Obama Tries to Retract Statement to End Billions in Contracting Fraud

Without explanation, presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D - IL) has attempted to retract a statement he made in February of this year pledging to end billions of dollars in fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs.

Senator Obama's original statement was in response to over a dozen federal investigations, which have found that the Bush Administration has diverted billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. In report 5-15, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector (SBA OIG) referred to the issue as one of the biggest challenges facing the entire federal government today. (http://www.sba.gov/IG/05-15.pdf)

In February, Senator Obama's original statement was:

"I am proud to have the support of the American Small Business League and their grassroots efforts to help protect American small business. Helping American small business is part of our movement for change and the end of politics as usual. 98 percent of all American companies have fewer than 100 employees. Over half of all Americans work for a small business. Small businesses are the backbone of our nation's economy and we must protect this great resource. It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

The Obama campaign has now gone so far as to modify the original quote by removing Senator Obama's statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants."

Currently, the statement on Obama's website reads, "Ninety-eight percent of all American companies have fewer than 100 employees. Over half of all Americans work for a small business. Small businesses are the backbone of our nation's economy and we must protect this great resource.....Helping American small business is part of our movement for change and the end of politics as usual." (http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/sbhome/)

On Tuesday of last week, CNN ran a story on the fact that neither of Senator Obama's recent rescue plans for small businesses or the middle class made any mention of his February statement calling for the end of the diversion of federal small business contracts to "corporate giants." There has been absolutely no response from the Obama campaign to the story.

Since making his original statement in February, Senator Obama has refused to mention the issue publicly or include any mention of it in his criticism of the Bush Administration. To date, Senator Obama and his campaign have not released a statement on this issue in any capacity.
Additionally, no member of the media has even asked Senator Obama why he has tried to distance himself from his pledge to end fraud and abuses in government small business contracting programs.

Comments

[honeydiva]

So what? go get a scoop on palin...she has plenty of mystery. with all that executive experience i'm sure she has a few mystifying home repairs (house building) that may prove how pro corporate she really is.

[castlerider]

Well, DUHHHHHHH, Lloyd!! ! !

Legislation was enacted I believe I read it was 18 months ago, where it becomes illegal to hire a company that is simply a division or derivative of a larger one for federal contracts based on what is supposed to go to small business.
This is how many of Blackwater and KBR's contracts were obtained, calling themselves something smaller while this administration set the game where any supervision was prompted to conveniently look the other way.
Bush has not stated if he will sign it, but if he doesn't I believe that Obama will take up the charge on it again.
I wouldn't worry about Obama being vigilant on corruption. It's been a work of art where he does not threaten the powerful too heavily by promising to slay all the dragons who sometimes frequent their backyards.... no point in kicking so much dirt around before winning this darn election. If he becomes CIC, he's liable to give the powerful the slight chance to slay it themselves, and if they don't, watch out.

I hope there's more Ralph Nader in 'im then we've been able to surmise, but I have this feeling we'll be pleasantly surprised.

[Sumocat]

"The Obama campaign has now gone so far as to modify the original quote by removing Senator Obama's statement, 'It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.'" -- That's a specific issue whereas the quote on the small business homepage is meant to be a general statement. I would not classify that as being indicative of anything except targeted messaging. Where you should focus your concern is the lack of mention in the specifics of Obama's policy. While it could be argued as oversight, not retraction, the omission is still a problem. It should also be noted the original statement is still intact.

[Bobrobert]

Non issue... all fraud shall be stopped by Obama... so there!!!!!

[sssteverrr]

In my opinion a change in campaign retoric is not a retraction. We willl see what happens after he's elected. I believe Obama will do the best thing for Americans. That is why it will be so nice to have someone who is very smart holding the office. He can make ratiojnal decisions based on unbiased data. When the fools in America are able to put a Fool in the White House we have no hope.

[drsmc41]

This IS interesting. I wonder what prompted the change in statement.

[joebhed]

Obama has $500 million to spend.
You figure it out.

[alenaspoppa]

Yeah, this is a big mystery. In the original statement, it could be taken as being pro-small business and anti-corporate. His team edited it so that the anti-corporate portion has been removed. It's really mystifying that a politician running for president would want to modify as statement to make it inclusive rather than exclusive.

Way to sniff this one out, Scooby Doo.