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Politics : DEMOCRATIC NIGHTMARE - 2008 CANDIDATES -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: richardred who wrote (418)	3/7/2007 7:22:05 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 654

liberal NYTimes taking down obama : Obama Faces Questions on His Blind Trust By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: March 7, 2007 Filed at 6:59 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday he was not aware he had invested in two companies backed by some of his top donors and said he had done nothing to aid their business with the government. The Illinois senator faced questions about more than $50,000 in investments he made right after taking office in 2005 in two speculative companies, AVI Biopharma and Skyterra Communications. Obama said his broker bought the stocks as part of a quasi-blind trust in which he was not consulted when trades were made. ''At no point did I know what stocks were held, and at no point did I direct how those stocks were invested,'' Obama told reporters at the end of a press conference called to tout an unrelated immigration bill. He said he would provide the paperwork relating to the trust. ''What I wanted to make sure is that I didn't want to invest in companies that potentially would create conflicts with my work here,'' said Obama, who has campaigned on the need for stronger congressional ethics rules. ''Obviously, the thing didn't work the way I wanted it to.'' Obama purchased $5,000 in shares for AVI, which was developing a drug to treat avian flu. Two weeks after buying the stock, as the disease was spreading in Asia, Obama pushed for more federal funding to fight the disease, but he said he did not discuss the matter with any company officials. Obama also had more than $50,000 in shares of Skyterra, a company that had just received federal permission to create a nationwide wireless network that combined satellite and land-based communications systems. Among the company's top investors were donors who raised more than $150,000 for Obama's political committees, the New York Times reported Wednesday. The stock holdings were first examined Monday by the financial Web site, Thestreet.com. The reports found no evidence that any of his actions ended up benefiting either company during the roughly eight months he owned the stocks. Obama lost about $15,000 on Skyterra and earned a profit of about $2,000 on AVI. Skyterra stocks continued to drop after Obama divested. Obama said he wanted to invest in stocks after signing a $1.9 million deal for his second book, ''The Audacity of Hope.'' He said after buying a home and putting money in the bank and mutual funds, he asked a friend and political donor, investor George Haywood, to recommend a broker so he could invest a portion more aggressively. ''I thought about going to (billionaire investor) Warren Buffett, and I decided it would be embarrassing that I only had $100,000 to invest,'' Obama said. Haywood, a major backer of both AVI and Skyterra, recommended a broker at UBS who also bought stock for Obama in those companies. Obama said at some point in fall 2005 he got a stockholder letter. He said he believes it was from AVI or Skyterra, but he couldn't remember which company. But he decided to liquidate the quasi-blind trust and put his money in mutual funds and money market accounts that wouldn't raise such questions. ''It's at that point that I became concerned that I might not be able to insulate myself from knowledge of my holdings, that this trust instrument might not be working the way I wanted it to,'' Obama said. UBS spokeswoman Karina Byrne said the company would not make Obama's broker available for interviews because they do not discuss client investments. Obama said he didn't invest in a standard blind trust because it wouldn't enable him to limit which companies he invested in, such as those in the tobacco industry and other areas that he did not want to support. ''At this point, I'm only invested in mutual funds or cash or money market accounts. That's my instruction to my accountant,'' Obama said. ''We are not going to own individual stocks precisely because it raises questions like this.'' Senate ethics rules do not prohibit lawmakers from owning stocks in companies that do business with the federal government. Another investor involved in Skyterra was Jared Abbruzzese, a New York businessman now at the center of a federal inquiry into public corruption. Abbruzzese and his wife had contributed $10,000 to Obama's political action committee. But normally they back Republican causes, such as the Republican National Committee and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that damaged John Kerry's presidential campaign. Obama said he has never met Abbruzzese. ^------ On the Net: Barack Obama's Web site: barackobama.com

To: richardred who wrote (418)	3/22/2007 10:49:20 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 654

The Clinton Crack-Up: The Boy President's Life After the White House FREE OFFER – Get this book FREE, Click Here Hardcover Dick Morris says that "when Hillary wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, the cause is most likely R. Emmett Tyrrell." Hillary will be screaming about Tyrrell's latest blockbuster: The Clinton Crack-Up. Tyrrell shows that Bill Clinton is the boy president that never grew up, the high-school jock of America's political locker room—complete with fawning co-eds and a bully's cocksure posture. But as New York Times best-selling author and America Spectator founder and editor in chief R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. reveals in this uproarious expose', behind the façade is a dissipated disaster of a man—undisciplined, unbalanced, and unscrupulous. With his legendary investigative eye for the Clintons' mischief, Tyrrell sheds glaring light on Bill Clinton and reveals: How he crashed Bill Clinton's 60th birthday party in Toronto – and the surprising reaction he had when he first saw Clinton. What young Clinton aides say behind Clinton's back about the former President and why they mimic his "quirky mannerisms." The real story of how Clinton's team trashed the White House as he left the Presidency in 2001. Why Clinton is nothing more than a 1960's generation first President: "a smiling, pouty, hulk of a man – an overgrown adolescent." Clinton's $43 million money grab – after expenses and living costs – since he left the White House. Clinton's "Taj Mahal:" his Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, that cost an amazing $165,000,000. Why history will remember Clinton for being the most undisciplined President of the modern era and the least ethical. What FOBs Rick Kaplan and Jeff Greenfield told Tyrrell about Clinton's scandals after he left the White House. Clinton's "funk" in 2001 and what Secret Service agents said about Clinton's chatter about becoming Secretary General of the United Nations. Terry McAuliffe's recollections about he boy President after he left the White House: Clinton did not know how to use an ATM card. Clinton is such a no show in Chappaqua and despite claims by Hillary and Bill of intense religiosity, Tyrrell uncovered that there's no church within thirty miles of Chappaqua that has Bill or Hillary as even casual visitors. The true story of Secret Service agents who work for Hillary and why they "detest" her and their true feelings about Bill. The secret "deal" that Hillary and Bill made to keep their marriage together that has often times resulted in "verbal violence." Why the New York City Police Department Dignitary Protective Unit is so angry with the President's desire for "off-the-beaten-path" night spots. The Clinton curse: Why both Clintons' friends and enemies seem to suffer so much. "The Chop Suey Connection:" The Clintons' ties to China and why it portends such dangers if Hillary ever becomes President. How Bill Clinton used his book "My Life" to sabotage any plans John Kerry had in using him to campaign during the 2004 election. Why the Clintons have become "the two most exaggerated figures in modern American political history." Tyrrell's visit to the Clinton Library and the surprising revelations he made. Tyrrell follows the boy president's wayward trail from Washington to Harlem, from Chappaqua to Hong Kong, from his double-wide presidential library with the penthouse on top in Little Rock to the moneychangers' dens of Dubai. Globetrotting, shady backstage dealing, and chumming up to Hollywood's dubious elite, keep Clinton's larger-than-life image alive—helped all the while by his enraptured admirers and Episodic Apologists. But Tyrrell reveals the real Clinton, a Clinton rarely reported: easily distracted, easily seduced, and a prodigal child of the Sixties as prone to squander his potential as an elder statesman as he was while ensconced in the West Wing. Debunking the lies and dismantling the myths, Tyrrell takes a genuine look at the post-presidency of Bill Clinton, his legacy, and his future in American politics—including his backdoor chance at returning to the White House in 2008. R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. is founder and editor in chief of the famous and feared American Spectator, a political and cultural monthly, which has been published since 1967. The author of several books including the New York Times best-selling Boy Clinton, Madam Hillary, The Liberal Crack-Up, and The Conservative Crack-Up, Tyrrell's syndicated column appears in such venues as the New York Sun, the Washington Times, Townhall.com, and CNN.com. Additionally, his writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Harper's, New York Times, National Review, New York Magazine, and in the UK's Guardian, Independent, the Evening Standard, and The Telegraph newspapers. "Whew! Bob says things about Bill Clinton that even Hillary wouldn't say." —P.J. O'Rourke FREE OFFER – Get this book FREE, Click Here By R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. List Price: $26.99 NewsMax Price: $24.99