Pun Salad

From this Politico article:

"President Obama didn't accept a dime from corporate PACs or federal lobbyists during his presidential campaign," spokesman Ben LaBolt said.

Emphasis added. Even though it's not the President himself speaking, but one of his minions, the general rule applies: use of the word "dime" in presidential rhetoric is a very reliable marker of fabrication or flimflam.

And we don't have to work very hard to find the dishonesty in this case. From the very same article:

BP [British Petroleum] and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Donations come from a mix of employees and the company's political action committees -- $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals. […] During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records.

What the spokesperson is saying might be technically true, but carefully worded to mislead. And it's nothing new; Obama made the same claim during the campaign. At the time, Factcheck called his rhetoric "a little too slick", and even Politifact (usually totally in the tank for Obama) rated such clean-as-a-whistle claims half true at best.

(Previous episodes of Dimewatch here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.)