Obamaganda

Obama Bans DNC from Taking Lobbyists' Money. Presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama, exerting his new power as leader of his party, has told the Democratic National Committee to eschew all contributions from Washington lobbyists and political action committees.

Obama has spurned money from lobbyists and PACs ever since he declared himself a candidate for president. On Thursday, he extended that policy to the DNC.

Speaking in Bristol, Va., he told a cheering crowd: "We will not take a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. We're going to change how Washington works. They will not fund my party. They will not run our White House. And they will not drown out the voice of the American people when I'm president of the United States of America."

From last year. But the Obama fundraising operation provides a contrast to an image that the campaign has ceaselessly cultivated as a movement powered by everyday Americans.

Among the high-level fundraisers on a list that the Obama campaign posted on its Web site late Tuesday is Kenneth Griffin, head of the Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel Investment Group LLC and among Mayor Richard Daley's top financial patrons. Griffin's $1.4 billion pay in 2006 made him the second highest-paid hedge fund manager in the country, according to Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine.

Obama's fundraisers include many other financial industry executives. At least 17 of his major fundraisers are managers at either hedge funds or private equity funds, two loosely regulated financial service sectors that recently have stirred political controversy because of the soaring pay of fund managers and a legal loophole that allows them to pay lower tax rates on their earnings.

CHICAGO June 6 — Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a once-powerful fundraiser who helped propel the career of Sen. Barack Obama, was found guilty Wednesday by a federal jury of 16 criminal counts, including fraud, money-laundering and bribery in an influence-peddling scheme that touched the top levels of the administration of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

In reaction to the conviction, Obama expressed disappointment. "I'm saddened by today's verdict," he said. "This isn't the Tony Rezko I knew, but now he has been convicted by a jury on multiple charges that once again shine a spotlight on the need for reform."

----Hmmm. No talk of outlawing lobbyists and PACs - just take their money at the backdoor of the fundraisers.

Obama must lack the capacity for personal communication - as he doesn't seem "to know" any of the people he's known for 20 years.

Look little lemmings, look. It's going to be a bumpy ride with all your bodies under the bus.