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Big money rolling in

fff

Well-known member
John McCain raised $22 million in June. That's his best month for fundraising. It looks like the lobbyist are starting to rally behind him. :p

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSWAT00976120080710
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
fff said:
John McCain raised $22 million in June. That's his best month for fundraising. It looks like the lobbyist are starting to rally behind him. :p

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSWAT00976120080710

Lets see McCain raises 22 Million dollars and he is a sell out, Obama raises more than 30 million and you have no negative replies.

:roll:
 

fff

Well-known member
Geeze. You guys are in bad shape. I put the numbers out as a comment that McCain is finally raising some money. He's been way behind the Dems in fundraising.

His money comes in big chunks from corporate and lobbyist donations. Obama's money has been coming from small donations from individuals, over a million of them. You don't see the difference there, it's ok with me. Now that Obama is apparently the Dem nominee, he'll probably get the large donations from corporations, too.
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
fff said:
Geeze. You guys are in bad shape. I put the numbers out as a comment that McCain is finally raising some money. He's been way behind the Dems in fundraising.

His money comes in big chunks from corporate and lobbyist donations. Obama's money has been coming from small donations from individuals, over a million of them. You don't see the difference there, it's ok with me. Now that Obama is apparently the Dem nominee, he'll probably get the large donations from corporations, too.

I would bet you there is some lobbyist money floating into Obama's campaign, you just are not reading about it!

Wanna bet?
 

Texan

Well-known member
fff said:
Now that Obama is apparently the Dem nominee, he'll probably get the large donations from corporations, too.
He might get the donations, ff. But he won't accept them. Oldtimer has already told us that his new messiah won't accept any corporate money because he represents real CHANGE. I'm sure he'll just send that money back. :lol:
 

hopalong

Well-known member
Texan said:
fff said:
Now that Obama is apparently the Dem nominee, he'll probably get the large donations from corporations, too.
He might get the donations, ff. But he won't accept them. Oldtimer has already told us that his new messiah won't accept any corporate money because he represents real CHANGE. I'm sure he'll just send that money back. :lol:

And you belive Oldtimer????????

His local watering hole has a special order of KOOL AIDE in stock just for him :D :D :D :D
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
Edwards, Obama, and lobbyist money

At YearlyKos, John Edwards and Barack Obama sought to distinguish themselves from Hillary Clinton by saying they didn’t take money from registered lobbyists, and Clinton was booed for defending herself. (Also: Franke-Ruta.)

I found this curious: after all, Obama and Edwards showed up at the national convention of the lobbying group for the trial lawyers, the former Association of Trial Lawyers of America (who now call themselves the American Association of Justice). There, they gave speeches (as did Clinton, Biden, and Richardson). A look at the largest donors for Obama and especially Edwards shows a disproportionate number of active members of that lobbying group. Indeed, John Edwards’s finance chairman is Fred Baron, the former president of ATLA. If Obama and Edwards want voters to believe that Clinton is influenced by lobbyist money, what should we think about these two candidates’ debts to trial lawyers? Are we to believe that the critical difference is the lobbyist registration papers, at which point money becomes tainted and dirty? Are any reporters going to ask that hard question, or will they let the two candidates demagogue from the high ground as they take millions from the most pernicious special interest group in America?

http://overlawyered.com/2007/08/assignment-desk-edwards-obama-and-lobbyist-money/
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
Meet Jim Johnson, Obama bundler

By Soren Dayton

Barack Obama says that John McCain has a lobbyist problem. But that's only because Obama isn't being honest about himself.

Barack Obama has lobbyist-bundlers. He doesn't really admit it but ... he does. Here at Redstate, we are going to introduce you to these people. The press doesn't want you to know that these people exist, but we have ways of getting around the press.

The first one that we will introduce you to is Jim Johnson. Mr. Johnson was a lobbyist, US representative of a former African prime minister, former CEO of Fannie Mae, business partner with former Clinton UN Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, and other things[. Read on.

Mr. Johnson was a former CEO of Fannie Mae, who has promised to raise Obama between $100k and $200k. Johnson left in 1998. That wasn't a good year for Fannie Mae, according to the Post:


An Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight report in September accused the company of improperly deferring $200 million of estimated expenses in 1998, which allowed management to receive full annual bonuses. Had the expenses been recorded that year, no bonuses would have been paid, the report said.

In other words, he stole money from shareholders and put it in his own pocket.


In 2006 and 2007, he was a foreign agent for a former Prime Minister of Senegal.

Now, Mr. Johnson isn't exactly a practitioner of new politics. From his own biography:


From 1977 to 1981, Mr. Johnson was Executive Assistant to Vice President Walter F. Mondale, where he advised the Vice President on domestic and foreign policy and political matters. Earlier, he was employed by the Dayton Hudson Corporation, worked as a staff member in the U.S. Senate, and was on the faculty of Princeton University.

So one of Barack Obama's bundlers cheated shareholders out of money, represented foreign leaders, and was a Carter(!) administration official.

Just what America needs more of close to a President.

http://archive.redstate.com/blogs/soren_dayton/2008/may/22/meet_jim_johnson_obama_bundler
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
Outside Groups Aid Obama, Their Vocal Critic


By LESLIE WAYNE
Published: January 30, 2008

After months of denouncing the influence of special-interest money in politics, Senator Barack Obama is nonetheless entering a critical phase of the presidential campaign benefiting from millions of dollars being spent outside campaign finance rules.

Mr. Obama has repudiated a California group, Vote Hope, that is working on his behalf. But it has pressed on and, along with a sister organization called PowerPac.org, is planning to spend up to $4 million promoting him in California and conducting voter registration drives aimed at blacks in 11 Southern states.

The group has already run radio advertisements with local ministers in South Carolina. New advertisements, some for television, have been prepared for California, one with the rap star Common and others focusing on black and Latino voters.

As the campaign treasuries of Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton are rapidly draining heading into the nominating contests in more than 20 states on Tuesday, independent political groups — whether so-called 527 groups, political action committees, nonprofit organizations or trade unions — are stepping in to help fill the void. The efforts of these groups, particularly 527s, which are named for a section of the tax code under which they fall, worry campaign finance watchdogs because many can take unlimited contributions from donors and have limited oversight.

Mr. Obama’s campaign says it has taken pains to discourage these efforts on its behalf, and in fact the campaign has no recourse in controlling them. “We do not think people should be donating to 527s,” said Bill Burton, a campaign spokesman. “We would rather have them involved in our campaign. It is our hope that anyone who supports Obama does so directly through his campaign and not through these outside groups.”

The Clinton campaign, which has not made an issue of outside help, has been a much greater beneficiary of these groups. Mrs. Clinton has large unions representing government employees and teachers on her side, as well as the politically savvy feminist organization Emily’s List. The two unions plan to spend millions of dollars on her behalf through direct mail, phone banks and get-out-the-vote efforts in Super Tuesday states.

The teachers’ union, which has 1.4 million members, has budgeted $3 million for the effort, while the government employees’ union has earmarked $5 million. Meanwhile, Emily’s List has an effort directed at women just outside the New York City media market.

Mr. Obama has lined up support from unions representing plumbers and pipefitters, as well as hospitality and garment workers. One union, Unite Here, plans to mobilize its 450,000 members through direct mail advertisements, phone banks and door-to-door visits in Super Tuesday states. It will also continue efforts, begun in Nevada, to run pro-Obama television and radio spots, many in Spanish and aimed at voters in California. The plumbers’ and pipefitters’ union, which has 340,000 members, said it was working with the Obama campaign to get out its membership and was encouraging members to donate time as Obama campaign volunteers.

Unlike 527s, unions can coordinate some activities with campaigns, and spending by their political action committees must be reported to federal regulators.

The efforts by Vote Hope pose a particular challenge to Mr. Obama’s campaign, given his repeated criticism of Mrs. Clinton and former Senator John Edwards for having accepted similar help.

Referring to Mr. Edwards, Mr. Obama said in December in the heat of the Iowa campaign, “John said yesterday he didn’t believe in these 527s.” Then he added, “You can’t say yesterday you don’t believe in it, and today three-quarters of a million dollars is being spent for you.”

The two California groups supporting Mr. Obama, Vote Hope, which is a 527, and PowerPac.org, which is a nonprofit group, are both creations of Steve Phillips, a longtime social activist and lawyer who founded PowerPac.org five years ago.

“We have a chance to make an impact,” Mr. Phillips said. “There are not the resources within the Obama campaign to organize. You need a dedicated organization with a dedicated revenue stream.”

Mr. Phillips donated $95,000 to the effort. He is also the son-in-law of Herbert Sandler, a billionaire banker and major donor to the Democratic Party and liberal causes. Vote Hope plans to spend about $1 million supporting Mr. Obama in California, while PowerPac.org has budgeted $2 million to $3 million for the nonpartisan voter registration drive in the South, help that could not come at a better time
.

“These groups are critical to the campaigns,” said Kenneth Gross, a campaign finance lawyer who advises Democratic candidates. “The campaigns are spread so thin on Feb. 5, in terms of geography and television coverage. There is never enough money to do what you want. So these groups can step in and play a critical role.”

So long as unions are politicking among their own members, they can coordinate their efforts with individual candidates and campaigns. While rules may vary according to the structure of the group, many outside organizations, like nonprofit groups and 527s, cannot coordinate their activities with a campaign. Some of these groups can receive donations in unlimited amounts, or in amounts that exceed campaign finance limits, and with looser disclosure rules.

According to Vote Hope’s Web site, its goal is “to get hundreds of thousands of new votes pledged for Obama — starting Jan. 9 and leading up to the state’s Feb. 5, 2008 primary
.”

To that end, Vote Hope and PowerPac have set up what amounts to a parallel campaign to the Obama organization, specifically directed at blacks, Latinos and young people.

A Vote Hope advertisement featuring the rapper Common saying “Obama is down for us” has already run on television in San Francisco and can be found on the group’s Web site and on YouTube. Vote Hope’s Web site is also maintaining its own voter data bank of Obama supporters.

In addition, the Web publication Politico.com posted a memorandum sent to Vote Hope supporters outlining a PowerPac.org drive to hire people — at $12.50 an hour — to find voters for Mr. Obama, drive them to the polls and then check with polling locations to be certain they have voted.

The Obama campaign says it would rather the money come directly to the campaign itself.

“There is much that you and others associated with Vote Hope can accomplish for the Obama candidacy within his official organization,” the Obama campaign said in a Dec. 28 letter to Mr. Phillips. “An independent effort outside that organization undermines the senator’s message.”

Among unions, Tom Snyder, the political director of Unite Here, which represents a number of groups including hospitality and garment workers, said the group would be sending a big “positive pro-Obama” message in Super Tuesday states, just as it did in Nevada and South Carolina. The group’s political action committee has about $660,000 on hand for its efforts.

“We plan to communicate with our members and turn them out,” Mr. Snyder said.

On behalf of Mrs. Clinton, Edward J. McElroy, president of the American Federation of Teachers, predicts a “tsunami” of activity as Tuesday draws closer. This will include phone banks, door-to-door visits and fliers on issues like education and the economy, distributed to a membership that is about 70 percent women and has an 80 percent voter registration rate.

Equally active on behalf of Mrs. Clinton is the American Federation of State, Local and Municipal Employees, which will be sending staff members to important Super Tuesday states to drum up support among its members. For the entire election cycle, including races for president, Congress and governor, the union has budgeted $60 million.

“We will have waves of mailings leading up to Feb. 5,” said Larry Scanlon, political director for the union. Mr. Scanlon estimates that “several million” fliers will be mailed, to be followed up by both live and recorded telephone calls

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/us/politics/30donate.html?_r=1&ei=5070&en=cc8b002108cca685&ex=1202360400&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&emc=eta1&adxnnlx=1215925202-sou6BX7Wgco2CGco+KBPCQ
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
There's no question that industry loves Barack. As of March 31, UBS, the second largest bank in Europe, has given over $165,000 to his campaign. The Exelon corporation, which is the nation’s largest nuclear plant operator, has donated almost $160,000. The investment Goliath, Goldman Sachs, has also fattened the pockets of Barack Inc. with over $143,000. Citigroup has given well over $50,000 with Morgan Stanley close behind at $40,000. Wall Street has Obama’s back

http://noiivan.blogspot.com/2007/05/barack-obama-corporate-candidate.html
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
As Ken Silverstein wrote in an online article for Harper’s:

“To anyone who thinks Obama is blissfully oblivious to the fundraising imperative, consider the following: in one of his earliest votes as a senator, Obama helped pass a class-action “reform” bill that was a long-standing and cherished goal of business groups. (The bill was the focus of a significant lobbying effort by financial firms, who constitute Obama's second-biggest single bloc of donors.

http://countercurrents.org/frank010507.htm
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
Corporate money favors Obama over McCain

Barack Obama is winning the race for big business money over presidential rival John McCain.


Wall Street and the banking sector have given $19 million to Obama compared with $12 million to McCain through the end of May, according the Center for Responsive Politics and Federal Election Commission. Hedge funds, mortgage lenders, investment banks and private equity firms, which have been hit by the subprime mortgage and housing market crisis, are included in that group.

The trend holds true for a number of other industries, which are contributing more campaign funds to Obama, but flips on a few other business sectors:

Communications, electronics and technology: Obama, $10.2 million; McCain $2.3 million.

Construction: Obama, $2.1 million; McCain, $1.8 million.

Health care, drug companies: Obama, $6.6 million; McCain, $2.5 million.

Transportation: McCain, $988,000; Obama, $609,000.

Energy: McCain, $1.4 million; Obama, $1.1 million.

Agriculture: McCain, $1 million; Obama, $834,000.


Obama said Thursday he would opt out of public financing system for the general election race. Corporate support for Obama comes despite the Democrat's stance opposing business positions on key issues. For example, Obama wants to scale back free trade agreements, opposes new offshore and Alaskan oil drilling, wants to roll back tax cuts that have helped some business sectors, and favors pro-union measures to help organizing efforts.

McCain sides with businesses on free trade, preserving recent tax cuts and wants more leeway for offshore drilling, although he still opposes activity in an Alaskan preserve. He also wants to cut U.S. corporate tax rates by 10 percent.

McCain does go against business interests on some issues opposing total elimination of the federal estate tax and a ban on prescription drug imports.

http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2008/06/16/daily51.html
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is benefiting from the support of well-connected Washington lobbyists even though he has prohibited his campaign from accepting contributions from them and political action committees (PACs).

While Obama has decried the influence of special interests in Washington, the reality is that many of the most talented and experienced political operatives in his party are lobbyists, and he needs their help

--------------------------------------------------

Other K Street players working to build momentum for Obama are former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), a consultant for Alston & Bird; Broderick Johnson, president of Bryan Cave Strategies LLC; Mark Keam, the lead Democratic lobbyist at Verizon; Jimmy Williams, vice president of government affairs for the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America; Thomas Walls, vice president of federal public affairs at McGuireWoods Consulting; and Francis Grab, senior manager at Washington Council Ernst & Young

-------------------------------------------

Two lobbyists who are supporting another candidate and spoke to The Hill on condition of anonymity said that Obama’s campaign contacted them asking to be put in touch with their networks of business clients and acquaintances.

One of the lobbyists, who supports Clinton, said that Shomik Dutta, a fundraiser for Obama’s campaign, called to ask if the lobbyist’s wife would be interested in making a political contribution.

“I was quite taken aback,” he said. “He was very direct in saying that you’re a lobbyist and we don’t want contributions from lobbyists. But your wife can contribute and we like your network.”




http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obamas-k-street-project-2007-03-28.html
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
Teal Baker, who received her first payment from Obama's campaign on June 13, represented 18 corporations between Jan. 1 and June 30 of this year while working as a lobbyist for Podesta Group, a K Street powerhouse. Clients paid Podesta Group over $2 million during those six months for Baker and her colleagues to represent them, according to documents filed with the Senate Office of Public Records.

Clients such as Oshkosh Truck and Pinkerton Consulting paid more than $700,000 for Emmett Beliveau and his colleagues at Patton Boggs to represent them during the first half of 2007. Beliveau received a $3,050 payment from Obama's campaign for advance work on Feb. 21, a campaign finance report shows.

In addition, the article states, "Brandon Hurlbut, Obama's liaison to veterans, union members and senior citizens in New Hampshire, represented clients such as the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies and the Allegheny County Housing Authority from January to June, according to public records. Six clients paid B&D Consulting $380,000 for Hurlbut to lobby their causes.

Until recently, Hurlbut had a voice mail greeting at B&D Consulting informing callers that he was on "a temporary leave of absence" to work for Obama's campaign."

On its website, Patton Boggs, (the firm that employed Beliveau), proudly boasts of being "consistently ranked as the nation's number one lobbying firm by the National Journal."

The Podesta Group, (the firm that employed Teal Baker), is run by Tony Podesta, a Chicago native. Podesta was listed third in Washingtonian magazine's list of the city's top lobbyists. The Washingtonian article from June says Podesta was hired by British Petroleum, whose pipeline problems and refinery fires have created regulatory and public-relations issues. Podesta had been "guiding BP through congressional hearings."

The author of the article, Kim Eisler, writes, "Podesta and his team of 23 lobbyists are said to collect $12 million to $15 million in annual billings."


http://www.alternet.org/election08/72079/
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
Teal Baker, who received her first payment from Obama's campaign on June 13, represented 18 corporations between Jan. 1 and June 30 of this year while working as a lobbyist for Podesta Group, a K Street powerhouse. Clients paid Podesta Group over $2 million during those six months for Baker and her colleagues to represent them, according to documents filed with the Senate Office of Public Records.

Clients such as Oshkosh Truck and Pinkerton Consulting paid more than $700,000 for Emmett Beliveau and his colleagues at Patton Boggs to represent them during the first half of 2007. Beliveau received a $3,050 payment from Obama's campaign for advance work on Feb. 21, a campaign finance report shows.

In addition, the article states, "Brandon Hurlbut, Obama's liaison to veterans, union members and senior citizens in New Hampshire, represented clients such as the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies and the Allegheny County Housing Authority from January to June, according to public records. Six clients paid B&D Consulting $380,000 for Hurlbut to lobby their causes.

Until recently, Hurlbut had a voice mail greeting at B&D Consulting informing callers that he was on "a temporary leave of absence" to work for Obama's campaign."

On its website, Patton Boggs, (the firm that employed Beliveau), proudly boasts of being "consistently ranked as the nation's number one lobbying firm by the National Journal."

The Podesta Group, (the firm that employed Teal Baker), is run by Tony Podesta, a Chicago native. Podesta was listed third in Washingtonian magazine's list of the city's top lobbyists. The Washingtonian article from June says Podesta was hired by British Petroleum, whose pipeline problems and refinery fires have created regulatory and public-relations issues. Podesta had been "guiding BP through congressional hearings."

The author of the article, Kim Eisler, writes, "Podesta and his team of 23 lobbyists are said to collect $12 million to $15 million in annual billings."


http://www.alternet.org/election08/72079/
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
Obama same ole Same ole.

Poor fff is so :? she don't know whether to wind there butt or wipe there watch

Things get a little confusing for her when she sees there is a whole other world out there of facts that she does not find on the Huffington Post! :roll:
 
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