Nothing is what it seems no matter what you are speaking about.
If we went and looked into everything that everyones does there would not be any leaders anywhere.
The thing is if all these people that are going for president would just tell the entire truth about everything that they did wrong or right there we be nothing that would be a surprise. But they will not so someone found out and now he has egg all over his face.

As it seems as if Obama is NOT taking contributions or kickbacks from these companies, I see this as nothing more than an elected representative trying to do what he has been elected to do....that is, do the best for the constituents of his district.

Now, if he only introduced these bills to receive campaign contributions, then there is a corruption problem. Obama does not accept funding from these companies, nor from any lobbyist. He therefore does not owe them anything...unlike Hillary and her pharma-contributors.

Mama Mia!

As I recall, Obama has made all of his earmarks public. I think he has challenged Clinton to do the same, but I don't think she has. Picking on Obama for this one type of earmark (tarif suspensions) seems unfair and politically motivated. Why not talk about earmarks in general? I think on that count, Obama looks a lot better than Clinton.

Never been a mystery to me. Obama likes you to be ignorant of what he really does. As far as a slick politician, he's about as slick as they get. C'mon people, he's not whom you think he is. I live in the state that he came from. He's not done a darn thing, done anything original except to spew out one-liner, greeting card statements. He has no experience except how to pander. Don't vote for him out of guilt.

Obama and Hilary are phony's, Democrats haven't done a thing since they took power, except fight to crucify republicans, nothing for the will of the people.....Fred Thompson...2008

Hypocrisy in our government. How unique. Not. They're ALL out of control. Don't care the party. Business rules. Always.

Obama is just another liberal hypocrite whose motto, like all of the others is: "Do as I say, not as I do". (are you listening Al Gore and RFK2?)

Obama is a lot better than Clinton under any circumstance. Do we need another Clinton? All that Hillary wants to do for the American people is to have national health card and be the first white woman to be President.

so, its abc who will start the democrat-on-democrat mudslinging. well played.

Obama is a lot better than Clinton under any circumstance. Do we need another Clinton? All that Hillary wants to do for the American people is to have national health care and be the first white woman to be President.

Forget this article!!!!

Notice the sublimina message I feel ABC NEWS is trying to portray with Obama photo right over Osama's photo to the left of this page. And just look at all the terrorist photos together with senator Obama..........You editors and writers at ABC NEWS need to check yourselves concerning this.......I am not hoodwinked by this foolishness.....

Umm read the whole story. What he did was to reduce tariff and import duties on pharmaceutical. The things your grandma is complaining about taking all of her social security check. It seems it would help more seniors and people needing drugs than the lobbyist. Sometimes doing the right thing is spun by the media to look bad. Then covered up with paragraphs of other crap that is not relevant to the subject at hand. This is a case and point.

Yet so many commented on how bad he is, and just like the rest of the people. Don't be fooled by Headlines - get more than just the gist of an article. To ME - That is representing the PEOPLE by saving them excessive costs that other govt agencies put on them (meds) - by other lobbyists that want to block competitive prices on medicine by Big Med Comps.

You are all missing the point entirely. Unlike the rest of the candidates, Obama has hinged his entire campaign on being different. That's it. He has no policy, no experience, he has nothing, besides that he is a different kind of a politician. Clearly, he is no different. His rhetoric doesn't match his actions, and all of you defend him, by saying it happens to everyone. True, but not everyone claims to be the one that is different. If Obama is like the rest of him, then frankly there is no reason to vote for him, because his being different is his entire campaign.

This report has blown up a rather small assist to a constituent company. It would be fairer to pass judgment having taken all the candidates' earmarks, compare them to see who benefited and for how much, and then see what they contributed to each campaign. Of course, you would first have to get the other candidates to release their earmark information, which Obama has already done.

I still love him

I don't feel that there's corruption of any sort involved in this. I do believe:
~ Obama is more concerned with shortsighted benefits to his local constituents than longterm stability for the US.
~ Obama is a Globalist and favors helping other countries - - over the US when it comes to trade.

Mayosoft: Leave grandma and grandpa out of this. Obama did all of that, the pharmaceuticals has a huge lobbing infrastructure they have screw grandma and grandpa for years. Hillary has about as much experience as Slick Willy did.

This article is just an attempt to smear another Democrat candidate. ABC is unfriendly to Democrats in general and it irritates me greatly. They are trying to compete with Fox by insinuating Obama is up to his eyeballs in corruption even though he hasn't received any contributions from the company involved. Actually, it is the Republicans who hold a corner on the hypocrisy market!

This is so typical of politicians. They say one thing, and do entirely another. Problem is....the same thing will happen if he gets elected.

I knew the big minus was that Obama is inexperienced and is one of the 33 Senators that voted against making English the Official Language of the USA. He is one of the 33 Senators that should be removed from office, NOT elevated. This is just more proof that - although some say he is cute and some will overlook this - Obama is in the lobbyists pocket and is NOT Presidential material for the USA. He is just a new model of the old guard in Washington that is not only hypocritical but easily corruptible.

Lets see did you get this info from Hillaryis44, the Hillary hit site? I bet if I went there I would find this info word for word. Of course when the info came out about her and INfoUSA she had to deflect. By the way loved your article on her relationship with them and the release of all of the earmarks. NOT!!! You can now go back to your day job at Hillaryis44

Bill: I disagree with your assessment of the Junior Senator. This is just my prediction but Obama will be elected the next president of the United States with 65% of the vote.

In addition to his "flak"-ignorance, his questionable land-deals with his Partner-in-Crime Rezko, now we have that BO is also the $12 Million man! This buffoon and crook shouldn't hold any public office - he is a disgrace to Illinois and an illustration of how strong the LOSER-FACTION of the Dem party is, given that he is even being considered for the nomination. Perhaps he is just trying to our-hypocrite, the master hypocrite Conniving Calculating Clinton. He'll fail at that effort, too

marvelous

Actions speak louder than words, to what volumes will his actions speak?

Obama is by far the cleanest of candidates out there. He is working hard to try to eliminate and minimize the negative effects of lobbyists on our government. Is anyone else even discussing this issue? What is Hillary's stand on lobbyists? I suspect she has been so dirtied by lobbyist money nobody would take her serious.

Please try to keep is real Brian.

So Hillary's team started work really.
Go Hillary, go. But try to hide well.

I guess that's why we need to vote for Tom Tancredo! He hasn't been caught with his hand in the cookie jar or being two faced!

ABC should be honest and say that it is doing everything it can to get Hillary nominated, before it impunes anyone else.

Sounds like Hillary has lobbied ABC News.

i'm shocked! i thought that the democrats were going to be different! what a cynical way to be!

In addition to his "flak"-ignorance, his questionable land-deals with his Partner-in-Crime Rezko, now we have that BO is also the $12 Million man! This buffoon and crook shouldn't hold any public office - he is a disgrace to Illinois and an illustration of how strong the LOSER-FACTION of the Dem party is, given that he is even being considered for the nomination. Perhaps he is just trying to our-hypocrite, the master hypocrite Conniving Calculating Clinton. He'll fail at that effort, too.

liberal = hypocrite
Democrat Party = hypocrite

Barrack = liberal * Democrat Party

Barrack = hypocrite * hypocrite = hypocrite squared

Obama is fake!!! He knows very little of anything including what his compaign does or say on his behalf. For heaven sake...he even refused to pay his parking tickets from college until recently. Another George Bush...he'll take this country closer to HELL!!!

And will never get a vote from me. You are all sheep waiting for the slaughter and he is leading him on. ill take my corrupt politicians least I know their true intentions unlike OBAMA.

Another double-talking politician, what a surprise.

Go O! Today's front page, tomorrow's back page.

What politician isn't in the lobbyists pocket? Only one i can think of is Ron Paul.

Democrat, Republican, "here today, here tomorrow". The system is corrupt, public campaign financing is the only way out! Ah, but the lobbysits would never allow such legislation to move forward.

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."

Unknown, Often attributed to Abraham Lincoln

Tony wrote:
"Forget this article!!!!

Notice the sublimina message I feel ABC NEWS is trying to portray with Obama photo right over Osama's photo to the left of this page. And just look at all the terrorist photos together with senator Obama..........You editors and writers at ABC NEWS need to check yourselves concerning this.......I am not hoodwinked by this foolishness....."

Hmm, I guess since they cannot find anything good (like all the normal people contributing to his campaign) about him to talk about, they're digging for anything that that would crucify him. I think that makes common people want to acquire more about him hoping he's not that well connected to Washington.

Hmm, I guess since they cannot find anything good (like the 250+ thousand of normal people contributing to his campaign) about him to talk about, they're digging for anything that would crucify him. I think that makes common people want to inquire more about him, hoping he's not that well connected to Washington.

That's the Uni-party for you. Protect and perpetrate the status quo, no matter who wins, no matter who loses.
The only change any of these guys are interested in is the change that can jingle in their own collective pockets.
"If voting could change the system, it would be illegal..."

If Obama supporters think this is a hit piece just wait until the Republicans get their hands on Obama with 100 million plus- he won't know what hit him. Such is politics and if he can't handle the scrutiny -he can't be the candidate- This is a must win election-

Hey, hey, c'mon what's the big deal. Everyone thought that he was too new to government to be president but see, he knows what he's doing. kudos to a quick learner. He can run his drivel out of both sides of his pie hole with the best of them. He may get into the Pie Hole Hall of Fame if has a mind to (and it appears that he has) whose chairman and current gold medalist is John Kerry. This year's shoe in will be Al Gore. An Oscar AND a Pie Hole Award - not easy. So you see folks, Obama, is in with some Gold Medal "Pie Holers" as they are known to those of us who follow this sort of thing. I'm sure he'll be in the medals before this is all said and done. Not to mention Clinton . . . so I won't.

Hey, hey, c'mon what's the big deal. Everyone thought that he was too new to government to be president but see, he knows what he's doing. kudos to a quick learner. He can run his drivil out of both sides of his pie hole with the best of them. He may get into the Pie Hole Hall of Fame if has a mind to (and it appears that he has) whose chairman and current gold medalist is John Kerry. This year's shoe in will be Al Gore. An Oscar AND a Pie Hole Award - not easy. So you see folks, Obama, is in with some Gold Medal "Pie Holers" as they are known to those of us who follow this sort of thing. I'm sure he'll be in the medals before this is all said and done. Not to mention Clinton . . . so I won't.

ABC News strikes again..............The central issue for me is was there a quidproco. In return for the assistance was it supporting IL. industry or was it a typical lobbyist deal. Since you did not mention this issue in your story I suspect it was helping industry in the state. What makes me angry is idiots who look for an edge at what they are doing by writing half stories,or they are cloak and dagger for the other side. Give us the rest of the story please. I think I know who the democrats at ABC supports in the next election and it's honorable Bill/Hillary.

This is the best "dirt" they can come with on Obama? How boring......

This is a very slanted article with no evidence of any wrongdoing or any comparison to other candidates as perspective. Mr Rood's motives are suspect.

Obama is an empty suit. You liberals need to reject him now.

The other memorable thing about Obama is that he can give a prepared speech. When asked a question, he hems and haws, struggles through his response. So much for thinking on his feet and it's proof enough for me that he's well prepared with one-liner Hallmark type greeting responses, but when pressed for a response for something of substance, he's no better than your average pandering politician. Worst yet, is that he has an entitlement that he should be in office to suck up your tax dollars. What a joke!

It's funny how everyone is praising Obama for getting some tarrifs suspended, but when Bush did it for foreign steel, he was pilloried mercilessly for it. Go Figure!

Any documents to back this article? I need proof. Am tied of reading all these stories about the candidates without any documents to back them.

A pretty good example of a reporter twisting facts extremely hard to try to make a fairly clean candidate look bad. It didn't work.

The neo-cons would sure like to find something corrupt about letting a company import ingredients from their homeland to use in their United States located business....free of tarif.

I think Mr Obama is a wise man simply because he is revealing the truth to the public so that everybody should know about it and he is more active as compared to his rival Clinton,that is a clear identification that he has the ability to hold office.I would like to hear Clinton's comment on the lobbyist too.

I really think ABC has a hidden agenda against Senator Obama, and for Senator Clinton. Is is very sad how media in the US has been the really enemy of democracy!

Gimme a break. Just because he passes a few tariff bills you try to portray him as in the lobbyists' pockets. The guy speaks and acts like a leader who can inspire people, encourage substantive discussion on issues across the aisle and evenhandedly deals with lobbyists and companies who seek legitimate financial incentives. He's the real deal for a change..get used to him.

Good to see HRC's PR dollars at work. Did the Clinton campaign write this article, or just approve the final draft?

I'm not at all surprised by Hillary supporters and the occasional reporter who used to work for a New York blog going after Obama, but come on. Maybe you should wait for an actual scandal to come along instead of trying to create them out of thin air.

Nufarm has contributed zero to Obama's campaign and we're supposed to believe he's bought and paid for? Please.

As others have commented here, Obama has released a list of all of his earmarks. Has the New York senator? Of course not.

A June 13, 2007 article in The Hill says the following:

"According to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, Clinton has secured 360 earmarks worth a combined $2.2 billion from 2002 to 2006 in all spending and authorization bills."

Also, Obama does not accept donations from registered federal lobbyists or Political Action Committees (PACs). How does the Clinton campaign stack up to that?

Let's compare apples to apples. Let's see a Justin Rood column that compares directly Senator Clinton's earmarks to Senator Obama's. Let's also see a side by side comparison of how much money each campaign has accepted from registered lobbyists and PACs. How does this $12 million in reduced tariffs stack up to Senator Clinton and her financial base of PAC's and lobbyists? I think we all know the answer.

Justin, you should work for Fox News. Your article did nothing more but expose your bias and reassure my vote for Obama. Thanks!

It is sad so many are taking their bias conservative fustrations out on a completely honest person looking out for the people of Ill. They find it easy to talk, I would like to see them walk the walk.

The truth will set you free.

He says what you want to hear. Pelosi said that she was going to get rid of earmarks...righhhhttt...maybe after she stops getting rich off of them...and after Feinstein's husband stops getting China contracts...and Obama stops getting cheap chemicals from Asia.

You see chicanery in all this: "The lobbyists had earned their $20,000 fee [presumably $10,000 each]. ... On May 26, he [Obama] introduced S. 3155, a bill [that] cost the federal government more than $1 million in lost revenue. ... Astellas Pharma employees gave $1,100 to Obama’s campaign in recent months."

I, too, prefer a distance between corporate entities and members of Congress, but none of this sounds particularly sinister to me.

barack husein obama is partly muslim & partly chhristian, what is really his natural ????

My mind is swimming with the ignorant rant from so many of you. I can't bear to read anymore slander against this man who’s only guilty of being the most transparent politician I've ever seen. A real man, unlike the current puppet holding office.

It fills me with a great sense of relief knowing this man has the opportunity to be one of THE great presidents of the United States...and it's refreshing to think about when you compare it to the infinite blunders and disappointment of the current administration. Not to mention the outlandish corruption I've had to witness within these short 7 years .

I strongly urge those of you who are passionate about restoring America from its crippled state, and reinstating greatness to where it once was to do the right this and vote for this man.

F.Y.I I'm Canadian.

wait till we get to the issue of "bundlers" and where obama gets his real big fish money from. he takes more money from securities and investment firms than any other candidate. way up there with health insurance companies as well. how are we supposed to have fair taxes and labor policies with this? and his non-mandated non-single-payer health care program? how can he even invoke the word "universal" with a straight face? i agree with everything this man says, and nothing he means. his "withdrawal" plans for iraq are murderous (leaveing 75,000 troops in the field to do the same bullshit we're doing there now, to say nothing of the 180,000 private contractors.) who else is he talking to?

he is not "transparent." he doesn't take money from "federal lobbyists" but relies on "bundlers" instead, which rake in enormous quantities of money from Big Businesses that should get the hell out of government. i am not Hillary fan, but this man makes claims to being "cleaner" that do not hold up if you do some research.

oh now you know if this was Hill or Bill, we'd have it on the radio, Fox and CNN, on repeat every 10 minutes. He claimed he didn't know the man's rep. They have over 100 stories that ran for 5 months prior to this house deal. He had to have seen or heard one. But he went forward. He saved himself $300k on the house, plus he didn't have to pay another $625K for the lot. Then Tony gets a bit of help that costs us about $1M and OB gets a donation of $1.1K - that add's up to 1,926,100 is shady deals. If he was a Clinton he couldn't take a free Q-Tip without the world having a stroke. But it's only a blunder. Getting the Nevada Casino folks' votes to be superdeligates, that's fair, and then set up shop just for them so they can vote those 5X votes, yet anyone else who works on Saturday and can't vote - that's too bad huh? Whatever. Blindly forward we go to 4 more republican years. Cause they will tear Obama to shreds, use his own words to wreck him, and the ignorant chunk of America will listen and vote accordingly.

and they say Obama has no experience. sounds like he knows how to operate to me.and he is as much a hypocrite as anyone else who is running.

I think Obama's platform has just been swiped out from under him. Remember when you were young and you were told, "If too good to be true, it probably isn't." Or, "Watch out for the quite ones, they tend to hide the most." I think we've got one of those here. His campaign platform has NO PREMISE!!! It's a sham, a farce, and in Bill Clinton's words "a fairy tale". Who's lying now?

You guys forget that Mike Gravel IS still running. You dont have to vote for Obama or Hillary, I feel its very sad when people feel its OK for any candidate to lie because "how else are you supposed to win an election". Its sad.