Obama's Earmarks: $1 mil for hospital where wife worked and $8 mil for defense co. of major donor

[bigtree]

Michelle Obama's hospital: On senator's wish-list

Among the pork-barrel spending requests Barack Obama has made since arriving in the U.S. Senate is $1 million for the hospital where his wife worked at the time and $8 million for weapons technology made by a big defense contractor with close ties to a major fundraiser.

Obama released on Thursday a list of all his requests for earmarked federal spending in 2005 and 2006. He already had released a list of spending requests made in 2007.

In among them was a request for $1 million in federal funding in 2006 for a new pavilion at the University of Chicago Hospitals, where his wife, Michelle Obama, was a vice president at the time. The request was not ultimately included when Congress passed spending legislation that year, according to the Obama campaign.

That same year, Obama requested $8 million in funding for “High Explosive Air Burst Technology” made by General Dynamics, a military contractor with close ties to a major fundraiser.

Obama’s Illinois Finance Chairman, billionaire James S. Crown, a longtime Obama supporter who has raised at least $200,000 for his presidential campaign, is a director of General Dynamics, and his family has a large investment in the company. The request ultimately resulted in $1.3 million in funding for the project.

Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, said the senator did not discuss the requests with either his wife or Crown. Vietors also said that Michelle Obama never lobbied for her employer and noted that the University of Chicago hospitals is the largest Medicaid provider in Chicago.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/03/michelle_obamas_hospital.html


comment from the page: "Remember that the hospital tripled Michelle Obama's salary right about the time that Barack was elected to the U.S. Senate. Her salary jumped from $121,000 to more than $300,000

[displacedtexan]

1. I blogged about the UofC Hospital earmark today.

Here's the link.

There are many more questions about that particular earmark Obama should answer...

if anyone dares to ask.

[UALRBSofL]

6. displacedtexan very good job on your blogging site

Keep up the good work trying to inform people what kind of person Obama is.

[boston bean]

2. I say you should just go and make that post in GDP don't let them

push you around. I will have your back.

[UALRBSofL]

3. MassDemm Talk about business as usual

Obama is not a candidate of change. He is your typical beltway politician whom is a empty suit. Then add his spiritual teachings, were screwed.

[bigtree]

5. My boycott of that forum is about more than the bullying

It's about the lack of any reasonable control there. And, the fact that the discussions there have become cage-fights instead of any substantive effort to hash out issues and solutions. I just don't have the need or desire for that anymore. When the discussion was allowed in GD, it was part of a broader effort to work through the issues. Putting all of that in the one closed room has created an apocalyptic-type battle for position which I have never valued or willingly participated in before, in real life or cyberspace.

[zabet]

4. Glad to see you bigtree!

Interesting article.
Thanks for posting!

[theHandpuppet]

7. And his ties to the mining industry are shameful and scandalous

The candidate of "change" my ass.

[vireo]

8. Isn't this the kind of crap that helped bring Rostenkowski down? nt

[MoonRiver]

9. But, but bigtree, BO adamantly claims those close relationships had absolutely NOTHING

to do with the pork he brought home. :eyes: