Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama. Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning. Police were called to the Obama campaign office on North Meridian Street downtown (Indianapolis) to control the crowd.
The line was long and the crowd was angry at times.
"I want my money today! It's my money. I want it right now!" yelled one former campaign worker.
A former spokesman for the Obama campaign said 375 people were hired as part of the Vote Corps program and said people signed up to work three-hour shifts at a time. Three hours of canvassing got workers a $30 pre-paid Visa card.
The workers showed up to get their cards Wednesday morning at 10:00 am.
"There was a note on the door saying 1:00 pm and then at 1:20 pm everybody was like why is nobody here. They just got here and they're trying to get it organized," said Heather Richards, a former campaign worker.
Well, golly gee willikers - what a surprise! People are having a hard time getting Obama to fulfill his obligations! You'd think with the gazillion dollars from illegal contributions he received, he would have plenty of green to spread among his people, maybe even some bonuses for jobs well done for the 375 workers who came to get paid. If you thought that, you'd be wrong!
Eventually people did start getting paid, but some said they were missing hours and told to fill in paperwork making their claim and that eventually they would get a check in the mail.
"Still that's not right. I'm disappointed. I'm glad for the president, but I'm disappointed in this system," said Diane Jefferson, temporary campaign worker.
"It should have been $480. It's $230," said Imani Sankofa.
"They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours so it was supposed to be at least $120. All I get is $90," said Charles Martin.
"I worked nine hours a day for 4 days and got paid half of what I should have earned," said Randall Waldon.
Some people weren't satisfied with filling out a claim form for money they felt was still due to them.
"They say that they gonna call you or they going to mail it to you, but I don't know. We'll see what happens," said Antron Grose.
"Talking about they'll mail it to us. I ain't worried about that, man. They're not going to mail nothin'," said Martin.
Seems Johnny Mac was right about the Redistributor in Chief - he wants to redistribute YOUR funds, not his! So, you just keep sitting by that mailbox and phone - I am SURE they will be rushing to get you the money for which you worked. Ahem. (By the way, anyone else notice that no taxes or Social Security deductions were made for these employees of Obama's? Just sayin'...)
And if I was the woman in this video below (from No Quarter Election Thread), I sure wouldn't be holding my breath:
If Obama is having, um, difficulties actually paying his employees wages earned, I'm not sure why this woman thinks Obama is going to do ANYTHING for her, much less pay her mortgage and her gas. Wow - it is just hard to fathom the gullibility of some people...
And in more news in the "Welcome To The Real World" round-up, the passing of Proposition 8 in CA and Amendment 2 in FL were a rude awakening to many. Here's the thing - while all those Hollywood types (talking to YOU, Ellen) were singing Obama's praises, they, like so many others, ignored that the bottom line of his pandering message was that HE IS AGAINST SAME SEX MARRIAGE. He has said that time and time again including in his wishy-washy message that he doesn't think Prop 8 should pass in CA, but that he is against same sex marriage all the same. So, guess what? It passed, because a lot of his constituents, especially African Americans and the evangelicals he courted, are against same sex marriage. Had any of those mindless people BOTHERED to actually look at his "words, just words," they would have known that.
But no, Cher, and Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon, and Wanda Sykes, and all of those people wanted to go with the cool guy, so they, along with the REST of Democrats, turned a deaf ear and blind eye to the shenanigans Obama was using in caucus states and that the DNC used to take votes away from Hillary, both in FL and MI, as well as the COnvention. I don't think the constituents SHE courted would have voted FOR Proposition 8. Oh well - the GLBT community, and women, have all been thrown under the bus for the ascension of THE ONE. Hope you're happy now because you helped to make it happen!
Oh, wait - those people in CA aren't. But all those folks protesting there can just get over themselves - they have no one but themselves to blame for the passage of Proposition 8. Had any of the big wigs there stood up and cried foul over the RBC's decision, or DEMANDED a fair, DEMOCRATIC Convention, I doubt Prop 8 would have passed. So, tough, all you Hollywood folks who oohed and ahed over The One in Denver and had no qualms with the DNP violating its own rules - you did it to yourselves. Hate it for ya, Ellen (and Portia),and the other 18,000 people affected by this, but hey - maybe you shouldn't have been pushing Obama so much during your show. And maybe all you people should have actually done your freakin' homework on what was happening in the election.
While I am at it, over 62% of Floridians voted FOR Amendment 2 voted FOR Amendment 2, to Constitutionalize discrimination in their state. In other words, a whole bunch of Democrats voted for that, too. Thanks so much, all you wonderful folks - in both states. What a healing uniter Obama is, isn't he?? Hey, that's what they keep claiming, so it HAS to be true - just not for women in general and GLBT people in particular. Whatever.
Anyway, who cares about social justice for GLBT and women now that we have the first biracial president-elect? Who cares about ACORN using TAXPAYING DOLLARS to commit massive amounts of voter fraud, and how they will surely get even more money from and ALL Democratic government (I mean, really - if they were already getting millions of dollars before, as well as new-mortgage kickbacks, and Chris Dodd wanting to give them BILLIONS of dollars from the bailout repayment, who the hell is going to stop them NOW?)? Who cares that their GOTV arms committed voter fraud for Obama and that his followers voted more than once? What's the big deal, anyway?
Sadly, that is the real world we have now, where caucus fraud will be institutionalized, voter fraud will continue to be tolerated, even excused by people who should know better (that is, the people who, thanks to all of the "poor little ACORN" posts by the NY Times, think ACORN is being beset upon by Republicans and they aren't doing anything wrong - even when Democrats admit they are. Bob Herbert is especially guilty of this tactic. Apparently, these readers have missed his *subtle* Obama bias...), and electronic voting machines will continue to flip ballots. That is our world today, because really - who is going to stand up against caucus fraud now? Not the Democrats, who KNEW it was occurring but said nothing, or the MSM, which ignored Clinton's attempts to inform them about documented fraud. Who's going to stand up against voter fraud? Not Democrats - that would cast aspersions on THE ONE. Who will stand up for us?
And who will stand up for women? Not the Democrats, that's for sure. They made a sport of misogyny this election, and haven't let up yet on Governor Palin, either. They not only stood by while Obama laid claim to Clinton's ideas, but were in a wicked big hurry to shove her out of the race (once she created those policies, of course, because what would Obama have done if he had to create them on his own??). Oh, and they didn't just shove her out, they treated her with contempt, as if she had no right to come to the party. They treated her in a way they have never treated ANY man, even one as inexperienced and unqualified as, well, Obama. No, they not only stood by, they engaged in, and encouraged, the misogyny we experienced this year (did anyone EVER hear Obama speak out against hanging Sarah Palin in effigy in West Hollywood? No. Ever hear him speak out against the misogyny directed at Clinton? No. No, he engaged in it, not fought against it.). I bet Obama wishes he had stolen Clinton's economic proposal now that the Dow tanked the worst after his election of any time in history precisely because they DON'T know where he stands. That can't be a good omen for things to come, and rubs a bit of the shine off of his "win." I reckon he shouldn't have been so dismissive when John McCain claimed her plan (and actually gave her credit, something Obama has NEVER done). Oh, well!
It's going to be some four years here in the real world, with more rude awakenings, more expectations dashed, and more dreams broken. Heck, Obama's workers are already experiencing that, as well as his anti-war supporters with the choice of Emmanuel as his Chief of Staff. Well, time to wake up, people, to what the rest of us have always known - Obama is a con man, and you fell for it. Don't waste your time waiting by the phone or the mail-box for your wages, or hope of mortgages and gas paid (!!!). It ain't gonna happen - but we could have told you that...Oh, wait - we did tell you that, and you didn't believe us. How about now?? It hasn't even been two days since the election, and look at the shine fade...
Update: The same news source had this later on: Obama campaign: Unpaid wages resolved;
Former Obama workers claim they were short-changed
Indianapolis - The Obama campaign says most of the payment issues that brought hundreds of upset campaign workers to the Indianapolis office Wednesday have been resolved.
Campaign spokesman Jonathan Swain says a few people showed up Thursday and made arrangements for payment by mail.
A few hundred people stood in line for several hours Wednesday waiting to get paid for working in the final days of the campaign. Many of those people said they were underpaid for the number of hours they worked.
Um, that doesn't sound the least bit resolved to me - a few people showed up when HUNDREDS claim they were shortchanged? Uh, yeah.
2 comments:
I think this was an excellent article. Read it to my friend last night to much applause. I even copied it for some of my lasy Ohopie friends. I think it draws a nice picture for the intellectually disinclined towards the truth.
LOL - great comment, type! Thank you so much for the kind words - I appreciate it! I hope it helps with your Ohopie friends, too. :-D
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