Contradicting his own book, Freddoso claimed “there's nothing” in Obama's record indicating he is a “reformer”

Written by Simon Maloy

Published

On Fox News' America's Election HQ, David Freddoso claimed: “Senator [Barack] Obama says that he is a reformer, an agent of positive change. And looking at his record, though, in Chicago, Springfield, and Washington, I found that he is absolutely -- there's nothing in his record to bear out that claim.” However, in Freddoso's recently released book, he specifically credited Obama with two “real accomplishment[s] ... in the name of reform” -- the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, and a 1998 Illinois ethics bill.

On the August 25 edition of Fox News' America's Election HQ, conservative author David Freddoso claimed: “Senator [Barack] Obama says that he is a reformer, an agent of positive change. And looking at his record, though, in Chicago, Springfield, and Washington, I found that he is absolutely -- there's nothing in his record to bear out that claim.” However, in Freddoso's recently released book, The Case Against Barack Obama (Regnery), Freddoso specifically credited Obama with two “real accomplishment[s] ... in the name of reform” -- the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, and a 1998 ethics bill outlawing political fundraising on Illinois state property and barring lobbyists from giving gifts to state legislators.

As Media Matters for America documented, Freddoso gave conflicting accounts of the 1998 ethics bill in The Case Against Barack Obama. On Pages 30-31, Freddoso characterized the bill as “relatively harmless.” However, on Pages 93-94, Freddoso wrote:

Obama's reform record is not a complete wash. His most notable accomplishment in Washington was the bill he co-sponsored with Republican senator Tom Coburn, the conservative junior senator from Oklahoma. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 -- also known as “Google for Government” -- helped expose to the sunlight the congressional practice of “earmarking,” in which members of Congress direct federal spending to parochial projects -- swimming pools, bridges to nowhere -- that often have no national importance or congressional authorization.63 Coburn and Obama's bill, approved over the objection of some of Capitol Hill's worst porkers, really was a small victory for open government and bipartisanship.

This was a real accomplishment for Obama in the name of reform -- the second such accomplishment of his career after the Illinois ethics law.

From the August 25 edition of America's Election HQ:

BILL HEMMER (co-host): What is your case against the senator from Illinois?

FREDDOSO: Senator Obama says that he is a reformer, an agent of positive change. And looking at his record, though, in Chicago, Springfield, and Washington, I found that he is absolutely -- there's nothing in his record to bear out that claim, that, in fact, the idea that he's a reformer is a great lie.