Eric Holder, attorney general nominee, was registered to lobby until 2004 on behalf of clients including Global Crossing, a bankrupt telecommunications firm.

Tom Vilsack, secretary of agriculture nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year on behalf of the National Education Association.

William Lynn, deputy defense secretary nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for defense contractor Raytheon, where he was a top executive.

William Corr, deputy health and human services secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until last year for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a non-profit that pushes to limit tobacco use.

David Hayes, deputy interior secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until 2006 for clients, including the regional utility San Diego Gas & Electric.

Mark Patterson, chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for financial giant Goldman Sachs.

Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, was registered to lobby until 2005 for clients, including the Coalition for Asbestos Resolution, U.S. Airways, Airborne Express and drug-maker ImClone.

Mona Sutphen, deputy White House Chief of Staff, was registered to lobby for clients, including Angliss International in 2003.

Melody Barnes, domestic policy council director, lobbied in 2003 and 2004 for liberal advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the American Constitution Society and the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Cecilia Munoz, White House director of intergovernmental affairs, was a lobbyist as recently as last year for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group.

 

Patrick Gaspard, White House political affairs director, was a lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union.

 

Michael Strautmanis, chief of staff to the president’s assistant for intergovernmental relations, lobbied for the American Association of Justice from 2001 until 2005.

If you are dumb enough to beleive that saying one thing during a presidential campaign and then doing something totally different once you are elected is a CHANGE, then you probably voted for Obama, and if you voted for Obama the only CHANGE you will be doing is changing your underwear when you see what this guy is really about! How long before Obama sends you shopping for a new pair of undies?  Stay tuned!

The mainstream media gave him a free pass, the American citizens gave him a free pass and the voters gave him a free pass. That would have been fine if Barack Obama's plans and desires were not so muddy. He said that he was only going to increase the taxes of the rich while eliminating the taxes of anyone living at the poverty level. It sounded too good to be true. And, like mom and dad always said, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is! You cannot eliminate the tax burden of any segment of the population. It is impossible. Let me explain. Federal income taxes are not the only tax burden that the average American faces. Our tax burden is actually much higher than the bottom line of your income tax return. Much higher, indeed. Everytime that you purchase an item, from a pack of cigarettes to a new car, there are embedded "corporate" taxes that you must pay on top of the sales tax that you are hit with. The phrase "corporate taxes" is very misleading. A business or corporation pay no taxes. You pay the taxes for them. The business simply collects the "corporate tax" from the consumer and passes them on the Washington. Dr Dale Jorgenson, the Chairman of the Harvard Economics Department, conducted a study in which he came to the conclusion that the consumer pays an estimated 22 percent embedded tax on everything that they buy. That 22 percent covers the tax burden on every company involved in the manufacture of that product. Lets take a pair of jeans as an example. The company that manufactures the jeans must first purchase their textiles from a textile company. Embedded in the price of the textiles is the tax burden of the textile manufacturer. That company has to pay a tax on their payroll, a portion of every employees social security and medicare taxes and a tax on the products that they buy to manufacture the textile. They then embed these taxes into the price of the textile so that they can mantain their profit margin on the textile. So, when the jean company purchases that textile, they are paying approximately 22 percent more for the textile, in the form of embeded taxes. That said, the jean company is not simply going to pay that 22 percent and not pass it on down the line. That would be bad for business. Instead, they pass that 22 percent right on down the line. Where is that end of the line? The consumer. That 22 percent that started at the textile manufacturer ends up coming out of your wallet. The consumer gets stuck with the bill. You pay more than sales taxes everytime you push a cart through a checkout line. The sad truth of that statement? Most people do not even realize that they do! Now, back to Barack Obama's free ride to the White House. He made the illusion that only the rich and the corporations would pay more in taxes. A few honest questions by the mainstream media would have brought to light the fact that an increase in taxes on corporations means an increase in taxes on the consumer. Unless only rich people buy things in this country, which we know to be a falsehood, every single American will see an increase in their taxes. Rich and poor alike. Since, however, Americans have been trained to view their tax obligations only as the bottom line of their tax returns, most will never realize what the anointed one is doing to them. He may well lower their income tax burden but will raise their taxes in other areas to compensate for their savings! He will lower their taxes while raising their taxes at the same time. Another example of Barack's dishonest lowering of taxes on the poor is the fact that he plans to raise the taxes on cigarettes by 61 cents a pack. Back in the early 1900s, this may well have fit into the "tax the rich" philosophy that Barack was and still is touting. Today, however, the lower income individuals actually smoke more than the higher income folks. The quote that came right out of Barack Obama's mouth concerning this increase in the cigarette tax sums up everything. "Everybody's going to have to give," he siad. Finally, the truth straight out of the anointed one's mouth. Too bad it came after the election. The only change I have noticed so far is a "change" in Barack Obama's rhetoric. Stay tuned everyone, there will surely be more truths and "changes" in rhetoric to come!

Somehow, both of these ballots were counted in Franken's favor. The problem does not reside in the physical recounting of votes during a tightly contested election. A recount can actually help to restore confidence in our election system. However, when a board is established to decide "voter intent," the problem starts to become quite evident. When you couple that with the fact that ballots are being looked at in a non-consistent manner and you have the workings of a blatant fraud! You can make your own vote as to what you think about the Minnesota scam. However, when casting your vote of public opinion, please do not mark your oval with an "X". Welcome to the United States Senate Mr. Smalley!

And they're off!! The Democratic controlled congress is already salivating at the prospects of their opportunity to raise taxes. Rest assured, though, because Mr. Obama said that the Democrats only want to raise the taxes on the rich, right? Don't count on it! Currently, a federal commission created by congress is urging lawmakers to raise the current tax on gasoline and deisel fuel by fifty percent. They want the tax on gasoline raised by ten cents a gallon and the tax on diesel fuel raised by about twelve cents a gallon. I guess, if you believe everything Barack said during his campaign, only "rich" people buy gasoline and diesel fuel. Us poor folk, according to this new proposal, still take the old horse and buggy to work. Well, at least their not raising the taxes on the poor man's fuel, horse feed. We knew the options that we had back in November and we decided to give both houses of congress, as well as the White House, to the Democrats. Their promises sounded great, but a little investigation told us that their hopes had no historic precedence in the Democratic Party. In order to come through with their promises of national health care, they will have to raise taxes on all of us, and this new gas tax is only the beginning. Soon, the average income will be taxed more and so will your capital gains, inheritance and social security! Once again, if you voted for Barack, thanks! Thank you for believing everything you heard on the television and not checking with other sources of information to get other points of view. Thank you for voting for "change" but not asking anybody what the "change" would be. Thank you for making sure that the average Joe is paying for the neighbors health care and, most of all, thank you for not being a Republican. I would hate to think that the people who share my political affiliation were responsible for encouraging an increase in the fuel tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax and social security tax. You know, the taxes that only the "rich" people pay. I just hope that someday I can be a multi million dollar rich guy who can buy one of those expensive motorized vehicles I see in the movies! Man, the chicks would dig it! I even heard that you can listen to real bands and rock stars when you drive it down the road. Ahhh, to be rich! And to think that Barack fooled a majority of United States voters. Goes to show you that we ain't as smart as we says we is!