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BUSH WAS A HORRIBLE CRONY NEPOTIST WHO FAVORED THE SUPER-ELITE AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LITTLE GUY–OBAMA’S WORSE (FROM 4TH MEDIA)	Posted on May 11, 2013	by jimcraven10 Bush Was a Horrible Crony Nepotist, Who Favored the Super-Elite at the Expense of the Little Guy … Obama’s Worse
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/ | Saturday, May 11, 2013, 12:06 Beijing
Obama Names Top Fundraisers to Major Political Posts
Glenn Greenwald notes today:
Last week, the Obama administration announced its choice to lead the Federal Communications Commission: Tom Wheeler, who is not only a former telecom lobbyist but also a huge bundler for the Obama campaign. The New York Times Editorial Pagetoday explains that this choice is “raising serious questions about [Obama’s] 2007 pledge that corporate lobbyists would not finance his campaign or run his administration.” It also notes that “given his background, it is almost certain that [Wheeler] raised money [for Obama] from people whose companies he would regulate, creating potential conflicts of interest.”
While despicable, this is nothing new.
The Center for Public Integrity reported in 2011 that Obama had rewarded as many big money bundlers in 2 years as Bush had appointed in 8:
Source: Public Citizen, iWatchNews analysis. Graphic: Jeremy Borden/iWatch News.
Bundling is controversial because it permits campaigns to skirt individual contribution limits of $2,500 in federal elections. Bundlers pool donations from fundraising networks and as a result “play an enormous role in determining the success of political campaigns,” according to Public Citizen. The group has tracked bundlers on a websitewww.whitehouseforsale.org in the belief that they are “apt to receive preferential treatment if their candidate wins.”
Passing over career diplomats in favor of mega-donors amounts to “selling ambassadorships,” said Susan Johnson, president of the American Foreign Service Association. She said it runs contrary to the law and is unethical, yet, “That hasn’t stopped anybody.”
Thomas Pickering, who served as ambassador to Russia and several other countries during a diplomatic career spanning four decades, said turning to bundlers adds a “new dimension” to what he termed “buying offices” through aggressive fundraising.
Hyatt hotels heiress Penny Pritzker, Wall Street titan Robert Wolf and financier Mark Gallogly, for instance, all served on the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Commission.
In late February, in creating a new commission to take on the task of creating jobs, Obama again appointed the three business people. Transcripts of the recovery board meetings show that commission members are free to press for an agenda that could significantly benefit their business interests.
The Center pointed out in 2012:
At least 68 of 350 Obama bundlers for the 2012 election or their spouses have served in the administration, ranging from seats on advisory boards that tackle critical national issues such as economic growth, to ceremonial posts such as serving on the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
At least 250 of the bundlers have been cleared to attend a White House event since January 2009. Most have come twice while others are frequent visitors. The events range from policy briefings to coveted invitations to state dinners and music and entertainment nights featuring top-draw performers at the executive mansion.
At least 30 of the 2012 bundlers have ties to companies that conduct business with federal agencies or hope to do so. They range from Wall Street investors to green energy, technology and defense firms with multimillion-dollar government contracts.
Bundlers have been cleared for more than 5,000 visits to the White House from January 2009 through August 2011, according to visitor logs.
Boyle of Common Cause said that wealthy bundlers can amass political clout and use it to “further enrich themselves, and their circle of friends and business acquaintances.”
“Money buys access and influence and that’s the big problem,” she said. “Those who don’t have it are left out in the cold. That’s not how our democracy is supposed to work, and it must change.”
That’s not likely, according to Tufts political science professor Berry.
Asked if a Republican presidential challenger would end the practice should he win the office next year, Berry said: “It would be shocking if they decided not to try to reward their most loyal fundraisers. It would make no sense.”
Of course, Obama’s top donors in the 2008 election included:
Goldman Sachs folks held so many top jobs in the Obama administration in his first term that everyone called the cozy relationship “Government Sachs”.
Obama appointed GE chairman Jeffrey Immelt as his jobs czar.
And of course, Obama rewarded his big contributors with tidal waves of government money.
Bush was a horrible crony nepotist, who favored the super-elite at the expense of the little guy.
Obama’s worse.
Tags: Obama officials the White House White House
Activists Occupy Dept of [IN]Justice to Demand an End to Racist Mass Incarceration
~ Mahatma Gandhi	View all posts by jimcraven10 →	This entry was posted in 4th Media, Decline of the American Imperium, ELITES AND NEW WORLD ORDER, IMPERIAL HUBRIS AND INTRIGUE, Imperial Hypocrisy and Intrigue, Meme Warfare and Imperialism, MEMEONOMICS: Economics and EconomistS;: Capitalism and its Theories, NED and other Fronts of Imperialism, Neoclassical Economics and Neoliberalism as Neo-Imperialism, Neoliberalism and Neoclassical Theory, New World Order, Nuremberg Precedents, Psyops. Bookmark the permalink.	← THE DEEP POLITICS OF HOLLYWOOD (FROM 4TH MEDIA)
One Response to BUSH WAS A HORRIBLE CRONY NEPOTIST WHO FAVORED THE SUPER-ELITE AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LITTLE GUY–OBAMA’S WORSE (FROM 4TH MEDIA)
Inez Ellison says:	May 20, 2013 at 1:05 am	Until this week, the Obama administration vehemently condemned the Citizens United decision and vowed to eschew super PACs. The entities are a “threat to our democracy,” Obama railed two years ago. The ruling would “open the floodgates for special interests,” he warned. And last July, Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt kept talking the anti-super PAC talk. “Neither the president nor his campaign staff or aides will fundraise for super PACs,” he asserted. Now? President Obama and his wife won’t fundraise for the democracy-undermining super PACs. But countless other Cabinet members and advisers, partying with Obama bundlers gone wild, will.
BUSH WAS A HORRIBLE CRONY NEPOTIST WHO FAVORED THE SUPER-ELITE AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LITTLE GUY–OBAMA’S WORSE (FROM 4TH MEDIA) | Welcome to the Blog of Jim Craven
← THE DEEP POLITICS OF HOLLYWOOD (FROM 4TH MEDIA)
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BUSH WAS A HORRIBLE CRONY NEPOTIST WHO FAVORED THE SUPER-ELITE AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LITTLE GUY–OBAMA’S WORSE (FROM 4TH MEDIA)	Posted on May 11, 2013	by jimcraven10 Bush Was a Horrible Crony Nepotist, Who Favored the Super-Elite at the Expense of the Little Guy … Obama’s Worse
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/ | Saturday, May 11, 2013, 12:06 Beijing
Obama Names Top Fundraisers to Major Political Posts
Glenn Greenwald notes today:
Last week, the Obama administration announced its choice to lead the Federal Communications Commission: Tom Wheeler, who is not only a former telecom lobbyist but also a huge bundler for the Obama campaign. The New York Times Editorial Pagetoday explains that this choice is “raising serious questions about [Obama’s] 2007 pledge that corporate lobbyists would not finance his campaign or run his administration.” It also notes that “given his background, it is almost certain that [Wheeler] raised money [for Obama] from people whose companies he would regulate, creating potential conflicts of interest.”
While despicable, this is nothing new.
The Center for Public Integrity reported in 2011 that Obama had rewarded as many big money bundlers in 2 years as Bush had appointed in 8:
Source: Public Citizen, iWatchNews analysis. Graphic: Jeremy Borden/iWatch News.
Bundling is controversial because it permits campaigns to skirt individual contribution limits of $2,500 in federal elections. Bundlers pool donations from fundraising networks and as a result “play an enormous role in determining the success of political campaigns,” according to Public Citizen. The group has tracked bundlers on a websitewww.whitehouseforsale.org in the belief that they are “apt to receive preferential treatment if their candidate wins.”
Passing over career diplomats in favor of mega-donors amounts to “selling ambassadorships,” said Susan Johnson, president of the American Foreign Service Association. She said it runs contrary to the law and is unethical, yet, “That hasn’t stopped anybody.”
Thomas Pickering, who served as ambassador to Russia and several other countries during a diplomatic career spanning four decades, said turning to bundlers adds a “new dimension” to what he termed “buying offices” through aggressive fundraising.
Hyatt hotels heiress Penny Pritzker, Wall Street titan Robert Wolf and financier Mark Gallogly, for instance, all served on the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Commission.
In late February, in creating a new commission to take on the task of creating jobs, Obama again appointed the three business people. Transcripts of the recovery board meetings show that commission members are free to press for an agenda that could significantly benefit their business interests.
The Center pointed out in 2012:
At least 68 of 350 Obama bundlers for the 2012 election or their spouses have served in the administration, ranging from seats on advisory boards that tackle critical national issues such as economic growth, to ceremonial posts such as serving on the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
At lea
st 250 of the bundlers have been cleared to attend a White House event since January 2009. Most have come twice while others are frequent visitors. The events range from policy briefings to coveted invitations to state dinners and music and entertainment nights featuring top-draw performers at the executive mansion.
At least 30 of the 2012 bundlers have ties to companies that conduct business with federal agencies or hope to do so. They range from Wall Street investors to green energy, technology and defense firms with multimillion-dollar government contracts.
Bundlers have been cleared for more than 5,000 visits to the White House from January 2009 through August 2011, according to visitor logs.
Boyle of Common Cause said that wealthy bundlers can amass political clout and use it to “further enrich themselves, and their circle of friends and business acquaintances.”
“Money buys access and influence and that’s the big problem,” she said. “Those who don’t have it are left out in the cold. That’s not how our democracy is supposed to work, and it must change.”
That’s not likely, according to Tufts political science professor Berry.
Asked if a Republican presidential challenger would end the practice should he win the office next year, Berry said: “It would be shocking if they decided not to try to reward their most loyal fundraisers. It would make no sense.”
Of course, Obama’s top donors in the 2008 election included:
Goldman Sachs folks held so many top jobs in the Obama administration in his first term that everyone called the cozy relationship “Government Sachs”.
Obama appointed GE chairman Jeffrey Immelt as his jobs czar.
And of course, Obama rewarded his big contributors with tidal waves of government money.
Bush was a horrible crony nepotist, who favored the super-elite at the expense of the little guy.
Obama’s worse.
Tags: Obama officials the White House White House
Activists Occupy Dept of [IN]Justice to Demand an End to Racist Mass Incarceration
~ Mahatma Gandhi	View all posts by jimcraven10 →	This entry was posted in 4th Media, Decline of the American Imperium, ELITES AND NEW WORLD ORDER, IMPERIAL HUBRIS AND INTRIGUE, Imperial Hypocrisy and Intrigue, Meme Warfare and Imperialism, MEMEONOMICS: Economics and EconomistS;: Capitalism and its Theories, NED and other Fronts of Imperialism, Neoclassical Economics and Neoliberalism as Neo-Imperialism, Neoliberalism and Neoclassical Theory, New World Order, Nuremberg Precedents, Psyops. Bookmark the permalink.	← THE DEEP POLITICS OF HOLLYWOOD (FROM 4TH MEDIA)
One Response to BUSH WAS A HORRIBLE CRONY NEPOTIST WHO FAVORED THE SUPER-ELITE AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LITTLE GUY–OBAMA’S WORSE (FROM 4TH MEDIA)
Inez Ellison says:	May 20, 2013 at 1:05 am	Until this week, the Obama administration vehemently condemned the Citizens United decision and vowed to eschew super PACs. The entities are a “threat to our democracy,” Obama railed two years ago. The ruling would “open the floodgates for special interests,” he warned. And last July, Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt kept talking the anti-super PAC talk. “Neither the president nor his campaign staff or aides will fundraise for super PACs,” he asserted. Now? President Obama and his wife won’t fundraise for the democracy-undermining super PACs. But countless other Cabinet members and advisers, partying with Obama bundlers gone wild, will.