[Peace-discuss] Seduced and abandoned again

[C. G. Estabrook]

"The warning signs that perhaps Barack Obama was not what he claimed to
be were there from the beginning, though many thoughtful Americans were
blinded by their hopes, carried away by their animus against the hated
Bush.

"When Obama arrived in Washington in 2005, he immediately set about
organizing a conventional corporate machine. Even a cursory glance at
the profile of Obama’s campaign contributors could not fail to worry
those who were enchanted by his clean-government rhetoric. His top
collective donor, classified by employment affiliation, in the 2003-2004
cycle was the University of Chicago—which is no surprise given his
background and connections with that institution. Nor should this shock
anyone familiar with the tawdry history of earmarks and other
legislative pork that have flowed to universities over the years.

"Obama’s second most generous investor was the law firm Kirkland and
Ellis, whose lobbying clients include the Chicago Board of Trade and the
Futures Industry Association, a Chicago-based association representing
the derivatives industry, whose board is populated by executives at
firms such as Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan
Chase. Henry Crown and Company, his third-ranking donor during that
election cycle, is an investment firm that owns stakes in the Chicago
Bulls, JPMorgan Chase, real estate ventures, as well as biotechnology
and defense contracting. Fourth was Sidley Austen LLP, a law firm and
lobby shop representing pharmaceutical, biotech, finance, and real
estate firms such as MasterCard, General Electric, Monsanto,
Caterpillar, Bayer AG, and the American Bankers Association. Another
important donor was the Exelon Corporation, a large utility company that
owns and operates the largest fleet of nuclear power plants in the
country (and the third-largest such nuclear portfolio in the world). Its
ten power plants and seventeen reactors represent 20 percent of U.S.
nuclear power capacity. From 2004 to 2009, Exelon spent more than $17
million in lobbying efforts, and several Exelon executives are among
Obama’s top fund-raisers. Other major contributors were the law firm
Sonnenschein, Nath, and Rosenthal; Goldman Sachs; and JPMorgan Chase.
Another investor was the law firm Skadden Arps, whose many lobbying
clients include prominent financial firms (Citigroup, Fidelity),
military contractors (Lockheed Martin), insurance groups, energy
companies, and oil companies. Attorneys at Skadden Arps also raised
money for the campaign."

 From /The Mendacity of Hope: Barack Obama and the Betrayal of American Liberalism/
by Roger D. Hodge; see
<http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/from-the-mendacity-of-hope/>

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