POTUS Obama now has a well-established pattern of rewarding political campaign donors with positions on his campaign advisory teams, Obama-Biden transition teams, and in his administration. Unsurprisingly, many of these folks have historical relationships with Obama as well.

Take for example RBO’s May 4 article about Harry C. Boyte, just another radical Alinskyite Obama supporter, in which we wrote about Boyte’s co-chairmanship of the “civic engagement group”, which was part of the Obama 2008 Urban Policy Committee.

The Committee itself was chaired by Robert Weissbourd (right), president of RW Ventures, LLC, a regional and community economic development consulting firm, and as well as former Vice-President of Shorebank Corporation and Executive Vice-President of Shorebank Chicago Companies. Weissbourd also served as a member of the Obama-Biden transition team.

Before we go any further, let’s be clear that Weissbourd was not only an Obama bundler committed to raising a minimum of $50,000, but he also contributed significant funds to Obama’s campaigns from his own bank account: $3600 in 2007 to Obama for America and $29,373 to the Obama Victory Fund (thereby achieving Mega-Donor Status) in 2008; $5000 in 2005 to help launch Obama’s Hopefund Inc., with another $5000 in 2006; and $9113 in 2003-2004 to Obama for Illinois for Obama’s U.S. senatorial campaign.

In 1998 Weissbourd was the recipient of an alumni award at the University of Chicago:

Note the mention of “investing in … community organizations.” It would appear that Weissbourd’s “investing” extends to “investing” in future presidents, as well.

Chicago Annenberg Challenge

In 1995 Obama was the founding President of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1995–1999. Fred Lucas pointed out October 15, 2008, for CNSNews.com, that during that time:

Weissbourd’s Ventures LLC profile states:

Additionally, to put Weissbroud’s involvement with Obama into perspective, we have this from a 2008 speaker’s profile:

One of those non-profit groups Lucas mentioned was, as stated in Weissbourd’s bio, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPPPI or BPI), which received $375,000 in CAC grant funds between 1998 and 2002, while Obama served on CAC’s board. Meanwhile, Obama’s political campaign war chest received $105,513 from BPI staff and board members — including Robert Weissbourd.

FYI: Another BPI contributor is Cindy Moelis, who now serves as Obama’s Director for the Presidential Commission on White House Fellows; her husband, Robert S. Rivkin, who also served on the Obama-Biden transition team for Transportation, is General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Crossroads Fund

Weissbourd also served on the board of the Crossroads Fund. In his October 8, 2008, article, Even More Weathermen For Obama – Connections, Connections, Connections, Trevor Loudon wrote about the Crossroads Fund:

Steve Tappis [an original leading Weatherman] is a donor to the Crossroads Fund. Other donors in recent times might also be familar to keen Obama watchers.

A view of Crossroads’ annual reports here and here reveal some interesting names.

P4O petition signers Ted Pearson (CCDS, former Illinois CPUSA chairman) and Prexy Nesbitt (CPUSA and Black Radical Congress connections) also donate.

Unsurprisingly Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn are also listed (in 2005).

Ayers and Dohrn are not just Crossroads donors, they are active fundraisers.

Interestingly, when Crossroads held anniversay celebrations [in 2007] they established a 25th Anniversary Host Committee.

Weissbourd is here among an interesting assortment of socialists, Maoists, Marxists, Communists, and progressive radicals if ever there was one.

Center for Neighborhood Technology

FYI: Anne Hallett, of whom RBO wrote last October, who is one of the co-founders with Bill Ayers in the Chicago Annenberg Challenge and an Obama campaign contributor, currently serves on CNT’s board with Weissbourd.

RBO wrote in October 2008:

This would mean that Hallett had a hand in selecting Obama for the CAC board — and a hand out when it came to the CAC granting funds to Cross City Campaign. Neat how that works, isn’t it.

Moving on, back to CNT:

Additionally, we do know that in 2005 and 2006 U.S. Senator Barack Obama delivered considerable earmark funds to CNT. RBO wrote September 17, 2008:

FYI: CNT’s head, “Jacky” Grimshaw, was an Obama friend and supporter. RBO wrote in September 2008:

On December 3, 2002, when Illinois governor-elect Rod Blagojevich named his transition committees, Obama was listed on the Health Committee and Grimshaw on the Transporation Committee.

Daily Kos poster abe57 wrote February 15, 2008:

[...]

PROCAN

Now we come to PROCAN — Progressive Chicago Area Network — on which board Weissbourd also served.

Here we have a huge info gap. There is little information available online about this group. This is the little we know; RBO would certainly be grateful to know where to find more.

In the September 14, 2004, Tribute to Lutrelle Palmer, Chicago journalist and community activist, Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) stated in the U.S. House of Representatives:

In 1986 Robert Weissbourd was president and Bernard Lacour was vice president of Pro-Can.

At some point, Greg A. Kinchewski, General Counsel/Vice President, Marco Consulting Group, served as “Co-Chairman of the Progressive Chicago Area Network (PROCAN) for five years.”

Shorebank

Whatever picture you may formed in your head about Weissbourd by now, there’s even more to come. As reported above, Weissbourd is the former Vice-President of Shorebank Corporation and Executive Vice-President of Shorebank Chicago Companies.

ShoreBank boasts on the header for its website “ShoreBank invests in people and their communities to create economic equality and a healthy environment.”

So, let’s compare and contrast:

In January 2005 ShoreBank was held up as a “model for development project.”

Richard Taub, Chairman of Human Development and the Paul Klapper Professor in the Social Sciences and the College, at the University of Chicago said in January 2005:

In an October 2006 Dallas Morning News article, Chicago economic consultant Robert Weissbourd and Dallas scholar Marcus Martin shared “their insights about a powerful new approach to the problems of neglected inner-city neighborhoods.”

The classic example in the finance area is ShoreBank’s lending to real estate entrepreneurs and rehabbers. ShoreBank is a Chicago bank holding company that began by doing housing and venture capital and community development as well as conventional banking in targeted areas on the south side of Chicago.

I spent nearly a decade working there, and we had a special product designed for local people living in low-income neighborhoods who wanted to buy and fix up small buildings. It let them get much higher loan-to-value on the buildings, it was a different structure for underwriting.

In May 2009 ShoreBank was deeply troubled. Steve Daniels wrote May 18 at Crain’s:

How ShoreBank’s leaders — co-founders Ronald Grzywinski and Mary Houghton, chairman and president, respectively, of parent company ShoreBank Corp. — navigate the storm will put their claim that banks can profitably lend in low-income neighborhoods to the stiffest test since the pair took over the old South Shore National Bank 36 years ago. [...]

A bank spokesman won’t say which investors ShoreBank plans to approach or how much it thinks it needs. But based on the bank’s finances, the sum clearly will be in the tens of millions.

ShoreBank, which at $2.7 billion in assets is Chicago’s 13th-largest bank, blames its loan-quality issues on the economy. Real estate values in neighborhoods it serves have dropped 25% to 40%, it says. Bank CEO Joseph Hasten, who joined ShoreBank two years ago, is focusing on working out delinquent loans, boosting core deposits and controlling expenses, [...]

There’s no guessing as to Weissbourd’s involvement with ShoreBank at this time. While employed by ShoreBank, he contributed $9113 to Obama for Illinois from June 30, 2003 to March 24, 2004. Additionally, in March 2005, he contributed to the congressional campaigns of Kent Conrad ($2000), Bill Nelson ($1000), and Robert Byrd ($1000).

In fact, according to his political campaign records, beginning in 1991, Weissbourd was with ShoreBank when he contributed $700 to Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign; in 1995-1997 when he contributed $2,000 to Carol Moseley-Braun for U.S Senate 1998; in 1996 when he contributed $1000 for Danny K. Davis’s congressional campaign; and in 1997, 1998, and 2000 when he contributed to Rep. Jan Schakowski’s congressional campaigns. (You can read about Schakowsky’s connections here, here, and here.)

Weissbourd’s board of directors profile at Sourcelight, a personalization software company, states:

To state the obvious, there is no way Weissbourd can distance himself from ShoreBank’s “bad loans” made to low-income communities in Chicago.

Any questions?

Speaking of ShoreBank

While we’re on the subject of ShoreBank, let’s turn back the RBO clock to April 2008 where we meet Howard Stanback, who was on the board of Shorebank’s Neighborhood Institute and president of the Hyde Park Community Association, which governed the neighborhood where, in 2005, Barack and Michelle Obama bought their faux Georgian mansion and Rita Rezko bought the adjacent empty garden lot.

Oh. Did we mention that Stanback was also board chairman at the Woods Fund in 2000 when Obama’s boss, Allison Davis, and Tony Rezko, Rita’s spouse, came looking for money for their New Kenwood LLC, which Davis and Rezko had formed to build an apartment building for low-income seniors at 48th and Cottage Grove? It seems Obama voted to make the $1 million investment but Stanback abstained.

ShoreBank in Kenya

Would it surprise you to know that in August 2006, when U.S. Senator Obama visited Nairobi, Kenya, news of microfinance, and a $1million investment in Kenya, made by ShoreBank made its way to ABC News in Chicago?

MicroCapital reports: “In November 3, 2008, MicroCapital reported on President Barack Obama’s support of ShoreBank’s loan program to Kenyan microfinance bank K-Rep during his trip to Kenya in 2006.”

Also note that ShoreBank is a part owner in Kenya’s K-Rep Bank.

And, as always, see RBO’s The Obama Socialist / Marxist / Communist Reader for more.