a negative 0.1 per cent compares with 12.2 and 14.6 rates for 1973 and 1981. The 1981-1982 job losses represented 2.2 per cent of the work force, the same percentage of job losses in 2008. Job losses were 4.8 per cent of the work force in 1930, 6.5 per cent in 1931, and 7.2 per cent in 1932. The nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose in 2008, compared to a decline of 1.9 per cent in 1982. The GDP declined 9 per cent in 1930, 8 per cent in 1931, and 13 per cent in 1932. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is currently 5.3 per cent, while it averaged 10.0 and 18.5 per cent in 1973 and 1891. A few dozen banks failed in 2008, while over 10,000 failed in 1933. The 1930-1941 depression ended with the start of World War II. The 1981-1982 recession ended with the stimulation of President Reagan’s income tax cuts. Obama and his fellow Democrats are taking a reverse approach, with massive deficit-spending and trillions of dollars of new debt that will take generations of higher taxes to pay off. [1139,1169,1241]

Obama’s economic stimulus bill will place the Social Security Trust Fund in an annual deficit for the first time in its history. The 2008 Social Security Trustees Report estimated a surplus of $54 billion for 2009 (Social Security tax receipts would exceed payments to retirees and other beneficiaries by $54 billion). But Obama’s bill allows workers a refundable tax credit against their Social Security taxes, which will cost an estimated $145.3 billion in revenue for the Social Security system. In 2009 the Social Security Trust Fund will therefore take in less in taxes than it pays out in benefits. Obama will be taking approximately $91 billion out of Social Security to help pay for his stimulus bill. (During the October 7, 2008 debate with Senator McCain, Obama had promised, “I’m cutting more than I’m spending so that it will be a net spending cut.”) [718,1048,1132]

A mere three weeks after the inauguration, the media, which had excoriated John McCain and Sarah Palin for suggesting that some of Obama’s policies were socialist, changes its stripes – or finally admits to them – in a “Newsweek” cover story that announces, “We Are All Socialists Now.” Advocating an ever-increasing federal government, the article pontificates, “If we fail to acknowledge the reality of the growing role of government in the economy, insisting instead on fighting 21st-century wars with 20th-century terms and tactics, then we are doomed to a fractious and unedifying debate. The sooner we understand where we truly stand, the sooner we can think more clearly about how to use government in today’s world.” [1134]

Obama holds a “stimulus rally” in Fort Myers, Florida on February 10 to encourage the public to support his massive spending bill. He may have wished he had not taken questions from the audience, after a woman named Henrietta Hughes begged for a new car, house, a kitchen, and bathroom. College freshman Julio Osegueda (an alleged communications major, which could not have been imagined by anyone listening to his clumsy and convoluted statement/question) moaned that he had worked at McDonald’s for the last four years, and an unemployed man whined that his unemployment compensation should be no less than the amount of the salary he had been receiving. It is later reported that Ms. Hughes, allegedly living in her old car, had been offered a free apartment for 90 days by the “We Care Outreach Ministry” in January, but Hughes refused. Tanya Johnson, Director of the We Care program, said Hughes was also offered money, food, and job training courses for her son Corey, but that was also refused. Hughes sold some property in 2003 for $47,000. (It is also eventually reported that Hughes has owned and sold several homes, and transferred ownership of one to her son in order to “scam the system” and meet requirements for continuing Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare benefits.) [1147,1211,1380]

On February 10, the Senate votes 61-27 to approve the $838 billion economic stimulus bill. (The amount of spending in the legislation is the approximate value of all currency in circulation in the United States.) The Senate and House versions must be reconciled before a final bill can be sent to Obama to sign into law. Liberal Republican Senators Collins, Snow, and Specter (the former Warren Commission junior counsel who came up with the discredited JFK assassination “magic bullet theory”) voted in favor of passage. Collins argues that she voted for the bill because the “fat” was removed, yet the Senate bill provides for $8 billion more spending than the pork-filled House version. (The 79 year old Specter has been battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer, since early 2005. With the help of Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, Specter gets $10 billion added to the stimulus bill for the National Institute of Health, with $1.3 billion of that total going to the National Cancer Institute.) John McCain, a Senator who is usually more than willing to compromise to show his “bi-partisanship,” could not be conned by the Democrats this time and called the bill “generational theft.” [1144,1170,1192,1193,1194]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) warns that the stimulus bill will lead to the federal government consuming an incredible 40 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010, up from 21 per cent. The annual deficit may exceed $2.5 trillion in 2009 and $4 trillion in 2010. [1156]

In a disastrous performance before a Senate committee on February 10, Obama’s Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner unveils an ill-defined, unfocused and even larger new government financial plan, calling for up to $1.5 trillion to buy “bad assets” from banks and expand credit to consumers. This would be federal spending in addition to the $838 billion economic stimulus package before the Senate. The federal government, of course, has neither the $1.5 trillion nor the $838 billion. The money will therefore have to come from tax increases, additional borrowing from overseas, or simply printing money (which would be followed by substantial inflation). The stock market responds to Geithner’s remarks and general failure to answer questions (as well as the Senate’s passing of the pork-laden stimulus bill) with a drop of 382 points, or almost five per cent; bank stocks drop 12 per cent. Investment strategist Ed Yardeni calls Geithner an “empty suit with an empty plan,” generously crediting Geithner with actually having a plan. Although Geithner discusses a “credit crunch,” monthly banking data from the Federal Reserve shows that consumer loans have continued to grow at an approximate 10 per cent pace even during the recession. Qualified borrowers are able to obtain loans, contradicting arguments Geithner and Obama are making in support of their economic plans. [1135,1141,1149,1156,1208,1209,1334 ]

It is reported that the head of Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Paul Volcker, has called for a “comprehensive overhaul of the national and international financial systems,” and wants a global level of financial regulations and oversight. Volcker also has called for “harmonizing” tax rates among nations, which would result in higher income taxes for Americans in order to make their taxation similar to that of taxpayers in other countries. Plans like Volcker’s would therefore attempt to “level the global playing field” by penalizing Americans, who are generally more productive than workers in other nations – mostly because they are taxed less and have the incentive of keeping more of what they earn than European socialists allow. [1138]

After intense criticism from voters, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) backs away from her calls for Senate hearings to consider a “fairness doctrine” to reduce the power of conservative talk radio. Stepping up in Stabenow’s place is Iowa Senator Tom Harkin (who does not face an election until 2014), who tells Bill Press in an interview that he will support a renewal of the “fairness doctrine” censorship regulations. [1153]

The publisher of the financial magazine “Forbes,” Steve Forbes, tells Bloomberg TV that the Obama/Democrat stimulus package is a colossal waste of money, and is “…just a grab bag of every spending proposal that’s been banging around Congress for years. They just threw in everything. There’s no coherence, no real strategy.” Forbes argues for reducing the payroll tax in half for two years to get cash into the hands of consumers, and cutting the corporate tax rate (the second highest in the developed world) from 35 to 20 per cent. [1158]

Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) warns that the stimulus bill will worsen, not help the economy. Ryan calls the bill a “bloated porkfest” that will increase the deficit, raise government borrowing costs, and increase consumer interest rates. Ryan, who met with Obama and other members of Congressman about the contents of the bill, charges that the Democrats are primarily “focused on ideology, doctrine, and rewarding spending constituencies by satisfying all this pent-up spending demand that they’ve had for many years. This bill is more about the spending on pet projects that they’ve wanted to spend on for some time than on actually growing the economy.” [1159]

On his daily talk radio show of February 11, conservative Rush Limbaugh lambasts Obama and the Democrats for their assault on capitalism, saying “the leftist Democrats have been seeking this for the longest time. That’s why they can’t stop themselves. It is Christmas morning every day for these people. There’s nobody that can stop them… They are destroying the engine that creates wealth, the private sector, and they are turning it (over) to the government.” The current economic decline, says Limbaugh, was caused by “government spending, irresponsible orders from government to banks telling them they had to lend to people who had no business borrowing money.” [1167]

Veteran correspondent Les Kinsolving asks Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs, “How does the president believe that the First Amendment can be upheld if the so-called Fairness Doctrine is reinstated and applied only to electronic media and not to any newspapers, magazines, and wire services?” Gibbs dodges the question, saying “Les, I pledge to you to study up on the Fairness Doctrine so that one day I might give you a more fulsome answer.” When President Reagan axed the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 there were about 75 radio talk shows in the United States; there are now about 3,000. [1168]

Successful investor Jim Rogers tells CNBC that Obama’s Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and White House economic advisor Lawrence Summers have “…been dead wrong about everything for 15 years in a row.” Rogers also said he expects banks to rebound, despite incorrect actions taken by the federal government. [1181]

On February 12, Obama visits Caterpillar’s massive construction equipment factory in East Peoria, Illinois, where he claims that “If Congress passes our (stimulus) plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off.” But Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens later states, “The truth is we’re going to have more layoffs before we start hiring again… it is going to take some time” before the stimulus bill prompts new jobs. Before the visit, Owens had told Obama that if a responsible stimulus bill were to be passed he would be able to rehire workers. Obama used Owens’ words as though he had specifically supported the Obama legislation – which he had not. [1204]

Obama is joined at the Caterpillar plant by Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock. While speaking to the Caterpillar workers, Obama singles out Schock and asks him to “do the right thing” and vote for the stimulus bill. After Obama’s speech, not one employee approached Schock to ask him to vote for the President’s bill. In the previous week Schock had, in fact, received more than 1,400 e-mails, phone calls, and letters from Caterpillar employees asking him to oppose the legislation. [1258]

Republican leaders send a letter to the White House demanding that Obama reverse his unconstitutional plan to place control of the 2010 census in the hands of Rahm Emanuel. Court action will likely be taken if the President does not comply. [1220]

To “thank” Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) for voting for their stimulus legislation, Democrats announce on February 12 (Specter’s birthday) that his Senate seat will be one of their major targets in the 2010 elections. Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee, said that Obama supported the aggressive targeting of Specter. Menendez stated, “We are going to be working with the White House across this entire map. I’m sure that President Obama and those who advise him clearly understand the value of finally getting over 60 votes in the United States Senate after what they have gone through.” It is unclear what Menendez meant by “what they have gone through,” inasmuch as their stimulus bill had sailed through the House and the Senate, didn’t need Republican votes to pass, and was generally drafted without any input from Republicans. [1212]

Democrats in the House and the Senate work on February 12 to resolve differences between their two stimulus massive bills. Republicans are not allowed in the meetings. The House leadership releases the bill’s language late on the 12th, barely giving members a chance to read it before an expected vote on the 13th. (All members of Congress had previously agreed to post the bill on the Internet for 48 hours before scheduling a vote; the Democrats break that promise with the stimulus bill.) Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid both take credit for winning the power struggle. Last-minute changes to the bill included removal of incentives for additional nuclear energy and the elimination of a tax credit for the purchase of any new car, replacing it with a $9,1000 tax credit only for the purchase of plug-in electric vehicles (which, for the most part, don’t exist, and cost substantially more than gasoline-powered vehicles). A Republican proposal to offer first-time home buyers a $15,000 tax credit was scaled down to $8,000. Brian Riedl of the Heritage Foundation calls the legislation “25 years of government expansion jammed into one bill and sold as a stimulus.” A former Clinton advisor, William Galston, comments that “While the stimulus bill is a necessary condition for economic stabilization and recovery, it is hardly sufficient. As the lesson of Japan in the 1990s shows, fiscal stimulus without financial rescue yields stagnation… at best.” [1195,1196,1199,1209,1267]

Recognizing he was “being used” and citing “irresolvable conflicts,” Judd Gregg, Republican Senator from New Hampshire, tells Obama he changed his mind about accepting the position of Secretary of Commerce. In a statement issued by his Senate office Gregg states, “We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy.” Gregg tells the media he had made a mistake in accepting the original offer from Obama; Obama tells the media that Gregg was the one who lobbied for the job; and Rahm Emanuel states that Harry Reid had suggested Gregg to Obama. Gregg’s decision to return to the Senate (from which he had not yet resigned) brings more attention to Obama’s unconstitutional power grab in removing the 2010 census operations from the Department of Commerce to the direct control of Rahm Emanuel, who would be expected to “cook the books” for the benefit of Democrats. [1197,1203,1217]

Senators admit on February 12 that they will not have the chance to read the final version of the 1,071-page, $787 billion stimulus bill before voting on it. Only one Senator, George Voinovich (R-OH), had read the previous version. According to CBSNews.com, Roland Burris, the newly-appointed junior Senator from Illinois, “…seemed baffled by the thought of actually reading the entire bill.” (Many Democrat legislators in Illinois have been known to vote based solely on orders from the Chicago political “machine.”) The American people, as well as legislators, will not get a chance to review the bill before it is voted on, breaking a pledge Obama gave during the campaign: ”When there’s a tax bill being debated in Congress, you will know the names of the corporations that would benefit and how much money they would get, and we will put every corporate tax break and every pork barrel project online for every American to see; you will know who asked for them and you can decide whether your representative is actually representing you.” [1207,1230]

The final stimulus bill is available for reading on the Internet at about 11 pm on February 12. [1263]

Without having been given the time to read the bill and with the date perhaps being an omen, House Democrats on Friday the 13th pass the combined House-Senate version of Obama’s “stimulus package,” 246-183. All Republicans and seven Democrats vote against the $787 billion legislation. Republican leader John Boehner argues that “With a price tag of more than $1 trillion when you factor in interest, it costs every family almost $10,000 in added debt. This is an act of generational theft that our children and grandchildren will be paying for far into the future.” (The bill was rushed to the floor for a vote because Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had to leave by 6 PM on the 13th for an eight day trip to Europe.) [1206,1210]

The Senate also passes the Obama/Democrat stimulus bill on the 13th, with a vote of 60-38. Collins, Snowe, and Specter are the only Republicans voting for the bill. Although Obama had argued the bill cannot be delayed, he heads to Chicago for a Valentine’s Day dinner with his wife – postponing signing of the bill until the 17th. [1250,1251,1263]

The Heritage Foundation reports that the stimulus bill will provide states with 80 per cent of the money needed for each new person who goes on welfare, and includes a permanent expansion of 17 programs (cash, housing, food stamps, free medical care, etc.) for poor people. Roughly one-third of the massive bill represents welfare of one sort or another, and will prompt an estimated 20 per cent expansion of federal spending for such programs. Robert Rector, a researcher at the Heritage Foundation who worked on Clinton’s welfare reform bill, calls the stimulus legislation a “welfare spendathon” and the largest single year increase in federal handouts in history. The bill would “unravel” most of the 1996 welfare reforms, according to Douglas Besharov, author of a welfare reform study. Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, remarks, “If you like government dependence, you will love the plan they are jamming through Congress.” [1216,1231]

It is estimated that the stimulus package will cause the federal government to borrow at least $2.5 trillion in 2009 and $4 trillion in 2010. The Bush administration added about $4 trillion to the national debt over eight years. The Obama administration will add at least $6.5 trillion in debt in its first two years – over $21,000 for each man, woman, and child in the United States (assuming a population of 300 million). Although the stimulus bill is described as costing about $787 billion, the Congressional Budget Office reports that the figure will be closer to $3.27 trillion after factoring in estimates for the cost of mandated programs in the bill and the additional interest caused by the borrowing required to fund the bill. With the massive spending of the TARP bail-outs and the “stimulus package,” significant problems may surface with coming auctions of Treasury debt. To encourage foreign investors to buy American debt may require massive increases in interest rates, which will also affect the economy negatively as investors pour money into guaranteed government securities – rather than lend it to businesses for expansion. If foreign investors don’t buy enough of the debt, the federal government will have to print money to buy the debt. The result will be hyperinflation. [1226,1239,1240]

In criticizing the stimulus bill, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) charges the Democrats of choosing a “…random dollar amount in the neighborhood of one trillion dollars and then set(ting) out to fill the bucket.” [1250]

In addition to having Democrat majorities in the House and the Senate to pass his stimulus bill, Obama also has the advantage of the mainstream media drumming up citizen support. Between election day and February 10, the Media Research Center’s “Business and Media Institute” reviewed 176 ABC, NBC, and CBS news stories on the stimulus package. Fewer than two per cent of the news stories mentioned that paying for the bill might involve cutting other programs or raising taxes. People interviewed by the networks favored the stimulus spending by a two to one margin. Although the Cato Institute identified 250 economists who opposed the bill, the networks broadcast pro-spending advocates by a five to one margin. Liberal hard-core Keynesian economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman appeared five times on network broadcasts. ABC’s pro-stimulus advocates outnumbered opponents nine to one. CBS was the least one-sided, with 59 per cent of its stories being pro-legislation. Only three stories raised the issue of how the nation would pay for the stimulus bill. [1297]

A Dallas bookstore displays books about Obama in its religion section. It is unclear whether the store’s action was meant as sarcasm or actual devotion. [1236]

At a Senate hearing Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) inadvertently makes public the fact that unmanned CIA Predator aircraft used against terrorists are being launched from a Pakistani airbase. In disclosing the secret information Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, makes it more difficult for Obama to deal with the Pakistani leaders (who have publicly criticized the Predator attacks while secretly approving them). [1213]

After only a few weeks on the job Obama’s national intelligence director, Admiral Dennis Blair, apparently decides there is no point in trying to get Iran to drop its nuclear weapons program. Blair remarks, “Whether they (Iran) take it all the way to nuclear weapons and become a nuclear power will depend a great deal on their own internal decisions.” [1257]

Reports emerge that Illinois Senator Roland Burris, appointed by the now-impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich, was asked by the Governor’s brother, Robert Blagojevich (head of the “Friends of Blagojevich” campaign fund) for as much as $10,000 in exchange for having him appointed to the seat vacated by Obama. Burris now states he declined to pay the cash, but he failed to disclose the incident when testifying under oath before the Illinois House impeachment panel. Burris states “there were several facts” he was “not given the opportunity to make” during his testimony. State Representative Jim Durkin, who sat on the impeachment committee, called Burris’ excuse “…a load of B.S.,” and said “I don’t trust anything that comes out of Burris’ mouth or from his pen.” Burris may have committed perjury, prompting Illinois lawmakers to call for a criminal investigation. [1218,1224,1227]

Obama’s lawyers file motions to demand that the courts impose monetary penalties against attorneys issuing subpoenas for documents relating to Obama’s eligibility to serve as President. The motions are meant to intimidate plaintiffs and prevent the release of Obama’s birth certificate, passport records, and school records. Obama’s request for sanctions are a result of subpoenas from attorney Gary Kreep, on behalf of plaintiff (and 2008 Presidential candidate) Alan Keyes, that were served on Occidental College to produce Obama’s school records. Fredric D. Woocher, an attorney representing the college, contacted Kreep to ask him to withdraw the subpoena and warned, “Please be advised, in particular, that in the event we are forced to file a motion to quash and we prevail in that motion, we will seek the full measure of monetary sanctions provided for in the Code of Civil Procedures.” [1219,1260]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid moves to schedule a discussion and vote on granting Congressional voting rights for the District of Columbia. The current Congresswoman, Eleanor Holmes Norton, (D-DC, and member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus) represents the district but is not allowed to vote on legislation. If the bill passes, House Democrats will essentially be guaranteed one additional perpetual Democrat vote in Congress. Opponents properly argue that granting voting rights to a representative from D.C. is unconstitutional because the District is not a State. (Article I of the U.S. Constitution requires that “The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States … No Person shall be a Representative who shall not … when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.” In a quest for more unchecked power, Democrats may attempt to make Washington, D.C. the 51st state – which would also guarantee two more perpetually Democrat votes in the Senate. [1222,1362]

It is disclosed that Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel is advising the Obama administration on health care issues. Ezekiel J. Emanuel is a brother of Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. Dr. Emanuel is an oncologist who also serves as the Chair of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institute of Health. In Emanuel’s book, “The Ends of Human Life: Medical Ethics in a Liberal Polity,” he discusses end-of-life issues and euthanasia, and “…proposes an alternative ideology, a liberal communitarianism that imagines a federation of political communities dedicated to democratic deliberations to guide the formulation of laws and policies.” In “Healthcare, Guaranteed,” Emanuel proposes that Americans receive health care via a voucher system funded by a national value-added tax. (The new tax would have to generate at least $2 trillion dollars per year.) [1229]

On the February 15 telecast of CNN’s “GPS” program, Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai was interviewed by Fared Zachariah. Hamid, commenting on Obama’s remark that “Karzai has a bunker mentality,” said he was “…surprised to hear that statement. Perhaps it’s because the administration has not yet put itself together. Perhaps they have not been given the information yet. And I hope as they settle down, as they learn more, we will see better judgment.” [1234]

“Geostrategy Direct” reports that Obama plans to drop sanctions on Iran or companies that aid Iran’s nuclear and missile program. An official states, “We were told that sanctions do not help the new U.S. policy of dialogue with Iran,” and “The administration has abandoned sanctions entirely. It is a completely new ballgame.” It is unclear why Obama would be willing to discard one of the “sticks” that can go along with the “carrots,” unless he believes it is possible to negotiate without leverage. (Some would argue that Obama also has few carrots.) [1235]

On ABC’s February 15 broadcast of “This Week,” self-proclaimed “objective” host George Stephanopolous encourages Congresswoman Maxine Waters (a California Democrat and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus) to act to nationalize the nation’s banks. (Stephanopolous may or may not have read “Das Kapital,” in which communist Karl Marx wrote, “Owners of capital will stimulate the working class to buy more and more of expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive credits, until their debt becomes unbearable. The unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks, which will have to be nationalized and the State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to Communism.”)[1246,1362]

Obama advisor David Axelrod tells Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace, when asked if Obama would support a renewal of the fairness doctrine, “I’m going to leave that issue to Julius Genachowski, our new head of the FCC, and the president to discuss, so I don’t have an answer for you now.” Axelrod’s refusal to rule out a renewal of the FCC censorship rules suggests the White House is, in fact, considering it. To reduce public criticism of such a move any restrictions on conservative talk radio will likely be given a different name as a disguise. [1277]

In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez wins a referendum that would allow him to be President for life. Chavez’s campaign tactics included tear-gassing the opposition. Obama’s State Department says the vote was “for the most part… fully consistent with democratic process.” [1308]

Obama sends representatives to the February 16th planning session for the United Nations international conference on racism that will be held in the spring. The move by Obama suggests he may also be sending representatives to the eventual “Durban Review Conference.” (The planning session is chaired by Libya, with participation by Iran, Pakistan, Cuba, and other anti-Israel nations.) Several democracies plan on boycotting the conference, expecting that it will be an Israel-demonizing and anti-west propaganda event – as was the prior conference in September of 2001. Canada and Israel have formally announced that they will not take part in the conference, and both the United States and Israel walked out of the 2001 conference. Hillary Clinton, during the Presidential primary campaign, pledged to lead a boycott of the conference, and will thus likely be at odds with Obama about the 2009 meetings. Obama’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice (a known anti-Semite), advocates participation. Attendees at the conference will likely continue to condemn Israel, while arguing that “Islamophobia” is a form of racism that warrants making any criticism of Islam illegal. Great Britain and Italy threaten to join Israel in boycotting “Durban II” if they do not receive assurances it will not be another anti-Semitic, anti-Israel hate-fest. [1247,1344]

A February 16 Rasmussen poll shows Obama’s “Presidential Approval Index” at +10, his lowest rating since November 6, two days after election day. (The index represents the difference between the percentage of voters who “strongly approve” of Obama’s performance and those who “strongly disapprove.”) [1248]

On February 16, New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller is a guest on NBC’s “Today” show, where he promotes a new book, “Obama: The Historic Journey.” Host David Gregory comments, “…there is that criticism of the news media that we’re somehow cheerleaders for Barack Obama,” and asks Keller whether such a book adds “to that criticism.” Keller responds, “You know I think, as a rule, reporters don’t fall in love with candidates. They fall in love with stories, though,” and adds, “…it’s not a tribute book. It’s a, I hope a slice of history.” [1249]

Obama’s Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in Japan at the same time North Korea threatens to test a 105-foot Taepodong-2 missile, allegedly capable of reaching the United States. North Korea’s threat is likely an effort to gain aid and diplomatic benefits from what it sees as a weak new administration. [1256]

Although Obama campaigned on a pledge to remove American troops from Iraq within 16 months, and a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) calls for troops to leave by the end of 2011, it is reported that Iraq is purchasing American helicopters, cargo planes, tanks, and equipment that will require a continuing U.S. military presence for maintenance and training. Some of the equipment will not be delivered until 2012, indicating that American troops will remain in Iraq for some time. Lieutenant General Frank Helmick, who is in charge of training Iraq’s security services and military, suggests that the United States is in for a “long-term strategic relationship.”  [1259]

It is reported that the Obama administration pledged to the Palestinian Authority (PA) that it would protest if Israel constructs any new housing developments in the West Bank. PA officials are hopeful that Obama will push Israel to remove more than 60,000 of its 200,000 West Bank residents. [1261]

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin criticizes Congress for passing the stimulus legislation without even reading it, and encourages Obama to veto the bill and return it to Congress for it to be re-worked. [1300]

On February 17 Obama flies to Denver for a special “signing ceremony” to sign into law the massive stimulus spending bill passed on the 13th. He receives criticism for demanding Congress rush to pass the bill without reading it and then delaying its signing by four days. (There is no official word on what it cost the taxpayers for Obama to be flown to Denver solely for the purpose of signing the bill.) The bill is signed at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, after Obama toured a solar-panel installation and bragged that the stimulus bill will allow Namaste Solar to hire 20 additional workers. (Obama did not point out that his Air Force One flight from Washington to Denver to sign the legislation used more energy than the museum’s solar panels can produce over several years.) [1262,1427,1428]

As Obama signs the stimulus bill into law, hundreds of people protest the massive, pork-laden spending bill at Denver’s state capitol building. Many in the crowd carry giant $30,000 mock checks to signify the approximate amount the bill will cost each taxpayer. [1353]

Senior Illinois Senator Dick Durbin travels on a taxpayer-paid trip to Greece to “assess security in the region.” Accompanying Durbin is Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who is allegedly lobbying to get the Senate seat held by Roland Burris if the Democrats are successful in orchestrating his ouster. (The Giannoulias’ family’s mob-connected Broadway Bank loaned Obama the money for a townhouse purchase and raised $100,000 for Obama’s Presidential campaign. Giannoulias was arguably elected State Treasurer only because of the support of Obama, when other prominent Democrats were keeping their distance from him because of his inexperience and questionable background.)  [116,117,281,1321]

With the signing of the stimulus bill, the “American Recovery Reinvestment Act,” the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) drops 3.79 per cent, or 297.81 points, to $7,552.60. The DJIA has dropped 21.5 per cent since Obama’s election, from $9,625.28 on November 4, 2008 to $7,552.60 on February 17, 2009.  [1238,1262]

Residents of Mesa, Arizona protest the monumental waste of the new legislation. Mocking the stimulus (“SwindleUs”) bill, “gimme-mania,” and Obama’s response to town hall meeting questioner Henrietta Hughes (who had begged Obama for a car and a house on national television), protestors carry signs saying, “Obama I wanna 65 inch plasma TV,” “I need a beach front condo Mr. President,” “I want a free Harvard education too,” “Henrietta got a house, all I want’s a swimming pool,” “Gimme $,” “I want a president with ethics and honor,” “I need a new car,” “Stimulate the economy and buy me a new Lexus,” “He’s no Messiah,” “Stimulate the economy: give me a tummy tuck,” and “Give me liberty or a big-screen TV.” One woman’s sign read, “Fund bikini wax now,” and, mocking Obama’s big-government, national health care for all plans, claimed “It’s a self-esteem and hygiene issue, which makes it a health care issue. I think we’re all entitled.” Many protestors claim that Obama’s enormous stimulus bill mobilized his opposition. Reports of the protests appear on local news programs and in Internet reports but, in an effort to protect Obama’s approval ratings, are ignored by the mainstream media. [1303,1309,1340]

Obama learns quickly that campaigning for President may be easier than being President. With conservatives angered that his stimulus bill passed, and feeling that it will do nothing but saddle future generations with enormous debt, liberals are upset that the bill did not call for even more spending and government programs. University of California (Berkeley) political scientist Jacob Hacker remarks, “What we need is a new (FDR) New Deal.” Bill Clinton’s former Secretary of labor, Robert Reich, said Obama made a mistake in letting congressional leaders write the bill. (Reich may not be aware that the Constitution requires that bills originate in Congress, not the Oval office.) [1264]

The Obama administration launches a web site, www.recovery.gov, which is supposed to allow the taxpayer to see where the money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is going. On day one the site does nothing more than break down the $787 billion bill into seven broad spending categories. [1265]

Obama is expected to appoint a task force to oversee the domestic auto industry, which has received about $17.5 billion in bail-out funds ($13.5 billion for General Motors and $4 billion for Chrysler) and is likely to beg the federal government for more. Rather than appoint a business expert to the task force, however, Obama is planning to appoint Ron Bloom, a special assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers Union. Although many of the problems in the auto industry are the result of overly-generous and economically unjustifiable union contracts, it seems unlikely that Bloom will push for reduced union power and influence. Some argue that the automakers would be best served by filing bankruptcy and re-structuring their union contracts, but that is not favored by the Obama administration, suggesting that more money from the taxpayers will be forthcoming. (While Obama insists he is not a socialist, taking over an automobile company is certainly not an exercise in free market capitalism. Even Sweden, a socialist nation, is allowing Saab to sink or swim on its on, with a Cabinet minister saying, “The Swedish state is not prepared to own car factories.”) [1266,1955]

On February 17 Richard Davis, CEO of U.S. Bancorp, reveals that the federal government essentially forced the major banks to accept TARP funds, not to lend out more money but to buy banks that were in trouble because of sub-prime loan activity. Davis states, “I will say this very bluntly: We were told to take it (TARP money). Not asked, told. ‘You will take it.’” Later in the day Davis tones down his accusation, saying that once several large banks agreed to take the TARP funds the others, for competitive reasons, found it necessary to do the same. [1272]

Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA), head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, considers ways of imposing a “Fairness Doctrine” without actually using the term. As an example, Waxman is considering “advisory boards” to act as “watchdogs” to ensure that “community needs and opinions” are treated fairly. Advisory board reports would then be used by the FCC to yank radio licenses at renewal time, to give to new owners more sympathetic to Waxman’s political agenda. [1561]

In an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Obama hems and haws his way through the questions, avoiding direct answers as much as possible. In a startlingly squishy response to the issue of the war in Afghanistan, Obama remarks, “Well, I think Afghanistan is still winnable, in the sense of our ability to ensure that it is not a launching pad for attacks against North America. I think it’s still possible for us to stamp out al Qaeda to make sure that extremism is not expanding but rather is contracting.”  (In other words, we haven’t got a chance of defeating terrorism, but we can try to slow it down a bit, and although we might, if we’re lucky, be able to stop terrorists from attacking North America, there’s little hope for the rest of the world.) [1268]

On February 18, Obama unveils his plan to help bail-out homeowners who irresponsibly and foolishly bought homes they could not afford. Suggesting that everyone has a responsibility for the financial mistakes of others, Obama states, “If we move forward with purpose and resolve, with a deepened appreciation for how fragile it can be when we fail in our collective responsibilities, then I am confident we will secure (the American dream) for ourselves and for generations to come.” The Obama bail-out plan would cost taxpayers an additional $275 billion. Part of Obama’s plan would allow an estimated nine million homeowners who are not delinquent in their mortgages to refinance or have their loans modified, under terms they could not otherwise get because the value of their homes has declined. An estimated $75 billion would be available for refinancing for “at-risk” homeowners. Responsible taxpayers who are not “upside down” on their mortgages will therefore be footing the bill for those who are, despite Obama’s assurances that no relief will go to speculators or those who bought more than they could afford. (Obviously, if no aid is given to speculators or people who bought beyond their means, Obama’s program serves no purpose – because responsible buyers do not need to be bailed out.) [1271,1313,1372,1455]

The former director of Israeli security agency Mossad, Shabati Shavit, warns in an interview that while “…Obama finishes his (foreign policy) learning curve… the Iranians are going to have maybe the first or even more nuclear bombs.” Shavit encourages Obama to deal with Iran by working first with Russia, which supports Iran in order to obstruct American foreign policy. [1302]

Despite the election of Obama having allegedly “put race behind us,” his Attorney General Eric Holder, who is black, injects race back into the conversation by calling the United States “a nation of cowards” on the issue. In a speech to the Justice Department celebrating “Black History Month,” Holder states that Americans don’t talk about the topic of race enough and “self-segregate” on the weekends and in their private lives. Holder receives substantial criticism for his remark, which many Americans consider an insult. [1301]

ACORN, gaining hundreds of millions of dollars from Obama’s stimulus package, launches a new “Home Savers” campaign. The ACORN strategy includes encouraging civil disobedience. Residents who cannot afford to pay their mortgages will be encouraged by ACORN to refuse to move out of foreclosed homes, “squatting” until ACORN can persuade Obama to provide even more bail-out funds. ACORN is training teams of “home savers” to mobilize on short notice and help homeowners forcibly resist eviction attempts. ACORN’s program has the support of Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (an Ohio Democrat and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus), who encourages delinquent payers to “Stay in your homes. If the American people, anybody out there, is being foreclosed, don’t leave.” (On February 23, police in Baltimore arrest ACORN activist Louis Beverly, who had cut the locks of a foreclosed property and entered the house, saying “This is our house now.” He will be charged with burglary.) [1273,1357,1362]

It is later reported that the home was bought by Donna Hanks in 2001 for $87,000. She subsequently refinanced the original loan for a whopping $270,000. My mid-2006 Hanks was in foreclosure proceedings. She filed for bankruptcy but failed to make even the payments required by those proceedings. After that, Hanks racked up criminal charges for theft and assault. The court ordered the house sold after giving Hanks multiple chances, over two years, to reverse her situation. The house was sold in mid-2008. In February of 2009 Hanks broke into the house (which was no longer legally hers) with the help of ACORN’s Louis Beverly. Beverly himself has a criminal record for assault, property destruction, battery, assault, and possession of a deadly weapon with intent to injure. It is unclear how many people like Hanks and Beverly will be aided by Obama’s mortgage-relief program and the stimulus bill cash he gave to ACORN. [1376]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prepares to issue rules defining carbon dioxide (CO2) as a pollutant and regulating its release into the atmosphere. Obama’s EPA chief, Lisa P. Jackson, is a believer in Al Gore’s “mankind is causing massive global warming” theories. Regulating the release of CO2 into the atmosphere will cause transportation and manufacturing industries and utilities to drastically raise prices as the cost of complying with the regulations is passed on to the consumers. The Clean Air Act of 1963 was meant to regulate actual pollutants released into the air, not molecules normally present in the atmosphere and which are created by humans and animals through the simple act of breathing. Even some Democrats seem to understand the lunacy of regulating carbon dioxide, with Congressman John Dingell (D-MI) stating that such a process would initiate a “glorious mess” that would harm the economy. Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming was more direct, warning Jackson at her confirmation hearing that using the Clean Air Act to regulate CO2 and address unproven theories of mankind-caused global warming would be a “disaster waiting to happen.”  The founder of the Weather Channel, meteorologist John Coleman, calls it “ridiculous” to classify CO2 as a pollutant and attempt to regulate it under the Clean Air Act. [1285,1509]

Swiss bank UBS agrees to pay $780 million in penalties for helping wealthy Americans avoid paying taxes through its offshore accounts, and the Justice Department moves to obtain names of 52,000 account holders. (It had previously been thought that UBS had been shielding “only” 19,000 taxpayers.) UBS will fight the release of the 52,000 names. Robert Wolf, CEO of the American branch of the Swiss banking giant UBS, collected more than $370,000 in campaign contributions for Obama. [123,448,1286]

On February 19, United Nations officials announce that Iran has sufficient enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb. Iran may now welcome “talks with Obama,” because it believes it has the upper hand in negotiations, and can stall Obama while it further develops its nuclear weapons cache and missile capabilities. Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs assume Obama is unwilling or unable to do much to stop them. (Obama believes that pressuring Israel to give up land to Palestinians will eliminate tensions in the Middle East when, in fact, it will only lead to further aggressiveness by Hamas, Iran, and other opportunists eager to pounce on perceived or real weaknesses.) [1287,1518]

Contradicting his pledge of transparency, Obama will require Department of Defense (DOD) officials to sign pledges stating they will not share 2010 budget data with anyone outside the federal government. Obama is expected to slash the DOD budget by almost $50 billion (from about $585 billion to $537 billion), but is worried that department officials who may still be loyal to former President Bush will leak information about unpopular cuts. By demanding secrecy, Obama can insure that most criticism will not come until after it is too late for legislators to round up support for programs being cut. [1345]

Obama sends Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Indonesia to open a “robust partnership” with the Muslim nation, and establish the groundwork for closer American ties to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). While in Indonesia, Clinton remarks that the nation is proof that “democracy, Islam and moderation” can coexist. Clinton did not mention the widespread persecution of Christians by Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, or the fact that 16 of Indonesia’s 32 provinces have some form of decidedly undemocratic Sharia law. [1288,1289,1290,1291]

After Bill Clinton publicly supports censorship of conservative talk radio with the statement, “You either ought to have the fairness Doctrine or we ought to have more balance on the other side,” Republican Senator James DeMint of South Carolina tries to amend a bill to include with a “Broadcaster Freedom Act” to force Senators to openly choose sides on the issue. Asked DeMint, “Do you support free speech or do you want to silence voices you disagree with?” Obama has stated he opposes the reinstatement of the prior Fairness Doctrine, but behind the scenes he will not stop the FCC from more strictly enforcing broad “local rules” which would also reduce the effectiveness of his critics on talk radio – by threatening to take away broadcast licenses. Apparently unable to recall Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, or Fidel Castro, California Attorney General (and former Governor) Jerry Brown says, “A little state control wouldn’t hurt anybody.” [1292,1295]

In what may be a sign of inflation on its way, it is reported that wholesale prices increased by 0.8 per cent in January – four times the expected increase. [1293]

Oklahoma City police stop motorist Chip Harrison because his vehicle displays a hand-lettered sign reading, “Abort Obama not the unborn.” Treating the sign as a threat against the President, the officers take the sign from Harrison. Harrison is later visited by the Secret Service. Harrison, who does not believe in abortion, states that the sign meant that he wanted Obama impeached. “Abort Bush” and “Abort Palin” signs and bumper stickers have been prominently displayed by many, without any reported police or Secret Service harassment. [1304,1305,1306]

Obama tells Univision Radio host Eddie Sotelo he is “very committed” to move on the immigration issue in the next several months. Obama remarks, “…we’re going to make sure that we begin the process of dealing with the immigration system that’s broken. We’re going to start by really trying to work on how to improve the current system so that people who want to be naturalized, who want to become citizens, like you did, that they are able to do it; that it’s cheaper, that it’s faster, that they have an easier time in terms of sponsoring family members. And then we’ve got to have comprehensive immigration reform.” Obama will work with his House and Senate majorities to get as many illegal immigrants turned into Democrat-voting citizens as soon as he can. [1348]

Obama declines an offer from Great Britain to keep a bust of Winston Churchill in the Oval Office, which was initially loaned to former President Bush by Britain’s Government Art Collection. The valuable bust was moved, not just out of the Oval Office but out of the White House completely, and taken to the residence of the British Ambassador to the U.S., Sir Nigel Sheinwald. (One Brit later remarks that “the young president could learn a thing or two about leadership from Sir Winston Churchill, the British hero whose bust he so crassly removed from the Oval Office.”) It is unclear why Obama felt it necessary to remove from the White House a symbol of “resolve, courage and faith against the enemies of Western civilization,” or whether he also plans to return the Statue of Liberty to France. Obama likely also had a bust of former president Eisenhower removed. (A photo in the March 2 issue of Newsweek shows what looks to be a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. now in the Oval Office.) [1307,1521,1569,1587,1657,1729]

On February 20 it is reported that the Democrat National Committee still owes the City of Chicago $1.7 million for Obama’s election night victory speech celebration in Grant Park. The bill covers police services and other support functions. [1310]

The state of Missouri issues a Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) “Strategic Report” called “The Modern Militia Movement.” (The document originated with the Department of Homeland Security.) It is distributed to state law enforcement officials to keep them aware of the militia movement in the U.S. and point out “activities” that may suggest a citizen is a potential risk to society. The document warns of “rightwing extremists” who “exploit current world events in order to increase participation in their movement.” It states that “Due to the current economical and political situation, a lush environment for militia activity has been created. Unemployment rates are high, as well as cost of living expenses. Additionally, President Elect Barrack (sic) Obama is seen as tight on gun control and many extremists fear that he will enact firearms confiscations,” and “Many constitutionalists within the movement have claimed that President Elect Obama does not meet the residency (sic) requirements to hold the office of President, and therefore his election is unconstitutional.” The report suggests that the radical militia members can be identified by “Don’t tread on me” bumper stickers, or items that display “…Constitutional Party, Campaign for Liberty, Or Libertarian material. These members are usually supporters of former Presidential candidate: Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr.” It is unclear whether a “Ron Paul for President” or “NOBAMA” bumper sticker might prompt a Missouri state trooper to order a driver to pull over in order to have his vehicle searched, but the report basically suggests that disagreeing with the government makes an individual dangerous and deserving of police interception. The MIAC document essentially warns that the people to “look out for” are those may be against any of the following: abortion, RFID chips, illegal immigration, the United Nations, the New World Order, income taxes, universal service program, gun control, the Federal Reserve Board, or a new Constitutional Convention. [1830,1884]

Congressman Ron Paul, Bob Barr, and Chuck Baldwin, write the Governor of Missouri to register their anger at being singled out in the MIAC document and demand that it be removed from the Internet and no longer circulated to any state agencies. [1946]

Senator Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, prompts the stock market to drop 200 points when he tells Bloomberg Television’s Al Hunt on February 20 that the federal government may have to nationalize the banking system. Obama’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, is later sent out to talk down the idea that the administration is considering the action seriously. [1400]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in China for a two-day visit, where she is conspicuously silent about human rights violations and charges of currency manipulation by the Chinese government. Instead, she encourages the Chinese to buy more American debt to finance the Obama administration’s enormous deficit-spending. CBS News’ Wyatt Andrews reports that, “The truth is the Administration needs China’s help. America’s stimulus is very expensive and the U.S. wants China to help finance it.” That debt-financing overrules other concerns.  In an interview with Andrews, Clinton states, “We are relying on the Chinese government to continue to buy our debt.” When Andrews questioned Clinton on earlier pledges by her and by Obama to stop Chinese cheating on trade, she answered, “That was at a different time when we weren’t facing the kind of difficult situations we face today” – meaning that the U.S. government needs the Chinese to finance its debt more than it needs to protect American jobs. [1465,1466]

Clinton’s visit to China prompts a totally fabricated Internet rumor that she conveyed to the Chinese government a “written agreement which grants to the People’s Republic of China, an option to exercise Eminent Domain within the USA, as collateral for China’s continued purchase of US Treasury Notes and existing US Currency reserves.” The State Department’s press officer, Laura Tischler, later confirms, “There is no factual basis or substance to this report.” [1467,1501]

ABC’s Terry Moran continues his steady stream of Obama “suck-up” coverage, telling the “Morning Media Podcast,” “I like to say that, in some ways, Barack Obama is the first President since George Washington to be taking a step down into the Oval Office. I mean, from visionary leader of a giant movement, now he’s got an executive position that he has to perform in, in a way.” (Inadvertently, Moran points out Obama’s big problem: where he previously only had to give speeches designed to make people feel good about him and his promises, he now has to actually do something productive.) Remarkably, Moran then tells co-host Glynis McNicol he didn’t think the liberal bias of the media skewed coverage in the President’s favor. [1350]

The Obama Justice Department sides with the former Bush administration argument that terrorist detainees at Bagram Air Base cannot use U.S. courts to challenge their detentions. Although this contradicts Obama’s position regarding the detainees at Cuba’s Guantanamo Camp Delta, most Americans know nothing about Bagram. [1333]

Obama sends press secretary Robert Gibbs out to talk to the media in response to widely-publicized criticisms of his mortgage bail-out program made by CNBC analyst Rick Santelli. Gibbs (whose job is to discredit the messenger before the American public realizes it agrees with the message) is unprofessional and condescending in remarks critical of Santelli, essentially dismissing him as a low-life derivatives trader. Gibbs remarks, “It’s tremendously important that (sic) for people who rant on cable television to be responsible and understand what it is they’re talking about. I feel assured that Mr. Santelli doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Gibbs then states that Santelli “has argued, I think quite wrongly, that this plan won’t help everyone.” Santelli had suggested that Obama find out if Americans really wanted to “subsidize losers’ mortgages” and asked, “Or would we like to at least buy cars and buy houses in foreclosure and give them to people that might have a chance to actually prosper down the road and reward people that could carry the water instead of drink the water?” Santelli posed an on-air question to traders on the floor behind him, “How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor’s mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can’t pay their bills? Raise your hand.” When no one raised their hands, Santelli said, “President Obama, are you listening?” and commented that “Cuba used to have mansions and a relatively decent economy. They moved from the individual to the collective, now they’re driving ’54 Chevys, maybe the last great car to come out of Detroit.” Santelli suggested, “We’re thinking of having a Chicago Tea Party in July,” and will likely get some positive responses to the offer. [1324,1329,1366,1372,1374]

After Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood floats the idea of taxing motorists based on how many miles they drive and opposition to the idea is fast and furious, Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs is immediately sent out to quash the story. Oregon’s Democrat Governor, Ted Kulongoski, is considering such a tax, at the rate of $0.012 per mile driven, with the information gathered by a Global Positioning System (GPS) device in every vehicle. Massachusetts has also considered a mileage tax. Supporters say a mileage tax would replace gas taxes, but critics warn that the nation’s taxpayers will no doubt end up paying both taxes – and the government will know where you are at all times. [1336,1337,1352]

The Army National Guard scraps plans for a military training exercise in the small Iowa town of Arcadia.  The exercise would have involved troops going door to door in a mock “invasion” to confiscate weapons and search for a weapons dealer. Sergeant Mike Kots, readiness NCO for Alpha Company, said that the exercise would “improve the real-life operational skills of the unit.” Arcadia residents who complained and caused the canceling of the plans, and who are aware of the anti-gun stance of Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder, may have been worried that the exercise was a pre-cursor of actual future operations to collect weapons of all American citizens. [1323,1335]

After one month with Obama in office, the stock market’s DJIA is at $7,365.67 – its lowest point since mid-1997. In his first four weeks in office, Obama has signed a $787 billion stimulus package, pushed a financial stability initiative of at least $1.5 trillion, and announced a $275 billion mortgage assistance program. The market’s response no doubt reflects the fact that the federal government has no ability to fund those programs without massive borrowing, which will crowd out businesses that need access to funds. The market is also reacting to uncertainty… not knowing what Obama or Congress will do next, it assumes the worst and hedges its bets accordingly. [1238,1312]

A Gallup poll (Feb 19-21) shows that Obama’s approval rating, after one month in office, dropped from 68 to 63 per cent. His disapproval rating doubled, from 12 to 24 per cent in the same period. After one month in office, George W. Bush’s approval rating was 62 per cent, and his disapproval rating was 21 per cent. Clinton and Obama are the only Presidents (in Gallup’s polling history) whose disapproval ratings increased during their first month in office. [1369]

CNN refuses to air CatholicVote.com’s “Life: Imagine the Potential” anti-abortion ad, which NBC had previously refused to air during the Super Bowl. The anti-abortion group had wanted to run the ad in a time slot linked to Obama’s State of the Union address. CNN argues that the ad can’t be run without Obama’s permission because his name is mentioned, although CNN had not obtained permission from Chief Justice John Roberts to run an ad suggesting that he supports violence against abortion clinics. [875,1024,1325]

Former Ambassador Alan Keyes, Obama’s Republican opponent in the 2004 Illinois Senate race, charges that “Obama is a radical communist, and I think it is becoming clear… He is going to destroy this country, and we are either going to stop him or the United States of America is going to cease to exist.” Keyes continued, “I’m not sure he’s even president of the United States, (and) neither are many of our military people now who are now going to court to ask the question, ‘Do we have to obey a man who is not qualified under the Constitution?’ We are in the midst of the greatest crisis this nation has ever seen, and if we don’t stop laughing about it and deal with it, we’re going to find ourselves in the midst of chaos, confusion and civil war.” [1453]

In his Saturday radio address on February 21 Obama says he is determined to “get exploding deficits under control” – just days after signing into law a stimulus bill that will add $787 billion to the deficit. Obama plan to reduce the deficit includes allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire (that is, he will raise taxes) and cut defense spending. At the same time, Obama plans to expand health care – which will cost even more money the federal government does not have. [1395]

Obama pledges to cut the deficit in half, to $533 billion, by 2013. He neglects to say that he will halve the deficit after first tripling it. He also neglects to announce that estimates show the deficit growing steadily again in 2014 ($579 billion), 2015 ($583 billion), and 2016 ($637 billion). By the final year in the government’s projections, 2019, the deficit will be $712 billion. The national debt will then be at least $15.4 trillion, almost double the current $8.4 trillion. While attempting to “cut the deficit in half,” Obama will almost double the national debt. [1396,1482]

Israeli President Shimon Peres selects Benjamin Netanyahu to be the next Prime Minister. Netanyahu will have six weeks to form a coalition government with members of his Likud party and conservatives of smaller parties. The recent elections in Israel, which prompted the change, will make it more difficult for Obama to deal through appeasement with problems with Iran and the Middle East, as Netanyahu will not be as willing to make costly concessions as would his liberal rival, Tzipi Livnia of the Kadima party. Netanyahu will also take an offensive stance against Iran and its nuclear weapons program. Further, while Obama may be willing to open talks with Hamas, Netanyahu is determined to topple the terrorist group’s government in Gaza. [1338,1339]

It is reported that the terrorist group Hamas gave Senator John Kerry a letter to pass on to Obama while Kerry was in Jerusalem. The letter, allegedly written by Hamas’ chief political advisor in Gaza, Ahmed Yousef, congratulates Obama on his campaign victory and asks for open communications with the United States government. Hamas officials believe that Kerry’s visit to Gaza is a sign that the Obama administration is open to talks. [1322,1327,1446]

Carol Browner, Obama’s “climate czar,” says on February 22 that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will soon issue rules regulating carbon dioxide (CO2), perhaps as early as April 2. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants a “climate change bill” by the end of summer, while in the House of Representatives Henry Waxman (a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus) wants a bill by Memorial Day. Browner said Obama wants a national policy that calls for “carbon trading credits.” The many critics of such policies point out that regulating CO2 (which all humans and animals routinely exhale) would burden businesses at a time when they are already struggling. [1330,1362]

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) closes its file on a complaint filed by Judicial Watch charging that Obama, when he was a Senator in 2005, got preferential treatment for the mortgage on his mansion. The FEC confirms that Obama received special treatment from the Northern Trust Bank when it gave him a loan at only 5.625 per cent. Obama paid no discount points to obtain the reduced rate, as would most borrowers, and he also paid no loan origination fee. The special break given to Obama saved him approximately $300 per month in his mortgage payment. Judicial Watch filed the complaint alleging that the special discount constituted an illegal corporate campaign contribution. The FEC decided to exonerate Obama solely on the basis that the bank gave similar deals to others, even though it would not disclose who those “others” were. [1331]

A Palestinian Authority (PA) official states that the Obama administration had given it a “green light” to meet with Hamas about forming a Palestinian unity government, and encouraged Egypt to work on reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. The PA official told the Jerusalem Post that Obama believes a “Hamas-Fatah government is good for stability.” (He perhaps didn’t say whose stability.) Israel’s new coalition government, to be formed by its new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will no doubt be discouraged by Obama’s willingness to give legitimacy to the terrorist group Hamas. Unity talks between Fatah and Hamas, meanwhile, do not include any requirement that Hamas recognize Israel as a condition of Hamas joining the Palestinian Authority. Fatah also does not recognize the existence of Israel. It is unclear why Obama believes a Fatah-Hamas coalition will be productive. (Taiwan and Columbia are likely closely watching the Middle East events, knowing that if Obama reduces its support of Israel, they may be next to “go it alone.”) [1341,1748]

The Obama administration releases terrorist Binyam Mohamed from custody at Guantanamo’s Camp Delta. Mohamed is taken to the United Kingdom, where he is later released. The United States had accused Mohamed of being involved in a “dirty bomb” plot, but charges against him were dropped because of his allegations of torture before he arrived at Guantanamo. His terrorist activities include firearms and explosives training at al-Qaeda camps, falsifying documents, and developing plans to blow up apartment buildings in the United States. [1342]

Obama selects Charles (“Chas”) Freeman, Jr. as his Chairman of the National Intelligence Agency. Freeman is a former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and President of the Middle East Policy Council, an Arab lobbying group (which received tens of thousands of dollars per year from the family of Osama bin Laden). Like many Obama appointees Freeman, who advocates direct dialogue between the U.S. and the terrorist group Hamas, has a decidedly anti-Israel bias. In a 2007 speech Freeman said, “American identification with Israeli policy has also become total. Those in the region and beyond it who detest Israeli behavior, which is to say almost everyone, now naturally extend their loathing to Americans.” Freeman praised the terrorist group Hamas as the “only democratically-elected government in the Arab world.” Freeman, as chairman of Projects International, Inc., has had business ties with the Bin Laden Group, an enormous construction company founded by Osama bin Laden’s father and which continues to support his large family. (Osama bin Laden reportedly inherited as much as $50 million in cash and stock from his wealthy father). At a 2005 Middle East Policy Conference Freeman said “…what 9/11 showed is that if we bomb people, they bomb back.” Freeman’s Middle East Policy Council worked with “Arab World and Islamic Resources” to sell textbooks claiming that Muslims inhabited North America before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, and that natives he met had names like Abdul-Rahim and Abdallah Ibn Malik. (With the nomination of Freeman to a significant intelligence post, Obama apparently believes he can continue to retain the support of Jewish voters regardless of how many anti-Israel decisions he makes.) [1342,1349,1382,1404,1654]

Freeman is known as a “savage critic of Israel.” He once said, “Left to its own devices, the Israeli establishment will make decisions that harm Israelis, threaten all associated with them, and enrage those who are not.” Freeman served as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and is very much an apologist for that nation’s leaders. Freeman was President Nixon’s interpreter in China during his 1971 visit, and has stated publicly that the Chinese government did not act quickly enough in going after the protestors at Tiananmen Square. In 2006 Freeman wrote in an e-mail, “The truly unforgivable mistake of the Chinese authorities was the failure to intervene on a timely basis to nip the demonstrations in the bud, rather than – as would have been both wise and efficacious – to intervene with force when all other measures had failed to restore domestic tranquility to Beijing and other major urban centers in China.” (In other words, Freeman believed China should have been more brutal against its own people for having demanded freedom of speech.) After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Freeman blamed, not the radical Islamist terrorists, but America’s “ugly mood of chauvinism” and said we “should examine ourselves” to determine “what might have caused the attack.” (This remarkable attitude was evident in an opinion piece by Obama himself after September 11 when he wrote that the terrorist attack “derives from the fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others,” and that the terrorists “lacked empathy,” and their attitude “…grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.”) Despite Freeman’s “blame America first” attitude – or perhaps because of it – Obama and his National Intelligence Director, Admiral Dennis Blair, want Freeman to head the National Intelligence Council. [90,1576,1757]

Iran announces it will conduct computer tests at its Bushehr nuclear plant, in preparation for its implementation before the end of 2009. Sergei Kiriyenko, chief of Russia’s state nuclear company, will be in attendance. [1351]

On the heels of the $787.2 billion stimulus bill (which Democrats laughingly called “earmark free”), Congress gets ready to unveil a whopping $410 billion spending bill riddled with an estimated 9,000 earmarks (local “pet” spending projects of individual Members of Congress). Obama, who said during the presidential debates with opponent John McCain that “We need earmark reform, and when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely” will either have to fight Congress to get rid of the bill’s earmarks or throw another of his campaign promises under the bus. (The scope of the earmark problem is enormous. PMA Group, a lobbying firm with close ties to Congressman John Murtha, received more than $300 million in earmarks for its clients in last year’s defense spending bill. The FBI is investigating PMA for possible illegal campaign contributions.) Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel states that Obama will sign the spending bill despite the fact that it contains billions of dollars in wasteful earmarks that he said he would stop. (The group, Taxpayers for Common Sense, identified 8,600 earmarks, wasting $7.7 billion.) [1354,1481,1488]

Obama’s director of the White House Office of management and Budget, Peter Orszag, holds a “fiscal responsibility” meeting with Democrats and others on February 23, in an attempt to come up with ways to deal with an exploding budget deficit. (Many critics wonder how anyone can have the audacity to hold a “fiscal responsibility summit” just days after signing into law a waste-filled $787 billion spending bill.) The meeting had 130 participants who then split into five sessions. Attendants included lobbyists from unions, health care associations, health policy foundations, racial and ethnic special interest groups (such as LaRaza), groups representing seniors, disableds, and gays, various left and right-leaning think tanks, universities, and interest groups. One participant described the meeting as “organized chaos” – although Obama’s head of the National Economic Council, Lawrence Summers, managed to briefly fall asleep during the event. Details of the meeting are unknown, but it is assumed that most attendees argued for higher taxes on everyone else and no budget cuts for their own special interests. To help reduce the deficit it is clear that the Obama administration plans on allowing the 2001 Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010. That alone will cause federal income taxes to rise for almost all taxpayers. In addition to tax rates rising to as high as 39.6 per cent (for the top income bracket), the Child Tax Credit for low-income families would drop from $1,000 to $500 per child, the capital gains tax would rise to 20 per cent, and dividends would be taxed as ordinary income (rather than at the existing 15 per cent rate). The “death tax” (inheritance tax) would also be renewed by Obama.  [1355,1356,1359,1365]

Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), who participated in the fiscal responsibility meeting, later addresses the Senate to discuss his suggestions for reducing federal health care costs. He remarks that “…some 27 per cent of health care costs are incurred in the last few hours, few days, few weeks of a person’s life.” Dismayed that the government is spending too much money because old people aren’t dying soon enough, he encourages people to cooperate by making “…a decision in a living will” to authorize pulling the plug before the final costs add up. (Specter himself, however, worked to get an additional $1.3 billion for the National Cancer Institute included in the stimulus bill. It is assumed that Specter, who has been treated for cancer, will not turn down health care in his own “last few weeks, days, or hours.”) [1386]

Actor George Clooney meets with Obama and Biden to deliver 250,000 postcards from the “Save Darfur” organization, and asks for the U.S. to intervene in the crisis that has displaced more than two million people and killed over 300,000. The United Nations has been virtually useless in dealing with the emergency, which began in 2003 after ethnic African rebels started fighting the government of Sudan. [1377]

In a radio interview on February 23, CNBC analyst Rick Santelli argues that Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs went over the line in his remarks criticizing him. Gibbs had stated, in a threat-like comment, “I’m not entirely sure where Mr. Santelli lives or in what house he lives…” [1373,1374]

Obama announces the members of his task force to manage the bail-out of the American auto industry. The task force has eight members and 10 senior policy aides. Of the 18 individuals, 16 drive foreign cars. (Time Geithner drives a 2008Acura TSX; Lawrence Summers drives a Mazda.) [1440]

Discussing voter dissatisfaction with Obama’s stimulus bill, South Carolina Senator James DeMint tells the August Chronicle, “I would think it’s time to start thinking about peaceful demonstrations,” and calls the stimulus legislation the worst since the adoption of the income tax. He states, “Freedom is in our hands; it always has been. We’ve entrusted it to people in Washington, and increasingly they have picked our pockets and pulled power from us. We’re just going to have to take it back.” [1358]

An American soldier serving in Iraq announces that he has signed on to the lawsuit brought by Dr. Orly Taitz challenging Obama’s eligibility to serve as President. Because American soldiers must serve their Commander-in-Chief and put their lives at risk by following his orders, the courts will arguably be unable to deny the lawsuit on the grounds that the plaintiff does not have standing. Second Lieutenant Scott Easterling, who risks a court-martial for his action, writes in an open letter, “As an active-duty officer in the United States Army, I have grave concerns about the constitutional eligibility of Barack Hussein Obama to hold the office of president of the United States.” Easterling states that Obama “has absolutely refused to provide to the American public his original birth certificate, as well as other documents which may prove or disprove his eligibility. In fact, he has fought every attempt made by concerned citizens in their effort to force him to do so.” Another active-duty soldier joins Easterling as a plaintiff in the lawsuit a few days later. [1364,1405]

An unnamed official stated that Obama will push for at least $900 million in U.S. financial aid to people who hate the United States and want to destroy Israel and Western civilization. The money would go to the Palestinian Authority to assist Gaza for recovery operations. Not surprisingly, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said, “We are very happy with this decision.” Many will not be surprised if the funds are not used as intended. A large percentage of U.S. and United Nations funds given to the Palestinian Authority ended up as the personal fortune of Yasser Arafat. His widow, Suha, is alleged to have inherited as much as two billion British pounds (about $2.8 billion U.S.) which Arafat had hidden in accounts in many countries. Suha Arafat now lives in Paris, far from the miseries of poor Palestinians, and receives an annual payment of 12 million pounds (about $17 million in U.S. dollars) from the Palestinian Authority. [1367,1383]

Gallup’s February 21-23 poll shows Obama’s approval rating dropping to 59 per cent and his disapproval rating increasing to 25 per cent. [1370]

In response to a question about Obama’s birth certificate, Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) responds, “well his father was Kenyan and they say he was born in Hawaii, but I haven’t seen any birth certificate. You have to be born in America to be President.” In response, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and Richard Wolffe stop just short of calling Shelby insane. [1375]

The New York Times distorts poll results in an attempt to drum up support for Obama’s policies. Its February 24 edition states that Obama is benefiting from “remarkably high levels of optimism and confidence among Americans about his leadership.” The article is critical of Republicans for offering tax cuts as an alternative to Obama’s spending plans, neglecting to mention that its own poll showed more Americans supporting tax cuts (50 per cent) than government spending (41 per cent) to stimulate the economy. [1371]

On February 24, a user adds a paragraph to Obama’s bio on Wikipedia that reads, “There have been some doubts about whether Obama was born in the U.S. after the politician refused to release to the public a carbon copy of his birth certificate and amid claims from his relatives he may have been born in Kenya. Numerous lawsuits have been filed petitioning Obama to release his birth certificate, but most suits have been thrown out by the courts.” Within minutes the entry is deleted, and the submitting user is blocked from additional entries to the site. Wikipedia argues that the information violates its policies against “fringe” material, despite the paragraph being factual and the issue having been covered by newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune. Wikipedia administrators generally keep the Obama information positive and complementary and quickly delete additions that are negative. (There are no references to Reverend Jeremiah Wright or William Ayers, for example, despite their significance to Obama’s life and election campaign.) [1602]

Walid Phares, an expert on global terrorism, states that Obama’s decision to send 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan could lead to a Vietnam-like quagmire, and closing the detainee facility at Guantanamo will create an “awkward situation.” Rather than just talking with the Iranian leaders, who have pledged to destroy Israel, Phares argues that the United States should talk to the Iranian people and encourage “Iranian democratic opposition to put pressure on the government.” [1394]

Houston’s city council reverses its plan to give $3,000 “grants” to individuals who are trying to increase their credit scores enough to qualify for mortgages. The Obama-like plan was hatched in order to encourage people to purchase homes in a poor area of the city, but when word of the action spread the mayor and council members were inundated with complaints. “I do not understand how we can ever justify spending taxpayer dollars to pay somebody’s credit card,” said Councilwoman Pam Holm. “I don’t understand how it can be even considered to come up. I am truly embarrassed. I think it shows poor leadership.” Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck added, “Giving people the ability to increase their credit score artificially because we’re allowing them to pay off their credit cards is exactly what got us into this (national economic) crisis in the first place.” Irate complaints from Houston residents echoed national criticism of Obama’s mortgage bail-out plans: “This proposal is a slap in the face for the average Joe who is trying to get ahead,” “The government should not punish taxpayers and bail out those who cannot buy homes,” and “If you can’t afford it, and you can’t qualify, then you shouldn’t have it.” [1378]

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen joins the growing list of governors who are reluctant to have their states accept all of Obama’s stimulus funds because of the expensive “strings” attached. By accepting $141 million in funds for unemployment insurance, for example, the state of Tennessee would have to expand the program permanently (with looser eligibility rules and more generous benefits), which would in turn increase state costs after the federal money runs out. Bredesen is a Democrat. [1379]

By a vote of 83 to 13 the Oklahoma House of Representatives  passes a state sovereignty resolution, resolving “That the State of Oklahoma hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States,” and advising the federal government to “…cease and desist, effectively immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.” Observers predict the resolution will also pass in the Oklahoma Senate and will be signed by the governor, even though he is a Democrat. If additional states pass such measures, the act of state defiance may place pressure on Obama, Pelosi, and Reid to roll back their plans for expanding their power to unprecedented levels. [1381]

Montana becomes the 21st state to introduce a sovereignty resolution (along with AZ, AL, AK, AR, CA, CO, GA, HI, ID, IN, KS, ME, MI, MO, NH, NV, OK, PA, TX, and WA). The Montana resolution ends with:  “(22) That if any act of Congress becomes law or if an Executive Order or Judicial Order is put into force related to the reservations expressed in this resolution, Montana’s ‘Compact With the United States’ is breached and all powers previously delegated to the United States by the federal Constitution and Bill of Rights revert to the states individually. (23) That any future government of the United States shall require ratification of three-fourths of the states seeking to form a government and shall not be binding upon any state not seeking to form a government. (24) That the Secretary of State send copies of this resolution to the President of the United States and to each member of the United States Congress.” [1387,1388,1454,1575]

Carroll D. Childers, Major General (retired), becomes a plaintiff in the Orly Taitz lawsuit which challenges Obama’s eligibility to serve as President. [1416]

On February 24 Obama gives an address to a joint session of Congress where he outlines his domestic and foreign policy plans. When Obama remarks that he asked for the stimulus bill “not because I believe in bigger government – I don’t,” most in the audience are too polite to laugh out loud. When Obama says, “Now, I’m proud that we passed a recovery plan free of earmarks,” many in the assembly roar with laughter. Obama’s speech provides a broad outline of a considerably larger government, but without providing details, prompting criticisms of a “stirring speech with no substance.” The next day Ben Willis of VDM Institutional Brokerage remarks that “Evidently the people on Wall Street are not as joyful as Ms. Pelosi was yesterday jumping up 60 times,” and “There was nothing in it (the speech). Wall Street hates uncertainty. We keep being told by this administration ‘it’s coming, we’re gonna give you the details, we’re gonna give you the details,’ and when they don’t come we demonstrate our disappointment by taking the stocks lower.” [1391,1439,1554]

In Obama’s address he states his administration has “…begun to go line by line through the federal budget in order to eliminate wasteful and ineffective programs” and says “we have already identified $2 trillion in savings over the next decade.” The Washington Post follows up on the unlikely figure and learns that the $2 trillion “saved” amount was not really “saved.” It was arrived at by including more than $1 trillion in tax hikes, and from assuming that Iraq expenditures would continue until 2019 and then considering that money “saved” by deciding troops would not, in fact, remain until 2019. (By that logic Obama could plan a $10 trillion project to land a man on Mars and then “save” that $10 trillion by immediately canceling the project.) In other words, Obama did not identify $2 trillion in savings by eliminating programs; he lied. [1524,1559]

In Obama’s speech he states, “…our economy did not fall into decline overnight,” and then makes the incredible charge that the recession was caused by a failure to find new sources of energy, the cost of health care, and inadequate schools – when the recession was the result of a bursting housing bubble, reckless spending, unsound investments in mortgage-backed securities, house-flippers, naïve homebuyers, and incredibly unsound decisions by the Federal Reserve Board. Obama improperly identifies his three causes of the recession only to justify his desire to spend trillions of tax dollars in those areas to further his radical political agenda. [1560]

Although media commentators, as expected, give the President’s speech high marks, few, if any, asked the key questions posed by economist and author Thomas Sowell: “How much will it cost?” “Who pays for it?” and “Will it work?” [1413]

After Obama’s address, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal gives the Republican response. As he approaches his microphone MSNBC’s mockingly moans “Oh God,” while others laugh in the background. [1392]

Obama’s third pick for Commerce Secretary (after the withdrawals of Bill Richardson and Judd Gregg) is Gary Faye Locke, former Democrat Governor of Washington and a lawyer for an international firm which specializes in China. Locke, an American with Chinese ancestry, has connections to and has received campaign contributions from John Huang. Huang, who worked in Bill Clinton’s Commerce Department, pleaded guilty in 1999 to felony conspiracy charges for violating campaign finance laws. Locke eventually returned some of Huang’s contributions. The New York Times reports that Locke has a “largely scandal-free resume.” (Apparently the Times does not feel that Americans deserve completely scandal-free cabinet members.) Locke received almost $14,000 in campaign contributions from monks and nuns at a Redmond, Washington, Buddhist temple, many of whom gave $1,000 but could not recall making the donations, and some of whom were not even sure they were U.S. citizens. (The assumption is that someone else illegally gave the cash to the monks and nuns to then donate to Locke’s campaign.) [1398,1399,1417,1420]

Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, is upset when immigration officers raid a manufacturing plant in the state of Washington and arrest 28 employees suspected of being in the country illegally. A spokesman said Napolitano was “…not happy about it because it’s inconsistent with her position, and the President’s position on these matters.” The implication of the statement is that Obama and Napolitano do not care to arrest and deport illegal immigrants. [1395]

On February 25, the House of Representatives passes a $410 billion spending bill – on top of the $787 billion spending in the recently-passed stimulus bill. The vote is 245-178, with 16 Republicans voting for the bill and 20 Democrats voting against it. The bill includes a provision (inserted by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, a top-10 recipient of cash from the National Education Association teachers union) eliminating school choice in the Washington, D.C. public school system by canceling the $14 million “DC Opportunity Scholarship Program.” (The cancellation of the popular program comes despite an American Legislative Exchange Council ranking of public schools in the 50 states and Washington, D.C. which places the nation’s capitol dead last.) Obama and the Democrats claim the bill has no wasteful earmarks; others claim there are about 9,000. While eliminating the popular school program in D.C., the bill includes $9 million for the nation’s largest provider of abortions, Planned Parenthood, and $50 million for the United Nations Population Fund (which is involved in forced sterilization in China). The bill provides for $22 million for an addition to the JFK Library, $200,000 for tattoo removals, $473,000 for the Hispanic lobbying group LaRaza that advocates illegal immigration, and $5.8 million for an “Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate.” Other earmarks include $189 million for the study of the catfish genome, and $800,000 for “oyster rehabilitation.” (Washington, D.C. parents may be less than pleased to learn that their children are more than 13 times less deserving of federal assistance than catfish genomes.) [1397,1406,1412,1421,1433,1542,1582,1750]

A budget expert at the Heritage Foundation, Brian M. Riedl, states that the $410 billion spending bill likely breaks all records for the most wasteful earmarks in any legislation. It includes $1.8 million to research “swine odor and manure management,” $41.5 million to upgrade the Presidential libraries of Democrats Roosevelt, Johnson, and Kennedy, $2.9 million for shrimp-breeding studies, $209,000 to improve blueberry production, and $6.6 million for Formosan subterranean termites. Also included in the bill are $1.7 million for a honey bee laboratory, $1,049,000 for the study of crop-eating crickets, $333,000 for an aviation museum, $199,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, $75,000 for a “Totally Teen Zone” in Albany, New York, $400,000 to combat bullying in schools, and $150,000 for lobster research. [1543]

Obama is unlikely to veto the eventual bill, despite a campaign promise to end earmarks. (In a September 2008 debate with John McCain, Obama said, “Absolutely we need earmark reform, and when I am president we will go line by line to make sure we’re not spending money unwisely.”) Riedl estimates the number of identified earmarks at 9,287, costing the taxpayers $14.3 billion. Many of the earmarks are left over from the prior year because President Bush would not sign a bill that contained them. If signed into law now, Obama cannot disown responsibility for them – but he will most assuredly try. [1543]

The spending bill also includes $238,000 for the “Polynesian Voyaging Society in Honolulu,” $500,000 for fruit fly control in Hawaii, $650,000 for beaver management, $150,000 for a rodeo museum, $95,000 for Hawaii public radio, $118,750 for an aircraft display, and $380,000 for Maine lighthouses – all of which Obama apparently believes are justified expenses when the nation is enduring a recession. [1554]

Washington, D.C. area parents are discouraged by the Obama-Democrat decision to cancel the DC opportunity Scholarship Program. Virginia Walden Ford, executive director of the DC Parents for School Choice, states “We are empowering parents to tell their stories to Congress in order to save the program. We are writing letters to the editor…parents are calling the congressmen’s offices, they’re emailing, we are preparing parents to go up and speak with Congress members.” Ford complains that “…Obama chose the school that was in the best interest of his child(ren), and our message to him would be, ‘Give us the same opportunity.’” [1479]

Although Obama railed against Congressional earmarks during the campaign, the $410 billion spending bill includes projects he (and others in the new administration) proposed before the inauguration, including $7.7 million for a “Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Vocational Institution.” (That item was sponsored by then-Senator Obama and co-sponsored by then-Senators Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.) Other earmarks in the bill include $94.9 million requested by Biden, $5.4 million from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, $31.2 million from Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, $3.9 million from Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, $38.4 million from Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, and $109 million from Hillary Clinton. [1457]

The stock market, unimpressed by Obama’s big-government, high-cost solutions to problems (real, exaggerated, and imagined) and unsure what Washington will do next, drops 1.1 per cent, or 80.05 points. [1401]

Obama proposes his $3.6 trillion budget, which will, over 10 years, increases taxes on individuals by $636 billion and on businesses by $353 billion. The tax increases include the expiration of the 2001 Bush tax cuts, eliminating itemized deductions for high-income Americans, raising the capital gains tax, and various tax increases on the oil industry (which will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices). Obama advisor Robert Reich (who was Clinton’s Secretary of Labor) admits unashamedly to the New York Times that Obama’s budget represents “the biggest redistribution of income from the wealthy to the middle class and poor this nation has seen in more than 40 years.” Marking a return to old liberal tax-and-spend philosophies, Reich added, “It is the boldest budget we have seen since the Reagan administration, and drives a nail in the coffin of Reaganomics. We can basically say goodbye to the philosophy espoused by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.” [1402,1414,1460]

Most of the media, aligned to the far left, finds it impossible to be objective about Obama’s budget, its blatant liberal agenda, the inflation it will cause, and the incredible debt it will impose on future generations of Americans. The Associated Press states, “Breathtaking in its scope and ambition, President Barack Obama’s agenda for the economy, health care and energy now goes to a Congress unaccustomed to resolving knotty issues and buffeted by powerful interests that oppose parts of his plan.” Afraid to use the word “liberal,” Obama’s budget is called a plan “to undo major elements of Ronald Reagan’s conservative movement.” The Washington Post declares that Obama “…transformed the domestic political landscape with a breathtakingly bold budget plan,” and “President Obama’s budget is so ambitious, with vast new spending on health care, energy independence, and services for veterans, that experts say he will need to hire tens of thousands of government workers to realize his goals.” (The Heritage Foundation estimates more than 250,000 new federal employees will be hired – at no small expense to the taxpayers.) President Bush’s $500 billion deficit was (rightly) called a “deficit disaster” by the media, but a projected deficit of $1.75 trillion is a result of Obama being “breathtakingly bold.” [1808]
 
Federal spending in 2009 will approach $4 trillion, or 28 per cent of the gross domestic product of the United States. This represents a one-third increase in the size of government – in one year. The estimated $1.75 trillion deficit is larger than the last five Bush deficits combined. Obama’s budget contains $1.4 trillion in tax increases, increases that will ultimately affect all Americans because of higher prices passed on to consumers. The $646 billion energy tax hike (which the Obama administration calls “climate revenue”) will, for example, be passed on by industry and utility companies to all customers – certainly not just those earning at least $250,000 per year. Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget represents a 25 per cent increase, the largest (non-war) federal expansion since Roosevelt’s largely unconstitutional “New Deal.” According to the Heritage Foundation, “domestic discretionary spending (including the stimulus funds) has been hiked by nearly 80 per cent over 2008 levels.” Where Bush spent 3 per cent of GDP on anti-poverty programs, Obama hikes that to 20 per cent. Bush cut taxes by $2 trillion, while Obama is raising them by at least $1.4 trillion. [1431,1489,1806]

Obama’s budget projections are based on incredibly unlikely gross domestic product (GDP) growth projections of 3.2 per cent in 2010, 4.0 per cent in 2011, 4.6 per cent in 2012, and 4.2 per cent in 2013. Growth of 2-3 per cent is more likely, according to many economists, which would mean even higher federal deficits than Obama projects. [1436]

The Wall Street Journal points out that even if the IRS taxed all Americans earning over $250,000 at 100 per cent (rather than the 39.6 per cent Obama is demanding), the government would still collect nowhere near enough in taxes to fund Obama’s massive programs. Obama’s “two per cent illusion,” that the top two per cent of income earners can fund everything the other 98 per cent want, is just that – an illusion. Obama’s spending must therefore be paid for either by increasing taxes on Americans at lower income levels, or printing money – which will lead to hyperinflation. [1415]

Rising inflation, the devaluation of the dollar, and interest rates kept artificially low by the Federal Reserve Board will lead people (and nations) to liquidate their Treasury bonds and look elsewhere for a better return on their money. That will further collapse the debt market.

Obama’s budget increases tax revenue partly by ending the deferral of U.S. taxes on income earned by multinational corporations overseas. Because the U.S. has the world’s second-highest corporate tax rate, operating a subsidiary in Europe currently allows American corporations to defer U.S. taxes until their payment is less destructive. By eliminating that tax deferral, Obama will also eliminate the ability of many American companies to compete at all – forcing them out of business or encouraging them to relocate overseas in their entirety. [1622]

Critics of the budget will spend considerable time attacking specific Congressional earmarks which, although they well deserve criticism, represent only a tiny portion of the budget. The real problem is the overwhelming size of the federal government, which will absorb more than one-third of the nation’s entire Gross Domestic Product. (Add state and local government costs to that percentage and total government spending exceeds more than 40 per cent of the nation’s GDP.)

Obama sneaks into the budget a footnote (page 127, footnote 1) which states the “estate tax is maintained at its 2009 parameters.” The estate tax (often referred to as the “death tax” because it taxes assets a person leaves in his will upon his death) was scheduled to be repealed for one year in 2010, and Republicans have, for the last eight years, been attempting to repeal it permanently. Obama’s footnote (assuming his budget is approved as is) will leave the death tax at a permanent 45 per cent. The high estate tax increases the likelihood that when the owner of a small business or family farm dies, his heirs will have to sell the business or farm in order to raise enough money to pay the tax – which results in job losses. (One study suggests that the death tax is responsible for lowering employment figures by 1.5 million.)  Sneaking his estate tax policy into the budget via a footnote suggests that Obama knows he would have a difficult time getting it approved on its own merits. [1708]

Prompted by CNBC analyst Rick Santelli’s remarks critical of Obama’s irresponsible-homeowner-bailout program, at least 40 “tea party” protests are scheduled across the nation. Many of the groups will gather on February 27 and April 15 to protest excessive and irresponsible federal deficit spending. (As a sign of the times, the protests likely will not involve the actual dumping of tea in any body of water, lest the Environmental Protection Agency arrest and fine the protestors.) [1403,1424]

Obama’s Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, blames banks for America’s loss of confidence in the economy, saying, “They’ve created a deep hole of public distrust and anger which is enormously damaging, and they have a huge obligation to try to restore that basic trust and confidence. And we’re going to make sure they do it by making sure that our assistance comes with conditions.” Geithner neglects to acknowledge the federal government’s role in the current economic crisis, or explain that banks made tens of thousands of subprime loans at the insistence of Congress. At the same time, White House economic advisor Paul Volcker calls for more banking regulations, failing to admit that it was federal regulations that required banks to make substandard loans for “politically-correct” purposes. (It is unclear why Obama, Geithner, and Volcker expect bankers to cooperate while they are being continually castigated.) [1410,1411]

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meets with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga (Obama’s cousin). They discuss “mutual interests.” [1450,1451]

A complaint is filed with the federal Election Commission (FEC) on February 26, alleging that Obama received illegal foreign campaign contributions by virtue of accommodations and security provided to him by the city of Berlin when he gave a speech there on July 24, 2008. [1409]

At the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 26, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) warns that Obama and his fellow Democrats are seeking a “Europeanized economy” with greater government control of the energy and health care industries. Ryan criticizes Obama’s mortgage bail-out program, saying, “…if you acted responsibly, if you saved your money and you kept paying your mortgage like 93 per cent of the rest of Americans do, you’re out of luck. You’re not getting a lower house payment, and the government will force you to sacrifice even more through higher taxes to bail out reckless lenders and irresponsible borrowers.” Ryan remarks that Obama is re-writing Karl Marx’s famous saying, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs,” to “from the suckers who followed the rules, to those who borrowed beyond their means.” [1422]

At the Marine Corps’ Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on February 27, Obama commits to removing all “combat troops” out of Iraq by August 31, 2010. Obama has, however, committed to keeping 35,000 to 50,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely, in support and training positions, and for “limited” counterterrorism efforts. (Rather than “combat troops,” they will be referred to as “Advisory Training Brigades” or “Advisory Assistance Brigades.”) Setting a withdrawal date signals to the terrorists that they will have free rein after that date, and tells al Qaeda when it will be safe for them to re-enter Iraq. Obama’s dilemma is that if he merely withdraws troops from Iraq and declares a victory, he will necessarily be giving the credit to former President Bush – because Obama will have done nothing to contribute toward that victory. (If democracy in Iraq succeeds, Obama will have had no part in establishing it.) If Obama quickly pulls out all troops and a disaster ensues, he will be held responsible. (And most withdrawn troops will simply be sent to Afghanistan, not back to the United States.) If, however, Obama stays the course and continues the Bush policies, he will alienate the liberals who elected him to get the troops out of Iraq immediately – and certainly do not want to leave 50,000 behind. During the campaign Obama had promised to withdraw all troops within 16 months – not from any expert strategy position on his part, but simply because there were then 16 brigades in Iraq and military experts warned that removing more than one brigade per month was unwise. [1423,1452,1463]

As Obama enters the room to deliver his speech at Camp Lejeune, none of the assembled Marines applaud him. The only applause comes from a few officers seated on the podium. (That contrasts dramatically with the strong applause President Bush always received when introduced to the troops.) One CNN anchor reluctantly notes the “tepid response” received by Obama. [1573]

Although Obama pledged to remove all combat troops from Iraq by August 31, 2010, he has left himself substantial “wiggle room,” with advisors reminding the media that his withdrawal plan is subject to “conditions on the ground.” Further, Congressman John McHugh, ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, was “assured” by Obama that he will “revisit the tempo of the withdrawal, or he will revisit the withdrawal plan if the situation on the ground dictates it,” and that there is a “Plan B.”  According to NBC Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski, “Military commanders… are already making plans for a significant number of American troops to remain in Iraq… and one senior military commander told us (NBC) that he expects large numbers of American troops to be in Iraq for the next 15 to 20 years.” [1580]

A “tea party” protesting Obama’s massive tax and spending increases held in San Diego attracts about 600 people. Protestor signs include, “Repeal the pork or your bacon is cooked.” At a protest in North Carolina a young child wears a shirt with the words, “Obama, get your hands out of my piggy bank!” About 600 people protest in Nashville, and 100 of them march to Democrat Jim Cooper’s office to complain about his stimulus bill vote. “Free markets, not free loaders” reads one sign. In Cleveland, a young child holds a sign that charges “I read as much of the stimulus bill as my Congressman.” A protestor in Washington, D.C., wearing a Revolutionary War uniform, holds a sign that says, “Give me liberty or give me debt.” [1425,1426]

After weeks of revelations that several Obama appointees have failed to properly pay their income taxes, White Counsel Gregory Craig takes control of the vetting process. It is then (barely) reported that Craig’s wife, Derry Noyes, runs a business, Noyes Graphics, out of their Washington, D.C. home – without the business permits or registration with the city’s division of corporations. [1429]

On February 26, Obama’s Middle East envoy George Mitchell arrives in Israel, likely to encourage the country to remove Israelis from Judea and Samaria. Mitchell will probably also try to get the new Netanyahu government to accept a combined Fatah-Hamas government in Gaza – which the Bush administration had rejected, but which Obama would accept in order to pressure Israel to give up even more land to the Palestinians. Supporting a combined Fatah-Hamas government means the Obama administration is legitimatizing the terrorist group Hamas. Mitchell’s activities, on behalf of Obama, are starting out in a generally anti-Israel direction. [1447]

By a vote of 87-11 the Senate approves Senator DeMint’s “Broadcaster Freedom Amendment,” which would prohibit the FCC from reinstating the “Fairness Doctrine.” That is quickly followed by an amendment from Illinois Senator Dick Durbin to encourage the FCC to promote “diverse media ownership.” Durbin’s amendment, which passes 57-41 (along party lines), essentially renders DeMint’s useless because federally-mandated “affirmative action” among radio station owners can also be used by Democrats to reduce the influence of conservative radio talk show commentators. [1483,1526]

CNBC’s Lawrence Kudlow writes that Obama’s budget essentially is a declaration of war on “investors, entrepreneurs, small businesses, large corporations, and private-equity and venture-capital funds.” In essence, Obama’s plans will work to destroy the engine of capitalism and expand the size of government to 30 per cent of gross domestic product – nearly double the percentage when conservative Republicans last balanced the budget in the 1990s. Kudlow warns that any middle-class tax cuts will be more than offset by higher prices on energy caused by Obama’s punishing cap-and-trade regulations, while Obama’s “tax hikes will generate lower growth and fewer revenues” and his “…rosy scenario of four per cent recovery growth… is not likely to occur.” [1430]

Obama’s budget will raise the 33 per cent tax bracket to 36, and the 36 per cent bracket to 39.6. Capital gains and dividends taxes will rise from 15 to 20 per cent for upper-income earners. Itemized deductions would be reduced as well. Opposition to Obama’s tax increases will likely grow steadily as the legislation heads to the House of Representatives. Congressman Jeb Hensarling warns, “You cannot help the job-seeker by punishing the job creator.” The top 20 per cent of taxpayers currently pay 80 per cent of all income taxes, while 40 per cent of households pay no income tax at all. Obama’s plan will increase those numbers to 90 per cent and almost 50 per cent. A budget analyst at the Heritage Foundation, Brian M. Reidl, stated that “…Obama is offering a free lunch to a lot of Americans on the backs of 5% of the taxpayers. That can be called class warfare. I think a lot of Americans believe that even the rich should not face tax rates that add up to about 50 per cent.” Reidl warned that “You can only increase taxes on the rich so much before they stop working, saving and investing, and that reduces economic growth for everybody.” Dustin Stamper, a tax analyst at Grant Thornton LLP, warns that Obama is “being so generous at the lower-income level that making $200,000 is going to be like falling off a cliff. Say what you want about the Bush tax cuts favoring the rich, but this (Obama’s tax plan) is just becoming punitive.” If people making $200,000 – $500,000 stop spending, the economy will grind to a halt. [1486,1487]

Obama’s budget includes a doubling of foreign aid, to about $50 billion, and an approximate 10 per cent increase in the State Department’s budget, to $51.7 billion. Nations receiving foreign aid include Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Kenya, South Africa, and Mexico. An estimated $8 billion will go to the International Monetary Fund. Additional funds will also go to international programs on “global warming.” [1506]

Sales of Ayn Rand’s monumental novel, “Atlas Shrugged,” almost triple over the first seven weeks of 2009 (compared with 2008 sales). The increase is likely the result of the similarities of the “producers versus parasites” plot line of the book compared with the Obama-Democrat “redistribute the wealth” policies and actions to increase the size and power of the federal government at the expense of the individual. “Who is John Galt?” placards are seen at events protesting Obama’s policies. “Colony 14” is another novel (by the author of this timeline) which many readers remark contains ominous parallels with current events. Sales of “Colony 14” have increased as well. Gun sales have also skyrocketed, with Americans worried that Obama and Holder will soon make it difficult – if not impossible – to purchase weapons and ammunition. [1432]

Attorney General Eric “nation of cowards” Holder tours the terrorist detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay, inadvertently emphasizing a conflict of interest. If Holder reports that detainees are treated favorably, that works against the interests of his former law firm (Covington and Burling), which is representing several prisoners who have alleged torture and mistreatment. Although Holder is no longer with the firm, he still has ties with his former partners and is due a substantial amount of severance pay, and it is in the interests of the law firm for Holder to state that there is, in fact, abuse and mistreatment of prisoners. [1464]

On February 27 the DJIA closes at $7,062.93, its lowest level in 12 years, and a drop of over 1,200 points since Obama’s inauguration. [1238]

Attorney General Holder intentionally keeps silent about a Justice Department victory in a Voting Rights Act lawsuit against the Noxubee, Mississippi Democrat Party Chairman Ike Brown. The Fifth Circuit Court issues its decision on February 27, saying that the defendants had “…intentionally discriminated against the county’s… voters in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” “engaged in improper, and in some instances fraudulent conduct,” and “committed blatant violations of state election laws… for the purpose of diluting… voting strength.” Although the Justice department normally issues a press release to announce court victories, it did not do so with this case – despite it having been about one of the worst cases of intentional voting discrimination in 40 years. It appears the reason for Holder’s silence is that the defendants in the case were black, and the blatant discrimination that took place was against white voters. [1888]

The Internet site msn.careerbuilder.com posts an arguably smarmy article suggesting that employees can “accelerate” their careers or simply “hang onto” the jobs they have now by emulating Obama. The article states, “The president stands out not only for his political talent, but because he knows how to share credit, accept blame, be self-deprecating, talk straight and make sure that both senior and junior colleagues stand out. Whether you’re a senior executive, a manager or an intern, you can learn lessons from President Obama that will make you great on the job.” [1683]

Economists point out that the Obama budget and tax plan will have a disastrous impact on Americans earning between $250,000 and $500,000 because of the Alternative Minimum tax (AMT) and changes to reduce the amount of deductions that can be itemized. Although Obama pledged that their tax rates would merely go back to levels that were in place under the Clinton administration, that pledge applies only to the rate of taxes. By also imposing limitations on itemized deductions – primarily mortgage interest and charitable deductions – Obama will be forcing taxpayers into higher brackets. Taxes will therefore rise sharply for people earning more than $250,000 – significantly more than they anticipated on election day. [1435]

Conservative talk radio commentator Rush Limbaugh gives a nationally-televised speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in which he defends conservative principles and his comment that he hopes Obama will fail. Limbaugh states, “This notion that I want the President to fail, folks, this shows you a sign of the problem we’ve got. That’s nothing more than common sense and to not be able to say it, why in the world do I want what we just described, rampant government growth indebtedness, wealth that’s not even being created yet that is being spent, what is in this?  What possibly is in this that anybody of us wants to succeed?” and “So what is so strange about being honest to say that I want Barack Obama to fail if his mission is to restructure and reform this country so that capitalism and individual liberty are not its foundation?  Why would I want that to succeed?” [1461]

Although liberals in the media make a tremendous fuss over Limbaugh’s comment that he wants Obama to fail in implementing his leftist policies, Fox News later reports that shortly before the September 11 terrorist attacks Democrat strategist James Carville met with a group of Washington reporters and told them, “I don’t care if people like him (President Bush) or not, just so they don’t vote for him and his party. That is all I care about. I hope he doesn’t succeed, but I am a partisan Democrat.” (Carville’s comments were not reported by the media because, minutes later, the World Trade Centers were struck by hijacked airliners.) [1650,1666]

Liberals are as annoyed by Limbaugh’s speech as conservatives were encouraged. Hugh Hewitt writes afterward, “Rush gave a speech … that will be talked about for years and even decades,” while liberals described the speech as “angry” and alienating to “moderate voters.” [1477]

Quick-witted and sharp-tongued columnist and author Ann Coulter also appears at CPAC, remarking that “it’s amazing the media keeps comparing Obama to Lincoln and Reagan. The press apparently can’t think of a Democrat worthy enough to compare him to.” Coulter downplayed Obama’s election victory with only 53 per cent of the vote, saying that beating McCain is “the equivalent of George Foreman in his prime beating Helen Thomas in the twelfth round on a technical knockout.” [1468,1473

A panel discussion at CPAC discusses the influence of the activist group ACORN, to which Obama and the Democrats had just funneled hundreds of millions of dollars via the stimulus bill. Heather Heidelbaugh, vice president of the Republican National Lawyers Association, remarks that ACORN’s “antics include embezzlement, cover-ups, document destruction, misuse of taxpayer funds for political purposes, voter fraud, campaign finance violations, and non-profits abuse.” She charges that while many people believe “ACORN is all about trying to conduct massive voter register drives,” that is “just a ruse. What ACORN is trying to do is change the very core of what America is. And they’re using poor people and people of color to do it.” [1469]

It is reported on February 27 that Obama will not send representatives to the “Durban II” conference. (Israel and Canada had already decided to boycott the meetings due to their likely anti-Semitic bias, and some Jewish groups in the United States had also been pushing for a boycott.) [1448]

The Obama administration files a brief relating to the court case Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation et al. v. Obama, et al. The plaintiffs charged that their conversations were illegally intercepted by the National Security Agency, and asked for a review of a classified document which allegedly will prove illegal eavesdropping. Obama’s brief argues that the court has no right to request the document, and a refusal to release it is at “…the discretion of the Executive Branch, and is not subject to judicial review” and “the Court does not have independent power… to order the Government to grant counsel access to classified information when the Executive Branch denied them such access.” The brief essentially argues that anything Obama wants to keep secret can be kept secret, no court can order its release, and the President’s decision is final. (As a Senator, Obama criticized President Bush for similar claims of executive privilege.) [1490,1491]

Word spreads that Obama will pick Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services (in place of Tom Daschle, who withdrew because of controversy over his failure to pay income taxes). Because of Sebelius’ pro-abortion stance (Kansas has been “the place to go” for late-term abortions because of her efforts to prevent enforcement of abortion restrictions), her nomination will result in immediate criticism and opposition. Critics point to a 2007 event at the governor’s residence attended by Dr. George Tiller, who was then under investigation by the Attorney General, and who had donated to Sebelius’ campaigns. (Tiller goes on trial in March of 2009 on 19 charges of violating Kansas restrictions on late-term abortions. Tiller allegedly avoided laws limiting late-term abortions by persuading other physicians to agree that the procedure was necessary to save the life of the mother.) [1437,1746]

Obama moves to rescind a Bush administration rule that helps protect the jobs of doctors and nurses who, on moral grounds, refuse to perform or participate in abortions. The Bush rules require that institutions receiving federal funds certify that they are complying with anti-discrimination rules. Obama’s action prompts the Christian Medical Association’s (CMA) CEO, David Stevens, to warn that infringing on the right to practice medicine according to life-affirming ethical standards will force physicians and nurses to leave the profession and lead to the shutting down of hospitals and clinics. Stevens states that four out of 10  of the CMA’s members have reported “being pressured to violate ethical standards,” and states that physicians lose positions and promotions, residents lose training privileges because they refuse to perform abortions, and some students decide against a career in obstetrics because they do not want to be forced to perform abortions. The President of the Catholic Health Association, Sister Carol Keehan, relates, “We have seen a variety of efforts to force Catholic and other healthcare providers to perform or refer for abortions and sterilizations.” Stevens adds that “The move to rescind the healthcare provider conscience regulation imperils women’s healthcare access, threatens healthcare professionals’ freedom to practice medicine according to ethical standards, and exposes the myth of moderation in Obama’s abortion policy.”[1438,1444,1759,1935]

On February 28, a Rasmussen poll places Obama’s approval index at +10, with 39 per cent strongly approving his job performance and 29 per cent strongly disapproving (a new high). Americans sees deficit reduction as the most important issue outlined in Obama’s speech to Congress on the 24th, but also view it as the least likely to be achieved. [1441,1442]

Despite cold, windy weather, over 1,000 people gather at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis to protest Obama’s tax-and-spend policies. Radio host Dana Loesch rallied the crowd and emceed the event. “We are mad as hell and we need to stay mad as hell. Don’t let up,” said Jackie Smith (former tight end for the St. Louis Cardinals football team). [1462]

It is reported that Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, has endorsed the concept of embedding radio chips in driver’s license. The “enhanced driver’s license” (EHD) could be read by a remote reading unit, even if the license remains in the individual’s wallet or purse. The potential for abuse is substantial because the government could know the identity of every individual present at an event (such as an abortion protest, anti-government rally, gun show, etc.) simply by having an agent with an inconspicuous reader present in the crowd. [1443]

The Arkansas legislature passes a ban on partial-birth abortions. The legislation is expected to be signed into law by Governor Mike Beebe, putting the rule on a collision course with the ill-named “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA). The FOCA seeks to eliminate all state limits on abortions, but would arguably be in direct violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. Challenges to the FOCA, which will force pubic hospitals and health programs with maternity services to provide abortions, will be taken to the Supreme Court if the legislation passes and is signed into law by Obama. [1445,1759]

In a video message, Obama delivers the 10th annual “State of the Black Union” to a gathering of black politicians and entertainers in Los Angeles on February 28. Obama brags that he had done “more in these past 30 days to bring about progressive change than we have in the past many years.” (To most blacks and far-left Democrats, “progressive” is a code word for “socialist.”) He added that his policies are “…closing the gap between the nation we are and the nation we can be.” [1458]

Obama appears willing to have the United States party to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In February his Ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, supported the ICC in a closed door meeting of the U.N. Security Council, saying it  “looks to become an important and credible instrument for trying to hold accountable the senior leadership responsible for atrocities committed in the Congo, Uganda and Darfur.” Being signatory to the ICC would also, however, allow members of the U.S. military to be charged with crimes and prosecuted for atrocities by the ICC. One can assume that an American soldier captured in Iraq or Afghanistan and arraigned on trumped-up charges would get less-than-friendly treatment by a U.N. court. [1613]

A March 1 Rasmussen poll places Obama’s approval index at +8, with 38 per cent strongly approving his job performance and 30 per cent strongly disapproving. [1459]

Obama considers canceling the production of additional F-22 Raptor fighter jets. Such a decision could cost as many as 95,000 jobs. [1668]

Sources report that American International Group, Inc. (AIG) will receive another $30 billion in federal bail-out funds – on top of the $150 billion in loans already provided by the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). [1480]

The White House releases a statement claiming that Obama’s stimulus bill was responsible for the reopening of Republic Windows and Doors, a Chicago company that had closed down in late 2008. No stimulus money, in fact, had gone to the company, it had simply been bought by a California business that was able to negotiate a good purchase price because of its closing. [1485]

Obama’s “cap-and-trade” tax proposal for dealing with “global warming” causes a number of House and Senate Democrats concern. Some legislators simply want a portion of the “climate revenue” to be given to their states, while others, especially those in the industrial and coal-producing states, justifiably fear Obama-caused job losses and higher utility costs will anger voters. (Cap-and-trade legislation will lead to higher prices for every American who drives or flips a light switch – not just those who earn more than $250,000.) James Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy Corp., states that Obama’s plan would “increase electricity bills by as much as 40 per cent in some U.S. states,” and Obama is “not talking cap and trade, he’s talking cap and tax.” Some opponents of the cap-and-trade scheme believe that Obama’s ambitious plans will work against him. “We want to thank the administration for killing all industry support for cap-and-trade. President Obama has consolidated the opposition,” said William Kovacs, an energy specialist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. And while NASA’s chief (and increasingly discredited) climate scientist James Hansen leads a March 2 global warming protest in Washington, D.C., the Northeast is hit with a blizzard that dumps as much as 14 inches of snow in some areas. [1474,1475,1476,1532,1533]

On March 2, Adolfo Carrion becomes Obama’s director of the White House Office on Urban Policy. Carrion, the just-resigned former president of New York’s Bronx borough, received thousands in campaign contributions from developers whose projects he advocated, sponsored, or for which he approved zoning changes. Carrion received more than $70,000 in donations from Boricua College employees and the Atlantic Development Group, which did construction work for the school. Carrion, in return, sponsored at least $7.5 million in taxpayer funds for the projects. Carrion agreed to support construction of the new Yankee Stadium only if some local contractors like Tri-Line Construction received some of the work. Tri-Line raised $83,700 for Carrion. [1478]

Obama continues to have trouble finding Democrats who properly pay their income taxes. It is reported that Obama’s nominee for U.S. trade Representative, Ron Kirk, owes about $10,000 in back taxes. Kirk neglected to report speaking fees he received as taxable income, and he improperly deducted the cost of season tickets to the Dallas Mavericks basketball team. [1484]

On March 2, in an intentional effort to embarrass the Bush administration, Obama releases several long-secret White House documents relating to anti-terrorist policies considered after the September 11 attacks. One memorandum showed that the administration was contemplating ways to use wiretaps without first obtaining warrants. By releasing personal memoranda and discussion notes, however, Obama may inadvertently be setting a watered-down “executive privilege” precedent which may make it easier for others to obtain documents from his own administration. [1492,1505]

Obama sends a private letter to Russian president Dmitri Medvedev offering to consider discontinuing the planned defensive missile system for Poland (and a radar installation in the Czech Republic) if Russia agrees to help stop Iran from gaining nuclear weapons. Medvedev one-ups and humiliates Obama by making the offer public, and stating that he will gladly accept Obama’s plans to drop the defensive missile program but there is no need to use Iran to haggle about it. The blunder by Obama (who had previously signaled that he might be willing to dump the Eastern European installations) signals to Poland and the Czech Republic that he will readily throw them under the bus if it suits his purposes. A letter from 35 Congressmen to Obama warned him “…it is unwise and premature to offer such a concession,” and suggested that the Russians couldn’t be trusted with such a deal anyway. [1493,1504,1840]

Obama embarrasses Great Britain’s Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, by meeting with him in the White House and then refusing to hold the traditional Rose Garden joint press conference with him afterward. Obama also decides not to have any British flags on display when they meet. The snub is a result of ineptitude, or perhaps an indication that Obama does not want to share the limelight for any economic recovery that may take place or give Brown credit for his proposed “global new deal.” (Obama had recently annoyed Great Britain by returning a bust of Winston Churchill which had been displayed in the Oval Office.) [1494]

During his visit, Prime Minister Brown presents Obama with a signed, first-edition seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill, by Randolph Churchill and Sir Martin Gilbert. Obama gives Brown a set of 25 DVDs, from the American Film Institute’s list of the top 100 American films. (The DVDs presented to Brown are not playable in Great Britain, where different “region codes” make American DVDs unusable. Further, Brown is blind in one eye and his sight is failing in the other eye.) Brown also presents Obama with a pen holder crafted from the wood of the British ship H.M.S. Gannet (the first British ship to fight slave trade, and the sister ship of the famous British warship, “The Resolute,” which was stuck in the ice in the Arctic, abandoned by the British, and later retrieved by Americans and returned to England.) The pens are meant by Brown to symbolize the friendship between the U.S. and the U.K., and match a Presidential desk made from the H.M.S. Resolute which was previously presented to the U.S. (It is unclear what Obama’s DVDs are meant to symbolize, or whether Obama will “re-gift” the pen holder or the Churchill books.) [1566,1611,1626,1729]

Although Obama insisted during the campaign that he would improve relations with other nations (which he argued President Bush had caused to deteriorate), his initial meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown suggests Obama and his staff have a lot to learn about foreign relations. Obama is excoriated in the British press for his treatment of Brown. One report remarks that “The Prime Minister was given a humiliatingly low key reception at the White House at the hands of a new U.S. Administration that seems to care little for the Anglo-American alliance or even the basics of international diplomacy.” The London Daily Telegraph writes, “Obama has been rudeness personified toward Britain.” Despite Brown’s unpopularity in England its citizens still expect him to be treated with dignity, prompting the media comment, “No British leader in modern times has been greeted with less decorum by his American counterpart, and the amateur reception he received was more fitting for the arrival of a Third World potentate than the leader of America’s closest ally.”  [1587,1729]

On the Senate floor on March 2, John McCain lambasts Obama for reneging on his campaign promises, saying, “If it seems like I’m angry, it’s because I am.” McCain quotes Obama’s words from one of their three debates, “We need earmark reform and when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure we’re not spending money unwisely.” McCain then remarks, “That’s the quote, the promise of the president of the United States made to the American people in a debate with me in Oxford, Mississippi. So what is brought to the floor today – 9,000 earmarks. So much for change.” [1495]

In the face of a continuing economic downturn and the stock market in a continuing decline, Obama turns his attention to a massive health care program and education spending… when the federal government cannot afford to engage in either. To many observers Obama seems indifferent to the plunging stock market. His overall lack of a plan or strategy and the impractical tax-and-spend policies Obama has proposed work to create uncertainty and a shortage of confidence on Wall Street – precisely what needs to be avoided to get out of a recession. [1496,1497]

In a videotaped message, Obama tells more than 100 labor officials that the “Employee Free Choice Act” (EFCA) will be passed.  The stealth-named legislation (which might better be called the “Employee No Choice Act”) is supported by organized labor, ACORN, and moveon.org, and will allow unions to organize workforces without secret ballots, enabling them to use pressure tactics to gain more power in the workplace. The resulting forced unionization will, at the very least, cause affected businesses to raise prices and, at the worst, force more companies out of business or overseas. (Even liberal former Senator George McGovern opposes the bill, calling it a “disturbing and undemocratic overreach, not in the interest of either management or labor,” and the concept runs “counter to ideals that were once at the core of the labor movement.”) Republican Congressman Tom Price calls the bill the “union worker intimidation act.” In defense of the right to a secret ballot, Price, along with Congressman John Kline (R-MN), introduce the “Secret Ballot protection Act.” The EFCA has passed in the House previously, but Democrats could safely vote for it and satisfy organized labor because they knew President Bush would veto the bill. The equation changes with Obama, who has promised to sign the EFCA. If Democrats now vote against the bill, they will alienate organized labor (which gives them generous campaign donations). If Democrats vote for the bill, they will be responsible for the resulting higher prices and unemployment (for which they will be blamed in Republican campaign commercials). They will also alienate the voters – who overwhelmingly support the right to a secret ballot. (Statistics show that roughly one-third of the workers who originally agree to a union organizing vote end up voting against the union when protected by a secret ballot. That reflects the union and co-worker pressure placed on employees to sign up for elections in which they are really not interested.) [1534,1535,1695]

After visiting Egypt, where she pledges $900 million in U.S. aid to Gaza reconstruction, Secretary of State Clinton meets with Israel’s president, Shimon Peres. She later remarks, “During the conference (in Egypt), I emphasized President Obama’s and my commitment to working to achieve a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and our support for the Palestinian Authority.” Clinton’s words were no doubt carefully weighed by Israel’s Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, who will form a government that is likely to bristle at demands from Obama and Clinton for Israel to give up even more land to the Palestinians. Clinton also states she is “very doubtful” that diplomacy alone can persuade Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions (even though Obama, while on the campaign trail, led voters to believe he could accomplish that). [1498,1499]

While Hillary Clinton, on Obama’s behalf, plans an “aggressive” pursuit of peace in the Middle East – at Israel’s expense – Benjamin Netanyahu argues that weakening Iran is the key to ending Middle East conflict. An aide to Netanyahu says, “Iran’s growing power and intransigence give great advantage to the radical elements among Palestinians and in Lebanon,” and “Any progress in the Middle East peace talks will require Hamas’ weakening which can be achieved only if Iran is seen as weakened.” Although Israel supports international efforts to resolve the problem of Iran’s quest for a nuclear weapon, it refuses to rule out military action as a last resort if negotiations and sanctions fail. [1684]

Although Clinton argues that none of the $900 million in aid to Gaza relief operations will end up in the hands of the terrorist group Hamas, only $300 million of the amount is for humanitarian aid. Money will go to the Palestinian Authority (PA), nongovernmental organizations, and the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNWRA). Israeli critics argue that aid to Gaza necessarily helps Hamas, and that corruption will likely leave Hamas getting some of the cash (just as leader Yassir Arafat was able to amass a personal fortune from funds given to the PA). The UNRWA’s reputation for corruption prompts Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL) to warn, “To route $900 million to this area, and let’s say Hamas was only able to steal 10 percent of that, we would still become Hamas’ second-largest funder after Iran. If it goes thru UNRWA, which has not had an outside audit, then there’s going to be grave concern.” The UNRWA has used the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria for fund-raising. The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on the bank for laundering money in the U.N.’s scandalous Iraqi “oil for food” program, and the bank has also handled transactions that involved terrorist financing. Secretary of State Clinton did not offer details of how the $900 million would be properly and safely distributed. [1502,1508,1516,1584]

While Obama is giving $900 million in aid to Gaza with very few restrictions, the U.S. is cutting back on its military aid to Israel. In an effort to push Israel toward accepting Obama’s demands to appease the Palestinians, Pentagon guidelines will now require a detailed accounting of how the Israeli Defense Forces uses every item purchased with U.S. funds. In the meantime, unprovoked Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel have returned to levels that preceded Operation Cast Lead, and Iran and Syria have continued to supply Hamas with weapons and ammunition. [1517]

Their ears still ringing from hearing constituent complaints about the $787 billion stimulus bill, some Democrats appear less than eager to wholeheartedly support Obama’s $410 billion spending bill and $3.6 trillion budget. Congressman Harry E. Mitchell of Arizona states, “I don’t agree with the administration about letting all those tax cuts expire for upper-income families.” Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, also of Arizona, remarks, “A lot needs to be done to help people keep their homes. But I’m just not sure about this (mortgage bail-out) bill,” and “…I could not vote for the omnibus $410 billion spending bill.” One fomenting problem is that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allows little time for debate or amendments, and expects all Democrats to simply fall into line and vote as she demands. Connecticut’s John B. Larson comments, “Everything’s coming at them fast and furious. The more that people get an opportunity to go back and forth… the greater the comfort level they will have.” [1500]

ABC News reports on taxpayers who are working on ways to reduce their incomes to just under the $250,000 level, to avoid the substantial tax increases in Obama’s proposed budget. “We are going to try to figure out how to make our income $249,999.00,” states an attorney in Lafayette, Louisiana. “We have to find a way out where we can make just what we need to just under the line so we can benefit from Obama’s tax plan. Why kill yourself working if you’re going to give it all away to people who aren’t working as hard?” Boulder, Colorado dentist Sharon Poczatek remarks, “The motivation for a lot of people like me – dentists, entrepreneurs, lawyers – is that the more you work the more money you make. But if I’m going to be working just to give it back to the government… it’s de-motivating and demoralizing.” [1503]

Alaskan State Senator Kim Elton resigns from his seat to accept a job as Director of Alaska Affairs for the Department of the Interior. The job is considered by some a reward from Obama for Elton’s role in pushing the investigation of Governor Sarah Palin, who wanted a State trooper fired for various incidents (drinking on the job and “tasering” his step-son, who happened to be Palin’s nephew). [1514]

The New York Times prints an opinion piece by self-proclaimed moderate David Brooks, in which he expresses amazement that Obama is a leftist. Brooks writes that he is “…forced to confront the reality that Barack Obama is not who we thought he was. His words are responsible; his character is inspiring. But his actions betray a transformational liberalism that should put every centrist on notice. As Clive Crook, an Obama admirer, wrote in The Financial Times, the Obama budget ‘contains no trace of compromise. It makes no gesture, however small, however costless to its larger agenda, of a bipartisan approach to the great questions it addresses. It is a liberal’s dream of a new New Deal.’” It is unclear why Brooks is surprised by Obama’s actions, which are entirely consistent with his past actions and pronouncements and with someone who is, as columnist Laura Hollis describes him, “…an ultra-left ideologue who is going to spend the country into oblivion in order to try to achieve his Marxist coup d’etat.” [1522,1539]

Dick Morris, political commentator and former Bill Clinton advisor, charges that Obama is engaging in a “War on Prosperity” in order to achieve his own ideological agenda of wealth redistribution. Morris states that Obama “…is the enemy of prosperity. He, literally, favors redistribution of income as being more important – and more a function of the president – than the creation of wealth.” Morris argues that with his spending and tax plans Obama is essentially telling people, “Spend a lot of money now, invest a lot now, and don’t worry about it. In two years, I’m going to cut your head off.” Morris charges that by over-taxing the top income earners – the economy’s job-creators – Obama is “…dooming his administration to worse and worse economic data.” Those who, like Obama, ridicule the concept of “trickle down economics” will be in for a rude awakening when they learn that a reduction in spending by the top five per cent of the nation’s taxpayers will have a devastating effect on the bottom 95 per cent. [1507]

Although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insured that the stimulus legislation was as far left a bill as any in memory, she nevertheless manages to anger the far-left by not doing more to get troops immediately withdrawn from Iraq. Although a blizzard kept Pelosi from attending a “global warming” rally on March 2, her critics were there to level a few barbs. “Code Pink Women for Peace” activist Leslie Angeline says, “I don’t believe in her at all. I’m a constituent. I am from San Francisco and she has failed us in every way. She didn’t get us out of the war. She knew about torture before it started happening and she did nothing to stop it. I mean, the woman is a farce.” Activist Jamie Henn warns, “Pelosi needs to know that we are behind her if she is bold but we are also willing to vote her out of office if she doesn’t take action.” [1511]

Tim Geithner, Obama’s Secretary of the Treasury, tells the House Ways and Means Committee on March 3 that Obama would propose legislation to limit the ability of U.S. companies to shelter foreign earnings from U.S. taxes, and will also try to limit the use of tax havens by wealthy Americans. (Geithner does not indicate whether the Kennedy family, which shelters a large portion of its wealth in Fiji, would be exempted from the new rules.) After hearing criticism that the Obama budget will raise taxes during a recession, Geithner responds that the budget reflects “a deep moral imperative to make our society more just.” Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI) warns that “This massive hidden (cap-and-trade) energy tax is going to work its way through every aspect of American life. How we light our homes, heat our homes and pay for the gas in our cars, in every phase of our daily lives, we will be paying higher costs.” Obama’s budget director Peter Orszag reluctantly admits to the Committee that Obama’s energy proposals would increase costs for consumers. [1510,1513]

Aware that Obama is planning on closing the terrorist detainee facility at Guantanamo without any concrete plans on what to do with the detainees, Congressman John Shadegg (R-AZ) introduces a bill preventing any of the approximate 250 detainees from being allowed into the United States. Says Shadegg, “No American family should ever have to worry about their own government placing a terrorist in their community,” The bill will be up for a vote only if it can get through the House Judiciary Committee, which is controlled by Democrats. [1512]

Although the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged to $6,763 on March 2 – its lowest close since April 25, 1967 – and millions of Americans have lost hundreds of billions in retirement assets as a result – Obama says on March 3 that he doesn’t look at “the day-to-day gyrations of the stock market,” but follows whether businesses are investing and the unemployed are going back to work. He adds that, “The stock market is sort of like a tracking poll in politics. It bobs up and down day-to-day. And if you spend all your time worrying about that, then you’re probably going to get the long-term strategy wrong,” but he seems not to have noticed that the “bobbing” has been going only down. Obama continues, “What you’re now seeing is… is, uh… profit and earning ratios are… are starting to, uh, get to the point where buying stocks is a potentially good deal if you’ve got a long term perspective on it.” His remark may not install much confidence in those who were planning on retirement in the near future (four out of every seven American families experienced stock losses, realized or unrealized, of at least $100,000 during the current bear market, according to Kiplinger’s, BTN Research), or those who understand that “P and E” stands for “price to earnings” ratio. If Obama does not understand the price to earnings ratio, he may perhaps not even realize that money is made in the stock market in only two ways: capital gains and dividends – and he is raising taxes on both. [1515,1527]

The Senate votes 63-32, mostly along party lines, against an attempt by John McCain (R-AZ) to remove 8,500 earmarks totaling about $2 billion from the $410 billion spending bill. The bill will therefore retain $1.7 million for “pig odor research,” $2 million for the “promotion of astronomy,” $6.6 million for termite research, and $2.1 million for the “Center for Grape Genetics.” [1519]

Two Democrat and two Republican Congressmen introduce a bill to make the Census Bureau an independent agency, not under the control of the Commerce Department or the President. The move is an attempt to prevent Obama from placing the 2010 census under the control of Rahm Emanuel, who would be expected to “cook the books” to insure that the results favor Democrats. [1520]

CNBC host Jim Cramer calls Obama’s budget a “radical agenda” and says “This is the greatest wealth destruction I’ve seen by a President.” Obama’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, with no legitimate defense for the charge instead ridicules the ratings of CNBC, remarking, “If you turn on a certain program it’s geared to a very small audience. No offense to my good friends, our friends at CNBC. But the President has to look out for the broader economy and the broader population.” Cramer was a strong supporter of Obama during the 2008 campaign. [1523]

At least one of the soldiers who is a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Obama’s eligibility to serve as President has been ordered by his commanding officer not to speak with the media. [1525]

Republicans are quick to come out publicly to oppose Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget, but even some prominent Democrats will have some problems with it. Charles Rangel (D-NY), powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, expresses a reluctance to go along with Obama’s plan to reduce the tax deductibility of charitable contributions, saying “I would never want to adversely affect anything that is charitable or good.” Secretary of the Treasury Geithner admits that consumers would face higher utility bills because of Obama’s “greenhouse gas fees,” saying, “…if people don’t change how they use energy, then they will face higher costs for energy.” [1529]

Harvard University economics professor and researcher Robert Barro estimates the odds of the U.S. falling into a depression are one in five. “If we are lucky,” says Barro, “the current downturn will also be moderate, though likely worse than the other U.S. post-World War II recessions, including 1982.” Barro is not confident that the Obama administration is doing the right things, however, and states, “I think it more likely that the economy will eventually recover despite these policies, rather than because of them.” Investment guru Jim Rogers echoes Barro’s sentiments, and criticizes the government for not allowing businesses to go bankrupt, saying “None of (this) does much for the economy down the road. It’s trying to postpone some pain we’re going to have to take.” [1531]

Democrat Senators Birch Bayh (D-IN) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) sharply criticize Obama’s $410 billion spending bill and say they will vote against it. Bayh slams the bill, calling it “a sprawling, $410 billion compilation of nine spending measures that lacks the slightest hint of austerity from the federal government or the recipients of its largess.” Feingold tells RollCall.com, “I’m going to vote against it. I’m not going to vote on this.” [1536]

Obama nominates Julius Genachowski as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Attorney Genachowski graduated from Harvard Law School in 1991 and clerked for Supreme Court Justices William Brennan and David Souter. Conservative criticism over Democrat plans to reinstate the “Fairness Doctrine” led Obama to say he will not do so, but it is believed the FCC will attempt to reduce the influence of conservative talk radio by using legal technicalities to yank broadcast licenses (which expire every seven years) from certain radio stations in order to turn them over to minority broadcasters who would remove commentators like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity from their schedules. (Legally, the Fairness Doctrine can be reinstated by the FCC; the action does not require an act of Congress or the signing of a bill by Obama. It can therefore be reinstated while he maintains he pretends he is in opposition to it.) [1547,1548]

The administration unveils a new emblem to identify “stimulus projects” from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The symbol consists of white stars on a blue field with the URL recovery.org, an outline of leaves on a green background, and cogged wheels. All are contained with a large “O” to remind the public that Obama is responsible for the project – something that may work against Obama when Americans see taxpayer-funded work crews wasting time doing nothing on a construction site. [1590]

Stephanie Miller, host of a barely-listened-to liberal radio talk show, calls the Larry King television broadcast on March 3 and states that for daring to criticize Obama and hoping that his policies fail, conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh “…should be executed for treason.” King does not challenge or question Miller’s remark. [1553]

At a press conference in Israel on March 3, Secretary of State Clinton announces that Obama will be sending senior envoys to Damascus to begin “preliminary conversations” on improving U.S. ties with Syria. The very next day U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), George Schulte, charges at its Board of Governor’s meeting that Syria has been hiding its nuclear weapons activities and blocking U.N. inspectors from four suspected nuclear sites. Hours later Senator John Kerry, who had just returned from a trip to Syria, tells the Brookings Institute that the U.S. is attempting to appease Syrian President Bashar Assad. Obama is apparently willing to loosen sanctions on Syria for its help in pressuring Israel to surrender the Golan Heights. Israel will be the loser in the deal, while the U.S. would seem to be gaining nothing. The Obama administration appears to be working more toward sacrificing Israel for the sake of Palestinian statehood than preventing Iran and Syria from obtaining nuclear weapons. [1583]

Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY) warns Treasury Secretary Geithner about bonuses to AIG executives at a March 3 hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee. “Just last month AIG paid 343 employees of AIG FP, their Financial Products division that created the financial hole that AIG is in, and in turn a multibillion-dollar bill for American taxpayers – $56 million in bonuses and are slated to pay an additional $162 million in bonuses to 393 participants in the coming weeks. There’s more,” lectured Crowley. “Further bonus payments totaling approximately $230 million are due to 407 participants at AIG’s Financial Products division in March 2010. This makes no sense to my constituency.” (Geithner later claims he was not aware of the payment of AIG bonuses until March 10 and did not inform Obama until March 12.) [1901]

On March 4, conservative talk show giant Rush Limbaugh, responding to Democrat attempts to paint him as the de facto head of the Republican Party, challenges Obama to a debate on his radio program. Limbaugh says, “If these guys are so impressed with themselves, and if they are so sure of their correctness, why doesn’t President Obama come on my show? We will do a one-on-one debate of ideas and policies.” He then adds, “I am offering President Obama to come on this program – without staffers, without a TelePrompTer , without note cards – to debate me on the issues. Let’s talk about free markets versus government control. Let’s talk about nationalizing health care and raising taxes on small business… Let’s talk about the New Deal versus Reaganomics… Let’s talk about closing Guantanamo Bay, and let’s talk about sending $900 million to Hamas. Let’s talk about illegal immigration and the lawlessness on the borders. Let’s talk about massive deficits and the destroying of opportunities of future generations…” [1537,1563]

Business competitors of insurance AIG complain to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke that the massive amount of federal bail-out funds given to AIG have allowed it to lower prices on policies and unfairly undercut their competition. AIG is therefore gaining new customers and increasing its market share, aided by the government, at a time when the government has been stating that AIG had to be saved from bankruptcy because it was “too big to fail.” [1926]

Odds increase that Israel will take military action against Iran to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Affecting the situation is Russia’s pledge to supply Iran with its S-300 surface-to-air missile system, and Israel’s perception that it will have to “go it alone,” with little support from the Obama administration. [1538]

Despite (or perhaps because of) the profligate spending of the Obama administration, billionaire investor Warren Buffet says in a letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, “We’re certain… that the economy will be in shambles throughout 2009 – and, for that matter, probably well beyond. But that conclusion does not tell us whether the stock market will rise or fall.” [1540]

Fifteen Republican legislators in Missouri propose an amendment to their state constitution that would require Presidential candidates to provide official copies of their birth certificates to confirm that they are natural born citizens. The proposal is an attempt to keep Obama of the November, 2012 ballot, in the belief that he is not a natural born citizen eligible to serve as President. [1593]

Former Secretary Treasurer James Baker says in the Financial Times that failing banks should not be rescued but be allowed to fail. “We should divide the banks into three groups: the healthy, the hopeless, and the needy. Leave the healthy alone and quickly close the hopeless. The needy should be reorganized and recapitalized, preferably through private investment or debt-to-equity swaps but, if necessary, through public funds.” Chairman and CEO of WL Ross and Company, Wilbur Ross, argues against nationalization of any banks, telling CNBC that “…if you also make the big commercial banks government-owned, it will be that the government is the only place where you can get a loan and if you nationalize a few government banks, why would a big depositor deposit his money anywhere but a government bank?” [1540,1541]

On March 5, Obama’s friend William Ayers appears with controversial professor Ward Churchill at a student rally for academic freedom in Boulder, Colorado. Churchill, who was fired from his Colorado University teaching job on charges of plagiarism, is infamous for calling the victims of the WTC attack “little Eichmanns,” while Ayers’ history includes terrorist bombings and spending years hiding from the FBI. [1544]

A “Geithner motion” is filed in federal District Court to dismiss the case U.S. v. David Jacquot (Case Cr 080-1171) on the basis that Jacquot was not treated in the same manner as politically prominent and persons. Jacquot intends to subpoena Secretary Treasurer Timothy Geithner and Congressman Charles Rangel who, because of their political connections and “elite” status, escaped prosecution for failure to properly pay required income taxes. Jacquot claims the IRS harassed him because of his successful defense of clients against the federal tax agency. (One judge awarded Jacquot’s clients hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees for having to defend themselves against a bogus case brought against them by the government.) Jacquot’s corporate law firm tax returns were investigated four years in a row and it was ultimately decided that not only had it not underpaid taxes it had reported too much income. [1703,1704,1705]

The Washington Times reports that Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board includes big campaign donors, a union official who pleaded the Fifth Amendment rather than testify in a federal investigation (Richard L. Trumka, who helped to illegally divert $150,000 in union funds for the re-election of Teamster President Ron Carey in 1996), and a billionaire friend who led her Chicago bank to failure because of its extensive approval of subprime mortgages (Penny Pritzker). Obama says the group brings “…a diverse set of perspectives and voices… to bear in the formulation and evaluation of economic policy.” (It is unclear why Obama believes someone whose bank “cooked its books” and then failed should be involved in shaping the nation’s economic policy.) Other members of Obama’s economic advisory board include Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric (which has received federal bail-out funds), Mark Gallogly (director of Dana Holding Corp., who raised $200,000 for Obama), and Robert Wolf (who raised $370,000 for Obama and who is head of the American branch of UBS Investment Bank – which is infamous for helping wealthy Americans shelter income to avoid taxes). [1544,1594]

Sweden’s Social Democratic Workers’ Party (a leftist-Marxist party that is often referred to as simply the “Social Democrats”) engages Thomas Gensemer and his Blue State Digital company to assist in winning 2010 elections. Blue State Digital was widely used by Obama to drum up early support and to collect tens of millions in Internet campaign contributions – many of which were poorly documented and may have been illegal foreign contributions. [1546]

It is reported that Syria is building an additional chemical weapons factory adjacent to a long-range missile base, and hiding evidence of a nuclear weapons program. Syria receives funding for the projects from Iran, possibly in preparation for a war against Israel if it should elect to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities. Obama, rather than getting tougher on Syria, is doing the opposite, having approved the export of repair parts for Syria’s Boeing 747 aircraft fleet (which has been used to deliver weapons from Iran to Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon). Over the last six years Syria’s weapons budget has grown from $100 million to $3 billion, largely through the help of Iran. [1549]

On March 5 the stock market’s DJIA closed down 281 points, dropping 4.1 per cent for the day. Since Obama was inaugurated, investors have lost an estimated $2.5 trillion dollars, and the Dow has lost 20.4 per cent since the swearing in ceremony. The stock market is understandably reacting negatively to Obama’s $787 billion “stimulus” bill, pending $431 billion bill, $3.6 trillion budget, $634 billion health care plan, and $1 trillion (or more) tax increases, and sees no end in sight to his massive deficit-spending plans that will be a monumental drag on the economy. [1550]

The Federal Reserve Board states that over the previous five months the U.S. money supply has almost tripled, increasing by 271 per cent. In the short term much of that cash is not being spent on consumer goods, it is being used by individuals and businesses to pay down debt or is being saved because there is a reluctance to spend money in the current uncertain economic environment. In the long run, however, much of that cash will be taken out of bank accounts and Treasury bills and will be spent. When the economy rebounds, that release of cash into the economy will result in price increases, as the amount of money will have increased while the amount of goods and services has remained relatively static (or even been reduced, by virtue of a decline in the Gross Domestic Product). More money chasing fewer goods and services necessarily results in inflation – the result of the increase in the money supply by the Federal Reserve Board. The incredible spending of the Obama administration will continue into the future, prompting additional increases in the money supply. The eventual resulting inflation is likely to be considerably higher than Americans have experienced since Jimmy Carter was President in the 1970s. [1775]

CNBC analyst Jim Cramer blasts Obama, saying he “has undeniably made things worse by creating an atmosphere of fear and panic rather than an atmosphere of calm and hope.” Cramer is an Obama supporter. [1551]

A federal judge, on March 5, throws out a lawsuit challenging Obama’s eligibility to serve as President, calling the case a waste of time. U.S. District Judge James Robertson’s written opinion states, “This case, if it were allowed to proceed, would deserve mention in one of those books that seek to prove that the law is foolish or that America has too many lawyers with not enough to do.” [1564]

Obama names Vivek Kundra his Federal Chief Information Officer, where he will direct “the policy and strategic planning of federal information technology investments” and be “responsible for oversight of federal technology spending.” Obama states that “Kundra will bring a depth of experience in the technology arena and a commitment to lowering the cost of government operations to this position” and “he will play a key role in making sure our government is running in the most secure, open, and efficient way possible.” (Within a week Kundra is on a leave of absence, after an FBI raid of his former place of employment, the technology office of the city of Washington, D.C. Although several of Kundra’s former co-workers are arrested; there is no immediate indication that he is a target of any investigation.) [1697,1698,1699]

A crowd generously estimated at 50,000 marches on New York City’s city hall on March 5, demanding that the state’s budget not be cut because of a $15 billion shortfall. The governor, David Paterson, has proposed across the board cuts in education, health care, senior services, disability services, housing assistance, and crisis intervention programs. Protestors propose raising state taxes on those earning more than $250,000 ¬on top of the Obama tax increases coming for that group. It is unclear what solution they will propose when a large number of high-income earners simply leave the state… out of economic self-defense. [1574]

The public interest group Judicial Watch announces on March 5 that it has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Joseph Wurzelbacher – “Joe the plumber” from the Presidential campaign, who was told by Obama, “It’s not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody that is behind you, that they have a chance for success too. I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.” The lawsuit charges that Ohio officials violated Wurzelbacher’s rights when they illegally accessed private information about him from government databases, allegedly in an effort to smear his reputation and discourage others from challenging Obama’s policies. [295,312,1552]

The nonprofit government watchdog group Freedom Watch files a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for documents relating to the involvement of special interest groups in writing the Troubled Asset Relief program (TARP) legislation. The founder of Freedom Watch, Larry Klayman, states, “It is important that the American people know who is pulling the strings of our government, especially when those are this nation’s purse strings. With budget projections over the next eight years ranging from such substantial sums of money as $3.5 trillion in 2010 to a whopping $4.9 trillion in 2018, the time for transparency is now, in the initial stages while the budget is still being finalized. The accountability has to start now, the exposure has to happen now; otherwise we may find ourselves in another Iraq-like economic and political debacle, only this time it may be a financial insurgency without end. Instead of roadside bombs, it will be bank failure and corporate bankruptcy, instead of sectarian violence, it will be the ‘haves’ clashing against the ‘have-nots,’” [1555]

When constituents ask Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) to look into Obama’s possible ineligibility to serve as President because he may not be a natural born citizen, he responds with a form letter with the lame answer that “Presidential candidates are vetted by voters at least twice – first in the primary elections and again in the general election. President-Elect Obama won the Democratic Party’s nomination after one of the most fiercely contested presidential primaries in American history…. The voters have made clear their view that Mr. Obama meets the qualifications to hold the office of president.” Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) responds to similar inquiries by referring constituents to web sites Snopes.com which, in turn, refers readers to FactCheck.org – run and financed by Obama supporters. Neither Martinez nor Kyl confront the issue directly. [1556,1557]

Senate Republicans, with help from several Democrats, block approval of Obama’s pork-filled $410 billion spending bill. Most Senators oppose the bill because of the massive waste it includes, while several object to its easing of travel restrictions to Cuba without getting any concessions from the Cuban government in return. (The ailing Senator Ted Kennedy was brought in to vote for the bill.) The House had previously approved the bill 245 to 178, with 20 Democrats voting against it. A stopgap Senate bill will be needed to fund government operations until the legislation can be amended to gain approval of more Senators. [1558]

Obama declines Rush Limbaugh’s offer to debate, but the Democrat National Committee (DNC) childishly decides to enter the fray by placing an anti-Limbaugh billboard where he can see it as he drives around his neighborhood in Palm Beach, Florida. The DNC invites Democrats across the country to compose insults (of 10 words or less) for the billboard, with a “free T-shirt” going to the winning slogan. (Billboards are prohibited in Palm Beach.) In response to the DNC, Limbaugh says on his radio show that he hopes they are not spending taxpayer stimulus funds on the billboard. Wisely or not, Obama is making a concerted effort to “go after” Limbaugh, going so far as to have an unidentified senior White House aide “tasked with helping to guide the Limbaugh strategy.” Using taxpayer dollars to pay a White House aide to engage in political mudslinging is arguably illegal. (The aide may be Shauna Daly, who has the newly-created job of White House Counsel Research Director. The 29 year old Daly’s job experience consists mostly of digging dirt on political rivals. She is now doubt aided by political gamesman David Axelrod.) Obama’s anti-Limbaugh antics boost the talk show host’s ratings significantly. By the end of March, revenue for Limbaugh’s talk show will likely exceed its entire 2008 revenue. (The eventual winning entry for the Democrat billboard is the arguably unimpressive “American’s didn’t vote for a Rush to failure.”) [1128,1562,1568,1572,1585,1633,1663]

Forbes, Inc.’s CEO Steve Forbes charges Obama with repeating the mistake of George W. Bush in continuing “mark-to-market” accounting for banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. The practice requires revaluing assets to their current market value, which prompts even stable assets to be downgraded. (If a home’s value drops from $400,000 to $300,000, for example, but the mortgage is for $350,000, some argue the investment should be downgraded to $300,000. On the other hand, if the homeowner is staying in the home and making his mortgage payments promptly each month, the mortgage-holder might still consider the loan a valuable asset worth $350,000.) [1565]

Word is leaked on March 6 that Obama will soon sign an executive order reversing restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Tax dollars will then be used for obtaining stem cells from aborted fetuses, as scientists start applying for taxpayer-funded grants through the National Institute of Health. Researchers want Obama to reverse the policy in order to receive NIH money. Non-controversial research on adult stem cells has so far produced 72 cures and treatments, while worldwide embryonic stem cell research has produced none. (In fact, one Israeli child with a lethal brain disease was injected with fetal stem cells that ended up triggering tumors in his brain and spinal cord.) Most private money has flowed to adult stem cell research because it has been yielding results. Investors know there are as yet no proven uses for embryonic stem cells. Supporters of abortion view embryonic stem cell research as a way to justify abortions by creating an aura of a “noble cause” around the gruesome practice. [1571,1618,1635,1636]

Michael J. Boskin, a professor of economics at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, “Obama’s Radicalism is Killing the Dow,” that “It’s hard not to see the continued sell-off on Wall Street and the growing fear on Main Street as a product, at least in part, of the realization that our new president’s policies are designed to radically re-engineer the market-based U.S. economy, not just mitigate the recession and financial crisis.” [1653]

Aboard Air Force One a reporter asks Obama, “Are you a socialist, as some people have suggested?” Obama responds, “You know, let’s take a look at the budget – the answer would be no.” After returning to the White House Obama apparently has misgivings about his response to the question, and he takes the unusual step of making a defensive (“It wasn’t me who broke the window with my baseball”) telephone call to reporters. He deflects the big-government argument by blaming President Bush for starting the ball rolling, saying, “I did think it might be useful to point out that it wasn’t under me that we started buying a bunch of shares of banks. It wasn’t on my watch. And it wasn’t on my watch that we passed a massive new entitlement – the prescription drug plan – without a source of funding. And so I think it’s important just to note when you start hearing folks throw these words around that we’ve actually been operating in a way that has been entirely consistent with free-market principles and that some of the same folks who are throwing the word ‘socialist’ around can’t say the same.” (As Senator, Obama voted for the original Wall Street bail-out in 2008. Obama was not yet a Senator when the prescription drug bill was passed. It is difficult for Obama to argue, however, that he would have voted against a federal prescription drug plan for seniors when he has always been a supporter of a single-payer national health plan.) [1601]

When asked by reporters on Air Force One if the United States is winning the war in Afghanistan, Obama answers, “No.” He states that he might be willing to reach out to some of the Islamic fundamentalists in the Taliban, somehow separating the hard-core radicals from the rest. It is unclear how he would distinguish one group from the other, how he would persuade the less radical elements to turn against the other insurgents, or how he would prevent the “moderates” in the Taliban (if there even are any) from abusing women and continuing Sharia law. It is also unclear how Obama could “deal” with some elements of the Taliban. Afghanistan is a sovereign nation, and any agreements must be made with its government. (Similarly, the Afghan government must deal with the United States government, not with the Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Green Party.) Further, Taliban leader Mullar Omar is not one to make deals – especially when he believes the Taliban is winning. It is unclear why Obama would think he could negotiate with the Taliban at a time when he publicly states the U.S. is not winning the war and the Taliban believes it is, as he would be negotiating from a position of weakness. [1592,1627]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Brussels, Belgium to meet with the European Union’s Parliament, where she remarks she has “…never understood multiparty democracy. It is hard enough with two parties to come to any resolution, and I say this very respectfully, because I feel the same way about our own democracy, which has been around a lot longer than European democracy.” (It is unclear where Clinton got the mistaken idea that American democracy pre-dates European democracy, but she does make it clear that she feels it would be easier to govern or “rule” without the “annoyance” of a second political party. Republicans and Independents, in her opinion, are apparently entitled to democracy only if they support Democrats.) Clinton further insults her hosts by referring to foreign policy chief Javier Solana as Javier “Solano,” and external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner as “Benito.” [1577]

While in Brussels, Clinton proposes a high-level conference on Afghanistan to which both Pakistan and Iran would be invited. Obama’s approach was described as emphasizing a “non-military means of blunting the power of the Taliban.” It is unclear what “non-military means” might dissuade the Taliban from curtailing its violent methods. [1586]

Clinton visits Russia to meet with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and presents him with a gift – a small box with a red “reset” button, intended to represent a “resetting” of Russian-American relations under the new Obama administration. The button (which resembled the “easy button” from the Staples television commercials) is mislabeled, however, with the Russian word for “overcharge” rather than the word for “reset.” Apparently the State Department needs better English-Russian language translators. (Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke fluent Russian and would not have made the translation mistake; nor would she have presented the Russians with a tacky button – something no doubt dreamed up by one of the inexperienced and naïve members of the Obama foreign relations team.) [1577]

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez encourages Obama to “come over to the dark side” in remarks he makes on the state-run television. “I recommend to Obama – they’re criticizing him because they say he’s moving towards socialism – come Obama, ally with us on the path to socialism, it’s the only road.” [1579]

After the media in the United Kingdom erupts in outrage over Obama’s shoddy treatment of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, sources close to the White House say Obama has been “overwhelmed” by the economic crisis and he is “not getting enough rest.” (Obama has been in office less than two months.) British officials remark that Obama aides were seemingly unfamiliar with the requirements of a state visit. (Obama’s snub of Brown was either an intentional insult or an act of an incompetent who is in over his head.) A “well-connected Washington figure” observes that “Obama is overwhelmed. There is a zero sum tension between his ability to attend to the economic issues and his ability to be a proactive sculptor of the national security agenda. That was the gamble these guys made at the front end of this presidency and I think they’re finding it a hard thing to do everything.” [1603]

The Pentagon reports that five Chinese ships harassed a U.S. Navy surveillance ship operating in international waters. Officials say the incident occurred on March 8, after several days of “increasingly aggressive” acts by Chinese ships. Many assume the actions are simply an effort to test and intimidate the new U.S. President, to see whether he sends U.S. ships right back into International waters near China (with a powerful escort), or simply orders the Navy to “back off.” [1634]

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (who was responsible for the federal government’s last balanced budget) remarks that Obama’s attack on Rush Limbaugh is a “deliberate strategy” to take attention from more pressing issues. “I think what they did with the whole Rush Limbaugh thing – they can’t defend signing the 9,000 earmarks, they can’t defend an energy-tax increase, they can’t defend Geithner’s failure to pay his income taxes, so they decide, ‘Let’s have a fight over Rush Limbaugh.’ It is the exact opposite of what the president promised… to focus on large things, not small things.” The White House attacks on Limbaugh are also reminiscent of Richard Nixon’s “enemies list” of the early 1970s, and just as beneath the office of the Presidency. [1605]

Dr. Sanjay Gupta declines Obama’s offer to become Surgeon General, saying he wants to “focus more on his medical career and his family.” [1628]

Radio station KFI-AM hosts a Los Angeles-area “tea party” tax revolt on March 7 that draws an estimated 8,000-15,000 demonstrators protesting the high taxes and deficit-spending of the California legislature, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the Obama administration. [1623,1624]

On March 8, Obama’s Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is interviewed on a Palestinian television show. Clinton is asked, “A little young girl from a village in Ramallah wants to know what you would do if your daughter Chelsea was unfortunate enough to have been born under occupation, to be born deprived of freedom and liberty?” Clinton takes the bait and responds, “Well I would do what so many parents here in the West Bank and in Gaza do. I would love her, I would take care of her, I would get the best education I could for her, and I would never lose hope, I would never give up on the dream of a Palestinian State. No matter what happens, no matter what people do to try and derail that dream. I would tell my daughter and I would hope my daughter would believe with all of her heart that she has the same opportunities for the best future that any child anywhere in the world does and that’s what my goal will be.” Clinton fails to mention that the vast majority of Palestinians (over 90 per cent) are subject to the rule of the Palestinian National Authority, Fatah, and Hamas – not Israel. (The town mentioned in the question, Ramallah, is the administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority.) Arabs living in Israel, the Middle East’s only democracy (other than the one emerging in Iraq), have far more rights than those who live in the other area nations. Palestinians living in Israel are not “without freedom and liberty,” but Clinton either doesn’t know that or chooses not to correct the interviewer. [1728,1729]

A March 9 Rasmussen poll places Obama’s approval index at +6 (a new low), with 38 per cent strongly approving his job performance and 32 per cent strongly disapproving (a new high). [1604]

Former Congressman Pat Toomey, who came close to beating Senator Arlen Specter in the 2004 primary, indicates he may try again in 2010. “We could’ve had a constructive pro-growth compromise. Instead, these guys (Senators Specter, Collins, and Snowe) just completely sold out (by voting for the stimulus bill).” Toomey charges that Obama’s tax-and-spend policies won’t work to help the economy recover, partly because they promote uncertainty. “There’s a real danger that capitalism is going to go on strike, because the capitalists don’t know what the government is going to do next. And this episodic, quasi-nationalization of financial services companies, and perhaps the car companies and others, is very, very disturbing and destabilizing. So some certainty about government policy would be enormously helpful. The best thing we could do is make the 2003 tax cuts permanent,” Toomey states. “But while we’re at it, let’s just eliminate capital gains taxes, and how about temporarily suspending the payroll tax?” [1606]

The Obama administration challenges all “signing statements” issued by former President Bush. Signing statements are comments issued when the President signs a law which clarify parts of the law he may find unconstitutional, but not significant enough to warrant a veto of the entire bill. (They are used because a line-item veto has never been authorized by Congress.) Obama argues that before anyone agrees to Bush’s signing statements, officials should first consult with Attorney General Holder – who will apparently be deciding which of Bush’s orders should be ignored. Obama plans on continuing the practice of issuing “signing statements,” and his will no doubt not be second-guessed by Holder. [1612]

On March 9 Obama signs an executive order allowing taxpayer dollars to fund expanded research using embryonic stem cells. Obama calls his decision a “difficult and delicate balance.” (It is unclear why the decision would be difficult for him. Killing a fetus for medical research would seem, to someone who supports unrestricted abortions, readily more justifiable than killing a fetus because the mother simply decided not to have the baby). Obama also indirectly brings up the global-warming controversy, saying that promoting science “…is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it’s inconvenient especially when it’s inconvenient. It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology.” Obama laughingly contradicts himself with his statement because he has already decided for the nation that the “science is settled” with regard to man-caused “global warming.” In May of 2007 Obama voted for a bill that requires “global warming” be factored into federal project plans – hardly a reasonable requirement when we should be making “…decisions based on fact, not ideology.” (An agreement disputing any global warming crisis has been signed by more than 31,000 American scientists, a number more than sufficient to dispute Obama’s claim that there is a “consensus” on man-caused global warming. A Gallup poll found that 41 per cent of Americans believe that climate change warnings are exaggerated. The President of the European Union, Czech President Vaclav Klaus, stated that global warming alarmists “want to change us and our behavior. Their ambition is to control and manipulate us.”) [97,1619,1727,1729,1747]

Generally unreported by the media is Obama’s rescinding of Bush’s executive order that provided federal funding for “induced pluripotent stem cell” research, that uses adult stem cells mimicking embryonic stem cells, but without their associated high risk of inducing tumors. Obama’s executive order thus eliminates federal funding for the more promising research, while authorizing funding for that which is less promising and riskier. [1669]

Obama’s stem cell policy comments include the remark that “…we will ensure that our government never opens the door to the use of cloning for human reproduction,” thus apparently leaving the door open for cloning for other purposes – not so that parents can someday be able to “re-create” a child that dies, but to clone a human for the purpose of killing it to obtain its stem cells. Lobbyists have already pushed legislation that would legalize cloning human embryos for the purpose of harvesting their stem cells. Even if no cloning is performed, Obama’s executive order means that taxpayer funds will now be used to create and then kill human life for the sole purpose of scientific experimentation and exploitation. (A California company dealing with in vitro fertilization already advertises “gender selection,” allowing pregnant mothers to choose to have an early abortion should the fetus have the “wrong” gender, eye color, or hair color.) Obama does not make clear why cloning for the purpose of creating life is worse than cloning for the purpose of destroying it. [1649,1664]

Former President Bill Clinton is interviewed by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta and, in an attempt to defend Obama’s executive order on stem cell experimentation, inadvertently reveals an astounding ignorance of the origin of human life. Clinton remarks that “I think the American people believe it’s a pro-life decision to use an embryo that’s frozen that’s never going to be fertilized for embryonic stem cell research” and said that scientists should only use embryos that “have been placed beyond the pale of being fertilized before their use.” Clinton apparently does not understand that it is the egg that is unfertilized, while the embryo is, by definition, the result of an egg that has been fertilized. When Clinton argues that he opposes stem cell experimentation if there is any chance that the embryo can become a human being, he is missing the point that the embryo already is a human being. Researchers cannot use stem cells from unfertilized eggs because there are none – the stem cells do not exist before the egg has been fertilized and the embryo is formed. Thus, Clinton is either colossally ignorant, or playing with words to make stem cell research less objectionable to people who don’t know any better. Dr. Gupta neither corrected Clinton nor challenged his incorrect assertions during the interview – perhaps because Gupta (along with other CNN personalities) has participated as a “featured attendee” in Clinton Global Initiative annual meetings. [1689,1691]

Billionaire investor and informal Obama advisor and supporter Warren Buffet tells CNBC that investors see no clear plan coming from Washington, and that is contributing to the nation’s economic difficulties. “And I think we’ve had, and it’s the nature of the political process somewhat, but we’ve had muddled messages and the American public does not know. They feel they don’t know what’s going on, and their reaction then is to absolutely pull back,” remarks Buffet. Obama’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, reacts defensively, saying no one should be surprised that “all of the problems that took many years to take hold haven’t necessarily been solved.” [1706,1707]

Amid criticism that Obama is unable to “perform” in public without a TelePrompTer, reports surface that he uses TelePrompTers not just for prepared speeches but for notes. That is, information and “talking points” are being fed to Obama while he is answering questions. White House technicians are allegedly also working on a small computer device for him to place on the lectern. [1706]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announces a $1 million scholarship program to help Palestinian students enroll in universities in the Middle East and the United States. Clinton says the program will allow students from the West bank and Gaza to “compete along with students in other countries for the opportunity to further their academic training in America.” Neither Clinton nor Obama explain why U.S. tax dollars should go toward the education of students who have been raised to hate Americans. [1656]

Dr. Orly Taitz, an attorney representing plaintiffs challenging Obama’s status to serve as President of the United States, meets Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on March 9 at a reception. Taitz manages to get to the microphone at the event and asks Justice Scalia if he will hear her case, in which she represents nine state legislators and 120 military officers. Taitz relates later that “Scalia stated that it would be heard if I can get four people to hear it. He repeated, ‘you need four for the argument.’ I got a feeling that he was saying that one of these four (of the Supreme Court Justices) that call themselves constitutionalists went to the other side.” When Justice Scalia later autographs his book for her, Dr. Taitz asks, “Tell me what to do, what can I do, those soldiers (the plaintiffs) can be court-martialed for asking a legitimate question, who is the president, is he legitimate.” Justice Scalia responds, “Bring the case, I’ll hear it, I don’t know about the others.” The inference is that Justice Scalia and two others would be willing to hear the case, but one more is needed. (Four of the nine must agree to review the case or it will be ignored.) The other Justices are John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas (who tend to follow the Constitution more strictly), Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter, John Paul Stevens (who tend to be more “loose” in interpreting the Constitution, finding “rights” that aren’t there), and Anthony Kennedy – who is often considered to being the “swing” vote on controversial issues. [1646]

After almost two months of waiting for the promised brilliant economic plan by Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner and not seeing evidence of any plan at all, the Intrade prediction market adds a “future” on whether Geithner would resign or be fired by the end of 2009. As of March 9 the odds are 22 per cent, with an 8 per cent chance of him not lasting beyond June 30. The magazine “The Nation” calls Geithner possibly “Obama’s biggest mistake.” [1621,1652]

Obama’s energy and climate change “czar,” Carol Browner, tells U.S. News and World Report the U.S. needs to use electricity in a more cost-effective way, and looks forward to “…a system where an electric company will be able to hold back some of the power so that maybe your air conditioner won’t operate at its peak, you’ll still be able to cool your house, but that’ll be a savings to the consumer. And so (we will be) giving people and companies a role in the management of how we use electricity.” Obama’s energy czar apparently will be looking after Americans by ensuring that their air conditioners will lose power at the hottest time of the day. [1744]

It is reported that a former correspondent for CNN en Espanol, Mauricio Funes, is a Presidential candidate in El Salvador. Funes is a member of the communist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). The U.S. State Department has lodged complaints against Funes for using photographs of Obama in his campaign. He considers himself to be “El Salvador’s Barack Obama” and uses his “Yes we can!” campaign theme. [1625]

After Obama remarks that he would like to reach out to “moderates” in the Taliban, a spokesman for the terrorist group, Qari Mohammed Yousuf – who, unlike Obama, understands that the Taliban has no “moderates” – responds “This does not require any response or reaction for this is illogical. The Taliban are united, have one leader, one aim, one policy… I do not know why they are talking about moderate Taliban and what it means? If it means those who are not fighting and are sitting in their homes, then talking to them is meaningless. This really is surprising the Taliban.” The Taliban, in addition to believing that they are winning the war, think that an additional 17,000 troops sent by Obama will not be enough to defeat them. They further believe the United States will not be willing to make the financial or military commitments necessary to win. (One of the alleged “moderates” in the Taliban, Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, was released from the detention camp in Guantanamo in December of 2007. The U.S. handed him over to the Afghan government, which subsequently released him. Rasoul changed him name to Mullah Abdullah Zakir and is now in charge of Taliban operations against U.S. and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan.) [1629,1641]

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) states it is not planning on suspending the “mark-to-market” rule that forces banks to lower the value of assets. Many argue the rule forces unjustified write-downs that contributed to the banking collapse. [1630]

After an article appears that describes how negative information about Obama is being promptly eliminated from his biography on Wikipedia, the web site locks most users from making any entries on that page. The result is a mostly glowing biography about Obama, free of references to William Ayers, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, or his birth certificate controversy. [1631]

On March 10 Vice president Biden tells NATO allies the U.S. is “…not now winning the war (in Afghanistan), but the war is far from lost.” [1632]

A New York Times “puff piece” on Michelle Obama swoons over her commitment to healthy eating after she hands out food at a non-profit facility serving the homeless. The article goes to great lengths to criticize former First Lady Laura Bush, who “…insisted that fresh, organic foods be served in the White House, but did not broadcast that fact to the public.” The editor of “Gourmet” magazine was rounded up to praise Michelle Obama for “…making a point. She thinks communities across the nation deserve to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables.” The article does not indicate which American communities, if any, lack access to fresh fruits and vegetables. [1673]

Charles W. Freeman decides not to accept Obama’s offer to chair the National Intelligence Council, after relentless criticism of his anti-Israel stance, overly pro-China attitude, and closeness to the Saudis. Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL) remarked that “The administration made yet another mistake not doing its homework before nominating someone to a senior position of unique sensitivity, and then learned from the press further and further embarrassing details. He (Freeman) was heavily encumbered by multiple conflicts of interest involving Chinese, Saudi and other business dealings that all should have been disclosed long before.” New York Senator Charles Schumer said that Freeman showed an “irrational hatred of Israel.” Freeman published a letter on the web site of Foreign Policy magazine in which he “concluded the barrage of libelous distortions of my record would not cease upon my entry into office.” Freeman, who for some reason Obama thought would be able to give him sound security advice, had sent a 1989 e-mail defending the Chinese government in its attack on demonstrators at Tiananmen Square, saying it was not “…acceptable for any country to allow the heart of its national capital to be occupied by dissidents intent on disrupting the normal functions of government, however appealing to foreigners their propaganda may be.” (Chinese citizens demanding the right to free speech is, in Freeman’s view, mere “propaganda.”) The White House attempts to cover Obama’s tracks by saying that the President had “not been informed” of Freeman’s appointment by the National Intelligence Director, Admiral Dennis Blair. (Blair himself has been criticized by many for denying that Iran is making nuclear weapons.) [1637,1644,1671,1757]

On March 10 the Senate passes the $410 billion spending bill on a vote of 62-35, despite the massive amount of waste it contains. (It includes $747,000 for the removal of driftwood from the Potomac River). Obama later signs it into law, in private – perhaps to avoid anyone reminding him of his campaign pledge to “go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.”  Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warns that Congress should “keep the door open” for yet another stimulus bill, and remarks that “The word of the day is confidence. Confidence in our markets, confidence in lending, confidence in our financial institutions.” A lack of confidence in the federal government, however, is at the heart of the stock market’s reluctance to gain ground, because investors have no faith in what Washington will do or how it will pay for its schemes. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell warns that “We’re spending the first 50 days of this new administration at the rate of one billion dollars an hour.” [1638,1639,1640,1676]

Republican Senators who voted for the $410 spending bill are Lamar Alexander (TN), Christopher Bond (MO), Thad Cochran (MS), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Richard Shelby (AL), Olympia Snowe (ME), Arlen Specter (PA), and Roger Wicker (MS). Because Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to allow any changes to the pork-filled bill in the House, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made a deal with Senate Republicans to allow them floor time to propose amendments after they passed the bill – knowing full well the amendments would never pass, but would give Senators some “cover” with their constituents back home. The bill also includes an easing of travel restrictions on Cuba. No concessions have been received by Obama from the Castro regime. [1642,1645]

Seventy-five members of Congress ask House leaders to close a loophole in the stimulus bill that allows jobs to go to illegal immigrants. The original bill had language requiring that employers require workers must be legal residents, but that was removed by someone “high up” in the Democrat Party – possibly Obama, Pelosi, or Reid. The state of North Carolina has introduced a bill requiring that state contractors receiving federal funds verify workers’ residency. [1643]

The U.S. and the United Nations criticize Sudan for expelling Darfur humanitarian aid groups.  The action was taken by Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, after he was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his campaign against Darfur rebels that involved rapes, atrocities, and the killings of thousands of innocent people. Obama said the violence, which has been going on since 2003, is “not acceptable,” and “We need to be able to get those humanitarian organizations back on the ground. The United States wants to work as actively as possible with the United Nations to try to resolve the immediate humanitarian crisis and to start putting us on a path toward long-term peace and stability in the Sudan.” A group of Sudanese jihadists and Darfur Arabs called the “Alliance of Jihadist Suicide Groups” threatens to carry out a “new 9/11” in the U.S. and other nations that support the ICC’s actions against al-Bashir. [1679,1680,1681]

An unscientific MSNBC online survey asks “If you were grading Barack Obama on his performance as president, what (grade) would he get?” The 109,047 responses broke down as A (16 per cent), B (6.4 per cent). C (5 per cent), D (12 per cent, and F (60 per cent). [1648]

The American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) estimates that Obama’s national health care plan will cost as much as $2 trillion over 10 years. Obama has estimated the cost to be $637 billion. (The federal government has neither the $637 billion nor the $2 trillion.) [1651]

On March 11 Obama signs an executive order creating a “White House Council on Women and Girls.” According to the New York Times, the new council would “…help eliminate the challenges faced by women and girls and to ensure that cabinet level agencies coordinate their policies and programs that affect women and families.” There is no indication as to how much the new council would cost taxpayers, or exactly where authorization for its creation can found in the U.S. Constitution. [1672]

A unit commander at Fort Campbell, Kentucky orders all soldiers under his command to provide the location and registration number of any private weapon they own. The order is quickly rescinded, however, and a base spokesperson says the letter was a “mistake.” One soldier who lives off-post and who objected to the order said, “It just seems a little coincidental to me that within 90 days (after) the most anti-firearm president in history is inaugurated, some of the nastiest anti-firearm laws are put on the table in Washington, and then the Army comes around wanting what amounts to a registration on all firearms, even if they are off post, and doesn’t provide any reason or purpose as to why.” [1889]

On March 12 former law enforcement officials hold a press conference to demand a renewed investigation of a 1970 bombing murder of a San Francisco police officer, which they believe involved William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, friends of Obama and former Weather Underground terrorists. Former FBI informant and Weather Underground infiltrator Larry Grathwohl states that Ayers told him Dohrn planted the bomb, which killed Police Sergeant Brian V. McDonnell. Grathwol relates that several years ago “…the FBI and the San Francisco Police Department were looking to prosecute Bernadine Dohrn for murder. They were really pushing it and then it dropped off the radar.” Between January of 1969 and April of 1970 there were more than 4,330 bombings in the United States, an average of nine every day. It is unknown how many were the work of the Weather Underground, but it was certainly more than a few. [1659,1678]

Attorney General Holder’s Justice Department later tells San Francisco police officers to remain silent about their belief that Ayers and Dohrn were involved in the 1970 bombing. The officers had made public a letter stating, “There are irrefutable and compelling reasons to believe that Bill Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn are largely responsible for the bombing of Park Police Station,” and called for bringing “…those responsible for the murder of Sgt. Brian McDonnell and the injuries to other officers to the justice they have so long eluded.” Although William Ayers has stated, “We killed no one and hurt no one,” former FBI informant Larry Grathwohl says in his book, “Bringing Down America,” that Ayers described the details of the event to him. Grathwohl quotes Ayers as having said, “It was a success. But it’s a shame when someone like Bernadine has to make all the plans, make the bomb and then place it herself. She should have to do only the planning.” It is unclear whether the Justice Department wants the San Francisco police officers to remain quiet because some form of investigation is in progress, or simply to silence negative information about friends of Obama that would cause him embarrassment. [1940]

Bernard Madoff pleads guilty to 11 counts of fraud in his multi-billion dollar investment scheme. His bond is immediately revoked and he is sent to jail to await sentencing. Madoff, a Democrat, has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrat candidates and committees – none of which seem eager to return the cash to help some of the destitute investors who were bilked by Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. [1690]

Democrats in both the Senate (Tom Harkin) and the House (George Miller) introduce the “Employee Free Choice Act,” which would allow unions to avoid secret ballots when organizing workers. The legislation would make it far easier to unionize a company, which will necessarily result in higher prices when the costs of the demanded increased wages and benefits are passed on to consumers. (In many cases unionization will drive companies overseas or out of business.) Although Obama has promised he would sign the bill (as payback to the massive campaign support he received from organized labor), it is unclear that the bill can get enough votes top pass in the Senate. [1665]

A survey of 49 economists gives Obama and his Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, failing grades for their handling of the economy. Obama receives a grade of 59 (out of 100). Geithner’s grade of 51 is even lower than the score of 57 given to his predecessor, Henry Paulson. [1667]

Obama tells reporters he has no plans to send federal troops to Texas to stop violence that has spilled over the border from the Mexican drug wars and claimed more than 7,000 lives in that country, despite the pleas for assistance from Texas Governor Rick Perry. Obama said, “We’ve got a very big border with Mexico. I’m not interested in militarizing the border,” leaving Perry and Texas to fend for themselves. Obama offers the excuse that “The average person who’s seeking serious substance abuse treatment in a big city like Dallas or Chicago typically has a three, four, or six-month waiting list to get enrolled” – which could be construed by some as meaning he doesn’t want to cut off the illegal drugs of anyone who has not yet received substance abuse treatment. Obama also makes the argument that “If we can reduce demand, obviously that allows us to focus more effectively where interdiction is needed,” when, of course, cutting off the supply of drugs at the border renders the demand side of the equation meaningless. [1670]

In a 65-28 vote the Senate confirms “porn lawyer” David Ogden as Deputy Attorney General. Most of Ogden’s opponents are Republicans, including Alabama’s Richard Shelby, who states that Ogden “…is more than just a lawyer who has had a few unsavory clients. He has devoted a substantial part of his career, case after case, for 20 years, in defense of pornography.” Former Justice Department official Pat Trueman and pornography prosecutor says that Ogden “…was picked for a reason, and that’s because of his radical agenda. I don’t think President Obama picked him because he’s going to help pornographers. I think he picked him because he’s a radical attorney who’s going to radicalize the Justice Department.” [1675,1701]

On March 12, Dr. Orly Taitz files a motion to the Supreme Court to reconsider her case, Lightfoot v. Bowen, which challenges Obama’s eligibility to serve as President of the United States. Arguments made by Dr. Taitz include the fact that the case was not forwarded from conference to oral argument, even though at least one Justice (Antonin Scalia) had never even heard of the case or similar cases. (This implies that court clerks improperly summarized the case before the Justices who, on the basis of faulty information, ruled not to hear the case.) Taitz’ argument for reconsideration also includes the charge that Clerk of the Court Danny Bickel intentionally mishandled the case, and that the case was erased from the docket two days before the Court was scheduled to meet on the issue. Taitz further argues that her case was prejudiced by a private meeting of Obama with eight of the nine Justices prior to its scheduled review. [1682]

The FBI raids the technology office of the city of Washington, D.C., and its acting chief security officer, Yusuf Acar, is held without bond as a flight risk after $70,000 in cash was found in his home. A former employee, Sushil Bansal, was released but ordered not to travel. Acar (who is a native of Turkey) and Bansal (who is from India) allegedly defrauded the government by billing the city for computer items that were never delivered and hiring “ghost” employees. Their former boss, Vivek Kundra, was chosen by Obama to be his coordinator of federal computer systems. Kundra is now “on leave” from his White House job. Obama’s press secretary states the case is a “serious matter.” Kundra, whose job involves changing the way the government buys technology from vendors, is reportedly not a target of the investigation. In a speech given on March 12 Kundra said, “Imagine the vast depository of information the federal government has and what people could do if they had access to it – how it could change the engagement model and help create a more perfect union.” [1685,1699]

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford rejects $700 million of Obama’s stimulus bill money because he believes the “strings” attached to the cash would harm his state financially in the long run. State legislators are expected, however, to overrule Sanford’s objections and accept the cash – along with its accompanying burdensome restrictions. The stimulus bill included specific language, inserted by Democrat Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, to allow state legislatures to overrule their governors as a way of forcing the rules and restrictions. (That language arguably violates the Constitution’s Tenth Amendment.) Sanford points out the obvious that millions refuse to see, “What you’re doing is buying into the notion that if we just print some more money that we don’t have and send it to different states, we’ll create jobs. If that’s the case, why isn’t Zimbabwe a rich place?” (The nation of Zimbabwe has been continuously printing money in an effort to improve its economy, with predictably disastrous inflationary results. Prices have gone so high that the country has $100 trillion currency denominations. Citizens are billionaires, but even a trip to the market can cost hundreds of millions in Zimbabwe currency. At one point the country’s inflation rate was an astounding 230 million per cent.) [1686,1815,1847]

In New York’s 20th Congressional District, vacated by Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand when she was appointed to Hillary Clinton’s vacant Senate seat, Republican candidate Jim Tedisco leads his challenger by 14 points. The election, which many might consider a referendum on Obama’s policies, will be held March 31. New Jersey chooses a new Governor in November of 2009, and in the polls incumbent Jon Corzine trails potential challengers Christopher Christie (49 to 34 per cent) and Steve Lonegan (43 to 35 per cent). [1687,1692]

Although the $410 billion spending bill includes a provision to end a temporary experimental practice of allowing Mexican trucks to cross the border into the U.S. (within a 20 mile corridor) for deliveries, the Obama administration is working to restore the policy. Mexico insists that the United States must allow the practice in order to comply with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but opponents argue that inspections have shown hundreds of safety violations by long-haul rigs allowed on U.S. roads. (A survey commissioned by the Arizona Republic newspaper found that the Mexican trucks operating in the U.S. actually had a better safety record than U.S.-owned trucks.) Critics, like Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR), who previously charged that President Bush was “Hell-bent on opening our borders” without requiring that “Mexican drivers and trucks meet the same safety standards as U.S. drivers and trucks,” will now be fighting Obama for the same reasons. [1688,1874]

Obama meets with 65 CEOs from the Business Roundtable, where he asks for support of his health care, education, and energy agendas, and suggests that in return he might be willing to lower the corporate tax rate (which stands at 35 per cent, second only to Japan’s 39.5 per cent). “Obama said he would be willing to consider lowering the 35 percent corporate tax rate as he closes other business-tax loopholes,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Obama tells the group – allegedly with a straight face – “I’ve always been a strong believer in the power of the free market. It has been and will remain the very engine of America’s progress – the source of a prosperity that has gone unmatched in human history.” In complete contradiction to his actions since becoming President, Obama said, “I believe that jobs are best created not by government, but by businesses and entrepreneurs like you who are willing to take risks on a good idea. And I believe that our role as lawmakers is not to disparage wealth, but to expand its reach; not to stifle the market, but to strengthen its ability to unleash the creativity and innovation that still makes this nation the envy of the world.” [1693,1723]

On Friday the 13th two deputy U.S. marshalls visit Jesse H. Merrell because he had written a “passionate” letter to U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson. Merrell criticized Robertson for dismissing a lawsuit questioning Obama’s natural born citizen status and eligibility to serve as President. The Judge had written that “The issue of the president’s citizenship was raised, vetted, blogged, texted, twittered, and otherwise massaged by America’s vigilant citizenry during Mr. Obama’s two-year-campaign for the presidency, but this plaintiff (retired Air Force Colonel Gregory Hollister) wants it resolved by a court.” Merrell relates that he told the marshalls, “Unless the First Amendment had been repealed, or they were going to arrest me, we had nothing to talk about.” According to Merrell, the marshalls cited “some obscure law which made it illegal to say anything that caused ‘emotional distress’ to a federal judge.” Merrell allegedly said in his letter, “How dare people use a flimsy thing like the Constitution to darken your sanctimonious door! The insane idea that a blue-gum baboon slashing our Constitution has to prove U.S. citizenship – as our silly old Constitution demands – is too absurd to consider in the sacred chambers of the tiny tin gods of the Potomac, adorning the royal purple and sipping Jim Jones Kool-Aid. Thanks to smug, slimy shysters like you, Obama gets a free ride – snootily stomping on our foolish Constitution, which supercilious idiots like you have long ago shredded for their own stupid opinions!” Although Merrell’s letter did not contain any specific threats against Judge Robertson, it is admittedly inflammatory. Merrell states that his anti-government attitude can be attributed perhaps to his fourth-great-grandfather, Captain Benjamin Merrell, who was hanged and drawn and quartered by the British for protesting high taxes in 1771. [1791,1890]

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao warns the United States not to devalue the dollar through reckless spending. China holds an estimated $1 trillion in U.S. bonds, which would be worth considerably less in real terms if Obama finances his massive spending plans by printing money and causing hyperinflation. “Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I’m a little bit worried,” said Wen. “I would like to call on the United States to honor its words, stay a credible nation and ensure the safety of Chinese assets.” If the U.S. is not careful, China will stop buying bonds – or even start selling them off – leaving Obama with the problem of finding buyers for the enormous debt he is accumulating. (China was also noticeably annoyed that Secretary Treasury Geithner, prior to his confirmation hearing, had claimed it had been “manipulating” its currency.) The president of the China Investment Company, Gao Xiqing, warns, “Be nice to the countries that lend you money.” [1696,1761,1832]

As China warns the United States to get its economic house in order, the Obama administration – which had been preaching nothing but gloom and doom and an “economic catastrophe” in an effort to get its spending programs passed without much scrutiny – quickly starts talking up the economy and the stock market. Obama’s top economic advisor Larry Summers says that stock prices are now the “sale of the century,” Obama himself says we are at “…the point where buying stocks is a potentially good deal if you’ve got a long term perspective,” and we have “the most dynamic free market economy on earth.” Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs says “there is no safer investment in the world (than) that in the United States.” To reassure the markets and the Chinese, Obama (sounding suspiciously like the John McCain who he strongly criticized just a few months ago for saying “the fundamentals of the economy are strong”) declares that “If we are keeping focused on all the fundamentally sound aspects of our economy – all the outstanding companies, workers, all the innovation and dynamism in this economy – then we’re going to get through this.” [1515,1527,1709]

A California judge tosses out a lawsuit brought by Presidential candidate Alan Keyes challenging Obama’s eligibility to serve as President. The lawsuit argues that the Secretary of State, the person responsible for running elections in California, has an obligation to confirm that an individual is qualified before placing his name on the state’s ballots. California Secretary of State Debra Bowen argued she had no “ministerial duty” to demand proof of citizenship, and the judge, Michael P. Kenny, found Bowen’s argument “persuasive.” Legally, therefore, anyone can be placed on the ballot in the state of California, because the Secretary of State feels she is under no obligation to challenge the candidate’s qualifications. (In 1968 California Secretary of State Frank Jordan had “Peace and Freedom Party” candidate Eldridge Cleaver removed from the ballot after determining from his birth certificate that he was only 34 years old, and an individual must be at least 35 to serve as President.) The judge argues that only Members of Congress can challenge the qualifications of the President – which is convenient for a President whose political party controls both the Senate and the House. [1713]

Congressman Bill Posey (R-FL) introduces H.R. 1503, an amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Posey’s amendment would require presidential candidates to provide birth certificates and other documents to prove they meet the Constitution’s eligibility requirement. Posey’s spokesman, George Cecala, states that “Once we pass this bill, we can be assured that future elections won’t have this (Obama eligibility) problem. It’s not an attack on President Obama; it’s just clarifying for future elections.” With Democrats in control of both the House and the Senate, the odds of the amendment passing are close to zero. [1714]

At a public event where Joe Biden points out how $1.3 billion of stimulus money would help rebuild train stations and rail lines, a former Senate colleague addresses him as “Mr. Vice-President.” Not realizing the microphone is on, Biden chides the Senator, “Give me a fucking break!” [1731]

The Obama administration decides to stop using the term “enemy combatants” and instead will embrace “international law” as its basis for holding terrorist suspects at Guantanamo. The new policy, according to the Justice Department, “…provides that individuals who supported al Qaeda or the Taliban are detainable only if the support was substantial. And it does not employ the phrase ‘enemy combatant.’” (It is unclear how much support a terrorist has to provide for it to be considered “substantial” by the Obama administration.) The new policy “…draws on the international laws of war.” Attorney General Holder remarks, “As we work toward developing a new policy to govern detainees, it is essential that we operate in a manner that strengthens our national security, is consistent with our values, and is governed by (international) law.” The new Attorney General apparently prefers following international laws than those of the United States – which he took an oath to follow and protect. [1715]

Dr. Orly Taitz, an attorney who has filed several lawsuits challenging Obama’s eligibility to serve as President, travels to the University of Idaho to attend a public event featuring Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. During the question and answer session after Roberts’ remarks, Dr. Taitz is able to mention the Lightfoot v. Bowen case and complain that court clerk Danny Bickle sabotaged her efforts to get the case reviewed by the Supreme Court. Dr. Taitz had brought with her 350,000 signatures on petitions asking that the case be heard, along with all the relevant documents of the case (Taitz’s motion to reconsider Lightfoot v. Bowen, Quo Warranto Easterling et al v. Obama, 3,300 pages of petitions, and a copy of a 164-page dossier sent to Attorney General Holder). Members of the audience listen attentively to the question – until they realize the lawsuit to which Dr. Taitz is referring is directed against Obama, at which that point some people laugh. Chief Justice Roberts agrees to accept the documents, stating, “I will read your documents, I will review them. Give them to my Secret Service Agent and I will review them.” [1716,1726,1737]

The New York Times reports that the Obama administration may be considering taxing employer-provided health insurance to raise as much as $246 billion per year in tax revenue. During the campaign in 2008 Obama harshly criticized his opponent, Senator John McCain, for even considering such a proposal. Under McCain’s plan, the taxing of employer-paid health insurance would be offset by tax credits for the cost of purchasing health insurance. The logic of that proposal is that, acting in their own economic self-interest, employees would, with the help of the tax credit, purchase their own health insurance policies – policies that would likely be much less expensive than what their employers provide. (For example, an employee might buy a policy with a high deductible or out-of-pocket limit in order to save money on premiums, or a policy that covers the “big-ticket” items but not occasional physician visits for things like strep throat.) The Obama administration’s plan would more likely tax the employer-provided health insurance but not also provide a tax credit to buy an individual policy. Instead, the employee would – in order to avoid taxes – simply elect to fall under a nationalized health plan. Thus, Obama would force socialized health care on the nation by making it economically impractical to remain under an employer plan. Obama could therefore argue that his plan provides “choice” – when the choice would be between the federal plan and a tax penalty to remain under a private plan. Obama’s budget director, Peter Orszag, has previously suggested taxing employer-provided health benefits. Orszag’s current position is that the option “most firmly should remain on the table.” [1718]

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar cancels oil and gas leases on 77 parcels of federal land, covering about 130,000 acres in Utah. Republicans, meanwhile, urge Salazar to approve offshore drilling with 31 previously planned oil and gas lease sales. There are an estimated 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas off U.S. coasts, according to the Interior Department, but it is unclear how Obama intends to make the U.S. “energy independent” while prohibiting drilling for oil and gas. The cancellation of the leases will cause job losses in Utah and cost the state millions in tax revenue. (The December 19 lease sales were disrupted by an environmental activist, Tim DeChristopher, who offered the winning bid ($1.8 million) for leasing 31 of the 77 parcels. DeChristopher, it turns out, is a University of Utah student who never had any intention of paying for the leases – and likely doesn’t have the $1.8 million either – but wanted to prevent legitimate businesses from gaining access to the drilling rights. Federal charges may be pressed against DeChristopher, despite Salazar having canceled the leases.) [1719,1720,1721,1722]

State sovereignty resolutions run into opposition in Arkansas, Washington, and New Hampshire, where Democrats kill them in committee or in floor votes. Roughly half of the remaining states with current resolutions in progress have Democrats controlling one or both houses in the legislatures, making passage less likely. Despite strong grass roots support for the resolutions in many states, Democrats seem unable to muster the courage to recognize, let alone support, the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. [1724]

Polls reflect that an ever-increasing number of Americans suspect Obama is in “over his head.” Actions taken by Obama to help the economy may actually make it worse, according to 83 per cent of those surveyed; 82 per cent are worried about the incredible rise in the national debt; 78 per cent believe inflation is on the way; and 69 per cent have no confidence in government-mandated “fixes.” Only 60 per cent believe the “stimulus” bill will actually stimulate the economy – and 12 per cent believe it will unfairly help irresponsible people. Nevertheless, Obama’s generic approval ratings remain relatively high – mostly because Americans currently blame Congress more than him. [1725]

North Korea announces it will launch a rocket over Japan and toward the Pacific Ocean between April 4 and 8. Japan protests and announces it has the right to shoot down the rocket, because its trajectory is a danger to the nation. (The first stage of the rocket is expected to land within 75 miles of Japan.) “Legally speaking,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura, “if this object falls toward Japan, we can shoot it down for safety reasons.” A launch by North Korea would be in violation of a 2006 U.N Security Council resolution banning any ballistic missile activity by the communist nation.  A launch would “threaten the peace and stability in the region,” states U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.  Obama’s State Department spokesman, Robert Wood, says, “We think the North needs to desist, or not carry out this type of provocative act, and sit down … and work on the process of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.” Some argue that Obama’s election created a “power vacuum” and the world’s more dangerous nations, sensing weakness in the new President, intend to fill it. North Korea’s action is seen by some as a provocation simply to see what Obama will do, with the expectation that he will do nothing but issue a weak statement of condemnation followed by no action. [1730]

At a time when the economy is in less than ideal shape and the national debt is growing by trillions of dollars, Obama decides the federal government needs to spend tax money on a new White House staff position. The new employee, Kareen Dale, will be charged with overseeing arts and culture. (Dale, a partially-blind lawyer, had been the Obama campaign’s “national disability director.”) The White House describes the new position as “a big step forward in terms of connecting cultural and government with mainstream administration policy.” (Critics are no doubt looking through the U.S. Constitution to find a legal justification for the position.) [1732]

The “Organizing for America” (OFA) project is officially unfurled. OFA is a “grass roots movement” according to Obama, but it is sponsored and funded by the Democrat National Committee. OFA will use a massive database of Obama supporters (10 million or more) gathered during the campaign to “mobilize support for the president’s legislative agenda.” Individuals who sign up are asked to take a pledge – to Obama and his “bold plan.” Obama will use OFA to enable him to quickly contact people most willing to lobby for his proposals. When he feels that he needs to “round up the troops,” OFA will issue mass e-mails to members requesting them to pressure their Congressmen or neighbors or local community leaders to “help Obama succeed.” The web site asks individuals to “Create a Pledge Project Canvass in your neighborhood on Saturday, March 21st, to knock-on-doors and ask your neighbors to take a pledge of support for President Obama’s bold approach to renew America’s economy and invest in energy, health care, and education.” [1849,1850,1875]

On CNN’s “State of the Union” program on March 15, former Vice-President Dick Cheney warns that Obama’s policies “raise the risk” of a terrorist attack, and points to the scheduled closing of the detention camp at Guantanamo, limiting interrogation methods, and suspending military tribunals for captured terrorists. Cheney states, “When you go back to the law enforcement mode, which I sense is what they’re doing … they are very much giving up that center of attention and focus that’s required, and that concept of military threat that is essential if you’re going to successfully defend the nation against further attacks.” Cheney also confirms that the policies Bush had in place, which Obama is trying to eliminate, successfully prevented a number of specific terrorist attacks after September 11, 2001, but adds that the information is “…still classified. I can’t give you the details of it without violating classification, but I can say there were a great many of them.”  Cheney is also critical of Obama’s choice of Christopher Hill as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq. “He’s not the man I would have picked for that post. He doesn’t have any experience in the region. He’s never served in that part of the world before. He doesn’t speak the language,” and has “none of the skills and talents” of his predecessor, Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Cheney said that Crocker deserves credit, along with former Iraq commander General David Petraeus, for “the success we’ve seen now in Iraq.” Hill had been an ineffective negotiator with North Korea over its nuclear program. Cheney remarks that, “I didn’t think the North Koreans were going to keep their end of the bargain in terms of what they agreed to, and they didn’t.” Cheney likely suspects Iran will be no more trustworthy than North Korea, and that its regime can hoodwink Hill as easily as had North Korea. [1733,1758]

Obama’s economic advisor, Christina Romer, appears on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and is asked if the fundamentals of the economy are sound. She replies, “Of course they are sound,” even though Obama budget director Peter Orszag had said only a week before that “fundamentally, the economy is weak.” (During the campaign, when the economy was in better shape and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was about 4,000 points higher, Senator John McCain was criticized by Obama and the media for insisting that “The fundamentals of the economy are strong.”) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell remarks that the Obama administration is “…taking advantage of a crisis in order to do things that had nothing to do with getting us into the crisis in the first place.” [1734,1749]

On March 15 as many as 4,000 angry citizens gather at Cincinnati’s Fountain Square, in the latest of many “tea party” tax protests directed at wasteful government spending. “I’m frustrated with the way things are going in Congress. They need to remember that they work for us, and right now, we don’t approve,” says protestor Sean Lynch. “This is not a Democrat thing or a Republican thing, it’s a government thing.” One five year old girl in the crowd holds a sign reading, “Where’s my free pony?” and her mother expresses concern that her daughter’s generation would be stuck paying for “today’s excessive government spending.” To date, at least 150 such tea party protests have been held or have been scheduled. Nationwide tea party protests are scheduled for April 15, 2009. [1738,1745,1755,1859,1938]

A March 15 Rasmussen poll shows Republicans leading Democrats 41 to 39 per cent on a “generic congressional ballot.” This marks a significant change, as the “generic Democrat” candidate has led the “generic Republican” candidate in the poll for years. [1792]

Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Obama’s chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisors Christina Romer states that $730 million of the $787 billion stimulus package would be available to help owners of small businesses via reduced lending fees and higher loan guarantees. “We know that small businesses are the engine of growth,” said Romer. “We absolutely want to do things to help them.” If the administration believes that small businesses are the engine of job growth, it is unclear why it would allocate less than one-tenth of one per cent of the “stimulus bill” funds to stimulate small businesses. Further, the $730 million allocated to help small businesses at a time of economic crisis is even less than the $900 million the Obama administration previously pledged to the Palestinian Authority. Some wonder about Obama’s priorities, when more money is given more quickly to people who hate the United States than to those who maintain the engine of the American economy. [1743,1782]

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke appears on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on March 15 and says the recession might end in 2009 if banks lend more freely again and the financial markets start working more normally. “We’ve seen some progress in the financial markets, absolutely, but until we get that stabilized and working normally, we’re not going to see recovery,” states Bernanke. “But we do have a plan. We’re working on it. And, I do think that we will get it stabilized, and we’ll see the recession coming to an end probably this year.” He also warns that the unemployment rate of 8.1 per cent will likely keep climbing. [1740]

Obama’s March 16 Rasmussen Presidential approval index is +4, his lowest rating to date. The +4 represent the difference between those who strongly approve of Obama’s performance (36 per cent) and those who strongly disapprove (32 per cent). [1739]

Obama and top Democrats excoriate AIG for issuing $165 million in bonuses to executives, after having received federal bail-outs of $173 billion. ($173 billion is enough to pay the electric bill of every American for an entire year.) Obama states he’s doing everything he can to stop the payment of the bonuses and asked Treasury Secretary Geithner to “pursue every single legal avenue,” but if the bonuses are required by employee contracts he has little, if any, ability to rescind them. (Stopping the bonuses would be tantamount to taking away sales commission defined in one’s employment contract.) It is also the case that the bail-outs, for which Obama voted for as Senator, were approved with “no strings.” Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CN) even inserted language in the bail-out bill to exempt the bonuses from being rescinded. The bill provided an “exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed to on or before February 11, 2009.” (Dodd is the Senate’s largest recipient of campaign donations – $103,100 – from AIG. Obama was close behind, collecting $101,332 from AIG.) If the government is able to prevent the payment of the $165 million in bonuses, it is effectively also removing that $165 million from the New York economy. The money was essentially given to the Secretary of the Treasury (first Hank Paulson, and then Timothy Geithner) to disburse as they saw fit. (ABC’s George Stephanopolous later remarks, “They (Obama and Geithner) feel caught in a bind. When they respond to this populist anger, they feel they get a very negative reaction from the business community and the stock market. When they try to appease the business community and the stock market, the public rises up. It’s a tough dilemma.”) While Obama criticizes AIG’s bonus payments, it is disclosed that $93 billion of the $173 billion that was given to AIG went not to AIG but to Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (former employer of Secretary Paulson, which received $12.9 billion) and many European banks, including Germany’s Deutsche Bank ($11.8 billion), France’s Societe Generale ($11.9 billion), and Great Britain’s Barclays ($8.5 billion). U.S. taxpayer money was thus used to bail out a company whose major investors are German, French, and British. [1743,1760,1762,1763,1774,1785,1787,1796]

Had AIG been allowed to file bankruptcy and not been given federal bail-out money in the first place there would have been no fuss about executive bonuses, because salary and bonus contracts would have been nullified and voided under the bankruptcy provisions. There would have been a liquidation and sale of the company’s assets – and the taxpayers would have saved more than $170 billion. Obama and Geithner pretend as though they knew nothing of the executive bonuses, but it was Geithner who was the main architect of the AIG bail-out months earlier, working on bail-outs with Paulson and Bernanke even before Obama’s inauguration. [1788]

While Obama and Congress feed the public’s “hate Wall Street” frenzy for its massive losses, most Americans and the media seem to have forgotten that less than a year earlier everyone was consumed with anger over Exxon Mobil’s record profits. The oil giant made $11.68 billion in profits in the second quarter of 2008 ($1,485.55 in profits per second), and also paid $32.36 billion in taxes ($4,114 in taxes per second). It is not clear what the politicians and American citizens expect from private enterprise, when being successful and making a profit results in scorn and resentment, and losing money generates hatred and anger. (It is also unclear whether Congress is considering legislation requiring that all Americans businesses  earn exactly $0.00 profit and generate $0.00 losses.) [1877]

The Department of Defense terminates its sale of expended military brass to re-manufacturers. New rules require that fired brass shell casings be destroyed, rather than sold for re-use. Re-manufacturers will no longer be able to buy surplus brass from the government. It will instead be shredded and sold as scrap – most likely to China (one of the world’s largest purchasers of U.S. metals). This policy change will make it more difficult for ammunitions manufacturers to meet consumer demands, and cause prices to skyrocket. [1751]

In response to former Vice-President Dick Cheney’s warning that Obama’s policies “raise the risk” of a terrorist attack, Obama’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, sarcastically tells the press on March 16, “I guess Rush Limbaugh was busy so they trotted out the next most popular member of the Republican cabal.” Gibbs adds that “The president has made quite clear that keeping the American people safe and secure is the most serious job that he has each and every day,” but does not address the specific point made by Cheney, that the closing of Guantanamo and CIA detention camps, weakening detainee interrogation methods, and suspending military tribunals for enemy combatants will merely embolden terrorists who believe the new administration is weak. [1733,1758]

In retaliation for the termination of an experimental NAFTA program allowing Mexican trucks to cross the border into the U.S. (up to 20 miles) for deliveries, Mexico announces a 90 per cent tariff on U.S. products. The tariff is expected to affect $2.4 billion in annual trade and at least 90 agricultural and industrial products. Teamster President James Hoffa, Jr. calls the tariff increase an “absurd reaction,” and adds that “The right response from Mexico would be to make sure its drivers and trucks are safe enough to use our highways without endangering our drivers. The border must stay closed until Mexico upholds its end of the bargain.” (A study showed that the Mexican trucks operating north of the border were actually less safe than U.S. trucks.) Obama is expected to work to re-instate the NAFTA program. If the dispute is not resolved, Americans will be selling billions of dollars less in products to Mexico so that Teamsters can enjoy federal job protection. [1688,1764,1874]

William Poole, former St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President, lambastes the Obama administration for its ineptness in handling the economic crisis. “Everyone agrees that the bailout regime cannot be allowed to persist, and yet federal authorities seem not to have a clue as to what our financial course is or should be,” said Poole. “We are in a terrible situation right now, lurching from crisis to crisis with no direction as to where we are going. The bailout regime in which we find ourselves is an affront to the market and an affront to democracy. Along with many citizens, I am angry, frustrated and worried.” He adds, “What is incomprehensible a full year after the Bear Stearns bail-out is that there is still no plan for the future. We have a right to expect of our leadership a plan that will guarantee that we will never be stuck in this situation again,” and warns that “Washington does not have a clue as to what reforms to put in place.” [1765]

In an interview with the German publication “Spiegel,” Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano is asked, “…in your first testimony to the U.S. Congress as Homeland Security Secretary you never mentioned the word ‘terrorism.’ Does Islamist terrorism suddenly no longer pose a threat to your country?” Napolitano responds, “Of course it does. I presume there is always a threat from terrorism. In my speech, although I did not use the word ‘terrorism,’ I referred to ‘man-caused’ disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs explains that Obama is using “different words and phrases (than war on terrorism) in order to denote a reaching out to many moderate parts of the world that we believe can be important in a battle against extremists.” There is no word on how Obama and Napolitano plan on responding to a significant Islamist “man-caused disaster,” whether they will continue to vigorously fight the “war on man-caused disasters,” or whether female suicide bomber attacks will be referred to as “female-caused disasters.” [1767,1921]

Veterans groups are outraged over an almost-unbelievable Obama administration plan that would force private health insurance to cover the expense of injuries incurred by soldiers while on active duty. The plan would allegedly save the federal government $540 million. Such a plan would end up causing military families to be hit with increased premiums and even lose private coverage, because maximum plan limitations could easily be reached for treatment of serious war injuries. (If, for example, a family health insurance policy had a $1 million cap on payments and the wounded soldier’s treatment quickly used up that $1 million limit, his wife and children would then have no insurance at all.) Further, businesses would be reluctant to hire veterans because it could mean skyrocketing insurance rates. [1766,1790]

Craig Roberts, media manager for the American Legion, calls Obama’s plan a “desperate search for money at any cost.” After meeting with Obama, Rahm Emanuel, and Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to object to the plan, the American Legion’s Commander David K. Rehbein says, “This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ‘to care for him who shall have borne the battle,’ given that the United States government sent members of the Armed Forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies.  …the American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service-connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America’s veterans.” [1766,1790]

 The Obama administration defiantly tells 11 veterans service organizations that if they don’t like his plan they should come up with another way to generate $540 million in revenue. Obama’s plan is intended to “make the insurance companies pay their fair share,” but it is not, of course, the insurance companies that send the troops into battle. Service-related injuries have traditionally been paid for by the government; in fact, health insurance policies typically exclude coverage for injuries or illnesses that are the result of service in the Armed Forces. Roberts states that Obama ignored the argument that the government has a moral responsibility to pay for the treatment of injured soldiers. “The president deflected any discussion when it got into any moral issue here,” he said. “Any attempt to direct the conversation (to the moral aspect of the issue) was immediately deflected.” A letter of protest from the11 veterans organizations said “there is simply no logical explanation” for a plan to bill veterans’ personal insurance “for care that the VA has a responsibility to provide.” The letter called it “unconscionable” to shift the burden of the country’s “fiscal problems (to) the men and women who have already sacrificed a great deal for this country.” [1766,1790]

Democrat Senator Charles Schumer of New York warns on March 17 that AIG employees should refuse to accept their bonuses because he plans to get a law passed that will tax them more than 90 per cent, saying, “We will take this money back by taxing virtually all of it. So let the recipients of these large and unseemly bonuses be warned. If you don’t return it on your own, we will do it for you.” Obama’s press secretary states that lawyers are “looking through contracts to see what can be done to wrest these bonuses from their recipients.”  Ten Democrats in the House introduce a bill to tax all AIG bonuses beyond $100,000 at 100 per cent. Such “vengeance tax” legislation may arguably be in violation of the U.S Constitution. (Many legislators likely assume the bill would be found unconstitutional but will vote for it anyway to keep their angry constituents happy, even though they are violating their oath of office by casting a vote that knowingly violates the U.S. Constitution.) [1769,1770,1837]

The Obama administration in general and Treasury Secretary Geithner in particular start getting harsh criticism from lawmakers in both parties for the handling of the AIG bail-out – which was orchestrated by Geithner, Paulson, and Bernanke. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) remarks, “There’s either competence or incompetence going on here, and it looks like a lot of incompetence. I think this is the tip of the iceberg.” Appearing on the CBS “Early Show,” Shelby also states, “I think Secretary Geithner does not have his hands around the details of this, and if he does, then there’s a lot more questions to be asked. I don’t know if he should resign over this. That’s up to – you know, he works for the President of the United States.” According to press secretary Robert Gibbs, Obama has “complete confidence” in Geithner. Gibbs also says that based on what he “read in the newspaper” the administration learned about the (large AIG employee) bonuses the prior week – despite having given AIG another $30 billion in early March. Many legislators believe Geithner knew of the existence of the bonuses. Congressman Scott Garrett (R-NJ) comments, “So it’s only now that it’s making headlines that the president is coming back and basically second-guessing his own treasury secretary on this. Why Secretary Geithner didn’t raise this when he first understood it is beyond me.” Republican minority leader John Boehner asks, “What is the government’s exit strategy from this sweeping involvement in private business?” [1768,1769,1785,1786]

The predicament facing Obama and Geithner with the AIG bonuses is that if they come down too hard on the executives of the firm, many may simply leave the company and let it fall even further into disarray. The whole point of “retention bonuses” is to provide a financial incentive for executives to remain at AIG and help get it back on a sound financial footing, rather than just let it disintegrate. If Obama removes those incentives, the executives may simply walk away from the debris – and lesser-paid, less knowledgeable newcomers may have a difficult time reviewing and straightening out the firm’s records. If Obama addresses the issue of the AIG bonuses in too timid a fashion, Americans will be angry that he didn’t do more and will be less willing to support future bail-outs he may request. The issue may ultimately be decided by lawyers. [1771]

Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, former CEO of AIG, states, “Nobody during my tenure (at AIG) had a contract, starting with me. No one was ever paid a retention bonus. You believed in the company – or you didn’t.” Greenberg had successfully run AIG for more than 40 years, until New York Attorney General Spitzer went after the company and got Greenberg to resign. (Many argue that Spitzer was out to make a name for himself. Spitzer later successfully ran for Governor of New York, and then had to resign in disgrace after his name surfaced in a prostitution investigation.) Greenberg’s successor, Martin Sullivan, then destroyed the company to the point where it required a taxpayer bail-out. Sullivan’s government-picked successor, Edward Liddy, is now attempting to stay out of the public limelight. Some argue that had Greenberg remained with AIG its problems would have been significantly less serious. Greenberg also stated that “Although AIG stockholders could have fared better if the company had filed for bankruptcy protection, other stakeholders – like AIG’s Wall Street counterparties in swaps and other transactions – would have fared worse.” (That is, Geithner, Paulson, and Bernanke orchestrated the federal bail-outs to save their Wall Street friends, not the shareholders.) [1741,1742,1772,1785,1786]

Attorney General Eric Holder moves to use Mexico’s drug violence to frighten Americans into accepting tougher gun regulations and restrictions. Holder says, “As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to re-institute the ban on the sale of assault weapons. I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum.” National Rifle Association (NRA) President Wayne LaPierre respond that Holder’s argument is “bizarre,” and “It’s a delusion to say that diminishing the Second Amendment in America is somehow going to stop these ruthless drug cartels in Mexico.” Holder supports H.R. 45, the Blair Holt Act of 2009, which will place significant licensing restrictions on gun owners – and not just on “assault weapons,” as Holder incorrectly implies. The law also allows the attorney General to personally add categories of guns to a list of banned weapons, thus allowing Holder to be the sole arbitrator of whether civilians are allowed to own a particular gun. Many members of Congress in both parties will be reluctant to support H.R. 45, as they will worry it will cause their defeat in their next election. At least 65 House Democrats say they would oppose attempts to revive the weapons ban that Bill Clinton signed in 1994 but which was later allowed to expire by President Bush. Gun critics argue that the Mexican drug warlords are obtaining their guns from the United States and claim that simply preventing Americans from owning guns will keep them from finding their way into Mexico. An alternate argument is that beefing up border security will reduce the flow of guns from the U.S. into Mexico while, at the same time, reducing the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S. The money saved by not providing hundreds of thousands of additional illegal immigrants with welfare, health, and education benefits would more than offset the cost of increased border security. [1597,1598,1599,1600,1773,1845]

It is disclosed that the corrupt activist group ACORN – which Obama had worked with for years and still continues to support with federal tax dollars – will be used to assist in the 2010 census, leading critics to express concerns that the enumeration operation will be wrought with fraud. Congressman Lynn A. Westmoreland (R-GA), ranking member of the U.S. Census subcommittee, says, “It’s a concern, especially when you look at all the different charges of voter fraud. And it’s not just the lawmakers’ concern. It should be the concern of every citizen in the country. We want an enumeration. We don’t want to have any false numbers.” ACORN claims to be non-partisan but it has a history of efforts to assist Democrats through its frequently fraud-ridden voter registration drives. (In 2007 five ACORN employees were convicted in Washington State in “the worst case of election fraud” in the state’s history.) The GOPUSA’s Bobby Eberle comments, “ACORN has been accused of voter fraud, embezzlement, and more… and yet this is a group that the federal government wants helping with the census?” [240,1776,1795]

On March 17 Obama confronts critics of his record-breaking budget, admonishing them with the statement, “If there are members of Congress who object to specific policies and proposals in this budget then I ask them to be ready and willing to propose constructive alternative solutions. ‘Just say no’ is the right advice to give your teenagers about drugs. It is not an acceptable response to whatever economic policies are proposed by the other party.” Many of Obama’s critics argue, however, that ‘just say no’ is, in fact, the best response to the overblown budget, and the government should definitely say ‘no’ to a multitude of projects and programs that are not practical, cost-effective – or even consistent with the U.S. Constitution. Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), meanwhile, have done more than ‘just say no’, by introducing a bill based mainly on tax cuts that is meant to rejuvenate the economy. [1777,1797]

During a St. Patrick’s Day visit to the White House, the TelePrompTer malfunctions during a speech by Ireland’s Prime Minster Brian Cowen. Following the on-screen text, Cowen inadvertently begins repeating Obama’s comments. Cowen turns to Obama to say, “That’s your speech.” Obama then returns to the lectern to speak. The Teleprompter, now updated with Cowan’s speech, causes Obama to “thank President Obama” for his hospitality. [1931]

In a test near Hawaii on March 17, the U.S. military successfully shoots down a medium-range ballistic missile using a ground-based missile defense system, thus vindicating the “Star Wars” missile defense system initiated by President Reagan in 1983. Obama has called the program a “boondoggle and unmitigated failure,” although Defense Secretary Gates favors the continuing development of the system. Obama also recently offered not to implement the system in Poland in exchange for Russia’s assistance in preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev called Obama’s bluff and quickly accepted his offer to not deploy the defense system in Poland… but said he won’t use Iran for haggling. [1439,1504,1839,1840]

Secretary Treasurer Geithner writes a letter to House Speaker Pelosi in which he says he “will impose on AIG a contractual commitment to pay the Treasury from the operations of the company the amount of the retention awards just paid. In addition, we will deduct from the $30 billion in assistance an amount equal to the amount of those payments.” AIG will therefore be forced to write a check to the government for the $165 million amount of the employee bonus payment, and the next bail-out payment to AIG will be reduced by $165 million, and Congress intends to tax the bonus payments at 90 per cent. (Some might look at that as penalties of almost three times the amount of the bonuses.) [1879]

Caterpillar, Incorporated, the largest maker of construction and mining equipment in the world, announces that an additional 2,365 workers are being laid off (for an expected six months) and 89 will be let go permanently. (The company had laid off 22,000 workers in January.) Obama visited the company’s East Peoria, Illinois factory on February 12 and claimed that “If Congress passes our (stimulus) plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off.” Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens later says, “The truth is we’re going to have more layoffs before we start hiring again… it is going to take some time” before the stimulus bill prompts new jobs. [1204,1778,1906]

Jason Furman, deputy director of the White House National Economic Council, admits that the administration’s $646 billion estimate of the cost of Obama’s “cap-and-trade” tax program  to “fight global warming” will actually cost two or three times that amount. The estimated $1.3 – $1.9 trillion in new energy taxes would be spread out over the first eight years of a 40 year program, and those costs will be passed on to consumers – because businesses and utility companies can’t print money. The administration’s revised cost estimates come at a time when Americans are becoming increasingly skeptical of the man’s influence on climate change. (A Gallup poll found that 41 per cent of Americans believe that climate change warnings are exaggerated.) According to energy analyst Margo Thorning, Obama’s cap-and-trade plan would, “In dollar cost terms, probably (be) an additional $700 to $1,400 per family per year, starting around 2012.” Thorning’s study was done before the admission that the tax will end up costing not $646 billion, but two to three times that amount. Other experts place the eventual cost of Obama’s global warming tax at $2,000-$5,000 per family per year in added energy expenses – and not just families earning $250,000 or more per year. [1747,1779,1793,1794,1821,1822]

In March 18 testimony to a congressional committee, AIG head Edward Liddy defends the bonuses paid to its executives because those employees had specialized knowledge of the business operations and were critical to analyzing and disposing of its complex securities. Liddy accepts the criticism being leveled against AIG, saying “We have been the beneficiary of the American people’s forbearance and patience. And we are acutely aware not only that we must be good stewards of the public funds we have received, but that the patience of America’s taxpayers is wearing thin.” Liddy is pressed by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) to provide a list of the names of AIG executives who were paid bonuses. Liddy refuses, citing death threats the employees had received. (Liddy reads from a threatening letter warning that all bonus recipients should be “executed with piano wire around their neck,” and another that asks for “…all the CEOs’ names, kids, where they live, etc.”) Liddy also confirms that the Federal Reserve Board knew about the bonus payments in advance. While legislators from both parties criticize AIG for bonus payments, it is reported that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are also issuing large bonuses to keep key executives from leaving. [1783,1816,1817,1834]

It is reported that a network of Iranian lobbyists has gained considerable access to the Obama administration. The group seeks to influence U.S. policy toward Iran. The lobbyists have also been giving contributions to members of Congress, and are purportedly supported by high-level leadership in Tehran. [1973]

Ron Kirk, Obama’s pick for U.S. trade representative, opposes the pending U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and says the deal “simply isn’t acceptable.” The FTA, negotiated by the Bush administration, agrees to eliminate the U.S. tariff on cars made in South Korea (2.5 per cent) and the South Korean tariff (8 per cent) on U.S. automobiles, thus lowering costs for consumers and increasing the sales of American cars in South Korea. The United Auto Workers (UAW) union nevertheless opposes the FTA and is pressuring the Obama administration accordingly – despite the estimated $10 billion in annual exports it would mean for the United States. Even though the FTA would be good for American business, Obama can support it only if he is willing to risk angering supporters in organized labor. [1784]

As of March 18 the Intrade prediction market lists odds at 25 per cent that Obama’s Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, will be asked to resign by the end of 2009. Representatives Connie Mack (R-FL) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) call for Geithner to resign immediately. “Quite simply, the Timothy Geithner experience has been a disaster,” says Mack in a written statement. “The Treasury Department is in disarray.” Issa, who sits on the House Government Reform Committee, issues a statement saying that “Secretary Geithner either didn’t know about the bonuses and was grossly negligent, or he did know and failed to bring this to the president’s attention. Either way, the end result has been a significant waste of taxpayer dollars and he should take immediate responsibility and resign.” Obama, meanwhile, states “I have complete confidence in Tim Geithner and my entire economic team.” Not all criticism comes from Republicans. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) remarks, “The president goes out and says this is not acceptable, and then some backroom deal gets cut to let these things (AIG bonuses) get paid out anyway. They need to put this to bed once and for all.” Geithner’s future may hinge on the stock market. The longer the Dow Jones Industrial Average remains low, the more likely Geithner will be asked to resign – because Obama has to throw someone other than himself under the bus. [1621,1832]

The Federal Accounting Standards Board (FASB) decides to allow cash-flow accounting, rather than mark-to-market accounting. That change will lead to more reasonable valuations of assets, reducing the bankruptcy chances for some investment firms and banks and increasing the likelihood of stock market improvement. Many investment losses have, in fact, not been actual cash losses but write-downs due to mark-to-market rules. The severity of the financial crisis would have been considerably less had mark-to-market rules been changed sooner. [1788]

It is reported on March 18 that the Obama administration is working to eliminate the program qualifying airline pilots to carry firearms, by shutting off the funds for the training and certification program. Instead, the money will be used to hire additional field inspectors to keep an eye on the pilots. The Washington Times calls the move a “completely unnecessary harassment of pilots.” Congress authorized pilots to carry handguns aboard airlines after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. But because the program requires that all pilots re-qualify for weapons use every six months, Obama can effectively eliminate all guns in cockpits within one year simply by ending the training and qualification programs. Terrorists will eventually learn of the program’s cancellation, and will realize they can more easily be able to storm a cockpit and take control of an aircraft. [1798,1801]

The next day, federal officials and the Airlines Pilots Association International (APAI) deny the Washington Times story that the administration is working to take weapons away from pilots. The APAI issues a statement saying the Times story “couldn’t be further from the truth.” The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) states that pilots union representatives “met with TSA executives and were told in no uncertain terms that TSA embraces the FFDO program, that there are no plans to reduce or restrict its growth, and that in fact the agency fully intends to grow and expand the program.” [1828]

Israeli Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi travels to Washington to meet with U.S. top officials but is turned away. Although Ashkenazi has met with key government officials in the past, the Obama administration turns a cold shoulder on him during his current visit. He is unable to meet with Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Admiral Michael Mullen (his counterpart on the U.S. Chiefs of Staff), or National Intelligence director Dennis Blair. One diplomat remarks, “The administration is sending a very clear message to Israel, and this is we want to talk about Palestine and not Iran.” Critics sense that the Obama administration is only willing to meet with people who will “tell them what they want to hear.” [1800,1893]

Obama appears willing to meet with Iran despite its likelihood of being uncooperative and unresponsive, while Israel would prefer that the U.S. maintain a hard line on Iran and work to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons. Ashkenazi is eventually allowed to meet with National Security Advisor James Jones, but not with anyone with authority to direct or change U.S. policy. Former ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton says that “The Obama administration believes that Israel is as much or more of a problem as it is an ally, at least until Israel’s disagreements with its neighbors are resolved.” Obama is likely to continue trying to establish direct talks with Iran, while pressuring Israel to give up land to Palestinians and accept a Fatah-Hamas coalition. One source states that “The Israeli government and military have been alarmed by the rapid and dramatic reversal in the U.S. policy toward Iran. This reversal took place without any consultation with Israel, Gulf Arab countries or even Congress.” Ashkenazi purportedly is in Washington to encourage the administration not to become too quick to deal with Iran at Israel’s expense, and to request additional weapons systems. The rebuff of Ashkenazi by Obama will be seen by Iran as evidence that Obama will not be as likely to come to the assistance of Israel as previous administrations. Obama is thus strengthening Iran’s negotiating power. [1800,1893]

On March 18 the Federal Reserve Board announces it will be buying as much as $300 billion in long-term U.S. Treasury securities, as well as additional hundreds of billions in mortgage-backed securities. The government is now essentially printing money to increase the supply of credit, because the yield on Treasury notes (2.53 per cent) is too low to attract other buyers with “real” money. The actions of the Federal Reserve Board cause the value of the U.S. dollar to drop, because foreign buyers of dollars realize that American currency is now worth less. Combined with other moves, the Fed will be adding as much as $1.15 trillion into the economy through bond purchases. Inflation will be the ultimate result, because the money supply will have grown while the amount of goods and services is shrinking with the declining Gross Domestic Product. More money chasing fewer goods and services yields higher prices, and individuals and institutions holding low-interest bonds and securities will suffer when inflation and taxes consume more than the return on their investment. The Fed also leaves the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 per cent and suggests they will remain low for some time. Keynesian economists and the media call the Fed’s move “bold” – as though printing worthless money requires bravery. In response to the Fed’s “bold move,” the value of the U.S. dollar immediately drops and the price of gold rises. [1802,1814,1851]

The Federal Open Market Commission’s (FOMC) press release makes the surprising statement that it “expects inflation will remain subdued” – despite the trillion dollars or more the government will be printing in order to buy up federal debt. The FOMC then says that it “sees some risk that inflation could persist for a time below rates that best foster economic growth and price stability in the longer term,” suggesting there is some “ideal” inflation level that the government would be happy with and that “fosters economic growth.” (It is unclear how the administration believes inflation can foster economic growth, when it is essentially a hidden and regressive tax on all Americans.) It appears that one government goal is to increase inflation in order to get real estate prices back up to satisfy angry property owners – also known as voters – who have seen a significant decline in the market value of their homes and commercial real estate. At the same time, the inflationary policy contradicts government efforts to make housing more “affordable,” and harms people with low incomes who are most hurt by inflation. (It is impossible for the government to “target: inflation so that it affects only home prices and nothing else.) [1814]

With regard to the continuous running of the printing presses, investment expert Peter Schiff states, “This week the Federal Reserve finally made clear what should have been obvious for some time – the only weapon that the Fed is willing to use to fight the economic downturn is a continuing torrent of pure, undiluted, inflation… In its statement the Fed announced its intention to purchase an additional $1 trillion worth of U.S. treasury and agency debt. The purchases, of course, will be made with money created out of thin air through the Fed’s printing presses. Few can doubt that they will persist with these operations until the economy returns to its former health. Whether or not this can ever be accomplished with a printing press alone has never been seriously considered. Bernanke himself admits that we are in uncharted waters, with no map or compass, just simply a hope that more dollars are the answer.” [1882,1905]

Hispanic lawmakers met with Obama on March 18 and say afterward that he will present plans for immigration reform this year. Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) member Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) notes that Obama “was clear and eloquent and determinate (sic) to let us know that we are all together in the route of comprehensive immigration reform.” Gutierrez also states that CHC members made “absolutely clear that this is the civil rights issue of our community and that we will all be judged on how we act on this issue.” The likelihood is that the CHC, other Democrats, and Obama will work toward amnesty and increased benefits for illegal immigrants, even though an increasing number of Americans are concerned about jobs going to illegals, border security, drug violence, and the steadily increasing costs of providing welfare, education, and health benefits to illegal immigrants. But where many Americans view illegals as a problem, Democrats view them as potential votes. [1803]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, tells a mostly-Hispanic San Francisco audience that raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) are “un-American” and “must be stopped.” Pelosi makes her comments at a church, where she was invited to speak by Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) as part of a cross-country “united families” tour. Pelosi also calls immigrants “very, very patriotic” – although she does not say which country they might be patriotic toward. [1811,1856,1857]

Attorney General Eric Holder admits that some of the terrorist detainees currently being held at the detention facility at Guantanamo may be released into the U.S. Holder tells reporters the administration is still reviewing the approximately 250 cases to decide which detainees can be tried and which can be released, and states that for “people who can be released there are a variety of options that we have and among them is the possibility is that we would release them into this country. That process is ongoing and we’ve not made any determinations or made any requests of anybody at this point.” [1813]

It is reported that the U.S. Army is launching an investigation into how and why 22 active duty troops from Fort Rucker were patrolling the streets of Samson, Alabama, after a murder spree by Michael McLendon, a former police officer, on March 10. The use of the troops was likely a violation of federal law. A dispatcher at the five-man Samson Police Department said the soldiers “came in to help with traffic control and to secure the crime scene.” It is initially reported that the troop activity was not ordered by the Samson Police Department, Alabama Governor Bob Riley, the Defense Department, or Obama. Improper use of federal troops within the United States is a violation of several laws, including the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 (Title 18, Section 1835 of the U.S. Code), which reads, “Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.” (The Posse Comitatus Act is meant specifically to keep the federal government from exercising direct control over states and localities. If, for example, Obama and Congress were to pass a law outlawing all gun ownership, it would nevertheless be unable to enforce it by means of federal troops.) Another statute, Title 18, Section 375 prohibits any member of the Armed Forces from participating in a “search, seizure, arrest or other similar activity, unless participation is otherwise authorized by law.”  The Insurrection Act of 1808 (Title 10, Section 331) gives the President the power to authorize troops “to restore order and enforce the laws of the United States” in the event of an insurrection, but securing a crime scene is not an insurrection (and Obama did not order the troop movements). [1804,1805]

On March 18 Obama addresses a crowd in Costa Mesa, California, where he continues to drum up support for his already-passed stimulus bill by announcing the addition of an eastbound lane for SR91 in Orange County. When he completes his remarks and turns to audience questions Obama, trying to maintain his image of being a “fighter for populist causes,” addresses the issue of AIG bonuses – even though no one asked a question about them. When asked if he will seek re-election in 2012, Obama answers, “If I could get done what I think needs to get done in four years, even if it meant that I was only president for four years, I would rather be a good president – to take on the tough issues for four years – than a mediocre president for eight years.” Obama also tells the gathering that the issue of immigration can’t be “dealt with in pieces”–  meaning that he won’t step up border security without also granting amnesty to illegal immigrants and giving them a “path to citizenship.” [1829,1831]

Author, columnist, and political observer R. Emmett Tyrrell remarks that Obama “…is the most ill-prepared man to be president of the United States since Lincoln’s Vice-President Andrew Johnson abruptly became president… and Johnson had the excuse of being an alcoholic.” He adds, “Obama simply is a man without any executive experience. He has spent his time as a community organizer or agitator. He has spent some time as a lawyer for the poor. And he’s spent a lot of his time daydreaming at the University of Chicago about what Utopia ought to be like. Now he’s planning to bring Utopia down on us and it’s going to very, very expensive,” and “It’s astonishing. Imagine, the Democratic Party worries about the civil liberties of terrorists in Gitmo. I worry about the civil liberties of ordinary Americans here in the United States with people like Obama and his aides in power.” [1838]

On March 19 it is reported that the Samson, Alabama police chief did, in fact, request assistance from troops at Fort Rucker after a March 10 mass murder. The 22 soldiers and five vehicles were allegedly sent to Samson under a “mutual aid agreement” which Fort Rucker has with local law enforcement agencies. It is unclear how such an agreement came about or whether it is legal. [1812]

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CN) continues to say that he was “completely unaware” of the AIG executive bonus payment plans, despite evidence that he sanctioned the deal. Instead, Dodd blames his staff for diluting the executive pay provision in the economic stimulus bill. Dodd claims he was “…the one who has led the fight against excessive executive compensation, often over the objections of many. I did not want to make any changes to my original Senate-passed amendment, but I did so at the request of administration officials.” Dodd refuses to name the “administration officials.” Dodd shamelessly blames the legislative process when he argues, “The alternative was losing, in my view, the entire section on executive excessive compensation. Given a choice, this is not an uncommon occurrence here, I agreed to a modification in the legislation, reluctantly.” Dodd (whose father, the late Senator Tom Dodd, was one of few Senators ever censured for financial misconduct while in office), is up for re-election in 2010. Dodd, who is also under investigation for alleged “sweetheart” mortgage deals he got from Countrywide Financial Corporation, currently trails his likely Republican opponent, Rob Simmons, 43 to 42 per cent. [1818,1819,1823,1824,1864]

Obama and Geithner continue to repeat that they knew nothing of the AIG executive bonuses until the second week of March. Evidence suggests, however, that the administration and many members of Congress had known about them for months. Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs refuses to provide a timeline of “who knew what and when did they now it.” A November, 2008 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related that retention bonuses would be paid in order to keep valuable employees from leaving. Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) states, “There was outrage brewing already. I’m saying (to AIG CEO Edward Liddy), ‘Be a good citizen, do something about this.’” Lawyers for the Federal Reserve Board also began reviewing the bonuses while examining retention and compensation plans. According to Newsmax.com, the attorneys “…ultimately concluded that even if AIG’s bonuses were withheld, the company would probably be sued successfully by its employees and be forced to pay them.” In January of 2009, Congressmen Joseph Crowley of New York and Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania had asked the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department to scrutinize the bonus program, knowing that “all Hell would break loose” if they didn’t “put the information out there so we wouldn’t have the shock…” In February, legislators removed from the stimulus legislation restrictions on bonuses negotiated before February 11, 2009. Remarkably, by mid-March everyone involved seems surprised that AIG executives would be receiving bonuses. The stimulus bill also had a provision added by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) that would have capped bonuses at $100,000. That provision was removed – but no one will say whether that was done by top Democrats in the Senate or ordered by the Obama administration. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) remarks, “It’s shocking that the administration would come to us now and act surprised.” [1833,1844]

Obama nominates Federal Judge David Hamilton to a vacancy on the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Obama says Hamilton has a “long and impressive record of service and a history of handing down fair and judicious decisions.” Although the media also attempts to portray Hamilton as “moderate,” the Committee for Justice argues that he is a “…classic, liberal judicial activist on issues like abortion, criminal issues such as suppression of evidence and sex offenders, separation of church and state issues.” The Judicial Confirmation Network states that Hamilton “appears to have made rulings that show his willingness to bend the law to reach outcomes favored by his ACLU allies, which are inconsistent with the proper role of a judge under our Constitution.” Hamilton once ruled that it was unconstitutional for the Indiana Legislature to say a prayer before each session. (The Seventh Circuit, to which Hamilton is now being appointed, overturned that ruling, saying it was outrageous.) Hamilton is a member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which routinely advocates anti-religious positions, and has engaged in fund-raising for Obama’s favorite voter-registration fraud organization, ACORN. Republicans will not have enough votes to stop Hamilton’s confirmation. [1820,1916]

It is disclosed that shortly before the inauguration Obama signed an agreement with Crown Publishing Group to write another nonfiction book after he leaves office. The dollar amount of that deal was not made public.  Obama also approved a “children’s version” of his book, “Dreams From My Father,” for which he received an advance of $500,000. (Former Speaker of the House was roundly criticized for a book deal while he was in office. The White House said Obama’s book deal is not really a book deal, but a “license” agreement. It is unclear why Obama was so desperate for cash that he couldn’t wait until after he leaves office to negotiate the “license” fee.) [1825,1913]

Ten Republican Congressmen are angered by a Department of Justice (DOJ) civil rights probe into the practices of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, of Maricopa County, Arizona. Arpaio is well known for his tough stance on crime, particularly when it involves illegal immigrants. The Congressmen send a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, stating “It is important that state and local law enforcement officers and the public are reassured that the investigation is proceeding in a judicious and fair manner, and not for the purpose of politicizing or chilling immigration efforts.” Arpaio alleges that the federal probe was prompted by his efforts to go after illegal immigrants in and around Phoenix, and denies that his deputies engage in racial profiling. Arpaio does not apologize for enforcing the law, and has a hot line for reporting immigration violations. Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, requested the DOJ investigation. [1826]

Faced with immediate and intense criticism of an attempt to save federal revenue by forcing the cost of medical care for wounded veterans onto private insurance carriers, Obama drops the plan. Obama’s press secretary Gibbs claims the idea was floated as an attempt to “to maximize the resources available for veterans.” Gibbs announces the plan’s cancellation with the statement, “The president listened to concerns raised by the VSOs (veteran service organizations) that this (program) might, under certain circumstances, affect veterans and their families’ ability to access health care. Therefore, the president has instructed that its consideration be dropped.” (In other words, the administration figured out that its plan to eliminate medical coverage would, in fact, eliminate medical coverage.) [1827]

On March 19 the House of Representatives votes to levy a 90 per cent tax on executive bonuses issued to AIG executives, and employees of other companies that have received $5 billion or more in federal bail-out money. The vote is 328-93. Democrat Charles Rangel snidely remarks, “We figured that the local and state governments would take care of the other 10 percent.” Although House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) calls the bill “crap,” 85 Republicans vote for the bill – likely to appease angry voters, many of whom don’t understand the real (government) culprits in the federal bail-out fiasco. Boehner says of the vote, “This is nothing more than an attempt for everyone to cover their butt up here.” Six Democrats vote against the bill. Some critics, noting the “bill of attainder” restrictions in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, as well as the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, argue that the bill is unconstitutional in singling out a specific group of individuals to whom a special tax rate applies. Most legislators follow the polls more closely than the Constitution, however, and a national telephone survey shows that three out of four Americans want AIG executives to return the bonuses. Legislators choose to ignore Obama’s words from his address to a joint session of Congress, “…that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment.” (Strangely, a Rasmussen poll shows that 81 per cent of U.S. voters believe Congress “does not have the right to raise taxes on all Americans retroactively.” Apparently most Americans don’t want taxes raised on themselves, but believe it is acceptable to raise them on AIG employees and others.) [1835,1836,1837,1860,1871,1961]

Harvard law professor Lawrence Tribe (and former Obama professor) argues that an incredibly confiscatory tax that singles out a small group of people can somehow be made constitutional. In “The Atlantic” Tribe writes, “It would not be terribly difficult to structure a tax, even one that approached a rate of 100 per cent, levied on some or all of the bonuses already handed out (or to be handed out in the future) by AIG and other recipients of federal bailout funds so that the tax would survive bill of attainder clause challenge…  The fact that the individuals subject to the tax in its retroactive application would in principle be readily identifiable would not suffice to doom the tax either from a bill of attainder perspective or from a due process perspective… All things considered, I believe it very likely that Congress could design a fully constitutional means of clawing back into the federal treasury all amounts paid (or to be paid in the future) in the form of retention bonuses…” In other words, Tribe is arguing that Congress can pass a tax that is clearly unfair and punitive as long as it is careful to word it so it can withstand 
Constitutional scrutiny; Congress can be mean, cruel, and tyrannical – as long as it pretends otherwise. (Some have suggested that Tribe may be a potential Obama pick for a future Supreme Court vacancy.) Contradicting Tribe is Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University who successfully fought a bill of attainder battle in a federal appeals court. Turley states, “I am not so confident that it (Congress’ 90 per cent bonus tax legislation) would pass constitutional muster. While courts give Congress great discretion in the tax area, this would require a case of willful blindness.” [1872,1907]

Within days of its decision, the Department of Defense (DOD), under pressure from ammunition manufacturers and Montana Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester, decides it will allow spent ammunition casings to be resold rather than crushed for scrap. The quick reversal suggests that the DOD had simply made a policy decision without thinking it through, and that it was not part of an Obama “stealth plan” to abrogate the Second Amendment right to bear arms. [1751,1846]

It is reported that Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Bill Clinton and current Obama administration special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, served on the board of AIG between 2001 and mid-2008. During that period AIG accumulated the investments that eventually led to its downfall and led to a federal bail-out. (Holbrooke resigned just two months before the company collapsed.) White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said that Holbrooke “had nothing to do with and knew nothing about the bonuses,” which were approved while Holbrooke, who was a member of the board’s compensation committee from 2001 to 2005, was still on the AIG Board. (Apparently the approval of a $165 million payout was too minor for the Board of Directors to be concerned with.) A Holbrooke spokesman declined comment. Obama has stated that “Nobody here was responsible for supervising AIG and allowing themselves to put the economy at risk by some of the outrageous behavior that they were engaged in.” [1848]

With the economy in shambles, the stock market in the tank, calls for his Treasury Secretary to resign, Iran close to acquiring nuclear weapons,  and North Korea poised to launch an ICBM as a show of force, Obama finds time to appear on Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” on March 19. (This is likely because Obama would rather be in “campaign mode” than “governing mode;” he is better at the former than the latter.) Obama also manages time for an interview with ESPN’s Andy Katz, where he reveals his NCAA picks. (His “final four” picks are North Carolina, Louisville, Memphis, and Pittsburgh.) There is no official word on how much time Obama spent filling out the full bracket (college basketball fans know it is time-consuming) or how much taxpayer money was spent on the specially-made bracket board, complete with Presidential seal.  Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski remarks that “Somebody said that we’re not in President Obama’s Final Four. As much as I respect what he’s doing, really, the economy is something that he should focus on, probably, more than the brackets.” [1842,1843,1896]

In his appearance on the Tonight Show Obama accepts responsibility for the AIG bonus fiasco – right before blaming it on others. Obama also mentions how his bowling game has been improving as a result of practice in the White House bowling alley. (Obama had bowled a pathetic score of 37 at a Pennsylvania bowling alley during the campaign, prompting a critic to ask, “If he bowls like a fag, does that mean he is one?”) Obama tells Leno “I bowled a 129.” Leno responds, “That’s very good, Mr. President.” Obama then remarks, “It’s like the Special Olympics or something.” The White House quickly attempted to play down Obama’s comment, sending deputy press secretary Bill Burton out to the media to state, “The president made an off-hand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics. He thinks the Special Olympics is a wonderful program that gives an opportunity for people with disabilities from around the world.” From Air Force One, Obama calls the chairman of the Special Olympics, Tim Shriver (a nephew of President Kennedy), to apologize for his offensive remark. MSNBC’s Alex Witt later attempts to convince viewers that Obama’s remark was actually a compliment of disabled athletes. NPR’s Nina Totenburg says of Obama’s “Tonight Show” appearance, “…he calmed me down… I thought it was just a masterful performance.” [856,1853,1858,842, p. 404]

NBC’s “Today Show” does its best the next morning to avoid discussing Obama’s Special Olympics gaffe, with Meredith Vieira saying only that he “said something that forced the White House to issue an explanation afterward.” (Viewers would have to look elsewhere to find out what that “something” was.) On “Good Morning America” Tim Shriver (an Obama supporter and campaign donor) states that Obama “…apologized in a way I think was very moving.” [1917,1933]

A House panel hears testimony from Heather Heidelbaugh, the lawyer of a Democrat “whistleblower” who worked for ACORN, that the activist group sold “protest for hire” services to liberal and leftist organizations and coerced donations through a mob-like “protection” racket. Heidelbaugh’s accusations include tax violations, campaign finance violations, and other violations of the law by ACORN – Obama’s favorite voter-registration group. Heidelbaugh states that “…protesting was used to get companies to negotiate. The companies would pay money to get the protesting to stop. In addition to calling this activity ‘Muscle for the Money,’ the insiders at ACORN called it ‘protection.’” (ACORN was paid by the Service Employees International Union to harass and the private equity firm Carlyle Group. Other “shakedown” targets included Sherwin-Williams, H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, and Money Mart.) Despite its many questionable activities ACORN receives substantial funding from the taxpayers, including money from the massive stimulus bill recently passed by Democrats and signed by Obama. After hearing Heidelbaugh’s testimony, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) proposes hearings to look into charges against ACORN. “I think that it would be something that would be worth our time. We’ve never had one person representing ACORN before the committee. I think in all fairness we ought to really examine it.” One former ACORN employee charges that more than half of ACORN’s voter registrations from the last election were fraudulent or otherwise invalid. ACORN itself purportedly considers 40 per cent an “acceptable” level of accuracy for its workers. [1865,1922,1972]

Lloyd Marcus, a self-described “American black conservative,” writes a song called “American Tea Party” to be performed at tax protest in Orlando, Florida on March 21. The first lines are, “Mr. President! Your stimulus is sure to bust; It’s just a socialistic scheme; The only thing it will do; Is kill the American Dream.” [1854]

A report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggests that Iran may already have produced enough uranium for a nuclear weapon. Further threatening Israel is the revelation that Russia may sell its advanced S-300 air defense system to Iran. The S-300 system would protect Iran against attacks, because it is able to engage in targets at altitudes as high as 27,400 meters and a range of 150 kilometers. Retired General Richard Hawley (U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command) says that for “non-stealth aircraft” the Russian system “represents a virtual no-fly zone.” Israel’s F-15I and F-16I aircraft would be effective in taking out Iran’s nuclear facilities only until it deploys an S-300 defense system; after that Israel would want to purchase F-22 Raptor stealth aircraft from the U.S. Obama is considering canceling the production of the F-22, which would leave Israel weaker – and cost as many as 95,000 jobs in the U.S. [1688,1855]

The American Family Association announces it is organizing more than one thousand tax protest tea parties to be held across the nation on April 15. [1859]

The House of Representatives approves H.R. 1388 (the “Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act,” or “GIVE Act”), which funds the existing Americorps and National Senior Service Corps. (The vote is 221-191, with 2 Republicans voting for the bill and 4 Democrats voting against it.) The bill also includes $6 billion for “new programs and studies,” which some worry will result in the “National Civilian Security Force” (or “Civilian National Security Force”) which Obama called for at a Colorado campaign appearance in 2008. The legislation discusses whether “…all individuals in the United States were expected to perform national service or were required to perform a certain amount of national service,” and “The means to develop awareness of national service and volunteer opportunities at a young age by creating, expanding, and promoting service options for elementary and secondary school students, through service learning or other means, and by raising awareness of existing incentives.” Under the “GIVE Act,” groups of “volunteers” would be “grouped together as appropriate in campuses for operational, support, and boarding purposes. The Corps campus for a unit shall be in a facility or central location established as the operational headquarters and boarding place for the unit… There shall be a superintendent for each camp.”  A “service learning plan” would be “a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency.” The legislation also discusses uniforms to be worn by the volunteers, and a “public service academy, a 4-year institution” for training future “public sector leaders.” Critics rightly question the concept of the program and wonder if it isn’t something similar to the “Hitler Youth” of the 1930s. [129,276,1861,1954]

The GIVE Act (Section 6104, subsection B6) calls for a commission to investigate “Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.” In other words, the federal government is considering forcing all American youth to be “volunteers.” [1948]

The GIVE Act also includes $115 million for a “Foster Grandparent Program,” $97 million for a “Learn and Serve America” program, $70 million for a “Retired and Senior Volunteer Program,” $55 million for a “Senior Companion Program,” $12 million per year for the “Silver Scholarships and Encore Fellowships” programs, $10 million per year for a “Volunteers for Prosperity Program,” and $50 million per year (escalating to $100 million in 2014) for a “Social Innovation and Volunteer Generation Fund.” Even if the federal government were not running trillion dollar deficits one would be hard-pressed to find justification for these programs in the U.S. Constitution. Columnist Michelle Malkin reports that Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) “successfully attached an amendment to the GIVE Act to bar National Service participants from engaging in political lobbying; endorsing or opposing legislation; organizing petitions, protests, boycotts or strikes; providing or promoting abortions or referrals; or influencing union organizing.” Supporters of the legislation are screaming censorship and demanding that the Foxx amendment be dropped – making it clear that the programs are less about volunteerism than they are about indoctrination of leftist ideology. [1958]

Alaska’s Sarah Palin joins the list of governors turning down some of the stimulus bill funds because of the excessive federal “strings” attached. [1862]

Chief Financial Officer of Goldman Sachs, David A. Viniar, has a conference call with reporters and tells them that his company never needed federal bail-out funds and would not have collapsed if AIG, in which it held some collateral  (about $20 billion in total), had failed. Goldman Sachs was given $12.9 billion of the more than $180 billion in federal funds handed out to AIG under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was also a former CEO of Goldman Sachs. The disclosure raises even more doubts about the government’s insistence in late 2008 that it had to act to save failing companies, and the motives behind the efforts of Paulson, Timothy Geithner, and Ben Bernanke to orchestrate the bail-outs. [1964]

Obama records a video to the Iranian people, with subtitles in the Farsi language, for release on March 20, the first day of spring. Obama says, “So in this season of new beginnings I would like to speak clearly to Iran’s leaders. We have serious differences that have grown over time. My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community.” The words “liberty,” “freedom,” and “democracy” are not used by Obama, who seems to be appealing more to Iran’s repressive leaders than its repressed people. To Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Obama states, “This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.” He then says, “The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations. You have that right, but it comes with real responsibilities, and that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization.” [1863,1866]

To the surprise of few, Iran responds to Obama’s videotaped message to the Iranian people by saying it sees no change in U.S. policy under the new administration. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomenei says in a speech to a crowd of thousands, “They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice. We haven’t seen any change,” and “He (Obama) insulted the Islamic Republic of Iran from the first day. If you are right that change has come, where is that change? What is the sign of that change? Make it clear for us what has changed.” As Khomenei speaks, the crowd chants “Death to America.” [1887]

Obama is awarded a “Newsmaker of the Year” award by the National Newspaper Publishers Association (also known as the “Black Press of America”), a federation of 200-plus black community newspapers. The award ceremony is held in the State Dining Room of the White House. The self-described “most transparent administration in history” closes the event to press coverage. [1867,1868]

Perhaps as an indication of things to come under Obama’s future global warming cap-and-trade taxes and regulations, almost 100 gas stations in California are being forced out of business by the state’s new vapor emissions reduction requirements. One station owner, George Fasching, relates, “I came to the decision that I was too small a volume operator to continue on with the expenses imposed by the bureaucracy of the state.” The required equipment will cost owners $11,000 per pump, which many operators will not be able to afford. For those that are able to stay in business, the cost of the equipment (and the interest on any loans needed to pay for it) will simply be passed on to consumers through higher prices – and the owners and employees of 100 stations will be unemployed. [1869]

Bankers respond to the AIG bonus taxation legislation, warning that the industry will be significantly harmed if the most talented people are driven away by Congressional witch hunts. One banker warns, “Finance is one of America’s great industries, and they’re (the Obama administration and Congress) destroying it,” and “This is the most profoundly anti- American thing I’ve ever seen.” The crusade against the banks may work against the government’s efforts to loosen the “credit crisis” if the banks simply decide the hassle of the bail-put money is not worth it and return the cash. One Wall Street executive cautions, “There are three big industries where the U.S. has global leadership: financial services, media and technology. Introducing this 90 per cent tax is like taking one of those industries out back and shooting it.” Some of the best commodity traders may simply move to other industries, leaving the banks and investment firms with less talented employees to resolve the massive problems. Firms that have not accepted TARP funds are actively recruiting the best employees of “TARP companies,” luring them with “penalty-free” salaries and bonuses [1870]

Alarmed by Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget, a growing number of Democrats call for significant spending cuts. A group of 51 Democrats releases a list of budget cuts that total $40 billion each year. The same group is also unlikely to give Obama free rein in passing expensive and economy-damaging cap-and-trade global warming legislation. The “blue dog” Democrats hope to re-establish some degree of budget discipline with a pay-as-you-go system, which will require that increased spending in one program be offset by cuts elsewhere. [1873]

In a CNN interview on March 20 Secretary Treasurer Geithner half-heartedly accepts blame for the AIG bonus controversy, saying “On Tuesday (March17) I was informed about the full scale and scope of these specific bonus problems. You know, it’s my responsibility, I was in a position where I didn’t know about these sooner, I take full responsibility for that.” The problem with Geithner’s apology is that long before March 17 officials knew of the bonus payments; Geithner himself was questioned about the AIG bonus payments by Congressman Joseph Crowley at a March 3 appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee. [1880]

The chief political advisor for the terrorist group Hamas, Ahmed Yousef, says he is hopeful Obama will be less supportive of Israel than his predecessors. “We hear all the time statements (from Obama) promising change will come to the region, and that’s what we count on. All the time the Israelis try to use their military might to destroy all chances of peace. Under Bush, America backed everything Israel did. Obama is someone who everyone looks to in a different way than Bush. He is willing to see thing differently and take a more evenhanded approach toward Israel.” Yousef would like Obama to withhold U.S. financial support from Israel to force it to make concessions. The Hamas charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the death of all Jews, yet Obama advisors, including Paul Volcker and Zbigniew Brzezinski, have pushed for a U.S. dialogue with Hamas. Supporting that position is Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Advisor under President George H.W. Bush. Scowcroft is rumored to be the next chairman of Obama’s National Intelligence Council, the position originally offered to Charles Freeman. [1891,1893]

Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Kent Conrad (D-ND), states that Obama has underestimated the projected (10-year) deficit of $7 trillion by $1.6 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office numbers also understate spending because they do not count the “off budget” printing of money being done by the Federal Reserve Board. In a totally incongruous statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says, “You can’t say we’re going to do less because the numbers are pessimistic. You say, we have to do what we do in light of those numbers.” Pelosi adds, “We have to recognize that education, a change in energy policy and healthcare reform are what will turn the economy around, bring money to the Treasury, make us competitive internationally and put the economy on a much more stable footing as we go into the future.” She does not explain how spending trillions the government does not have will “bring money to the Treasury.” Senator Judd Gregg, also on the Senate Budget Committee, says “The budget that was sent up is not sustainable for our nation,. They are creating a structural failure in our economy, in our country, and in our governing. If you have debt in 2013, public debt at 67 percent of GDP under the president’s score, and you have a deficit of over 3 percent of GDP, and that goes on forever… you’re on a path where you are basically bankrupting the nation.”  [1881]

Budget Director Peter Orszag concedes at a March 20 news conference that the projected annual deficits are “ultimately not sustainable.” Like Obama, Orszag also predicts that everything will be rosy if Congress simply federalizes health care, spends more money on education, forces America to “go green,” and cut the deficit – despite the first three goals being in conflict with the last one. A skeptical Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) remarks, “People can afford only so much government spending, even for the worthiest-sounding causes.” [1885]

In a Sean Hannity interview on Fox, former Senator Fred Thompson, weighs in on the AIG bonus fiasco and states, “I think clearly the administration knew about last year, the Fed knew about a year ago, apparently, and it’s not like they don’t talk to the Treasury. And of course, Geithner was head of the operations that supervised AIG when they took him over, so they had to know… When I see Geithner this late date say something like I didn’t know the full scale and scope, I know he needs a good cross-examination. I hope someone gives him that… Not only did they agree to it and pass on it, they got with Dodd, as you pointed out, and figured out a way to save it in that last bill, and then feigning outrage when it all came to light. You know, it is – it was a blown cover-up… he (Senator Christopher Dodd) got caught in a flat-out lie, and just at a time when you think the American people can’t get any more cynical, I think they are…   And people are going to keep their money under the mattress until they have that confidence, and when they see that people in the administration are not being frank with them about relatively – some people might say minor things – then they don’t have any confidence in them with regard to anything else.” [1923]
In his Saturday radio address of March 21, Obama presses for approval of his budget. He accepts that Congress may end up making some changes to it, but argues that the final budget must address health care reform, invest in education, reduce dependence on foreign oil – and cut the deficit. He makes that amazing demand despite the fact that his own budget calls for a record $3.6 trillion in spending and will, according to congressional auditors, generate a $9.3 trillion increase in the national debt over 10 years. Obama states, “I realize there are those who say these plans are too ambitious to enact,” but “ambitious” is generally not the word used for criticizing his budget. In the weekly Republican radio address, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour slams Obama for his enormous spending spree the nation cannot afford, saying that Obama’s budget “…spends too much, taxes too much and borrows too much.” [1876]

While the U.S. government is busy printing money, a United Nations panel plans on recommending that the world stop using the U.S. dollar as its reserve currency. “It is a good moment to move to a shared reserve currency,” said Avinsah Persaud, a member of the panel. Persaud has argued that the Chinese yuan will eventually replace the dollar as a global currency reserves. [1892]

On behalf of “Military Families United” the organization’s president, John Ellsworth, writes a letter to all Members of Congress asking that the federal government not allow prisoners currently at Guantanamo to be brought to the U.S. after the detention facility is closed. The letter is in response to Attorney General Holder’s recent public sta