SilentReader wrote:
Despite the fact that he outspent Clinton 10 to 1 Obama took a two-digit loss to Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania today.

The voters spoke. Loud and clear.

62% of Pennsylvania gun-owners voted for Clinton. 58% churchgoers voted for Clinton. 58% late deciders voted for Clinton. 26% of Clinton voters would vote for McCain over Obama.

Good gracious. Do you think the voters are finally realizing that Obama is not who they really thought he was?

Fight on. To the bitter end. We'll be waiting to pick up the spoils.

Even though McCain is the only Republican primary candidate, 1 out of 4 Republicans still decided to vote for somebody else. Hmmmm..... Care to comment, SilentReader?

The simple truth (and truth it is) is that the Democratic Presidential nominee will win in November, no matter who it is. RushReader is doing nothing but spitting into the wind, the wind in this case being voter discontent with Bush and the Republicans. Here is the equation:

Recession (yes, we are in one and it will get worse)
PLUS
rising cost of food (been to the grocery store lately?)
PLUS
rising cost of gas (pumped any lately?)
PLUS
continuing quagmire in Iraq, with no end in sight.
PLUS
deepening income inequality (the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class get squeezed harder and harder)
PLUS
a health care system in crisis, as the number of uninsured, as a percentage of population, continues to grow and grow.
PLUS
a continually sinking dollar and continually rising deficit

EQUALS

Democratic landslide victory in November.

For those who point to current statistics that Clinton voters will not vote for Obama and vice versa, that is just short term emotion and frustration. It will change after the nominee is selected. For example, I currently support Obama, but will vote for Clinton without batting an eye if she is the nominee. In fact, she has one attribute even I like. She is a fighter, and will be more likely to throw the "swift boating" tactics (and "swift boat" they will) of the Republicans right back at them than Obama perhaps would.

Want more evidence? Consider RushReader, our resident radical conservative, who presently vocally supports McCain, but who said this just a few months ago:

SilentReader wrote:
McCain will not win. We, the conservatives, won't let him. For if he were to win it would destroy the Republican Party and everything it has stood for over the many years.
I rest my case.

Who paid Obama's 2005 property taxes? Before this campaign is over you'll know everything about Obama, and his questionable associations, including the answer to this question.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Follow the Money: Who paid Obama's 2005 property taxes? (2 Updates)
The April 21, 2008, RezkoWatch post Did Rezko help Obama buy his house? prompted several RezkoWatchers, including a financial consultant, to send emails regarding the possibly unpaid 2005 property taxes for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)'s Kenwood/Hyde Park mansion:

Although the property tax amount for 2005 is not known, as it was not reported on that year's income tax return, the amount for 2006 is�$16,181...

The facts

Cook County, Illinois property records show the following real estate transactions for the Obamas in 2005:

The Hyde Park condo closed on April 29, 2005. The warranty deed was recorded May 12, 2005.

The Hyde Park townhouse closed on June 15, 2005. The deed in trust was recorded June 21, 2005.

The 1040 Schedule A of the Obamas' joint income tax return for 2005 (page 4, line 6) does not reflect that any real estate taxes were paid in Cook County on either property. There is an issue with this, which will be discussed below.

The real estate taxes reported on the 2006 income tax return (page 8, line 6) are $16,181. The most recent income tax return for the Obamas is 2007. The reported real estate taxes (page 7, line 6) paid for 2007 are $22,162.

Property taxes are based on assessed value. It is the opinion of some RezkoWatchers that the assessed value on this $1.65 million property has been set too low. If true, the real estate taxes paid by the Obamas based on this low assessment are also low. One professional stated that, based on the information provided by Cook County, the annual Residential Property tax bill should be in the neighborhood of $33,000 to $35,000, which may or may not be accurate.

The discussion

Regarding the real estate taxes for 2005, the Obamas owned two separate taxable properties during that tax year�the condo and the townhouse. The income tax returns for 2005, however, show real estate taxes paid for neither property.

In most communities, unless Cook County does things differently, the amount of real estate taxes owed would have been pro-rated and made part of the closing costs on both properties. Property taxes in most jurisdictions are due and paid twice a year, at the end of June and at the end of December. Real estate taxes for the condo should have been paid by the Obamas at the April 29, 2005, closing, pro-rated if they had not been paid, and then picked up on the 1040 Schedule A by the Obamas' accountants.

Likewise, the real estate taxes for the townhouse would have been pro-rated, if necessary, at the June 15, 2005, closing, as well as paid when due by the end of December 2005, and then picked up on the 1040 Schedule A by the Obamas' accountants.

However, unless Cook County operates under some sort of an anomaly, there appears to have been a disconnect in reporting the Obamas' real estate taxes in 2005.

The conclusions

There are at least four possible answers for what appears to be an "issue."

1. Sen. Obama didn't pay the real estate taxes that are due.

2. Sen. Obama has chosen poor financial advisers, has used poor judgment, and/or is derelict in his personal finances.

One RezkoWatcher commented "if he can't take care of his own financial house, how can he take care of our nation's?"

3. Someone else paid Sen. Obama's real estate taxes when they were due.

This leads to more questions: Who would that person be, and what is their motivation�quid pro quo?

4. Someone in the Cook County Tax Assessor's office is doing Sen. Obama "a favor."

A RezkoWatcher commented: "It's Chicago right, how hard is it to get something like this 'fixed?' Obviously, Obama's privilege of not paying what the rest of us do speaks volumes as to his privileged arrogance."

Add this to the list of things Sen. Obama needs to explain.

Update #1: An anonymous RezkoWatcher writes: "The disposition of taxes on both properties will be in the closing documents. If Sen and Mrs Obama paid any of these annual taxes a canceled check can be easily produced. It should take less than a day to clear this up as was only in 2005."

Indeed.

Update #2: An astute RezkoWatcher (h/t RV) recalled the January 30, 2008, article Are there Tax Issues with the Obama/Rezko "Compound"? posted by Seymour Glass on the MyDD blog.

RezkoWatch also received the same email of which Glass wrote. There have been no substantial follow ups although one commenter referred to zillow.com as a source for what property taxes neighbors may have paid.

Go to this website:
http://media.suntimes.com/images/cds/gmapsobama/

You'll see Barack Obama's district from 1997-2002 where his friend Rezko the Slumlord (DBA Rezmar Corp) has a bunch of foreclosed and boarded-up low-income buildings(projects). Barack Obama funnelled the people's money to his friend Rezko to build these buildings. In return Rezko gave the people's money to Obama's campaign.

Twelve of the buildings are in foreclosure, and one is boarded up and four went into foreclosure and are boarded up. This is how Obama used the people's money in his district.

It makes me wonder what Obama will do in the White House. With the people's money.

SilentReader wrote:
Despite the fact that he outspent Clinton 10 to 1 Obama took a two-digit loss to Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania today.

The voters spoke. Loud and clear.

62% of Pennsylvania gun-owners voted for Clinton. 58% churchgoers voted for Clinton. 58% late deciders voted for Clinton. 26% of Clinton voters would vote for McCain over Obama.

Good gracious. Do you think the voters are finally realizing that Obama is not who they really thought he was?

Fight on. To the bitter end. We'll be waiting to pick up the spoils.

If President Obama promised StupidReader would win the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes, would StupidReader vote for him?

Hatem El-Hady, whose Ohio-based Islamic charity was shut down in 2006 for terrorist fundraising, is now fundraising for Barack Obama.

Terrorist Fundraisers for Obama
By Patrick Poole
FrontPageMagazine.com | Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Two years ago, Hatem El-Hady was the chairman of the Toledo, Ohio-based Islamic charity, Kindhearts, which was closed by the US government in February 2006 for terrorist fundraising and all its assets frozen. Today, El-Hady has redirected his fundraising efforts for his newest cause - Barack Obama for President.

El-Hady has his own dedicated page on Barack Obama's official website, chronicling his fundraising on behalf of the Democratic Party presidential candidate (his Obama profile established on February 19, 2008 - two years to the day after Kindhearts was raided by the feds). Not only that, but he has none other than Barack Obama's wife, Michelle Obama, listed as one of his friends (one of her 224 listed friends).

But his leadership of Kindhearts is not the only thing that has brought him scrutiny by federal law enforcement officials. Last summer, El-Hady was questioned by the FBI concerning his knowledge of possible conspirators in a UK-based terror plot.

Hatem El-Hady's interest in "change" is understandable. Following the closure of Kindhearts, he said in response to the government's closure of his organization:

"It's dirty politics," said Dr. Hatem Elhady, chairman of the board of KindHearts, which raised $5.1 million in 2004. "They do not like the way things are going in Palestine. They do not like the election results. But that is not our problem. Our problem is providing aid to people in desperate need of help."

The Department of Justice had a very different version of events. According to the DOJ, Kindhearts assumed the role of lead terrorist fundraising in the US after the government had closed other such Islamic "charities":

"KindHearts is the progeny of Holy Land Foundation and Global Relief Foundation, which attempted to mask their support for terrorism behind the façade of charitable giving," said Stuart Levey, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

Not only was Kindhearts engaged in providing funds for HAMAS in Lebanon and the West Bank, it had hired as a fundraising specialist the man identified as the designated HAMAS bag man in the US, Mohammed El-Mezain.

And as investigative reporter Joe Kaufman revealed, "The Black Hearts of Kindhearts", a number of other Kindhearts officials were tied to terrorist fundraising and support:

KindHearts� Director of Domestic Programs, Khalifah Ramadan. Ramadan was a training and evaluation consultant for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), two large Muslim organizations based in the United States that have links to overseas terror groups.
KindHearts� Representaive, Omar Shahin. Shahin was an Imam for the Islamic Center of Tucson (ICT), the former home of numerous terror operatives, including Wael Jelaidan, who later helped found Al-Qaeda.

KindHearts� Representative, Wagdy Ghuneim. Ghuneim, an Egyptian cleric, has been featured in KindHearts fundraising dinners for 2002, 2003 and 2004. During a rally at Brooklyn College, in May of 1998, Ghuneim attempted to persuade the crowd to support violent jihad and labeled Jews as �descendants of the apes.�

KindHearts� Representative, Hatem Bazian. Bazian is an Islamic Studies instructor and a member of the faculty of Near Eastern Studies at UC Berkley. In April of 2004, during a San Francisco anti-war rally, Bazian, a native Palestinian, called for an �intifada� against the United States. This was just two months prior to Bazian being featured in a KindHearts Fundraising Dinner, entitled �Palestinians in agony!�
KindHearts� Manager in Lebanon, Haytham Maghawri (a.k.a. Haytham Fawri). Maghawri, the past Social Services Director for HLF, according to the Treasury Department, �collected [KindHearts] funds and sent them to Hamas and other Salafi groups.� [One of the recipients of KindHearts funding was Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) Usama Hamdan, a leader of Hamas in Lebanon.]

And two months before Kindhearts closure by the US government, Beila Rabinowitz had revealed that the South Asia Division Coordinator for Kindhearts, Zulfiqar Ali Shah, had known ties to al-Qaeda, even conducting a 10-day tour with officials for the Tablighi Jamaat organization, which the New York Times had described as "a springboard for militancy" and a "recruitment" center for Al-Qaeda.

Barack Obama has promised change. And as indicated by the public support that his candidacy has received by accused terrorist fundraiser Hatem El-Hady, Obama's version of change that terrorists and their US supporters can believe in.