Ten things you should know about Obama
BARACK OBAMA has tapped into the anger
of millions of Americans who want real change. He often speaks
eloquently against the Iraq war, inequality and injustice while
emphasising hope and change. But would an Obama presidency bring the
change we need? Is he really different from the rest of the corrupt,
corporate-controlled politicians? A deeper look reveals that Obama does
not deserve the support of workers, progressives or youth. Here are ten
reasons why:
His biggest contributors are Wall Street banks and
corporate law firms
Seven of his top ten donors are some of
the world’s biggest banks and financial institutions that are behind the
subprime mortgage crisis and are now looking for big bailouts and
corporate welfare from the federal government, while the rest of us are
left with the bill (see
www.opensecrets.org for a list of Obama’s donors).
He won’t end the US occupation of Iraq
While Obama says he would end the war
in 2009, like Clinton, he has been very careful to call only for the
removal of combat troops from Iraq. His position might look good when
compared to McCain’s statements about staying in Iraq for 100 years. In
reality, Obama’s plan would also maintain tens of thousands of troops,
special operations forces, and bases – as well as private mercenaries
like Blackwater – in Iraq for years to come.
He promotes the expansion of the US military
Like Bush, Obama has called for
increasing the size of the US military by 92,000 troops. He calls for
redeploying thousands of troops from Iraq to Afghanistan to strengthen
the US occupation there. Obama said, "we will probably need to ‘bump up’
the military budget in a new administration". (Foreign Policy in Focus,
William Hartung, 21 February) At $614bn (not counting the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan!) the proposed US military budget for 2008 is already
larger than the rest of the world’s military spending combined.
He has repeatedly voted to fund the war in Iraq
While he spoke out against the war
before entering the Senate, as a Senator Obama has voted for over $300bn
in funding to continue the war.
He supports the continuation of the for-profit
healthcare system
Michael Moore’s film Sicko has provided
ample evidence to show the key problem with the US healthcare system is
that it is controlled by big, for-profit insurance companies and HMOs,
yet Obama wants to leave power in their hands. Moore points out that
Obama is "now the second largest recipient of health industry payola
after Hillary", and now takes "more money from the people committed to
stopping universal healthcare than any of the Republican candidates". (michaelmoore.com,
4 January)
He supports NAFTA and corporate free trade
In the Ohio primaries, Obama decried
how corporate free trade deals like NAFTA have hurt millions of working
people. Yet within days, it came out that his top economic advisor was
telling the Canadian government not to take it seriously – it was "more
about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans"
(AP, 3 March) This hypocrisy is not new. The Associated Press reported,
"In his 2004 Senate campaign, [Obama] said the US should pursue more
deals such as NAFTA". (26 February)
He voted to re-authorise the Patriot Act in 2005
As Ralph Nader’s running mate, Matt
Gonzalez, points out, this was "easily the worst attack on civil
liberties in the last half-century. It allows for wholesale
eavesdropping on American citizens under the guise of anti-terrorism
efforts". (The Obama Craze: Count Me Out, beyondchron.com, 27 February)
He voted for the 2006 bill to build a 700-mile fence on
the US-Mexican border
This racist, anti-immigrant,
nationalistic bill will force immigrants to cross in even more dangerous
areas. Around 500 immigrants die each year attempting to cross the
border, a number that has soared since the early 1990s owing to the
growing militarisation of the border.
He supported Bill Clinton’s ‘welfare reform’
This bill disproportionately hurt poor
blacks and Latinos by cutting off guaranteed federal aid to families
with dependent children. Poor single mothers were forced to look for
jobs to qualify for aid under the guise of ‘personal responsibility’.
But the government failed to take responsibility for providing them with
decent, living-wage jobs, meaning many have sunk even deeper into
poverty, stuck working minimum-wage jobs, or been forced out onto the
streets.
He is not campaigning against the racist criminal
injustice system
While Obama calls for the elimination
of sentencing disparities for crack and powder cocaine, he has spent
very little political energy speaking out on this or other issues
relating to the racist criminal injustice system. In March 2007, Obama
voted to reinstate $1.15bn for the COPS programme. This Clinton-era
program put 100,000 more cops in the streets, leaving many inner-cities
feeling like occupied territory and contributing to the massive growth
in the US prison population, currently at 2.3 million, the highest in
the world by far.
Patrick Ayers
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