<ref>John McCain quipped during the campaign, "He's running for Redistributor In Chief, I'm running for Commander In Chief."[http://news.chennaionline.com/newsitem.aspx?NEWSID=9fab8324-a1a1-4ad6-840f-76b04a405a65&CATEGORYNAME=INTER McCain Attacks Obama's Faith in Americans] Fox News, 10-31-2008. The slogan "from each according to their ability to each according to their need" is an idea originally proposed by [[Karl Marx]] and could be the inspiration for the centrally [[planned economy]] Obama plans to introduce to the US when he is installed into office.</ref>
=== Plunging approval ratings ===
:''Main article : [[Barack Obama approval ratings]]''
A February 2010 Marist Poll showed for the first time since taking office, a majority of Independent registered voters - 57% - disapproved of his job performance with only 29% approving. 47% of registered voters nationwide report President Obama has fallen below their expectations. 42% say he has met their expectations while just 7% think he has exceeded them.<ref>Marist Poll, [President Obama’s Approval Rating & The 2010 Midterm Elections], February 8, 2010.</ref> The Marist Poll reported "Democrats have become less positive toward Obama and Independents have become more negative."
== Early life and career ==
Barack Hussein Obama II claims to have been born in [[Honolulu]], [[Hawaii]] to Barack Sr. and Stanley Ann Dunham in 1961, but there is evidence<ref>http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/14/the-jihadist-vote/</ref> that he may have actually been born in Kenya. In 1967, he moved with his mother and new stepfather to Jakarta, [[Indonesia]]. He attended a [[Catholic]] elementary school for two years, followed by an Indonesian public school for two years. Media scrutiny revealed that the [[secular]] public school he attended was not a [[madrassa]], which teaches Islam. On days off in observance of Islamic holidays he spent praying in a Mosque with his stepfather. <ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/pipes_obama_muslim/2008/10/09/138898.html Obama 'Lying' About Muslim Past, Expert Says] NewsMax, October 9, 2008</ref> Stanley Ann Dunham and the young Obama left Indonesia about 1970 for Hawaii where he attended the Punahou School, a leading private preparatory school where he graduated in 1979.
[[File:FrankMarshallDavis2.jpg|right|202px|thumb|'''Frank Marshall Davis, Communist Party Card No. 47544.'''<ref>[http://www.usasurvival.org/docs/Frank_Marshall_Davis_5.pdf FBI file Frank Marshall Davis], v.5 p. 58 pdf.</ref> The [[U.S. Congress]] found the Communist Party an "instrumentality of a [[conspiracy]]...the agency of a hostile foreign power."<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00000841----000-.html Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950], 50 U.S. Code Chapter 23 Subchapter IV Sec. 841</ref> The [[FBI]] placed Davis in its security index, meaning he could be detained in the event of a national emergency.<ref>[http://www.usasurvival.org/docs/Frank_Marshall_Davis_3.pdf FBI File 100-15799 Frank Marshall Davis], v. 3 p. 26.</ref> Davis was an early influence on Obama.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=HRCHJp-V0QUC&pg=PA220&dq=Frank%2Brecognizing+their+struggle+as+my+own#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance''], By Barack Obama, Random House, 2007, pp. 89-91, 96-98, .</ref>]]
''[[Political Affairs]]'' magazine describes itself as "affiliated with the [[Communist Party USA]],"<ref>http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/static/17/1/3/</ref> (CPUSA) published a speech by Prof. Gerald Horne upon receipt of the CPUSA archives at the Tamiment Library at New York University on March 28 2007. Prof. Horne stated,
{{Cquote|an African-American poet and journalist by the name of [[Frank Marshall Davis]]...befriended another family – a Euro-American family – that had migrated to Honolulu...a young woman from this family eventually had a child with a young student from [[Kenya]] ...who retracing the steps of Davis eventually decamped to Chicago. In his bestselling memoir ''Dreams of my Father'', the author speaks warmly of an older black poet...as being a decisive influence in helping him to find his present identity as an African-American... At some point in the future, a teacher will add to her syllabus Barack’s memoir and instruct her students to read it alongside Frank Marshall Davis’ equally affecting memoir...when that day comes...a future student will ...examine critically the Frankenstein monsters that US imperialism created in order to subdue Communist parties..."<ref>[http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5047/ Rethinking the History and Future of the Communist Party],By Gerald Horne, ''Political Affairs magazine, March 28 2007.</ref>}}
evoking the language in [[Chairman Mao]]'s ''Little Red Book'',
{{Cquote|unite and defeat the U.S. aggressors... Monsters of all kinds shall be destroyed.<ref>''Statement Supporting the People of the Congo (L.) Against U.S. Aggression'' (November 28, 1964), ''People of the World, Unite and Defeat the U.S. Aggressors and All Their Lackeys'', 2nd ed., p. 14. Cited in Quotations from Mao Tse Tung from: 1927 - 1964, Mao Tse Tung, [http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/ch07.htm Chapter 7 Dare to Struggle and Dare to Win], Peking Foreign Languages Press, 1966. Online Version: Mao Tse Tung Internet Archive (marxists.org) 2000.</ref><ref>Quoted in [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/souls/vol1no4/vol1num4art1.pdf ''Black Like Mao: Black Like Mao: Red China and Black Revolution''], Robin D.G. Kelley and Betsy Esche, ''Souls'' Volume 1, Number 4 Fall 1999, p. 11 in original (p. 7 pdf).</ref>}}
In the 1995 book, ''Dreams from my Father'', the author wrote Obama learned to respect Davis's struggles, "recognizing them as my own." Obama sought Davis's advise as he left for college.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=HRCHJp-V0QUC&pg=PA97&dq=manipulate+words+so+they+don%27t+mean+anything+anymore#v=onepage&q=manipulate%20words%20so%20they%20don't%20mean%20anything%20anymore&f=false ''Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance''], By Barack Obama, Random House, 2007, pp. 97, 220.</ref> Initially Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, [[California]], before transferring to [[Columbia University]] in New York, [[New York]] and graduating without honors as a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in [[political science]]. Obama refuses to describe his academic performance at Columbia despite commenting about New York during this period and despite disclosures of the academic record for all other major-party presidential candidates since at least 2000.<ref>http://www.nysun.com/new-york/obamas-years-at-columbia-are-a-mystery/85015/</ref>
=== Education ===
After working as a "[[community organizer]]" in New York City and Chicago, Illinois, Obama enrolled at [[Harvard]] Law School. He became a member of the ''Harvard Law Review'', which uses racial quotas, in 1989. He was then elected by popular vote as its first African American president in 1990, a story that was immediately promoted in the [[New York Times]].<ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2DC1631F935A35751C0A966958260&scp=3&sq=Obama%201990&st=cse</ref> He graduated ''magna cum laude'' with his J.D. in 1991, but did not serve in a clerkship. Federal clerkships are the typical post-graduate position for top law students. Obama has stated that his favorite professors in school were Marxists.
Obama has described himself as a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/30/politics/p132303D74.DTL&type=politics]</ref> He held the position of Lecturer, an adjunct position, from 1992 to 1996. He held the position of Senior Lecturer from 1996 until his election to the senate in 2004. Dan Ronayne, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, has pointed that Obama was only a senior lecturer and not a full professor. <ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/30/politics/p132303D74.DTL&type=politics]</ref>The University states that Senior Lecturers are regarded as professors, although not full-time or tenure track.<ref>http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/was_barack_obama_really_a_constitutional_law.html</ref><ref>[http://www.law.uchicago.edu/media/index.html]</ref>
[[Image:Bernardine Dohrn.jpg|right|thumb|250px|'''Bernardine Dohrn formerly of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted''' enjoyed somewhat of a celebrity status among [[radical leftist]]s when she, along with her husband Bill Ayers, hosted a fundraiser for the relatively unknown Barack Obama in 1995; Dohrn issued the Weather Underground terrorist organization's Declaration of War Against the United States ([http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Weather_Underground_Declaration_of_a_State_of_War Full Text]) in 1970.]]
According to the White House website, White House Press Secretary [[Robert Gibbs]] responded to this to this question on April 14 2009,
<blockquote>
Q Why is the President blocking habeas corpus from prisoners at Bagram? I thought he taught constitutional law. And these prisoners have been there --<br>
MR. GIBBS: You're incorrect that he taught on constitutional law.<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Briefing-by-White-House-Press-Secretary-Robert-Gibbs-4-14-09/ Office of the Press Secretary], April 14, 2009, whitehouse.gov </ref></blockquote>
== Political Elections ==
=== Illinois Senate Election (1992) ===
In 1992, Obama was instrumental as head of Illinois Project Vote <ref>[http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/January-1993/Vote-of-Confidence/ Vote of Confidence : A huge black turnout in November 1992 altered Chicago's electoral landscape—and raised a new political star: a 31-year-old lawyer named Barack Obama],
By Gretchen Reynolds, ''Chicago Magazine'', January 1993.</ref> in engineering the defeat of [[Democratic Party]] incumbent U.S. Senator Alan Dixon by [[Carol Moseley Braun]].<ref>[http://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-18/news/mn-3844_1_gus-savage Veteran Illinois Senator Dixon Defeated - Congress], By Bob Sector, ''[[L.A. Times]]'', March 18, 1992.</ref> Dixon, in a spirit of bipartisanship and defying his party's leadership, voted across racial lines to place a black man in high office. The [[leftist]] website [[dKosopedia]] claims "Incumbent Democratic senator Al Dixon's vote to confirm [[US Supreme Court]] Justice [[Clarence Thomas]] outraged Braun."<ref>[http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Carol_Moseley_Braun#Political_career Carol Moseley Braun], dkosopedia.com, retrieved October 25, 2009. Some sources state Moseley Braun's "outrage" was directed at the treatment of Anita Hill over her claims of sexual harassment by the nominee, however Moseley Braun voted to acquit President [[William Jefferson Clinton]] of charges stemming from a [[sexual harassment]] suit which Clinton settled by paying the aggrieved party $850,000 out of court to satisfy damage claims.</ref> With [[Communist Party USA]] backing,<ref>http://newzeal.blogspot.com/2008/10/obama-file-39-barack-obama-carol.html</ref> Braun defeated Dixon in the Democratic Primary Election, 38% to 35%.
Sandy Newman, the founder of Project Vote! told ''Chicago Magazine'', "I was asking around among community activists in Chicago and around the country, and they kept mentioning him (Obama)... He did one hell of a job." The magazine further reported, "To understand the full implications of Obama's effort, you first need to understand how voter registration often has worked in Chicago. The Regular Democratic Party spearheaded most drives," with Obama at the helm of Chicago's Project Vote!, those conditions had been reversed. "He helped train 700 deputy registrars, out of a total of 11,000 citywide." Joseph Gardner, the director of the steering committee for Project Vote! said, "It was overwhelming."
== U.S. Senate (2004-2008) ==
Following a failed campaign for the House of Representatives, Obama ran for the open Senate seat from Illinois in 2004. Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He won a seat in the [[U.S. Senate]] after [[liberals]] obtained the release of confidential and personally embarrassing divorce records of his opponent, Jack Ryan, forcing him to resign from the race and be replaced by the out-of-state candidate [[Alan Keyes]].
[[Image:Democrat Obama during the Pledge.jpg|325px|thumb|right|'''Candidaate Obama stands with folded hands''during the Democratic primaries while [[Bill Richardson]] and [[Hillary Clinton]] honor the flag by placing their hands over their heart during the [[National Anthem]] in 2008. [http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Obama_doesnt_put_hand_over_heart_1022.html See Video] ]]
===CPUSA endorsements, support and get out the vote efforts===
The ''[[People's Weekly World]]'' which describes itself as "the direct descendant of the ''[[Daily Worker]]'' " that enjoys "a special relationship with the [[Communist Party USA]], founded in 1919," and publishes its news and views,<ref>[http://www.pww.org/article/static/320 About the People's Weekly World] pww.org</ref> reported on Obama's 2004 Senate primary campaign:
{{Cquote|Activists from Illinois were immersed in the campaign to elect Barak Obama to the U.S. Senate. Obama won a landslide victory in the March 16 Democratic primary.<ref>''A turning point election'', Joelle Fishman, People's Weekly World, 04/24/04.</ref>}} John Bachtell, Illinois Communist Party district organizer added,
{{Cquote|This was a historic victory. It was a victory for political independence and grassroots, coalition, and issue oriented politics over the machine and money.<ref>[http://www.pww.org/article/articleprint/5145/ The CPUSA fires up its members to ‘Dump Bush!’], By Tim Wheeler, Washington correspondent, People's Weekly World , 04/24/04.</ref>}} In June the ''People’s Weekly World'' carried a piece by Dee Myles, chair of the education commission of the Communist Party USA, eulogizing [[Frank Marshall Davis]]'s old colleague, [[Vernon Jarrett]]. Myles said,
{{Cquote|from his hospital bed, [Jarrett] wrote an article appealing to Black Chicago to turn out to vote for [[Barack Obama]] in the Illinois primaries. Obama astounded everyone with an incredible landslide victory as the progressive, Black candidate for the [[Democratic Party]] nomination for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. From his sickbed, Vernon Jarrett issued a clarion call, and the people responded.<ref>[http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/5331/ Vernon Jarrett: a partisan journalistic giant], Dee Myles, [[People's Weekly World]] Newspaper, Jun 5, 2004.</ref>}}
===Senate career===
[[Image:obama.jpg|thumb|left|Senator Barack Obama]]
October 2008 crimes against Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson's family highlighted Obama's record against law and order, as he voted against making it a crime in Illinois "for convicts on probation or on bail to have contact with a street gang".<ref>[http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obamas-crime-votes-are-fodder-for-rivals-2007-03-13.html]</ref><ref>The person of interest in the murders of Hudson's mother, brother, and 7-year-old nephew is the estranged husband of Hudson's sister and a convicted felon who had violated his parole conditions.[http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-julian-king-autopsy-1029,0,2752431.story]</ref> "'We've got 75,000 gang members - that's almost six gang members to one police officer,'" in Obama's hometown of Chicago.<ref>"More people have been murdered in Chicago this year than in New York - even though New York's population is three times greater. When Hudson's mother, brother and nephew were killed last month, they pushed the city's homicide total for the year to 436 and counting. New York has had 430 homicides." [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/11/01/2008-11-01_chicago_buried_in_murders.html]</ref>
A March 16th, 2005 AP article puts Senator Obama on record to ban oil drilling in the Alaska frontier known as ANWR <ref>http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0316-13.htm</ref>
In May 2007, Obama (and Sen. Hillary Clinton) voted against funding the Iraq War for the first time.<ref>[http://uspolitics.about.com/od/legislatio1/a/HR2206.htm HR 2206 - Emergency Appropriations], Kathy Gill, Your Guide to U.S. Politics: Current Events. May 26 2007.</ref><ref>[http://more.gov.mtopgroup.com/2007/05/votes-hr-2206-iraq-supplemental.html Votes - H.R. 2206: Iraq Supplemental], May 28, 2007. Retrieved from Deeper Inside the Mountain, June 4, 2007.</ref>
His 2007 voting record in the U.S. [[Senate]] makes him as its most [[liberal]] member. Among fellow Senate Democrats, he was further left than liberals like [[Ted Kennedy]], [[John Kerry]], [[Dianne Feinstein]], [[Charles Schumer]], [[Russ Feingold]], [[Carl Levin]], [[Joseph Biden]] and [[Harry Reid]].<ref>[http://nationaljournal.com/voteratings/sen/lib_cons.htm?o1=lib_composite&o2=desc]</ref> He has grown steadily more liberal since arriving at the Senate: the same analysis assessed him as 10th most liberal in 2006<ref>[http://www.nationaljournal.com/members/news/2007/voteratings/sen/lib_cons.htm?o1=lib_composite&o2=desc]</ref> and 16th most liberal in 2005.<ref>[http://www.nationaljournal.com/members/news/2007/voteratings/sen/lib_cons.htm?o1=lib_composite&o2=desc]</ref>
In late 2006, Obama's second book, ''The Audacity of Hope'', was published. Its title was supplied by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., a minister who has stated that "racism is how this country was founded and how this country was run .... We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God."<ref>http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/14/obama_condemns_pastors_remarks.html</ref> The book contains more of Senator Obama's personal story including the roles of both family and politics. ''Audacity'' spent 30 weeks on the ''New York Times'' Nonfiction Best Sellers list.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/books/bestseller/0527besthardnonfiction.html?_r=1&oref=slogin New York Times Best Sellers Non Fiction]</ref>
Senator Obama is the chairman of an important subcommittee that has oversight of our efforts in Afghanistan. He has not held a single hearing on Afghanistan even though American forces are risking their lives in a theatre of war. Since joining Foreign Relations, Obama has missed three meetings on a "new strategy" in [[Afghanistan]], a country he only visited in 2008.<ref>[http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obama-absent-at-afghanistan-hearings-2008-03-01.html</ref> Barack Obama clinched his party's nomination for President after 16 straight months of campaigning.
In June 2008, Obama voted with the Democratic party to kill the sunset provision of the [[Bush]] tax cuts. By letting these tax cuts expire, single mothers with two kids will pay an additional $1,800 annually. Married couples with incomes of $50,000 will pay an additional $2,180 annually. Elderly couples will pay an additional $2,000 annually and a family of four will pay 191% more per year in taxes. Barack Obama often claims to be for taxing the rich their fair share. By voting to eliminate the Bush tax cuts, Obama is taxing most middle class and blue collar families.
Obama and the Democratic-led Congress has voted for the upgraded GI Bill despite the opposition from the President, the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon, the generals in combat zones and the GOP Presidential nominee. It was crafted to increase veteran benefits. Yet, the strain on our military is great.<ref>[http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/mccain_to_obama_dont_demagogue.php] http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/mccain_to_obama_dont_demagogue.php , McCain To Obama: Don't Demagogue The GI Bill, May 22, 2008</ref> The bill would cost $2.8 to $4 billion per month. Some argue that this bill depletes the US's volunteer military personnel by enticing them to leave service rather than be re-deployed.
As senator, Obama has requested nearly $936 million in earmarks which averages to $500,000. per day over four years, <ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122108935141721343.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Obama Can't Win Against Palin] Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2008</ref> for which the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste has given him a rating of 10% in 2007 (18% lifetime).<ref>[http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/DocServer/2007_Senate_Ratings_Final.pdf?docID=3242 2007 Senate Scorecard]</ref> A score of 100% represents voting against all pork, and 0% represents voting ''for'' all pork. Democrats averaged 5% in 2007, whereas Republicans averaged 60%. <ref>[http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/News2?abbr=CCAGW_&page=NewsArticle&id=11590 CCAGW Releases ''2007 Congressional Ratings'']</ref>
According to a Fox News report on October 5th, Obama has taken more than $126,000. in campaign contribution from [[Fannie Mae]] in a little over three years. This ranks him second, only Chris Dodd has received more campaign contribution dollars from Fannie Mae.
===Use of filibuster and obstructionism ===
White House Communication Director [[Dan Pfeiffer]] described the frustration of an Administration having its legislative agenda delayed by [[filibuster]]s and obsrtructionism:
{{quotebox|If we're going to have a government that works for the American people, then we need to focus on the things that actually matter ...Every day we waste delaying votes on well-qualified public servants or obstructing progress on problems that need solving is a day we're not doing our jobs. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/02/03/needless-delays-and-filibusters-run-amok-a-case-study]}}
The ''[[Washington Post]]'' claims [[partisan]] obstructionism is "a legislative tactic [Obama] once practiced himself" :
:*In 2005, a year after his election to the Senate, Obama placed a hold on Susan Bodine to lead the Environmental Protection Agency office that oversees Superfund and emergency cleanup programs because the agency had missed a deadline on new regulations for lead paint exposure.
:*In September 2006, Obama and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) blocked Robert L. Wilkie's nomination as a Defense Department assistant secretary over a long-delayed Pentagon report on Midwestern wind farms.
:*And Obama joined with other Democrats in October 2007 to block the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky to the Federal Election Commission. Von Spakovsky later withdrew; Wilkie and Bodine were eventually confirmed. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/AR2010020303801_pf.html]
=== Bills co-sponsored ===
Obama's principal legislation was S. 2433, which was an attempt to force the U.S. to increase its foreign aid by hundreds of billions of dollars under the guise of reducing global poverty, which was subsequently blocked by [[conservatives]].<ref>http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-2433</ref>
Obama did support and co-sponsor a bill championed by [[Tom Coburn]] and known as the Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006, which was signed into law by President [[George W. Bush]] on Sept. 9, 2006. This law created a website that will list the federal government's grants and contracts.<ref> http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060926.html</ref>
Between Jan 13, 2007 and March 13, 2008, Sen. Obama has sponsored 120 mostly [[liberal]] resolutions and bills in the Senate.<ref>http://thomas.loc.gov/</ref> His supporters cite the following less liberal examples, but this list is not representative:
*S.117 : A bill to amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to improve benefits and services for members of the Armed Forces, veterans of the Global War on Terrorism, and other veterans, to require reports on the effects of the Global War on Terrorism, and for other purposes.
*S.133 : A bill to promote the national security and stability of the economy of the United States by reducing the dependence of the United States on oil through the use of alternative fuels and new technology, and for other purposes.
*S.453 : A bill to prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections.
*S.713 : A bill to ensure dignity in care for members of the Armed Forces recovering from injuries.
*A bill to raise the [[minimum wage]]; Obama voted against the bill when it was later attached to an Iraq war supplemental spending bill.<ref>[http://uspolitics.about.com/od/legislatio1/a/HR2206.htm HR 2206 - Emergency Appropriations], Kathy Gill, Your Guide to U.S. Politics: Current Events. May 26 2007.</ref><ref>[http://more.gov.mtopgroup.com/2007/05/votes-hr-2206-iraq-supplemental.html Votes - H.R. 2206: Iraq Supplemental], May 28, 2007. Retrieved from Deeper Inside the Mountain, June 4, 2007.</ref>
=== Senate Foreign Relations Committee ===
Obama worked with Sen. Lugar writing legislation aimed at improving conventional and nuclear non-proliferation efforts. This legislation was signed by [[George W. Bush|President Bush]] in January 2008.
In June 2007 the Senate passed his resolution condemning violence by the [[Zimbabwe]] government. It also passed legislation co-sponsored by Obama that financed a Special Court for Sierra Leone to prosecute former [[Liberia | Liberian]] President [[Charles Taylor]]. <ref> http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/02/26/obamas_senate_foreign_relations_work/ </ref>
Barack Obama continued to collect money for a 2010 Senate re-election campaign as late as June 2008, and filed reports indicating money was still pouring into this fund. This is especially notable because it is an efficient way of sidetracking donations from his Presidential race. The website<obamasenate2010.gov> is now defunct.
[[File:OenEReuters.jpg|left|200px|thumb|In Egypt, June 2009.]]
=== Foreign policy experience ===
In his presidential campaign, Obama stated<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/obama-says-no-to-foreign_b_95357.html</ref> that "foreign policy is the area where I am probably most confident" and then cited "having lived in Indonesia for four years, having family that is impoverished in small villages in Africa". He lived in Indonesia from age 6 to 10, and he later discovered that his father had some other children in Africa.
While campaigning, he has visited several foreign countries. In [[Russia]] and the former Soviet republics, he met with representatives of the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute to discuss democracy in the former Soviet republics. He also met with Russian military officials and visited several nuclear and biological weapons destruction sites in Russia, [[Ukraine]], and [[Azerbaijan]] with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN). On the same tour, he visited London, UK, and met with [[Tony Blair]], sitting UK Prime Minister.
Obama visited South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Chad; he discussed his tour of Robben Island prison, met with U.S. troops, and visited refugee camps of the people fleeing Darfur. He also addressed Africa's growing [[AIDS]] epidemic.
During a ten-day-long tour of the Middle East, he talked with government leaders in Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel.
<br>
== Presidential Election (2008) ==
:''See Main article'' : [[Barack Hussein Obama 2008 Presidential campaign]]
Obama and his running mate [[Senator Joseph Biden]] won the presidential election<ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/obama_wins_presidency/2008/11/04/147788.html?utm_medium=RSS]</ref> after 23 months of campaigning that spent over $700 million,<ref>http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/summary.php?cid=N00009638</ref> much of it raised from undisclosed or fraudulent donors.<ref>"Obama’s finance team missed quite a few obviously troubling large donations, from such unsavory individuals as Mr. Jfggjjfgj, 'Mong Kong,' 'Test Person,' and 'Jockim Alberton,' who lives at a fictional address on a street that does not exist in Wilmington, Delaware. How many fictional characters might there be among the $220 million that Obama has collected in small, undisclosed contributions? Obama's small donors have all been recorded, and he could easily follow McCain’s lead by disclosing this major source of his campaign’s money."[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTllNTk2MDNmNDk1YmQ0OWEzOTZmMTVmODUwZTQwY2E= "Fake Donors, Phony Pledge, ''National Review'' (Oct. 22, 2008)] Obama did not.</ref> Obama spent far more per vote than McCain did: Obama spent $7.39 per vote, while McCain spent only $5.78 per vote.<ref>http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/cancomsrs/?_08+00+PR</ref>
To announce his trip to [[Berlin]] in July 2008, Obama used posters which show a marked similarity to posters of [[Lenin]] and [[Che Guevara]].<ref>[http://andrightlyso.com/2008/07/24/obama-lenin-gaffe/ Obama's direct copy of a Lenin poster for his Berlin visit]</ref><ref>[http://michellemalkin.com/2008/05/31/the-la-times-looks-into-the-obama-che-iconcography-connection/ The LA Times looks into the Obama-Che iconography connection] by Michelle Malkin </ref>
Obama carried 52% of the popular vote and the states [[John Kerry]] won in 2004, in addition to Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Florida, and Indiana. Of the 127 million votes cast, Obama beat John McCain by 8 million total votes.<ref>http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/</ref> [http://images.newsmax.com/misc/2008_Election_Map.jpg See county breakdown map] <ref>[www.cnn.com/election]</ref>
The [[Association of American Physicians and Surgeons]] observed that Obama used techniques of [[mind control]] in his campaign, as in this speech: "a light will shine down from somewhere, it will light upon you, you will experience an epiphany, and you will say to yourself, 'I have to vote for Barack.'"<ref name="mind control">http://www.aapsonline.org/newsoftheday/0089 . The doctors observe that "Obama's logo is noteworthy. It is always there, a small one in the middle of the podium, providing a point of visual fixation ... [that] resembles a crystal ball, a favorite of hypnotists."</ref>
=== Approval Ratings and Obama's Misplaced Priorities ===
Obama does even worse on healthcare. Only 34 percent of respondents approve of his healthcare policy, down from 41 percent in late March, 40 percent in January and 49 percent in July.<ref>http://newsmax.com/InsideCover/barack-obama-cbs-poll/2010/04/02/id/354651</ref>}}
== Immediate Family ==
=== Barack Obama's Brother George Obama and Poverty ===
In August of 2008 the NY Daily News reported the following concerning Obama and his half-brother [[George Obama]]:
[[File:Barack Obamas Brother in Bengo-002.jpg|right|thumb|200px|[[George Obama]]]]
{{cquote|Barack Obama wants to live in the White House - but his youngest half-brother lives in the poorhouse.
George Obama, one of the candidate's seven living half-siblings, lives on pennies a month in a hut in Africa, the Italian edition of Vanity Fair revealed.
"No one knows who I am," George Obama, 26, told the magazine. "I live like a recluse, no one knows I exist."
He lives on the outskirts of Nairobi in a 65-square-foot shack decorated with posters of the Italian soccer clubs AC Milan and Inter, and a calendar of beaches.
"I live here on less than a dollar a month," he said....<ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/08/20/2008-08-20_barack_obamas_povertystricken_halfbrothe.html</ref>
A spokesman for Barack Obama declined repeated requests for comment yesterday.
George Obama said he met his famous brother as a 5-year-old, and again in 2006 when Obama toured East Africa and visited Nairobi.
"It was very brief - we spoke for just a few minutes," he said.<ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/08/20/2008-08-20_barack_obamas_povertystricken_halfbrothe.html</ref>}}
[[File:KenyaSlumR 468x301.jpg|right|200px|thumbnail|[[George Obama]]'s neighborhood]]
In September of 2008, [[National Review]] featured an article by [[Dinesh D'Souza]] which declared:
{{cquote|George Obama’s shack measures six feet by ten feet, and yet he says that Barack Obama has done nothing to reach out to him or to help him. “I live like a recluse. If anyone says something about my surname, I say we are not related. I am ashamed.”<ref>http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTk1OTc2ZGVlNjg2NmU1YTlkMGJjZjk5OGEzMzIxYjA=</ref>}}
A critic of Barack Obama's uncharitableness towards his brother wrote:
{{cquote|Well, they say charity begins at home, but it hasn't apparently in this case. Hearing about what George is going through, you can't help but wonder why his brother Barack won't send the guy $20? I mean it would double his annual income.<ref>http://www.zimbio.com/George+Hussein+Onyango+Obama/articles/3/George+Obama+Barack+Obama+Brother+Fights+Life</ref>}}
Asked by Harry Smith from CBS about Obama leaving the campaign to visit his ailing grandmother, Obama replied, "Yeah, well, the -- I think most people understand that if you're not caring for your family, then you're probably not the kind of person who's going to be caring for other people." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-drennen/2008/10/23/cbs-s-smith-compares-obama-lincoln-obama-attacks-hannity CBS’s Smith Compares Obama to Lincoln; Obama Attacks Hannity] NewsBusters.org, October 23, 2008</ref>
=== Barack Obama's Treatment of George Obama and Barack Obama's Inaugural Speech ===
Barack Obama's treatment of George Obama is particularly ironic and hypocritical given Barack Obama's inaugural speech.
Barack Obama declared in his inaugural speech:
{{cquote|To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."<ref>http://uk.oneworld.net/guides/guidesweek/obama-inauguration-speech-world-poverty</ref>}}
[[Image:CharlesDarwin.jpg|thumb|125px|right|[[Charles Darwin]] ]]
=== Barack Obama and American Conservatism Backlash ===
{{cquote|This week’s striking [[Gallup]] poll on political ideology is further confirmation that the United States is in essence a [[conservative]] nation, which has ironically become even more conservative under Barack Obama. According to Gallup, 40 percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36 percent as moderate and 20 percent as liberal. This is the first time conservatives have outnumbered moderates in America since 2004.<ref>http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100014891/barack-obama-has-failed-to-defeat-conservatism-in-america/</ref>}}
== Current Administration == === Barack Obama and United States Unemployment ===
''For more information please see'': [[Barack Obama and United States Unemployment]]
''For more information please see'': [[Liberals and uncharitableness]]
In March of 2008, [[George Will]] cited a study by Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at [[Syracuse University]], which indicated that American liberal households earn more than conservative American households but give less to charity.<ref>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/conservatives_more_liberal_giv.html</ref> In addition American conservatives donate more time and given more blood than American liberals.<ref>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/conservatives_more_liberal_giv.html</ref>
=== Barack Obama's Brother George Obama and Poverty ===
In August of 2008 the NY Daily News reported the following concerning Obama and his half-brother [[George Obama]]:
[[File:Barack Obamas Brother in Bengo-002.jpg|right|thumb|200px|[[George Obama]]]]
{{cquote|Barack Obama wants to live in the White House - but his youngest half-brother lives in the poorhouse.
George Obama, one of the candidate's seven living half-siblings, lives on pennies a month in a hut in Africa, the Italian edition of Vanity Fair revealed.
"No one knows who I am," George Obama, 26, told the magazine. "I live like a recluse, no one knows I exist."
He lives on the outskirts of Nairobi in a 65-square-foot shack decorated with posters of the Italian soccer clubs AC Milan and Inter, and a calendar of beaches.
"I live here on less than a dollar a month," he said....<ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/08/20/2008-08-20_barack_obamas_povertystricken_halfbrothe.html</ref>
A spokesman for Barack Obama declined repeated requests for comment yesterday.
George Obama said he met his famous brother as a 5-year-old, and again in 2006 when Obama toured East Africa and visited Nairobi.
"It was very brief - we spoke for just a few minutes," he said.<ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/08/20/2008-08-20_barack_obamas_povertystricken_halfbrothe.html</ref>}}
[[File:KenyaSlumR 468x301.jpg|right|200px|thumbnail|[[George Obama]]'s neighborhood]]
In September of 2008, [[National Review]] featured an article by [[Dinesh D'Souza]] which declared:
{{cquote|George Obama’s shack measures six feet by ten feet, and yet he says that Barack Obama has done nothing to reach out to him or to help him. “I live like a recluse. If anyone says something about my surname, I say we are not related. I am ashamed.”<ref>http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTk1OTc2ZGVlNjg2NmU1YTlkMGJjZjk5OGEzMzIxYjA=</ref>}}
A critic of Barack Obama's uncharitableness towards his brother wrote:
{{cquote|Well, they say charity begins at home, but it hasn't apparently in this case. Hearing about what George is going through, you can't help but wonder why his brother Barack won't send the guy $20? I mean it would double his annual income.<ref>http://www.zimbio.com/George+Hussein+Onyango+Obama/articles/3/George+Obama+Barack+Obama+Brother+Fights+Life</ref>}}
Asked by Harry Smith from CBS about Obama leaving the campaign to visit his ailing grandmother, Obama replied, "Yeah, well, the -- I think most people understand that if you're not caring for your family, then you're probably not the kind of person who's going to be caring for other people." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-drennen/2008/10/23/cbs-s-smith-compares-obama-lincoln-obama-attacks-hannity CBS’s Smith Compares Obama to Lincoln; Obama Attacks Hannity] NewsBusters.org, October 23, 2008</ref>
=== Barack Obama's Treatment of George Obama and Barack Obama's Inaugural Speech ===
Barack Obama's treatment of George Obama is particularly ironic and hypocritical given Barack Obama's inaugural speech.
Barack Obama declared in his inaugural speech:
{{cquote|To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."<ref>http://uk.oneworld.net/guides/guidesweek/obama-inauguration-speech-world-poverty</ref>}}
[[Image:CharlesDarwin.jpg|thumb|125px|right|[[Charles Darwin]] ]]
=== Barack Obama's Uncharitableness/Liberal Elitism and Social Darwinism ===
In the weeks leading up to the [[2008 Presidential election]], [[MSNBC]] reported the [[FBI]] was looking into ACORN voter fraud in several states.<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27220798/</ref> Obama's staff worked to delay investigations into Obama's former employer. In this way, hundreds of thousands, if not many more, votes may have been overcounted. [http://www.onenewsnow.com/Election2008/Default.aspx?id=297446]
==Political views of Barack Obama==
:''For the full article see [[Political positions of Barack Obama]]''
Obama's positions have been described as that of a [[Communism|“Marxist leftist".]]<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1753197/posts</ref> On numerous occasions Obama community organizers have been found flaunting banners of [[Marxist]]
Ludwig von Mises Institute, October 19, 2009.</ref>
==Early life and careerMajor Controversies == Barack Hussein Obama II claims to have been born in [[Honolulu]], [[Hawaii]] to Barack Sr. and Stanley Ann Dunham in 1961, but there is evidence<ref>http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/14/the-jihadist-vote/</ref> that he may have actually been born in Kenya. In 1967, he moved with his mother and new stepfather to Jakarta, [[Indonesia]]. He attended a [[Catholic]] elementary school for two years, followed by an Indonesian public school for two years. Media scrutiny revealed that the [[secular]] public school he attended was not a [[madrassa]], which teaches Islam. On days off in observance of Islamic holidays he spent praying in a Mosque with his stepfather. <ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/pipes_obama_muslim/2008/10/09/138898.html Obama 'Lying' About Muslim Past, Expert Says] NewsMax, October 9, 2008</ref> Stanley Ann Dunham and the young Obama left Indonesia about 1970 for Hawaii where he attended the Punahou School, a leading private preparatory school where he graduated in 1979. [[File:FrankMarshallDavis2.jpg|right|202px|thumb|'''Frank Marshall Davis, Communist Party Card No. 47544.'''<ref>[http://www.usasurvival.org/docs/Frank_Marshall_Davis_5.pdf FBI file Frank Marshall Davis], v.5 p. 58 pdf.</ref> The [[U.S. Congress]] found the Communist Party an "instrumentality of a [[conspiracy]]...the agency of a hostile foreign power."<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00000841----000-.html Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950], 50 U.S. Code Chapter 23 Subchapter IV Sec. 841</ref> The [[FBI]] placed Davis in its security index, meaning he could be detained in the event of a national emergency.<ref>[http://www.usasurvival.org/docs/Frank_Marshall_Davis_3.pdf FBI File 100-15799 Frank Marshall Davis], v. 3 p. 26.</ref> Davis was an early influence on Obama.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=HRCHJp-V0QUC&pg=PA220&dq=Frank%2Brecognizing+their+struggle+as+my+own#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance''], By Barack Obama, Random House, 2007, pp. 89-91, 96-98, .</ref>]]''[[Political Affairs]]'' magazine describes itself as "affiliated with the [[Communist Party USA]],"<ref>http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/static/17/1/3/</ref> (CPUSA) published a speech by Prof. Gerald Horne upon receipt of the CPUSA archives at the Tamiment Library at New York University on March 28 2007. Prof. Horne stated, {{Cquote|an African-American poet and journalist by the name of [[Frank Marshall Davis]]...befriended another family – a Euro-American family – that had migrated to Honolulu...a young woman from this family eventually had a child with a young student from [[Kenya]] ...who retracing the steps of Davis eventually decamped to Chicago. In his bestselling memoir ''Dreams of my Father'', the author speaks warmly of an older black poet...as being a decisive influence in helping him to find his present identity as an African-American... At some point in the future, a teacher will add to her syllabus Barack’s memoir and instruct her students to read it alongside Frank Marshall Davis’ equally affecting memoir...when that day comes...a future student will ...examine critically the Frankenstein monsters that US imperialism created in order to subdue Communist parties..."<ref>[http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5047/ Rethinking the History and Future of the Communist Party],By Gerald Horne, ''Political Affairs magazine, March 28 2007.</ref>}} evoking the language in [[Chairman Mao]]'s ''Little Red Book'',{{Cquote|unite and defeat the U.S. aggressors... Monsters of all kinds shall be destroyed.<ref>''Statement Supporting the People of the Congo (L.) Against U.S. Aggression'' (November 28, 1964), ''People of the World, Unite and Defeat the U.S. Aggressors and All Their Lackeys'', 2nd ed., p. 14. Cited in Quotations from Mao Tse Tung from: 1927 - 1964, Mao Tse Tung, [http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/ch07.htm Chapter 7 Dare to Struggle and Dare to Win], Peking Foreign Languages Press, 1966. Online Version: Mao Tse Tung Internet Archive (marxists.org) 2000.</ref><ref>Quoted in [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/souls/vol1no4/vol1num4art1.pdf ''Black Like Mao: Black Like Mao: Red China and Black Revolution''], Robin D.G. Kelley and Betsy Esche, ''Souls'' Volume 1, Number 4 Fall 1999, p. 11 in original (p. 7 pdf).</ref>}} In the 1995 book, ''Dreams from my Father'', the author wrote Obama learned to respect Davis's struggles, "recognizing them as my own." Obama sought Davis's advise as he left for college.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=HRCHJp-V0QUC&pg=PA97&dq=manipulate+words+so+they+don%27t+mean+anything+anymore#v=onepage&q=manipulate%20words%20so%20they%20don't%20mean%20anything%20anymore&f=false ''Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance''], By Barack Obama, Random House, 2007, pp. 97, 220.</ref> Initially Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, [[California]], before transferring to [[Columbia University]] in New York, [[New York]] and graduating without honors as a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in [[political science]]. Obama refuses to describe his academic performance at Columbia despite commenting about New York during this period and despite disclosures of the academic record for all other major-party presidential candidates since at least 2000.<ref>http://www.nysun.com/new-york/obamas-years-at-columbia-are-a-mystery/85015/</ref>
=== Birth Certificate Controversy ===
In April 2010, the Arizona House approved a bill that would require presidential candidates to show his or her birth certificate in order to be on the state's ballot.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/22/arizona-house-oks-requiring-presidential-candidates-provide-birth-certificate/ Arizona House OKs Bill Requiring Presidential Candidates to Provide Birth Certificate], FOXNews.com, April 22, 2010.</ref> It would require U.S. presidential candidates who want to appear on the Arizona ballot to submit documents proving they meet the constitutional requirements to be president.<ref>Ashby Jones. [http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/04/22/arizona-house-to-obama-no-birth-certificate-no-ballot/ Arizona House to Obama: No Birth Certificate, No Ballot], ''The Wall Street Journal'', April 22, 2010.</ref> The Constitution says a person must be a "natural-born citizen" to be eligible for the presidency.<ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/ArizonaWantsObamaBirthProofforRun/2010/04/21/id/356375 Arizona Wants Obama Birth Proof for Run], ''Newsmax'', April 21, 2010.</ref>
=== Education ===
After working as a "[[community organizer]]" in New York City and Chicago, Illinois, Obama enrolled at [[Harvard]] Law School. He became a member of the ''Harvard Law Review'', which uses racial quotas, in 1989. He was then elected by popular vote as its first African American president in 1990, a story that was immediately promoted in the [[New York Times]].<ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2DC1631F935A35751C0A966958260&scp=3&sq=Obama%201990&st=cse</ref> He graduated ''magna cum laude'' with his J.D. in 1991, but did not serve in a clerkship. Federal clerkships are the typical post-graduate position for top law students. Obama has stated that his favorite professors in school were Marxists.
Obama has described himself as a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/30/politics/p132303D74.DTL&type=politics]</ref> He held the position of Lecturer, an adjunct position, from 1992 to 1996. He held the position of Senior Lecturer from 1996 until his election to the senate in 2004. Dan Ronayne, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, has pointed that Obama was only a senior lecturer and not a full professor. <ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/30/politics/p132303D74.DTL&type=politics]</ref>The University states that Senior Lecturers are regarded as professors, although not full-time or tenure track.<ref>http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/was_barack_obama_really_a_constitutional_law.html</ref><ref>[http://www.law.uchicago.edu/media/index.html]</ref>
[[Image:Bernardine Dohrn.jpg|right|thumb|250px|'''Bernardine Dohrn formerly of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted''' enjoyed somewhat of a celebrity status among [[radical leftist]]s when she, along with her husband Bill Ayers, hosted a fundraiser for the relatively unknown Barack Obama in 1995; Dohrn issued the Weather Underground terrorist organization's Declaration of War Against the United States ([http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Weather_Underground_Declaration_of_a_State_of_War Full Text]) in 1970.]]
According to the White House website, White House Press Secretary [[Robert Gibbs]] responded to this to this question on April 14 2009,
<blockquote>
Q Why is the President blocking habeas corpus from prisoners at Bagram? I thought he taught constitutional law. And these prisoners have been there --<br>
MR. GIBBS: You're incorrect that he taught on constitutional law.<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Briefing-by-White-House-Press-Secretary-Robert-Gibbs-4-14-09/ Office of the Press Secretary], April 14, 2009, whitehouse.gov </ref></blockquote>
===Radical activism===
Obama states that he has consistently opposed the [[Iraq War]] since 2002. In his famous speech delivered at a rally organized by [[SDS]] veterans<ref>[http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/376/from_protest_to_politics/ ''From Protest to Politics:When war begins progressive work doesn’t end,''] Jeff Epton, ''In These Times,'' December 15, 2003. Retrieved March 15, 2010.</ref><ref>[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Barack_Obama's_Iraq_Speech Against Going to War with Iraq (2002)] by Barack Obama. Delivered on Wednesday, October 2, 2002 by Barack Obama, Illinois State Senator, at the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq war rally (organized by Chicagoans Against War in Iraq) at noon in Federal Plaza in Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved from Wikisource.com, March 15, 2010. </ref> [[Carl Davidson]] and Marilyn Katz in Chicago on October 2, 2002<ref>[http://www.barackobama.com/2002/10/02/remarks_of_illinois_state_sen.php Remarks of Illinois State Sen. Barack Obama Against Going to War with Iraq,] October 02, 2002. Retrieved from www.barackobama.com March 15, 2010.</ref> Even though Saddam had, in Obama's words, "developed [[weapons of mass destruction|chemical and biological weapons]]" Obama condoned the most hideous [[torture]]<ref>[http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/jackstraw1.html Saddam Hussein's Regime Methods of Torture]</ref> and dismissed Bush administration objectives of democratization and [[human rights]] as fighting a "dumb war." A commentator observed, "one would search long and hard for any words from this apostle of hope and change about the palpable benefits that [[democracy]] might bring to the Arabs and Muslims of the Middle East.<ref>[http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/obama-s-war-11263 Obama's War], Peter Wehner, ''Commentary'', April 2008.</ref>
===Organizes defeat of an incumbent Democratic Senator===
In 1992, Obama was instrumental as head of Illinois Project Vote <ref>[http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/January-1993/Vote-of-Confidence/ Vote of Confidence : A huge black turnout in November 1992 altered Chicago's electoral landscape—and raised a new political star: a 31-year-old lawyer named Barack Obama],
By Gretchen Reynolds, ''Chicago Magazine'', January 1993.</ref> in engineering the defeat of [[Democratic Party]] incumbent U.S. Senator Alan Dixon by [[Carol Moseley Braun]].<ref>[http://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-18/news/mn-3844_1_gus-savage Veteran Illinois Senator Dixon Defeated - Congress], By Bob Sector, ''[[L.A. Times]]'', March 18, 1992.</ref> Dixon, in a spirit of bipartisanship and defying his party's leadership, voted across racial lines to place a black man in high office. The [[leftist]] website [[dKosopedia]] claims "Incumbent Democratic senator Al Dixon's vote to confirm [[US Supreme Court]] Justice [[Clarence Thomas]] outraged Braun."<ref>[http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Carol_Moseley_Braun#Political_career Carol Moseley Braun], dkosopedia.com, retrieved October 25, 2009. Some sources state Moseley Braun's "outrage" was directed at the treatment of Anita Hill over her claims of sexual harassment by the nominee, however Moseley Braun voted to acquit President [[William Jefferson Clinton]] of charges stemming from a [[sexual harassment]] suit which Clinton settled by paying the aggrieved party $850,000 out of court to satisfy damage claims.</ref> With [[Communist Party USA]] backing,<ref>http://newzeal.blogspot.com/2008/10/obama-file-39-barack-obama-carol.html</ref> Braun defeated Dixon in the Democratic Primary Election, 38% to 35%.
Sandy Newman, the founder of Project Vote! told ''Chicago Magazine'', "I was asking around among community activists in Chicago and around the country, and they kept mentioning him (Obama)... He did one hell of a job." The magazine further reported, "To understand the full implications of Obama's effort, you first need to understand how voter registration often has worked in Chicago. The Regular Democratic Party spearheaded most drives," with Obama at the helm of Chicago's Project Vote!, those conditions had been reversed. "He helped train 700 deputy registrars, out of a total of 11,000 citywide." Joseph Gardner, the director of the steering committee for Project Vote! said, "It was overwhelming."
===Legal career===
by Bruce Bentley. Retrieved March 15,2010.</ref> and ran as a candidate of the openly [[Marxist]] New Party.<ref>[http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7434 NEW PARTY (NP)], discoverthenetwork.org.</ref><ref>Rick Moran. [http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/06/obamas_alliance_with_marxists.html Obama's Alliance with Marxists], ''American Thinker'', June 03, 2008.</ref> The [[New Party]] was an electoral alliance that worked alongside [[ACORN]], formed by members of the Democratic Socialists for America (SPUSA and DSAUSA) and leaders of an offshoot of the [[Communist Party of the United States of America|Community Party USA]] (CPUSA).<ref>Aaron Klein. [http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=78945 Newspaper shows Obama belonged to socialist party], ''[[WorldNetDaily]]'', October 24, 2008.</ref> The New Party was funded by literally hundreds of leftist front-groups operating as special interest 527 organizations.<ref>JB Williams. [http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/13872 Obama’s Well Organized Community Is Falling Apart], ''Canada Free Press'', August 18, 2009.</ref>
== U.S. Senate (2004-2008) ==
Following a failed campaign for the House of Representatives, Obama ran for the open Senate seat from Illinois in 2004. Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He won a seat in the [[U.S. Senate]] after [[liberals]] obtained the release of confidential and personally embarrassing divorce records of his opponent, Jack Ryan, forcing him to resign from the race and be replaced by the out-of-state candidate [[Alan Keyes]].
[[Image:Democrat Obama during the Pledge.jpg|325px|thumb|right|'''Candidaate Obama stands with folded hands''during the Democratic primaries while [[Bill Richardson]] and [[Hillary Clinton]] honor the flag by placing their hands over their heart during the [[National Anthem]] in 2008. [http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Obama_doesnt_put_hand_over_heart_1022.html See Video] ]]
===CPUSA endorsements, support and get out the vote efforts===
The ''[[People's Weekly World]]'' which describes itself as "the direct descendant of the ''[[Daily Worker]]'' " that enjoys "a special relationship with the [[Communist Party USA]], founded in 1919," and publishes its news and views,<ref>[http://www.pww.org/article/static/320 About the People's Weekly World] pww.org</ref> reported on Obama's 2004 Senate primary campaign:
{{Cquote|Activists from Illinois were immersed in the campaign to elect Barak Obama to the U.S. Senate. Obama won a landslide victory in the March 16 Democratic primary.<ref>''A turning point election'', Joelle Fishman, People's Weekly World, 04/24/04.</ref>}} John Bachtell, Illinois Communist Party district organizer added,
{{Cquote|This was a historic victory. It was a victory for political independence and grassroots, coalition, and issue oriented politics over the machine and money.<ref>[http://www.pww.org/article/articleprint/5145/ The CPUSA fires up its members to ‘Dump Bush!’], By Tim Wheeler, Washington correspondent, People's Weekly World , 04/24/04.</ref>}} In June the ''People’s Weekly World'' carried a piece by Dee Myles, chair of the education commission of the Communist Party USA, eulogizing [[Frank Marshall Davis]]'s old colleague, [[Vernon Jarrett]]. Myles said,
{{Cquote|from his hospital bed, [Jarrett] wrote an article appealing to Black Chicago to turn out to vote for [[Barack Obama]] in the Illinois primaries. Obama astounded everyone with an incredible landslide victory as the progressive, Black candidate for the [[Democratic Party]] nomination for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. From his sickbed, Vernon Jarrett issued a clarion call, and the people responded.<ref>[http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/5331/ Vernon Jarrett: a partisan journalistic giant], Dee Myles, [[People's Weekly World]] Newspaper, Jun 5, 2004.</ref>}}
===Senate career===
[[Image:obama.jpg|thumb|left|Senator Barack Obama]]
October 2008 crimes against Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson's family highlighted Obama's record against law and order, as he voted against making it a crime in Illinois "for convicts on probation or on bail to have contact with a street gang".<ref>[http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obamas-crime-votes-are-fodder-for-rivals-2007-03-13.html]</ref><ref>The person of interest in the murders of Hudson's mother, brother, and 7-year-old nephew is the estranged husband of Hudson's sister and a convicted felon who had violated his parole conditions.[http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-julian-king-autopsy-1029,0,2752431.story]</ref> "'We've got 75,000 gang members - that's almost six gang members to one police officer,'" in Obama's hometown of Chicago.<ref>"More people have been murdered in Chicago this year than in New York - even though New York's population is three times greater. When Hudson's mother, brother and nephew were killed last month, they pushed the city's homicide total for the year to 436 and counting. New York has had 430 homicides." [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/11/01/2008-11-01_chicago_buried_in_murders.html]</ref>
A March 16th, 2005 AP article puts Senator Obama on record to ban oil drilling in the Alaska frontier known as ANWR <ref>http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0316-13.htm</ref>
In May 2007, Obama (and Sen. Hillary Clinton) voted against funding the Iraq War for the first time.<ref>[http://uspolitics.about.com/od/legislatio1/a/HR2206.htm HR 2206 - Emergency Appropriations], Kathy Gill, Your Guide to U.S. Politics: Current Events. May 26 2007.</ref><ref>[http://more.gov.mtopgroup.com/2007/05/votes-hr-2206-iraq-supplemental.html Votes - H.R. 2206: Iraq Supplemental], May 28, 2007. Retrieved from Deeper Inside the Mountain, June 4, 2007.</ref>
His 2007 voting record in the U.S. [[Senate]] makes him as its most [[liberal]] member. Among fellow Senate Democrats, he was further left than liberals like [[Ted Kennedy]], [[John Kerry]], [[Dianne Feinstein]], [[Charles Schumer]], [[Russ Feingold]], [[Carl Levin]], [[Joseph Biden]] and [[Harry Reid]].<ref>[http://nationaljournal.com/voteratings/sen/lib_cons.htm?o1=lib_composite&o2=desc]</ref> He has grown steadily more liberal since arriving at the Senate: the same analysis assessed him as 10th most liberal in 2006<ref>[http://www.nationaljournal.com/members/news/2007/voteratings/sen/lib_cons.htm?o1=lib_composite&o2=desc]</ref> and 16th most liberal in 2005.<ref>[http://www.nationaljournal.com/members/news/2007/voteratings/sen/lib_cons.htm?o1=lib_composite&o2=desc]</ref>
In late 2006, Obama's second book, ''The Audacity of Hope'', was published. Its title was supplied by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., a minister who has stated that "racism is how this country was founded and how this country was run .... We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God."<ref>http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/14/obama_condemns_pastors_remarks.html</ref> The book contains more of Senator Obama's personal story including the roles of both family and politics. ''Audacity'' spent 30 weeks on the ''New York Times'' Nonfiction Best Sellers list.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/books/bestseller/0527besthardnonfiction.html?_r=1&oref=slogin New York Times Best Sellers Non Fiction]</ref>
Senator Obama is the chairman of an important subcommittee that has oversight of our efforts in Afghanistan. He has not held a single hearing on Afghanistan even though American forces are risking their lives in a theatre of war. Since joining Foreign Relations, Obama has missed three meetings on a "new strategy" in [[Afghanistan]], a country he only visited in 2008.<ref>[http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obama-absent-at-afghanistan-hearings-2008-03-01.html</ref> Barack Obama clinched his party's nomination for President after 16 straight months of campaigning.
In June 2008, Obama voted with the Democratic party to kill the sunset provision of the [[Bush]] tax cuts. By letting these tax cuts expire, single mothers with two kids will pay an additional $1,800 annually. Married couples with incomes of $50,000 will pay an additional $2,180 annually. Elderly couples will pay an additional $2,000 annually and a family of four will pay 191% more per year in taxes. Barack Obama often claims to be for taxing the rich their fair share. By voting to eliminate the Bush tax cuts, Obama is taxing most middle class and blue collar families.
Obama and the Democratic-led Congress has voted for the upgraded GI Bill despite the opposition from the President, the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon, the generals in combat zones and the GOP Presidential nominee. It was crafted to increase veteran benefits. Yet, the strain on our military is great.<ref>[http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/mccain_to_obama_dont_demagogue.php] http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/mccain_to_obama_dont_demagogue.php , McCain To Obama: Don't Demagogue The GI Bill, May 22, 2008</ref> The bill would cost $2.8 to $4 billion per month. Some argue that this bill depletes the US's volunteer military personnel by enticing them to leave service rather than be re-deployed.
As senator, Obama has requested nearly $936 million in earmarks which averages to $500,000. per day over four years, <ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122108935141721343.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Obama Can't Win Against Palin] Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2008</ref> for which the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste has given him a rating of 10% in 2007 (18% lifetime).<ref>[http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/DocServer/2007_Senate_Ratings_Final.pdf?docID=3242 2007 Senate Scorecard]</ref> A score of 100% represents voting against all pork, and 0% represents voting ''for'' all pork. Democrats averaged 5% in 2007, whereas Republicans averaged 60%. <ref>[http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/News2?abbr=CCAGW_&page=NewsArticle&id=11590 CCAGW Releases ''2007 Congressional Ratings'']</ref>
According to a Fox News report on October 5th, Obama has taken more than $126,000. in campaign contribution from [[Fannie Mae]] in a little over three years. This ranks him second, only Chris Dodd has received more campaign contribution dollars from Fannie Mae.
===Use of filibuster and obstructionism ===
White House Communication Director [[Dan Pfeiffer]] described the frustration of an Administration having its legislative agenda delayed by [[filibuster]]s and obsrtructionism:
{{quotebox|If we're going to have a government that works for the American people, then we need to focus on the things that actually matter ...Every day we waste delaying votes on well-qualified public servants or obstructing progress on problems that need solving is a day we're not doing our jobs. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/02/03/needless-delays-and-filibusters-run-amok-a-case-study]}}
The ''[[Washington Post]]'' claims [[partisan]] obstructionism is "a legislative tactic [Obama] once practiced himself" :
:*In 2005, a year after his election to the Senate, Obama placed a hold on Susan Bodine to lead the Environmental Protection Agency office that oversees Superfund and emergency cleanup programs because the agency had missed a deadline on new regulations for lead paint exposure.
:*In September 2006, Obama and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) blocked Robert L. Wilkie's nomination as a Defense Department assistant secretary over a long-delayed Pentagon report on Midwestern wind farms.
:*And Obama joined with other Democrats in October 2007 to block the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky to the Federal Election Commission. Von Spakovsky later withdrew; Wilkie and Bodine were eventually confirmed. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/AR2010020303801_pf.html]
=== Bills co-sponsored ===
Obama's principal legislation was S. 2433, which was an attempt to force the U.S. to increase its foreign aid by hundreds of billions of dollars under the guise of reducing global poverty, which was subsequently blocked by [[conservatives]].<ref>http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-2433</ref>
Obama did support and co-sponsor a bill championed by [[Tom Coburn]] and known as the Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006, which was signed into law by President [[George W. Bush]] on Sept. 9, 2006. This law created a website that will list the federal government's grants and contracts.<ref> http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060926.html</ref>
Between Jan 13, 2007 and March 13, 2008, Sen. Obama has sponsored 120 mostly [[liberal]] resolutions and bills in the Senate.<ref>http://thomas.loc.gov/</ref> His supporters cite the following less liberal examples, but this list is not representative:
*S.117 : A bill to amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to improve benefits and services for members of the Armed Forces, veterans of the Global War on Terrorism, and other veterans, to require reports on the effects of the Global War on Terrorism, and for other purposes.
*S.133 : A bill to promote the national security and stability of the economy of the United States by reducing the dependence of the United States on oil through the use of alternative fuels and new technology, and for other purposes.
*S.453 : A bill to prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections.
*S.713 : A bill to ensure dignity in care for members of the Armed Forces recovering from injuries.
*A bill to raise the [[minimum wage]]; Obama voted against the bill when it was later attached to an Iraq war supplemental spending bill.<ref>[http://uspolitics.about.com/od/legislatio1/a/HR2206.htm HR 2206 - Emergency Appropriations], Kathy Gill, Your Guide to U.S. Politics: Current Events. May 26 2007.</ref><ref>[http://more.gov.mtopgroup.com/2007/05/votes-hr-2206-iraq-supplemental.html Votes - H.R. 2206: Iraq Supplemental], May 28, 2007. Retrieved from Deeper Inside the Mountain, June 4, 2007.</ref>
=== Senate Foreign Relations Committee ===
Obama worked with Sen. Lugar writing legislation aimed at improving conventional and nuclear non-proliferation efforts. This legislation was signed by [[George W. Bush|President Bush]] in January 2008.
In June 2007 the Senate passed his resolution condemning violence by the [[Zimbabwe]] government. It also passed legislation co-sponsored by Obama that financed a Special Court for Sierra Leone to prosecute former [[Liberia | Liberian]] President [[Charles Taylor]]. <ref> http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/02/26/obamas_senate_foreign_relations_work/ </ref>
Barack Obama continued to collect money for a 2010 Senate re-election campaign as late as June 2008, and filed reports indicating money was still pouring into this fund. This is especially notable because it is an efficient way of sidetracking donations from his Presidential race. The website<obamasenate2010.gov> is now defunct.
[[File:OenEReuters.jpg|left|200px|thumb|In Egypt, June 2009.]]
=== Foreign policy experience ===
In his presidential campaign, Obama stated<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/obama-says-no-to-foreign_b_95357.html</ref> that "foreign policy is the area where I am probably most confident" and then cited "having lived in Indonesia for four years, having family that is impoverished in small villages in Africa". He lived in Indonesia from age 6 to 10, and he later discovered that his father had some other children in Africa.
While campaigning, he has visited several foreign countries. In [[Russia]] and the former Soviet republics, he met with representatives of the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute to discuss democracy in the former Soviet republics. He also met with Russian military officials and visited several nuclear and biological weapons destruction sites in Russia, [[Ukraine]], and [[Azerbaijan]] with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN). On the same tour, he visited London, UK, and met with [[Tony Blair]], sitting UK Prime Minister.
Obama visited South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Chad; he discussed his tour of Robben Island prison, met with U.S. troops, and visited refugee camps of the people fleeing Darfur. He also addressed Africa's growing [[AIDS]] epidemic.
During a ten-day-long tour of the Middle East, he talked with government leaders in Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel.
<br>
== Presidential Election (2008) ==
:''See Main article'' : [[Barack Hussein Obama 2008 Presidential campaign]]
Obama and his running mate [[Senator Joseph Biden]] won the presidential election<ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/obama_wins_presidency/2008/11/04/147788.html?utm_medium=RSS]</ref> after 23 months of campaigning that spent over $700 million,<ref>http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/summary.php?cid=N00009638</ref> much of it raised from undisclosed or fraudulent donors.<ref>"Obama’s finance team missed quite a few obviously troubling large donations, from such unsavory individuals as Mr. Jfggjjfgj, 'Mong Kong,' 'Test Person,' and 'Jockim Alberton,' who lives at a fictional address on a street that does not exist in Wilmington, Delaware. How many fictional characters might there be among the $220 million that Obama has collected in small, undisclosed contributions? Obama's small donors have all been recorded, and he could easily follow McCain’s lead by disclosing this major source of his campaign’s money."[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTllNTk2MDNmNDk1YmQ0OWEzOTZmMTVmODUwZTQwY2E= "Fake Donors, Phony Pledge, ''National Review'' (Oct. 22, 2008)] Obama did not.</ref> Obama spent far more per vote than McCain did: Obama spent $7.39 per vote, while McCain spent only $5.78 per vote.<ref>http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/cancomsrs/?_08+00+PR</ref>
To announce his trip to [[Berlin]] in July 2008, Obama used posters which show a marked similarity to posters of [[Lenin]] and [[Che Guevara]].<ref>[http://andrightlyso.com/2008/07/24/obama-lenin-gaffe/ Obama's direct copy of a Lenin poster for his Berlin visit]</ref><ref>[http://michellemalkin.com/2008/05/31/the-la-times-looks-into-the-obama-che-iconcography-connection/ The LA Times looks into the Obama-Che iconography connection] by Michelle Malkin </ref>
Obama carried 52% of the popular vote and the states [[John Kerry]] won in 2004, in addition to Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Florida, and Indiana. Of the 127 million votes cast, Obama beat John McCain by 8 million total votes.<ref>http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/</ref> [http://images.newsmax.com/misc/2008_Election_Map.jpg See county breakdown map] <ref>[www.cnn.com/election]</ref>
The [[Association of American Physicians and Surgeons]] observed that Obama used techniques of [[mind control]] in his campaign, as in this speech: "a light will shine down from somewhere, it will light upon you, you will experience an epiphany, and you will say to yourself, 'I have to vote for Barack.'"<ref name="mind control">http://www.aapsonline.org/newsoftheday/0089 . The doctors observe that "Obama's logo is noteworthy. It is always there, a small one in the middle of the podium, providing a point of visual fixation ... [that] resembles a crystal ball, a favorite of hypnotists."</ref>
== Books ==