Michelle Obama Steered Lucrative Contract to Axelrod

[Chris]

Michelle Obama Steered Lucrative Contract to Axelrod

Sen. Barack Obama's wife and three close advisers have been involved with a program at the University of Chicago Medical Center that steers patients who don't have private insurance -- primarily poor, black people -- to other health care facilities.

Michelle Obama -- currently on unpaid leave from her $317,000-a-year job as a vice president of the prestigious hospital -- helped create the program, which aims to find neighborhood doctors for low-income people who were flooding the emergency room for basic treatment. Hospital officials say such patients hinder their ability to focus on more critically ill patients in need of specialized care, such as cancer treatment and organ transplants.

Obama's top political strategist, David Axelrod, co-owns the firm, ASK Public Strategies, that was hired by the hospital last year to sell the program -- called the Urban Health Initiative -- to the community as a better alternative for poor patients. Obama's wife and Valerie Jarrett, an Obama friend and adviser who chairs the medical center's board, backed the Axelrod firm's hiring, hospital officials said.

Another Obama adviser and close friend, Dr. Eric Whitaker, took over the Urban Health Initiative when he was hired at U. of C. in October 2007. Whitaker previously had been director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. Obama has said he recommended Whitaker for the state job, giving his name to Tony Rezko, who helped Gov. Blagojevich assemble his Cabinet. Rezko, a former fund-raiser for Obama and Blagojevich, was convicted in June on federal corruption charges tied to state deals.

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[DixieBelle]

This should be interesting to follow. I'll have to find it but there was a post on here about the mysterious pay raise Michelle got.

[DixieBelle]

Found it - http://www.conservativecave.com/index.php/topic,5564.msg67542

Lots and lots to review and digest if you take this thread into account.

[Sadie]

I remember reading that as soon as Obama joined the Illinois legislature MOs salary jumped nearly 200,000 per year. She also sat on various boards which paid her. One ws Dean foods which I used until I found out that she sat on their board. I will use another brand rather than dean's from now on.