More class and race wars from Hillary Clinton (D - Earmark)

What a country!!!

http://tinyurl.com/24ewfg

Pastor Got $1.5 Million in Clinton Earmarks Before Endorsement

By Fred Lucas
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
January 24, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) secured more than $1
million in federal funding last year for a Harlem-based non-profit
whose leader gave her presidential campaign a major endorsement last
weekend.

Clinton -- who is aggressively competing for the black vote with her
chief rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack
Obama (D-Ill.) -- touted the endorsement of Rev. Calvin O. Butts III,
a prominent black leader and pastor of one of the oldest black
churches in America, the Abyssinian Baptist Church of Harlem.

The $555-billion FY 2008 omnibus spending bill approved last month by
Congress included 11 appropriations bills with almost 1,000 earmarks.
Clinton teamed with senior New York Sen. Charles Schumer and New York
Rep. Charles Rangel, both Democrats, to provide three earmarks for the
Abyssinian Development Corporation (ADC).

The ADC is a separate non-profit community development organization
chaired by Butts that focuses on increasing quality housing,
delivering social services, and boosting economic and educational
opportunities in Harlem.

Clinton backed an $839,000 earmark to the development corporation's
programs for at-risk youth; $446,500 for the organization to expand
youth after-school programs; and $146,000 for the group's social
service work.

Clinton accepted credit for the Abyssinian earmarks and other earmarks
in a statement released in December, saying, "I am proud that these
funds will help support critical investments in New York City -- from
strengthening community programs for our children to supporting the
city's colleges and universities to cleaning up our waterways."

An analysis by the government watchdog group Citizens Against
Government Waste found that of all the presidential candidates serving
in Congress, Clinton had the most earmarks.

Clinton's Senate press secretary Philippe Reines said in a written
statement that Clinton is "very proud" of the federal funding she
secured for the state of New York, but the statement did not address
any specific earmarks.

Neither Butts nor the development corporations responded to inquiries
from Cybercast News Service this week for comment.

As he endorsed Clinton Sunday, Butts remarked he is "confident that
Sen. Hillary Clinton is the candidate best suited to be the Democratic
presidential nominee and the next president of the United States."

"In her current position as United States senator from New York, she
has also been very supportive of the Abyssinian Baptist Church's
development work in Harlem," Butts said. "Thus I have seen first-hand
the wisdom, insight, and concern she brings in her approach to
community development, education, and developmental opportunities for
youth and economic revitalization, as well as tirelessly advocating
for families, promoting health care reform and fighting global
HIV/AIDS."

Butts has been at the center of a few controversies.

He is on the board of advisors for the controversial Khalil Gibran
International Academy, an Arab culture school that opened last fall in
Brooklyn. Many New York City residents feared the public school would
teach Islamic values.

Butts reportedly told a gathering at the United Nations conference on
"Islamophobia" in 2005 that, "whether Muslims like it or not, Muslims
are labeled people of color in the racist U.S ... they won't label you
by calling you a ni****, but they'll call you a terrorist."

In 1996, Butts told a South Carolina gathering that "the church is
more responsible for racism than any other institution in America" and
that "racism is built on a Christian foundation."

At that same South Carolina speech to the National Council of
Churches, Butts said a statue of former President Theodore Roosevelt
should be torn down.

"Right in New York City, outside the Museum of National History, there
is a statue of Teddy Roosevelt riding a horse with a Native American
clinging to his boot on one side and an African-American on the
other," Butts told the group. "What we should do is rent two tow
trucks, loop a steel cable over the statue and pull it down."

In at least one cause, he found agreement with the political right. In
1993 he blasted rap musicians for "vile, ugly, low, abusive, and rough
music." In a public demonstration, he ran over rap music compact discs
with a steamroller.

As of the most recent filing period, Butts has not contributed to any
presidential candidate. However, in 2004, he donated $1,000 to Barack
Obama's Illinois senate race.

As chairman of the board of the development corporation, Butts does
not collect a salary from the Abyssinian Development Corporation. But
the organization's president and CEO, Sheena Wright, earns more than
$115,000 per year. Wright donated $2,000 to Democratic nominee John
Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004, and $1,000 to Democratic Party
organizations last year.