Re: My Prediction..for Obama
agreed, it would be nice to have a president that follows the constitution rather than try to circumvent it ( i mean both parties).
Obama has a public side that seems to have struck a chord with many voters on the primary trail,and on that account he is a mighty appealing candidate.
but
It's odd that the road to the Democratic nomination has been as clear as it has been for Obama ,there's been little criticicsm or scrutiny of him by the mainstream media.
Does Obama have a private side which needs examining,who are the backers and supporters lurking in the shadows?
Here's a closer look at the complete Obama:
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Helvetica,Swiss][SIZE=-1]WSWS : News & Analysis : North America[/SIZE][/FONT]
The two faces of Barack Obama
By Bill Van Auken
14 February 2008
The Illinois senator has the instincts of an agitator and seeks to give the crowds what he senses they want. In Wisconsin, he linked ?record profits? for Exxon to the rising ?price at the pump,? provoking enthusiastic applause. He spoke of trade agreements that ?ship jobs overseas and force parents to compete with their teenagers for minimum wage at Wal-Mart.? And he pledged to be a ?president who will listen to Main Street?not just Wall Street; a president who will stand with workers not just when it?s easy, but when it?s hard.?
Turning to the question of Iraq, he declared that ?our troops are sent to fight tour after tour of duty in a war that should?ve never been authorized and should?ve never been waged,? and derided those who ?use 9/11 to scare up votes.?
He continued by citing deteriorating social conditions facing average Americans: ?the father who goes to work before dawn and then lies awake at night wondering how he?s going to pay the bills;? ?the woman who told me she works the night shift after a full day at college and still can?t afford health care for a sister who?s ill;? the retiree ?who lost his pension when the company he gave his life to went bankrupt;? and ?the teacher who works at Dunkin Donuts after school just to make ends meet.?
He responded with promises of tax cuts for working people, health care reform, better pay and a government that would ?protect pensions, not CEO bonuses.?
Echoing the rhetoric of Martin Luther King, he concluded his speech with the vow that ?our dream will not be deferred, our future will not be denied, and our time for change has come.?
There is an element in these speeches that would seem to give pause to the Democratic Party establishment and the big business interests it represents. Obama?s rhetorical excursions could be seen as leading into dangerous territory. After all, the Democratic Party has served as an indispensable partner in the Bush administration?s policies of war abroad and social reaction at home.
But this populist primary rhetoric
is only one face of Obama.There is another, and it is turned firmly towards the very corporate interests he publicly criticizes, which have poured tens of millions of dollars into his campaign.
Thus,
BusinessWeek noted, last Sunday[2/10/08] after learning of his victory in the Maine Democratic caucuses, Obama sat down at his computer to exchange emails with Robert Wolf, CEO of UBS America, one of his major Wall Street ?bundlers,? responsible for bringing in millions in donations from fellow multi-millionaires to finance what Obama refers to as his ?movement.? According to estimates made by the Center for Responsive Politics, 80 percent of the money raised by the Obama campaign last year came from donors affiliated with business, with Wall Street leading the pack. More than half of the money came in the form of donations totaling $2,300 or more.
In addition to Wolf, Obama stays in regular touch with Warren Buffett, the second-wealthiest individual in America, with a net worth of some $52 billion. Among his leading economic advisors is Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago professor and prominent advocate of free market policies.
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The Volcker endorsement</CENTER>
Perhaps most significant was last month?s little reported endorsement of Obama by Paul Volcker, who was appointed Federal Reserve Board chairman by Democratic President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and remained in charge of the US central bank for nearly seven years under the right-wing Republican administration of Ronald Reagan.
Volcker was responsible for inaugurating a high-interest-rate regime demanded by the dominant sections of finance capital in the name of the battle against inflation. His monetary policy was inextricably linked to the offensive against the working class begun with the firing of the air traffic controllers and the breaking of the PATCO strike and continued with the shutdown of large sections of basic industry and the unleashing of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The ultimate effect of these policies was a vast transfer of wealth from the mass of working people to a narrow financial elite, a process that has continued to this day.
These are the real relations that are being forged behind the scenes as Obama delivers left phrases from the podium. Those like Volcker see the Illinois senator as a useful vehicle for effecting major changes aimed not at ameliorating the conditions of life for masses of working people, but rather at securing the global interests of American finance capital.
No doubt, they believe Obama, who would be America?s first African-American president, is best suited to confront the dangers posed by continuing economic crisis and rising social tensions. Who better to demand even greater sacrifices from the working class, all in the name of national unity and ?change?? At the same time, he would present a fresh face to the world, which they hope would help extricate US imperialism from the foreign policy debacles and growing global isolation that are the legacy of the Bush administration.
Given these big business ties, Obama?s campaign rhetoric about confronting poverty and social inequality involve a level of cynicism and demagogy that is truly staggering. His incessant promises of change are not tied to any radical economic program that fundamentally challenges the profit interests of the giant corporations and Wall Street.
To the extent that Obama?s rhetoric arouses popular expectations?and there are indications that it does?these will inevitably be dashed. In all probability, this will happen once the primary season is over and Obama is confronted by the Republican right as well as elements within the Democratic Party itself with the demand that he clarify his program. Should he capture the White House in November, he will head an administration committed to defending the interests of the American oligarchy both at home and abroad.
Those turning towards the Obama campaign as a means of effecting progressive social change in the US and bringing an end to US militarism abroad will find that the Democratic Party and the corporate and financial interests it represents will allow neither.
Excerpted from:
The two faces of Barack Obama