FACTCHECK.ORG

Obama's Work Claim

His campaign says he had a few summer jobs and once sold newspaper subscriptions while in college.

By Viveca Novak | factcheck.org
Jul 2, 2008 | Updated: 12:22  p.m. ET Jul 2, 2008

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  • Posted By: OldUncleTom @ 07/16/2008 3:27:56 PM

    Well, some assertions may have been a bit of a stretch; this is an election year, after all.
    There were, however, real bills passed, and real results realized;
    --- this was no imaginary sniper fire incident --- thanks to God that part is over... hopefully forever.

  • Posted By: Mary934 @ 07/15/2008 5:40:35 PM

    All I am waiting is for the Democratic Convention, as by the time that happens, Obama will be losing even more to McCain. Then we need Hillary to step in and be the Democratic Nominee.!! That is my sincere wish and hope.

  • Posted By: Aj Montpeleir @ 07/15/2008 8:23:07 AM

    Oh please. Worked his way through college? Many of us really worked our way through college, holding down full time jobs while going to school full time at night. For Obama to claim that he worked his way through college with 2 summer jobs is disingenuous at best and an insult to those of us who really worked our way through college. As for taking credit for the passage of bills that he had little or no part in, well that just shows that he???s a typical politician, willing to spin the truth to his advantage. Though I do not plan to support Obama (or Senator McCain either for that matter) I do not have a problem with him and think he will probably do just as well as any other candidate running this election cycle (should he win the presidency.) What I have a problem with is his claim that he's a different politician and an agent of change, when all I've seen so far is more of the same.

  • Posted By: linewalker @ 07/13/2008 4:00:21 PM

    ivote for change ! be a real man tell it to america like you were telling it to god.

  • Posted By: GD@newswk @ 07/07/2008 4:00:20 PM

    Whether or not Senator Barack Obama worked his way through college, will not impress a student now. Now students want some new policies on college loans in post-Obama college year. Senator Obama has promised some financial assistance to students in exchange for community service. Your research would be helpful if you focus on how this will impact America and why he is attracting students, especially young people. If your focus is to find fault, then you are for the old politics in a time of change. Goodluck Diigbo, New York

  • Posted By: Granny 60's chick @ 07/06/2008 4:33:21 PM

    Thank You, that was wonderful investigative reporting. I really appreciate that you are presenting the "truth" to us.

  • Posted By: the53rdcalypso @ 07/04/2008 9:10:00 PM

    The other ads are better, he's really getting to his target market: http://www.236.com/blog/w/jake_goldman/barack_obama_currently_has_som_7479.php

  • Posted By: ltmcwil@charter.net @ 07/04/2008 8:55:48 PM

    Comment: I would not consider two people who graduate from Harvard Law School with over $100,000 in student loans that they just finished paying back last year people who went to school free. I also don't see how anyone would think that you become editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduate first in the class if you only got into law shool because you were there to integrate the school.

  • Posted By: Dolores Fleming @ 07/04/2008 11:18:36 AM

    Obama and Michelle Obama were able to go to harvard and Columbia Universities for free.it was at the time that they put blacks in universities to intergrate them.Also that was a way for the blacks top get an higher education.iIdo not know of any white person that has gotten in any University FREE.

    • Posted By: OldUncleTom @ 07/16/2008 3:32:11 PM

      Chances are, Dolores, you don't know any black person who has gotten in any University FREE either, but maybe you are a gullible soul who buys into every rumor that supports your prejudices.

    • Posted By: dcwblackhorse @ 07/12/2008 6:19:29 PM

      Are you people kidding me!!! Free...have you not done any of your own research. I don't exactly call $100+K college debt a free ride. So, what you're saying is he was the editor of the Harvard Law Review and first in his class because of "quotas" too. You guys sound ignorant. As for the complaining "granny". You aren't the only one who has a hard time getting into graduate school. I have a friend who happens to be African American with an "A" undergraduate GPA and she's having a hard time getting in because the program she wants is full.

    • Posted By: Granny 60's chick @ 07/06/2008 4:36:07 PM

      Niether do I. I owe student loans, and have been unable to get accepted to grad school with B average.

  • Posted By: pearsoncrz @ 07/04/2008 1:42:38 AM

    Here's a nice account of Obama's support for labor. In a campaign influenced by Walmart, instead of backing the pro-labor candidate, Obama backed a "Walmart tool."

    There was little surprising about Obama's endorsement given his self-interested allegiances to the politically powerful City Hall regime of Chicago's Mayor Daley, with whom Obama shares the same big money campaign super-consultant (David Axlerod) and numerous big money sponsors.

    For the first time Mayor Daley had vetoed an ordinance by his normally obedient City Council, a measure widely supported by citizens, community organizations, and labor unions in Chicago's black, Latino, and working-class wards, and he did not want the council to bring the measure up again. It was originally passed by the council under pressure from a remarkable grassroots campaign, and would have required giant retail corporations like Wal-Mart, Target, Lowes, and Home Depot to pay workers a modest minimum wage of ten dollars an hour by 2010.

    Wal-Mart and Target announced that they were putting a number of "big box" retail developments on hold in Chicago, and launched a preemptive public relations strike, threatening to disinvest in the city unless a "favorable business climate" was restored. Daley made a special point of wrapping his veto in the flag of racial justice, claiming it was required to permit the flowering of economic development in the city's abandoned ghetto neighborhoods.

    Pat Dowell, the recipient of significant support from the Service Employees' International Union (SEIU), was running against Tillman, and Dowell had strongly criticized Tillman for siding with Daley and Wal-Mart.

    Obama needed the support of the powerful campaign finance magnet Daley, and endorsed Tillman, over labor-backed Dowell.

    Obama's wife Michelle then received $51,200 in 2006 for attending a few board meetings of TreeHouse Foods, a giant firm that relied heavily on its close business relationship with Wal-Mart. The granting of high-pay/do-little board posts to the spouses of politicians is a longstanding tool of the "old," corporate-dominated politics that Senator Obama claims to reject. This is not like Clinton's placement on the board of Walmart as the result of an effort to address sex discrimination in Walmart's employment practices.



    Mrs. Obama resigned from her position with TreeHouse in the summer of 2007, citing "increased demands on her time" in connection with her husband's presidential campaign.



    It isn't surprising that she cut her politically damaging ties to a notoriously anti-labor company that her husband was attacking Clinton about in his speeches.

  • Posted By: pearsoncrz @ 07/04/2008 1:41:00 AM

    One of Obama's top supporters, James Crown, serves on the board of General Dynamics, a military contractor. Crown is a member of Obama's campaign finance committee and a big superbundler for Obama. He is also on Obama's Illinois campaign committee.

    Obama secured $1.3 million of an $8 million earmark request in 2006 for a program that was overseen by General Dynamics.Obama also secured $750,000 of a $3 million request for renovation of a space center named for Crown's grandfather, Henry Crown, at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

    Obama also secured several million dollars for a project at Chicago State University. Emil Jones Jr., the president of the Illinois State Senate and an early and powerful political benefactor of Obama's, has been a dogged champion of Chicago State, and one of Senator Obama's closest friends.

    Although it was not approved, Obama also requested a million dollar earmark for the hospital where his wife works and which gave his wife a huge raise.

  • Posted By: pearsoncrz @ 07/04/2008 1:06:24 AM

    This only tells half the story. When asked about his experience, Obama typically points to his legislative record in Illinois and rattles off several bills he sponsored as an Illinois lawmaker. The problem is that he was assigned credit for this legislation by Emil Jones, Jr., who had decided to make Obama a U.S. Senator, even though he hadn't worked on the bills before.

    From www.dallasobserver.com/2008-02-28/news/obama-and-me/

    Several months before Obama announced his U.S. Senate bid, Jones called his old friend Cliff Kelley, a former Chicago alderman who now hosts the city's most popular black call-in radio program.

    "He said, 'Cliff, I'm gonna make me a U.S. senator.'"

    "Oh, you are? Who might that be?"

    "Barack Obama."

    Jones appointed Obama sponsor of virtually every high-profile piece of legislation, angering many rank-and-file state legislators who had more seniority than Obama and had spent years championing the bills.

    "I took all the beatings and insults and endured all the racist comments over the years from nasty Republican committee chairmen," state Senator Rickey Hendon, the original sponsor of landmark racial profiling and videotaped confession legislation yanked away by Jones and given to Obama, complained to me at the time. "Barack didn't have to endure any of it, yet, in the end, he got all the credit.

    "I don't consider it bill jacking," Hendon told me. "But no one wants to carry the ball 99 yards all the way to the 1-yard line and then give it to the halfback who gets all the credit and the stats in the record book."

    Dodd called him on using the same tactics in the Senate. Apparently it's typical for Obama to take credit for work done by others.

  • Posted By: loriw @ 07/03/2008 8:39:16 PM

    Still waiting for someone to explain to me about how Obama joining with the Clintons is about change.
    see posts below where I asked this question (also on other articles) and NO ONE not even Nins will explain this too me. I was very disappointed to see Sen. Obama hook up with the Clintons. The Clintons are politics as usual only worse.

    • Posted By: Wired @ 07/03/2008 11:45:20 PM

      Obama is not "joining" the Clintons. He is simply trying to pursue the 18 million people that voted for Hillary. Their candidate lost so now he is courting them. Its a completely legitimate strategy and has nothing to do with his "change" message. Its smart politics,even if McCain was doing it.

      Besides,Bill Clinton led what was arguably the most prospersous term of office in American history.

  • Posted By: willnotvoteobama @ 07/03/2008 6:17:19 PM

    YET ANOTHER FLIP FLOP THIS TIME ABOUT ABORTION Refer to these votes by Obama if you are looking for proof...
    2001 IL Senate Bill 1095, Born Alive Infant Protection Act --Obama voted NO

    2002 IL Senate Bill 1662, Born Alive Infant Protection Act --Obama voted NO

    2003 IL Senate Bill 1082, Born Alive Infant Protection Act --Obama finally got the bill from the senate as he was the chaired of the health and human services committee. He held on the Bill and make sure it would not come up for a comittee vote.

    This is the sort of radical ultra left stands he takes that frightens me.....who would vote against ensuriing life saving protocols for infants borned alive even...if it was during and abort process gone wrong. Who? who would do this? Why would you kill a child who have made it alive into the world against all odds.....what is the humane justification?
    HE'S FLIPPED AGAIN GEEZE MAKE UP YOUR MIND !!

  • Posted By: willnotvoteobama @ 07/03/2008 5:53:30 PM

    TRY AND SPIN THIS YOU USELESS LIBERAL LEFTIST LIARS VOTE OBAMA THE STUPID CHOICE !!!

  • Posted By: sharenews @ 07/03/2008 3:41:45 PM

    http://obamatruth.org/

  • Posted By: LuLuBelle @ 07/03/2008 2:18:49 PM

    List of things Obama DIDN'T lie about:

  • Posted By: LuLuBelle @ 07/03/2008 2:15:10 PM

    The list of Obama's lies is getting way too long.

    We will have to just start listing ONLY the things he told the truth about.

    Here's the list:

    • Posted By: think4yourself @ 07/03/2008 2:28:57 PM

      Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! .....

  • Posted By: SukieTawdry @ 07/03/2008 1:33:54 PM

    I knew people who actually did work their way through college. Some worked during the day and attended night school; others worked swing and graveyard and went to school days. Some had families to support while they were doing it. Whatever, for them it was a long, hard haul full of personal sacrifice and finally getting their degrees (and, in some cases, graduate degrees) were significant achievements. But since I worked summers and did odd jobs around campus for extra spending money, I guess now I can join their ranks and claim I, too, worked my way through school. Hey, thanks, Barack!

    Barack Obama, the flim-flam candidate. His positions change to suit the circumstances. He takes credit for the accomplishments and hard work of others. He pads his resume. If his personal story is so very compelling and inspiring and if his accomplishments are so numerous and worthy, why can't he just tell the truth about them?

  • Posted By: think4yourself @ 07/03/2008 1:28:32 PM

    Wow Obama been telling lies...surprising. And remind me again what makes him such a "New Politican" ???

    Here are some more lies:

    5. Stealing Hillary's policy issues b/c he had none of his own then joining in with others being sexist towards her then fasley CRYING racist whenever she or Bill brought his name up.
    4. Pledging to use public financing like McCain but only to shamefully post a pituful excuse why on his website citing why he chose to use private financing (what he critized Hillary for doing)
    3. Supporting the wire tape law when saying he would protest it. Plus extending "Bush's" Faith based polices
    2. Claiming STILL that he never heard a word of Rev Wright's speech in 20 yrs of membership
    1. Using someone else to do his dirty work by having Wesley Clark spit on McCain's service to this country just so he can look better for Independance Day. Even though Obama hasnt done so much as be a cub scout. (Cant say BOY scout... that would make me a racist)

    You feel that Obama supporters? Thats the pain of your butt being thrown off the Obama bus. Now you know how, Rev Wright feels

    Next week I'll do a top ten.

  • Posted By: migtex1234 @ 07/03/2008 1:19:54 PM

    OBAMA IS AN EMPTY SUIT. HAS ZERO EXPERIENCE, BACKGROUND OR QUALITIES TO GOVERN THE U.S.. HIS SUPPORTER TOTAL UP MOSTLY ANTI-AMERICANS, LEFTIST, WEIRDO, ETC. HAD OUR
    "SICK" MEDIA, DONE THEIR HOMEWORK EARLIER, & LEFT OUT THEIR "EMOTIONS & BIAS, HE WOULD NOT EVEN BE A CONSIDERATION TODAY. MOST OF HIS SUPPORTERS ARE EITHER HISTORICALLY STUPID OR LEFTIST MARXIST (WHO DESIRE TO CONTROL ALL ASPECTS OF CITIZENS LIFE.
    SCARY MAN. WITHOUT A CORE.

  • Posted By: migtex1234 @ 07/03/2008 1:14:27 PM

    OBAMA IS AN EMPTHY SUIT, PROMOTED & FUNDED BY ANTI-AMERICANS, LEFTIST, & SOME VERY STANGE FOLKS, PLUS OUT ANTI-AMERICAN MEDIA. HE IS NOT EVEN QUALIFIED TO RUN FOR
    DOG CATCHER. HIS SUPPORTERS WANT MARXIST FOR U.S. WHERE GOV'T CONTROLS EVERY ASPECT OF THEIR LIVES. HE IS A DISASTER!

  • Posted By: MaddiesFace @ 07/03/2008 12:01:58 PM

    John McCain went throught the Academy. That is working your way through college with blood, sweat and tears. But Mr. Obama did work part-time, and he did pay off his loans and that is praiseworthy.

  • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/03/2008 12:01:04 PM

    I have seen some PUMA sites promoting a July 4 'money bomb' for McCain. McCain supporters of all stripes are taking up this cause, to send a message to Obama, the DNC and others that we will not be silenced, and we are not afraid of the now 'unlimited' money they throw into voters' faces to try to buy the White House.

    Thank you!

    ---

    July 4 McCain Money Bomb


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Fellow McCainiacs,

    In honor of our Nation's Independence Day, I would like to propose we have a 'McCain Money Bomb' on July 4, 2008.

    Money bombs give people a concrete reason to donate THAT DAY because your donation is doubly effective. By being part of a money bomb, you not only provide funds, but also help build your campaign's morale and show your support!

    I propose that members of all the McCain Meetups & blog sites donate $25, $50, $75, or $100 each on July 4th (and to encourage their friends to do the same).

    The Anti-Obama Hillary Supporters are already having a McCain Money Bomb of their own on July 4th, so if we also had one, it could be a great day's tota

    As we all know, Obama will not be accepting public financing and will be flooding the airwaves with anti-McCain ads from now until November, while John McCain is subjected to strict spending limits. Not only is Obama expected to outspend our candidate 2-3 to 1, but various liberal 527 groups have also pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars.

    It is essential that John McCain be able to get his message out so people can hear the truth, not just the Democrat's distortions. And the time to do that is now - during this brief window before our candidate is subject to spending limits.


    Please send your donations to https://www.johnmccain.com/
    If maxed out please consider donating to the RNC at https://www.gop.com/Donate/Default.aspx

  • Posted By: Rocky2001 @ 07/03/2008 11:09:28 AM

    Barry telling more lies....shocker!!!

  • Posted By: martin_gray @ 07/03/2008 10:01:33 AM

    I have a feeling that if we fact checked all of the members of the house and senate, we would through all of the ^astards out (TATBO). Virtually all of them are owned by the lobbyists hired by corporate America. None of you should ever forget that we have the best darned government that money can buy!

  • Posted By: The "O" Team @ 07/03/2008 9:09:30 AM

    Hmmmmmmmmm... OK.... Now, this really wasn't the greatest article choice but, when you have so many people wanting to read about the next President, well then what do you expect... :)

    I can tell you one thing though... I'm not sure, what, was dropped into my Obama "Kool-Aid" but I sure do appreciate this pleasantly unfamiliar concoction... Iam happy to be an AMERICAN (all caps)...

    • Posted By: SPORTLOCK09 @ 07/03/2008 5:42:15 PM

      I hope you have your psyc meds ready when the O team gets pounded in the general. I predict mass suicide by some of you Obama bots. Most of you do nothing but make hearsay excuses for his crookedness and the other half act like Jusus himself has come back to run for president. I see the saying there is a sucker born everyday still holds true.

  • Posted By: aishap @ 07/03/2008 7:13:03 AM

    Why is this what is being reported on, something so small and the fact is that he did work his way through college, it was def not paid for by his fam as suggested here, and working at all in school is hard enough, OF COURSE he has loans, his family isnt as elite and wealth as that of the cindy mccains. Now if Newsweek were a nonbiased publication you would report on the www.factcheck.org article discussing the LIES that McCain is putting out in his smear Ads about Obamas stance on Energy...all LIES. Obama is more proactive about alternative energy than McCain has ever been. Why is it that all of McCains and the RNCs ads smear Obama rather than promote and glorify their candidate, its quite simple because there is nothing glorious about McCain...Clark was right!

  • Posted By: aishap @ 07/03/2008 7:04:37 AM

    Are you seriously writing about this...why dont you report on www.factcheck.orgs article on teh BOGUS claims that McCain is saying about Obama's stance on Energy. What about the fact that McCain's ads cannot glorify himself because there is nothing worthy of glory about him...Clark was RIGHT!. Rather he, as the RNC always does, resorts to smear campaign ads....PATHETIC!!!! i will be surprised if this comment is even posted.

  • Posted By: gommy goomy @ 07/03/2008 5:43:08 AM

    What's the big deal? Are you telling me that Obama, a Democrat, is luing through his teeth? That he's padding his resume'? He HAS to. Because he doesn"t HAVE one, He got all those things "Passed", just like Chris Dodd didn't know he was getting a sweatheart deal on his mortgages. Just like Bill Clinton "Never had sexual relations". Just like Nancy Pelosi had a "Plan" to bring down gas prices. Where's the stuff on REZKO? This PUNK, Obama, is a crook, a lightweight, and a MARXIST, who doesn't know ANYTHING about ANYTHING. And, unfortunately, we're ALL about to find that out.

  • Posted By: The "O" Team @ 07/03/2008 3:22:58 AM

    New York Times:
    By Adam Nagourney
    updated 12:00 a.m. ET, Thurs., July. 3, 2008

    WASHINGTON - Senator John McCain ???s presidential campaign has gone through its second shake-up in a year. Responding to Republican concerns that his candidacy was faltering, Mr. McCain put a veteran of President Bush???s 2004 campaign in charge of day-to-day operations, and stepped away from a plan to have the campaign run by 11 regional managers, Mr. McCain???s aides said Wednesday.

    The elevation of Steve Schmidt ??? who worked closely with Karl Rove ??? at Mr. McCain???s headquarters represented a sharp diminishment of the responsibilities of Rick Davis, who has been Mr. McCain???s campaign manager since the last shake-up nearly a year ago.

    The shift was approved by Mr. McCain after several of his aides, including Mr. Schmidt, went to him about 10 days ago and warned him that he was in danger of losing the presidential election unless he revamped his campaign operation, two officials close to the campaign said.

    • Posted By: SPORTLOCK09 @ 07/03/2008 5:45:45 PM

      Funny,
      You mention McCains 2nd shake-up this year. And have nothing to say about one of Obama's 300 shake ups this year? Just a tad biased are we? I guess change is completely ignoring all facts pointing that you have been dupped. Very easily I might add. Hey BTW, I have some magic beans for sale if your interested

  • Posted By: onepoker @ 07/03/2008 2:33:58 AM

    I don't think having a summer job is the same thing as working your way through school but Its nice to know he had a job. It is funny how there is no mention of how much money he contributed to his own education. I know his mom was busy flitting around the globe and his Grandparents did live comfortably in hawaii so its highley probable Obamas silver spoon was infact firmly implanted if not at birth shortly after being dropped off and Grandma and Grandpas.

    As for the legislation I don't think any senator singlehandedly pushes through any piece of legislation but it would be nice if the high point of his career wasn't dovetailing on other senators. What has he written legislativly what has he pushed through is what I want to know. I hate when the committee gets together and picks out the most favorable piece of legislation someone worked on and then decides that should be the resume.

    If I cared about Obama I would want to know what issues did he passionately pursue were there any? Other senators don't remember him being particularly animated about any peice of legislation probably because he has been so busy preparing to be the next president he never bothered to get past a few earmarks for his constituents.

    It is very believable that he turned down BIG MONEY job offers because he obviously has talent and I am sure some of his Harvard connections passed him on as a rising star but I would like to know if he actually interviewed with anyone or if he just headed straight to the YMCA and began organizing community events. (he must of had some financial backing to walk away from big money was it grandma or did he have another source?)

    • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/03/2008 8:50:43 AM

      Didn't you know that "community organizers" make 6 figures in Chicago?

      • Posted By: pearsoncrz @ 07/04/2008 1:13:48 AM

        Civil Rights lawyers do.

  • Posted By: MG of IL @ 07/03/2008 12:28:35 AM

    Sounds like Senator Obama worked his way through college the same way my husband and three sons did - working summer jobs, working for their university (cafeteria workers, teaching assistants, tutors, etc.) and going in debt for student loans. Loans that had to be paid back with interest - with money earned from real jobs. I'd say Senator Obama worked his way through college like the majority of Americans do. Senator Obama, like most of us, was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

    • Posted By: SPORTLOCK09 @ 07/03/2008 5:50:20 PM

      Most of us were born with a silver spoon? Umm Im not sure what planet your from but that single statement says a ton about what world you live in. Let me guess, first car was a $50,000 suv because daddy wanted you to be safe right? As for the rest of us who actually live in reality, we are struggling to pay for gas to get to work, feed our families, and keep our homes from being foreclosed on. How's the weather at the private golf course today?

  • Posted By: WhenStarsTurnBlue @ 07/03/2008 12:28:19 AM

    To me, "worked his way" through college means he held a job either full-time or part-time all year round as well as attending a full load of classes. Working a few weeks in the summer twice is working a summer job.

    I do wonder how much his grandparents helped him while he was in school. And if they did, did he ever pay them back?

    • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/03/2008 8:49:08 AM

      That is what "working your way through" college means. It means having to pay your own way. Not everyone can get enough loans or grants to pay for school. Since I got married, my wife and I have to pay her college bills. We make way too much for grants and student loans pay a fraction of the total bill.
      If Obama says he worked his way though school but only using 2 summer jobs as a reference, he isn't blatantly lying but he is guilty of padding his resume to try and appear more like the everyman.
      To the Obama supporter, they of course don't see anything wrong, but if the independents see it as a play and go with McCain then better for us Pumas.
      The problem is not many news organizations are going to go out of their way to factcheck Obama's claim to the public. Only the politicos and news junkies like the bloggers are going to know anyway. I'm sure that's why Obama is trying to make these claims and is probably going to get away with it too.

      • Posted By: SPORTLOCK09 @ 07/03/2008 5:53:20 PM

        I agree with you on Obama is making claims and will probably get away with it. However, you should add a AGAIN to the end of that statement. He's getting away with so much it's like affirmative action for the presidency

      • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/03/2008 8:53:57 AM

        Sorry meant to say that most news orgs are NOT going out of their way to factcheck Obama.

  • Posted By: cobalt6 @ 07/02/2008 11:35:38 PM

    I have to agree this is a great article!! So not like newsweek, they usually only say good things about Obama! I think the media should be nuetral during a presidential race!!!

  • Posted By: citron16 @ 07/02/2008 11:09:37 PM

    I think it is great that newsweek is finally telling the truth about Obama! It's about time newsweek wasn't so one sided!!!! Great Article!!

    • Posted By: dreffein @ 07/03/2008 11:14:38 AM

      Citron - but why weren't they doing all of this "factchecking" during the primaries. Now, the best option (HRC) is out of the running and we're stuck with the candidate with at least one new lie or exagerration each day.

      • Posted By: SPORTLOCK09 @ 07/03/2008 5:54:52 PM

        I said it from day one UNFORTUNATELY. GOP merely getting the strongest opponant of the ticket.

  • Posted By: |Reynolds| @ 07/02/2008 10:53:13 PM

    Please tell me this article was written by a factcheck.org intern or a high school student. The first portion about him not working through school is just a pitiful argument. He worked during the summer, which means he didn't work his way through school? I don't know any kids that would choose to work construction unless they needed the money.
    The rest attempts to be interesting, controversial news, but fails miserably. Even the fully confirmed facts such as the third law have veiled attacks ("claims sole responsibility?"). Take the chip off your shoulder factcheck.org because this felt like I was watching an invented Fox News scandal.
    I really hope Newsweek didn't publish this in print and that it's just online.

  • Posted By: Nins @ 07/02/2008 10:49:28 PM

    I am a person who worked my way through college, graduate school and medical school. I HAD TO take loans to support myself, since it was not possible to make enough money to live on and go to school full time while getting grades good enough to get in to medical school. Sure, I worked the most in the summers and holidays, since that is when I had the most time. To say that you worked your way through school you and worked off and on while in school and borrowed the rest of the money you needed to live on, and later you worked and paid off what you borrowed is NOT a lie. Obama worked his way through school, since nobody else paid for his upkeep while he studied. For me personally, it became almost impossible to work during medical school, since there was no real time off, and the study requirements were about 18 hours per day, seven days a week. I imagine law school is almost as intense, certainly it was for Barack, since he graduated at the very top of his class at Harvard, the law school that ranks number one in the nation. He must of studied his buns off to get the highest class rank and the highest grade point average of all of those very, very smart Harvard students. If he borrowed money to live on during the school year and later worked and paid it back, well then, he worked his way through school. Period.

    • Posted By: SPORTLOCK09 @ 07/03/2008 5:57:57 PM

      This is so easy I cant believe even you cant figure this out. IF YOU WOULD BE KICKED OUT OF SCHOOL IF YOU DIDNT WORK, THAT IS WORKING YOUR WAY THROUGH COLLEGE. IF YOU WORK FOR EXTRA MONEY TO BUY COCAINE. THAT IS CALLED SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME. NOT WORKING YOUR WAY THROUGH COLLEGE. Your the smartest dumbazz I know

    • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/03/2008 8:43:44 AM

      We all believe you because you said so yourself. Write a book about it so you can use that as proof positive too.

  • Posted By: Nins @ 07/02/2008 10:48:15 PM

    Why did the US military cancel a news conference where they were going to display the "Iranian" weapons they found in Iraq? Because there WERE NO IRANIAN WEAPONS to display. Here are links supporting the fact that the weapons found in Iraq did not come from Iran:

    http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013695.php
    http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/05/fire_next_time.html
    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/05/iraq-the-elusiv.html

    NOT TO MENTION that the Untied States itself has had a notable role in arming the insurgency. When the US dissolved the Iraqi Army, that flooded Iraq with weapons. More recently the Pentagon admitted that it had lost track of a third of the weapons distributed to Iraqi security forces in 2004-05, totaling 190,000 assault rifles and pistols that are currently on the streets of Iraq. The British paper that published this article got it's information straight from the US Government Accounting Office's public website:
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/pentagon-admits-190000-weapons-missing-in-iraq-460551.html

    Ask yourself, why would America want to pretend that Iran is pushing weapons in Iraq, when actually WE (the USA) has flooded Iraq's streets with weapons? Because Bush wants to declare war on Iran, and just like the fake "WMDs" in Iraq, he needs something to frighten Americans, so he comes out with this BS about Iran killing US soldiers in Iraq. He has also said that Iran is making nuclear weapons, but recent inspections have found NO EVIDENCE of nuclear weapons in Iran. JUST LIKE how repeated inspections found NO EVIDENCE of WMDs in Iraq. The reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN inspectors and nuclear experts at the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) all agree that Iran DOES NOT have nuclear weapons. The IAEA report states that Iran only has "low enriched uranium, not the highly-enriched uranium necessary to produce a bomb." The ISIS reports states "It is important to note that they do not encompass the full scope of work required for a comprehensive nuclear weapons program. Missing is theoretical work on nuclear weapons, uranium metallurgy, and the development of a neutron initiator." http://www.yirmeyahureview.com/articles/2008/iaea_report_on_iran.htm#_ftn9

    In case you think the idea that Bush wants to bomb Iran is reactionary, you should know that John Bolton, former US Ambassador to the UN, recently told FoxNews that he can "definitely envision Bush bombing Iran before he leaves office." By bombing Iran, Bush makes it more likely McCain will be elected. But can the US Treasury, can the US economy stand more war? Even if we could afford it, we don't have the manpower in uniform. You know what that means: draft and conscription. Vote for McCain. Watch your children come home in body bags. Watch America go into a Great Depression.

    • Posted By: onepoker @ 07/03/2008 2:14:35 AM

      Nins move on.org was wondering if you would be around to pass out the kool aid at the 4th of July pic nic.

      • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/03/2008 8:43:11 AM

        Didn't Obama already throw MoveOn under the bus with his Patriotism Speech?

  • Posted By: Wired @ 07/02/2008 10:31:54 PM

    I wish Newsweek would do this much nitpicking to our current PRESIDENT ! HELLO??!! Where have you been the last 8 years ? Bush has done much more than twist some words. Where should I start ?

    • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/03/2008 8:42:42 AM

      If you didn't already know that Bush is a idiot, then there is no hope for you now.

  • Posted By: Cantabrigian @ 07/02/2008 9:42:59 PM

    CRAP! What more can be said about this man.

  • Posted By: Jill from Florida @ 07/02/2008 8:33:28 PM

    So in other words, Obama stretches the truth, takes 100% credit for other peoples work, along with throwing his typical white grandmother and his "uncle" pastor under the bus.

    Sounds more like a pathological liar. The more you say it, the more you believe it.

  • Posted By: Hheeaatt @ 07/02/2008 7:34:10 PM

    So basically what you are saying is that 95% of what he says is true.....nothing wrong with tht.....And let me tell you, if you have to take out College Loans and then have to work to pay them back....You have worked your way through College....And what about McFlip/Flop....did he work his way through College? Did they even have College when McFlip/Flop grew up? Or was he to busy fighting in a WWII? And for all of you who think Obama is the Messiah....that is you putting him up there.....NOT HIM!!!! HE IS A GOOD MAN....AND WILL MAKE A GREAT PRESIDENT!!!

    • Posted By: sharenews @ 07/02/2008 9:31:44 PM

      Someone took a big guzzle of Kool-aid before reading this article. LMAO

  • Posted By: Hheeaatt @ 07/02/2008 7:30:13 PM

    So, basically what you are saying is that not all of it is true, but 95% of it is....and I agree, if you have to take out loans and then work to pay them back....you have worked your way through College....Did McFlip/Flop work his way through College? Hell, did they even have College when McFlip/Flop was growing up? Obama could not have done alot through the US Senate, as he hasn't been there long enough, which is a good thing because he hasn't been caught in all of the Washington Bull which makes him the perfect person to change Washington......QUESTION......HOW MANY TIMES HAS AMERICA EXPERIENCED BLACK POLITICS IN ACTION?,,,,,,,,There you go, so all of this is new to us....!!!!

  • Posted By: Nins @ 07/02/2008 6:41:13 PM

    I am a person who worked my way through college, graduate school and medical school. I HAD TO take loans to support myself, since it was not possible to make enough money to live on and go to school full time while getting grades good enough to get in to medical school. Sure, I worked the most in the summers and holidays, since that is when I had the most time. To say that you worked your way through school you worked off and on while in school and borrowed the rest of the money you needed to live on, and later you worked and paid off what you borrowed is NOT a lie. Obama worked his way through school, since nobody else paid for his upkeep while he studied. For me personally, it became almost impossible to work during medical school, since there was no real time off, and the study requirements were about 18 hours per day, seven days a week. I imagine law school is almost as intense, certainly it was for Barack, since he graduated at the very top of his class at Harvard, the law school that ranks number one in the nation. He must of studied his buns off to get the highest class rank and the highest grade point average of all of those very, very smart Harvard students. If he borrowed money to live on during the school year and later worked and paid it back, well then, he worked his way through school. Period.

    • Posted By: SPORTLOCK09 @ 07/02/2008 7:19:20 PM

      So, how long have you been good friends with Obama? Because apparently you know this man very well in order to explain all of this to us. OR, your just making more and more and more and more excuses for the messiah. Heresay,yousay,hedidntsay,yousaid.

      • Posted By: Nins @ 07/02/2008 11:09:33 PM

        I am not friends with Obama. I wish I was. Perhaps in the future.

        How do I know so much about Obama? I READ BOOKS. Amazing thought, Sportlock, that there is information out there that is not on blogs. Wow.

        Or, if your don't want to pick up a book, just Google "Obama's Harvard Law School Ranking." It is the information age, remember.

        It is not hearsay. It is a matter of FACT.

      • Posted By: loriw @ 07/02/2008 7:40:51 PM

        nins is a plant and I have doubts he/she really is a medical doctor since he dogged on Cindy McCain for being a stroke VICTIM. Real compassionate Nins! Isuspect he/she is a plant. How does someone who claims to run 2 business have time to do all this "research"? Most annoying is Nins cuts and pastes these posts to every article and they have no relevance to the articles. I don't even read Nins cut and pastes. You can recognize them becausethe first sentances have nothing to do with the article.

        • Posted By: dreffein @ 07/02/2008 10:37:12 PM

          loriw -you're the plant. You first started off full speed attacking the Clintons, now you're making veiled comments about Obama. I have yet to see a single negative comment about McCain. Have the courage of your convictions and tell the truth about who you support. There are some sincere Obama people that don't deserve this.

          • Posted By: loriw @ 07/03/2008 2:01:23 AM

            I don't need to make negative comments about McCain because everyone else does it so much better than I ever could. The ONLY negative comments I have made about Sen. Obama have been about his "unity" with the Clintons. Will someone PLEASE explain to me how Obama's use of Clinton staff on his campaign and use of the Clintons to campaign for him fits into his platform of Change? On one is explaining this one to me.

            • Posted By: dreffein @ 07/04/2008 11:55:15 AM

              loriw - And there are plenty of people making negative comments about Obama, far better than you do. So, just admit to all you're for McCain instead of playing your little game. Very transparent.

            • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/03/2008 8:41:06 AM

              There isn't because there has never been any "change."

          • Posted By: loriw @ 07/03/2008 1:56:40 AM

            If I'm a plant am I supposed to be getting paid? because I'm not and this sure does take a lot of time!

          • Posted By: Nins @ 07/02/2008 11:05:42 PM

            Interestingly enough, Lori started out pretending to be an OBAMA SUPPORTER during the primaries, and did she ever have a sharp axe to cut up Hillary Clinton. Now, she is after Obama with the axe, so I have to assume, 10 month old "grandbaby" and all, she is and always was a McCain supporter, one who used to POSE as an Obama supporter. Her favorite tactic is to call me a "plant" but she fails to say a plant of what? A plant is someone who is pretending to be something that they are not, in order to gather information or falsely influence other people. I am, and always have been an Obama supporter in this forum. I have never switched sides. You can go back months on these blogs and check what I say about myself and about Lori.

            The worst thing Lori can accuse me of is being on Obama's payroll. All I can say about that is "I wish I was getting paid by Obama. I would be proud if that were true." I can not prove that that is not true, all I can say is that (1) it is not true and (2) if it was true, it wouldn't matter, because I post well researched factual blogs with references that anyone can check for themselves. I have yet to see Lori post anything other than her personal opinions and vicious attacks against bloggers she disagrees with. Lori never names her sources, never backs up her facts with references or links. Lori never says anything nice.

            Lori thinks I am not a doctor. Whatever. My posts that include medical subjects should allay that doubt for anyone, but that is not goo enough for Lori. I refuse to reveal my identity to prove myself to Lori, or to anyone else. I don't care if she believes what I say about myself, because, guess what, this is not about me. I don't blog to feed my ego. I blog to get the word out to my fellow Americans about the economy, the energy crisis, and the candidates' voting records, all of which are way more important than Lori or me.

            • Posted By: dreffein @ 07/04/2008 11:59:00 AM

              Nins - don't dignify loriw's attacks with a response. We all see her for what she is. A very unhappy person full of hate for all things Democratic. We may have disagreements within the party but it's clear she has never been a member.

            • Posted By: loriw @ 07/03/2008 1:08:37 AM

              excuse me for being just a little disappointed that Sen. Obama is getting buddy, buddy with the Clintons.
              Would you please explain to me how that is about change.?
              Still UNDECIDED, sorry to disappoint ya all.
              Grand baby can't vote yet but her daddy is in Iraq and her mommy voted for OBAMA just like me.
              For a doctor you sure lack compasion, nins.
              B=B

        • Posted By: loriw @ 07/02/2008 7:51:36 PM

          sorry for the typo's and misspellings -can't see what is typed below the box plus I have 10 month old grandbaby "helping"me type.

  • Posted By: Nins @ 07/02/2008 6:31:33 PM

    Why did the US military cancel a news conference where they were going to display the "Iranian" weapons they found in Iraq? Because there WERE NO IRANIAN weapons to display. Here are links supporting the fact that the weapons found in Iraq did not come from Iran:

    http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013695.php
    http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/05/fire_next_time.html
    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/05/iraq-the-elusiv.html

    NOT TO MENTION that the Untied States itself has had a notable role in arming the insurgency. When the US dissolved the Iraqi Army, that flooded Iraq with weapons. More recently the Pentagon admitted that it had lost track of a third of the weapons distributed to Iraqi security forces in 2004-05, totaling 190,000 assault rifles and pistols that are currently on the streets of Iraq. The British paper that published this article got it's information straight from the US Government Accounting Office's public website: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/pentagon-admits-190000-weapons-missing-in-iraq-460551.html

    Ask yourself, why would America want to pretend that Iran is pushing weapons in Iraq, when actually WE (the USA) has flooded Iraq's streets with weapons? Because Bush wants to declare war on Iran, and just like the fake "WMDs" in Iraq, he needs something to frighten Americans, so he comes out with this BS about Iran killing US soldiers in Iraq. He has also said that Iran is making nuclear weapons, but recent inspections have found NO EVIDENCE of nuclear weapons in Iran. JUST LIKE how repeated inspections found NO EVIDENCE of WMDs in Iraq. The reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN inspectors and nuclear experts at the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) all agree that Iran DOES NOT have nuclear weapons. The IAEA report states that Iran only has "low enriched uranium, not the highly-enriched uranium necessary to produce a bomb." The ISIS reports states "It is important to note that they do not encompass the full scope of work required for a comprehensive nuclear weapons program. Missing is theoretical work on nuclear weapons, uranium metallurgy, and the development of a neutron initiator." http://www.yirmeyahureview.com/articles/2008/iaea_report_on_iran.htm#_ftn9

    In case you think the idea that Bush wants to bomb Iran is reactionary, you should know that John Bolton, former US Ambassador to the UN, recently told FoxNews that he can "definitely envision Bush bombing Iran before he leaves office." By bombing Iran, Bush makes it more likely McCain will be elected. But can the US Treasury, can the US economy stand more war? Even if we could afford it, we don't have the manpower in uniform. You know what that means: draft and conscription. Vote for McCain. Watch your children come home in body bags. Watch America go into a Great Depression.

    • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/03/2008 8:39:39 AM

      How is this article relevant to Obama padding his resume?

    • Posted By: onepoker @ 07/03/2008 3:16:02 AM

      because we are trying everything in our power to avoid war with Iran. In about 3 weeks Israel will Bomb Iran (not a fact just an opinion) When that occurs Iran will attempt to disrupt the shipping lanes into the gulf possibly with Silk Worm Missiles. This dance has already started and Bush decided that provoking Iran at this time was not in the best interest of the United States.

      Bush isn't going to bomb anyone to get MCCain elected that is just crap.

      What is up with all the left wing propaganda Nins? I would think a doctor would see right through these lies? I guess its more important for you to get your agenda out there than to have any concern for the truth.

  • Posted By: thehappyamerican @ 07/02/2008 6:26:59 PM

    Reach,reach REACH,Senator Obama...so you won't look like a send up and look like somebody! (Quick! Run for the teleprompter!).
    Your party needs you to direct it out of it's very poor approval around the US House and Senate and you're running commedy ads!
    You didn't work then or you'd know how to work now! Run for the teleprompter!

  • Posted By: just jerry @ 07/02/2008 3:40:31 PM

    Obama is a typical politician so of course he overstates his importance and how hard he ahd to "work" his way through college. He is nothing new or different, same old, same old, and he will change positions on a dime if it will help him get elected, get used to it.

  • Posted By: heyteach @ 07/02/2008 2:32:55 PM

    My My my is he the only person in the country that had to work to pay for his or her education? My son was on a scholarship for diving but still worked on campus to help pay for his books etc. Also I am very tired of hearing he came from a broken family a white mother and a black father. News flash he is not the only one this is life this happens every day. Live with it get off the pitty party. Tell the American people what you can do for this country.

  • Posted By: EffYou @ 07/02/2008 2:15:05 PM

    The point is he worked at some point during college and law school and earned money to contribute towards his education. So did I. Did I work every single semester and summer? No. I worked as I could manage with my class schedule and as needed to fill in gaps in loans, grants, and my college fund. And I absolutely feel I "worked my way" through undergrad and grad school. This article is really reaching!


    I

    • Posted By: LuLuBelle @ 07/03/2008 2:17:24 PM

      "Worked my way" through college means you worked and went to school, paid for it yourself, and nobody helped you.

      Obama took a summer job for spending money. Not the same thing. Give me a break.

    • Posted By: SPORTLOCK09 @ 07/02/2008 4:16:36 PM

      So you see no difference in stating I worked my way through college and I worked one summer of my college years? I guess if everyone works 1 or 2 summers in America we can claim we worked throughout our lives? suuuuure

  • Posted By: Mike_D @ 07/02/2008 2:02:45 PM

    YEA.This article is completely stupid. Now after so many years of negative advertising. Right wing writers like Viveca are coming up with this BS.
    The point is he worked in college. He did do something. There are so many people that go to these Ivy League school and just sit on the fat checks that their parents dished out, but Barack Obama wasn't one of them. And this my friends is what i call poor journalism.

  • Posted By: Mike_D @ 07/02/2008 2:02:34 PM

    YEA.This article is completely stupid. Now after so many years of negative advertising. Right wing writers like Viveca are coming up with this BS.
    The point is he worked in college. He did do something. There are so many people that go to these Ivy League school and just sit on the fat checks that their parents dished out, but Barack Obama wasn't one of them. And this my friends is what i call poor journalism.

    • Posted By: SPORTLOCK09 @ 07/02/2008 4:17:49 PM

      I guess you prefer they continue asking him questions like "Senator Obama, may we get you a pillow?"

  • Posted By: martin_gray @ 07/02/2008 1:27:18 PM

    I must say that I agree entirely with Mickie. As a people, I don't know why we enjoy tearing the other person down as much as we apparenlty do. Instead, tell me positive things about your candidate and give me reasons why he is the better choice.

    I am determinded this year to not vote for the candidate who uses the most negative campaigning and that includes comments from surrogate writers.

    I wish you would all try to keep this election on a higher plain that past campaigns. Now that would really impress me.

  • Posted By: mickie @ 07/02/2008 1:16:20 PM

    Ever heard of scholarships, grants, loans? My kids got degrees at private universities via all those means along with relatiavely little from us,,,,and yes, they also had summer jobs! My goodness, what a thing to get criticized for. If you want to find something to rant about, try a substantive issue that you may disagree with. That is quite legitimate.
    I wish this interminable campaign were over tomorrow. The media seems to be working overtime to find something to fill their time.
    .

    • Posted By: SPORTLOCK09 @ 07/02/2008 4:22:10 PM

      Please dont kill yourself yet. The shyt hasn't even hit the fan yet. He merely said Obama has OVERSTATED that he worked his way THROUGH college. Which would imply that without a job throughout his entire college years, he would've been kicked out of school. Get it? Save the tears for Oct and Nov

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