Obama's Promises

[Wilma]

I would like to compile a list of the promises that Obama made, but unfortunately, I can remember only one.  Would you help me?  I want to keep track of how many come true.

Personally, there is only one that I want right now.

When will my share of the wealth get here?

[Catwoman]

I never really payed much attention to all of the promises that he kept throwing around...much in the same way as a little child will desperately promise you the world in order to get what they want, with no realistic expectation of delivering on those outlandish promises, and you ignore the child's begging because you know that what they're requesting isn't realistic...I ignored all of his empty promises the minute that I began hearing the outlanding promise that "we will change the world".  Jesus was the only Son of the Living God...and HE wasn't even able to change the world. 

[Warph]

I think you can expect that windfall around the year pi, Wilma. 

[flo]

When will my share of the wealth get here?

Wilma, he didn't promise "wealth" to everyone.  But he did promise less "loopholes" and "tax breaks" for the wealthy and that needs to be done. 

[Wilma]

He said he was going to spread the wealth.  I want my share.

[pam]

One of the things he promised that I am goin to watch is he promised to overhaul the Indian Bureau and honor more of the promises that were made to the Native Americans. He actually held a rally on the Crow agency in Montana!

[Diane Amberg]

That would be great! I totally agree.

[Wilma]

I didn't know that, Pam.  We were wondering if anybody had thought about the Native Americans of this country.

[pam]

May 19, 2008 CROW AGENCY, Mont. (AP)—Pledging to usher in a new era of honest federal dealings with tribes, Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama on Monday made an unprecedented stop in Indian Country for a rally at the Crow reservation.

Obama told several thousand American Indian supporters that he would honor long-ignored treaty obligations and revamp health care and education on reservations across the United States. Such services have long suffered because of inadequate funding and the much criticized oversight of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"Few have been ignored by Washington for as long as Native Americans, the first Americans," Obama said. "That will change when I am president of the United States."

Obama said treaty commitments with Indian nations were "paramount to law" and could not be ignored when Washington makes funding decisions affecting Indian Country. He characterized the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a bureaucracy out of touch with those it serves, and said the agency needs to be shaken up so it will perform better.

"You guys pay taxes too. You deserve to get decent services from Washington," he told the crowd in Crow Agency, Mont.

Earlier, in a private ceremony, the candidate was adopted into the Black Eagle family of the tribe under the name Awe Kooda Bilaxpak Kuuxshish, or "One Who Helps People Throughout the Land."

Crow Vice Chairman Cedric Black Eagle said a purification ceremony was performed in which the candidate faced east — the source of new life — and was prayed over by his adopted father, Hartford Black Eagle.

Tribal representatives from across Montana said it was the first time such a high-profile candidate had appeared on one of the state's reservations. The closest precedent, they said, was a visit to the Crow Reservation by first lady Lady Bird Johnson in the 1960s.

Matthew Brown is an Associated Press staff writer

[Wilma]

Just one more thing that won't happen.