G.O.P. Query Involves 1% Of Donors For Obama

[JonLP24]

Source: New York Times

Are donations from foreign citizens powering Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign? That is what the Republican National Committee contends in a complaint filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission, asking the oversight agency to conduct a full audit of Mr. Obama’s campaign donations.

Republican officials are also questioning the legitimacy of hundreds of millions of dollars in small donations to Mr. Obama’s campaign, donations that do not have to be itemized in reports to the election commission. But it is the suggestion of money from overseas being funneled illegally to the Obama campaign that carries some of the most explosive implications.

A New York Times analysis of campaign finance records, however, found $3.3 million in contributions in which the donor listed an abbreviation other than that of one of the 50 states or an American territory. That is about 1 percent of the $270 million in itemized donations over $200 that the Obama campaign has reported. The largest amount, about $2 million, came from people who list NA, presumably for not applicable, in the space where they would normally list a state. The other abbreviations listed included UK, for United Kingdom, and JP, for Japan. Others could simply be data entry errors.

Senator John McCain’s campaign received about $517,000 in contributions from such donors.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/us/politics/07foreign.html?ref=us

---

Damn liberal media, obviously 150% in the tank for Obama :sarcasm:

[maseman]

1. So they give $3.3 mill back

and still have about $44 million more on hand than McDickcheese.

[Newsjock]

2. 'funneled,' 'explosive,' 'implications'

Gosh darn it, NYT news pages, could you be any more in the tank for McCain?

[NYC Liberal]

3. We all know Republicans would NEVER think of making bogus donations

to the Obama campaign and then suddenly "discover" it in October and raise a stink.

I'm sure the Karl Rove-types around the RNC/McCain campaign would NEVER do that. :sarcasm:

Just like Rove would *never* bug his own office down in a local Texas race and then reveal the bugging the night of the debate between his candidate and the Democrat so the headlines the next morning would be all about THAT instead of the debate. :sarcasm:

[struggle4progress]

4. I'd bet US citizens living overseas can legally contribute to campaigns

and I'd bet most of the US citizens living overseas right now are horrified by the recent history of the Republican party. There are millions of potential overseas voters


Posted 7/26/2004 10:28 PM
Updated 7/26/2004 10:30 PM
U.S. expatriates get out the vote
By Ellen Hale, USA TODAY
... Two million to 3 million expatriates are eligible voters, says Steven Hill, senior analyst for the non-partisan Center for Voting and Democracy in San Francisco ... It is estimated that about 30% of U.S. citizens overseas vote ...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-07-26-expatriots_x.htm


09/24/2007 [phone]
EAC Releases 2006 Military and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Report
WASHINGTON – The United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC) today released its 2006 Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) Report, a collection of data from the states about UOCAVA voting ... Key Findings of the 2006 UOCAVA Survey:
At least 992,034 UOCAVA ballots were requested
Slightly more than 330,000 ballots were cast or counted ...
http://www.eac.gov/News/press/2007-1/docs/eac-releases-2006-military-and-overseas-citizens-voting-report

[WCGreen]

5. That was my thinking as well...

Just because there is no state doesn't mean they aren't American citizens.

[harmonicon]

11. yes, but for voting, there are rules about where we can vote

For me, it's the last place in the US that I lived. For others who haven't lived in the US, it is the place where your parents lived. However, I have no idea if that would have anything to do with political contributions, especially in relationship to taxes, so you might be onto something there. For instance, even though I vote in Michigan, I don't pay taxes there.

[Jax]

6. Rethuglicans = "gop" n/t

[gratuitous]

7. By the way, this is you and me they're accusing here

All those thousands of donors giving millions of dollars in small increments is coming from folks like you and me, kicking in $25 or $50 or even $200 for a candidate who sounds like he knows a lot more about us than the incumbent frat boy or John Sidney McCain III. And now the GOP, which has questioned our loyalty to the country, whether or not we care about the military (whose rank and file members come out of our families), and has pegged us for wanting to end the war and jail the profiteers, has sunk so low as to now question our legitimacy as citizens.

Have we done anything like that to an administration and its apologists who launched two illegal wars of conquest? Have we impugned the citizenship of an administration and a party that justifies torture? Have we claimed that their very existence in this country is illegitimate? I'll save our lurking friends the trouble: No, no, and no.

But by God, maybe it's time we started. Maybe it's time these fucking traitors got turned out the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave. They've tried to turn it into the Land of the Secret Wiretap and the Home of the Kangaroo Court. Well, they've failed. We're patriots and Americans. Like our fathers and mothers before us. And when the American people uncover even a tenth of what these motherfuckers have done, they're going to want to boil them in oil. I'm not sure we'll be able to stop them, either. Get out while the getting's good, you murderous GOP thugs.

[speakinup]

8. Mc Cain's $67,800 Joe Six Pack Donors...

While the Republican party diverts everyone's attention to $10-200 contributions to Obama, there is very little notice of Mc Cain Palin's brazen use of campaign finance loopholes. Sarah Palin zig zags the country attending fund raisers even though they pat themselves on the back for accepting federal funds. How? They have created a joint fund raising group that allows them to raise up to $67,800 per donor (and presumably up to $135,600 per couple).

From Mc Cain-Palin Victory 2008 website (a joint fund raising committee)....."allocates contributions to the Republican National Committee ("RNC"), the state parties' federal accounts, and McCain- Palin Compliance Fund ("Compliance Fund") in conformity with federal limits. Unless a contribution would exceed federal limits or a contributor designates otherwise, Victory 2008 will divide contributions as follows:

* For Individuals - The first $28,500 will go to the RNC, the next portion will be divided evenly between the Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania state parties' federal accounts up to a maximum of $9,250 for each Committee, and the final $2,300 will go to the Compliance Fund.
* For Federal Multi candidate PACs - The first $15,000 will go to the RNC, the next portion will be divided evenly between the Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania state parties' federal accounts up to a maximum of $5,000 for each Committee, and the final $5,000 will go to the Compliance Fund."

http://www.mccainpalinvictory2008.com/

Portions of these funds are used for the "compliance portion of advertising", etc.

How many Joe Six Pack's are showing up at these fund raisers at $135k per couple?

[Bryn]

9. Dear GOP

I just wrote Obama another check

Cry Me a River :nopity:

[JDPriestly]

10. NA probably is a type for MA

[Pirate Smile]

12. G.O.P. Query Involves 1% of Giving to Obama

Source: New York Times

Are donations from foreign citizens powering Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign? That is what the Republican National Committee contends in a complaint filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission, asking the oversight agency to conduct a full audit of Mr. Obama’s campaign donations.

Republican officials are also questioning the legitimacy of hundreds of millions of dollars in small donations to Mr. Obama’s campaign, donations that do not have to be itemized in reports to the election commission. But it is the suggestion of money from overseas being funneled illegally to the Obama campaign that carries some of the most explosive implications.

A New York Times analysis of campaign finance records, however, found $3.3 million in contributions in which the donor listed an abbreviation other than that of one of the 50 states or an American territory. That is about 1 percent of the $270 million in itemized donations over $200 that the Obama campaign has reported. The largest amount, about $2 million, came from people who list NA, presumably for not applicable, in the space where they would normally list a state. The other abbreviations listed included UK, for United Kingdom, and JP, for Japan. Others could simply be data entry errors.
Senator John McCain’s campaign received about $517,000 in contributions from such donors.

-snip-
The Republican National Committee was hard pressed to furnish definitive proof that this was occurring with Mr. Obama.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/us/politics/07foreign.html

[Bryn]

13. Dear GOP

I just wrote Obama another check

So cry me a river

[JeffR]

14. McCain is apparently unaware that there are millions of us living

abroad who vote and donate to candidates we care about, because we care about our country, no matter where we are. If the McCain camp wants to question our donation, I have an abbreviation for them: FU.

[14thColony]

15. Might not even be foreigners

there are tens of thousands US ex-pats living in London alone, not including two major and five minor US military bases in England. When I donated I used 'AE' as my state code - would that show up as being a US location or a 'foreign' location? Dunno. I own a house here in the UK and could just have easily used that address. Lots of US forces in Japan/Okinawa/Korea as well, who may or may not use 'AP' for their state code. With military members overwhelmingly donating to Obama, that could easily account for all of this money alone, not counting hundreds of thousands of ex-pats around the world. Someone needs to mention to the GOP that not all 'Murkins live in 'Murka.

[billyoc]

16. Those donations from the Peoples Republic of Hell's Kitchen?

Yeah, that'd be me. :rofl:

[GinaMaria]

17. I'm one of those small donors

i"ve given small amounts a couple of different times when I could manage it. The repukes always discount the average person. They have no idea how mighty we are when we stand together.... why we could even fund a presidential campaign.

[MrSlayer]

18. This really is insulting,

As if people who believe in this guy and cannot give more than $200 at once are illegitimate or phony or scary terrorists. I'm going to send Barack 10 bucks right now. The RNC can go fuck themselves.

[WePurrsevere]

19. Most if not all of those small donors are probably a "widows mite" & coming from...

people like my DH & I and my DD. Many of us (the unemployed, the poor, the disabled, seniors, etc) simply don't have the extra to spare but want to help as we can because we believe so strongly in the need for the kind of positive change Barack and Joe offer.

Apparently the Republicans don't know that it's possible to inspire this type of donation or they'd "get it".

[OakCliffDem]

20. This is a desperate Republican ploy

The Republicans want the Obama campaign to spend $2 to vet a $1 donation.

[ksimons]

21. LOVE THIS!!! The Republicans & McCain Are So Screwed, They're Grasping at ANYTHING! Love it! nt

[Doctor_J]

22. Smokescreen

There will daily bullshit like this for the next month as Big Media tried to get McSame elected.

[Ian David]

23. This would be a good time to bring up the illegal contributions to McCain from Ameranda Hess Oil. nt