Obama's wife resigns from board of company that supplied Wal-Mart

[Ethelk2044]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/396715,obama052207.article
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has been critical of giant retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and on Tuesday his wife resigned from the board of one its food suppliers citing the increased time demands of his campaign.
Michelle Obama's position on the board of Westchester, Ill.-based TreeHouse Foods Inc., has raised questions for the campaign because her husband has praised a union-led effort to change working conditions at Wal-Mart.

The company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday that her resignation from the board spot she has held since 2005 ''is not due to any disagreement with the Company on any matter.'' Last year she earned $51,200 in director fees from the company, according to the couple's 2006 tax returns.

''As my campaign commitments continue to ramp up, it is becoming more difficult for me to provide the type of focus I would like on my professional responsibilities,'' Michelle Obama said in a written statement.

An administrator at the University of Chicago Hospitals, she also has significantly curtailed her work hours to campaign for her husband, who would be the first black president if elected.

''We would like to thank Michelle for her dedicated service on behalf of the Company's shareholders. While we regret her resignation, we understand and respect her decision,'' TreeHouse board chairman Sam K. Reed said in a written statement.

She was on a Food Supplier board. Hillarites were complaining about her being on the board because they supplied food to Walmart.

[ripple]

1. Thanks for this, Ethelk.

How dare Michelle O. sit on the board of a company that sells pickles to WalMart! Hypocrite!!!! And that goes for her husband, too!!!!!! :sarcasm:

Seriously, though, I find it amusing that the person who posted the RW tabloid attack on Obama's integrity (due to his wife's involvement with a company that sells pickles, for God's sake!) was quickly placed in a position to defend his or her own candidate- the one who actually sat on the Board of Walmart.

Karma is a beautiful thing sometimes.

[zulchzulu]

2. 15% of Treehouse pickles went into the evil Walmart Canned & Jarred Goods aisles

Imagine just how bad that is!

:sarcasm:

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

7. exactly

I worked for one of the major cola bottling companies (it wasn't the red one) and their percentage of sales to evilmart was a lot higher than 15%. When you compare how much a common every day food product such as cola/bread/milk/coffee is consumed more and is available at more business a number like that on pickles something that isn't an everyday product isn't really that much.

[burrowowl]

3. Took awhile didn't it.

[illinoisprogressive]

5. burrowowl - go sniff Hillary.

[burrowowl]

6. I don't like DLCers

and Hillary is one, and Obama seems like a wanna be DLCer as well.

[illinoisprogressive]

4. Michelle is very forthright and would say if she had problems.