Caught ANOTHER LIE ! Obama is Bathing in Lobbyist Money

In the tradition of Bill Clinton's "it depends what IS, is" and John Kerry's "I was against it before I was for it (or was it for it before against?)" Senator Obama says he "does not take a time from Washington lobbyists, " what he doesn't say is that he has taken over THREE MILLION DOLLARS FROM SENIOR PEOPLE AT LOBBYIST FIRMS. The article below is from USA today and it lists the donors and the firms they work for. Senator Obama is right, his campaign IS all about change--changing the definition of the truth !


Obama has ties to lobbyists despite boasts of not taking their money

By Ken Dilanian, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama often boasts he is "the only candidate who isn't taking a dime from Washington lobbyists," yet his fundraising team includes 38 members of law firms that were paid $138 million last year to lobby the federal government, records show.

Those lawyers, including 10 former federal lobbyists, have pledged to raise at least $3.5 million for the Illinois senator's presidential race. Employees of their firms have given Obama's campaign $2.26 million, a USA TODAY analysis of campaign finance data shows.

Thirty-one of the 38 are law firm partners, who typically receive a share of their firm's lobbying fees. At least six of them have some managerial authority over lobbyists.

"It makes no difference whether the person is a registered lobbyist or the partner of a registered lobbyist, if the person is raising money to get access or curry favor," said Michael Malbin, director of the Campaign Finance Institute, a non-partisan think tank.

Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said that while Obama's refusal to take money from lobbyists "isn't a perfect solution or symbol, it does reflect Obama's record of trying to change the way that Washington does business." He declined to elaborate.

TESTING THE LIMITS: Obama's claim of independence questioned

Lobbyists have long played key fundraising and policymaking roles for candidates, and lobbyists are raising money for both Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain.

Obama fundraisers who work for law firms that lobby and share the fees include:

•Allan Katz, a Florida lawyer who chairs the government relations practice of Akerman Senterfitt. The firm took in $3.6 million for Washington lobbying last year, according to public records compiled by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics. The firm touts on its website "an enviable level of access" for clients.

•Mark Alderman, managing partner of Philadelphia's WolfBlock law firm. The firm's lobbying subsidiary earned $930,000 in Washington last year representing clients including defense contractor Lockheed Martin, records show.

•Scott Blake Harris, managing partner of Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis, a Washington telecommunications law firm. Harris withdrew as a lobbyist for Microsoft and Cisco in June, but his partners still lobby, he said.

"My practice isn't going to be helped by this at all," said Harris, who said he got involved with Obama after his 14-year-old son interned in the senator's office. "I went to see him because of how nice he'd been to my kid, and I was captivated by his vision."

Katz, who got to know Obama over dinner, said his lobbying business "will be fine whether he wins or whether he loses."

Alderman said he was "just blown away" after meeting Obama. "This is not a business proposition for me," he said.

These 38 fundraisers for Barack Obama's presidential campaign work for law firms that have lobbying operations in Washington, D.C. The dollar figure reflects the minimum amount each has pledged to raise for the campaign.
BUNDLER	MIN. PLEDGE	LOCATION	FIRM
Scott Harris	$200,000	DC	Harris, Wiltshire and Grannis
Allan J. Katz	$200,000	FL	Akerman Senterfitt
Michael Lawson	$200,000	CA	Skadden, Arps
John Levi	$200,000	IL	Sidley Austin
Karol Mason	$200,000	GA	Alston & Bird
Thomas J. Perrelli	$200,000	VA	Jenner & Block
Thomas A. Reed	$200,000	VA	Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis
Christina Tchen	$200,000	IL	Skadden, Arps
Tony West	$200,000	CA	Morrison & Foerster
Mark L. Alderman	$100,000	PA	Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen
Timothy M. Broas	$100,000	MD	Winston & Strawn
Peter Bynoe	$100,000	IL	DLA Piper
Gregory B. Craig	$100,000	DC	Williams & Connolly
Norman Eisen	$100,000	DC	Zuckerman Spaeder
Nicole Lamb-Hale	$100,000	MI	Foley & Lardner
Andrew Schapiro	$100,000	NY	Mayer Brown
Charles C. Adams Jr.	$50,000	Switzerland	Hogan & Hartson
David Burd	$50,000	DC	Arnold & Porter
Tom Cole	$50,000	IL	Sidley Austin
Michael H. Dardzinski	$50,000	China	Reed Smith
Howard W. Gutman	$50,000	MD	Williams & Connolly
Jeff Horwitz	$50,000	NY	Proskauer Rose
David C. Jacobson	$50,000	IL	Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
Hrishi Karthikeyan	$50,000	DC	Covington & Burling
Ronald Kirk	$50,000	TX	Vinson & Elkins
William T. Lake	$50,000	DC	WilmerHale
Edward Lazarus	$50,000	CA	Akin Gump
Jack Levin	$50,000	IL	Kirkland & Ellis
Kenneth G. Lore	$50,000	DC	Bingham McCutchen
Charles B. Ortner	$50,000	NY	Proskauer Rose
Susan Pravda	$50,000	MA	Foley & Lardner
Paul N. Roth	$50,000	NY	Schulte Roth & Zabel
John Schmidt	$50,000	IL	Mayer Brown
Robert M. Sussman*	$50,000	DC	Latham & Watkins
Kathryn Thomson	$50,000	VA	Sidley Austin
Barry B. White	$50,000	MA	Foley Hoag
Steven M. Zager	$50,000	TX	Akin Gump
Robert S. Litt	n/a	MD	Arnold & Porter
* Robert M. Sussman retired as a partner on December 31, 2007.
Source: Obama for America, Center for Responsive Politics, Public Citizen