Okay, I’m sure some of you are sick of the political angle this blog has taken in the last month. But believe me, thinking about all of these political issues hasn’t been easy!
I think this post will be worth your while though. CBS News’ Katie Couric of Sarah Palin-stumping fame, not exactly a die-hard conservative, did some investigative journalism regarding Obama’s fundraising. Obama isn’t taking any public money and hasn’t disclosed a significant number of donors. CBS has found that many fake and suspicious names plague the list of his donors. If you live in a ‘battle ground’ state, then I’m sure you’ve experienced the Obama ads that this money is buying:
The FEC breakdown of the Obama campaign has identified a staggering $222.7 million as coming from contributions of $200 or less. Only $39.6 million of that amount comes from donors the Obama campaign has identified.
It is the largest pool of unidentified money that has ever flooded into the U.S. election system, before or after the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reforms of 2002.
To make the story more interesting, McCain has disclosed all of his donors and made the information available online:
“We and seven other watchdog groups asked both campaigns for more information on small donors,” he said. “The Obama campaign never responded,” whereas the McCain campaign “makes all its donor information, including the small donors, available online.”
The worst part of this story are the donations given under fake names over the donation limits:
In a letter dated June 25, 2008, the FEC asked the Obama campaign to verify a series of $25 donations from a contributor identified as “Will, Good” from Austin, Texas.
Mr. Good Will listed his employer as “Loving” and his profession as “You.”
A Newsmax analysis of the 1.4 million individual contributions in the latest master file for the Obama campaign discovered 1,000 separate entries for Mr. Good Will, most of them for $25.
In total, Mr. Good Will gave $17,375.
Following this and subsequent FEC requests, campaign records show that 330 contributions from Mr. Good Will were credited back to a credit card. But the most recent report, filed on Sept. 20, showed a net cumulative balance of $8,950 — still well over the $4,600 limit.
The article goes on to explain potential illegal fundraising from abroad. What does all of this really mean? It means Obama’s record fundraising is also break records for suspicion and potential illegal activity. It means that factors about Obama’s campaign and his history continue to trickle out to voters. I think most of all the question of experience and judgment arise again. In other words, what was he thinking? This is an American election, not a game. The results of the election are serious and money matters, it moves candidates around the country and puts them in advertisements in places they can’t be. I think the effect of the ads will be a wash, convince some people and tire out others. But what it reveals about character won’t be resolved as easily.
“The fact that the obama camp has not provided more info about who these small donors are really runs counter to his transparency message,” says Krumholz.
What about the big money donors? Both campaigns boast of many, but when it comes to the interests of those Wall Street firms caught up in the economic crisis, Obama often bests McCain.
Goldman Sachs interests:
Obama $743,371
McCain $220,045Lehman Brothers interests:
Obama $391,624
McCain $115,707Citigroup interests:
Obama $499,598
McCain $290,101Morgan Stanley interests:
Obama $344,130
McCain $249,377JPMorgan & Chase Co. interests:
Obama $478,462
McCain $210,992
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The problem with this country is BOTH the Democrats and Republicans. Anyone who seriously thinks that one side isn’t corrupt or slaves to Corporate America hasn’t done an adequate job of paying attention. To the Republicans: The GW administration will go down in History as one of the worst administrations. They eroded your constitutional rights, expanded the power of the wealthy elite, invaded countries under false pretenses, destroyed diplomatic relations with the rest of the world, and spent money like it was going out of style. To the Democrats: Obama is a dud. He promised much and has turned out to be another corporate lackey. He made deals with big pharma to ensure you could not get your medication cheaper elsewhere, he flip flopped on military tribunals, he refuses to fix health care properly through nationalization or single payer, he populates his inner circle with more Wall Street insiders, he spends money on bailouts and useless stimulus packages.