Political Punch

Rezko acquiring minority government contracts without qualifying as a minority should be a concern considering Obama worked for the law firm, supposedly, that helped to acquire those contracts.

Dishonesty and deception disregards the importance of social justice and ethics that is at the heart of the Obama campaign, and if true, presents him as little more than a scam artist capable of playing racial polarization and distancing himself from it as a method of empowering himself into the Presidency. This forked tongue approach has been apparently very effective given the vote counts in primaries and caucuses.

Since his invovement with Rezko began in 1990, continued throughout his 1995 election to the IL State Senate for 8 years, and his 2003 race for the US Senate, Rezko connections are important to determine whether or not contracts granted during those years were violations of law, as well as an unfortunate association as potentially image negative. It's possible that there were illegalities connected to the financing of his house purchase in IL, as well as the capture of subsidy funds for the Univ. of Chicago Hospital where his wife's salary went from $122k to $317k presumably a question of contract influence as Senator.

If these connections are true, Obama may have more legal problems than image problems given the fact that Rezko is now under investigation - according to the newspapers.

It's not a matter of whether the voters care, it's a matter of whether the media cares enough to report this story.

Obama reached out to Rezko while Rezko was under federal investigation! Talk about poor judgment.

Good Lord! I was not aware of the depth of the relationship betwen Rezko & Obama. If the report about the lot and Obama's purchase of the mansion are true, Obama should be charged with an ethics violation if not criminal conduct. If he's elected the Rezko-Obama affair will make Whitewater look like a church picnic. How in the world could this have escaped questioning by the press? Incredible!

Rezko gets dragged out over and over with the same results-- no wrong doing from Obama apart from an association which has since ended with all of Rezko's contriutions redirected to charitiy. Can the Clintons make the same claims of Peter Paul (where unlike Obama with Rezko they have been named in the suit) or the contributions from the sexist company they keep or the fines they have paid for campaign finance violations? Nope. I think voters know to be proportional.

This is all very important, it shows that Barack does not have good judgement, and has not been true to his words. (Someone needs to include the actual information - you have not, so I will.)

From the LA Times:

"Obama to be in background of trial"

By then, questions were being raised about Rezko.

When Blagojevich took the oath of office as governor in 2003, Rezko became integral to his administration, taking a hand in securing state posts for numerous individuals. At least three who were part of Obama's political operation are on a list of individuals who got interviews with the new administration or were given jobs, documents filed in the criminal case show.

Rezko's role in the Blagojevich administration drew the attention of auditors and legislators, including Democratic state Rep. Jack D. Franks. In an interview, Franks said he encouraged Obama to run for president, and he praised his intellect. But Franks has endorsed Clinton and believes Obama's relationship with Rezko raises questions about his judgment.

"It wasn't a secret that Tony Rezko was a very connected moneyman in the Blagojevich administration who was coming under increased scrutiny," Franks said.

Soon after being sworn into the U.S. Senate in 2005, Obama was collecting royalties from a best-selling book and preparing to buy a family home, a stately red brick mansion in the Kenwood neighborhood near the University of Chicago.

Rezko, by now linked in news stories to a federal investigation, was there to help. At Obama's invitation, Rezko and Obama spent 15 to 30 minutes walking around the corner lot, Obama's aides said recently.

Obama subsequently bought the home for $1.65 million, $300,000 below the original asking price. The sellers owned a vacant lot next the Obama property and needed to sell it to close the deal.

Federal authorities were investigating Rezko, and his financial situation was deteriorating. Business associates and friends were suing for business deals gone awry. But Rezko stepped forward, paying the $625,000 asking price for the lot. He put the land in Rita Rezko's name, apparently to protect the asset from creditors.

-- End quote

TO ENOUGH....

Not many people are lying... look up the facts for yourself if you care to. Or live in a dream world, with the perfect candidate that has never done a thing wrong his entire life... I just dare you to look it up. Sad thing is, most people don't. They just listen to the moron reporters on TV giving their opinions...

The ties between Obama and Rezko are extremely important for the following reasons:
1. Rezko has been charged with corruption and Patrick Fitzgerald stated that the case is about "pay for play on steroids". Rezkos' method of operation was to make politicians beholden to him.
2. Obama has a 19 year relationship with Rezko and yet, in a televised debate mischaracterized his relationship with Rezko by making it seem as though he only did 5 hours of legal work for Rezko rather than the fact that Rezko was one of his earliest political supporters, Rezko hosted a fundraiser for Obama in his own home, and Rezko's wife purchased the adjoining lot (which by the way is fenced as part of the home of Barack Obama) for full price ($650,000) when Obama was able to get a $300,000 reduction in the price he paid for the house. You can view a picture of Obama's house and the adjoining lot on line. Imagine your own home having the yard owned by someone else!
3. Obama is running on his judgment. If nothing else, he has shown terrible judgment on the purchase of his house. It is very likely that Rezko expected something in return for the money he/his wife spent to allow the Obama's to swing the deal.
This is the NUMBER ONE issue that the voters have the right to hear about. ABC should be commended for breaking the story nationally. The local Chicago papers have been trying to bring this to light for a long time.
We could end up with a candidate that can not win because Rezko will spill what he knows after he is convicted and will try to reduce his prison sentence. Even worse, if he doesn't discredit Obama, we could have a President that has a past that we don't know about and which may be a far different past than we think he has.

Chan he bought a mansion worth 1.2 that was offered for 500,000 and you ask what would you do. Well as a man of much vaunted ethics such as Obama I would run very fast cause honey you dont get deals like that for nothing.Usually as a politician deals like those come with every long strings..

It's about time someone started covering this story. It's past time to show just how corrupt Mr. Hope really is.

This story matters to me! As soon as the American people hear all the details of this scandal, it will matter to them also.

Hang in there Hillary! Mr. Hope's charisma is about to take a huge dive.

Jake,
Double dog dare you to be the only mainstream media to bring up the Peter Paul Lawsuit. Do they have to walk across a stage to serve Hillary papers before the media reports it?

Tell us why you will not report it.

the very fact that the Obama campaign did not push for the Rezko trial to be delayed speaks volumes for Sen Obama

this case has been probled for two years by the Chicago Sun Times and Chicago Tribune -- yet oth newspapers endorsed Sen Obama -- and other than a few minor pieces of "new" information -- nothing else has come out -- and that is maybe because this is all there is

I agree with the posted who said the NYT piece is innocuous--

Besides any person who would vote for Hillary Clinton on the basis of relations with ethical/unethical donors has been hybernating

see links:

and there is soooooo much more

people will try to smear Obama with this, but people - Democrats - should remember that NO ONE HAS EVER, EVER, ACCUSED OBAMA OF DOING ANYTIHNG WRONG HERE.

He denounced and rejected Farakkhan, and he's been doing so for years. So you guys trying to tie him to Farakkhan are really pathetic.

Have the courage to at least not lie when you're advocating for your candidate.

People seem to forget that Obama is also part white too. So if he gets elected he will be the first black/white President. He may not be Muslim but has Muslim roots. He is also a proclaimed Christian for that last twenty years. What was he for the rest of that time in his life?. He denounces racism, but associates himself with racists. He says he is against the war, but will send troops back to Iraq if necessary. He agrees with Hillary on many issues, but disagrees with her on many issues. He wants to be Commander in Chief of our miitary,but dosen't know how many soldiers are in a rifle platoon. The only thing he can offer is change in the White House. Anyone can make change, the question is, is it good or bad change? Ohio,Texas and R.I. need to really take a good look at all of the candidates before they vote. As for Vermont, we already know about them.

Why is no one following up on the Times UK article about Auchi wiring money to Rezko shortly before his wife bought that lot? That seems to be rather relevent. Why do I have to go to the foreign press to find out about this?

By the way, a goodie for HRC supporters, as quoted by LES on CNN Political Ticker which could also apply to all the media:

Tell me, why hasn't CNN done any reporting on the federal election fraud trial that is going on involving the Clintons? For all of the Clinton supporter or say the media if unfair in their coverage of this election, you really should thank them. Clinton is being investigated for fraud for violating federal election laws in her 2000 bid for her New York Senate seat. It is just one point in a long list describing how she will do anything corrupt and deceitful to get what she wants.

It is starting to look like we were "bamboozled, hoodwinked."

Resko and Farrakhan supporting Obama?

Please America WAKE UP.

Please have a special on Farrakhan the radical Islamic promotingBlack Nationalism for Americans to see.

If a KKK candidate was up for office we would want that brought to American's attention.

Let's get Rezko and Farrakhan to the attention of the American People

All candidates should be transparent.

CNN and so many others have not been fair to the American people.

Why would Obama yes that he was involved with Rezko or Farrakhan. After Obama said that he renounced Farrakhan on the last debate, Farrakhan told his 20,000 supporters that they should continue to support him. Farrakhan is a radical and is supported by Obama's minister Reverend Wright.

The Chicago Sun Times and Chicago Tribune has covered all of the above.

Resko is a criminal. Obama is bragging about his judgement. Is Obama kidding.

All of Americans need to be so careful of anyone with this kind of power.

Vote Hillary and be safe. 9/11 wasn't that long ago.

We trained pilots in Florida and these radicals bombed the World Trade Center.

WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!

What's really staggering is the sheer desperation exhibited by Sen. Clinton's campaign manager...Sen. Obama has not been accused of anything...attacking him on this is akin to assuming that there were WMD's in Iraq and launching a long, protracted war to...oh, wait, that's right, it all makes sense, Sen. Clinton jumped the gun there and now, Mr. Wolfson is doing the same...got it.

It sure does matter, we deserve to know what the real deal is. We can't afford to be surprised in a general election and once again lose to the republicans. Please make an effort to provide us with all the information as soon as possible - time is running out.

I trust Patrick Fitzgerald to find out whatever needs to known about Rezko. So far, I haven't seen anything that implicates Obama in any wrongdoing though.

What about all the people the Clintons and even McCain (Keating 5) have been associated with? No questions there?

Obama is a fake. How can he lie to American people about his dealings with Rezko. We are finally getting a glimpse of Obama's character, he's vague, arrogant, and hides when asked legitimate questions about his past. Like the old saying goes, you can judge alot about a man by the company he keeps. Obama has major character flaws. Definitely not presidental material.

Jake,
It matters a great deal to me. I thought Obama exhibited extremely poor judgment with the real estate deal, it is the reason that I will not be voting for him even if he is the nominee and I am progressive at heart. Don't know exactly what I will do, write in or, but I can't see voting for someone who more and more I see as a hypocrite at the very least.

Some things that I find odd:
1) Rezko was supposedly having problems with creditors at the time of the real estate deal, how was he able to finance the purchase of the lot? It sounds like at the very least his credit was in the toilet, who did the loan? I sure wish I could follow the money on that one. I have read in some places that Nahmadi Auchi had something to do with it.
2) I noted that at one time Obama wrote letters for Rezko for a real estate deal that he had going with Davis (Obama's former boss at the). How much work did Obama do for Rezko real estate deals. How many of Rezko and Rezmar's millions in government contracts were awarded to Rezko after Obama was in the Illinois Senate?

3) The Obama camp keeps hammering and asking about Hillary's tax returns, it sure would be nice to see those billing records from his firm on Rezko. He says that he did about five hours work, well he ought to have no problem releasing all the firms billing records for Rezko, or maybe they will be filed in court soon.

4) Did the law firm that Obama worked for do any of the legal work for all the fraudulent dealings that Rezko did that he is on trial for now?

I'm sure once he is the nominee, we will find out exactly how we have been bamboozled.

Heck yes, it matters. Kudos to ABC for its recent articles on both the Rezko connection and Obama's less than illustrious Illinois Senate career. It's so difficult to find instances of real journalism anymore - all we get are entertainers posing as journalists with not an objective bone in their bodies. More, please, before it's too late.

I guess what is troubling is his whole relationship with Rezko. From other articles i've read it sounds like they were associated long before the land deal. What worries me is what we don't know.

Jake, if someone offers you a mansion that has a current market value of $1.2m for about $500,000, what would you do? Obama bought the property, he didn't bribe him. I live in Chicago and I know the person who is worried is the Governor. The governor was involved in a lot of stuff with Rezko. FYI, the governor is a white dude.

Does this matter? No, there isn't anything here but allegations.

Now let's compare that to what we KNOW about the Clintons. This is really zero.

Rezko story innuendo is pushed to distract from Hillary's refusal to release tax returns.

Keep demanding them. Then follow the money.

"Fully vetted" my foot.

This is a big nothing. It bothers me not at all. If this is all Clinton and McCain have, I feel sorry for them. Renzi is far worse than Rezko, and we still have no clue what we'll find in Clinton's tax returns. Obama's been open about all of his financial dealings.

Fact is, it's hard to get around the presence of people like Rezko in Chicago. They're like barnacles that attach themselves to successful politicians. The only story here is that the media will "discover" Chicago politics, and it would be wrong to paint Obama with that brush.

I really think it's a bad strategy for Clinton to be throwing stones from her glass house....

its so important for people to really make a calm and calculating desicion about who we need to hire to be president. Who do we want as a boss? someone with some experience, intelegence, connections, or someone we just dont know a lot about yet. Obama needs to get some more experience before running for president.

His campaign will colapse from the top down because he ran a campaign based on principle. Telling the thruth, being transparent, making correct desicions.

And now this come out? how can people believe him now?

Obama is in trouble, the smoke is disipating. He is running a campaign on just one argument, and yet he admits he made a bonehead desicion with all the information in front of him. He knew Rezko was trouble and yet he dealt with him for self interest. no honest. where is the honesty principle?

Dear Clinton supporters:

Nobody wants to vote for sour grapes . . . it's not attractive and it's not presidential.

Either figure out a reason why people should vote FOR Hillary Clinton, or bow out gracefully.

Anything else is just whining.

ACTUALLY I AM SORRY, MR. OBAMA SERVED ON THE WOODS FUND FOUNDATION IN CHICAGO. MR. AYERS IS STILL ON THE BOARD AS CHAIRMAN OF THE FOUNDATION.

THE MEDIA IS TRYING TO DOWNPLAY OBAMA'S CONNECTION TO THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND. ON THE STEPHANIE MILLER RADIO SHOW THEY ARE TRYING TO GET AWAY WITH SAYING THAT THE ONLY CONNECTION AYERS HAS WITH OBAMA, IS THAT AYERS GAVE A $200.00 DONATION TO OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN.

I HAVE BEEN ON THEIR RADIO SHOW TWICE NOW DISCUSSING THIS SAME TOPIC CONVERSATION WITH HER AND HER SIDE KICK CHRIS ON THE SHOW. I EVEN GAVE THEM PROOF OF THE WEBSITES SHOWING THAT OBAMA AND AYERS WERE TOGETHER TWICE AT EVENTS WHERE THEY BOTH GAVE SPEECHES. THESE TWOL EVENTS WERE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. I HAVE THE WEBSITES IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED.

ALSO, OBAMA SERVED ON THE BOARD OF THE MUND FOUNDATION, OF WHICH AYERS WAS CHAIRMAN OF THE MUND FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS.

THESE TWO ARE VERY WELL ACQUAINTED WITH EACH OTHER.

BUT TWICE NOW I HAVE BEEN RIDICULED AND LAUGHED AT ON HERV RADIO SHOW FOR TRYING TO PROVE THAT YES...OBAMA AND AYERS AND DOHRN ARE VERY WELL ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OTHER.

ALSO, MR. OBAMA TALKS ABOUT HIS REALLY GOOD FRIEND FRANK IN HIS BOOK 'DREAMS OF MY FATHER"...THAT FRANK HAS NOW COME TO LIGHT AS FRANK DAVIS, AN OLD WELL KNOWN COMMUNIST MEMBER OF THE COMMUNIST USA ORGANIZATION.

WHAT MORE DO WE HAVE TO PROOF THAT THIS MR. OBAMA IS A VERY QUESTIONABLE AND DANGEROUS INDIVIDUAL.

AMERICA, PLEASE WAKE UP. OUR CHILDREN COULD BE IN DANGER IF THIS MAN BECVOMES PRESIDENT. WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON BEHIND CLOSED DOORS WITH HIM AND THESE SHADY CHARACTERS.

The only news that seems to have come out of The Times' story is that Rezko was even more financially desperate than previously imagined.

However, some artful wording at the very end of the story looks as though it could be easily misread to imply that the Obama's bought a strip of Rezko's lot and were given a refund - absolutely false.

Obama made race an issue and the blacks voted for him in droves..I`m a white person too and since Iwant to be fair to my candidate too I`m voting for Hillary..I hope the white folks like me think hard too because we are a super power with too many problems and if race plays a big part in electing a president the rather than who is best for the job then I`m going with race..If Hillary loses rhe nomination then Mccain get my vote..I for one wont let any sweet talking preacher who fool me into getting my vote...

Obama talks a lot about his good/better judgement on everything! wonder how he couldn't see Rezko for what he is in his almost 2 decades long of friendship; indeed, it speaks for itself:)

Vote Obama & You'll get 4 years of nice speeches. Pay the bills with that !

JANET FROM NH: IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT THE BLACK SUPERDELEGATES ARE BEING PRESSURED BY THE OBAMA CAMP TO GO TO THEIR SIDE.

ALSO, IF WE ARE TALKING ABOUT SUPERDELEGATES THAT ARE GOING WITH THE CANDIDATEC THAT WON THEIR STATES; THEN MR. KERRY AND MR. KENNEDY BETTER GIVE THEIR ENDORSEMENTS TO HILLARY, SEEING THAT SHE WON THEIR STATES.

WHAT'S FAIR IS FAIR.

I'M SURE YOU WILL AGREE.

Vote Obama & You'll get it all right. 4 years of talk.

What is left to say?

Rezko was a friend and supporter of Senator Obama. He is accused (not convicted) of being a crook. Senator Obama has not been implicated in any wrong doing. What else is there to say?

The black superdelegates are not being pressured by Obama to switch to him, it's the voters in their districts who voted for Obama that want them to switch. They believe that their representatives should represent the voters' choice for the nominee. As far as the Rezko thing is concerned I think Obama has been forthright about his association. I don't think he has anything to hide.

Nothing compared to Commoditygate. 1978-79, when Bill Clinton was elected Gov, Hillary Clinton opened a commodity futures account. Over the next 10 months, starting with only $1,000 and an annual household income of $60,000, she routinely traded in MERC cattle futures commodity contracts worth over $1 million. The trades indicated that she was bearish (short); in other words she bet prices would go down. For example, she would sell the equivalent of a $1 million cattle herd in the morning hoping to buy it back in the afternoon. Clinton authorized a chicken companys counsel, James Blair, to select the cattle contracts and size. Through the process of cancel-rebill, the winning trades of the Refco Little Rock branch were allocated to Clintons account while the losing trades were laundered into other accounts. Since the confirmation slips are printed at the end of the day, changing a day trade account number on trade date was as easy as a teacher changing a grade before the report card was printed. In contrast with exchange rules, Clinton never posted the margin calls, or the money required to trade such large commodity contracts. The Clintons secretly made $100,000 in ten months with this scam, and used the money to purchase various luxury items. Although Hillary claimed her method was to read the Wall St Jrnl, economists have estimated that the odds of honest trading performance would be 250 million to one.

I also think it is shameful how the Obama camp is intimidating the Black Superdelegates to switch over to their side and harrasing those black superdelegates whom have not made up their mind yet to go to obama's camp.

This is uncalled for and this Obama campaign tactics are implorable.

Shame on you, Barack Obama!

People blamed Bush to start the War. The fact is: it was US senate to authorize the War. 77 senators voted YES to protect your life. It was majority of people's will: to protect people from Danger by all means.. O and other 23 voted against the people's will..
Oh, sorry, O was not qualified to vote yet, he just stood by...

When president swear to office: the first sentences he read are: protect your country and fellow people...

77 senators did right thing to vote YES to protect this country. It was Bush Adm failed to end it soon. Now Mr. O turned the failure of Bush Adm to against his 77 fellow colleuges: you see, I had good judgement: I am right, you are wrong!! What a dirty trick!!

If O is nominated by chance, he will be crashed by Repulicians: he declaimed No to protect people; he showed no experience to lead country out of recession, what else he has? A promised change: another Rezko Scandal in W.H......

Let's see:

Rezko vs Keating Five

On the scandal-meter, Rezko is pretty darn weak.

The Rezko story is too complicated. It's hard to figure out what happened, why it matters, and what it says about Obama.

Someone needs to make a flash video in the form of that viral 9-11 twoofer video that lays out all the information with some interpretive commentary over it.

Unless I'm mistaken, we're still operating under the American judicial system, which holds parties innocent until proven guity. This would include John McCain a few years ago, Bill Clinton mor recently , and Rezko. Rezko doesn't seem like my kind of guy (i'm not fond of developers or private academy types) - but Rezko has not been convicted and he is not Barack Obama. The question here is simple. Why is the mainstream press fixated on this issue this weekend? Another media fixation led us straight into the George Bush years and the Iraqi fiasco. Write about what matters. How many children died in the middle east today? How many Americans went without health care? Tell me about the veterans who need our help. How many people went without heat this week? The real issues can be boring and no reporter gets to claim "first lead", but they are what matter.

The "Five Hour" response had to do with a specific question about representing Rezko, not with any other relationship.

Hillary certainly has little room to throw stones here, given the numerous shady dealings she and bill have been involved with over the years. Maybe experience DOES matter?!?

Obama like to remind the American people of his superior judgement to the other candidates.

His long years of association with Rezko is sure a proof of his judgement alright.

I challenge the media to dig into the story and tell the American people the truth.

The truth is Rezko created Obama. Nobody can refute that.

Yes, it matters a lot. I care. I don't want the primary season to end before all of this is exposed - Obama's ties to Rezko are ignored by the press in their zeal to crucify Clinton. Please give the Rezko trial the coverage it deserves.

Remember, Obama in the debate said he only had 5 hours of work with Rezko indirectly through a church.

For a person who is largely responsible for creating Obama's political career, I find that very hard to believe.

The media owe it to the people of this country that we know the truth.

It negates Obama's claim of superior judgment. I've read that Rezko's "problems" were public knowledge at one point. Obama exercised his keen judgment by continuing to associate with this man--even going as far as to negotiate a land deal! I'm surprised the Clinton campaign hasn't pressed him on it. But, I'm almost certain the Republicans will do so. The media will not be able to protect him in the general election.

Obama can't hide and avoid tough questions any longer.
We demand to know everything about your dealings with Rezko.

What matters to me as an American is that ABCnews is guided by Wolfson and the current course of the kitchen sink campaign.

What matters to as a reader of the national press is some journalists are gossip whores instead of critical and independent investigators of truths that matter.

Of course it matters, Obama has to answer all the questions about Rezko.

I wonder why he has been mute when reporters ask him Rezko questions, he is hiding things.
I demand to know.

What does this have to do with Barack Obama? "We the people" are not going to be distracted this time . . . we know what we want . . . and we are going to get it . . . nice try though! :)

Obama '08