Source: Clinton has been told she's not the VP pick

From CNN Correspondent Jessica Yellin

Clinton has been informed she will not be Obama's VP.

 

(CNN) – Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama has ruled out Senator Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate, a senior Democratic official told CNN on Friday night.

Clinton — Obama's main rival during the primary season — has been informed by Obama's campaign that she is not his choice to be his vice presidential candidate, the source said.

‘Yes we can'? Make that: ‘Oops, we may not'

There's trouble in paradise. Cancel the coronation. Send back the commemorative medals. Put those “Yes We Can” T-shirts up on eBay. Keep the Change.

Barack Obama's historic procession to the American presidency has been rudely interrupted. The global healing he promised is in jeopardy. If you're prone to emotional breakdown, you might want to take a seat before I say this. More...

How can it be, you ask? Didn't we see him just last month speaking to 200,000 adoring Germans in Berlin? Didn't he get the red carpet treatment in France - France of all places? Doesn't every British politician want to be seen clutching the hem of his garment?

All true. But as cruel geography and the selfish designs of the American Founding Fathers would have it, Europeans don't get to choose the US president. Somewhere along the way to the Obama presidency, somebody forgot to ask the American people.


And wouldn't you know it, they insist on looking this gift thoroughbred in the mouth. Who'd have thought it? You present them with the man who deigns to deliver them from their plight and they want to sit around and ask hard questions about who he is and what he believes and where he might actually take the country. The ingrates!

So we arrive this weekend at the true starting line of the US presidential race and the rituals that begin the real election campaign: the selection of the vice-presidential running-mates, and the back-to-back party nominating conventions. A year and a half after the warm-ups began, the two remaining candidates are more or less tied. Senator Obama's summer lead in the opinion polls has evaporated. John McCain, that grumpy, grisly, gnarled old Republican, that Gollum to Senator Obama's Bilbo Baggins, might, just might, actually win this thing.

What happened?

Of course, the conventional view is that it's all the work of that most terrifyingly effective piece of artillery since the invention of the howitzer, the Republican Attack Machine.

The credulous American voter, we're told, has been subjected in the last month to a televised blitzkrieg of right-wing lies about the hapless Democrat. He's not patriotic. He might be a Muslim. He might not even be American. He probably is a Muslim. There's no evidence he's ever said anything nice about Michael Phelps. He goes to the mosque on Fridays. If Obama's the leader of the free world, it won't be the Caucasian Georgia the Russians invade but the one sandwiched between Florida and South Carolina. Gullible Americans are going to fall for it, just as they fell for Stupid George W over Brilliant Al Gore and Brave John Kerry.

Forgive me for interrupting this reverie but in the real world something else is going on.

In the reality-based community the rest of us inhabit, the first thing to be said about the current state of the race is that the actual shift in the campaign's dynamics is not quite as dramatic as the pundit class would have you believe. A month ago, according to an average of polls for Real ClearPolitics.com, Senator Obama had about a four-point lead over Senator McCain. This week the tally suggests the lead is about one percentage point.

The bigger change has occurred in perceptions about the race. A month ago the prevailing view among the wise was that Senator Obama would steadily increase his lead and by the time his convention concluded next week, it would be insurmountable.

But instead, it looks as though, even if he has a really good convention in Denver next week, and Hillary and Bill Clinton play the unlikely role of loyal followers, the race will still be close when the Republicans start their gathering in a week's time. Whatever happens, in other words. it looks like yet another close election.

Why is this? Why has the Democrat failed to capitalise on the mood of deep discontent within the country?

First, it's true that the negative campaigning by John McCain has hurt him somewhat. But there's nothing wrong with that. The 2008 presidential election has so far been a referendum on Senator Obama. it's perfectly reasonable for the Republicans to make the case against him, and the attacks have been fair. My account of the McCain campaign above was a caricature, of course. There's been no mention of Senator Obama's race or the silly fiction that he might be a Muslim.

The fact is that the 47-year-old Democrat, less than four years in the Senate, is still largely a blank page for American voters: a great orator and an attractive figure, but unknown and untested. The Republicans have been filling in some of the gaps and pointing out how thin his real biography is.

The second problem is that Senator Obama is having difficulty - curiously enough - with Democratic voters. Polls indicate that while Senator McCain has just about locked up the votes of those who supported other Republicans in the primary election, Senator Obama is still regarded with mistrust and dislike by large numbers of Hillary Clinton's former supporters.

For many of these working-class types, he's just a bit too cerebral, a little vague. His campaign lacks both substance and passion. While unemployment is rising, incomes are slipping fqarther behind rising inflation and house prices are falling, Senator Obama keeps talking about hope and change, keeps promising a new type of politics. These benighted Democratic voters don't really want a new type of politics. They want to know what exactly he's going to do to raise their living standards.

The irony for Senator Obama is that he has built a campaign on a pledge to put an end to cynicism in the political system, but the more he offers only vague promises of hope, the greater the danger that he increases voter cynicism about politicians in general and him in particular.

The third problem is that events have not helped the Democrats. The war in Georgia has emphasised that the world is a dangerous place, and that simply being willing to talk to your enemies, as Senator Obama sometimes seems to suggest, isn't going to keep your people safe.

The key to understanding the presidential campaign as it enters its phase of maximum intensity is this. The more the campaign is about the concerns of the American voter, especially the state of the economy but also the general anxiety about the direction of the country, the more likely they are to throw the Republicans out.

But the uncomfortable truth for the many devoted fans of Senator Obama is that the more the race is about him, the less likely he is to win it.

The Onion: Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 08 Election !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBrDzZCOQtI 

(An oldie but goodie)

ACTION! Sign the Petition to Increase Access to Health Care!

Message From HillPac:


 I wanted to give you an update on the latest news. Yesterday afternoon, the Department of Health and Human Services issued the latest version of their health care regulations. The latest draft proves once again the Bush administration is jeopardizing women's health by putting their ideology first.

Senator Clinton and her colleague Senator Patty Murray are working hard on this issue. Together they are fighting on behalf of women everywhere to make sure this attempt does not go unnoticed. Make no mistake -- the Bush Administration is threatening access to family planning options for women who need them most. That is why it is so important that we continue our fight. We still need your help as we continue to oppose these attempts to undermine women's health care. If you have not yet signed the petition, I hope you will today, or please send this to your friends and ask them to join us.  More...

Click here to sign the petition

We have already seen the difference your support can make. These new regulations do not include some of the most objectionable language from the earlier draft. I believe that is because so many of you have joined Senator Clinton in speaking out, and I want to thank you for helping with this effort.

But we are not done yet.

The newest version continues to be a problem. Instead of increasing women's access to health care, these regulations would further complicate the process, adding additional barriers to women's ability to get quality care.

Now that these regulations have been published in the Federal Register, the public has 30 days to comment. It is so important that we continue to speak up and make clear that we oppose any last-minute Bush administration attempts to undermine women's health!

Please ask your friends to join us by signing here, so that we can send all your signatures and comments to HHS.

Click here to sign the petition

Thank you,

Ann F. Lewis

Crying Times for Obama

August 22nd, 2008 SP Editor Posted in American News |

While we all wait for Mr. Barack Hussein Obama to decide when he will tell his followers (and the Nation) what poor wretch will be forced to accompany him on the road to political embarrassment and oblivion in November, we are inclined to report on what has been going on regarding his most recent controversy: his forged birth certificate and his illegibility as a ‘natural born citizen’. Below is the official press release from Mr. Philip J. Berg, Esq, a man who has just recently filed a lawsuit (injunction) against Barack Obama, the DNC and the FEC:

More...

Suit filed 08/21/08, No. 08-cv-4083

Contact information at the end of this press release. Documents filed with the court and a copy of this press release can be downloaded at the end of this press release.

(Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania – 08/21/08) - Philip J. Berg, Esquire, [Berg is a former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania; former candidate for Governor and U.S. Senate in Democratic Primaries; former Chair of the Democratic Party in Montgomery County; former member of Democratic State Committee; an attorney with offices in Montgomery County, PA and an active practice in Philadelphia, PA, filed a lawsuit in Federal Court today, Berg vs. Obama, Civil Action No. 08-cv-4083, seeking a Declaratory Judgment and an Injunction that Obama does not meet the qualifications to be President of the United States. Berg filed this suit for the best interests of the Democratic Party and the citizens of the United States.

Philip J. Berg, Esquire stated in his lawsuit that Senator Obama:

1. Is not a naturalized citizen; and/or

2. Lost his citizenship when he was adopted in Indonesia; and/or

3. Has dual loyalties because of his citizenship with Kenya and Indonesia.

Berg stated:

I filed this action at this time to avoid the obvious problems that will occur when the Republican Party raises these issues after Obama is nominated.

There have been numerous questions raised about Obama’s background with no satisfactory answers. The questions that I have addressed include, but are not limited to:

1. Where was Obama born? Hawaii; an island off of Hawaii; Kenya; Canada; or ?

2. Was he a citizen of Kenya, Indonesia and/or Canada?

3. What was the early childhood of Obama in Hawaii; in Kenya; in Indonesia when he was adopted; and later, back to Hawaii?

4. An explanation as to the various names utilized by Obama that include: Barack Hussein Obama; Barry Soetoro; Barry Obama; Barack Dunham; and Barry Dunham.

5. Illinois Bar Application – Obama fails to acknowledge use of names other than Barack Hussein Obama, a blatant lie.

If Obama can prove U.S. citizenship, we still have the issue of muti-citizenship with responsibilities owed to and allegance to other countries.

Berg continued:

“Eighteen million Democratic Primary voters donated money, volunteered their time and energy, worked very hard and then not only supported Senator Clinton, but voted for her and often recruited other supporters as well. All the efforts of supporters of legitimate citizens were for nothing because this man lied and cheated his way into a fraudulent candidacy and cheated legitimately eligible natural born citizens from competing in a fair process and the supporters of their citizen choice for the nomination.

Voters donated money, goods and services to elect a nominee and were defrauded by Senator Obama's lies and obfuscations. He clearly shows a conscience of guilt by his actions in using the forged birth certificate and the lies he's told to cover his loss of citizenship. We believe he does know, supported this belief by his actions in hiding his secret, in that he failed to regain his citizenship and used documents to further his position as a natural born citizen. We would also show he proclaims himself a Constitutional scholar and lecturer, but did not learn he had no eligibility to become President except by means of lying, obfuscations and deceptions. His very acts proves he knew he was no longer a natural born citizen. We believe he knew he was defrauding the country or else why use the forged birth certificate of his half sister?

Americans lost money, goods and services donated in their support of a candidate who supposedly was a natural born citizen simply because the DNC officers and party leaders looked the other way and did not demand credentials to answer the questions and prove whether or not Senator Obama was a legitimately natural born citizen, even in light of recent information that has surfaced on websites on the Internet suggesting Senator Obama may not be eligible to become President and questioning his status of multiple citizenships and questionable loyalties! If the DNC officers and.or leaders had performed one ounce of due diligence we would not find ourselves in this emergency predicament, one week away from making a person the nominee who has lost their citizenship as a child and failed to even perform the basic steps of regaining citizenship through an oath of allegiance at age eighteen [18] as prescribed by Constitutional laws!

The injunctive relief must be granted because failing to do so, this inaction defrauds everyone who voted in the Democratic Primary for a nominee that is a fair representation of the voters. Failure to grant injunctive relief would allow a corrupted, fraudulent nomination process to continue. It not only allows, but promotes an overwhelming degree of disrespect and creates such a lack of confidence in voters of the primary process itself, so that it would cement a prevailing belief that no potential candidate has to obey the laws of this country, respect our election process, follow the Constitution, or even suffer any consequence for lying and defrauding voters to get onto the ballot when they have no chance of serving if they fraudulently manage to get elected! It is unfair to the country for candidates of either party to become the nominee when there is any question of their ability to serve if elected.

All judges are lawyers and held to a higher standard of practice than a regular lawyer. It is this Judicial standard that demands injunctive relief prayed for here. This relief is predicated upon one of the most basic premises of practicing law which states no lawyer can allow themselves to be used in furthering a criminal enterprise. And by that gauge alone, failing to give injunctive relief to the 18 million supporters of the other candidate, a true natural born citizen eligible to serve if elected, this court must not allow itself to be used to further the criminal and fraudulent acts to continue and be rewarded by becoming the Democratic Nominee. Failure to give the injunctive relief prayed for will insure that a corrupted Presidential election process will only guarantee a show of unfair preference of one group of people over another group by not demanding the same rules be applied to all groups equally and fairly, especially in light of the fact that both candidates are each considered a minority.”

Philip J. Berg, Esquire
555 Andorra Glen Court, Suite 12
Lafayette Hill, PA 19444-2531
Cell (610) 662-3005
(610) 825-3134
(800) 993-PHIL [7445]
Fax (610) 834-7659
philjberg@gmail.com

Finally, somebody is taking the initial step to legitimately put into question the legality of Obama’s candidacy. Even if the courts eventually feel a bit queasy about placing an injunction against Obama and the Democratic Party in this contested political environment, there is not doubt that Mr. Berg has the legal ’standing’ to present the claim.

Although there is a possibility that this entire controversy will end up without any “legs”, either because the judges may become fearful of the “racist” label, or because in actuality Obama does meet the qualifications to run, the mere fact that he is being challenged in this manner should worry the Democratic Party and their allies. Who would run in Obama’s stead in the unlikely case that he is disqualified? Probably his VP pick, who would suddenly become the standard bearer of the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the United States.

In other news, TheCityEdition has developed an interesting theory regarding the sudden death of many Democrats who have been pushing for Hillary Clinton’s name to be placed into the nomination roll call at the Democratic Convention. Here is an excerpt:

On the day before the Democratic National Committee announced it would hold a roll-call vote in Denver - with candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton’s name on the ballot - the head of the Arkansas delegation was shot and killed at his party headquarters.

Timothy Dale Johnson entered the office of Bill Gwatney around noontime on August 13^th, firing a revolver three times, then drove away in his blue pick-up truck. After stopping briefly at the headquarters of the Arkansas State Baptist Convention a few blocks away, Johnson led state troopers on a 30-mile chase and was brought down in a shootout. He died later at a hospital.

While investigators are still searching for a motive in the murder, the timing is suspicious. Also, the location. The tragedy took place in the heart of Clinton country, where the former President presided as governor for 12 years. (The capitol in Little Rock is two blocks from the crime scene.) On February 5^th, his wife won big in the primary – 70 percent to Sen. Barack Obama’s 26 percent. The phenomenal 44-point margin surpassed even her 41-point West Virginia rout on May 5th. In addition to the pledged delegate haul, nearly all the state’s superdelegates endorsed the senator from New York.

One of the organizers of a petition to place Clinton’s name in nomination has said that on the day before he was killed, Gwatney agreed to back the effort, the only state delegation head to do so. Other Arkansas delegates had also indicated they were ready to support Clinton. As one of the first states called in a roll-call vote, Arkansas could conceivably start a bandwagon effect, a prospect that must certainly have crossed some minds, not only in the Obama campaign but within the Republican Party. It appears both groups have worked in concert to make sure Clinton’s name doesn’t appear anywhere on the November ballot.

Whether this high-stakes electioneering has anything to do with the execution-style death of Bill Gwatney is an open question. The former state senator served as the finance chief for Mike Beebe’s successful run for governor in 2006, before taking over as state chair in 2007. Chuck Bartels of the Associated Press reported last week that Gwatney has been credited with “bringing the party together and giving it energy not seen since Bill Clinton left the governor’s mansion for the White House in 1992.”

According to another AP story, “At the time of his death, the party was in the midst of expanding its reach into even solidly conservative portions of the state. In an Aug. 5 e-mail newsletter, Gwatney wrote that the party planned to add headquarters in Sebastian, Pope, Washington and Benton counties.” A new headquarters in White County, where Johnson resided, was scheduled to open on August 14th.

The petition organizer, who communicated on condition of anonymity, said in an email, “We got almost the entire [Arkansas] delegation to say they would sign the petition. We had sent out the petitions to everyone, but since his death they got so distracted that we have not received all of them back. I can tell you that all the other state party chairs in the states are fully run by Obama, and they would not even return our phone calls and were against anything to do with our petition.”

In spite of these suspect circumstances, New York Times writer Shaila Dewan wrapped up her two-day inquiry into the murder on August 15^th, concluding, “The killing had no apparent link to politics.” And Dewan was one of only a handful of national journalists who bothered to fly into Little Rock at all to investigate.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING!

Of course, this does NOT mean that we are now facing a new era of “political assassinations” and repression, since this sort of thing has been happening for decades and most people have never cared enough to find out why. What it does mean is that there is a large wave of scrutiny funneling towards Mr. Obama’s corrupt lackeys.

When it comes down to the “down and dirty” aspects of this season’s political contest, Obama has been the only candidate who has been able to slip through the Media’s filter, while simultaneously receiving the most attention from all sources (both negative and positive). Within a few more weeks, we might be able to finally topple this straw messiah and eventually rid our Nation of this horrendously pathetic episode in our history.

**PLEASE REMEMBER TO SEND IN YOUR OWN ARTICLES TO savagepolitics@gmail.com!
SUBSCRIBE to SavagePolitics AND HELP US FIGHT THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA!

Obama Camp Has Many Ties to Wife's Employer

David Axelrod, right, worked for the University of Chicago Medical Center."

By Nancy Stone -- Chicago Tribune

By Joe Stephens
Washington Post Staff Writer

Related Story: Contracts Went to a Longtime Donor

A few years ago, executives at the prestigious University of Chicago Medical Center were concerned that an increasing number of patients were arriving at their emergency room with what the executives considered to be non-urgent complaints. The visits were costly to the hospital, and many of the patients, coming from the surrounding South Side neighborhood, were poor and uninsured. More...

The medical center's initiative provides a window into the close relationship between the Obamas, their associates at the University of Chicago and Axelrod, the strategist most central to Barack Obama's rise. It also illustrates how that circle, and particularly Michelle, dealt with an intractable social problem that confronts many urban areas: How much care should large, nonprofit hospitals offer the poor in return for tax-exempt status?

The medical center markets its initiative as an effort to improve patient health for the poor and at the same time free its resources for emergencies and complicated procedures. The Urban Health Initiative also could save the hospital substantial amounts of money, by removing the nonpaying poor patients from its emergency room.

"An ER visit for something that's not an emergency costs the medical center $1,200," said Kelly Sullivan, a hospital spokeswoman. "That's sucking up dollars in health care that we don't all have to just blow through carelessly.

"Michelle inspired us . . . to step back and take a holistic approach to this problem."
Those involved in the effort in Chicago say that they are hopeful but that it is too soon to judge its success.

Michelle Obama and Axelrod did not respond to requests for an interview about the initiative. Axelrod's partner, Eric Sedler, confirmed his firm did the work but declined to discuss specifics. Hospital executives declined to say how much Axelrod's firm was paid.

Howard Peters of the nonprofit Illinois Hospital Association praised the medical center's efforts, saying the ER is not the place to provide patients with primary medical care.

"Patients need a source of ongoing care, and this initiative is trying to make that care available in a more appropriate setting and in a more timely way," Peters said.

Axelrod's firm warned hospital executives in its May 2007 presentation that, although many people welcomed the initiative, primary-care doctors opposed it as a break with the center's commitment to the community. Opinion research showed that a small but passionate group of people already considered the hospital to be elitist, arrogant and lacking in "cultural empathy" for the surrounding economically depressed South Side neighborhood, according to a draft report obtained by The Washington Post. Some doctors in focus groups dismissed local health clinics as "wholly inadequate."
One of the suggestions from Axelrod's firm: Change the name of the initiative.

"Internal and external respondents expressed the opinion that the word 'urban' is code for 'black' or 'black and poor,' " according to a report the firm gave the medical center on May 14, 2007. "Based on the research, consideration should be given to re-branding the initiative."

Links to University

Both Barack and Michelle Obama have worked at the University of Chicago, a financial and intellectual powerhouse with 9,500 employees and a legacy of nurturing Nobel laureates.

Barack was a part-time lecturer at the law school for more than a decade, earning as much as $69,000 a year. Michelle was the founding director of the university's community service center, working there for five years before moving to the medical center in 2001.

Shortly after Barack Obama joined the U.S. Senate in 2005, the medical center promoted Michelle Obama to vice president of community and external relations, and more than doubled her salary. She is now on leave from the $317,000-a-year post, in which she sought to bridge the gap between the wealthy institution and its poorer neighbors. The hospital declined to discuss the budget for her program or her input into budgetary decisions.

The vast majority of political contributions from university employees have gone to Democrats, and over the past nine years they have donated at least $373,000 to Barack Obama's campaigns, records show. The university's executive suites are home to a number of the couple's closest friends and financial backers.

The medical center's chairwoman, Valerie Jarrett, is a close friend and top adviser who travels frequently with Barack Obama. One of Barack's best friends, Eric Whitaker, is executive vice president at the center and is now in charge of the Urban Health Initiative. Hospital board member Kelly R. Welsh is executive vice president at Northern Trust Co., which extended the couple a $1.3 million home mortgage shortly after Barack Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate. Dan Shomon, Barack Obama's former campaign manager, is a university lobbyist. Jarrett, Whitaker, Welsh and Shomon all declined to be interviewed or did not respond to requests.

The 600-bed medical center, which has a $1.3 billion budget, has more than 700 attending physicians. The hospital is a leader in such specialties as cancer care and organ transplants, and boasts that patients travel from around the world for treatment. Its facilities feature valet parking, a meditation garden and, in some rooms, 42-inch flat-panel televisions.

Quentin Young, a local physician whose five-doctor medical office lists Barack Obama among its patients, said that in past decades the South Side often viewed the institution as a "citadel of exclusion," more interested in research than the well-being of its neighbors.

The hospital's general counsel, Susan Sher, said she approached Michelle Obama in 2001 and asked her to develop plans to bring the hospital closer to the surrounding neighborhood. Sher is a longtime friend of Michelle Obama; they worked together at Chicago City Hall, where Sher was head of Mayor Richard M. Daley's law department. Michelle Obama "grew up in this community," Sher said, adding that that makes her uniquely qualified.

"We really didn't know what this office would be, so it was really her creation," Sher said. Today, Sher said, Obama's office has grown to include more than 20 staffers and has proved a success at boosting the medical center's image.

The hospital told state regulators it spent $10 million on charity care for the poor in fiscal 2007 -- 1.3 percent of its total hospital expenses, according to an analysis performed for The Washington Post by the bipartisan, nonprofit Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. That is below the 2.1 percent average for nonprofit hospitals in Cook County.

As a nonprofit, the University of Chicago Medical Center receives annual tax breaks worth nearly five times as much as it spends on charity care, the analysis found.

Sullivan, spokeswoman for the hospital, said the institution's commitment to the community extends beyond charity care to include research and treatment of a large number of patients covered by Medicaid.
"It's very important to consider the broader benefit that hospitals, and in this case, the University of Chicago hospitals, provide to their communities," said Peters of the hospital association.

Still, Quentin Young, the South Side physician, described the medical center's level of charity spending as "ludicrous." Young, known in Chicago for having been the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s personal physician, is chairman of the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, a Chicago-based nonprofit that advocates health-care reform. Young considered himself an ally of Barack Obama while he was a state legislator.

"That's shameful," Young said of the percentages. "They are arguably, if not defrauding, then at least taking advantage of a public subsidy. We would like to see them give more than the minimum. The need is there."

'World Is Seeping In'

One of Michelle Obama's signature efforts has been working to relieve crowding in the emergency room, the second-busiest in Chicago. It logs 80,000 visits a year.

Backed by a federal grant, Michelle Obama in 2005 launched the South Side Health Collaborative, under which counselors advise patients with noncritical needs that they can receive care elsewhere at a reduced cost. The medical center said in a report that some patients "make frequent visits to the ER because no one in the family has a personal doctor."

"Obama's goal is to connect people in the community with doctors at [community health] centers, to let them know that they can use those physicians on a regular basis instead of ignoring symptoms until they send them to the ER, where care can cost five times more."

The hospital report quotes Michelle Obama as saying, "The world is seeping in, and our salvation will be the success of our partners" at local clinics.

Obama's program has enjoyed favorable news media coverage in Chicago and was eventually expanded into a broader program, the Urban Health Initiative. Under the effort, the hospital has started providing selected clinics with part-time medical personnel and has given $350,000 to enable a nearby clinic to nearly double in size.

Center executives said the initiative, on which they spent $2 million last year, could be a national model. Critics, however, describe the program as an attempt to ensure that the hospital retains only affluent patients with insurance.

"If you put enough money into it, you could save a whole bunch of community health centers," Young said. "But to date, they haven't."

Edward Novak, president of Chicago's Sacred Heart Hospital, declined to discuss the center's initiative in particular but dismissed as "bull" attempts to justify such programs as good for patients. "What they're really saying is, 'Don't use our emergency room because it will cost us money, and we don't want the public-aid population,' " Novak said.

Selling the Idea

In December 2006, the medical center hired a public relations firm, ASK Public Strategies, to help sell the Urban Health Initiative. ASK is co-owned by Axelrod, Obama's chief campaign strategist.

ASK was selected on the recommendation of Michelle Obama, Sher and Jarrett, according to Sullivan, the hospital spokeswoman. "Axelrod has a love affair with UC, and is arguably the best in the country at public affairs," Sullivan said in an e-mail.
ASK started work in January 2007; the next month, Barack Obama launched his campaign.
The firm delivered its report in May 2007 saying that, while nurses were generally favorable about the Urban Health Initiative, "primary care doctors were more negative, viewing it as a break with UCMC's community commitment."

An April 2007 draft report from the medical center's polling firm, Peter D. Hart Research Associates, said focus groups suggested that "enough latent suspicion toward the hospital and university as elitist exists to ensure that a political attack against the Urban Health Initiative as deceptive and self-serving would find fertile ground."

While most of those surveyed expressed favorable views of the center and its program, critics complained of arrogance and a lack of empathy, the report said.

"More than a few staff members -- particularly medical staff -- express strongly worded concern or disappointment with UCMC in its commitment to the community," the report said.

One survey question asked for reaction to a particular criticism that had been leveled:
"This new health initiative is not really about helping the residents of the South Side of Chicago. It is simply a way for the University of Chicago Medical Center to save money and reduce costs by serving fewer poor people without health insurance."

ASK's report emphasized the need to be transparent and acknowledge that the hospital was pursuing the initiative in its own self-interest, as well as that of patients. It also stressed that in selling the program to the public, "credible validators are critical; public health experts and ministers trump politicians."

What the Neighbors Say

The medical center appears to have enacted some of the ASK report's recommendations but not others; the name was not changed.

"I've had some complaints from my constituents," said Alderman Toni Preckwinkle, a former teacher who represents Chicago's 4th Ward and who will be an Obama delegate at the Democratic National Convention. "It's hard to know whether this is motivated by the interests of the patients or by the financial interests of the medical center."

Asked her personal conclusion, Preckwinkle paused. "They have decided they need to have as many paying patients as possible," she said. "That's all I'm going to say."

Jeffrey Schaider, chairman of emergency medicine at nearby John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, also is skeptical. Schaider said his emergency room welcomes all patients, whether or not their maladies ultimately prove urgent. Lower-income workers also often find it difficult to visit clinics, which have limited hours, he said.

"Often, the patients think it's something serious when it's happening to them," Schaider said. "And a lot of the time, the patients are right."

Database editor Sarah Cohen and staff writer Matthew Mosk contributed to this report.

Interesting Facebook Post regarding the Super Delegates support for Obama

Don't you get it? The whole point was to get Obama as the nominee, so that the Republicans would beat him! They do not want to go up against Hillary at all.

Even though most Americans, regardless of where they are politically, would prefer Hillary over Obama. (This is including Conservatives--she is more middle of the road AND she is known.)

No Democratic Nominee in the last several elections has done so poorly in the polls. (Yet they still lost!) This year should have been a CAKE WALK after 8 years of Bush! But Obama just cannot close the deal and the Kool Aid is wearing off.

McCain will beat Obama, and the Superdelegates (who are in political positions) all knew this when they made their backroom agreement to go with him. They knew they were sacrificing the White House in order to get maximum voters out on election day to ensure their own re-election. So while the youth vote will come out for Obama. Too many life long Dems know not to trust him and will be voting Republican for the first time in their lives. So Dems will keep Congress but lose the White House--and they KNEW this from the get-go.

Obama is merely a lamb for the slaughter.

The Mystery of Obama's Problems

By Jonah Goldberg

The Democrats are having their flop-sweat moment. Barack Obama should be way out in front. The Republicans are in terrible shape. There hasn't been a more battered brand name since Bart Simpson swallowed a jagged metal "O" from his box of Krusty-O's cereal. The GOP has nominated an old white-haired dude, in Paris Hilton's words, who makes Dick Cheney look like a lambada champion. He'll be the kind of president who will yell from the Oval Office window, "You kids get off my lawn!" The economy isn't roadkill quite yet; it's sort of like wounded roadkill, flopping around, unable to get going but unwilling to lay down and die.

And yet, John McCain is pulling ahead of Obama. The latest Reuters poll has Grandpa Munster up five percentage points over our secular messiah. The Real Clear Politics average of polls has Obama and McCain in a virtual tie. And, according to RCP, if the race were held today and McCain took the toss-up states where he's currently ahead, he'd be the next president. Yes, it's early. McCain has had a good couple weeks. But these were McCain's first good couple weeks since he secured the nomination. Meanwhile, with the exception of the Jeremiah Wright unpleasantness, Obama has had a good couple years. More...

Ask the typical Obama supporter why this should be so and you'll get a range of answers. Some just stare at the poll numbers the way my late basset hound would look at me when I tried to feed him a grape: with pure unblinking incomprehension. Others act like the guy who sits alone with his shopping bags at the public library, muttering about Fox News conspiracies and how Karl Rove-like aliens are doing terrible things with probes of proctological exactitude. Still others just shake their heads at the racism of anyone who could possibly have a problem with a very left-wing politician with almost no experience, who often sounds like his campaign slogan is: "People of Earth! Stop Your Bickering. I Am From Harvard, And I'm Here To Help."

Perhaps therein lies the answer to this supposed mystery. Indeed, perhaps there's no mystery at all, and Obama's problems are the same problems Democrats always have at the presidential level: He's an elitist.

Oh, I know. Upon reading that, some liberal spluttered herbal chai tea from her nose at the injustice of this whole elitist canard, and the earnest Ivy League interns at some liberal magazine have burst into laughter, offering the appropriate bons mots from Balzac at the preposterousness of such a suggestion, saying: "Don't you conservatives understand? Democrats care about the little guy. They're on the side of the proletariat -- I mean workers -- and as Obama has so eloquently put it, if the workers would only stop clinging to their silly sky god and guns, they'd understand that."

Liberalism is often a problem at the presidential level. Cultural liberalism is a burden. Haughty cultural liberalism is a disaster in the making. For good or ill, the presidency is a cultural institution as much as it is a political institution. And it's fundamentally a culturally conservative one. Fair or not, many perceive Obama as a cultural outsider. This week, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said of Obama's friendship with former left-wing domestic terrorist Bill Ayers: "They're friends. So what?"

Psephologist and columnist Michael Barone noticed during the primaries that, with the exception of the black vote, Obama's support within the Democratic party is comprised almost entirely of cultural liberals. He dubbed this intra-Democratic split a divide between "academics and Jacksonians." The Jacksonians are working-class, culturally conservative whites. The academics are the same people who formed the base for Howard Dean, Bill Bradley, Michael Dukakis, Gary Hart, George McGovern, and other successful presidents in the anti-matter universe where Spock has a goatee.

In this universe, however, you need Jacksonians more than you need academics to win a general election, which is one reason why no non-southern Democrat has won the presidency in nearly a half-century. It's not that voters love southerners, either. Rather, southern Democrats simply seem more Jacksonian (even so, only Jimmy Carter won with a majority of the popular vote).

Obama may still win, of course, proving that America is not only ready for a black president, but a cultural liberal as well. If he loses, though, you can be sure Democrats will claim he lost not because he is a black and more charming Michael Dukakis, but simply because he is black. Because liberals are never wrong.

New group plans Ayers attack on Obama

A new conservative group has produced a television ad attacking Barack Obama for his relationship with former Weather Underground bomber Bill Ayers.

"How much do your really know about Barack Obama? What does he really believe?" asks the ad, which then cites the failed attack on the Capitol on 9/11, and links it to the Weather Underground attack on the Capitol decades earlier. More...

The group says it will spend $2.8 million airing the ad in Ohio and Michigan — which would be the largest single third-party expenditure this cycle.

"Why would Barack Obama be friends with someone who bombed the Capitol and is proud of it?" asks the narrator. "Do you know enough to elect Barack Obama?"

The group, the American Issues Project, is a 501(c)4 — which means it isn't required to disclose its donors. According to a press release set to go out shortly, it's the product of a coalition of conservative groups (Failor said his Iowans for Tax Relief is not among them). Its president is Ed Martin, a Missouri conservative. Another official, Ed Failor Jr., is a former McCain aide in Iowa who left after the campaign's shakeup last summer.

The substance of the ad matches a recent upswing in the McCain campaign's references to Ayers. The use of 9/11 imagery links Ayers, and Obama, to the American conflict Islamic terror, which is the subject of many viral e-mails attacking Obama.

The group's spokesman, Christian Pinkston, called the suggestion that the group is making any link with Islam "unfair."

"The idea here was to talk about the fact that his friends hate America, and that's who he's aligning himself with," he said.

It's spokesman, Christian Pinkston, is a former aide to presidential candidate Jack Kemp and went on to run the conservative group Empower America.  Pinkston says the ad will launch later this afternoon.

UPDATE: Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor responds:

The fact that John McCain dispatched his paid consultant to launch this despicable ad from a so-called ‘independent’ committee shows how desperate he is to change the subject from his shocking disconnect with the economic struggles of the American people. He knows that Barack Obama has denounced the detestable crimes that Bill Ayers committed 40 years ago.

Instead of invoking Paris, Britney and obscure '60s radicals, Sen. McCain should take the day off at one of his seven homes to consider whether his support for outsourcing, tax breaks for companies who ship jobs overseas and continued spending of $10 billion a month in Iraq is really putting "country first." To us, it sounds like just more of the same.

A Pattern of Moral Equivalence from Obama

A Pavlovian Response   [Victor Davis Hanson]

We didn't have to wait long for the much anticipated morally-equivalent message from Barack Obama: “We’ve got to send a clear message to Russia and unify our allies. They can’t charge into other countries. Of course it helps if we are leading by example on that point.”

Let me get this straight: getting a Senate and House majority to authorize a bipartisan joint war-resolution, going to the UN, assembling a coalition, having a national and world debate on the wisdom of such an operation from December 2001 to March 2003, and then attacking a genocidal dictator, and staying on to foster a constitutional democracy are apparently the same "charge" "example" as an autocracy suddenly invading its democratic neighbor during the Olympics, and staying on to annex some of its territory?

Aside from the silliness of these statements, the problem for Obama, again, is that incrementally they really do start to add up—America's "tragic history," the mini-sermon on decline to the 7-year-old, waffling exegesis to Rick Warren about our own evil, the confessions to the cheering Berliners about our transgressions—and these doubts are enhanced rather than ameliorated by Michelle Obama's various rantings, and the creepy things former associates like Ayers, Wright, and Pfleger have said about America and its culture. Some disinterested observer from Mars might adduce that the Obamas at this point can't help it, since the 'everybody believes it' anti-American message they absorbed was of long duration and reinforced where they went to school, where they worshiped, and where they worked.

Team Obama needs to sit him down, law down the law, and give him the Michelle muzzle: "Barack! You are running for the top job in America, so when you mention the U.S., or its history, just dispense with the Harvard qualifiers, the howevers and buts, the oppression studies talking points, the morally equivalent cute examples, the tangled legal nuances, and professorial huffing, and simply say nice things about your country, and if you can't, don't say anything at all about it. The voters know that you believe America is not perfect, but they don't know whether you believe it is good."

The Case Against Obama - In His Own Words

By Lorie Byrd

It would be hard to make a better case against a Barack Obama presidency than the one Obama has made in his own words. The most memorable thing about Obama’s speeches is not generally what he says, but rather how large and enthusiastic the audiences are. If voters pay attention only to the symbolism and get caught up in the excitement of the Obamessiah and his throngs of fainting disciples, he stands a good chance of winning in November. If voters pay attention instead to the things Obama is saying, the case against an Obama presidency will be clear. More...

Obama’s youthful appearance is often cited as one of his biggest assets, but when he opens his mouth he doesn’t always come off as presidential or even particularly intelligent. The political figure who perhaps has received the most ridicule in the past twenty years is Dan Quayle (due largely to a misspelled word on a flashcard he read during an appearance at a school). I wonder how much more grief would have been heaped on Vice President Quayle if he had made any of the following gaffes committed by Barack Obama (from Michelle Malkin):

· Last May, he claimed that Kansas tornadoes killed a whopping 10,000 people: “In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed.” The actual death toll: 12.

· Earlier this month in Oregon, he redrew the map of the United States: “Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go.”

· Last March, on the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama, he claimed his parents united as a direct result of the civil rights movement: “There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born.” Obama was born in 1961. The Selma march took place in 1965.

Some of Obama’s gaffes go beyond simple slips of the tongue and confusion over numbers though and display a lack of knowledge on important issues as was the case when he commented on the war in Afghanistan and the lack of translators: “We only have a certain number of them and if they are all in Iraq, then it’s harder for us to use them in Afghanistan.” As Malkin pointed out, the real reason it’s “harder for us to use them” in Afghanistan is because Iraqis speak Arabic or Kurdish, while Afghanis speak Pashto, Farsi, or other non-Arabic languages. Worse than the lack of knowledge of the languages spoken in other nations is that he lacks an understanding of the threat posed by some of them. Or maybe he doesn’t. It is really a bit confusing. In Portland, Oregon, Obama said of Iran, “They don't pose a serious threat to us.” The following day in Billings, Montana he said: “I’ve made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave.” Maybe it depends what the definitions of “grave” and “serious” are. As I said, it is all bit confusing. Maybe that is why so many focus on the crowds at Obama’s events, rather than to what Obama is actually saying to them.

If voters are paying attention to what Barack Obama says they will see not only a lack of knowledge of important issues, but on some of the issues where he is informed, an attempt to hide his true position and past votes.

In the Saddleback Church forum last week, in response to Rev. Rick Warren’s question, “At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?” Obama responded: “Well, uh, you know, I think that whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or, uh, a scientific perspective, uh, answering that question with specificity, uh, you know, is, is, uh, above my pay grade.” As blogger Cassy Fiano points out, the idea that someone running for President would dodge such an important question in that way is “beyond ridiculous” and obviously an attempt to be as ambiguous as possible so that he does not offend those who disagree with the very radical positions he has taken on the issue of abortion during his political career. Obama’s past comments and votes on abortion legislation definitely say more about him than anything he is saying on the subject now.

Another example of actions speaking louder than words can be found when we listen to Obama’s money talk. According to Obama’s tax returns from 2000-2006, the Obamas have given far less to charity than John McCain has. In all but the two most recent years reported, the Obamas gave around 1% or less of their income to charity. Their contributions increased in 2005 and 2006 to 4.7% and 6.1% respectively, but still are far short of those of McCain who gave 28.6% in 2006 and 27.3% in 2007. But if you listen to Obama’s words you will hear that he is very concerned about the least among us.

According to the following statement from an Obama speech earlier this summer, it appears pretty much everyone who isn’t Obama is a lesser being: “...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; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth. This was the moment -- this was the time -- when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals.” If Obama is able to slow the rise of the oceans then ending poverty and securing peace should be a cakewalk. I suppose he will only be able to accomplish such feats if elected President though.

This week John McCain pulled ahead of Obama in many polls and projections. Maybe voters have finally started listening to what Obama has been saying now that the thrill of his oratory is wearing thin.

Lorie Byrd is a Townhall.com columnist and blogs at Wizbang and at LorieByrd.com.

Rep. Roach (from Washington) must refund campaign cash

Another Article from PolitickerWA.com
By Bryan Bissell

State Rep. Dan Roach has been ordered to repay his campaign $21,504 from his 2006 race because Roach improperly transferred the money to his own bank account to make up for lost wages, the Seattle Times is reporting.

But the money Roach paid himself was for profit disbursements from Roach Gymnastics, a gym he owns with his wife, and not eligible for the wage-only reimbursement rules set forth by the Public Disclosure Commission. However both the PDC and Roach characterized the instance as a misunderstanding of the rules.

Roach recently took 56 percent of the vote in Tuesday's primary for the 31st Legislative District seat while his opponent, Democrat Ron Weigelt (D-Buckley), received 44 percent of the vote. Weigelt filed the complaint that led to Roach's refund last November, and this is the third issue Roach has had with the PDC, with the previous two involving fines for late reporting.

Send tips to bryan.bissell@politickerwa.com

Was young Obama an Indonesian citizen?

 A blogger at the Daily Kos believes Obama may have a serious problem regarding his citizenship: 

"A conservative website, America's Right, has now picked up the story and is pumping-up the issues surrounding Obama's citizenship controversy. Based on this article by Jeff Schreiber, I'd have to say that if the federal judge interprets the Berg complaint in the same hardass letter-of-the-law, kick-a-liberal-in-the-ass manner, Obama's problems may be far worse than I first surmised."

And another blogger named Texas Darlin seems to think that Obama WAS an Indonsian Citizen.   World Net Daily has also published an article suggesting the same, here it is: More...

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Document, travel suggest 'Barry Soetero' member of world's largest Muslim country
 
By Aaron Klein
WorldNetDaily

Indonesian school registration for "Barry Soetoro" (AP photo)

JERUSALEM – Was Sen. Barack Obama a citizen of Indonesia at any point in his life?
That question has been circulating on the blogosphere with increased fury the past few days, since a photograph emerged of Obama's school registration papers as a child in Indonesia – the world's most populous Muslim nation – showing the presidential candidate listed as a "Muslim" with "Indonesian" citizenship.
An investigation into Indonesian citizenship law and a review of Obama's biography and travels suggest the Illinois senator at one point may have been a citizen of Indonesia. That would not necessarily disqualify Obama to run for president, but it could raise loyalty concerns.
A 2007 Associated Press photograph taken by Tatan Syuflana, an Indonesian AP reporter and photographer, surfaced last week on the Daylife.com photographic website showing an image of Obama's registration card at Indonesia's Fransiskus Assisi school, a Catholic institution.
In the picture, Obama is registered under the name Barry Soetoro by his stepfather, Lolo Soetoro. The school card lists Barry Soetoro as a Indonesian citizen born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His religion is listed as Muslim.
Jack Stokes, manager of media relations for the AP, confirmed to WND the picture is indeed an AP photo.
After attending the Assisi Primary School, Obama later was enrolled at SDN Menteng 1, an Indonesian public school.
Obama's campaign did not return repeated WND phone calls and e-mail queries the past week asking for a clarification regarding the school documentation listing the presidential candidate's citizenship as Indonesian.
Obama spokesmen have stated the candidate is a natural-born citizen amid rumors he may have been born in his father's home country of Kenya, but the campaign has not addressed whether Obama became a citizen of Indonesia at any point.
(Story continues below)
Obama's American mother, Ann Dunham, separated from her first husband, Barack Obama Sr., in 1963 when the presidential candidate was two years old. Dunham and Obama Sr. are reported to have later divorced. Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian, and moved to Indonesia sometime between 1966 and 1967.
It was not clear whether Soetoro adopted Obama, either in Hawaii or in Indonesia, but there is strong circumstantial evidence that he did as far as Indonesian law was concerned.
In Indonesia, which was under tight rule in 1967, Obama clearly took on the last name of his stepfather in school registration documents. All Indonesian students were required to carry government identity cards, or Karty Tanda Pendudaks, which needed to bear the student's legal name, which should be matched in public school registration filings.
Following his enrollment at the private Assisi school, Obama attended public schooling in Indonesia until he returned to Hawaii at age 10. According to Indonesian legal experts, it was difficult to enroll non-Indonesian citizens in public schooling.
Obama arrived in Indonesia at about the age of five according to most accounts, although it was possible he arrived at the age of six, according to a few sources. If Lolo Soetoro adopted Obama at age five or younger, then Obama would automatically have become an Indonesian citizen according to the country's laws in the 1960's, which stipulated any child aged five or younger adopted by an Indonesian father is immediately granted Indonesian citizenship upon completion of the adoption process.
Lolo Soetoro could have adopted Obama in Hawaii, although such an adoption would not have necessarily been recognized by Indonesia.
Indonesian law at the time also did not recognize dual citizenship, meaning if Obama became Indonesian, then as far as that country was concerned, his U.S. citizenship was no longer recognized by Indonesia. But U.S. law would still recognize Obama as an American citizen.
In a revelation that raised a few eyebrows, Obama last April disclosed he traveled as a college student to Pakistan in 1981.
"I traveled to Pakistan when I was in college – I knew what Sunni and Shia was [sic] before I joined the Senate Foreign Relations Committee," Obama reportedly stated at a fundraising event.
The senator had not previously discussed any trip to Pakistan, either in his books or in scores of policy talks regarding Pakistan.
Prompted by Obama's statements, ABC News contacted the presidential candidate's campaign, which affirmed that in 1981 – the year Obama transferred from Occidental College to Columbia University – Obama visited his mother and sister Maya in Indonesia. Obama then went on to Pakistan with a friend from college whose family was from that country, the campaign said.
Obama was in Pakistan for about three weeks, said the campaign, staying with his friend's family in Karachi and also visiting Hyderabad in Southern India.
Pakistan in 1981 was under military rule. It was difficult for U.S. citizens to travel to the country without assistance. It would have been easier for someone to enter Pakistan on an Indonesian passport.
If Obama indeed possessed Indonesian citizenship as a child, it is unlikely he retains such citizenship. The country's bylaws require any Indonesian citizen living abroad for more than five years to formally declare his intention to return, otherwise risk losing his citizenship status. The law does not necessarily mean Indonesian citizenship would be immediately lost. The law can be overruled by ministerial order.
Obama's registration in Indonesia under the name "Barry Soetoro" also raises questions as to whether he adopted that name in the U.S. at any time. According to Illinois state filings, when Obama registered as an attorney in 1991, under the name Barack Obama, he stated he did not have any former names.

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To interview Aaron Klein, contact M. Sliwa Public Relations by e-mail, or call 973-272-2861 or 212-202-4453.

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Previous stories:
Illegal Arabs deny Obama camp returned illegal donations
Illegal Obama donors: Middle Eastern Arabs
Book links Obama to massacre of Christians
When did Obama stop taking drugs?
Obama plans to grab oil company profits
Obama-backed ally forged pact with radical Muslims
Obama energy policy: 'Inflate your tires'
Obama suggests reparations to blacks, Native Americans
Obama tied to Iraqi government fraud?
Obama returns contributions from fugitive
Obama 'money man' bailed out by 'Israel apartheid' activist
Obama camp plasters posters at Western Wall
Obama open to divided Jerusalem
Terror attack around corner from Obama's hotel
American flag disappears from Obama campaign jet
Obama camp bans posters from speech
Rick Warren to host Obama, McCain
Terrorists' assignment: Protect Barack Obama

Advocacy group seeks injunction against Federal Election Commission for its new Obama ad

Terre Haute, Ind., Aug 21, 2008 / 05:47 pm (CNA).- The advocacy group, The Real Truth About Obama, Inc., filed a motion to seek an injunction against the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice to permit the broadcast of a new ad accusing Barack Obama of lying about his voting record on abortion.

The Real Truth About Obama, Inc. (RTAO), is an issue advocacy 527 group created to inform the American people the real truth about Senator Obama’s public policy positions. More...

RTAO’s first project exposes Obama’s radical pro-abortion views and voting record. According to the group’s press release, “RTAO does not make ‘express advocacy’ communications, but rather only does issue advocacy. The Supreme Court has stated that such issue advocacy is constitutionally protected as it ‘conveys information and educates. An issue ad's impact on an election, if it exists at all, will come only after the voters hear the information and choose--uninvited by the ad--to factor it into their voting decisions.’ Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. v. Federal Election Commission (WRTL II).”

However, RTAO still is concerned that if it broadcasts its new advertisement, “it will be subject to an enforcement action by the FEC and DOJ for violating campaign finance laws.”

RTAO first filed suit against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) three weeks ago challenging FEC regulations and an FEC enforcement policy that unconstitutionally restrict RTAO’s ability to engage in issue advocacy.

First, RTAO challenges the FEC’s flawed alternative definition of express advocacy, which has been used in the past by the FEC to prohibit groups from participating in protected issue advocacy.

RTAO also challenges the FEC’s regulation dealing with solicitation of donations, the FEC’s enforcement policy which requires issue advocacy groups to register as political committees, and finally, the FEC’s rule which limits the corporate prohibition on “electioneering communications.”

“It’s unfortunate that before an organization can exercise its First Amendment right to speak out on an issue it must first seek an injunction in federal court,” states James Bopp, Jr., lead attorney for The Real Truth About Obama. “Something must change. I’m hopeful that as a result of this case, and others like it, we can push back overreaching campaign finance laws and restore to the people the right to speak out on political issues.”

Also in the press release was the text of RTAO’s latest ad titled “Survivors:”

NURSE: The abortion was supposed to kill him, but he was born alive. I couldn’t bear to follow hospital policy and leave him on a cold counter to die, so I held and rocked him for 45 minutes until he took his last breath.

MALE VOICE: As an Illinois Democratic State Senator, Barack Obama voted three times to deny lifesaving medical treatment to living, breathing babies who survive abortions. For four years, Obama has tried to cover-up his horrendous votes by saying the bills didn’t have clarifying language he favored. Obama has been lying. Illinois documents from the very committee Obama chaired show he voted against a bill that did contain the clarifying language he says he favors.

Obama’s callousness in denying lifesaving treatment to tiny babies who survive abortions reveals a lack of character and compassion that should give everyone pause.

Paid for by The Real Truth About Obama, Inc.

Hillary gets stiffed

Mike Allen 1 hour, 53 minutes ago

There’s one Democrat who would seem to have little or no chance of being picked by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to be his running mate – his former opponent, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

But it’s not for the reason you think.

Obama has often said, most recently on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on July 27, that Clinton “would be on anybody’s short list.”

But apparently not his. More...

“She was never vetted,” a Democratic official reported. “She was not asked for a single piece of paper. She and Senator Obama have never had a single conversation about it. How would he know if she’d take it?”

The official also said Clinton never met with Obama’s vetting team of Eric Holder and Caroline Kennedy.

And the official said she was never asked for medical records or for any financial 2008 information about her or former President Bill Clinton. The last information the couple has disclosed about taxes and financial holdings was for 2007.

The Clintons also were not asked about donors to the William J. Clinton Presidential Library.

“This would be the biggest leap of faith ever,” the official said. “She’s waiting for the text message like everyone else.”

An Obama aide said "absolutely exhaustive research was done on her over the course of the 16 month primary. She was researched more closely than any candidate in history."

Politico’s Alexander Burns contributed to this report.

New NBC/WSJ poll says Clinton backers are the reason this race is still tied

The Clinton factor
Yet perhaps the biggest factor keeping the presidential race close has been Obama’s inability to close the deal with some of Hillary Clinton’s supporters. According to the poll, 52 percent of them say they will vote for Obama, but 21 percent are backing McCain, with an additional 27 percent who are undecided or want to vote for someone else. More...

What’s more, those who backed Clinton in the primaries — but aren’t supporting Obama right now — tend to view McCain in a better light than Obama and have more confidence in McCain’s ability to be commander-in-chief.

For these reasons, Hart believes that Clinton’s speech on the Tuesday night of the Democratic convention will be a significant event. “The Democratic convention is more than a coronation,” he says. “It is an event where the words of Hillary Clinton are probably going to be exceptionally important.”

Hart adds, “The Hillary Clinton campaign may be over, but the Clinton factor remains an important part of the election.”

It’s also worth noting that while Obama leads McCain by three points in the poll, Clinton edges the Republican by six points in a hypothetical match up, 49 to 43 percent. But she remains a polarizing figure: 49 percent say they don’t want to see her as president someday, and 42 percent view her favorably versus 41 percent who see her in a negative light.

Obama Sued in Philadelphia Federal Court on Grounds he is Constitutionally Ineligible for the Presidency

A prominent Philadelphia attorney and Hillary Clinton supporter filed suit this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic National Committee and the Federal Election Commission. The action seeks an injunction preventing the senator from continuing his candidacy and a court order enjoining the DNC from nominating him next week, all on grounds that Sen. Obama is constitutionally ineligible to run for and hold the office of President of the United States. More...

Phillip Berg, the filing attorney, is a former gubernatorial and senatorial candidate, former chair of the Democratic Party in Montgomery (PA) County, former member of the Democratic State Committee, and former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania. According to Berg, he filed the suit--just days before the DNC is to hold its nominating convention in Denver--for the health of the Democratic Party.

"I filed this action at this time," Berg stated, "to avoid the obvious problems that will occur when the Republican Party raises these issues after Obama is nominated.".

Berg cited a number of unanswered questions regarding the Illinois senator's background, and in today's lawsuit maintained that Sen. Obama is not a natural born U.S. citizen or that, if he ever was, he lost his citizenship when he was adopted in Indonesia. Berg also cites what he calls "dual loyalties" due to his citizenship and ties with Kenya and Indonesia.

Even if Sen. Obama can prove his U.S. citizenship, Berg stated, citing the senator's use of a birth certificate from the state of Hawaii verified as a forgery by three independent document forensic experts, the issue of "multi-citizenship with responsibilities owed to and allegiance to other countries" remains on the table.

In the lawsuit, Berg states that Sen. Obama was born in Kenya, and not in Hawaii as the senator maintains. Before giving birth, according to the lawsuit, Obama's mother traveled to Kenya with his father but was prevented from flying back to Hawaii because of the late stage of her pregnancy, "apparently a normal restriction to avoid births during a flight." As Sen. Obama's own paternal grandmother, half-brother and half-sister have also claimed, Berg maintains that Stanley Ann Dunham--Obama's mother--gave birth to little Barack in Kenya and subsequently flew to Hawaii to register the birth.

Berg cites inconsistent accounts of Sen. Obama's birth, including reports that he was born at two separate hospitals--Kapiolani Hospital and Queens Hospital--in Honolulu, as well a profound lack of birthing records for Stanley Ann Dunham, though simple "registry of birth" records for Barack Obama are available in a Hawaiian public records office.

Should Sen. Obama truly have been born in Kenya, Berg writes, the laws on the books at the time of his birth hold that U.S. citizenship may only pass to a child born overseas to a U.S. citizen parent and non-citizen parent if the former was at least 19 years of age. Sen. Obama's mother was only 18 at the time. Therefore, because U.S. citizenship could not legally be passed on to him, Obama could not be registered as a "natural born" citizen and would therefore be ineligible to seek the presidency pursuant to Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution.

Moreover, even if Sen. Obama could have somehow been deemed "natural born," that citizenship was lost in or around 1967 when he and his mother took up residency in Indonesia, where Stanley Ann Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian citizen. Berg also states that he possesses copies of Sen. Obama's registration to Fransiskus Assisi School In Jakarta, Indonesia which clearly show that he was registered under the name "Barry Soetoro" and his citizenship listed as Indonesian.

The Hawaiian birth certificate, Berg says, is a forgery. In the suit, the attorney states that the birth certificate on record is a forgery, has been identified as such by three independent document forensic experts, and actually belonged to Maya Kasandra Soetoro, Sen. Obama's half-sister.

"Voters donated money, goods and services to elect a nominee and were defrauded by Sen. Obama's lies and obfuscations," Berg stated. "If the DNC officers ... had performed one ounce of due diligence we would not find ourselves in this emergency predicament, one week away from making a person the nominee who has lost their citizenship as a child and failed to even perform the basic steps of regaining citizenship as prescribed by constitutional laws."

"It is unfair to the country," he continued, "for candidates of either party to become the nominee when there is any question of the ability to serve if elected."


For more, read the accompanying commentary, Eligibility Goes Beyond Citizenship

Posted by Jeff Schreiber