Obama’s Lobbyist Connection

[PaDUer]

Source: Newsweek, Jun 2, 2008 Issue

When Illinois utility Commonwealth Edison wanted state lawmakers to back a hefty rate hike two years ago, it took a creative lobbying approach, concocting a new outfit that seemed devoted to the public interest: Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity, or CORE. CORE ran TV ads warning of a "California-style energy crisis" if the rate increase wasn't approved—but without disclosing the commercials were funded by Commonwealth Edison. The ad campaign provoked a brief uproar when its ties to the utility, which is owned by Exelon Corp., became known. "It's corporate money trying to hoodwink the public," the state's Democratic Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn said. What got scant notice then—but may soon get more scrutiny—is that CORE was the brainchild of ASK Public Strategies, a consulting firm whose senior partner is David Axelrod, now chief strategist for Barack Obama.
-snip-
But the activities of ASK (located in the same office as Axelrod's political firm) illustrate the difficulties in defining exactly who a lobbyist is.
-snip-
Exelon, lobbied Obama two years ago on a nuclear bill; the firm's executives and employees have also been a top source of cash for Obama's campaign, contributing $236,211.

Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/id/138519

---

It looks like Obama has some explaining to do especially since he hit McCain hiring lobbyists last week..And, if you click on the link for the comments from readers, they list who Obama's lobbyists are and the amount of cash he's getting from them..how interesting..
http://www.newsweek.com/id/138519/output/comments

[slinkerwink]

1. Looks like the McCain camp is regurgitating the old Clinton exelon line

[Hawkeye-X]

2. Weak.

Let it sink. Obama doesn't accept lobbyist money, so Newsweak made a failed assumption.

[jwlashta]

4. That's not the point of the posting

Newsweek never makes the claim that Obama (nor Axelrod, for that matter) is currently accepting lobbyist money. The point is that Obama looks like a hypocrite for attacking McCain for having lobbyists as his chief advisors and strategists when it appears that Axelrod was a lobbyist himself.

I like Obama and I hope he is the next president of the United States (for the world's sake), but people need to get over this blind infatuation with the man. He has faults, and there are things he will have to explain--this being one of them.

[frog92969]

9. Keyword: "was"

Your concern is duly noted.

[PaDUer]

5. Then read some of the comments posted--

http://www.newsweek.com/id/138519/output/comments

You can bet the R's have a lot of info that will come out.

[depakid]

13. Obama's taken TONS of corporate money

Howard Dean he ain't.

[still_one]

3. Curious why this isn't in GD:Primary forum? /nt

[Limelight]

6. A top source of cash?

Is that a joke? :wtf:

Since the beginning of the campaign it's public record that obama has raised approaching (if not over) 100 million dollars. They give him a measly $236,211, or about 0.002% of the funds raised in his presidential campaign, and they're a "top source of cash"?

Get real.

[slinkerwink]

7. exactly.

[jlacivita]

10. My thoughts exactly on the insignificance of that campaign contribution

I never expected him to be a saint, but the stretches they come up with to make him look bad are pretty weak.

To be honest, the things I'm most afraid of aren't some secret about him we didn't know coming out, its the bullshit stuff like he's a secret muslim or he wants to have tea parties with evil terrorist kings.

[NanceGreggs]

8. Oh.My.God.

I am so ascared :scared:

I bet the SDs will come out en masse for HRC first thing tomorrow after hearing this "news".

[indimuse]

11. thx for the post, but as you can see,,,

most of the REAL Democrats have left this form in#'s the past day. You are left with hypocritical Obama apologizers. He hide behind his supporter and MSM...He doesn't even have to answer or explain anything to anyone anymore. King Obama is safe. BTW...It's only about the 50th LIE in this primary.

k&R


Fact Check: Sen. Obama, Exelon and Rezko
2/12/2008 1:31:21 PM

The Obama campaign produced a "fact check" that claimed:
http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2008/02/11/clinton_claims_obama_engaged_i.php

1. Sen. Obama did not water down a bill requiring disclosure of nuclear leaks after pressure from a major contributor

2. Obama did "nothing wrong" related to Tony Rezko

3. There are no unanswered questions about Sen. Obama's relationship with Rezko

All three claims are false.

First, Sen. Obama did waterdown legislation requiring the nuclear industry to disclose leaks after receiving pressure from Exelon, one of his top campaign contributors. The New York Times reported:

A close look at the path his legislation took tells a very different story. While he initially fought to advance his bill, even holding up a presidential nomination to try to force a hearing on it, Mr. Obama eventually rewrote it to reflect changes sought by Senate Republicans, Exelon and nuclear regulators. The new bill removed language mandating prompt reporting and simply offered guidance to regulators, whom it charged with addressing the issue of unreported leaks.

…“Senator Obama’s staff was sending us copies of the bill to review, and we could see it weakening with each successive draft,” said Joe Cosgrove, a park district director in Will County, Ill., where low-level radioactive runoff had turned up in groundwater. “The teeth were just taken out of it.”

… The campaign acknowledged that Exelon executives had met with Mr. Obama’s staff about the bill…

Second, Obama himself admitted that he made a "mistake" involving Tony Rezko:

Two years ago, the two men were involved in a real estate deal that Obama later apologized for, calling it "boneheaded'' and a "mistake'' because the transaction occurred while Rezko was widely known to be under federal investigation. Rezko's wife paid full price for a vacant lot in Chicago's historic Kenwood district on the same day Obama bought the mansion next door from the same property owner for $300,000 below the asking price. Rezko's wife subsequently sold a sliver of the land to Obama.

Third, Sen. Obama's hometown newspaper, The Chicago Tribune, said that Obama needs to disclose more about his relationship with Tony Rezko:http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0127edit1jan27,0,847324.story

Instead, as we've said, Obama has been too self-exculpatory. His assertion in network TV interviews last week that nobody had indications Rezko was engaging in wrongdoing strains credulity: Tribune stories linked Rezko to questionable fundraising for Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2004 -- more than a year before the adjacent home and property purchases by the Obamas and the Rezkos.

One more time, Senator:

You need to divulge all there is to know about that relationship. Until you do, the journalistic scrubbing and opposition research will intensify. You should have recognized Rezko as a political seducer of young talent.

Eric Zorn, frequently cited in other Obama "fact checks," agrees:

But journalists are still looking because they're not satisfied that they have the full story.

And that's Obama's fault. At some point early in his campaign for the White House, he apparently decided he'd said all he wanted to say and all there was to say about his dealings with Rezko. He would not grant follow-up interviews on the subject to investigative reporters, and his staff provided written and often inadequate responses to written questions.

[hokies4ever]

15. Does Hillary hate DU as much as you do?

:rofl:

Your personal attacks on DU members are PATHETIC! :rofl:

Also, are you seriously trying to drum up the Rezko controversy? A Hillary supporter trying to drum up controversies? Have you been in a political coma since the 90s? Your messiah isn't exactly the cleanest of candidates. :rofl:

[Ian David]

12. BREAKING: Years ago, Obama USED TO take money from non-genocidal lobbyists! n/t

[Honeycombe8]

14. What lobbyist? I don't see any lobbyists identified. ?????

It says that the corporation Exelon "lobbied" Obama. That's not a lobbyist. That's a corporation asking a politician outright to do something (or not do something). I've written my representatives before, asking for them to do something or not do something. That doesn't make me a lobbyist.

A lobbyist is someone on the payroll for a specific organization or corporation, whose purpose is to "lobby" repeatedly various lawmakers, including paying for trips, meals, etc. Whatever it takes to get what they want.

It sounds like Axelrod's ASK firm MIGHT have been a lobbying firm, but it's not clear if that was the case.

All these events were years ago. Anything current?

[hokies4ever]

16. You're a lobbyist!

I demand that you reject and denounce yourself. :rofl:

[Honeycombe8]

17. I do, I do! I reject and denounce myself soundly!!!!

:spank:

[liberalcanuck]

18. Let me first say that I am a HUGE Obama supporter and I think this

attempt to cast Obama as some corporate lackey is pretty darn weak. But I'm sure the Repugs will bring this up as HRC brought it up at the Jan. 15th debate in Nevada.

Doing a google search of "Exelon +Obama" brings up oodles of republican and pro-Hillary sites citing this as an opportunity to weaken Obama.

Here's some interesting information however from http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/290/

<snip>
"We asked a spokesman for Exelon if they've spent "millions" promoting Yucca Mountain. We were told they don't track their spending by project. Public records, though, indicate the company has spent more than $10-million on lobbyists between 2002 and 2007, with Yucca Mountain listed among its top issues. That doesn't count previous years; the Yucca Mountain project has been debated for more than 20 years.

Meanwhile, campaign finance records confirm Exelon is one of Obama's top contributors. The Center for Responsive Politics found that Exelon employees were his sixth-largest corporate donor group. (No. 1 was Goldman Sachs.)

The Obama campaign points to several mitigating factors: Obama opposes Yucca Mountain. Exelon is one of the largest companies and employers in Obama's hometown of Chicago. Obama has sponsored legislation specifically targeting Exelon after unplanned waste releases in Illinois. Obama has not accepted any money from Exelon lobbyists or Exelon's political action committee; rather, the contributions are from people who work at Exelon.

Of all these points, it's the last we find most compelling. Obama is not taking money from Exelon as a corporate entity or PAC, rather he's accepting contributions from Exelon executives and employees. (Clinton, by contrast, accepts federal PAC money, though she hasn't accepted any from Exelon.) It's a small but real difference, so we rate her claim on Obama's ties to Exelon to be Mostly True."
</snip>

So Obama has accepted money from Exelon employees but NOT from Exelon lobbyists - a small but VERY important distinction to be made. And besides if they (Repugs) want to play a game of "Who has taken more dirty money", as the chimp-in-chief would say, "Bring it on!". We welcome that fight and will cede nothing - be it our integrity or our foreign policy - to the other side.

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

19. Ask strategies isn't a lobbying firm

It's a consulting firm that helps non-profit and for-profit organizations get their message out. That seems quite a bit different than lobbying - they focus seem to focus on advertising. Here is their website: http://askps.com/what.html