1115.org

Obama’s Rezko Ties Deeper Than Thought - Political Wire (6/18/07):

“During his 12 years in politics, Sen. Barack Obama has received nearly three times more campaign cash from indicted businessman Tony Rezko and his associates than he has publicly acknowledged,” the Chicago Sun-Times has found.

“Obama has collected at least $168,308 from Rezko and his circle. Obama also has taken in an unknown amount of money from people who attended fund-raising events hosted by Rezko since the mid-1990s.”

Unless it leads to favorable treatment, I’m not especially concerned with where Obama or any other candidate raises campaign cash. It’s a messy business, and until the laws are changed to reflect reality, nothing will change. But there are a few things about this I want to point out. First, as long as Obama sees fit to run his campaign counter to his lofty rhetoric about “rising above politics,” by releasing misleading and dishonest hit jobs on Hillary Clinton, isn’t it all in the game to amend Obama’s (bi)partisan affiliation to (D?-Slumlord) to reflect the source of his funding?

Second, on a personal level, the “three times more campaign cash…than he has publicly acknowledged” part of the story is particularly interesting to me. The post that prompted the Spoonbender to reveal that all he wants to do is “knock the f*cking teeth out of [my] mouth” focused on financial disclosure, and how his hero, Obama, was “leading by example” by releasing his tax returns. I’m wondering, if Obama is such a leader in the battle for transparency, why hasn’t he publicly acknowledged the full extent of Rezko & Co’s contributions?

Isn’t this more important than a tax return? Because I’d hate to lose my teeth over a triviality.