Barack Obama: Taking money from 1 percenters compromised my politics

[TalkingDog]

http://boingboing.net/2016/04/15/barack-obama-taking-money-fro.html

From: The Audacity of Hope

And perhaps as the next race approaches, a voice within tells you that you don’t want to have to go through all the misery of raising all that money in small increments all over again. You realize that you no longer have the cachet you did as the upstart, the fresh face; you haven’t changed Washington, and you’ve made a lot of people unhappy with difficult votes. The path of least resistance — of fund-raisers organized by the special interests, the corporate PACs, and the top lobbying shops — starts to look awfully tempting, and if the opinions of these insiders don’t quite jibe with those you once held, you learn to rationalize the changes as a matter of realism, of compromise, of learning the ropes. The problems of ordinary people, the voices of the Rust Belt town or the dwindling heartland, become a distant echo rather than a palpable reality, abstractions to be managed rather than battles to be fought.

[Buzz Clik]

1. Is this in reference to Sanders accepting a ride to Rome in a private jet...

... and visiting the most ridiculously opulent places on the entire planet as a publicity stunt?

[reformist2]

11. No, but it is directly applicable to his opponent!

[Buzz Clik]

12. Right. I forgot about the the double standard thing. Thanks for reminding me.

[artislife]

17. So do you think he would funnel money to the Church in exchange?

Will he help them with their tax breaks? Oh, they don't need that help.

Funny, there is nothing Bernie can exchange with the Church by meeting the head of it. Unlike meeting with the CEOs of Wall Street.

[FreakinDJ]

2. The Voice of Experience

[ibegurpard]

14. this is almost perfect

Except he ended up being Hillary.

[Kentonio]

3. This is exactly why I support Bernie.

After all those years in Congress and the Senate he still holds normal peoples problems and needs close to his heart. That's so incredibly rare at that level of politics.

[rhett o rick]

4. This was aimed at Hillary Clinton. The Clintons have amassed hundreds of millions given

to them from the Rich Fat Cats that expect quid pro quo. The Fat Cat investments will all be repaid many times over at the expense of the 99%.

It's not that the Rich Fat Cats hate us, they just want our wealth and resources. Those that die of poverty or lack of health care in the process, remember, it's not personal, it's just capitalism. Those that bow before Mammon like Clinton because she is tough, not because she is empathetic.

[NCjack]

5. The Clintons are 1-%ers, comfortable with 1-%ers, and will change nothing. /nt

[rhett o rick]

9. Actually their amasses wealth puts them in the top 1% of the top 1%. And that doesn't

include their Clinton Foundation Retirement program.

Mammon

[Skwmom]

6. Then why is he all but endorsing Clinton, who constantly tries to paint Obama as the same as her?

[EndElectoral]

7. Rhetoric is one thing. Action is another.

I was really dissapointed and knew something was wrong when Obama announced his major cabinet leaders.

Secretary of Treasury - Tim Geitner - President of the NY Fed.

http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2013/11/media-ignore-timothy-geithners-disastrous-leadership-ny-fed.html

“As president of the New York Fed in 2008, Mr. Geithner helped lead the federal government’s response to the financial crisis, including the sale of Bear Stearns and the bailout of the American International Group.”

The NY Fed, of course, was supposed to be the leading examiner and supervisor of many of the Nation’s largest banks and bank holding companies. Geithner was the top regional supervisor during the key years of the three epidemics of control fraud that drove the financial crisis and the NY Fed drew special criticism for its total failure as a supervisor during the crisis. Naturally, President Obama responded to his failures by promoting him. The NYT whitewashes Geithner’s role as the Fed’s top regional supervisor out of history. The fact that Geithner used AIG to secretly bail out some of the world’s largest banks (at the direct expense of the U.S. government) also disappears from the paper’s account.

Secretary of Defense - Robert Gates - "Bush's Sec. of Defense for God's sake."

Secretary of State - Hillary Clinton - 'She'll say anything and change nothing"

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/3/12/1500138/-Obama-2008-Campaign-Ad-She-ll-say-anything-and-change-nothing

Attorney General - Eric Holder - I've a boatload on his actions alone, but the three above really speak to judgment

I won't even go into the disaster Arne Duncan or Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Obama is one of the most gifted orators I've ever seen, but his cabinet appointment actions negated a great deal of what he spoke of when elected. Rhetoric is easy. Actions however have real consequences.

[lostnfound]

10. But he replaced Clinton with Kerry and Holder with Lynch... Both moves were positive.

Jimmy Carter pointed out that the efforts at peace happened during the Kerry time, not under Clinton.
Lynch is still a little new but I have hope she will be stronger than Holder.
I still think Obama has done what he could, within the confines of "the system". If we can get Bernie elected, then there's a new force at work to influence the system, which is a consensus of the American public (including independents) on the need to separate corporate money from politics.

The American public needs to evolve, and by the looks of the youth voting preferences, they ARE evolving.

I also expect Obama to be like Jimmy Carter -- as a former president, he will show character and good values.

[amborin]

8. yes, and Pres Obama did NOT personally profiteer from speaking fees

even though HRC has repeatedly tried to smear him by suggesting he did

he only got $$$$ from banks, corps, as campaign donations, NOT
speaking fees

and we can see that even these campaign donations probably had an impact; Elizabeth Warren lamented how there were so few prosecutions of the bad guys

so, one can imagine how the personal profiteering affects a politician's decisions....[

[CentralCoaster]

13. Has Obama released the transcripts from his many Goldman Sachs speeches?

I know, right?

Moral people wouldn't do what Hillary has done and Obama is NOT morally bankrupt.

[TalkingDog]

16. I think the fact that he understands the degree to which it affected him means you are right.

He at least has the conscience to be bothered about his choices.

[quantumjunkie]

15. This is why Bernie Sanders supproters are the the Real Democrats in the Party.

Because they understand how money from special interests compromises politics -- as Obama admitted in his book.

I just wish Hillary Supporters would wake up and not be part of the corruption problem. We should be ALL democrats.