Obama Fundraising: By The Numbers by bluepastry Blog entry

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by bluepastry

Obama Fundraising: By The Numbers

While Americans Wonder About Their Future, Obama's Focused On His Own

Date: 4/28/2012 3:22:05 PM ( 12 y ) ... viewed 3480 times

0,000:
Minimum Amount Raised For President Obama's Reelection Bid By Bundlers . (Center For Responsive Politics, Accessed 3/12/12)

$22,100,000:
Minimum Amount Raised For President Obama's Reelection Bid By Bundlers Who Work In The Financial Services Sector. (Center For Responsive Politics, Accessed 3/12/12)

$16,100,000:
Minimum Amount Raised For President Obama's Reelection Bid By Bundlers Who Work For Law Or Lobbying Firms. (Center For Responsive Politics, Accessed 3/12/12)

$4,750,000:
Minimum Amount Raised For President Obama's Reelection Bid By 24 Bundlers Who Work In The Entertainment Industry. (Center For Responsive Politics, Accessed 3/12/12)

$179,750:
Cost To Taxpayers Per Flight Hour Aboard Air Force One To Go To Fundraisers. (Alex Leary and Adam C. Smith, "President Barack Obama Back In Florida This Week For Official Events, But Also Campaigning," Tampa Bay Times, 2/21/12)

10,000:
Minimum Flight Miles Obama Has Logged On Trips That Have Included Fundraising Events This Year Alone. (Devin Dwyer, "Presidential Piggybacking: Obama Trips Combine Official, Political Business," ABC News, 2/23/12)

444:
Obama 2012 Bundlers. (Obama Volunteer Fundraisers, Accessed 3/12/12)

250:
Minimum Number of Bundlers Who Have Been Cleared To Attend White House Events Since January 2009. (Fred Schulte And Aason Mehta, "Obama Rainmakers Enjoy White House Invites, Appointments And Contracts," iWatch News , 1/23/12)

193:
Fundraising Events President Obama Has Attended For Himself And Others. (Fredreka Schouten, "Obama Tops Recent Presidents In Fundraising Attendance,"USA Today, 3/7/12; "POTUS Day Ahead: Rolls Royce Crosspointe, Texas Fundraising," CNN's "The 1600 Report," 3/9/12)

173:
Fundraisers President George W. Bush Attended For Himself And Others In His Entire First Term. (Fredreka Schouten, "Obama Tops Recent Presidents In Fundraising Attendance," USA Today, 3/7/12)

103:
Fundraising Events President Obama Has Attended To Benefit His Reelection Bid Since Announcing In April. (Fredreka Schouten, "Obama Tops Recent Presidents In Fundraising Attendance,"USA Today, 3/7/12; "POTUS Day Ahead: Rolls Royce Crosspointe, Texas Fundraising," CNN's "The 1600 Report," 3/9/12)

80%:
Bundlers Who Collected At Least $500,000 For Obama's 2008 Campaign That Joined Obama's Administration . (Fred Schulte And Aaron Mehta, "Obama Rainmakers Enjoy White House Invites, Appointments And Contracts," iWatch News , 1/23/12)

68:
Minimum Number Of 2012 Bundlers Or Their Spouses Who Have Served In The Obama Administration. (Fred Schulte And Aason Mehta, "Obama Rainmakers Enjoy White House Invites, Appointments And Contracts," iWatch News , 1/23/12)

62:
Bundlers Have Each Collected At Least $500,000 For Obama's Reelection Campaign. (Ken Thomas, "Obama Balancing The 99 Percent And The 1 Percent," The Associated Press, 2/17/12)

57:
Total Fundraisers President George W. Bush Attended To Benefit His Reelection Bid. (Fredreka Schouten, "Obama Tops Recent Presidents In Fundraising Attendance," USA Today, 3/7/12)

40%:
Ambassadors Obama Has Appointed Who Were Not Career Foreign Service Officers, But Bundled On Behalf Of His Campaign. (T.W. Farnum, "The Influence Industry: Obama Gives Administration Jobs To Some Big Fundraisers," The Washington Post , 3/7/12)

36:
Fundraisers Obama Has Attended In 2012. (Devin Dwyer, "Obama Plugs Health Care Law At Texas Fundraiser," ABC News, 3/9/12)

34%
Minimum Percent Of Obama's Campaign Contributions Brought In By Bundlers. (Center For Responsive Politics, Accessed 3/12/12)

30:
Minimum Number Of 2012 Bundlers Who Have Ties With Companies That Do Business With The Federal Government Or Hope To Do So. (Fred Schulte And Aason Mehta, "Obama Rainmakers Enjoy White House Invites, Appointments And Contracts," iWatch News , 1/23/12)

24:
Long-Time Donors, Wall Street Executives, President Obama Invited To The White House Blue Room Before Announcing His Reelection Bid. (Nicholas Confessore, "Obama Seeks To Win Back Wall St. Cash," The New York Times, 6/12/11)

2:
Stances President Obama Has Taken On Super PACs. (Aaron Blake, "Obama Picks Pragmatism Over Principle On Super PACs," The Washington Post, 2/7/12)

1:
Meetings President Obama's Campaign Manager Jim Messina Has Had With Wall Street Executives To Assure Them That Despite His Campaign Rhetoric, Obama Won't Turn His Back On Them. (Hans Nichols, "Obama Campaign Chief Messina Seeks To Assure Wall Street Donors," Bloomberg, 2/8/12)

$0:
Campaign Cash President Obama Has Promised To Share With Democrat Congressional Committees. (Fredreka Schouten, "Obama Tops Recent Presidents In Fundraising Attendance,"USA Today, 3/7/12)

0:
Restrictions President Obama's Super PAC Has On Taking Lobbyist And PAC Donations. (Fredreka Schouten, "Obama Urges Donations to Super PAC Backing Him,"USA Today, 2/7/12)

OBAMA DOESN'T FORGET WHO HELPED HIM GET ELECTED, GIVING HIS BEST BUNDLERS "PLUM" GOVERNMENT JOBS

Many Of Obama's Big Donors "Won Plum Jobs In His Administration." "Big donors considering whether to work the phones raising money for President Obama's reelection campaign might consider the fate of his 2008 bundlers. Many of them, it turns out, won plum jobs in his administration." (T.W. Farnum, "The Influence Industry: Obama Gives Administration Jobs To Some Big Fundraisers," The Washington Post , 3/7/12)
More Than Half Of The 47 Bundlers Who Brought In At Least $500,000 For Obama's Reelection Campaign Have Been Given Jobs In His Administration . "More than half of Obama's 47 biggest fundraisers, those who collected at least $500,000 for his campaign, have been given administration jobs. Nine more have been appointed to presidential boards and committees." (T.W. Farnum, "The Influence Industry: Obama Gives Administration Jobs To Some Big Fundraisers," The Washington Post , 3/7/12)

Obama Has "Completely Ignored" His Promise To End The Appointment Of Ambassadors Who Have No Experience In Foreign Policy But Donate To His Campaign. "Candidate Barack Obama promised to end the time-honored American practice of appointing ambassadors who have no experience in foreign policy, but President Obama has completely ignored that promise, appointing fundraisers to dozens of ambassadorships all over the world." (Josh Rogin, "Another Obama Fundraiser Turns Out To Be A Bad Ambassador," Foreign Policy, 2/23/12)

Obama's Ethics Reform Promise "Hasn't Stopped Him From Offering Government Job To Some Of His Biggest Bundlers." "Obama campaigned on what he called 'the most sweeping ethics reform in history' and has frequently criticized the role of money in politics. That hasn't stopped him from offering government jobs to some of his biggest bundlers, volunteer fundraisers who gather political contributions from other rich donors." (T.W. Farnum, "The Influence Industry: Obama Gives Administration Jobs To Some Big Fundraisers," The Washington Post , 3/7/12)
"At Least 24 Of Obama's Bundlers Were Given Posts As Foreign Ambassadors, Including In Finland , Australia , Portugal And Luxembourg ." "At least 24 Obama bundlers were given posts as foreign ambassadors, including in Finland, Australia, Portugal and Luxembourg. Among them is Don Beyer, a former Virginia lieutenant governor who serves as ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein." (T.W. Farnum, "The Influence Industry: Obama Gives Administration Jobs To Some Big Fundraisers," The Washington Post , 3/7/12)

AND PLACING THEM IN POSITION TO PROFIT

At Least 30 Of Obama's 2012 Bundlers Have Ties To Companies That Do Business With The Federal Government Or Are Trying To Attract Its Business. "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." (Fred Schulte And Aason Mehta, "Obama Rainmakers Enjoy White House Invites, Appointments And Contracts," iWatch News, 1/23/12)
Some Of Obama's Fundraisers Have "Snagged Lucrative Government Contracts" To Their Financial Benefit. "And some have snagged lucrative government contracts that benefit their business interests or investment portfolios, a Center for Public Integrity investigation has found." (Fred Schulte And Aaron Mehta, "Obama Rainmakers Enjoy White House Invites, Appointments And Contracts," iWatch News , 1/23/12)

MEANWHILE, AMERICANS ARE STILL STRUGGLING

"It Could Take Until 2020 To Get Employment Back To Pre-Recession Levels." "Though employers are finally hiring again, it could take until 2020 to get employment back to pre-recession levels. The new estimate of the jobs gap, released Monday by Brookings' Hamilton Project, is based on a relatively rosy monthly job creation estimate of 208,000. (That's the average rate for 2005, which was the best year of job creation in the 2000s.)" (Tami Luhby, "'Jobs Gap' Won't Close Till 2020," CNN Money's "Economy Blog," 3/12/11)

In 2011, Home Prices Fell 4 Percent To "Fresh Lows." "Home prices fell to fresh lows in December, but economists say that a drop in the number of homes listed for sale could help stabilize prices in parts of the country this year. Home prices fell by 4% last year, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index that tracks 20 metro areas." (Nick Timiraos, "Home Prices Hit New Depths," The Wall Street Journal, 2/29/12)

At The Start Of 2012, The Labor Force Participation Rate Was 63.7 Percent, The Lowest In 30 Years. "In January, the labor force participation rate was 63.7%, the lowest in 30 years. It was more than 66% in early 2008, near the start of the recession." (Tim Mullaney, "Jobless Rate Falling Faster Than Many Predicted," USA Today, 3/7/12)
"If The Participation Rate Had Stayed At 66%, The Economy Would Have Needed 5.1 Million More Jobs To Reach Today's Unemployment Rate." (Tim Mullaney, "Jobless Rate Falling Faster Than Many Predicted," USA Today, 3/7/12)

There Are 12,806,000 Unemployed Workers, An Increase Of 757,000 Since Obama Became President. (BLS, 3/12/12)

There Are 128,119,000 Workers Working Part Time For Economic Reasons. (BLS, 3/12/12)

There Are 5,426,000 Americans Unemployed 27 Weeks Or Over, 2, 730,000 More Than When Obama Became President. (BLS, 3/12/12)

The Average Number Of Weeks Unemployed Is 40, More Than Double What It Was When Obama Became President. (BLS, 3/12/12)

There Are 2,608,000 Marginally Attached Workers And 1,006,000 Discouraged Workers. (BLS, 3/12/12)

There Are 46,180,000 Americans Living In Poverty. (U.S. Census Bureau, Accessed 3/9/12)