Ah yes, Obama sure is a NEW kind of politician. He finally releases all the earmarks he has requested since joining the Senate and lo and behold, we now know why his wife received such a hefty raise from 122 grand a year to 317 grand…..it’s called a kickback. Her husband gets into office, throws a earmark to the hospital which employs her for a cool million bucks and bam! Raise time:
Obama sought money for the University of Chicago Hospitals. Wife Michelle works for the University of Chicago Hospitals, appointed in spring 2005 as vice president for community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals.
from the Obama campaign
Obama Requested $1 Million For Construction Of A New Hospital Pavilion At The University Of Chicago. In 2006, Obama requested that the University of Chicago receive $1 million to support its Construction of New Hospital Pavilion. For more than 75 years, the University of Chicago Hospitals (UCH) has provided state of the art medical care on the South Side of Chicago. UCH is one of the largest Medicaid providers in Illinois, and it provided more than $90 million in uncompensated care for Medicare and Medicaid patients this past year. To continue providing the best care for patients from all walks of life, UCH is proceeding with the construction of a new 600,000 square foot facility that will ensure their ability to provide the best care for patients well into the future. Funding will go towards assisting the construction and equipping a new hospital pavilion that will increase the Hospitals’ clinical capacity by over one-third. [Obama Request Letter to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water, 4/7/06]
A new kind of politician my ass. This is typical Chicago politics at work. Meanwhile his angry wife complains about giving up big salaries to “help out” in the community.
Give me a break.
The “audacity” of these two is astounding.
Want more audacity? How about this nugget from a lefty site:
Sen. Barack Obama released his list of 2006 legislation with earmarks today. He has the list on his website here.
Among them, an $8 million request for the “High Explosive Air Burst Technology Program.” Ultimately, $1.3 million in funding was awarded for the program.
the defense project was overseen by General Dynamics, one of the nation’s largest military contractors. Obama’s Illinois finance chairman, James S. Crown, serves on the company’s board of directors and his family holds a sizable stake in the company.
Crown and his wife, Paula Crown, are members of Obama’s National Finance Committee and have raised more than $200,000 for the Obama campaign, according to a list of fundraisers posted on Obama’s campaign website.
So he throws a 8 million dollar bone to a company that just so happens to have a family of major contributors to his campaign on the board of directors AND that same family has a major stake in the company.
What change!
Meanwhile he complains about Hillary not releasing earmark information from her years in the Senate while at the same time withholding information on earmarks he made during 6 of the 8 years he served in the Illinois Senate.
Sen. Barack Obama is open about the pet projects he’s tucked into federal legislation, but it’s a different story when it comes to the extra spending he added to state budgets while serving in the Illinois Legislature.
Public records reveal some of the projects he sponsored as a state senator, from literacy programs and park improvements to drill team uniforms and jazz-appreciation events. They add up to more than $6 million.
But that covers just two of Obama’s nearly eight years in the Illinois Senate. State records don’t detail his projects from other years, and his presidential campaign has not responded to repeated requests from The Associated Press for information.
While silent about Obama’s spending in Illinois, his campaign has criticized Democratic presidential rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for withholding similar information about her years in the U.S. Senate.
But don’t let any of this bother you guys…..the man is building a religion:
See author page
So much for that “Rich White Man” stuff his preacher was slobbering about.
There’s a difference in requesting funds and receiving funds. Yes Michelle’s big bonus is fishy, but it’s not likely to be a kickback for money they didn’t recieve…
FactChecker,
I would call it an investment kickback. The lobbyists know that Obama has high “hopes” and are latching on. I wonder how that hospital figures into his healthcare plans?
Speculate all you want, I won’t call you out for that. The Illinois State Senate earmarks are all in the public record, you just have to fish them out…
Her salary increased a bit more than 2 1/2 times, from a pretty good 122k per year to 317k. Now that’s one heck of a raise!! The average guy would jump for joy for an extra buck an hour raise. But as you can see, they ain’t average. If I won a ten million dollar Texas Lottery jackpot, paid over 25 years, it would roughly be the same as Ms. Osama’s 317k after taxes. Only she didn’t have to buy a ticket….. The good people of the United States of America paid for that. No wonder she’s proud to be an American for the first time in her life.
Man I wish I was one of those beaten down poor black people instead of rich whitie. My salary would appear to increase by about 6 times.
University of Chicago was also a big contributor to obama’s senatorial campaign.
i am starting to think i have been sleeping with the wrong man, you sleep with a socailist like obama and you get craploads of money.