Obama Open About Federal Spending, Silent On State Spending

While co-Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama openly disclosed federal spending into several projects. However, the spending as an Illinois state senator is a different story that has been revealed.

So far, Barack Obama’s record on spending as a state senator has not been completely available to the public. However, some of Obama’s pet projects have been revealed to have cost over $6 million dollars. The $6 million spent only covered two years of Obama’s time as a state senator. It does not account for the other years of Obama’s time. Obama served almost eight years as an Illinois state senator. In an ironic note, Obama’s campaign attacked Democratic co-frontrunner Hillary Clinton for not disclosing the same information while serving on the United States Senate. The issue of being open about spending has been something that Obama has been using in his campaign platform against Clinton for the race towards the Democratic nomination and eventually towards the White House. “I have been consistently in favor of more disclosure around earmarks,” Obama explained in last month’s debate. He added: “Now, keep in mind a lot of these are worthy projects in our states … but I want to make sure that they’re not done in the dark of night.” But, the information Obama disclosed was only in regards to federal spending. There was nothing about state spending. The amount which is over $6 million went towards projects such as the Chicago Park District to expand its parts. Another project included schools having new computers and/or improved security systems. About $200,000 was used for new stoplights. A good chunk of money went to public projects. However, private organizations received sponsorship from Obama as well. Obama’s South Side district received grants to be used on projects such as senior centers and teen mentoring programs. Still, spending for the other 5-6 years as Illinois state senator is still unavailable to the public.