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AmSpecBlog
Obama's Foreign Funny Money
Barack Obama's campaign's ineffective policing of its small dollar donations -- which add up to $200 million -- has all the makings of a Clinton style fundraising scandal, so it should be interesting to watch whether the FEC acts on the RNC's complaint on the matter. The fact that donors who give under $200 aren't publicly disclosed opens the door for abuse and worse, the ability of foreign donors to influence U.S. elections.
As Newsweek reports in a short item:
Consider the cases of Obama donors "Doodad Pro" of
Nunda, N.Y., who gave $17,130, and "Good Will" of Austin, Texas who gave more than
$11,000-both in excess of the $2,300-per-person federal limit. In
two recent letters to the Obama campaign, Federal Election
Commission auditors flagged those (and other) donors and informed
the campaign that the sums had to be returned. Neither name had
ever been publicly reported because both individuals made online
donations in $10 and $25 increments. "Good Will" listed his
employer as "Loving" and his occupation as "You," while supplying
as his address 1015 Norwood Park Boulevard, which is shared by the
Austin nonprofit Goodwill Industries.
Newsweek also notes the tale of the two
Gazan brothers who bought $33,000 of t-shirts from the Obama online
store.
The amazing thing is that before being called on it, the Obama campaign was accepting online donations from foreign addresses. So basically, if you were a foreign national who had a Visa card, you could go online and donate $199 dollars to the campaign without it drawing scrutiny.
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