Obama illegally took, "Speaker Fees" while in the General Assembly

by politisite | October 18, 2008 at 10:14 pm
556 views | 4 Recommendations | 8 comments

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Senator Barack Obama, Myrtle Beach, SC Media Credit Iron Mill Interactiive Media, inc

Senator Barack Obama, Myrtle Beach, SC Media Credit Iron Mill Interactiive Media, inc

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Joe and Barack's Tax Problems.

I was stunned to see some document showing Joe the Plumbers' tax problems on my 10pm (CT)newscast on the local NBC affiliate in Chicago on Thursday night. They have very little time for any national news and they actually spent time on Joe the Plumbers' tax problems. Amazing!

But when an actual candidate — Barack Obama — released his tax returns, which on their face seemed to show an ethics violation of Illinois law, the press couldn't care less.

Just to remind you, Illinois prohibits state legislators from taking speaking fees, and Barack reported "speaking fees.":

Apparently, as an Illinois state legislator through 2004, Barack was prohibited from taking honoraria for speaking under the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act.

But what about Barack Obama’s 2000 and 2002 tax returns?

2000: On his 2000 Schedule C-EZ, Barack reported that he received $16,500 as a “Foundation director/Educational speaker.”

2001: On his 2001 Schedule C-EZ, Barack reported $98,158 from a Chicago law firm, Miner, Barnhill, for “Legal services/attorney” (and nothing for speaking).

2002: On his 2002 Schedule C, Barack reported $34,491 for “LEGAL SERVCES / SPEAKING FEES.”

These “speaking fees” are in addition to the amounts that Barack was paid as an employee, a lecturer at the University of Chicago, reported on the first page of his 1040s.

The Illinois Governmental Ethics Act (apparently last changed in 1995) provides:

(5 ILCS 420/2-110)

Sec. 2-110. Honoraria.

(a) No member of the General Assembly shall accept any honorarium.

(b) As used in this Section:

"Honorarium" means a payment of money to a member of the General Assembly for an appearance or speech . . . .

I really don't blame Obama for not addressing this; he released his tax returns after all. The problem is the press, which seems to be having more trouble than usual doing its job this season.

As I've said before, the best solution to the problem is integrating the newsrooms politically.

recommend This comment thread is now closed
0
politisite

Dear News Media:

Please explain why there is not more coverage concerning the fact that Barack Obama appears to have violated ethics laws as an Illinois state legislator.

I mean, people have known about this issue since March of this year, at latest. There really is no excuse for the fact that this story has been swept under the rug for the past 7 months.

If it helps, pretend that Barack Obama's real name is Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher. That should help bring some welcome zeal into the investigation.

Many thanks.

Best,

Pejman

fourbyfourblazer
fourbyfourblazer
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 23:24 on October 18th, 2008

politisite, I like this story. It's good stuff.

If this was McCain it would be front page news. This is clear evidence that the media in America has a hidden agenda. It should cause people in other countries to wonder if they are getting the whole truth instead of a skewed view with the intent of molding peoples perceptions for their own gain.

0
littlebytesnews

ACORN needs to be stopped and shut down permanently. Petition Congress: Tell Congress to Verify EVERY ACORN VOTE http://twurl.nl/m58ym

tikun
tikun
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 04:01 on October 19th, 2008

politisite, I like this story. It's good stuff.

0
politisite

Thank You.

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politisite

I agree with you.  2 investigative reporters from the NYT investigates Cindy McCains drug use, but no one has investigated Michelle Obama's History or Obama's Cocaine and other drug use.  Obama is a media darling.  Hillary Clinton can tell you that. 

0
enlightened too late

Gujranwala Agricultural Development Project   
For Islam Pakistan Irrigation Project
Pakistan  ID 162

 Cofinancing 28 million  Year 1984
(didn’t actually start until 1985)
20 year loan at 4%

Type/Modality of Assistance
Loan: 17017-01 [Closed]
Loan-0734 PAK: 

Source: IFAD

Mr Ya Tian
Country programme manager
IFAD
Via Paolo Di Dono, 44
00142 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 0654592062
Fax: +39 0654593062
y.tian@ifad.org

Remember also it appears that Obama did not register for selective service and that is why he did not qualify for Government Financial Aid for College tuition.

What stating he never used an alias on his law form registration? He was Barry.


What about Aunt Zeituni in Cleveland Ohio with Wong and other naturalization and immigration lawyers working on her case? What about his uncle?

While digging my way through the Internet last night, I came across the following paper, written by SARAH P. HERLIHY. It's title

AMENDING THE NATURAL BORN CITIZEN REQUIREMENT: GLOBALIZATION AS THE IMPETUS AND THE OBSTACLE

caught my eye, and had to read it...

http://lawreview.kentlaw.edu/articles/81-1/Herlihy.pdf

I had to ask myself, what would drive any American to want to change a clause in a document that is the very foundation of our government?
So, I kept digging, and found that SARAH P. HERLIHY is employed by Kirkland & Ellis LLP http://www.kirkland.com

Noting that this law firm is based in Chicago, the light bulb was shining a little brighter . Upon looking at the firm, and the partners, I found that
Bruce I. Ettelson, P.C., is Member of finance committees of U.S. Senators Barack Obama and Richard Durbin.

http://www.kirkland.com/sitecontent.cfm ... temID=7845 (towards bottom of the page)

In addition, Jack S. Levin, P.C., another partner who, in December 2002 was presented the " Illinois Venture Capital Association's lifetime achievement award for service to the private equity/venture capital community" presented by Sen. Barack Obama

So it sure looks like Obama's people have looked into the matter of "Natural born" as far back as early 2006. What is even more disturbing is that it would appear that they are following the thought of :

"If the facts do not support the theory, Destroy the facts!"

Here is the introduction to the paper... It looks like a road map for Obama's defense lawyers...And a precursor to a Socialist world.
=============================================================================================================

AMENDING THE NATURAL BORN CITIZEN REQUIREMENT: GLOBALIZATION AS THE IMPETUS AND THE OBSTACLE
SARAH P. HERLIHY∗
INTRODUCTION
The natural born citizen requirement in Article II of the United States Constitution has been called the “stupidest provision” in the Constitution,1 “undecidedly un American,”2 “blatantly discriminatory,”3 and the “Constitution’s worst provision.”4 Since Arnold Schwarzenegger’s victory in the California gubernatorial recall election of 2003, commentators and policy-makers have once again started to discuss whether Article II of the United States Constitution should be amended to render naturalized citizens eligible for the presidency.5 Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution defines the eligibility requirements for an individual to become president. Article II provides:
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; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Of-fice who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.6
Although these sixty-two words are far from extraordinary, the natural born citizen provision is controversial because it prevents over 12.8 million Americans from being eligible for the presidency.7 In addition to Governor Schwarzenegger, the natural born citizen clause prohibits many other prominent Americans from becoming president, including Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm,8 former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao,9 and over 700 Medal of Honor Winners.10 Even though many of these individuals have served in high political positions or fought in a war on behalf of America, they are not able to become president simply because they were not born in the United States.11
The natural born citizen clause of the United States Constitution should be repealed for numerous reasons. Limiting presidential eligibility to natural born citizens discriminates against naturalized citizens, is out-dated and undemocratic, and incorrectly assumes that birthplace is a proxy for loyalty. The increased globalization of the world continues to make each of these reasons more persuasive. As the world becomes smaller and cultures become more similar through globalization, the natural born citi-zen clause has increasingly become out of place in the American legal sys-tem. However, even though globalization strengthens the case for a Constitutional amendment, many Americans argue against abolishing the requirement. In a recent USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll taken November 19–21, 2004, only 31% of the respondents favored a constitutional amendment to abolish the natural born citizen requirement while 67% opposed such an amendment.12 Although some of
the reasons for maintaining the natural born citizen requirement are rational, many of the reasons are based primarily on emotion. Therefore, although globalization is one impetus that should drive Americans to rely on reason and amend the Constitution, this paper argues that common perceptions about globalization ironically will convince Americans to rely on emotion and oppose a Constitutional amendment.
Part one of this paper provides a brief history and overview of the natural born citizen requirement. Part two discusses the rational reasons for abolishing this requirement and describes why the increase in globalization makes abolishing the natural born citizen requirement more necessary than ever. Part three presents the arguments against allowing naturalized citizens to be eligible for the presidency and identifies common beliefs about glob-alization that will cause Americans to rely on emotion and oppose a Constitutional amendment.




0
enlightened too late

What about spending in gov?  Found on site..


Assistance from Dept. of Housing and Urban Development

(FY 2006)

Summary


Fiscal Year: 2006
Federal dollars: $100,325,767,035
The amount for this search is 4.1% of total Federal dollars for the fiscal year.
Total number of recipients: 21,789
Total number of transactions: 128,402
Get list of recipients
Get list of transactions
 
Top 5 Known Congressional Districts where Recipients are Located 

Louisiana 6 (Richard H. Baker)                    $6,421,443,046
Mississippi 3 (Charles W. "Chip" Pickering)    $5,336,745,644
Puerto Rico nonvoting (Luis G. Fortuno)            $1,063,262,677
Utah 1 (Rob Bishop)                              $475,733,048
Colorado 1 (Diana DeGette)                      $430,738,817
Expand summary to all districts
 
Top 10 Recipients

Multiple recipients - Texas            $6,533,869,636
STATE OF LOUISIANA DIV OF ADMIN            $6,210,131,114
MISSISSIPPI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY    $5,107,082,047
Multiple recipients - Georgia            $3,300,348,752
Multiple recipients - Ohio            $2,735,588,913
Multiple recipients - Illinois            $2,357,215,463
Multiple recipients - Florida            $2,331,320,404
Multiple recipients - Colorado            $2,287,418,258
Multiple recipients - New Jersey    $2,110,629,075
Multiple recipients - Michigan            $2,057,558,394
Expand summary to all recipients
 
Recipient Type

Individuals                                           $55,408,928,352
Government                                           $43,612,340,629
Nonprofits                                            $1,440,440,829
Other                                                       $81,215,366
Higher Education                                       $60,512,520
For Profits                                             $-277,670,661 **
 
Assistance Type

Loans (both direct and guaranteed)                    $55,408,631,697
Grants and Cooperative Agreements                    $26,128,886,533
Direct Payments (both specified and unrestricted)    $18,787,298,805
Other                                                           $950,000
Insurance    $0
 
   
Top 5 Programs

14.117: Mortgage Insurance_Homes            $51,848,521,362
14.871: Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers    $13,669,736,774
14.228: Community Development Block Grants/     
                            State's Program                    $12,524,536,179
14.195: Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments    
                Program_Special Allocations      $4,395,571,260                       
14.850: Public and Indian Housing             $3,572,736,165
Expand summary to all programs
 
Top 5 Agencies Providing Assistance

HUD - Federal Housing Commissioner            $60,505,622,345
HUD - Public and Indian Housing                    $22,655,674,029
HUD - Community Planning and Development    $16,234,163,737
HUD - Policy Development and Research               $734,956,068
HUD - Office of Lead-based Paint Abatement               
      and Poison Prevention                         $128,271,540                                      
Expand summary to all agencies
 

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