Mickey Z

Cool Observer

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Thursday, March 06, 2008

Barack Obama: The Rap Sheet

Obama sez: “There’s not that much difference between my position and George Bush’s position at this stage. The difference, in my mind, is who’s in a position to execute.” (July 27, 2004)

Since taking office in Jan. 2005 he has voted to approve every war appropriation the Republicans have put forward, totaling over $300 billion.

He voted to confirm Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State.

Obama voted to reauthorize the Patriot Act in July 2005.

March 2006: Obama goes out of his way to travel to Connecticut to campaign for Senator Joseph Lieberman.

Obama refuses to commit to getting US troops out of Iraq by January 2013 and has repeatedly stated his desire to add 100,000 combat troops to the military.

2005: Obama joined Republicans in passing a law dubiously called the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) that would shut down state courts as a venue to hear many class action lawsuits.

He was a sponsor of the National Medical Error Disclosure and Compensation Act of 2005. The bill requires hospitals to disclose errors to patients and has a mechanism whereby disclosure, coupled with apologies, is rewarded by limiting patients’ economic recovery.

November 2007: Obama comes out against a bill that would have reformed the notorious Mining Law of 1872. The current statute, signed into law by Ulysses Grant, allows mining companies to pay a nominal fee, as little as $2.50 an acre, to mine for hardrock minerals like gold, silver, and copper without paying royalties.

2006: Obama opposes single-payer bill HR676, sponsored by Congressmen Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers in 2006, although at least 75 members of Congress support it.

2004: Obama sez the US should pursue more deals like NAFTA.

March 2, 2007: Obama gives a speech at AIPAC, America’s pro-Israeli government lobby, wherein he disavows his previous support for the plight of the Palestinians.

Obama wouldn’t have his picture taken with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom when visiting San Francisco for a fundraiser in his honor because he was scared voters might think he supports gay marriage,

Obama acknowledges the disproportionate impact the death penalty has on blacks, but still supports it.

September 29, 2006: Obama joins Republicans in voting to build 700 miles of double fencing on the Mexican border (The Secure Fence Act of 2006).

Obama aggressively opposed initiating impeachment proceedings against the president and he wouldn’t even support Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold’s effort to censure the Bush administration for illegally wiretapping American citizens in violation of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

(VIA)

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Event Alert:

The folks at Astorians for Peace and Justice have asked me to give a talk at the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden in Astoria: