So far, Barack Obama's lack of full disclosure has gone unnoticed by the pundits jabbering about the Las Vegas Democratic debate last night.

The unpleasant truth is that Sen. Obama wasn't honest, in response to Tim Russert's question, in describing his entire voting history on the 2005 U.S. Senate bankruptcy bill.

Barack Obama "talked the populist talk" last night, lumping in credit card companies as targets of his economic rescue plans. But, in his first year in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Obama voted "Nay" on the Dayton Amendment to the 2005 bankruptcy bill that would freeze credit card interest rates at no higher than 30%. Obama sided with credit card companies over our nation's bedrock middle-class families as well as young adults susceptible to the companies' alluring, deceptive marketing.

That specific vote garnered Obama the admiration of his many corporate donors who find him "reasonable." After all, credit card companies comprise his second largest donor bloc. Harper's magazine noted in "Barack Obama Inc.: The birth of a Washington machine" that "it is also startling to see how quickly Obama's senatorship has been woven into the web of institutionalized influence-trading that afflicts official Washington. ..."

By the way, Sen. Hillary Clinton voted for the cap on predatory credit card interest rates.

Here's what Obama said last night in Las Vegas:

MR. RUSSERT: Senator Obama, the 2001 bankruptcy bill, the 2005 bankruptcy bill.

SEN. OBAMA: I opposed them both. I think they were bad ideas, because they were pushed by the credit card companies, they were pushed by the mortgage companies, and they put the interests of those banks and financial institutions ahead of the interests of the American people. And this is typical.

Now, Hillary's exactly right, but we've got to modify some of the fraudulent practices, predatory lending practices. I put in a bill a year and a half ago to make that happen because it does affect communities, including my own on the South Side of Chicago.

But unless we are able to rid the influence of special interest lobbies in Washington, we're going to continue to see bad legislation like that. And that's why we're going to have to change how politics is done in Washington.

Talk is cheap.

In "Obama Inc. vs. Working Families" on January 5, 2008, I quoted several corporate executives and top attorneys pleased with Obama's "Nay" on the anti-predatory-lending Dayton Amendment:

Barack Obama Sided with Credit Card Loan Sharks While Hillary Clinton Stood Against Them

Obama's numerous corporate donors were pleased -- especially The Bond Market Association's legislative affairs guy Mike Williams. While Obama voted against the 2005 bankruptcy bill, he voted against "an important amendment, which was defeated, that would have capped credit-card interest rates at 30 percent."

Williams was tickled that Obama stood up to those "consumer advocates" who work tirelessly to protect ordinary Americans aganst credit card usury:

"[Obama] studied the issue. ... Some assumed he would just go along with consumer advocates, but he voted with us on several points. He understood the issue. He wasn't closed-minded. A lot of people [especially those corporate lobbyists] found that very refreshing." -- "Barack Obama Inc.,"Harper's

Those predatory credit card companies constitute Obama's second biggest single bloc of donors.  From the Mother Jones article, "Campaign Contributions from Credit Card Companies? Priceless":

Obama, who made a strong floor speech in opposition to the 2005 bankruptcy bill, nonetheless voted against a key amendment that would have put a cap of 30 percent on interest rates. Financial firms, according to Ken Silverstein's much-discussed Harper's article "Barack Obama Inc.,""constitute Obama's second biggest single bloc of donors." You'll find nary a word about the debt crisis on his campaign web site.

You'll also want to check out David Sirota's retort to the Obama camp's uproar over a Washington Post story on the 2005 Bankruptcy bill: Obama Camp Feigns Outrage, Distracting From Obama's Vote to Allow Loan Sharking."

Here is one of Sen. Hillary Clinton's statements on predatory credit card lending practices:

"Statement by Hillary Clinton on Credit and Bankruptcy Concerns," November 25, 2007:

... "I will put an end to abusive practices by credit card companies that impose enormous fees and astronomical interest rates on unsuspecting borrowers. I will improve oversight of credit card lending policies, and vigorously enforce our laws against unfair and deceptive practices. I will change the bankruptcy rules that unfairly squeeze middle-class homeowners who have seen the value of their homes fall as their mortgage payments skyrocket. ..."

"Obama - Mr. Opportunity (return of the hollow man)" -- posted here at No Quarter on January 6th, author Wayne Williams reveals the misleading talk in Sen. Obama's campaign speeches:

Under the guise of being all things to all people, Mr. O is heartily solidifying corporate America's control of the political process in the name of - you guessed it, change. It's no surprise that clever advertisers have once again figured out how to sell the same ole - same ole as something new. Young Americans say that they are enthralled because Mr. O gives them hope.

I can appreciate the great appeal that Sen. Obama has for young people.

However, those young Americans should review the interest they're paying on their credit cards, and then ask themselves why Barack Obama backed credit card companies' predatory interest rates instead of protecting their financial futures.