The Truth:  

John Gibson of Fox News wrote an article by this title on September 16, 2008, quoting sources from the Center for Responsive Politics.  In it, Gibson stated that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had used "huge lobbying budgets and political contributions to keep regulators off their backs." According to the article, "The top three U.S. senators getting big Fannie and Freddie political bucks were Democrats and No. 2 is Sen. Barack Obama."  

The Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), according to their web site, is a "nonpartisan guide to money’s influence on U.S. elections and public policy."

According to the report posted on the CRP web site Donations for the Illinois senator from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac report between 1989-2008 tabulated up to $126,349.  The same report show John McCain contributions from the same group tabulated to $21,550.

A New York Times article dated September 9,2008 stated both candidates had ties with the lending giants but Senator Obama "is second among members of Congress in donations from the firms’ employees and political action committees."

Click here for the article

Click here for the Center for Responsive Politics on Campaign Contributions Reports

The Truth:  
Ayers was a founding member of a radical group known at the Weather Underground that carried out bombings of federal buildings including the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol in the 1960's. It was in protest of the Vietnam war. Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohm spent a decade as fugitives from the FBI, which classed the Weather Underground as a "domestic terrorist group." They resurfaced in 1980 after charges against them were dropped because of misconduct in collecting evidence against them. They both became professors in Chicago where Ayers was an education professor at the time that he became a campaign controversy in 2008. Ayers has been unrepentant about his Weather Underground activities and has been quoted as saying they "didn't do enough."

The nature of Barack Obama's relationship with William Ayers was a subject talked about among his critics during the 2008 presidential campaign, but it became a major issue when Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin brought it to the campaign trail in a speech in California on October 4, 2008. She said, ""Our opponent is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country."

Supporters of Obama said that contact between the two men was not that significant and pointed to a New York Times story that said their relationship consisted of attending board meetings of two Chicago organizations they were involved with and other than that, there had been no contact between them except bumping into each other on the sidewalk in the neighborhood in which they both lived. Obama's "Fight the Smears" web site called the accusations about the Obama-Ayers connection "phony, tenuous, and exaggerated at best, if not outright false." The Obama site accused his critics of trying to link him with terrorism or approving of terrorism. Critics said a special investigations unit composed of Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston from CNN looked into the Ayers story and concluded that "the relationship between Obama and Ayers went deeper, ran longer and was more political than Obama -- and his surrogates."

The CNN story said that:

A review of board minutes and records by CNN show Obama, crossed paths repeatedly with Ayers at board meetings of the Annenberg Challenge Project in Chicago.

For seven years, Ayers and Obama -- among many others -- worked on funding for education projects, including some projects advocated by Ayers.

While working on the Annenberg project, Obama and Ayers also served together on a second charitable foundation, the Woods Fund, and that among the Woods Fund recipients was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church where Obama had his church membership.

Obama praised Ayers' book on the subject of juvenile justice in a 1997 Chicago Tribune review, calling it "a searing and timely account of the juvenile court system, and the courageous individuals who rescue hope from despair.

On a September 23, 2008, the Wall Street Journal published an article written by Stanley Kurtz called "Obama and Ayers Pushed Radicalism On Schools. "   In it Kurtz claims that Barack Obama's relationship with William Ayers is more than that of just having served together on the board of the educational non profit organization Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) and that "Barack Obama's first run for the Illinois State Senate was launched at a 1995 gathering at Mr. Ayers's home." 

According to the article, "in early 1995, Mr. Obama was appointed the first chairman of the board, which handled fiscal matters. Mr. Ayers co-chaired the foundation's other key body, the 'Collaborative,' which shaped education policy."   Kurtz raised a question in this article as to how "a former community organizer fresh out of law school, could vault to the top of a new foundation?"   Even though the Obama campaign had issued a statement denying Ayres recruitment of Obama, Kurtz observed that  "Mr. Ayers founded CAC and was its guiding spirit. No one would have been appointed the CAC chairman without his approval."

The New York Times published an article by Scott Shane about the Senator's relationship with Ayers on October 3, 2008 called "Obama and ’60s Bomber: A Look Into Crossed Paths."   In it, Shane wrote, "Their paths have crossed sporadically since then, at a coffee Mr. Ayers hosted for Mr. Obama’s first run for office, on the schools project and a charitable board, and in casual encounters as Hyde Park neighbors." 

Shane talked to Obama Campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt,  who told him "they have not spoken by phone or exchanged e-mail messages since Mr. Obama began serving in the United States Senate in January 2005 and last met more than a year ago when they bumped into each other on the street in Hyde Park."

Click for Wall Street Journal Kurtz article

Click for New York Time Article

The Truth:  

 KMOV-TV reported this story and posted on its web site September 29, 2008.  It said that a group of Obama supporters consisting of two prosecution attorneys and a county sheriff had assembled in St. Louis to intercept Obama rumors and debunk them.  There had been numerous rumors during the 2008 presidential campaign season such as that Senator Obama was a Muslim and had associations with known terrorists such as Bill Ayers.  KMOV-TV said that the group was prepared to stop attacks on their presidential candidate.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch also reported on September 30, 2008 the formation of the Obama Truth Squad and this was a topic of conversation on the Rush Limbaugh radio show as wells as programs on the Fox News Channel.

According to the Post-Dispatch, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch, and Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer have joined forces to form the "Obama truth squad." Joyce and McCulloch stated, "The truth squad's plan is to identify false attacks and respond immediately with truthful information." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch article also stated that these people were all Democrats.
 

It is not uncommon for a campaign to use spokespersons to debunk false claims against the candidate. Senator McCain has used the services of supporters, mostly military and former prisoners of war, although South Carolina House Speaker Bobby Harrell and Henry McMaster, the Attorney General for that state, are listed in his own truth squad to assist in setting the record straight.

Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, issued a statement that accused Obama of "police state tactics" which would "intimidate people and kill free debate." In a telephone interview with Fox News he voiced his concerns about prosecutors and sheriffs responding to false claims against Obama and taking aggressive action. In his statement, Governor Blunt told Obama, "Enlisting Missouri law enforcement to intimidate people and kill free debate is reminiscent of the Sedition Acts - not a free society.”

When asked about intimidating effect on voters, a deputy communications director for the Obama campaign told Fox news that Blunt was mischaracterizing this.

According to a news article posted by the Star Tribune of Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota on August 22, 2008, Bill Ayers was part of a group that claimed responsibility for bombings at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol in the 1960's.   Ayers surrendered to authorities in 1980 and owing to misconduct claims against the prosecution his charges were dropped.   Obama stated that he "deplored" Ayers' actions in the 1960s and that "by the time I met him, he is a professor of education at the University of Illinois."  

Critics of the Obama-Ayers relationship said that Obama has had close association with, and the support of, a militant who has never really repented of Pentagon and U.S. Capitol bombings and has actually been quoted in the New York Times on September 11, 2001 as saying that ''I don't regret setting bombs,'' and  ''I feel we didn't do enough.''  Ayers went on to become one of Obama's most important supporters and the first fund-raiser for Obama's campaign for the Illinois senate was set up by Ayers.

Obama objects to the criticism saying that his association with Ayers was long after his young militant days.  Ayers and Obama served together for the non profit education reform organization, Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

Click for KMOV article

Click for Governor Matt Blunt's statement

The Truth:  

This story began circulating on August 22, 2008 and according to the Philadelphia Times Herald in Norristown, PA, attorney Philip Berg filed a temporary restraining order in federal court to bar Senator Obama from running for president, claiming the Democratic candidate was actually born in Africa.

Questions about Obama's birth began circulating during the primary election campaign. 

Among the believers in Obama's birth certificate is the folks at FactCheck.org.  They said they have a copy of the original and have posted high resolution pictures of it on their site.  They refute claims that the certificate on Obama's web site does not have a raised seal, is not signed, has a "halo" around the letters, lacks a certificate number, and has any evidence of a date other than when the document was released.

First, there was a challenge as to whether his Hawaiian birth was before or after Hawaii became a state.  The constitution specifies that to be eligible for the presidency, a candidate must be a "natural born citizen."  That was when Obama posted his birth certificate on his campaign website, which showed that he was born after Hawaii became a state.  It would not have mattered because his birth in a U.S. territory would have still been regarded as "natural born" as is John McCain's, who was born in Panama.
Click Here for details about that story.

After that, rumors started circulating that the birth certificate posted on Obama's website was not authentic.  A blogger who claims to be a forensic computer expert posted findings claiming that the certificate posted on Obama's site was originally the birth certificate of another person.  He listed his expert opinions as to why he thought the certificate was a fake, but it did not attract the attention of the media.

Philip Berg's lawsuit is the most significant action taken about the authenticity of Obama's birth.

If it can be proven that the birth certificate or any of the information that led to the birth certificate is fake and especially if Obama was born outside of the United States or any of its territories, his eligibility for the presidency will be gone.

Jerome Corsi, the best-selling author of the book The Obama Nation has said in TV interviews that he believes the birth certificate is phony.

A separate eRumor containing an article by Jon Dryer has recently gained momentum on the super information highway claiming that an order was issued by Judge R. Barclay Surrick.  On October 3, 2008, a Deputy Clerk for US District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick, who is presiding over the case, told truthorfiction.com that no decision had been rendered at this time and, contrary to any reports, no order has been issued for Barack Hussein Obama to present his birth certificate.   When a lawyer files a motion he must also supply the court with the order and an unsigned copy was posted on the court website.   Click for truthorfiction.com findings.

CLICK here for fact check dot org findings

The Truth:  
There was a John McCain approved ad released September 18, 2008 for television that accused Senator Obama of taking economic advice from former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines but we still looking into formal accusations that Howard is also advising the Democratic candidate.

According a Washington Post analysis posted on September 19, 2008 but it was "based on a disputed premise."  The McCain ad quotes a Washington Post story written by reporter Anita Huslin who says claims the former CEO had  "told her that during an in-person interview."    On July 17, 2008, Huslin wrote in the Washington Post that the former Fannie Mae Chief Executive was taking "calls from Barack Obama's presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters."

According to the article, spokesman for the Obama Campaign stated that Raines has "never advised Senator Obama about anything, ever."

According to a Los Angeles Times article dated June 12,2008, former Fannie Mae chairman Jim Johnson was part of the team to advise in the selection Obama's Vice Presidential candidate but resigned "after questions were raised about favoritism he may have received from Countrywide Financial Corp." 

We are still investigating the rest of the contentions in this email.