Posted by
Mike Bates on Friday, May 08, 2009 5:32:53 PM
This morning's remarks by Barack Obama on the latest unemployment
figures included the usual self congratulations we've come to expect
from The One. CBS News
quotes him as saying:
Such hard-working Americans are why I ran for
President. They're the reason we've been working swiftly and
aggressively across all fronts to turn this economy around; to
jumpstart spending and hiring and create jobs where we can with steps
like the Recovery Act. Because of this plan, cops are still on the beat
and teachers are still in the classroom; shovels are breaking ground
and cranes dot the sky; and new life has been breathed into private
companies like Sharon Arnold's.
The woman to whom Obama referred appeared with him this morning and POLITICO describes her as "Sharon Arnold, a small biz owner from Illinois."
In a brief presentation viewable at C-SPAN's Web site,
Arnold explained she owns a small landscaping business that has
benefited from government contracts. Last year, however, she "had to
lay everyone off, including myself." All of her employees went on
unemployment. But now, things are just so much better. Under Obama,
stimulus money is flowing back to Illinois and she's been able to hire
back 90 percent of her employees.
One aspect of all this I predict we won't hear about from the
mainstream media is Arnold's background. She is also enthusiastic about
at least one other Federal program, the Department of Transportation's
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program. In 1998, former Illinois
Democratic Senator Carol Moseley Braun entered into the Congressional Record:
Listen to a letter from Sharon Arnold, who is president
of SSACC, Inc., a certified women-owned disadvantaged business
enterprise in Pontiac, IL:
I know that without the [DBE] program I
would lose the opportunity to compete. That is all this program does
for me; it gives me the opportunity to compete.
Business setbacks didn't appear to dampen Arnold's ability to give
substantial amounts of money to various Democratic politicians over the
years. Federal Election Commission records show she's given money to
Al Gore, Mary Landrieu, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. And even with
times as tough as they've been, Arnold managed to scrape together
$3,500 to give to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
A little research disclosed that Arnold is also a Feng Shui enthusiast. She wrote in a testimonial:
We have found that working within the theory of the Feng
Shui application, it gives the entire premises a feeling of true
oneness with the environment and a sense of personal comfort within the
perimeters of the office staff interactions, as well as those who come
into our office.
No doubt Arnold is feeling a true oneness with the environment in
Washington these days. As do much of the mainstream media, which is
why Arnold's Democratic connection isn't deemed newsworthy.