Bush Raises $150M, Adds 50,000 New Donors

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=716&e=6&u=/ap/20040220/ap_on_el_pr/presidential_money

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) has raised at least $150 million since beginning his re-election effort last May, according to a campaign finance report filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites).

Bush raised about $12.9 million last month, the report showed. The campaign said it added 50,000 new donors in January.


Although it has spent millions preparing to face the Democratic Party's nominee, the Bush campaign still began February with $104 million in the bank.


Bush has raised more than $4.5 million so far in February, donations through Feb. 11 listed on his campaign Web site show. The fund raising continues: The campaign sent an e-mail Thursday urging supporters to donate money or campaigning time to help Bush avoid an election as close as the 2000 contest.

more

[mhr]

1. And Rove Can't Wait To Spend It On Campaign Propaganda!

eom

[tom_paine]

5. And don't forget the Dirty Tricks Squads!

They are so much more active than they were during the Watergate days...

[northzax]

2. 50,000 new donors?

who the fuck are these people?

[denverbill]

3. There are 300,000,000 people in the US.

If 150,000,000 work, then 1% of that is 1.5 million.

1.5 million people received an ENORMOUS tax cut from Shrubbery. A whopping 50,000 of those ingrates decided to donate a small portion of their newfound wealth to keep their breadwinner in office.

[tom_paine]

6. Yeah, it's almost enough to make a man reconsider Communism.

Ok, Communism sucks, but the opportunity to see Bunnypants*, Ruthless Dick, Uncle Karl, Condie, Rummy, Powell the Pathetic Dupe, his son The Baron Powell of FCC, O'Reilly, Rush, Hannity, and the rest of the "Julius Streicher" team, in the dock, facing "The People's Justice" is quite alluring.

Almost (NOTE: I said "almost") enough to make Commie Tyranny palatable.

[northzax]

12. yesh, but these are NEW donors

you figure most of the people who are making out on the BushCo watch donated in 200, huh?

[Carolina]

8. I was wondering the same thing

:puke:

[PaDUer]

14. Immigrants? n/t

[spinbaby]

15. I'll tell you who they are

This is how Republican fundraising works:

Joe Blow, CEO of XYZ Corporation, is a Bush supporter but can only donate $2000. So he holds a Bush fundraiser and sends out letters "inviting" all his upper management to the fundraiser. They all know they'd better show up and pay up if they want to stay in good graces with the boss. And while Joe Blow is at it, he also sends out "invitations" to all his vendors. The vendors all know they have to show up and pay up if they want to keep selling to XYZ Corporation. After the fundraiser, Joe Blow gets the Rupublican Happy Dittohead award and an autographed photo of the chimp and feels entitled to ask for favors from the White House.

[Frances]

4. Yesterday on C Span

I heard several Republicans whining about the money that Democrats are raising.

[tom_paine]

7. Sure. It's 1/28th what the Imperials are raising!

In Totalitarian Nations, the Ruling Class doesn't like a fair fight, so I'd expect them to play the "special interest" bullshit card even if the Dems had raised only 1/100th of what they had, instead of teh monstrously huge 1/28th (or 3.6% of the Total Bushevik Money).

God, how I loathe Totalitarian Fucks like the Imperial Family and their Dopey Stooges!

[bagnana]

9. we can raise more.

There are more democrats than republicans, and in 2004, there are 10 x more ANGRY democrats than republicans. I swore as soon as the primaries were over I would donate to and work for the winner, and it looks like I will be donating to Kerry. Howard Dean raised 45 million by grasping and tapping the outrage of his party. That anger will not go away until Bush is defeated in November, and I think we will find more committed donors and workers than we have seen in decades.

[tom_paine]

11. Agreed. And I, too, have made that same vow.

I only hope to God Kerry proves a worthy and tough "take no shit" fighter!

[proud patriot]

10. 150 million

:grr:

[nolabels]

13. lets do the math X10

I'll see your $10 and raise you $10 (3 bn, next bid)

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=309&row=0

Guest Blog: Charles Lewis, "The Buying of the President"

Tuesday, January 20, 2004
(snip)
But all of that campaign money, of course, comes at a very steep price.
Call it "the price of power" in our commercial, pay-to-play democracy,
but each of the leading presidential candidates for the 2004 election
has done public policy favors for his major campaign contributors. They
don't exactly put it that way, or want to acknowledge at all how they
service their major donors. The simple aim of The Buying of the
President 2004 is to get at the unvarnished truth, underneath the layers
of obfuscation, rhetorical excess and just plain lies. Enron Corp., the
Houston-based energy firm that touched off a financial, legal and
political scandal when it declared bankruptcy in December 2001, remains
George Bush's top career patron. Enron's employees and political action
committee have given more than $600,000 to Bush over the course of his
political career. By the way, in 2003, executives of the reorganized,
bankrupt, disgraced Enron -- including Joseph W. Sutton, the company's
chairman -- continued to contribute to the Bush campaign. In 1997, while
he was CEO of Halliburton, Dick Cheney wrote a letter to Vice President
Al Gore, opposing more stringent air standards. "Implementation of these
standards," he wrote to Gore, "would cause great harm to consumers, my
own industry, and the U.S. economy and will still not deliver the
promised significant enhancement of health protection to the American
public." As Vice President, Cheney has played a lead role in shaping the
administration's energy policies, which critics charge will lead to
greater pollution and lower air quality. Ironically, at the end of his
letter, Cheney asked that any change in the environmental standards "be
addressed in full and open debate." That is not exactly how critics have
described the secret, off-the-record, exclusive meetings the Vice
President has had with energy executives the past three years.
(snip)

Time to follow the money (again)