Here are the facts, not the spin:
State Sen. Obama helped secure thousands in state money for a Chicago entrepreneur who had paid him as a legal adviser.
Robert Blackwell, the Chicago entrepreneur, also became an Obama donor.
Obama's Ethics disclosure forms do not make the link clear.
William Ayers Employed Barack Obama for eight years.
The Los Angeles Times broke the ethics story in today's paper reporting that Obama used Illinois state letterhead to request a $50,000 tourism promotion grant for a longtime political donor and employer, Chicago entrepreneur Robert Blackwell, Jr. and his company Killerspin. Obama mailed the request within months after receiving a final $8,000 per month retainer from Blackwell's company Electronic Knowledge Interchange.
Blackwell paid Obama the retainer to give legal advice to his growing technology firm. The monthly sum from this Blackwell company totaled $112,000. Then, with support from Obama, other state officials and an Obama aide who went to work part time for Killerspin, this Blackwell Company eventually obtained $320,000 in state grants between 2002 and 2004 to subsidize its table tennis tournaments.
Killerspin specializes in table tennis, running tournaments nationwide and selling its own line of equipment and apparel and DVD recordings of the competitions.
Obama's staff said the senator advocated only for the first year's grant -- which ended up being $20,000, not $50,000. The day after Obama wrote his letter urging the awarding of the state funds, however, Obama's U.S. Senate campaign received a $1,000 donation from Blackwell.
Now about Willaim Ayers
In addition to this failure to ethically disclose an important donor, Obama has been breathtakingly misleading about his relationship with William Ayers. In the past Obama described Ayers as an "acquaintance." He also said in the recent ABC debate that Ayers is "Not someone I've accepted endorsement of, it's not someone I exchange ideas with on a regular bassis."Whopper!! Pinocchio!! William Ayers empoyed Obama for eight years as the Director of the Annenberg Challenge Board.
Thanks to Larry Johnson here http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/04/26/ why-is-obama-hiding-the-truth-about-will iam-ayers-follow-the-money/
In 1995, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge was created to raise funds to help reform the Chicago public schools. Ayers co-wrote the initial grant proposal, lists himself on his own website as the co-founder of the Challenge; and he helped select the first director of the board of this program: Barack Obama. Obama served on the board for eight years until the Challenge ended in 2003. Bill Ayers was intimately involved in the Challenge over this same time period.
Senator Obama needs to stop pushing a message of `no politics as usual' and start answering questions put to him about his associates and financial connections honestly and forthrightly. These disclosures after his repeated mis-statements and lack of full disclosure on ethics forms and about his associations-- in debates or in the press-- is serving him poorly.
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