Both Democratic presidential candidates, who promise to curb the influence of corporate lobbyists in Washington, helped enact narrowly tailored tax breaks sought by major campaign contributors.
Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign has accepted $54,350 from members of a law firm that in 2006 lobbied him to introduce a tax provision for a Japanese drug company with operations in Illinois, according to public records and interviews. The government estimates the provision, which became law in December 2006, will cost the treasury $800,000.
In 2002, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton introduced legislation at the request of Rienzi & Sons, a Queens, N.Y., food importer, according to company president Michael Rienzi. The provision, which became law in December 2004, required the government to refund tens of thousands of dollars in duty charged on imported tomato products, Rienzi told USA TODAY.
Rienzi gave $110,000 to committees set up to support Clinton's 2000 
Senate race, records show. Rienzi family members contributed an additional $52,800 to her campaigns since 2000. Michael Rienzi also said he donated to Bill Clinton's presidential foundation, but he declined to say how much.
Clinton accepts money from lobbyists, but she recently has stepped up her criticism of what she called, in a Feb. 14 speech, "a government of, by, and for the special interests."
Obama touts his refusal to take donations from Washington lobbyists though he accepts money from their co-workers who are not registered to lobby. Speaking after the Feb. 12 primary, he decried a "Washington game" where "lobbyists write check after check and Exxon makes record profits."
Smell that? That's hypocrisy. Obama has mislead by not taking money from lobbyists, but he'll take their co-worker's money? That's RIPE for abuse. He might as well ask what the definition of "is" is. He was directly responsible for $800,000 in revenue lost because of a tax provision. I'll bet the farm that the drug company didn't take that $800k and put it into more jobs for Americans.
Now, Obama likes to talk about helping the poor and middle class of America, yet he just helped a Japanese drug company, whom I could probably safely assume isn't owned by poor/middle class Americans, and put $800k into wealthy foreign hands. THAT action didn't help anyone BUT the drug company.
As for Hillary? Who here amongst us isn't surprised she's said one thing and continued to to another? If you're shocked, SHOCKED by this, you must be new to here. So, welcome! :)
Travis
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