Flip-Flop Series: Barack Obama

September 24, 12:41 PMCongress ExaminerIgor Derysh

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Congress Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Courtesy of BarackObama.com

In part two of our Flip Flop Series (see Part 1: John McCain) we highlight the inconstencies of Senator Barack Obama:

Flip Flop #1: I was for public financing until I realized how much money I was getting.

This one is pretty simple.

In fall of 2007, Senator Obama said in an interview that if he were the Democratic nominee, he will “aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.”

After having sealed up the nomination in June, Obama announced that his campaign has decided “not to participate in the public financing system for the general election.”

Can you blame him? This guy was setting fundraising records left and right. Yes, you can.

After what was promised to be a publicly financed campaign, Obama continues to break fundraising records at the cost of his first flip flop in the Examiner Flip Flop Series.

Flip Flop #2: I was against tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve before I was for it.

In a press conference in July, Obama stated that he does not believe that “we should use the strategic oil reserves at this point.” He went on to say that the strategic oil reserve “has to be reserved for a genuine emergency.”

Less than a month later, Obama introduced a new energy plan that included tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an attempt to lower gas prices for the time being.

Even though at the above mentioned press conference Obama described a genuine emergency as something like a major oil facility being destroyed, Obama’s campaign put out this statement put out this statement to justify his change of heart:

"Barack Obama believes the doubling of oil prices in the past year is a crisis for millions of Americans and the transfer of wealth to oil producing countries, many of them hostile to our interests, is a threat to our national security."

Flip Flop #3: I was against immunity for TeleComs before I was for it.

In October 2007, Senator Obama’s spokesperson Bill Burton told the Talking Points Memo that “Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies."

All throughout the primaries Senator Obama continued that he is completely against retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies that cooperated with the NSA’s wiretapping.

Yet, when such a bill actually came to the floor, Obama voted for the legislation calling his vote for something he said he is entirely against a “compromise.”

Should have just voted “Present.”