Jon Tackles The Bundling Ambassador Program
” Is there a rule ambassadors can’t have set foot in the countries they are going to ambassador? “
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Tag Archive: Obama Bundlers
How Many Obama Bundlers Are Now Foreign Ambassadors?
Click The Graphic To Go Interactive
” Raising money for Obama’s presidential campaigns turns out to have been highly lucrative work. As The Blaze reports, there are now 23 Obama bundlers that hold foreign ambassadorships.
“ Noah Bryson Mamet, who bundled $500,000 for President Barack Obama hoped the Senate would pave the way for his first trip to Argentina – by confirming him as ambassador,” The Blaze writes.
Mamet isn’t the only ambassador to have never visited his country either. This week, George J. Tsunis, who raised $1.3 million for Obama, made a similar confession. WHen asked if he’d ever been to Norway, he replied “I have not.” “
Open Secrets describes bundlers thusly :
” Bundlers are people with friends in high places who, after bumping against personal contribution limits, turn to those friends, associates, and, well, anyone who’s willing to give, and deliver the checks to the candidate in one big “bundle.”
Even though these donors direct more money to the candidates than anyone else, disclosure can be spotty, candidates generally release bundlers by ranges of fundraising, indicated in this chart with the “max” and “min” columns, and with the top ranges being simply “$500,000 or more.” NOTE: Federal Election Commission regulations only require disclosure of funds bundled by registered lobbyists. In 2008, both Barack Obama and John McCain agreed to disclose any bundlers who raised over $50,000 for their campaigns. Obama’s re-election campaign is again disclosing those bundlers for the 2012 election. No 2012 Republican presidential candidates have agreed to voluntarily disclose their entire bundlers lists. “
Rare has more . To enlighten yourself further go here , here , here and here for a start . For the curious among our readers here you can find a list of Obama Bundlers as well as this infographic from Open Secrets.org .
This from the man that was going to get the “Big Money” out of politics .
Be sure an look over the bundler’s list … it contains literally hundreds of , to use Obama’s own words , fatcats … a who’s who of the rich and powerful . Below are just the top ten . The list is too long to put on this page in it’s entirety but well worth your attention .
Barack Obama Bundlers Min Max Name City State Employer Contributions* $500,000 Katzenberg, Jeffrey Los Angeles CA DreamWorks Animation $1,842,892 $500,000 Meyer, Barry and Wendy Los Angeles CA Warner Brothers $1,605,704 $500,000 Bagley, Elizabeth Washington DC US Dept of State $1,401,420 $500,000 Goldman, Lisa and Doug San Francisco CA Certain Software Inc $1,399,568 $500,000 Jordan, Wayne Oakland CA Jordan Real Estate Investments $1,367,528 $500,000 Snyder, Jay New York NY HBJ Investments $1,211,176 $500,000 Eychaner, Fred Chicago IL Newsweb Corp $1,175,550 $500,000 Sacks, Michael Winnetka IL Grosvenor Capital Management $1,159,813 $500,000 Jacobs, Irwin and Joan La Jolla CA Qualcomm Inc $1,061,899 $500,000 Bainum, Stewart Fulton MD Choice Hotels International $1,055,781
Change …
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Obama-Friendly Firm Received $100K Contract For Michelle’s
“Let’s Move!” Campaign
” Shepardson, Stern & Kaminsky (SS&K) have received several contracts from the Obama administration including a $2 million deal from the Department of Education for a teacher recruitment program in 2010. Partners Robert Shepardson, Marty Cooke and Rebecca Matovic have all fundraised for Obama or members of his administration at one time or another.
This particular no-bid agreement for “Let’s Move!” violates federal contracting rules and is acknowledged as an “unauthorized commitment.” The Department of Agriculture (USDA), which was responsible for issuing the illegal agreement, even filed a “request for ratification of an unauthorized commitment” in order to evade consequences.”
Let’s move this taxpayer money right into my friend’s bank account .
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It’s Come To This: Solar Installer Now Suing The Government For More Money
” Last December, the Inspector General of the Treasury launched a probe of the three largest providers of solar panel installation companies that received funds from the much-vaunted 1603 Program — “Payments-In-Lieu-Of-Tax-Credits,” part of President Obama’s stimulus law meant to help the residential market make a switch to more renewable-energy use — as part of an ongoing investigation into whether the companies received excessive government grants via inflating their reported work costs.
One of the companies in question, SolarCity (several of whose executives and venture capital firm backers, you might remember, were generous Obama donors), is now countering with their own lawsuit against the federal government, demanding that they haven’t been paid enough money because their payouts were actually smaller than promised. From the WSJ:
The suit, filed quietly in February in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, comes as SolarCity and other industry players are defending solar-friendly government policies, and it could undermine the industry’s message that solar power will soon be viable without government help. …”
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From “Obama’s Stash”
” It wasn’t long ago that the ‘Obama phone’ video hit the web and went viral. Since then, there has been a call for investigation into the ‘Obama phone’ program; especially considering the circumstance surrounding the president and CEO of TracFone Wireless, the company providing the cell phones to the government. The Washington Free Beacon reports:
The program expanded to include cell phones in 2008. That change has rapidly increased the cost to the federal government—$1.6 billion in 2011, up from $772 million in 2008. The number of Lifeline beneficiaries rose from 7.1 million to 12.5 million during the same period; cell phones account for roughly half of that 12.5 million.
The conflict of interest arrises when Obama campaign donations come into the picture. The CEO of TracFone Wireless, Frederick ‘FJ’ Pollak, has certainly been kind to the Obama campaign:
One of the major providers of the free cell phones—3.8 million subscribers as of late 2011—is Miami-based TracFone Wireless, a company whose president and CEO, Frederick “F.J.” Pollak, has donated at least $156,500 to Democratic candidates and committees this cycle, including at least $50,000 to the Obama campaign.
I also forgot to mention the CEO’s wife’s involvement with the Obama campaign…”
The Green Graveyard of Taxpayer-Funded Failures
” Solar-cell manufacturer Solyndra became a household name when it collapsed, taking $627 million in American taxpayer dollars with it. It’s the poster company for the government picking winners and losers—or really, just losers—in the energy market. But there are 12 more “green energy” losers that have declared bankruptcy despite attempts to prop them up with taxpayer money—and the list is growing.
There’s a reason why these companies could not rely solely on private financing and needed help from the government. They couldn’t make it on their own; they couldn’t even make it with extra taxpayer help “
He’s as adept at investing as he is at job creation .
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