9.4.08

Hillary & Obama Dust-Up Over Oil Contributions

A war of words has been unleashed between Democratic Presidential candidates Barack Obama & Hillary Clinton since Obama began airing an advertisement that states he has not taken any campaign contributions from oil companies.

FactCheck.org took Obama to task for this claim, saying it was misleading. According to FactCheck.org, a law has been on the books for over a century that prohibits individual companies from giving campaign contributions to Presidential candidates.

In addition, the site points out that Obama has accepted more than $213,000 from individuals and their spouses who work for oil and gas companies. Two of Obama's contribution bundlers are executives at oil companies and have raised $50,000 and $100,000 for him.

In response to Obama's claims, Hillary has released a radio ad that points out Obama's misleading characterization of his relationship with oil & gas companies while also highlighting the fact that he voted for Dick Cheney's 2005 Energy Bill. In the ad, she appropriately calls that bill a "pinata of perks" for the oil industry.

There really is no reason why any of these candidates should be taking money from the oil and gas industry. Both Hillary and Obama have successfully raised millions of dollars from their online contributors, why in the world would either create relationships with these corporations for a mere $50,000 or $100,000? To get past the strangle-hold of the oil & gas companies, we have to learn to say "no" to their money.

Listen to Hillary's ad HERE (It takes a few seconds to get to the ad)

Read the FactCheck.org piece on Obama's claims HERE

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