There has been a lot in the media about Obama’s associations with Bill Ayers, a former member of the Weather Underground, a radical group that opposed U.S. imperialist policies carried out abroad and at home. In the last presidential debate, when Obama was questioned about Ayers, he responded:
“Let me tell you who I associate with. On economic policy, I associate with Warren Buffett and former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker. If I’m interested in figuring out my foreign policy, I associate myself with my running mate, Joe Biden, or with Dick Lugar, the Republican ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, or General Jim Jones, the former supreme allied commander of NATO.
“Those are the people, Democrats and Republicans, who have shaped my ideas and who will be surrounding me in the White House.”
Who exactly are these individuals that Obama so proudly associates with? These men are wealthy, high-ranking business or governmental officials. By taking a closer look at the advisors that Obama has surrounded himself with, we will not find one friend of working people. Here is a thumbnail sketch of Obama’s potential cabinet members:
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, an insurance and investment holding company based in Omaha. He has regained his place as the richest man in the world this year, according to Forbes magazine, with a fortune estimated at $62.3 billion. In a Forbes article in November 2007, Buffett stated that he only paid 19 percent in federal taxes on his multi-million-dollar income for 2006 while his employees paid 33 percent.
Paul Volcker
Paul Volcker was chairman of the Federal Reserve Board from 1979 to 1987 under both the Carter and Reagan presidencies. The Federal Reserve System controls the supply of money in the United States. Volcker is best known for raising interest rates suddenly in 1979, sending the U.S. and world economies into a deep recession while the “Volcker Shock” spread unemployment throughout the country.
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Joe Biden
Joe Biden is the senior United States senator from Delaware and is Obama’s running mate. Biden is a long-time member and current chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, or “War-Mongering” Committee. Among other decisions, he strongly advocated U.S. military intervention during the war in the former Yugoslavia and voted in favor of the Iraq War Resolution, which gave President Bush permission to start the immoral and illegal occupation of Iraq.
Dick Lugar
Dick Lugar is the ranking Republican member of the Foreign Relations Committee. He voted in favor of the war on Iraq and, though he has paid some lip service to criticisms of the war strategy, he opposes even moderate measures to curtail U.S. military involvement in Iraq, including “so-called timetables, benchmarks”—let alone a full and immediate withdrawal. (ThinkProgress.com, June 27, 2007)
Jim Jones
Jim Jones is the former supreme allied commander, Europe, and also served as chairman of the Congressional Independent Commission on the Security forces of Iraq. This commission investigated the capabilities of the Iraqi police and armed forces, which Washington hopes will eventually relieve U.S. troops and manage Iraq in a manner conducive to U.S. interests. In 2007, he was appointed by Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice as special envoy for Middle East Security, lending his weight in favor of the continued Israeli occupation of Palestine. He favors stepping up the war in Afghanistan in order to “rebuild” the country. Sound familiar? (Online Newshour, Jan. 17, 2007)
From this list of “associates” alone—white wealthy men from the ruling think tanks and political establishment—can the working class expect a change in the status quo from Obama? One does not have to scratch very deeply below the surface to find out we have “more of the same” coming from the Democrat candidate should he win: A presidency that will continue policies of imperialist war abroad and attacks on the working class at home.
