Medical Malpractice

How come Obama could get away with this earmark?

One of Obama's Earmark Requests Was for the Hospital That Employs Michelle Obama Dan Riehl notes, via Amanda Carpenter, that in the list of earmarks he requested, $1 million was requested for the construction of a new hospital pavilion at the University Of Chicago. The request was put in in 2006. You know who works for the University of Chicago Hospital? Michelle Obama. She's vice president of community affairs. As Byron noted, "In 2006, the Chicago Tribune reported that Mrs. Obama’s compensation at the University of Chicago Hospital, where she is a vice president for community affairs, jumped from $121,910 in 2004, just before her husband was elected to the Senate, to $316,962 in 2005, just after he took office." http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OGRiMWFhNWY4MTgzMjI3NjEzNGQwMWFiMTlhYmRhN2Y= Looks like that raise was worth it, must be just part of the corrupt Chicago politics that Obama claims he was not part of. "Yeah, what a waste of money on hospitals? Who needs 'em?" Obviously went over his head, another of those 'highly educated" Obama supporters

Public Comments

1. Yeah, what a waste of money on hospitals? Who needs 'em?
2. He gets away with it because many Americans find no wrong with him. They are so exasperated with a Bush administration, they are willing to close their eyes and blindly trust the Change Master. He's the master all right. People have made it SO easy for him to do the things he has done and get away with it, why would he ever stop? He made it this far.
3. Would you like a little cheese to go with that whine.
4. hospitals who needs them oh wait we do need them.
5. This is overlooked crime.Money talks and this is what we have done to this nation. There will be way more of this going on now that we have the political machine in the White House.
6. Is this the battle you want to begin? I doubt it. Earmark abuse is so rampant that no Senator, even your beloved McCain is immune. Power and money go hand in hand and unless you are proposing we throw out every elected official nationwide these kind of complaints are pointless. For instance - both Robert Byrd and Ted Stevens are known for the same thing - shoveling federal money into their states. Can you imagine that Byrd has not been rewarded by private business for his efforts? No, he has just been smarter than Stevens.
7. Well you know...according to him earmarks make up such a small percentage that they are really not that big of a deal... "Earmarks account for one half of one percent of the total federal budget." - Barak Obama I guess one half of one percent isn't much when you get a nice piece of the pie.
8. 2 points
9. Sometimes you have to grease the wheels to get anything wait..I mean all the time you have to grease the wheels to get anything done Now their is a group that says Michelle Obama should get a salary as First Lady..as she gave up her job in Chicago? Yeah..why should Michelle Obama get nothing for being in the White House...give her her old salary plus a juicy raise..she deserves it for being so nice
10. The implication is that Michelle got her salary raised by almost $200,000, and in return the hospital got a million to build a pavilion. So, to do a thorough investigation, one would need to follow the money. You'd have to show that the earmark bill actually passed, and that a substantial amount was diverted to line somebody's pockets. Otherwise, this is just a story about money being spent on a worthy cause.