Thursday, October 07, 2010

Obama Desperately Trying to Save His Own Senate Seat

This is CNN. (Memeorandum.) Reporting. Not FoxNews. A big effing deal. Yes, our President Barack Obama is back home where the welcome is not as warm as it was. Unemployment in this state is higher than the national average and Illinois is essentially bankrupt, hopey-changey notwithstanding. The Dem governor who succeeded the impeached Blago is in trouble. As is Blago. Rezko resurfaces.

The president's sendoff to his foul-mouthed chief of staff rankled here with those who did more to boost his campaign in the early days (no, I'm not talking Bill Ayers, who's facing some flak of his own) when Rahmbo from the Bill and Hill administration was hiding under his desk.

And then there's bleepin golden Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, emblematic of all that's wrong with Chicago, Illinois and this Chicago Way president and administration--cronies looting the public purse. Alexi is so tangled in his lies on his failed bank we bailed out and so amazingly unprepared and shifty on policy that he bailed on a debate. He can't face us honestly.

Yes, these guys keep changing their stories, but voters are wising up.

From Kirk for Senate:
Giannoulias Story on Broadway Bank Changes Again

Yesterday, during an appearance before the State Journal-Register editorial board, Alexi Giannoulias changed his story once again as to his departure from Broadway Bank.

The bank was among several closed during the economic downturn. In the wake of recent news that he got a tax break for working at the bank in 2006, despite distancing himself from bank actions after 2005, Giannoulias said he has been “absolutely, unequivocally consistent in all my statements for the last four years.

“I left day-to-day operations in 2005, and I fully left the bank about April 2006,” he said.

April 2006? That’s not what Giannoulias told the Chicago Tribune last week:

Giannoulias said he has been clear that he left the “day-to-day” operations of the bank in September 2005 to prepare his first run for public office, but was on paid leave until May 2006 when he left completely to campaign full time for treasurer.

May 2006? That wasn’t what Giannoulias told the Chicago Sun-Times in August:

“Alexi left daily operations of the bank in September of 2005, months before this loan was made,” says Kathleen Strand of his campaign staff.

September 2005? That wasn’t what Giannoulias told the voters on March 15, 2006 when he was running for State Treasurer:

I’m senior loan officer and vice president, so I oversee a $600 million loan department. I’m also chief investment officer and invest about $150 million.

Why does Giannoulias’ story keep changing? As Mark Kirk told the Chicago Tribune this week:

"He has been inconsistent," Kirk said. "First he said he was the senior loan officer and ran much of the bank in order to be elected state treasurer. Then, when it was revealed that the Tony Rezko loans were made, he said, 'Well, I left in 2005.' Then when it was revealed that he took a $2.7 million tax deduction that required him to justify 500 hours of work (in 2006), he said that he actually was there in 2006."

More. John Kass, Chicago Tribune: Obama and his pals need some scarce Hopium for the next election

More. Via RCP, WSJ. Democrats Face Pivotal Test in Midwest:
The steady loss of manufacturing jobs has long weakened the Midwest economy. While manufacturing has been recovering through most of this year, the unemployment rate in many Midwestern states remains higher than in much of the nation. Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana all had unemployment rates above 10% in August, compared with 9.6% for the nation.

Republicans charge that Democrats didn't do enough to help struggling local economies. "People wanted the Democrats to make the economy the number one priority, and the public doesn't feel like they did," said Rep. Peter Roskam (R., Ill.), who is helping organize Republican campaigns in the Midwest. "The common-sense folks in the Midwest are saying, 'It's enough.' "

Related posts: Obama Campaigns for Financial Reform with Failed Banker, Judging Barack Obama, Obama on the Spot Too

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