Obama & Biden & lobbyists

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After months of demonizing lobbyists, Obama selected a running mate who has taken millions in contributions from those same lobbyists Obama supposedly eschewed, at least until the DNC started running out of money. In fact, Biden’s son works as a lobbyist on Capitol Hill, accruing the kind of earmarks that Obama has both decried and pursued:

Biden has accepted $5,133,072 in contributions from lawyers and lobbyists since 2003. Obama does not accept contributions from federally registered lobbyists.

And he has one other weakness that hasn't received much attention to date. One of Biden's sons, Hunter, is a registered Washington lobbyist in a year in which Obama has been excoriating lobbyists and the culture of corruption in Washington. The younger Biden is a name partner at the firm Oldaker, Biden & Belair and seems to have specialized in lobbying for just the kind of earmark spending by Congress that Obama has vowed to slash. Republican insiders say the party is likely to make an issue of Biden's family lobbying ties.

Also expect to hear more about Biden's close ties with credit card companies. His largest contributor, based on total contributions by employees, over the past five years has been MBNA, the Delaware-based bank aquired in 2005 by Bank of America that, until then, was the world's largest independent credit card issuer and a major supporter of the 2005 bankruptcy bill that Biden crossed the aisle to support.

Top five donors (including employee donations):

MBNA Corp. (Delaware-based bank acquired in 2005 by Bank of America)

Pachulski, Stang (law firm with major Delaware officers)

Young, Conaway (large Delaware law firm)

Law Office of Peter Angelos (mid-Atlantic trial law firm)

Simmons Cooper (national trial law firm)

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12735.html

Take a look at the top five industries that donate to Biden as well:

Lawyers/law firms

Real estate

Retired

Securities & investment

Miscellaneous finance

Real estate and miscellaneous finance — wouldn’t that figure into the credit crisis and the housing market collapse?

It looks like Obama didn’t just throw Hope and Change under the bus, but himself right along with it. Whether this is hypocrisy or incompetence, it’s stunning either way.

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I thought Biden's son was heading to Iraq?

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I thought Biden's son was heading to Iraq?

I'm not sure of that, but here's an excerpt from Senator Biden's web site: http://biden.senate.gov/senator/

Personal Information

Senator Biden grew up in New Castle County, Delaware. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965, and from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. Prior to his election to the Senate, Biden practiced law in Wilmington, Delaware and served on the New Castle County Council from 1970 to 1972. Since 1991, Biden has been an adjunct professor at the Widener University School of Law, where he teaches a seminar on constitutional law. He is a proud graduate of Archmere Academy, class of 1961.

Senator Biden lives in Wilmington, Delaware and commutes to Washington, DC when the Senate is in session. He is married to Dr. Jill Biden, the former Jill Jacobs, an educator in Delaware's schools for over twenty years. She currently is a professor teaching at Delaware Technical Community College. Senator Biden is the father of three children: Beau, Hunter and Ashley. Beau serves as Delaware's Attorney General, Ashley is a social worker and Hunter is a lawyer. The Bidens also have five grandchildren: Naomi, Finnegan, Roberta Mabel, Natalie, and Robert Hunter.