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"The warning signs that perhaps Barack Obama was not what he claimed
to<br>
be were there from the beginning, though many thoughtful Americans
were <br>
blinded by their hopes, carried away by their animus against the
hated <br>
Bush. <br>
<br>
"When Obama arrived in Washington in 2005, he immediately set about
<br>
organizing a conventional corporate machine. Even a cursory glance
at <br>
the profile of Obama’s campaign contributors could not fail to worry
<br>
those who were enchanted by his clean-government rhetoric. His top <br>
collective donor, classified by employment affiliation, in the
2003-2004 <br>
cycle was the University of Chicago—which is no surprise given his <br>
background and connections with that institution. Nor should this
shock <br>
anyone familiar with the tawdry history of earmarks and other <br>
legislative pork that have flowed to universities over the years. <br>
<br>
"Obama’s second most generous investor was the law firm Kirkland and
<br>
Ellis, whose lobbying clients include the Chicago Board of Trade and
the <br>
Futures Industry Association, a Chicago-based association
representing <br>
the derivatives industry, whose board is populated by executives at
<br>
firms such as Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan
<br>
Chase. Henry Crown and Company, his third-ranking donor during that
<br>
election cycle, is an investment firm that owns stakes in the
Chicago <br>
Bulls, JPMorgan Chase, real estate ventures, as well as
biotechnology <br>
and defense contracting. Fourth was Sidley Austen LLP, a law firm
and <br>
lobby shop representing pharmaceutical, biotech, finance, and real <br>
estate firms such as MasterCard, General Electric, Monsanto, <br>
Caterpillar, Bayer AG, and the American Bankers Association. Another
<br>
important donor was the Exelon Corporation, a large utility company
that <br>
owns and operates the largest fleet of nuclear power plants in the <br>
country (and the third-largest such nuclear portfolio in the world).
Its <br>
ten power plants and seventeen reactors represent 20 percent of U.S.
<br>
nuclear power capacity. From 2004 to 2009, Exelon spent more than
$17 <br>
million in lobbying efforts, and several Exelon executives are among
<br>
Obama’s top fund-raisers. Other major contributors were the law firm
<br>
Sonnenschein, Nath, and Rosenthal; Goldman Sachs; and JPMorgan
Chase. <br>
Another investor was the law firm Skadden Arps, whose many lobbying
<br>
clients include prominent financial firms (Citigroup, Fidelity), <br>
military contractors (Lockheed Martin), insurance groups, energy <br>
companies, and oil companies. Attorneys at Skadden Arps also raised
<br>
money for the campaign."<br>
<br>
From <i>The Mendacity of Hope: Barack Obama and the Betrayal of
American Liberalism</i> <br>
by Roger D. Hodge; see<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/from-the-mendacity-of-hope/"><http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/from-the-mendacity-of-hope/></a><br>
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