LIE #64: Obama ad claims he "worked his way" thru school: he only had a couple summer jobs

Obama Whats The Facts Blog ^ | 7/07/08 | OxyMoran

[freespirited]

Obama's Work Claim

July 2, 2008

His new ad says he "worked his way" through college and law school. His campaign says he had two summer jobs.

Summary

Obama’s latest ad repeats an often-stated claim, saying he "worked his way through college and Harvard Law.” We know Obama took out loans to get himself through school. But the campaign provided information on just two jobs Obama had in those years, and they were both in the summer.

The ad also says he "passed a law to move people from welfare to work, slashed the rolls by 80 percent." Actually, the Illinois law was a required follow-up to the 1996 federal welfare reform law worked out by President Clinton and the Republican Congress. Welfare rolls did go down by nearly as much as the ad says, but Obama can't claim sole credit.

Analysis

Obama's new ad, "Dignity," is largely a 30-second version of his last one, "Country I Love." It, too, will be airing in 18 states, according to the presumptive Democratic nominee's campaign.

Working to Make It Work

The ad begins with the announcer telling us that Obama "worked his way through college and Harvard Law." Actually, Obama took out loans to get himself through college, as we heard in a 60-second ad his campaign began running last month. We don't know how much assistance his family provided.

But "worked his way" through college and law school? The only back-up the campaign provided for this claim was a quote from Obama's book "Dreams from My Father" having to do with a construction job he had one summer while he was in college, and an article mentioning his job as a summer associate one year at a big Chicago law firm. We asked campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor if Obama held jobs during the school year, or other summer jobs, but he said only, "He had the two jobs I told you about." Unless Obama had a good bit more employment than his spokesman was able to describe for us, it's a real stretch to claim he "worked his way" through school.

No More Handouts

As in his last ad, this one touts three bills that Obama "passed," and once again we're not told whether the bills were products of the Illinois Senate or the U.S. Senate. We'll fill you in: In this ad, all three pieces of legislation mentioned were passed in the Illinois Senate.

Obama for America Ad: "Dignity"

Obama: I’m Barack Obama, and I approve this message.

Announcer: He worked his way through college and Harvard Law.

Turned down big money offers, and helped lift neighborhoods stung by job loss. Fought for workers’ rights.

He passed a law to move people from welfare to work, slashed the rolls by eighty percent. Passed tax cuts for workers; health care for kids.

As president, he’ll end tax breaks for companies that export jobs, reward those that create jobs in America.

And never forget the dignity that comes from work.

Welfare Reform see Documented LIE #63

The first bill that's cited is the 1997 law that created the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program in Illinois. The ad claims Obama "passed a law to move people from welfare to work, slashed the rolls by 80 percent." That's going too far. First, the law in question wasn't dreamed up out of thin air by its sponsors. It was the follow-up to the welfare reform act, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, that President Clinton signed on Aug. 26, 1996. That law gave states the ability to design their own welfare programs as long as they met certain federal requirements, including limits on how long recipients could get benefits. The bill that Obama cosponsored was Illinois' version.

And far from having "passed" the bill single-handedly, Obama was among five Senate sponsors of the measure, as we said previously. It was passed by both chambers of the Illinois Legislature and signed into law by the governor.

Welfare reform was successful in moving people off public assistance. There was about a 78 percent drop in the number of families receiving public assistance in Illinois between 1998 and 2006. But we don't think Obama alone, or even Obama and the four other sponsors of the Illinois law, can take credit for all of this. It was the federal law, hammered out by Clinton and the Republican Congress, that set the wheels in motion and forced states to act. Nationwide, the number of families on welfare declined quite a bit as well, going from 3,146,870 in '98 to 1,805,900 in '06, a decrease of almost 43 percent.

Also, our friends at PolitiFact talked to an expert who said part of the steep drop in Illinois' numbers was due to other factors, such as a state bureaucracy that took an aggressive approach to ejecting people from the rolls, sometimes erroneously.

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–by Viveca Novak

[freespirited]

Another day, another pack of lies.

[commonguymd]

I wonder what job offers he turned down with “big money” as he advertises?

[Army Air Corps]

Pingaroo.

[cripplecreek]

Gotta wonder what kind of money he was making to pay for Harvard.

[txhurl]

You hear friends come forward to give their Obama anecdotes, but never co-workers or bosses.

[freespirited]

It’s an excellent question. He went to work as a civil rights lawyer after law school. They can make plenty of money. He also had a two-book deal; a state legislator salary; and fees from sitting on various boards. IIRC they lived in a 450K condo before they bought the mansion.

They were well off, but according to Michelle, of modest means compared to most of her friends.

Knowing the BHO campaign, I would not be surprised if these big money offers are as real as his shock over Jeremiah Wright.

[freespirited]

He took loans to pay for Harvard. And when he was made editor of the law review, he was contacted by a book publisher who gave him a book contract. Simply for being the first black editor of the Harvard law review.

He was probably also the first editor of Harvard Law review who never wrote a single paper himself for the publication. That didn’t matter.

[spotbust1]

I picked up a gum wrapper from the ground yesterday and put it in the trash can at Kroger.

Can I say that I single handedly improved living conditions for everyone in my town?

[VOA]

He was probably also the first editor of Harvard Law review who
never wrote a single paper himself for the publication.

That is pretty bad.
Maybe he's one of those folks that thinks "peer review" is a
useless relic of "the white power structure".

IIRC, Senator Obama yet has to write a piece of legislation.
(which might be a good thing as it probably means one more useless
law hasn't yet seen the light of day)

[NonValueAdded]

“Dignity” huh? They’re very big in the funeral business.

[hecht]

Simply for being the first black editor of the Harvard law review.

He was probably also the first editor of Harvard Law review who never wrote a single paper himself for the publication. That didn’t matter.

He was the first biracial editor. There are more white libs who get off on voting “black” than white racists. Don’t let him get away with that.

How does one get to be editor without writing a single paper?

[hecht]

Simply for being the first black editor of the Harvard law review.

He was probably also the first editor of Harvard Law review who never wrote a single paper himself for the publication. That didn’t matter.

He was the first biracial editor. There are more white libs who get off on voting “black” than white racists. Don’t let him get away with that.

How does one get to be editor without writing a single paper?

[dblshot]

“according to Michelle, of modest means compared to most of her friends”

One would suppose that the community Barak organized was made up of the not poor and disfranchised. Can't be having “friends” over from this demographic. Talk about elitists. Well, there is a history of the field hands be looked down on by the hands that work in the house.

[anoldafvet]

Unlike this fraud, I actually did work my way thru school. I installed furnaces and ductwork for a heating contractor. Worked 30 hours a week while I was in school and 50 hours a week when I was not.

[weegee]

Did he ever participate in the underground economy back in his free wheelin’ doper and blow days?

[kittymyrib]

How did he attend an exclusive private school in Hawaii if his mother was on welfare? Inquiring minds want to know more details about this strange man.

[Allegra]

Obama has made up this whole liberal-romantic legend about Obama and now he believes it.

It appears that Obama is worshiping Obama.

[gov_bean_ counter]

FR mail.

[freespirited]

He went to that prep school when he lived with his grandparents. They weren’t poor. Grandpa was in sales and grandma worked her way up to a bank vice-presidency.

He may have received some financial aid from the school to subsidize the very pricey tuition. But basically, Obama has led a charmed life and is trying to fake everyone out.

[MrB]

I’ve got some (lib, of course) relatives that consider themselves superior and somehow more intelligent because of the schools they went to - no, check that, the schools that their father paid for them to go to.

Whenever they start getting all condescending, I ask them what they got on the ACT/SAT...