President Obama Promised To Slash Earmarks And Stop Wasteful Spending:

President Obama Pledged To "Slash Earmarks." "Slash Earmarks: ... In the past two years, the Democratic Congress has cut earmarks nearly in half, to $17.2 billion in 2008. Obama and Biden are committed to returning earmarks to less than $7.8 billion a year." (Obama For America, Blueprint For Change, http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf, p. 20, Accessed 2/19/09)

During The Campaign, President Obama Pledged To "Go Line By Line" And "Eliminate Programs That Don't Work." Obama: "I want to go line by line through every item in the federal budget and eliminate programs that don't work, and make sure that those that do work work better and cheaper." (Sen. Barack Obama, NBC Presidential Debate, Nashville, TN, 10/7/08)

• Obama: "Earmarks account for 0.5 percent of the total federal budget. There's no doubt that the system needs reform and there are a lot of screwy things that we end up spending money on, and they need to be eliminated. But it's not going to solve the problem." (Sen. Barack Obama, CNN Presidential Debate, Hofstra University, New York, 10/15/08)

• Obama: "But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At Democratic National Convention, Denver, CO, 8/28/08)

But President Obama Signed An Economic Stimulus Package Full Of Wasteful Spending And Democrats Are Pushing A $410 Omnibus With More Than $7 Billion In Earmarks:

Despite Promises, The Stimulus Is Not Free Of Money For Special Interests. "The compromise stimulus bill adopted by House and Senate negotiators this week is not free of spending that benefits specific communities, industries or groups, despite vows by President Obama that the legislation would be kept clear of pet projects, according to lawmakers, legislative aides and anti-tax groups." (Dan Eggen and Ellen Nakashima, "Despite Pledges, Package Has Some Pork," The Washington Post, 2/13/09)

The Senate Is Working On The $410 Billion Omnibus Spending Bill That Contains 8,750 Earmarks Worth $7.7 Billion. "The Senate is getting ready to pass a giant spending bill stuffed with congressional pet projects that critics decry as unnecessary pork. ... They point to stiff resistance from Democratic leaders and Obama's reluctance to veto the pending $410 billion legislation as signs that business will continue as usual. The 8,570 earmarks in the bill represent $7.7 billion, according to the nonpartisan group Taxpayers for Common Sense." (Dan Nowicki, "Earmark-Laden Bill A Line In The Sand For Pork-Barrel Politics," The Arizona Republic, 3/6/09)

BROKEN PROMISE: LOBBYISTS

During The Campaign, Obama Said Lobbyists Wouldn't Run His White House Or Work For Agencies They Used To Lobby:

During His Campaign, President Obama Promised To "Stop The Revolving Door That Lets Onetime Lobbyists Go To Work For The Federal Government." "[O]n the campaign trail, Obama vowed to stop the revolving door that lets onetime lobbyists go to work for the Federal Government and oversee contracts that could harm -- or help -- their former employer." (Mark Thompson, "Obama's Lobbyist Ban Meets A Loophole: William Lynn," Time, 1/27/09)

• Obama Promised That Lobbyists Would Not Be Allowed To Serve In Positions Relevant To Their Lobbying Work For Two Years After They End Lobbying. "Though he said for months that lobbyists won't 'dominate' his White House, they would still be able to work in an Obama administration -- just not for two years in an area related to their work as lobbyists. For example, a Sierra Club lobbyist could not move directly into the Environmental Protection Agency, but might be able to do so after two years of working elsewhere in the administration." (Carrie Budoff Brown, "Clinton WH Vets Doubt Obama Openness Vow," The Politico, 10/26/08)

President Obama Signed An Executive Order Banning Lobbyists From Working For Agencies They Used To Lobby. "And one of the first things the new President did in office was seemingly make good on that promise, signing an Executive Order barring former lobbyists from joining his Administration to work at agencies they recently lobbied." (Mark Thompson, "Obama's Lobbyist Ban Meets A Loophole: William Lynn," Time, 1/27/09)

But President Obama Has Appointed Numerous Former Lobbyists:

President Obama Has Appointed At Least 21 Former Federal Registered Lobbyists, Including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "A USA TODAY review of Obama hires shows that 21 have registered as federal lobby ists, although most have not done so within the past two years. They include White House aide Cecilia Munoz, who lobbied last year for the National Council of La Raza, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who lobbied in 2007 for a national teachers union." (Fredreka Schouten, "Geithner Names Ex-Lobbyist As Treasury Chief Of Staff," USA Today, 1/27/09)

BROKEN PROMISE: GUNS

Obama Promises Not To Take Away Guns Kept By Individuals On Their Homes:

Obama Promised "I'm Not Going To Take Away Your Guns." "'If you've got a gun in your house, I'm not taking it,' Obama said. But the Illinois senator could still see skeptics in the crowd, particularly on the faces of several men at the back of the room. So he tried again. 'Even if I want to take them away, I don't have the votes in Congress,' he said. 'This can't be the reason not to vote for me. Can everyone hear me in the back? I see a couple of sportsmen back there. I'm not going to take away your guns.'" (Christopher Cooper, "Obama: 'I'm Not Going to Take Your Guns Away,'" The Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" Blog, http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/09/05/obama-im-not-going-to-take-your-guns-away, 9/5/08)

But Obama's Attorney General, Eric Holder, Has Talked About Restrictions On Guns:

Obama's Attorney General: We Want To Reinstitute The "Assault Weapons" Ban. "Responding to a reporter's question on weapons' regulations, Holder said, 'Well, as President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons.'" (Brent Lang, "Holder Revives Talk Of An Assault Weapons Ban," CBS News' "Political Hotsheet" Blog, http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/02/26/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4831751.shtml, 2/26/09)

BROKEN PROMISE: BIPARTISANSHIP

President Obama Said Political Opponents Should Work Together Instead Of Demonize Each Other:

Obama Derided Partisan Politics And Said Political Opponents Should Come Together To Solve Problems. "A politics that says it's ok to demonize your political opponents when we should be coming together to solve problems." (Sen. Barack Obama, Response To The State Of The Union, 1/28/08)

"Obama Has Said He Plans To Work With Republicans To Cut Through Partisan Gridlock That Often Blocks Legislative Progress." (Sabrina Eaton, "Ohioan An Early Obama Critic," [Cleveland] Plain Dealer, 1/29/09)

But In President Obama's Washington, Democrats Have Hardly Come Together With Republicans:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): We Won The Election, We Wrote The Bill. "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) parried GOP assaults on Democrats' $825 billion stimulus package Thursday and refused to slow the bill down to give more time for Republican input. 'Yes, we wrote the bill. Yes we won the election, but that doesn't mean we don't want sustainability or Republican support,' Pelosi said." (Steven T. Dennis, "Pelosi Defends Democrats' Vetting Of Stimulus Plan," Roll Call, 1/22/09)

Democrats Rolled Over House Republicans And "Yielded No More Than Necessary" In The Senate To Pass The Stimulus Package. "In the case of the stimulus bill, Democrats used their solid majority to roll over House Republicans and yielded no more than necessary to garner three critical GOP votes in the Senate." (Janet Hook, "Bipartisanship Faces Stiff Test," Chicago Tribune, 2/16/09)

For President Obama, "Urgency Trumps Bipartisanship." "But with the economy in crisis and the stimulus his top priority, [President Obama] also made clear that urgency trumps bipartisanship." (Todd J. Gillman, "Selling The Stimulus Bill President Discovering That Bipartisanship Has Its Limits," The Dallas Morning News, 2/10/09)

BROKEN PROMISE: TRANSPARENCY

President Obama Pledged Transparency And Openness Before Signing Legislation:

During The Campaign, President Obama Promised To Give The American Public 5 Days To Review Legislation Before Signing Any Bill. "Sunlight Before Signing: Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days." (Obama For America Website, http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ethics/, Accessed 2/19/09)

But The Obama Administration Has Failed To Allow The Public 5 Days To Review Legislation It Has Signed:

According To The Nonpartisan PolitiFact, President Obama Did Not Provide 5 Days Before Signing His First Bill, The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. "But the first bill Obama signed into law as president -- the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act -- got no such vetting. In fact, the Congressional Record shows that the law was passed in the Senate on Jan. 22, 2009, passed in the House on Jan. 27, and signed by the president on Jan. 29. So only two days passed between the bill's final passage and the signing." (Angie Drobnic Holan, "Obama Signs First Law Without Web Comment," St. Petersburg Times' "PolitiFact," http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/234/allow-five-days-of-public-comment-be fore-signing-b/, 1/29/09)

President Obama's Second Bill Signing Occurred Hours After Passed By Congress. "For his second bill, Obama signed an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides health coverage for low-income children. He signed it on Feb. 4, 2009, just hours after it was finalized in Congress." (Angie Drobnic Holan, "Still No 'Sunlight Before Signing,'" St. Petersburg Times' "PolitiFact," http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/234/allow-five-days-of-public-comment-be fore-signing-b/, 2/4/09)