here Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is allowing donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor's identity, campaign officials confirmed. Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign has also chosen not to use basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions from flowing into its accounts, aides acknowledged. Instead, the campaign is scrutinizing its books for improper donations after the money has been deposited. The Obama organization said its extensive review has ensured that the campaign has refunded any improper contributions, and noted that Federal Election Commission rules do not require front-end screening of donations. In recent weeks, questionable contributions have created headaches for Obama's accounting team as it has tried to explain why campaign finance filings have included itemized donations from individuals using fake names, such as Es Esh or Doodad Pro. Those revelations prompted conservative bloggers to further test Obama's finance vetting by giving money using the kind of prepaid cards that can be bought at a drugstore and cannot be traced to a donor. The problem with such cards, campaign finance lawyers said, is that they make it impossible to tell whether foreign nationals, donors who have exceeded the limits, government contractors or others who are barred from giving to a federal campaign are making contributions. "They have opened the floodgates to all this money coming in," said Sean Cairncross, chief counsel to the Republican National Committee. "I think they've made the determination that whatever money they have to refund on the back end doesn't outweigh the benefit of taking all this money upfront." ----- The same payments fail to process for the McCain and Clinton campain.
FAIL FAIL FAIL. You pulled a TJ and left out half the article!!! CONTINUED... And this: Is not in the article at all. (although it is implied).
This would solve the problem of "buying access". Anonymous donors can't pressure for favors later can they? I guess these donors ACTUALLY BELIEVE in Obama so much that they are willing to make an anonymous donation. Thanks for letting us know about this. FAIL FAIL.
this is what I thought, but then i figured a wingnut would counter with obama knows who there are, its all part of the conspiracy to get the evil black christian muslim, no hand over heart pledging, radical elitist into the white house.
This is exactly the reason why McCain called for campaign finance reform and passed bipartisan legislation on it. Obama agreed to abide by these rules, as did McCain. Only McCain kept his word. Obama lied. So the next time Obama makes the false claim of working in bipartisan fashion, keep this example in mind. He's a liar and a fraud.
Very smart move by Obama to take money from the people to fight the republican slime machine. His campaign has always been a peoples campaign.
Nice job of simply parroting Obama's excuse for lying about his campaign finance intentions. Was it a smart move to lie? Was it a smart move to reject the bipartisan efforts at campaign finance reform? Obama is a proven liar. He has never worked in a bipartisan fashion on anything of consequence. He is a socialist at his core, and it's great news that he finally admitted that to Joe the Plumber. Friends, things are about to get interesting. GOOD DAY
Oh good grief. He did more than call for it. He enacted bipartisan legislation with Russ Feingold on the topic.
too bad i already voted. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FzRH3iTQPrk&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FzRH3iTQPrk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Anyone remember how, back in the day, Republicans always had more money? And when Dems would whine that they were doing it in a way that corrupted the process? And then Repubs would say "Tough, go raise your own money from those schoolteachers and union guys and whatever losers that want to contribute to you... we'll continue with big chunks from the wealthy supplemented by fleecing the rubes?" Well, now the Dems went out and raised a bunch of money from all those losers and they did it in a way that does not corrupt the system. And now, look who's whining about the big bad Dems having a monetary advantage. Repubs really need to suck it up and take their medicine. Wimpitude is not very becoming. Nobody to blame but themselves.
T_J, Fail Fail, et al should be APPALLED by this... www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-donorsoct29,0,1269595.story chicagotribune.com Campaign donor's giving raises questions Little known about man who has sent thousands to GOP By Andrew Zajac, Ray Gibson and Bob Secter Tribune reporters October 29, 2008 Big campaign donors typically come with deep pockets and influence. But in Illinois this election cycle, no one not running for office himself has given more to the nation's federal campaigns than Shi Sheng Hao of Roselle, a virtual unknown in business and political circles. Before September 2007, Hao's name had never appeared in the 15-year-old federal database of campaign contributors. Since then, however, his donations have topped $120,000 — including $70,100 on a single June day to Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Over the same time frame, a network of Hao relatives has kicked in more. The take from this group over the last 13 months exceeds $269,000, a small amount to Democrats but most of it to McCain and the Republican National Committee, records show. Hao didn't register to vote at the northwest suburban address attached to his donations until October 2007, a month after he wrote his first political check, $25,000 to the RNC. The circumstances surrounding Hao's sudden and prolific political activism are curious and his whereabouts unclear. His name isn't listed on property records or the mailbox at the unassuming tract home listed on his donations. Hao lives "overseas," insisted a man who answered the door at the Roselle home recently. The man declined to identify himself. The story of Hao—whose varied roster of business associates appears to include a Taiwanese government investment arm as well as the mastermind of a decade-old Democratic fundraising scandal — is an eyebrow-raiser in the current election climate. Ethnic Chinese donors became an issue in the battle for the Democratic nomination last year because some didn't seem to live where they claimed on contribution records. Now, Republicans are raising questions about the authenticity of many small donations Democrat Barack Obama has received from abroad. Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics, said the timing of the Hao-related contributions appeared troubling, though there could be a plausible explanation. "Large contributions from people who have never given previously do generally provoke questions about who they are and what they're up to, and most importantly, what they're looking for," said Krumholz, whose non-partisan group closely tracks political donations. "The public needs to be concerned because there are fraudulent donations, and persons use them to gain influence and access in Washington." McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said Hao was not a "major donor" and "not a part of this campaign in terms of fundraising," but declined to discuss him further or address the campaign's procedures for vetting donors. RNC spokesman Danny Diaz said he would not respond to questions from the Tribune, contending that the newspaper was biased against McCain. So who is Shi Sheng Hao, and what are his means and motives for becoming a mega-donor? No one answers a telephone listed in his name in the 630 area code, and there's no answering machine. Messages left for him by phone and e-mail with several relatives went unanswered. But this much can be gleaned from public records: Donation disclosures list his occupation as a businessman with entities identified only by slightly different acronyms: ADECC, AAEC, A.A.E.C.C. On some he is also listed as president of American Chinese Entertainment Ltd. Hao and his wife, Hsin-Ning, declared bankruptcy in 1995, at the time using the Roselle home as an address and listing as a business a firm called Asian American Environmental Control. Hao holds an Illinois driver's license that lists his address as the Roselle home, but property records show the four-bedroom house has been owned since 1992 by Robert and Jen Chi, and their last name is on the mailbox. Contacted at the Des Plaines marketing firm where she works, Jen Chi said she didn't want to discuss Hao, though she said she knew how to get in touch with him and would have him call the Tribune. He never did. "I don't know anything about his business," said Chi, who herself gave $15,000 to the RNC the week after Hao's first donation. "I don't want to be stuck in the middle." Hao's wife, Hsin-Ning, also used the Roselle address when she made a $25,000 contribution to the RNC last year. In September, however, she listed a Taipei address on a $2,300 contribution to the campaign fund of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. There is no record in business databases of American Chinese Entertainment Ltd., the firm listed in some Hao donation records. However, an Asian American Entertainment Corp. was incorporated early this year in California with a Shi Sheng Hao as president. Government records show that firm and at least two other Hao companies have connections to the family of Gene and Nora Lum, onetime prominent Democratic fundraisers in the Asian-American community who were convicted in 1997 of making political donations through illegal straw donors. A Taiwanese firm with a nearly identical name as Hao's new California company, Asian American Entertainment Ltd., is also headed by a Shi Sheng Hao. That firm has been embroiled in a lengthy legal battle in Las Vegas over a soured partnership in an application for a casino license in Macau, the former Portuguese colony now part of China. A court filing in that case described Hao's firm as a business affiliate of the China Industrial Development Bank, a finance arm of the Taiwanese government. Hao is listed as a resident of Taiwan in corporate papers filed in the case. It is not clear whether the Shi Sheng Hao in the lawsuit and the California ventures is the same Shi Sheng Hao using the Roselle address. But public records point to numerous coincidences, including corporations with similar names and an overlap of investors. Some political donations from the Roselle address also refer to Hao by a nickname, Marshall, the same nickname given for Hao in the Las Vegas court action. Federal records indicate a pattern of large and coordinated donations from Hao, relatives and associates. Collectively, eight of them gave a total of $130,000 to the RNC in late September to early October of last year. azajac@tribune.com rgibson@tribune.com bsecter@tribune.com Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
Now, now, do we really need to run down the schedule from now until Tuesday? He has Thursday and Monday- the Halloween weekend will KILL any chance of an announcement between now and Tuesday having any kind of impact. I can't tell you how many of my moderate friends went with Obama this time because McCain and misguided supporters like you spend so much time cutting down one candidate that we don't even know what your candidate stands for. Obama: Tax cuts for 95% of Americans- whether that is fulfilled or not does not matter- in the Information Age, which McCain is very out of touch with, people want specific details, not character assassinations. Obama gives us an on-site calculator- McCain gives us robocalls. Obama gives us "all Americans," McCain gives us "Joe the plumber." Who do you think does a better job of relating to the American people, of providing specific plans to fix problems? Clearly not your candidate. It's hard for me and other moderates to even remember what McCain's message is because all I remember is what he doesn't like about Obama. Granted, this is part of politics (e.g. Obama's linking of McCain to Bush), but that's all McCain is basing his message on. You and McCain have done a thoroughly poor job of convincing me and other moderates like myself as to why your candidate is better. And the fact that you spend such an inordinate amount of time posting these things on a board which is 90+% supporting Obama is, quite frankly, embarrassing. You deal in hate, not change. You deal in problems, not solutions. You deal in character assassination while Obama deals in economic resuscitation. Again, maybe his plan works and maybe it doesn't. But it's pretty sad that the best you and McCain supporters can do is convince us that Obama seems more prepared to be the next President. You all failed this time. Suggestion: 2012.
And it leads to corruption also. Internaltionals can contribute. Rich people can contribute over max allowable to bypass campain contribution laws, etc...
