Presidential Foundation | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: Jim Bispo's weekly column appears in the Beaufort Observer.

    I believe I have figured out why the Anointed One is spending so much time trying to get reelected. He has realized that he will be put out of government housing if he doesn't win the election. Apparently the government housing he gets in D.C. is somewhat better than the government housing he may have been familiar with in Chicago.

    Additionally, he apparently hasn't yet figured out what to do about setting up a "Foundation" to which he, like the Clintons, can contribute big (tax deductible) dollars. The Foundation problem seems to be that his older brother, about whom we have heard little, but who shows a District of Columbia address on his Foundation's tax return, has beat him to the draw with the establishment of the Barack H. Obama Foundation (reportedly in the name of their father). The Foundation's tax return shows its address at the same Arlington, VA address as that of the organization's secretary; its lone Director shows a Hackensack NJ address.

    Don't believe me about the Foundation?? Go to http://barackhobamafoundation.org/ . The IRS recognized 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization was founded and is run by our Prez' older brother, Abon'go Malik Obama. Interesting that the brother chose to use his father's full name and middle initial (which just happens to be the same as the Anointed One) instead of his own. Could that possibly have anything to do with the likely hood that name recognition would help with the fund raising??

    Imagine that, a half brother about whom we have heard precious little over the last four years. With a D.C. address already?? Well, maybe not.

    The following is quoted from Wikipedia:

    Although much of the Obama family has dispersed throughout Kenya and overseas, most, including Malik Obama (aka Abon'go Malik Obama), still considered their rural village on the shores of Lake Victoria to be their true home and feel that those who have left the village have become culturally "lost".[97] A frequent visitor to the United States,[96] and a consultant in Washington, D.C., for several months each year,[93] he nevertheless settled in the Obamas' ancestral home, Nyang'oma Kogelo, a village of several hundred people that he prefers to the city for its slow pace.[93] He runs a small electronics shop a half hour's drive outside of town.[93}

    This leaves us wondering if Abon'go lives in Kenya or Washington D.C. It also leaves us wondering if "misdirection" runs in the family. Hmmm...

    In the meantime we can only wonder where the Barack H. Obama Presidential Library will be located. Hawaii?? Chicago?? Indonesia??

    That is a decision that (hopefully) must be made very soon. If the anointed one waits too long to tell us where we should send our Obama Presidential Library contributions, the fund raising may become rather difficult. If, after the upcoming election, the anointed one loses the ability to indulge in his brand of crony capitalism (i.e. lavishing taxpayer dollars on his big contributors and bundlers), raising funds will surely become more difficult. Crony capitalism, hopefully, will be history after the election. At that point the "What have you done for me lately??"syndrome will kick in. When that happens (and the sooner the better), we will see who are the true believers. Surely an invitation to a Chicago Mansion (unless it is the one owned by Hugh Hefner) will not be nearly as attractive as an invitation to a White House taxpayer bankrolled soiree.

    Without a "Foundation" the ex-Prez will have to pick up the tab for all his own "personal" travel - unless GSA can be convinced it is "official" travel. He will have to struggle along on a government pension of just under $200K per year. If history tells us anything, that wouldn't even be enough to pay for one of Michele's "bring all your friends vacations". Of course Secret service protection continues - for 10 years. To read a fairly concise summary of the retirement benefits to which an ex-president is entitled, click here .

    Without the inevitable speaking fees and book royalties it would likely be difficult to continue to live the "good life" after being displaced from government housing. It may be difficult anyway, since the "good life" will likely have to be supported with his own money. Of course, a Barack H. and Michele L. Obama Foundation could help ease the pain of spending their own money...Perhaps they could take a page out of the Clinton book and make big (tax deductible) contributions to their Foundation and then let the Foundation bankroll a lot of what they do.

    The fact remains that good 'ole Abon'go would seem to have outfoxed the Anointed One with his Barack H. Obama Foundation. (Caught the two Davids napping??) We can only wonder it he truly understands and appreciates the risk of alienating David A. and the rest of the Chicago group, or, perhaps Stephanie Cutler or Valerie Jarrett in Washington.. That's a risk that I don't believe many sane folks would take - especially after seeing what Move-On dot Org tells us what the 97 year old lady on their latest ad seems to have in mind for anyone who crosses the Anointed One.

    Establishing a Barack H. and Michele L. Obama Foundation in the presence of a Barack H. Obama Foundation could create a real problem for all those folks who the Dem machine implicitly claims are intellectually incapable of obtaining a photo ID on their own (even when it's free). They will have to distinguish between the Barack H. Obama Foundation and the Barack H. & Michele L. Obama Foundation in order to know where their contributions should be sent. That could well present a problem even more vexing than obtaining a photo ID...

    D'ya think??