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  1. Havakasha is offline
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    04-23-2012, 12:06 AM #1

    Sugar Daddies

    http://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/con...donors-2012-4/


    Sugar Daddies
    The old, white, rich men who are buying this election.

    By Frank Rich Published Apr 22, 2012 ShareThis

    If you want to appreciate what Barack Obama is up against in 2012, forget about the front man who is his nominal opponent and look instead at the Republican billionaires buying the ammunition for the battles ahead. A representative example is Harold Simmons, an 80-year-old Texan who dumped some $15 million into the campaign before primary season had ended. Reminiscing about 2008, when he bankrolled an ad blitz to tar the Democrats with the former radical Bill Ayers, Simmons told The Wall Street Journal, “If we had run more ads, we could have killed Obama.” It is not a mistake he intends to make a second time. The $15 million Simmons had spent by late February dwarfs the $2.8 million he allotted to the Ayers takedown and the $3 million he contributed to the Swift Boat Veterans demolition of John Kerry four years before that. Imagine the cash that will flow now that the GOP sideshows are over and the president is firmly in Simmons’s crosshairs.
    His use of the verb killed was meant in jest, of course, much as Foster Friess ($1.8 million in known contributions, and counting) was joking when he suggested that “gals” could practice birth control by putting Bayer aspirin between their knees. America’s billionaires are such cards! And we had better get used to their foibles and funny bones. Whatever else happens in 2012, it will go down as the Year of the Sugar Daddy. Inflamed by Obama-hatred, awash in self-pity, and empowered by myriad indulgent court and Federal Election Commission rulings, an outsize posse of superrich white men will spend whatever it takes to have its way with the body politic and, if victorious, with the country itself. Given the advanced age of most of this cohort, 2012 may be seen as the election in which the geezer empire struck back.


    This isn’t quite what was supposed to happen. When the Supreme Court handed down its five-to-four Citizens United decision in 2010, pre-vetting Mitt Romney’s credo that “corporations are people,” apocalyptic Democrats, including Obama, predicted that the election would become a wholly owned subsidiary of the likes of Chevron and General Electric. But publicly traded, risk-averse corporations still care more about profits than partisanship. They tend to cover their bets by giving to both parties. And they are fearful of alienating customers and investors. Witness, most recently, the advertisers who fled Rush Limbaugh, or the far bigger brands (*McDonald’s and Wendy’s, Coke and Pepsi) that severed ties with the conservative lobbying mill responsible for pushing state “stand your ground” laws like the one used to justify the shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida. While corporations and unions remain serious players in the campaign of 2012, their dollars don’t match those of the sugar daddies, who can and do give as much as they want to the newfangled super-PACs.




    Keep reading. click on link. Really informative article in my opinion.
    Last edited by Havakasha; 04-23-2012 at 12:09 AM.

  2. SiriuslyLong is offline
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    04-23-2012, 12:26 PM #2
    Obama posts 10-1 financial edge over Romney, putting $104M into campaign war chest

    Published April 21, 2012
    Associated Press


    WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's re-election effort enjoyed a 10-to-1 financial edge over Republican rival Mitt Romney last month, out-raising the former Massachusetts governor by millions as Obama stuffed more than $104 million into his campaign war chest.

    A nasty primary battle between Romney and his GOP rivals took a financial toll on his presidential campaign, which raised $12.6 million in March and left Romney with about $10 million in the bank by month's end. All told, Obama and the Democratic Party raised a combined $53 million in donations during that period, while Romney with his party pulled in about half of that.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...-campaign-war/

    Hmmmm? Wonder how that happened?

  3. Havakasha is offline
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    04-23-2012, 01:19 PM #3
    Small donors are the bread and butter of the Obama campaign. Outside PAC' s and large donations are the bread and butter of the Romney campaign.

    http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/20...all-donors.php


    President Obama ended March with a 10:1 cash advantage over Mitt Romney, powered largely by a dominant edge with small donors, a dynamic that’s cropped up throughout the campaign.

    Obama’s campaign raised about $35 million in March 2012, leaving it with $104 million cash on hand. They raised an additional $18.7 million in March for a separate joint fund with the DNC. Romney raised $12.6 million in March and has $10 million cash on hand.

    Breaking things down by itemized donors, who have contributed over $200 total, and unitemized donors, who have contributed under $200 total, the difference is striking. Obama raised $18.9 million his total from itemized donors, versus $15.8 million from unitemized, smaller, donors. For Romney, $10.9 million came from itemized donors, versus a paltry $1.6 million unitemized donors. That means roughly 87% of Romney’s total came from donors above $200.
    Last edited by Havakasha; 04-23-2012 at 01:24 PM.

  4. Havakasha is offline
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    04-23-2012, 01:24 PM #4
    Romney's secrets

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/2012/0...sdaT_page.html


    MITT ROMNEY’S contemptuous attitude toward the importance of public disclosure is increasingly troubling. Whether it involves the details of his personal finances or the identity of his big fundraisers, the presumptive Republican is setting a new, low bar for transparency — one that does not augur well for how the Romney White House would conduct itself if he were elected.

  5. Havakasha is offline
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    04-23-2012, 01:38 PM #5
    SUNDAY SHOWS
    Plouffe: Outside Backers Trying to 'Purchase' White House for Romney
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    By Alexandra Jaffe
    Updated: April 16, 2012 | 6:02 p.m.
    April 15, 2012 | 2:05 p.m.

    Senior White House adviser David Plouffe said that the millions going to support Mitt Romney’s candidacy via Republican super PACs are from “a few dozen people” looking to buy the presidency for Romney.
    “You've got a few dozen people who are going to write $5 million, $10 million, $15 million, $50 million checks to try and purchase the White House on behalf of Governor Romney,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Political Capital with Al Hunt that aired on Sunday.
    He pointed to donors from the oil and financial industries, though he did not mention names. "They’d like Romney in the White House because he’s going to take care of their bidding for them,” he said.
    Democratic super PACS have thus far failed to raise as much money from big-check donors as Republican super PACs, a trend which concerns some Democratic operatives. The leading Republican super PAC, American Crossroads, had more than $23.5 million on hand at the end of February, compared to about $2.8 million for the leading Democratic super PAC backing Obama, Priorities USA Action, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

  6. Havakasha is offline
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    04-23-2012, 01:57 PM #6
    http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/20...all-donors.php

    Fortunately for Romney, his biggest supporters will have many more options for helping him out beyond a max donation this cycle. Thanks to the post-Citizens United system, independent groups, including a Super PAC dedicated to electing him, Restore Our Future, can raise unlimited funds from wealthy donors. And they’re having plenty of success so far. The largest such group, the Karl Rove-connected American Crossroads, says it has raised $49 million over the last three months. Meanwhile, Priorities USA, a Democratic Super PAC dedicated to re-electing Obama, announced raising just $4.5 million in the same period.

  7. SiriuslyLong is offline
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    04-23-2012, 03:30 PM #7
    Small donors? C'mon...

    "Obama's top fundraisers include leading lawyers, business executives and film industry leaders, including former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour and Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg. The three have already raised at least $500,000 apiece for the campaign. About two dozen others have each raised that much."

    http://news.yahoo.com/obama-releases...191354211.html

    Small donors..... Like Soros and Buffet? Or "Hollywood"? Please...

  8. Havakasha is offline
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    04-23-2012, 03:38 PM #8
    Some people dont like to read facts.
    "A DOMINANT EDGE WITH SMALL DONORS"
    No one said President Obama doesnt have large donors.

    Reading comprehension skills just a little lacking. lol


    http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/20...all-donors.php


    President Obama ended March with a 10:1 cash advantage over Mitt Romney, powered largely by a dominant edge with small donors, a dynamic that’s cropped up throughout the campaign.

    Obama’s campaign raised about $35 million in March 2012, leaving it with $104 million cash on hand. They raised an additional $18.7 million in March for a separate joint fund with the DNC. Romney raised $12.6 million in March and has $10 million cash on hand.

    Breaking things down by itemized donors, who have contributed over $200 total, and unitemized donors, who have contributed under $200 total, the difference is striking. Obama raised $18.9 million his total from itemized donors, versus $15.8 million from unitemized, smaller, donors. For Romney, $10.9 million came from itemized donors, versus a paltry $1.6 million unitemized donors. That means roughly 87% of Romney’s total came from donors above $200.
    Last edited by Havakasha; Today at 01:24 PM.

  9. Havakasha is offline
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    04-23-2012, 03:49 PM #9
    Even within the Republican primary party system Romeny relies on the "fat cats".

    Mitt Romney has more delegates, more money and more endorsements than any of his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination. But with a split verdict on Super Tuesday and no quick finish in sight, he is struggling to match the enthusiasm and money his rivals have harnessed from grass-roots donors.


    While Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have enjoyed million-dollar surges of small checks after their primary victories, Mr. Romney has instead relied overwhelmingly on his network of high-dollar donors, attending lavish fund-raising events in Washington; Palm Beach, Fla.; and New York City that have both swelled his campaign accounts and fueled perceptions that he is favored more by his party’s elite than by its conservative base.

  10. SiriuslyLong is offline
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    04-23-2012, 03:51 PM #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Havakasha View Post
    Some people dont like to read facts.
    "A DOMINANT EDGE WITH SMALL DONORS"
    No one said President Obama doesnt have large donors.

    Reading comprehension skills just a little lacking. lol


    http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/20...all-donors.php


    President Obama ended March with a 10:1 cash advantage over Mitt Romney, powered largely by a dominant edge with small donors, a dynamic that’s cropped up throughout the campaign.

    Obama’s campaign raised about $35 million in March 2012, leaving it with $104 million cash on hand. They raised an additional $18.7 million in March for a separate joint fund with the DNC. Romney raised $12.6 million in March and has $10 million cash on hand.

    Breaking things down by itemized donors, who have contributed over $200 total, and unitemized donors, who have contributed under $200 total, the difference is striking. Obama raised $18.9 million his total from itemized donors, versus $15.8 million from unitemized, smaller, donors. For Romney, $10.9 million came from itemized donors, versus a paltry $1.6 million unitemized donors. That means roughly 87% of Romney’s total came from donors above $200.
    Last edited by Havakasha; Today at 01:24 PM.
    Maybe his constituency is sending him some foodstamps and beer money?

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