III: Foundation-Funded Racism: Jeremiah Wright and Michelle 127Washington Post. ‘Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) on Friday sent the center a letter saying he was "troubled"
by recent news reports about the hospital's efforts to steer patients with non-urgent complaints away from the
center' emergency room to local clinics. Michelle Obama was a key figure behind the initiative. The letter,
which Grassley released to the public September 2, 2008, does not directly mention the Democratic
presidential nominee, his wife or his campaign. Grassley also asked for financial data, board minutes and
other documents related to hiring, job promotion, business contracting and care for the poor.’ ‘For years,
Grassley has argued that non-profit hospitals should spend more resources on the poor and be more
financially accountable, in return for the millions of dollars they keep each year as a result of their tax-exempt
status. Grassley has periodically demanded financial data from selected hospitals and issued reports detailing
perceived shortcomings. He has also chaired a Senate hearing on the topic.’ Grassley also wanted information
on the hospital’s conflict of interest policy, and also wanted to probe hiring practices, evidently including the
public relations contract which went to Obama spinmeister David Axelrod, and a computer contract that was
awarded to Obama moneybags Robert Blackwell.
(http://voices.washingtonpost.com/washingtonpostinvestigations/2008/09/sen_grassley_seeks_university.html
) Here is how the hospital itself advertised a fall 2005 community forum, complete with free dinner, chaired
by Michelle Obama: ‘Michelle Obama, vice president for community affairs at the University of Chicago
Hospitals, will serve as moderator. The South Side Health Collaborative is a partnership, supported by the
federal Health Resources and Services Administration, which is devoted to improving access to quality
healthcare for the uninsured, underserved, and special needs populations. The Collaborative pulls together 13
Federally Qualified Health Clinics, two social service organizations, private physicians, and the University of
Chicago Hospitals. Its goal is to help patients find a medical home, enabling them to build a lasting
relationship with a primary care physician in their neighborhoods. Since the program began in January 2005,
members of the Collaborative have interviewed more than 12,000 patients who came to the emergency room
at the University of Chicago Hospitals for care because they did not have a regular physician. They have
helped more than 1,000 patients connect with a primary care provider, often making an appointment for
follow-up care before the patient leaves the ER.’ (http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/2005/20051108-
collaborative.html) The big question was of course whether Barky’s political clout as a newly minted US
Senator had been used to procure the federal grant for Michelle’s exclusion operation, raising Obama’s
signature problems of dirty politics, influence peddling, and graft.
The dividing line between the elite and the mass in modern America comes down to one
question: do you have servants? Bush did, and the Obamas emphatically do. As the New Yorker
reported, “The Obamas employ a full-time housekeeper, and Michelle tries to see a personal trainer
four times a week,” but they claim that they do not also have a nanny. In 2005, “the Obamas moved
to a $1.65-million Georgian Revival mansion in Hyde Park, which features a thousand-bottle wine
cellar and bookcases made of Honduran mahogany.”
TYPICAL PARVENU STYLE
The Obamas, in short, are typical parvenu arrivistes, and they revel in it: ‘The Obamas are
fixtures of Chicago’s philanthro-social scene: there they are, waving from a silver Mustang at the
annual Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic; there’s Michelle delivering remarks at the Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority’s Seventy-second Central Regional Conference; there she is arriving at the Black
Creativity Gala with a shopping bag full of “Obama for Senator” buttons. Cindy Moelis recalls
being shocked, after agreeing to host Obama’s baby shower, that the guest list included fifty people.
“Hmmm,” Michael Sneed, the Sun-Times columnist, reported in 2006. “Sneed hears rumbles a mink
coat reportedly belonging to Michelle Obama, wife of Sen. Barack Obama, may have gone missing
following the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s birthday bash at the South Shore Cultural Center.”’(New Yorker,
March 11, 2008)