There is more controversy surounding the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Obama has claimed no ties to the big oil companies and has an ad aimed at the voters in Pennsylvania. The Clinton campaign is claiming false advertising. Here is what Obama said:

“I’m Barack Obama and I don’t take money from oil companies or lobbyists and I won’t let them block change anymore.”

The Center for Responsive Politics indicates that Sen. Obama  received over $160,000 from oil and gas companies.  George Kaiser and Robert Cavnar, oil company CEOs, were major bundlers for his campaign.  Obama has accepted money from Exxon, Shell, BP, Chevron and just about every other major oil company. Last month, Sen. Obama accepted another $8,400 from ExxonMobil, $12,370 from Chevron and $6,500 from British Petroleum.

 Clinton spokesman Phil Singer:

“It’s unfortunate that Senator Obama is using false advertising to explain why he can be trusted to do something about energy prices. Senator Obama says he doesn’t take campaign contributions from oil companies but the reality is that Exxon, Shell, and others are among his donors. I wonder if they’ll fix the ad.”

Singer’s memo mentions the practice of “bundling,” tying individual donations together into a larger package. Bundling allows for the appearance of less influence.

Here is the video of Barack Obama:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xtALGgZzz8