Author Topic: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency  (Read 142869 times)

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #300 on: May 17, 2018, 04:26:14 PM »
rump tweet: "Obama FBI spying on my campaign could be 'bigger than Watergate'"
thehill.com ^ | 5/17/18 | JULIA MANCHESTER
Posted on 5/17/2018, 7:02:13 PM by Liz

President Trump touted a report saying the FBI under ex-Pres Obama spied on the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential race, saying that the revelation could be "bigger than Watergate."

“Wow, word coming out that the Obama FBI 'SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN IMBEDDED INFORMANT,'" the president tweeted in reference to a National Review report published last week.“Andrew McCarthy says, 'There’s probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign.' If so, this is bigger than Watergate!”

The report alleges that Obama-led agencies used their surveillance powers to monitor the Trump campaign.

This is not the first time that the Obama administration has been accused of spying on the Trump campaign. Last year, Trump accused the former president of wiretapping Trump Tower shortly before the 2016 election. “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped,' in Trump Tower just before victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!" the president tweeted in March 2017.

"The president used the word 'wiretap' in quotes to mean broadly surveillance and other activities during that," former WH press secretary, Sean Spicer, said. "There is no question that during the Obama administration, there were actions about surveillance, and other activities, that occurred in the 2016 elections."

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #301 on: May 18, 2018, 09:06:23 AM »
https://ntknetwork.com/the-obama-library-is-off-to-a-rocky-start



What a failure.   This fool could not even manage a 1 car funeral.   Moron.   

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.


Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #304 on: May 21, 2018, 10:31:47 AM »
Obamas ink multiyear deal with Netflix(BARF ALERT/Cancellations?)
thehill.com ^ | 5/21/2018 | Judy Kurtz
Posted on 5/21/2018, 1:26:07 PM

The Obamas are getting into the movie-making business, teaming up with Netflix on a multiyear deal.

Netflix announced the partnership in a Monday tweet.

(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...

________________________ ________________________ ___

Gay porn?



Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #305 on: May 21, 2018, 01:05:52 PM »
The Obamas just signed a multiyear deal to make shows and movies for Netflix
Barack and Michelle Obama have entered a multiyear agreement with Netflix to produce series and features.
The Obamas say they hope "to promote greater empathy and understanding between peoples, and help them share their stories with the entire world."
Michelle Castillo   | @mishcastillo
Published 3 Hours Ago  Updated 54 Mins Ago
CNBC.com
 The Obamas just signed a multi-year deal to make shows and movies for Netflix   The Obamas just signed a multiyear deal to make shows and movies for Netflix 
51 Mins Ago | 00:53
The Obamas are headed to Netflix.

The company announced Monday that the former first couple have signed a multiyear agreement to produce films and series for Netflix. The deal can include scripted and unscripted series, as well as documentaries and features. The content will be produced by Higher Ground Productions.

Was7042802
Getty Images
"One of the simple joys of our time in public service was getting to meet so many fascinating people from all walks of life, and to help them share their experiences with a wider audience," the former president said in a statement. "That's why Michelle and I are so excited to partner with Netflix — we hope to cultivate and curate the talented, inspiring, creative voices who are able to promote greater empathy and understanding between peoples, and help them share their stories with the entire world."

Obama previously appeared on Netflix's "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman."

Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said in a statement the Obamas "are uniquely positioned to discover and highlight stories of people who make a difference in their communities and strive to change the world for the better." A New York Times report in March said Obama's projects are not intended to address President Donald Trump or conservatives. Instead, it would focus on inspirational content.

________________________ ________

LOL


Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #306 on: May 25, 2018, 08:48:48 AM »
'I didn't have scandals,' Obama seemingly jokes in tech conference talk
Fox News ^ | 5/25/18 | By Nicole Darrah
Posted on 5/25/2018, 9:25:20 AM by NohSpinZone

Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday seemingly joked to an audience at a Las Vegas tech conference that his eight-year presidency was scandal-free.

"I didn't have scandals, which seems like it shouldn't be something you brag about," Obama said, according to Newsweek.

The 44th president was reportedly referencing the scandal-plagued Trump administration, saying that "if you look at the history of the modern presidency, coming out of the modern presidency without anybody going to jail is really good. It's a big deal."

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #307 on: May 25, 2018, 10:28:21 AM »
That's a funny line , regardless of the situation.
Can I steal it and use it ?

Yamcha

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 13292
  • Fundie
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #308 on: May 27, 2018, 06:49:44 AM »
woah, "forever"  :o
a

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #309 on: May 27, 2018, 08:12:45 AM »
woah, "forever"  :o

She must be hitting the chooms coke pot and weed and booze her wife takes

Primemuscle

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 40625
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #310 on: May 27, 2018, 07:05:13 PM »
https://nypost.com/2018/05/16/dems-in-denial-on-whats-driving-obamacare-premiums-through-the-roof/?utm_source=facebook_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons


Obamashitcare is an absolute failure. 

....and yet, we still have most of it until Congress can come up with something better.  ;) Even the individual mandate change doesn't go into effect until 2019.

Yamcha

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 13292
  • Fundie
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #311 on: May 31, 2018, 03:57:54 AM »
the stages of depression  :'( :'( :'( :'(
a

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #312 on: May 31, 2018, 05:03:32 AM »
the stages of depression  :'( :'( :'( :'(

As detached and delusional as ever

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.

Yamcha

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 13292
  • Fundie
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #314 on: May 31, 2018, 02:43:00 PM »
 :D
a

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #315 on: June 04, 2018, 05:26:28 AM »

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #316 on: June 04, 2018, 08:05:33 PM »

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #317 on: June 06, 2018, 08:04:36 AM »
Obama-era license aimed to let Iran convert money in dollars

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration secretly sought to give Iran access — albeit briefly — to the U.S. financial system by sidestepping sanctions kept in place after the 2015 nuclear deal, despite repeatedly telling Congress and the public it had no plans to do so.

An investigation by Senate Republicans released Wednesday sheds light on the delicate balance the Obama administration sought to strike after the deal, as it worked to ensure Iran received its promised benefits without playing into the hands of the deal’s opponents. Amid a tense political climate, Iran hawks in the U.S., Israel and elsewhere argued that the United States was giving far too much to Tehran and that the windfall would be used to fund extremism and other troubling Iranian activity.


The report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations revealed that under President Barack Obama, the Treasury Department issued a license in February 2016, never previously disclosed, that would have allowed Iran to convert $5.7 billion it held at a bank in Oman from Omani rials into euros by exchanging them first into U.S. dollars. If the Omani bank had allowed the exchange without such a license, it would have violated sanctions that bar Iran from transactions that touch the U.S. financial system.

The effort was unsuccessful because American banks — themselves afraid of running afoul of U.S. sanctions — declined to participate. The Obama administration approached two U.S. banks to facilitate the conversion, the report said, but both refused, citing the reputational risk of doing business with or for Iran.

“The Obama administration misled the American people and Congress because they were desperate to get a deal with Iran,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, the subcommittee’s chairman.

Issuing the license was not illegal. Still, it went above and beyond what the Obama administration was required to do under the terms of the nuclear agreement. Under that deal, the U.S. and world powers gave Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for curbing its nuclear program. Last month, President Donald Trump declared the U.S. was pulling out of what he described as a “disastrous deal.”

The license issued to Bank Muscat stood in stark contrast to repeated public statements from the Obama White House, the Treasury and the State Department, all of which denied that the administration was contemplating allowing Iran access to the U.S. financial system.


Shortly after the nuclear deal was sealed in July 2015, then-Treasury Secretary Jack Lew testified that even with the sanctions relief, Iran “will continue to be denied access to the world’s largest financial and commercial market.” A month later, one of Lew’s top deputies, Adam Szubin, testified that despite the nuclear deal “Iran will be denied access to the world’s most important market and unable to deal in the world’s most important currency.”

Yet almost immediately after the sanctions relief took effect in January 2016, Iran began to complain that it wasn’t reaping the benefits it had envisioned. Iran argued that other sanctions — such as those linked to human rights, terrorism and missile development — were scaring off potential investors and banks who feared any business with Iran would lead to punishment. The global financial system is heavily intertwined with U.S. banks, making it nearly impossible to conduct many international transactions without touching New York in one way or another.

Former Obama administration officials declined to comment for the record.

However, they said the decision to grant the license had been made in line with the spirt of the deal, which included allowing Iran to regain access to foreign reserves that had been off-limits because of the sanctions. They said public comments made by the Obama administration at the time were intended to dispel incorrect reports about nonexistent proposals that would have gone much farther by letting Iran actually buy or sell things in dollars.

The former officials spoke on condition of anonymity because many are still involved in national security issues.

As the Obama administration pondered how to address Iran’s complaints in 2016, reports in The Associated Press and other media outlets revealed that the U.S. was considering additional sanctions relief, including issuing licenses that would allow Iran limited transactions in dollars. Democratic and Republican lawmakers argued against it throughout the late winter, spring and summer of 2016. They warned that unless Tehran was willing to give up more, the U.S. shouldn’t give Iran anything more than it already had.

At the time, the Obama administration downplayed those concerns while speaking in general terms about the need for the U.S. to live up to its part of the deal. Secretary of State John Kerry and other top aides fanned out across Europe, Asia and the Middle East trying to convince banks and businesses they could do business with Iran without violating sanctions and facing steep fines.

“Since Iran has kept its end of the deal, it is our responsibility to uphold ours, in both letter and spirit,” Lew said at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in March 2016, without offering details.

That same week, the AP reported that the Treasury had prepared a draft of a license that would have given Iran much broader permission to convert its assets from foreign currencies into easier-to-spend currencies like euros, yen or rupees, by first exchanging them for dollars at offshore financial institutions.

The draft involved a general license, a blanket go-ahead that allows all transactions of a certain type, rather than a specific license like the one given to Oman’s Bank Muscat, which only covers specific transactions and institutions. The proposal would have allowed dollars to be used in currency exchanges provided that no Iranian banks, no Iranian rials and no sanctioned Iranian individuals or businesses were involved, and that the transaction did not begin or end in U.S. dollars.

Obama administration officials at the time assured concerned lawmakers that a general license wouldn’t be coming. But the report from the Republican members of the Senate panel showed that a draft of the license was indeed prepared, though it was never published.

And when questioned by lawmakers about the possibility of granting Iran any kind of access to the U.S. financial system, Obama-era officials never volunteered that the specific license for Bank Muscat in Oman had been issued two months earlier.

According to the report, Iran is believed to have found other ways to access its money, possibly by exchanging it in smaller quantities through another currency.

The situation resulted from the fact that Iran had stored billions in Omani rials, a currency that’s notoriously hard to convert. The U.S. dollar is the world’s dominant currency, so allowing it to be used as a conversion instrument for Iranian assets was the easiest and most efficient way to speed up Iran’s access to its own funds.

For example: If the Iranians want to sell oil to India, they would likely want to be paid in euros instead of rupees, so they could more easily use the proceeds to purchase European goods. That process commonly starts with the rupees being converted into dollars, just for a moment, before being converted once again into euros.

U.S. sanctions block Iran from exchanging the money on its own. And Asian and European banks are wary because U.S. regulators have levied billions of dollars in fines in recent years and threatened transgressors with a cutoff from the far more lucrative American market.

Yamcha

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 13292
  • Fundie
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #318 on: June 09, 2018, 10:24:17 AM »
Obama-era license aimed to let Iran convert money in dollars

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration secretly sought to give Iran access — albeit briefly — to the U.S. financial system by sidestepping sanctions kept in place after the 2015 nuclear deal, despite repeatedly telling Congress and the public it had no plans to do so.

An investigation by Senate Republicans released Wednesday sheds light on the delicate balance the Obama administration sought to strike after the deal, as it worked to ensure Iran received its promised benefits without playing into the hands of the deal’s opponents. Amid a tense political climate, Iran hawks in the U.S., Israel and elsewhere argued that the United States was giving far too much to Tehran and that the windfall would be used to fund extremism and other troubling Iranian activity.


The report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations revealed that under President Barack Obama, the Treasury Department issued a license in February 2016, never previously disclosed, that would have allowed Iran to convert $5.7 billion it held at a bank in Oman from Omani rials into euros by exchanging them first into U.S. dollars. If the Omani bank had allowed the exchange without such a license, it would have violated sanctions that bar Iran from transactions that touch the U.S. financial system.

The effort was unsuccessful because American banks — themselves afraid of running afoul of U.S. sanctions — declined to participate. The Obama administration approached two U.S. banks to facilitate the conversion, the report said, but both refused, citing the reputational risk of doing business with or for Iran.

“The Obama administration misled the American people and Congress because they were desperate to get a deal with Iran,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, the subcommittee’s chairman.

Issuing the license was not illegal. Still, it went above and beyond what the Obama administration was required to do under the terms of the nuclear agreement. Under that deal, the U.S. and world powers gave Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for curbing its nuclear program. Last month, President Donald Trump declared the U.S. was pulling out of what he described as a “disastrous deal.”

The license issued to Bank Muscat stood in stark contrast to repeated public statements from the Obama White House, the Treasury and the State Department, all of which denied that the administration was contemplating allowing Iran access to the U.S. financial system.


Shortly after the nuclear deal was sealed in July 2015, then-Treasury Secretary Jack Lew testified that even with the sanctions relief, Iran “will continue to be denied access to the world’s largest financial and commercial market.” A month later, one of Lew’s top deputies, Adam Szubin, testified that despite the nuclear deal “Iran will be denied access to the world’s most important market and unable to deal in the world’s most important currency.”

Yet almost immediately after the sanctions relief took effect in January 2016, Iran began to complain that it wasn’t reaping the benefits it had envisioned. Iran argued that other sanctions — such as those linked to human rights, terrorism and missile development — were scaring off potential investors and banks who feared any business with Iran would lead to punishment. The global financial system is heavily intertwined with U.S. banks, making it nearly impossible to conduct many international transactions without touching New York in one way or another.

Former Obama administration officials declined to comment for the record.

However, they said the decision to grant the license had been made in line with the spirt of the deal, which included allowing Iran to regain access to foreign reserves that had been off-limits because of the sanctions. They said public comments made by the Obama administration at the time were intended to dispel incorrect reports about nonexistent proposals that would have gone much farther by letting Iran actually buy or sell things in dollars.

The former officials spoke on condition of anonymity because many are still involved in national security issues.

As the Obama administration pondered how to address Iran’s complaints in 2016, reports in The Associated Press and other media outlets revealed that the U.S. was considering additional sanctions relief, including issuing licenses that would allow Iran limited transactions in dollars. Democratic and Republican lawmakers argued against it throughout the late winter, spring and summer of 2016. They warned that unless Tehran was willing to give up more, the U.S. shouldn’t give Iran anything more than it already had.

At the time, the Obama administration downplayed those concerns while speaking in general terms about the need for the U.S. to live up to its part of the deal. Secretary of State John Kerry and other top aides fanned out across Europe, Asia and the Middle East trying to convince banks and businesses they could do business with Iran without violating sanctions and facing steep fines.

“Since Iran has kept its end of the deal, it is our responsibility to uphold ours, in both letter and spirit,” Lew said at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in March 2016, without offering details.

That same week, the AP reported that the Treasury had prepared a draft of a license that would have given Iran much broader permission to convert its assets from foreign currencies into easier-to-spend currencies like euros, yen or rupees, by first exchanging them for dollars at offshore financial institutions.

The draft involved a general license, a blanket go-ahead that allows all transactions of a certain type, rather than a specific license like the one given to Oman’s Bank Muscat, which only covers specific transactions and institutions. The proposal would have allowed dollars to be used in currency exchanges provided that no Iranian banks, no Iranian rials and no sanctioned Iranian individuals or businesses were involved, and that the transaction did not begin or end in U.S. dollars.

Obama administration officials at the time assured concerned lawmakers that a general license wouldn’t be coming. But the report from the Republican members of the Senate panel showed that a draft of the license was indeed prepared, though it was never published.

And when questioned by lawmakers about the possibility of granting Iran any kind of access to the U.S. financial system, Obama-era officials never volunteered that the specific license for Bank Muscat in Oman had been issued two months earlier.

According to the report, Iran is believed to have found other ways to access its money, possibly by exchanging it in smaller quantities through another currency.

The situation resulted from the fact that Iran had stored billions in Omani rials, a currency that’s notoriously hard to convert. The U.S. dollar is the world’s dominant currency, so allowing it to be used as a conversion instrument for Iranian assets was the easiest and most efficient way to speed up Iran’s access to its own funds.

For example: If the Iranians want to sell oil to India, they would likely want to be paid in euros instead of rupees, so they could more easily use the proceeds to purchase European goods. That process commonly starts with the rupees being converted into dollars, just for a moment, before being converted once again into euros.

U.S. sanctions block Iran from exchanging the money on its own. And Asian and European banks are wary because U.S. regulators have levied billions of dollars in fines in recent years and threatened transgressors with a cutoff from the far more lucrative American market.
a

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #319 on: June 10, 2018, 07:13:42 AM »
Crisis at the National Archives (Hussein records are missing)
Real Clear Politics ^ | 6/10/18 | Thomas Lipscomb
Posted on 6/10/2018, 10:07:14 AM by Libloather

In the middle of directing the difficult task of transferring the historically important records of the Obama administration into the National Archives, the archivist in charge, David Ferriero, ran into a serious problem: A lot of key records are missing.

**SNIP**

To support this effort, in 2014 President Obama signed the Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments. For the first time electronic government records were placed under the 1950 Federal Records Act. The new law also included updates clarifying "the responsibilities of federal government officials when using non-government email systems" and empowering "the National Archives to safeguard original and classified records from unauthorized removal.” Additionally, it gives the Archivist of the United States the final authority in determining just what is a government record.

And yet the accumulation of recent congressional testimony has made it clear that the Obama administration itself engaged in the wholesale destruction and “loss” of tens of thousands of government records covered under the act as well as the intentional evasion of the government records recording system by engaging in private email exchanges. So far, former President Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Lynch and several EPA officials have been named as offenders. The IRS suffered record “losses” as well. Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy called it “an unauthorized private communications system for official business for the patent purpose of defeating federal record-keeping and disclosure laws.”

(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...

Board_SHERIF

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 7272
  • UK Independence Party
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #320 on: June 10, 2018, 07:52:46 AM »
The Gay Muslim is the most corrupted POTUS to ever serve dupe
K

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #321 on: June 11, 2018, 06:56:40 AM »
www.politico.com


Inside Obama’s secret meetings with 2020 contenders

Still the reluctant leader of the Democratic Party, Obama has been providing counsel to Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and other presidential hopefuls.

By EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE 06/11/2018 05:02 AM EDT

Former President Barack Obama so far has avoided direct conflict with President Donald Trump, but that doesn't mean he's not looking toward 2020.


Barack Obama has in recent months met with at least nine prospective 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Deval Patrick, pulling them in for one-on-one sessions at his Washington office.

All the meetings were arranged quietly, without even some close advisers to the people involved being told of the conversations, in part because of how much Obama bristles at his private meetings becoming public knowledge. All have been confirmed to POLITICO by multiple people who have been briefed on the secretive sit-downs.

The meetings have been at Obama’s personal office on the third floor of the World Wildlife Fund building in D.C.’s West End neighborhood, and they show how a stream of ambitious, searching politicians are looking for guidance and support from the man who has remained the reluctant leader of the Democratic Party, eager to be involved, though not directly. He's not making any promises of support, though, and is not expected to endorse in the 2020 race until after a nominee has emerged.

Obama so far has avoided direct conflict with President Donald Trump — save for a few public statements criticizing his moves attempting to dismantle the Iran nuclear deal, Obamacare and the protection program for Dreamers, though without naming Trump.

But Obama is concerned about how his own party is responding, and how it can be best positioned to win in the midterms and in the next presidential cycle to beat back the president and his politics.



He doesn’t see himself as the person to come up with the plan, people who know about the meetings say, but he is eager to be a sounding board and counselor to the Democrats he sees as playing a role in shaping the party’s future.

Obama’s office declined comment on all the meetings.

Sanders, who has more respect for Obama and the work of his administration than is often portrayed, requested his meeting with the former president, held in mid-March, people told about that conversation confirmed.

They talked about the future of the party and their different roles in it. They talked about what the party should be focused on, and what would be distractions. Obama discussed his views on the differences between idealism and practicality, and Sanders responded with his.

They did not get into a specific discussion about whether Sanders would run again for president in 2020.

The meeting with Warren was Obama’s second since leaving office, according to people who know about both encounters. The first was in the spring of 2017 after Warren said she was “troubled” by the $400,000 Obama was getting to speak at a Wall Street investment firm, describing it as an example of the influence of money that she called “a snake that slithers through Washington.”

Obama responded by inviting her in. They heard each other out. She did not apologize, but she acknowledged what she’d kicked up with the comment, and they talked about keeping that conversation in mind for the future.

The second meeting, warmer from start to finish, came just this past April and ran well into 90 minutes. They talked about Richard Cordray, the former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who is now the Democratic nominee for governor in Ohio. They reminisced. They talked about Trump.

Obama and Biden remain personally close and speak by phone, and the former vice president also came by for an in-person meeting in January. He’s waiting until after the midterms to make a decision on 2020, though many people see him as leaning toward it. The 2020 race and what Biden’s going to do haven’t come up in those discussions, though, with Obama waiting on his friend to make a decision, according to people who have been briefed on their conversations.

Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor and personal friend whom Obama and many in his inner circle are eager to see get into the 2020 race — and who has recently been making rumblings that he very well might — has been in to the office too. Patrick, though, is on the board of the Obama Foundation, giving them at least an outward reason for the meeting beyond politics.

“The president was generous with his time and advice, and he was excited to talk about the future,” said one person familiar with one of the meetings.

Many of the conversations have circled around Obama holding forth about how much Democrats should be heading into the midterms talking about the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election versus focusing on kitchen table issues. Don’t chase the shiny objects, he tells them. Don’t hyperventilate over the flash of any tweet. Think about what’s going to stick in the long term.

This has all happened against the backdrop of Obama’s continuing work on his memoir, which he fell behind schedule on writing and for which he does not yet have a release date. He’s also been doing major fundraising for his foundation, and building out a stronger sense of what sort of programs it should have to fulfill his vision of it as a social organizing engine for creating more good in the world.

And he’s continued to make those very well-paid speeches.

On the road and over the phone, major donors and other panicked Democrats have been pushing him to take on a bigger public role in the fight against Trump. He has demurred on that — for now — keeping to his plan of waiting until the fall to begin making endorsements and campaign appearances.

In private, it’s a different story. He’s urged donors to contribute to the Democratic National Committee. And he’s been eager to bring in many of the people he sees as key players in grappling with the crisis the party is in, as well as leading it to whatever comes next. His staff is building out his plan to start endorsing and hitting the campaign trail in the fall, with an emphasis on down-ballot races.

Meanwhile, people who have been told about other meetings confirmed that they’re going on with some of the lesser known potential 2020 candidates, too. Mitch Landrieu, the former New Orleans mayor being urged to run for president — including by some Obama alumni — sat with the former president in the fall. Jason Kander, the failed 2016 Missouri Senate candidate who’s looking at making an against-all-odds White House run, stopped by in January. And Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who’s thinking of a run of his own, was in to see Obama at the end of last year.

Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles and one of the early supporters of Obama’s 2008 campaign, hasn’t been to the Washington office, but he got his private meeting when Obama was in town to attend a dinner in May for the American Constitution Center, say several people who were told of that meeting.


According to multiple people familiar with them, the meetings run long, often over an hour. Obama tends to give advice, guidance, talk about the future of the party, and everyone’s places in it. The conversations can be searching, get philosophical, then quickly veer back to brass tacks. He’ll give his thoughts on campaigns. He’ll offer to help make sure donors and party bigwigs are returning calls.

The people in them walk out appreciative but tight-lipped. They worry that if word gets out, Obama might renege on his offers to help and not invite them again if they do.

Among the other speculated 2020 candidates who haven’t been through: Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Terry McAuliffe. Cory Booker was in to see Obama last year, shortly after he returned from his extended post-White House vacation, but hasn’t been back since.

But run-ins like that one are among the ways that the meetings get started. Obama sees a future-minded Democrat he’s interested in getting to know more and tells them vaguely that they should come by to see him. And they are eager to.

It’s not just prospective presidential candidates, according to people aware of other meetings. Harry Reid, the former Senate Democratic leader, stopped by while on a trip through town at the end of March.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has urged Obama over the phone to see massive fundraising as the best way he can help Senate Democrats in 2018. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has also been on the phone with Obama, urging him toward fundraising — and he’s now scheduled to do a fundraising event for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on June 29 in the Bay Area. Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez also continues to check in.

Other senators have been by as well, including Colorado’s Michael Bennet, Delaware’s Chris Coons and Alabama’s Doug Jones, according to people familiar with those meetings.

“As a former senator and president, it was a privilege to meet with him and hear his perspectives and advice on leadership, separate and apart from any politics,” said Jones, who pointed out that he also met with Trump and is hoping to meet with George W. Bush.


Obama’s also met with Eric Holder to talk about the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, but the chatter that the former attorney general has kept going about how he might actually run for president himself hasn’t been at the forefront of those conversations, said people told about those conversations.

“I think it’s great that he’s meeting with people who are interested in the future of the country and the party,” said a person familiar with another one of the meetings.

Yamcha

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 13292
  • Fundie
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #322 on: June 11, 2018, 08:32:08 AM »
www.politico.com


Inside Obama’s secret meetings with 2020 contenders

Still the reluctant leader of the Democratic Party, Obama has been providing counsel to Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and other presidential hopefuls.

By EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE 06/11/2018 05:02 AM EDT

Former President Barack Obama so far has avoided direct conflict with President Donald Trump, but that doesn't mean he's not looking toward 2020.


Barack Obama has in recent months met with at least nine prospective 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Deval Patrick, pulling them in for one-on-one sessions at his Washington office.

All the meetings were arranged quietly, without even some close advisers to the people involved being told of the conversations, in part because of how much Obama bristles at his private meetings becoming public knowledge. All have been confirmed to POLITICO by multiple people who have been briefed on the secretive sit-downs.

The meetings have been at Obama’s personal office on the third floor of the World Wildlife Fund building in D.C.’s West End neighborhood, and they show how a stream of ambitious, searching politicians are looking for guidance and support from the man who has remained the reluctant leader of the Democratic Party, eager to be involved, though not directly. He's not making any promises of support, though, and is not expected to endorse in the 2020 race until after a nominee has emerged.

Obama so far has avoided direct conflict with President Donald Trump — save for a few public statements criticizing his moves attempting to dismantle the Iran nuclear deal, Obamacare and the protection program for Dreamers, though without naming Trump.

But Obama is concerned about how his own party is responding, and how it can be best positioned to win in the midterms and in the next presidential cycle to beat back the president and his politics.



He doesn’t see himself as the person to come up with the plan, people who know about the meetings say, but he is eager to be a sounding board and counselor to the Democrats he sees as playing a role in shaping the party’s future.

Obama’s office declined comment on all the meetings.

Sanders, who has more respect for Obama and the work of his administration than is often portrayed, requested his meeting with the former president, held in mid-March, people told about that conversation confirmed.

They talked about the future of the party and their different roles in it. They talked about what the party should be focused on, and what would be distractions. Obama discussed his views on the differences between idealism and practicality, and Sanders responded with his.

They did not get into a specific discussion about whether Sanders would run again for president in 2020.

The meeting with Warren was Obama’s second since leaving office, according to people who know about both encounters. The first was in the spring of 2017 after Warren said she was “troubled” by the $400,000 Obama was getting to speak at a Wall Street investment firm, describing it as an example of the influence of money that she called “a snake that slithers through Washington.”

Obama responded by inviting her in. They heard each other out. She did not apologize, but she acknowledged what she’d kicked up with the comment, and they talked about keeping that conversation in mind for the future.

The second meeting, warmer from start to finish, came just this past April and ran well into 90 minutes. They talked about Richard Cordray, the former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who is now the Democratic nominee for governor in Ohio. They reminisced. They talked about Trump.

Obama and Biden remain personally close and speak by phone, and the former vice president also came by for an in-person meeting in January. He’s waiting until after the midterms to make a decision on 2020, though many people see him as leaning toward it. The 2020 race and what Biden’s going to do haven’t come up in those discussions, though, with Obama waiting on his friend to make a decision, according to people who have been briefed on their conversations.

Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor and personal friend whom Obama and many in his inner circle are eager to see get into the 2020 race — and who has recently been making rumblings that he very well might — has been in to the office too. Patrick, though, is on the board of the Obama Foundation, giving them at least an outward reason for the meeting beyond politics.

“The president was generous with his time and advice, and he was excited to talk about the future,” said one person familiar with one of the meetings.

Many of the conversations have circled around Obama holding forth about how much Democrats should be heading into the midterms talking about the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election versus focusing on kitchen table issues. Don’t chase the shiny objects, he tells them. Don’t hyperventilate over the flash of any tweet. Think about what’s going to stick in the long term.

This has all happened against the backdrop of Obama’s continuing work on his memoir, which he fell behind schedule on writing and for which he does not yet have a release date. He’s also been doing major fundraising for his foundation, and building out a stronger sense of what sort of programs it should have to fulfill his vision of it as a social organizing engine for creating more good in the world.

And he’s continued to make those very well-paid speeches.

On the road and over the phone, major donors and other panicked Democrats have been pushing him to take on a bigger public role in the fight against Trump. He has demurred on that — for now — keeping to his plan of waiting until the fall to begin making endorsements and campaign appearances.

In private, it’s a different story. He’s urged donors to contribute to the Democratic National Committee. And he’s been eager to bring in many of the people he sees as key players in grappling with the crisis the party is in, as well as leading it to whatever comes next. His staff is building out his plan to start endorsing and hitting the campaign trail in the fall, with an emphasis on down-ballot races.

Meanwhile, people who have been told about other meetings confirmed that they’re going on with some of the lesser known potential 2020 candidates, too. Mitch Landrieu, the former New Orleans mayor being urged to run for president — including by some Obama alumni — sat with the former president in the fall. Jason Kander, the failed 2016 Missouri Senate candidate who’s looking at making an against-all-odds White House run, stopped by in January. And Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who’s thinking of a run of his own, was in to see Obama at the end of last year.

Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles and one of the early supporters of Obama’s 2008 campaign, hasn’t been to the Washington office, but he got his private meeting when Obama was in town to attend a dinner in May for the American Constitution Center, say several people who were told of that meeting.


According to multiple people familiar with them, the meetings run long, often over an hour. Obama tends to give advice, guidance, talk about the future of the party, and everyone’s places in it. The conversations can be searching, get philosophical, then quickly veer back to brass tacks. He’ll give his thoughts on campaigns. He’ll offer to help make sure donors and party bigwigs are returning calls.

The people in them walk out appreciative but tight-lipped. They worry that if word gets out, Obama might renege on his offers to help and not invite them again if they do.

Among the other speculated 2020 candidates who haven’t been through: Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Terry McAuliffe. Cory Booker was in to see Obama last year, shortly after he returned from his extended post-White House vacation, but hasn’t been back since.

But run-ins like that one are among the ways that the meetings get started. Obama sees a future-minded Democrat he’s interested in getting to know more and tells them vaguely that they should come by to see him. And they are eager to.

It’s not just prospective presidential candidates, according to people aware of other meetings. Harry Reid, the former Senate Democratic leader, stopped by while on a trip through town at the end of March.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has urged Obama over the phone to see massive fundraising as the best way he can help Senate Democrats in 2018. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has also been on the phone with Obama, urging him toward fundraising — and he’s now scheduled to do a fundraising event for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on June 29 in the Bay Area. Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez also continues to check in.

Other senators have been by as well, including Colorado’s Michael Bennet, Delaware’s Chris Coons and Alabama’s Doug Jones, according to people familiar with those meetings.

“As a former senator and president, it was a privilege to meet with him and hear his perspectives and advice on leadership, separate and apart from any politics,” said Jones, who pointed out that he also met with Trump and is hoping to meet with George W. Bush.


Obama’s also met with Eric Holder to talk about the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, but the chatter that the former attorney general has kept going about how he might actually run for president himself hasn’t been at the forefront of those conversations, said people told about those conversations.

“I think it’s great that he’s meeting with people who are interested in the future of the country and the party,” said a person familiar with another one of the meetings.
a

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #323 on: June 11, 2018, 08:51:33 AM »
Man Who Destroyed The Democratic Party Gives Advice To Democratic Presidential Hopefuls
Red State ^ | 11 June 2018 | Anon
Posted on 6/11/2018, 11:31:15 AM by Rummyfan

Barack Obama, former president and Republican sleeper agent who successfully destroyed the Democratic Party in eight years, is back in the news after hosting a series of private, one-on-one meetings with Democratic hopefuls who may end up running in 2020.

The former president has been meeting with a lot of names that have been tossed around in national media as potential opposition to Donald Trump, who won the presidency in 2016 after Obama had completely destroyed the Democratic Party’s bench to the point where an actual, avowed socialist and a politician whose political expiration date passed in 2005 were the only viable options.

Via CNN:

The meetings come as the former president charts his future political life and evaluates how he can best help a Democratic Party that is working to figure out how to run with President Donald Trump in the White House. Some Democrats accused Obama of neglecting the Democratic Party apparatus while in the White House, but people close to the former president argue he is fully invested in the future of the party and the bench of talent looking to run on 2020.

To date, according to the Democrat, Obama has met with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren; former Vice President Joe Biden; former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick; New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker; former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu; Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti; South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Peter Buttigieg; former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander; and former Attorney General Eric Holder.

While many in the GOP are concerned about their chances in the impending 2018 elections, there has actually been little worry over 2020 due to the fact that the Democratic Party has pushed so far to the Left that Nancy Pelosi and Diane Feinstein of all people are now considered moderate.

Obama’s legacy of destruction is near-legendary in some circles. When he left office, the Republican Party controlled more governor’s mansions and state legislatures than ever before. To say that he was to the Democratic Party what Thanos was to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a huge understatement of Obama’s power, and he didn’t even need a fancy glove.

As a clearly partisan commentator, I encourage Democrats to continue using Barack Obama as an electoral resource. His knowledge of how to continue to be entirely disdainful of non-coastal Americans, Christians, and the working class will surely be a great addition to the Democrats’ already impressive arsenal of policy pushes, including fully socialized healthcare, the $15/hour minimum wage, and forcing Christians to violate their beliefs.

________________________ _________

Hilarious - Typhoid Barry keeps ruining the RAT party. 

Yamcha

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 13292
  • Fundie
Re: Obamas' Failed Post-Presidency
« Reply #324 on: June 11, 2018, 11:37:48 AM »
Man Who Destroyed The Democratic Party Gives Advice To Democratic Presidential Hopefuls
Red State ^ | 11 June 2018 | Anon
Posted on 6/11/2018, 11:31:15 AM by Rummyfan

Barack Obama, former president and Republican sleeper agent who successfully destroyed the Democratic Party in eight years, is back in the news after hosting a series of private, one-on-one meetings with Democratic hopefuls who may end up running in 2020.

The former president has been meeting with a lot of names that have been tossed around in national media as potential opposition to Donald Trump, who won the presidency in 2016 after Obama had completely destroyed the Democratic Party’s bench to the point where an actual, avowed socialist and a politician whose political expiration date passed in 2005 were the only viable options.

Via CNN:

The meetings come as the former president charts his future political life and evaluates how he can best help a Democratic Party that is working to figure out how to run with President Donald Trump in the White House. Some Democrats accused Obama of neglecting the Democratic Party apparatus while in the White House, but people close to the former president argue he is fully invested in the future of the party and the bench of talent looking to run on 2020.

To date, according to the Democrat, Obama has met with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren; former Vice President Joe Biden; former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick; New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker; former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu; Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti; South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Peter Buttigieg; former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander; and former Attorney General Eric Holder.

While many in the GOP are concerned about their chances in the impending 2018 elections, there has actually been little worry over 2020 due to the fact that the Democratic Party has pushed so far to the Left that Nancy Pelosi and Diane Feinstein of all people are now considered moderate.

Obama’s legacy of destruction is near-legendary in some circles. When he left office, the Republican Party controlled more governor’s mansions and state legislatures than ever before. To say that he was to the Democratic Party what Thanos was to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a huge understatement of Obama’s power, and he didn’t even need a fancy glove.

As a clearly partisan commentator, I encourage Democrats to continue using Barack Obama as an electoral resource. His knowledge of how to continue to be entirely disdainful of non-coastal Americans, Christians, and the working class will surely be a great addition to the Democrats’ already impressive arsenal of policy pushes, including fully socialized healthcare, the $15/hour minimum wage, and forcing Christians to violate their beliefs.

________________________ _________

Hilarious - Typhoid Barry keeps ruining the RAT party. 
a