[Vision2020] they can check Joe the Plumber’s background but Obama won’t prove his NBC

[lfalen]

This should scare the hell out of everyone. An average citizen gets extensive veting, yet there is a lot that we do not know about Obama's background. This type of thing is truly Orwellian. Are we all going to be afraid to voice our opinions.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "No Weatherman" no.weatherman at gmail.com
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:16:21 -0700
To: "Vision 2020" vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] they can check Joe the Plumber’s background but Obama won’t prove his NBC

> Checks on 'Joe' more extensive than first acknowledged
> Tax, welfare info also sought on McCain ally
> By Randy Ludlow
> 
> A state agency has revealed that its checks of computer systems for
> potential information on "Joe the Plumber" were more extensive than it
> first acknowledged.
> 
> Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family
> Services, disclosed today that computer inquiries on Samuel Joseph
> Wurzelbacher were not restricted to a child-support system.
> 
> The agency also checked Wurzelbacher in its computer systems to
> determine whether he was receiving welfare assistance or owed
> unemployment compensation taxes, she wrote.
> 
> Jones-Kelley made the revelations in a letter to Ohio Senate President
> Bill M. Harris, R-Ashland, who demanded answers on why state officials
> checked out Wurzelbacher.
> 
> Harris called the multiple records checks "questionable" and said he
> awaits more answers. "It's kind of like Big Brother is looking in your
> pocket," he said.
> 
> If state employees run checks on every person listed in newspaper
> stories as buying a business, "it must take a lot of people a lot of
> time to run these checks," he said. "Where do you draw the line?"
> 
> The checks were run after the news media reported that Wurzelbacher
> was considering buying a plumbing business with more than $250,000 in
> annual income, Jones-Kelley wrote.
> 
> "Given our understanding that Mr. Wurzelbacher had publicly indicated
> that he had the means to purchase a substantial business enterprise,
> ODJFS, consistent with past departmental practice, checked
> confidential databases ," she wrote.
> 
> "Not surprisingly, when a person behind in child support payments or
> receiving public assistance is receiving significant media attention
> which suggests that the person appears to have available financial
> resources, the Department risks justifiable criticism if it fails to
> take note and respond," Jones-Kelley wrote.
> 
> The results of the searches were not publicly released and remain
> confidential, she wrote. Wurzelbacher has said he is not involved in a
> child-support case and has not purchased any business.
> 
> Jones-Kelley wrote that the checks were "well-meaning," but
> misinterpreted amid the heated final weeks of a presidential election.
> 
> Wurzelbacher became a household name when Republican presidential
> hopeful John McCain frequently referred to "Joe the Plumber" during
> his Oct. 15 debate with Democrat nominee Barack Obama. The checks
> began the next day.
> 
> Wurzelbacher, who has endorsed and campaigned for McCain, had been
> caught on videotape challenging Obama about his tax proposals during a
> campaign visit to "Joe's" neighborhood in the Toledo suburb of
> Holland.
> 
> Republicans have painted the checks on Wurzelbacher as a politically
> motivated bid by Democrats to dig up dirt and discredit the McCain
> ally. The Obama campaign has said it has no ties to the checks and
> supports investigations.
> 
> The administration of Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland has said the
> information was not improperly shared and that there were no political
> motives behind the checks.
> 
> The Dispatch has uncovered four uses of state computer systems to
> access personal information on Wurzelbacher, including the
> child-support check authorized by Jones-Kelley.
> 
> She said on Monday that her department frequently runs checks for any
> unpaid child support obligations "when someone is thrust quickly into
> the public spotlight."
> Republican legislators have challenged Jones-Kelley's reason for
> checking on Wurzelbacher as "frightening" and flimsy.
> 
> Jones-Kelly also has denied any connections between the computer
> checks on Wurzelbacher and her support for Obama. She donated the
> maximum $2,500 this year to the Obama campaign.
> 
> Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles is investigating whether the
> child-support check on Wurzelbacher was legal.
> http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/10/29/joe30.html?sid=101
> 
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