Today on CNN's American Morning, network correspondent Alina Cho conducted yet another "truth squad" check of a claim made by a presidential candidate. In this instance, it's the claim Barack Obama makes that he was a leader in ethics reform when he served in the Illinois state senate. Anchor Kiran Chetry led off the segment:
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Time again to check in with the "Truth Squad." Alina Cho looking at some statements that Barack Obama is making about taking on lobbyists. "Lobbyist," the dirty word in presidential politics.ALINA CHO, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Big, bad dirty word, Kiran. Good morning. Good morning, everybody. It's something that Barack Obama talks about often on the campaign trail. No surprise how he's taken on lobbyists and he says as president, he'll do it again to reform health care and take on Wall Street. Here he is on Tuesday in Reno, Nevada.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I will take power away from the corporate lobbyists who think they can stand in the way of these reforms. I've done it in Illinois. I've done it in Washington. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Take power away from lobbyists in both Illinois and Washington? Is that true? Does his record back it up? Well, we looked at it. Last year, Obama did support something called The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act. That bill prohibits gifts and limits travel provided by lobbyists. It also increases the waiting periods before lawmakers can join lobbying firms. President Bush, by the way, signed that bill into law last September. Public Citizen, a non-profit consumer advocacy group gave Obama high marks for supporting it. They say he has pushed hard for other ethics reform legislation, as well.
But what about back in Illinois. Well, as a state senator, Obama was key in producing something called The Illinois Gift Ban. He actually helped draft the law back in 1988 and it also puts significant limits on gifts by lobbyists, and bans personal use of the campaign contributions.
So the question again, when Obama says he took on lobbyists in both Illinois and Washington, was he right? Pretty clear cut on this one for a change. The "Truth Squad" says -- and that means yes. This one is true. Obama has supported and even helped shape legislation that has cracked down on lobbyists.
As we get closer to the election, Kiran, this is not something we see very often. A clear cut true.
CHETRY: Right.
CHO: But we are happy to say that this one is true.
No doubt Cho was happy to pronounce Obama's claim true. But let's fact check the fact checker.
The law to which Cho refers was passed in 1998, not 1988 as she stated. The One was still in the trenches organizing the community in 1988. And there's a big question as to whether Obama assumed a major role in the legislation's passage.
When the 1998 law passed the state senate on May 22, 1998, it set off a mad dash for incumbent legislators to fill their coffers as quickly as possible, so as to maximize the amount in their accounts on the grandfather date. According to the Chicago Tribune, State Rep. Monique Davis (D.) went so far as to lend her campaign $33,000 five days before the deadline. The campaign of state Sen. George Shadid (D.) borrowed $50,000.
Obama cannot be blamed for any of this because he did not write this 1998 ethics law. In fact, he had very little to do with it until the day it passed. He was not the one to propose the ethics bill in the Illinois senate. He was not even a cosponsor until the day it passed. Five months after the ethics bill was introduced, and more than one month after it reached the senate, Obama was invited by Emil Jones to become its chief Democratic cosponsor. As David Mendell writes in Obama: From Promise to Power, former Rep. Abner Mikva convinced Jones to let Obama handle the legislation. Sen. Dick Klemm (D.) was removed as chief cosponsor and replaced by Obama on May 22, 1998 — the very day the bill passed.
Other than the fact Klemm was a Republican rather than a Democrat, that account appears accurate. The bill status record shows the legislation's chief co-sponsor was changed to Obama on May 22, more than a month after it arrived in the state senate on April 18.
This isn't the first time CNN's fact checking didn't check out. "Fact checks" are popular with the mainstream media in this year's election. Increasingly, though, they're being used as just another hammer in the toolbox to advance Obama and damage McCain.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
"This is CNN ... lowering
October 2, 2008 - 12:38 ET by AeroSpear"This is CNN ... lowering the standards for Democrats since 1992."
CNN's standards
October 2, 2008 - 12:41 ET by Michael M. Bates"This is CNN ... lowering the standards for Democrats since 1992."
I think they may have been providing that "service" even before 1992.
Outrageous Fact Check
October 2, 2008 - 12:51 ET by MaximusBraveheartThis is clearly unacceptable & totally biased "fact checking." There broadcasting license should be pulled for this breach of public duty. Simply unbelievable. You cannot make this stuff up! The public needs to fight back against the stranglehold of the liberal media. I signed this Boycott (85,113 so far):
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MB
October 3, 2008 - 03:02 ET by Rush FanThanks for the link. I signed the pledge. I would suggest that a more effective approach, one I have used frequently, is to write the sponsors and tell them why you are not happy with them advertising on those networks. Hitting the networks in their pocketbook can be very effective.
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The most important change we can make is to vote out the Democrats and RINOs in Congress!
Apparently the Illinois Gift
October 2, 2008 - 13:20 ET by SickofLibsApparently the Illinois Gift Ban Obama was so 'key in producing' did not apply to real estate.
He was not even a cosponsor until the day it passed? "Hey, let's give this one to the black kid - he hasn't done a damn thing since he's been here, and it's starting to look bad."
Michael.. it's all in the desires of the MSM
October 2, 2008 - 13:46 ET by Gary HallIndeed.
Back in Sep't., in one of her truth squad bits defending Obama again, Cho sums it up with: "Does that sound familliar?" asked Cho. "Well, it should, because it's consistent with what Obama has said on the campaign trail that he would do in the White House." Cho's verdict: McCain's attack is "misleading." Ah yes - pushing how good Obama is going to be for her team.
Back in Sep't., in one of her truth squad bits "attacking" Obama for lying to seniors (that they would loose their Social Security benefits under McCain - FactCheck.org blasted Obama for it in Obama's Whopper); while she holds Obama's statements to be false, Cho and Roberts sum it up with that special touchy "oh it's just like that out there topping." (my bold):
They just can't leave the topic, until they've fully downplayed the significance of Obama's intentional lies to scare seniors away from McCain.
The joke is on the voters. (;~/ gary
Let's give Obama the benefit of the doubt
October 2, 2008 - 13:46 ET by Michael M. BatesApparently the Illinois Gift Ban Obama was so 'key in producing' did not apply to real estate.
He probably intended to sponsor the Illinois Real Estate Fairy Ban, but was thrust on the national stage before getting a chance.
In An Imagginary World...
October 2, 2008 - 13:57 ET by JDWLiberal journalists are held to the same standards as everyone else
And conservative journalists?
JDW
DAILY WAVE
'Hey Chuck, Stand Up!'
Liberal journalists
October 2, 2008 - 14:02 ET by Michael M. BatesLiberal journalists are held to the same standards as everyone else.
I thought they were all moderates, middle-of the-roaders, apolitical, etc.
Liberal Journalists
October 2, 2008 - 14:24 ET by JDWShe commented on Palin's speech at the RNC criticizing it as if disgusted.
JDW
DAILY WAVE
'Hey Chuck, Stand Up!'
Off topic a little...
October 2, 2008 - 14:04 ET by retroconbut gotta say, every time I see Kiran mentioned on NB these days, I just feel sad.
Not so much with this article, but (sighs), she did sell out...
Kiran
October 2, 2008 - 14:09 ET by Michael M. BatesNot so much with this article, but (sighs), she did sell out...
Be that as it may, she still brightens the morning. In an MSM sorta way, of course.
OBAMA STEALING ELECTION AGAIN
October 2, 2008 - 18:24 ET by john5750IS THIS WHY MCCAIN LEFT MICHIGAN.
BY L.L. BRASIER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER <p>
Several municipal clerks across the state are reporting fraudulent and duplicate voter registration applications, most of them from a nationwide community activist group. <p>
The majority of the problem applications are coming from the group ACORN, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which has a large voter registration program among its many social service programs.<p>
ACORN's Michigan branch, based in Detroit, has enrolled 200,000 voters statewide in recent months, mostly with the use of paid, part-time employees.<p>
"There appears to be a sizeable number of duplicate and fraudulent applications," said Kelly Chesney, spokeswoman for the Michigan Secretary of State's Office. "And it appears to be widespread."<p>
Chesney said her office has had discussions with ACORN officials after local clerks reported the questionable applications to the state. Chesney said some of the applications are duplicates and some appear to be names that have been made up. <p>
In recent years, ACORN's voter registration programs have come under investigation in Ohio, Colorado, Missouri and Washington, with some employees convicted of voter fraud.<p>
ACORN officials said they were looking into the problem.
"We'll do an investigation to see what's happening," said David Lagstein, a spokesman for the Detroit office. "If it's really as many as that, it warrants further investigation."<p>
In Pontiac, where several thousand applications have been submitted by ACORN in the last few weeks for the November election, the clerk's office is finding that numerous applications are sometimes filed under one name.<p>
"What it causes is a slowdown of our operations," said Pontiac City Clerk Yvette Talley. "They're steadily coming in, and we are finding a huge number of duplications."<p>
In Oak Park, clerk Sandra Gadd said they have been seeing "lots of duplication" from ACORN in recent months but were reassured by ACORN officials that the group was working to correct the problem.<p>
Lagstein said ACORN's Detroit office has hired dozens of employees for the voter registration program and that any problems likely stem from sloppiness or incompetence -- not an intent to let people vote more than once.<p>
"We're proud of our efforts to increase voter registration, and we have aggressive training for our staff to make sure the cards are filled out appropriately," he said.<p>
"We certainly do our best to keep the duplications as low as possible, so we'll have to evaluate what's happening here," he said.<p>
MORE OF OBAMA'S GOOD OLD "COMMUNITY ORGANIZING".<p>
McCAIN-PALIN 2008 and HILLARY-ANYBODY 2012
Cho - Korean for in the tank
October 2, 2008 - 19:48 ET by acumenThe Democratic National Committee has historically been far more reliant on PAC and lobbyist money than the RNC. In 2004, PACs provided about 10 percent of the DNC's total fundraising and only about 1 percent of the RNC's total, according to the CRP. Obama, after he sewed up enough delegates to win the party's nomination, sent word to the DNC to stop accepting PAC and lobbyist donations. Source - FactCheck.org