BIG Oil Supporting Slick Obama

Obama's Oil Spill

March 31, 2008

Obama says he doesn't take money from oil companies. We say that's a little

too slick.

Summary

In a new ad, Obama says, "I don't take money from oil companies."

Technically, that's true, since a law that has been on the books for more

than a century prohibits corporations from giving money directly to any

federal candidate. But that doesn't distinguish Obama from his rivals in the

race.

We find the statement misleading:

a.. Obama has accepted more than $213,000 from individuals who work for

companies in the oil and gas industry and their spouses.

b.. Two of Obama's bundlers are top executives at oil companies and are

listed on his Web site as raising between $50,000 and $100,000 for the

presidential hopeful.

Analysis

Sen. Barack Obama's ad began running late last week in Pennsylvania and

Indiana. In it, Obama talks about the United States' reliance on foreign oil

and the need for energy independence and alternative fuels.

Only Legal Contributions, Please

Obama's right on both counts when he says that "Exxon's making $40 billion a

year, and we're paying $3.50 for gas." ExxonMobil's profits in 2007 hit

$40.6 billion, the highest ever recorded by any company.

Obama '08 Ad: Nothing's Changed

Obama: Since the gas lines of the '70s, Democrats and Republicans have

talked about energy independence, but nothing's changed - except now Exxon's

making $40 billion a year, and we're paying $3.50 for gas.

I'm Barack Obama. I don't take money from oil companies or Washington

lobbyists, and I won't let them block change anymore. They'll pay a penalty

on windfall profits. We'll invest in alternative energy, create jobs and

free ourselves from foreign oil.

I approve this message because it's time that Washington worked for you. Not

them.

The national average price for a gallon of gas in the week ending March 24,

the most recent data available, was $3.26, but prices are higher than the

average in some areas.

Our problem comes with this statement:

Obama: I don't take money from oil companies or Washington lobbyists, and

I won't let them block change anymore.

It's true that Obama doesn't take money directly from oil companies, but

then, no presidential, House or Senate candidate does. They can't:

Corporations have been prohibited from contributing directly to federal

candidates since the Tillman Act became law in 1907.

Obama has, however, accepted more than $213,000 in contributions from

individuals who work for, or whose spouses work for, companies in the oil

and gas industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That's

not as much as Sen. Hillary Clinton, who has received more than $306,000 in

donations from people tied to the industry, but it's still a substantial

amount.

Here's a chart we made, using the OpenSecrets.org database, of contributions

to Obama from individuals employed by some of the largest oil companies in

the U.S. Our numbers are conservative because the database doesn't include

donations of less than $200 (federal law doesn't require the reporting of

donations below that amount), and we haven't included sums donated by the

spouses or other immediate family members of the employees. Additionally, we

haven't included donations from people who work at smaller firms in the

industry.

When the Clinton campaign criticized Obama's ad, calling it "false

advertising," Obama's campaign quickly noted that he didn't take money from

political action committees or lobbyists.

We'd say the Obama campaign is trying to create a distinction without very

much of a practical difference. Political action committee funds are pooled

contributions from a company's or an organization's individual employees or

members; corporate lobbyists often have a big say as to where a PAC's

donations go. But a PAC can give no more than $5,000 per candidate, per

election. We're not sure how a $5,000 contribution from, say, Chevron's PAC

would have more influence on a candidate than, for example, the $9,500 Obama

has received from Chevron employees giving money individually.

In addition, two oil industry executives are bundling money for Obama -

drumming up contributions from individuals and turning them over to the

campaign. George Kaiser, the chairman of Oklahoma-based Kaiser-Francis Oil

Co., ranks 68th on the Forbes list of world billionaires. He's listed on

Obama's Web site as raising between $50,000 and $100,000 for the candidate.

Robert Cavnar is president and CEO of Milagro Exploration LLC, an oil

exploration and production company. He's named as a bundler in the same

category as Kaiser.

We're not making any judgments about whether Obama is influenced by campaign

contributions. In fact, we'd note that he singles out ExxonMobil in this ad,

even though he's received more than $30,850 from individuals who work for

the company. But we do think that in theory, contributions that come in

volume from oil industry executives, or are bundled by them, can be every

bit as influential as PAC contributions, if not more so.

Lobbyist Loopholes?

We've noted before that Obama's policy of not taking money from lobbyists is

a bit of hair-splitting. It's true that he doesn't accept contributions from

individuals who are registered to lobby the federal government. But he does

take money from their spouses and from other individuals at firms where

lobbyists work. And some of his bigger fundraisers were registered lobbyists

until they signed on with the Obama campaign.

Even the campaign has acknowledged that this policy is flawed. "It isn't a

perfect solution to the problem and it isn't even a perfect symbol," Obama

spokesman Bill Burton has said.

- by Viveca Novak, with Justin Bank

--

"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a

three-strike law and then wants us to sing God Bless America. No, no, no,

God damn America, thats in the Bible for killing innocent people.God damn

America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for

as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme"

Obama Mentor Rev. Wright

"Harry Dopey" <DOPEYBetrayedUSA@roadrunner.com> wrote in message

news:4800ed22$0$3379$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...

Nothing here, folks, just a plagerizer.