<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19170">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV id=top_bg class=page>
<DIV class=sizer>
<DIV id=topex class=expander0>
<DIV id=top_left>
<DIV id=top_right>
<DIV id=headimg>
<DIV id=above class=clearfix>
<DIV class="block-wrapper odd">
<DIV id=block-block-8 class="block block-block ">
<DIV class=content><IFRAME id=a44d829d height=90
src="http://d.tradex.openx.com/afr.php?zoneid=6430&cb=0.7562129490382324"
frameBorder=0 width=728 name=a44d829d
scrolling=no><a
href='http://d.tradex.openx.com/ck.php?n=af970eed&cb=0.7562129490382324'
target='_blank'><img
src='http://d.tradex.openx.com/avw.php?zoneid=6430&cb=0.7562129490382324&n=af970eed'
border='0' alt='' /></a></IFRAME>
<DIV style="WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 0px; OVERFLOW: hidden"><IFRAME
style="WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 0px" height=0 marginHeight=0
src="http://tap2-cdn.rubiconproject.com/partner/scripts/rubicon/emily.html?rtb_ext=1&pc=8468/13698&geo=na"
frameBorder=0 width=0 marginWidth=0
scrolling=no></IFRAME></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV id=header class=clearfix>
<DIV id=logo><A title=Home href="http://blackagendareport.com/"><IMG alt=Home
src="http://blackagendareport.com/sites/www.blackagendareport.com/files/zeropoint_logo.png">
</A></DIV>
<DIV id=top-elements>
<DIV id=search-box>
<FORM id=search-theme-form accept-charset=UTF-8 method=post
action=/content/obama-%E2%80%9C-devil%E2%80%9D-made-me-take-super-pac-money>
<DIV>
<DIV id=search class=container-inline>
<DIV id=edit-search-theme-form-1-wrapper class=form-item><INPUT
id=edit-search-theme-form-1 class=form-text
title="Enter the terms you wish to search for." maxLength=128 size=15
name=search_theme_form> </DIV></DIV></DIV></FORM></DIV>
<DIV id=toplinks></DIV></DIV>
<DIV id=name-and-slogan></DIV>
<DIV class=brclear></DIV>
<DIV id=navlinks class=navleft>
<UL class=menu>
<LI
class="expanded first"></LI></UL></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV id=body_bg class=page>
<DIV class=sizer>
<DIV class=expander0>
<DIV id=body_left>
<DIV id=body_right>
<DIV id=middlecontainer>
<DIV id=wrapper>
<DIV class=outer>
<DIV class=float-wrap>
<DIV class=colmain>
<DIV id=main>
<H1 class=title>Obama: “The Devil” Made Me Take the Super Pac Money</H1>
<DIV class=tabs></DIV>
<DIV id=node-12883 class="node odd full-node node-type-ba_radio">
<DIV class=meta>
<DIV class=submitted>Tue, 02/07/2012 - 22:52 — Glen Ford</DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=terms></DIV>
<DIV class=content><SPAN class=print-link><SPAN class=print_html><A
class=print-page title="Display a printer-friendly version of this page."
onclick="window.open(this.href); return false"
href="http://blackagendareport.com/print/content/obama-“-devil”-made-me-take-super-pac-money"
rel=nofollow>Printer-friendly version</A></SPAN></SPAN>
<DIV class="field field-type-filefield field-field-main-image">
<DIV class=field-items>
<DIV class="field-item odd"><IMG
class="imagecache imagecache-feature400 imagecache-default imagecache-feature400_default"
title="" alt=""
src="http://blackagendareport.com/sites/www.blackagendareport.com/files/imagecache/feature400/baracks_big_bucks.jpg"
width=400 height=300> </DIV></DIV></DIV>
<P> </P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><B>A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen
Ford</B></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>President Obama is behaving true to form,
embracing corruption only days after denouncing it. The greatest campaign fund
raiser of all time has never rejected an opportunity to collect more corporate
dollars. He has also never accepted responsibility for breaking a promise. This
time around, he’s claiming those devilish Koch brothers made him do
it.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#280099><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=4><B>Obama: “The Devil” Made Me Take the
Super Pac Money</B></FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><B>A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen
Ford</B></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in" align=center><FONT
color=#2323dc>“<FONT face="Arial, sans-serif"><I>There is no evidence that Obama
wants to clean up campaign financing, only that he finds all kinds of excuses to
take the money.”</I></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>President Obama is like comedian Flip
Wilson’s character, Geraldine: He blames everything on the Devil. The Devil made
him do it. </FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>And so, the Devil has just forced Mr.
Obama to put together his own infernal Super Pac, the demon-spawn of the Supreme
Court’s </FONT></FONT><FONT face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2><I>Citizen’s
United</I></FONT></FONT><FONT face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2> decision
allowing corporations and wealthy individuals to spend as much money as they
like on elections. Only days ago, Obama was calling Super Pacs a “threat to
democracy,” but that was then, and now it’s time to make sure that the president
has an equal opportunity to join in the corruption. But, don’t blame Obama. The
Koch brothers made him do it, with reports that the far-right siblings plan to
gather $100 million in Super Pac money. As Geraldine would say, those Koch
Devils made Obama do it.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>Not that there’s any danger of Obama being
outspent in his re-election bid. He’s raised more money than all the Republican
candidates, combined. In fact, he’s raised a lot more money from employees of
Mitt Romney’s private equity firm, Bain Capital, than Romney has. All
indications are that Obama will win the race for Wall Street’s campaign
contributions, hands down, no matter who the Republicans nominate, just as Wall
Street preferred Obama to John McCain, four years ago.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>Candidate Obama opted out of public
financing in the 2008 campaign, the first president since Watergate to run
without public funding. He had earlier promised to accept public financing, and
the limits on spending that go with it, if McCain did. McCain kept his part of
the bargain, but Obama was getting more money than he could bring himself to
turn down. In fact, by that time, Obama had raised twice as much as McCain, so
he couldn’t claim a disadvantage. Instead, Obama’s excuse was that the public
financing system was “broken.” But, of course, it was Obama’s withdrawal that
definitively broke the system, paving the way for the billion dollar election of
2012.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in" align=center><FONT
color=#2323dc>“<FONT face="Arial, sans-serif"><I>All indications are that Obama
will win the race for Wall Street’s campaign contributions, hands down, no
matter who the Republicans nominate.”</I></FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>In the summer of 2007, Obama explained the
difference between himself and all of his Democratic and Republican opponents,
when it comes to taking money from the rich and greedy. “The argument is not
that I'm pristine, because I'm swimming in the same muddy water,” he said. “The
argument is that I know it's muddy and I want to clean it up." But there is no
evidence that Obama wants to clean up campaign financing, only that he finds all
kinds of excuses to take the money.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>The Wall Street crowd loves Obama, and
they show it with their checkbooks. He returns their love a thousand times over,
by protecting their interests while skillfully hoodwinking the Democratic base
into believing that he’s on their side. The most pitiful marks in this hustle
are small contributors, who Obama claims are his real base of support. Back in
2008, he even claimed that his fundraising was a better reflection of democracy
than public financing, because he had so many small contributors. But it turns
out that Obama got almost exactly the same proportion of his campaign funds from
the little guys as George Bush did, in 2004. </FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>It’s a rich man’s game, in which the
future of the country and the world is purchased cheaply with campaign
contributions. It is common sense that the player that collects the most money,
has also sold the most influence. This election year, just like last time, the
top influence seller is Barack Obama. </FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On
the web, go to BlackAgendaReport.com.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0.06in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#280099><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT size=2><I>BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be
contacted at </I></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#0000ff><U><A
href="mailto:Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com"><FONT color=#280099><FONT
face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT
size=2><I>Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com</I></FONT></FONT></FONT></A></U></FONT><FONT
color=#280099><FONT face="Arial, sans-serif"><FONT
size=2><I>.</I></FONT></FONT></FONT></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>