Today’s Washington Times reports that the Obama White House has “quietly rewarded scores of top Democratic donors with VIP access to the White House, private briefings with administration advisers and invitations to important speeches and town-hall meetings.” As a candidate Barack Obama said he would crack down on “the disproportionate influence of lobbyists and special interest.”

But according to the Times report, the Obama White House, which we were told would be “the most open and transparent administration in history,” is promising major donors “access to senior White House officials in exchange for pledges to donate $30,400 personally or to bundle $300,000 in contributions ahead of the 2010 midterm elections.” One top donor was given access to the Oval Office – as a birthday present. Another donor and his family got to use the White House bowling alley. Other big givers get to watch movies with the Obamas in the White House theater.

CBS’s Mark Knoller reports that President Obama has held 23 fundraisers in his first nine months in office – that’s nearly four times as many as George W. Bush held in his first nine months.

Responding to the Washington Times report, RNC Chairman Michael Steele said, “Bill Clinton turned the White House into a hotel and coffee shop. Now President Obama has turned the White House into a full service resort complete with amenities for the highest Democrat bidder. The seriousness of this issue requires an immediate investigation… Candidate Obama pledged to clean up the muddy waters of Washington, but President Obama has jumped in head first.”

Dear Ayatollah, From Your Friend Barack

The Washington Times has learned that President Barack Obama sent a secret letter to Iran’s “supreme leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei weeks before the June 12th election. In the letter, Obama reportedly laid out the prospect of a new relationship of cooperation between the United States and Iran. The letter was delivered by a representative of the Swiss embassy to the Iranian foreign ministry.

The existence of this letter helps explain, but does not excuse, Obama’s reluctance in recent days to unambiguously support the protestors who have put their lives on the line for liberty in Iran. Once again they were beaten in the streets of Tehran today.

What exactly did the letter say? Ayatollah Khamenei actually hinted at its contents in a “sermon” Friday. He told a cheering crowd of fanatical thugs that they [the Obama Administration] had written “a letter to us to express their respect for the Islamic Republic and for reestablishment of ties.” If that is an accurate description of the letter, it is disgusting. The Islamic Republic is directly responsible for the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. It is responsible for the deaths of its own citizens this very day. The last thing that regime should be getting from our president is a letter declaring our “respect.”

The president’s Iran policy is in shambles. Every assumption he made has been proven wrong. His desire even now to negotiate with the tyrants in Tehran, while blood drips from their hands, is beyond reprehensible.

- Excerpt from Gary Bauer’s Daily Report (6-24-09)
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