Obama Pauses From Fray to Raise Money for 2014

WASHINGTON — As he battles to advance legislative priorities on gun control and taxes, President Obama opened a multimillion-dollar fund-raising drive Wednesday in the hope of winning a friendlier Congress for his final two years in office.

With a two-day swing through the money corridors of Northern California, Mr. Obama began fulfilling a promise to Congressional Democrats to use the power and prestige of his office to fill their coffers for the 2014 election in a way he did not during his first term.

The president was the headliner at the first two of four big-dollar events Wednesday night and planned to appear at two more Thursday before returning to Washington. Although his approval rating is stuck below 50 percent in many polls, Mr. Obama remains a top draw for wealthy Democratic patrons, particularly in the supportive realms around San Francisco.

“Two thousand twelve was a referendum on the president, so the president had to campaign for himself,” Representative Steve Israel of New York, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in an interview. “Two thousand fourteen is going to be a referendum on House Republican obstruction, and so the president is now helping House Democrats.”

The president returned to the campaign trail while making a high-profile effort to court Republican lawmakers. He has taken Republican senators to dinner, and is scheduled to have another dinner with Senate Republicans next week after releasing his long-delayed budget plan.

Such dual-track efforts are common for presidents of both parties, but this one could complicate Mr. Obama’s outreach on issues like deficit reduction and immigration.

“My hope is that we’re going to see more and more Republicans who say, you know what, I didn’t come here just to fight the president or demonize Nancy Pelosi, I came here to get some stuff done,” Mr. Obama said at one of the Wednesday night fundraisers, where he was flanked by Mrs. Pelosi, the House Democratic leader. “But, realistically, I could get a whole lot more done if Nancy Pelosi is speaker of the House.”

Mr. Obama’s choice of hosts likewise opened the president to criticism. His first reception Wednesday was at the San Francisco home of Thomas F. Steyer, the hedge fund billionaire, and his wife, Kat Taylor, where 100 guests each paid between $5,000 and the $32,400 legal maximum. After that, the president was headed to the San Francisco home of the billionaire philanthropists Ann and Gordon Getty, who had invited 75 people to write checks for $32,400.

On Thursday morning, the president is due in nearby Atherton for a brunch for 30 guests paying $32,400 apiece at the home of Mark W. Heising, founder of a private equity investment firm, and his wife, Liz Simons. Then Mr. Obama is due at the Atherton home of John D. Goldman, a Levi Strauss heir, and his wife, Marcia, for a reception for 250 donors paying between $1,000 and $20,000 each.

The Republican National Committee posted a video mocking Mr. Obama for calling on the wealthy to pay more in taxes and then hitting what it called “Billionaires’ Row” to collect big campaign checks.

“On the campaign trail, Obama’s favorite applause line was attacking the very people he’s now begging for campaign cash,” Reince Priebus, the party chairman, said in a statement. “Hypocrisy at its finest. Barack Obama has his priorities completely backward — prioritizing billionaires over the taxpayers who demand and deserve a budget.”

Republicans were not the only ones protesting Mr. Obama’s fund-raising trip. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups picketed outside the Getty home to press him to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, the latest of several such demonstrations.

“Americans are showing up by the thousands to tell the president in person: ‘You must be bold on climate. You must reject Keystone XL,’ ” said Michael Brune, executive directorof the Sierra Club.

Mr. Obama may get that message even more directly from Mr. Steyer, who retired last year from Farallon Capital Management. Mr. Steyer, an environmental advocate, is such an ardent foe of Keystone that he recently threatened to broadcast ads against a Senate candidate in Massachusetts unless the candidate renounced support for the pipeline.

The events Wednesday night were to benefit the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Mr. Obama promised to hold eight fund-raisers for the group this year, including two with its Senate counterpart. He appeared at only two fund-raisers for the committee in 2009 and one in 2011. The Thursday events will be for the Democratic National Committee.

View the original article here

The men behind the money

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON Shrek would be green with envy. Movie producer Jeffrey Katzenberg is animating the presidential race this election season, raising more money than any other Democratic donor.

The DreamWorks Animation CEO joins two other media moguls, a personal-injury lawyer and a philanthropist in giving millions of dollars to help President Barack Obama win a second term. They are helping fund a presidential election on track to cost nearly $2 billion, with money going toward the individual Republican and Democratic campaigns as well as independent, "super" political committees working on the campaigns' behalf.

Based on an examination of more than 2.3 million campaign contributions, The Associated Press has ranked the top five financial supporters of Obama's:

No. 1

Jeffrey Katzenberg, 61, Hollywood film producer and chief executive of DreamWorks Animation.

Total: $2.566 million

Katzenberg is President Barack Obama's top donor when tallying his contributions to a "super" political committee, money to Obama's campaign and the money he arranged for others to write for the president. The biggest contributions include $2 million to the Priorities USA Action super PAC. It was founded by former White House advisers and is the key pro-Obama PAC this election cycle. Katzenberg has helped "bundle" more than $500,000 for the president's second term. He has been invited to White House events, including a state dinner. Such high-profile soirées put him in proximity earlier this year to Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who signed off on an overseas deal benefiting Katzenberg's studio.

No. 2

Irwin Jacobs, 78, the founder and former chairman of Qualcomm.

Total: $2.122 million

Jacobs has given more than $2 million to pro-Obama super PACs and about $23,000 directly to Obama's campaign and the Democrats. But he's no newcomer to political giving: The La Jolla, Calif., billionaire has routinely backed San Diego-area politicians, including those in City Hall. Some of his local proposals have caused dust-ups in town, including one backed by San Diego's mayor that would have changed the name of Qualcomm Stadium for 10 days to reflect the cellphone-maker's new computer chip.

No. 3 (tie)

Fred Eychaner, founder of Chicago-based alternative-newspaper publisher Newsweb Corp.

Total: $2.066 million

Eychaner has given $1.5 million to the Priorities USA Action super PAC. He's also given more than $60,000 to the president's re-election committees, and he's listed as a major "bundler" for Obama, having raised at least $500,000 for the president. Eychaner, a gay-rights activist, also has donated millions to other nonprofit groups, including more than $1 million to the progressive EMILY's List organization. During the 2008 election cycle, Newsweb spent more than $1.7 million on Illinois elections and about $200,000 on the federal level, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

No. 3 (tie)

Jon Stryker, 54, a Michigan philanthropist.

Total: $2.066 million

Stryker has given $2 million to the Priorities USA Action super PAC and has given $66,000 in contributions to Obama and the Democratic Party. Stryker is the heir to namesake Stryker Corp., the major medical-device and equipment manufacturer. Stryker has been active in politics before the 2012 election; he contributed millions to help candidates statewide.

No. 5

Steve Mostyn, 41, a Houston-based personal injury attorney.

Total: $2.003 million

Mostyn has given more than $2 million to the Priorities USA Action super PAC that's helping Obama. Mostyn, the former head of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, is a major backer of Democratic candidates in the state. He's also sank cash into a Texas political committee that tried unsuccessfully to unseat Gov. Rick Perry two years ago. Most famously, in 2009, Mostyn demanded tens of millions of dollars for property owners affected by Hurricane Ike in claims against the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

Posted

View the original article here

Money men: Who are top 5 donors to Romney?

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON For a casino mogul worth an estimated $25billion, $34.2 million may sound like chump change. Yet that's how much money Sheldon Adelson has donated so far to aid Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and organizations supporting Romney this election, making him the donor of donors for the GOP.

Other top donors giving millions of dollars to aid Romney's campaign include Texas money moguls and the head of an energy conglomerate.

Political donations can open doors that are closed to most people. Big-dollar donors are often invited to state dinners at the White House and other events with the president.

Based on an examination of more than 2.3 million campaign contributions The Associated Press has ranked the top five financial supporters bankrolling the Republican presidential run:

No. 1

Sheldon Adelson, 79, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino empire.

Total: $34.2 million

Adelson is the largest declared donor to the Romney campaign and supporting political committees, providing more than $34.2 million this election season. He and his wife, Miriam, have given $10 million to Restore Our Future, a super PAC backing Romney. Adelson also joined relatives to give $24million to committees backing former GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. And he has made public pledges vowing to give as much as $100million this election more broadly to the GOP. He would benefit from loosened trade restrictions.

No. 2

Harold Simmons, 81, owner of Contran Corp., a Dallas-based conglomerate worth an estimated $9 billion that specializes in metals and chemical production and waste management.

Total: $16 million

Simmons is a longtime backer of GOP and conservative causes. He has donated $16 million to the party's efforts this year, including more than $11million to American Crossroads and $800,000 to Restore Our Future. Simmons also gave $2.2 million to Super PACs backing former GOP presidential candidates Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry. He also owns a majority stake in Valhi Inc., a Texas-based waste management company, and could benefit from a proposed Nuclear Regulatory Commission rule change that would allow the company's Texas facility to store spent uranium from nuclear power plants.

No. 3

Bob J. Perry, 80, head of a Houston real estate empire worth an estimated $650 million.

Total: $15.3 million

Perry has given about $15.3million to aid the Romney campaign and allied causes so far this election season. Long active in Texas and national GOP politics, Perry donated nearly $9 million to Restore Our Future and a total of $6.5 million to American Crossroads. Before backing Romney this year, Perry gave $100,000 to the super PAC backing Texas Gov. Rick Perry (no relation).

No. 4

Robert Rowling, 58, head of Dallas-based TRT Holdings.

Total: $4.1 million

Rowling has given at least $4.1 million to Republican Party and candidates this election. Most of his donations, $4 million, went to Rove's American Crossroads, both through personal donations and through his firm. Rowling also has given $100,000 to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future super PAC. Rowling's holdings are worth an estimated $4.8 billion and include Omni Hotels, Gold's Gym and Tana Exploration, his family's oil company.

No. 5

William Koch, 72, an industrialist whose South Florida-based energy and mining conglomerate is worth an estimated $4 billion.

Total: $3 million

Koch has given $3 million to the Restore Our Future, including a $250,000 personal donation and $2.75 million through his corporation, Oxbow Carbon LLC, and a subsidiary, Huron Carbon. Unlike his brothers, who are longtime supporters of Republican and conservative causes, Bill Koch has funded both GOP and Democratic Party candidates in the past. Koch's corporate interests have repeatedly battled against what company officials have decried as government interference. Oxbow spent $570,000 last year on lobbying in Washington, mostly aimed at mining, safety issues and climate change.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

Posted

View the original article here

Liberals Focusing Outside Money on Grass Roots

The departure from the conservatives’ approach, which helped Republicans wrest control of the House in 2010, partly reflects liberal donors’ objections to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which paved the way for super PACs and unbridled campaign spending.

But in interviews, donors and strategists involved in the effort said they also did not believe they could match advertising spending by leading conservative groups like American Crossroads and Americans for Prosperity, and instead wanted to exploit what they see as the Democrats’ advantage in grass-roots organizing.

“Super PACs are critically important,” said Rob Stein, the founder of the Democracy Alliance, a group of liberal donors who will convene near Miami this week to discuss where to steer their money this year. But the liberal groups, he said, believe that local efforts and outreach through social media “can have an enormous impact in battleground states in 2012.”

In a move likely to draw in other major donors, Mr. Soros will contribute $1 million each to America Votes, a group that coordinates political activity for left-leaning environmental, abortion rights and civil rights groups, and American Bridge 21st Century, a super PAC that focuses on election-oriented research. The donations will be Mr. Soros’s first major contributions of the 2012 election cycle.

“George Soros believes the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United opened the floodgates to special interests’ paying for political ads,” said Michael Vachon, a spokesman for Mr. Soros. “There is no way those concerned with the public interest can compete with them. Soros has always focused his political giving on grass-roots organizing and holding conservatives accountable for the flawed policies they promote. His support of these groups is consistent with those views.”

On Monday, in an indication that he does not expect significant advertising spending from Democratic-leaning outside groups at this stage, President Obama unveiled a $25 million ad campaign against Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee.

A super PAC founded by two former Obama aides, Priorities USA Action, has struggled to raise money against better-financed conservative groups like American Crossroads, which expects to spend $300 million on the presidential, House and Senate elections.

Those difficulties stem in part from Mr. Obama’s past opposition to spending by outside groups, which has dampened donor enthusiasm despite his about-face this year. But it also reflects how major liberal donors and independent groups have focused since 2004 on creating a permanent infrastructure of liberal research and voter-outreach groups. That year, liberal groups spent more than $200 million on advertising and grass-roots activity in a failed bid to deprive President George W. Bush of a second term.

Conservative independent groups, including super PACs that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on election ads, dominated the advertising wars in 2010, helping Republicans make major gains in Congress, and their money has had a similar impact so far in this cycle.

“The idea that we’re going to engage in an arms race on advertising with the Republicans is not appealing to many liberal donors,” said David Brock, the founder of American Bridge 21st Century.

The advertising-oriented Democratic super PACs, including Priorities USA and two groups founded to back Democrats in Congress, remain on the list of organizations that the Democracy Alliance recommends to its members. Robert McKay, who is the chairman of the Democracy Alliance and sits on the board of Priorities USA, said the $100 million expected to be spent this year by alliance members would include some money for election ads, but would most likely favor grass-roots organizing and research groups.

“There is a bias towards funding infrastructure as it relates to the elections,” Mr. McKay said. “That means get-out-the-vote efforts” directed toward young voters, single women, black voters and Latinos, he said.

Organizations likely to be a part of the effort include Catalist, which creates voter lists for allied liberal groups; ProgressNow, a network of state-based Web sites for liberal opinion and activism; and the Latino Engagement Fund, a new group that works to register and turn out Latino voters for Democrats. Conservative independent groups are financing similar outreach to Latino voters: the American Action Network, which spent $26 million against Democratic candidates in 2010, last year unveiled the Hispanic Leadership Network, which will seek to mobilize center-right Latino voters.

Liberals outside the Democracy Alliance are also likely to make significant contributions, as are labor unions, which plan to spend up to $400 million on state, local and federal races, and advocacy groups like the Sierra Club.

Some groups will pay for both advertising and organizing. PAC+, a super PAC founded by the San Francisco philanthropist Steve Phillips, a member of the Democracy Alliance, expects to spend about $10 million on Latino voters in six states, with a heavy emphasis on Arizona, which the Obama campaign is seeking to turn into a battleground. Half of PAC+ spending will go to enrollment and half to advertising.

“You can dump 10 or 20 million in TV ads in Ohio and try to reach the persuadable swing voters there, or you can up voter turnout among Latinos in Colorado and Arizona and win that way,” Mr. Phillips said. “It’s much cheaper.”

View the original article here

Democrats Use Limbaugh Controversy to Raise Money - NewsMax.com

Democrats are using Rush Limbaugh’s controversial criticism of a law student's contraceptive advocacy to raise money and are calling on more sponsors to drop his talk show. In a rebuttal, he says he's actually adding sponsors.

Limbaugh has apologized for calling Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” for testifying before Congress in support of health insurance coverage of birth control. But Fluke has called the apology meaningless, and Democrats are doing their best to keep the story alive.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, from Limbaugh’s home state of Missouri, featured Limbaugh’s words in a fundraising appeal. It paid off, netting her re-election campaign $10,000 in just one day.

"It's been one of our top fundraising emails for Claire," McCaskill campaign manager Adrianne Marsh told The Associated Press.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have also invoked Limbaugh’s name in fundraising appeals. The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, chaired by Washington Sen. Patty Murray, called for donations to help fight Limbaugh.

“Personal attacks on a student — and all women — simply can’t be ignored,” the committee’s appeal said. “Stand with us, and denounce Rush Limbaugh’s vile attacks.”

Dozens of advertisers and some radio stations have dropped Limbaugh’s show, and the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said he would “love” to see the Armed Forces Network ditch it as well.

Meanwhile, Limbaugh scoffs at the idea that such actions have hurt his show.

“Everything is fine on the business side,” he said on his program on Wednesday. “Everything’s cool. There is not a thing to worry about.”

Amid reports that at least 28 sponsors have left the show, Limbaugh said that is “out of 18,000. That’s like losing a couple of french fries in the container when it’s delivered to you in the drive-through. You don’t even notice it.”

Limbaugh also said he's adding more advertisers. “Whatever you are seeing on television about this program and sponsors and advertisers is just incorrect," he said.

Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod tried to tie the flap to the presidential campaign, telling reporters Wednesday that GOP front-runner Mitt Romney’s failure to denounce Limbaugh shows a lack of backbone.

"How can he stand up to [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad?" Axelrod continued, "How are you going to stand up to the challenges of the presidency? These are tests. Presidential campaigns are tests... The Limbaugh thing was a test of leadership, and you have them all the time, and Mitt Romney has failed those tests in the campaign."

Even McCaskill’s mother has joined the fray. An email sent out in 83-year-old Betty Anne McCaskill’s name carried the subject line, “Who are you calling a slut or a babe?”

In it, the senator’s mom accused Limbaugh of waging “a war on women.”

“Rush Limbaugh and his out-of-control nasty mouth is part of the problem,” she said. “I thought after 40 years of progress this wouldn’t be an issue any more. Unfortunately, it seems that I’ve thought too highly of Republican Party leaders.”

© 2012 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

View the original article here

Obama raising money at 2 Washington fundraisers (AP)

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is attending two fundraisers for his Obama Victory Fund, part of a push to attract contributions to the Democratic National Committee and to his re-election campaign.

Obama is the featured attraction Monday at a dinner of Americans in Support of a Strong US-Israel Relationship. The DNC said the event is sold out, with about 80 people paying for tickets between $25,000 and $35,800.

The president also was attending a DNC Mid-Atlantic Finance Committee dinner. About 100 people were expected to attend, paying between $10,000 and $35,800.

The president has been featured at a string of recent fundraisers. He attended three in Miami and one in Puerto Rico last week. He heads for New York later this week where he will attend two more events with donors.

View the original article here

Will Dems give back their Weiner money? (Daily Caller)

Several Democrats who have received campaign contributions from former Congressman Anthony Weiner have refused to return the donations despite increased pressure in light of the New York Democrat’s resignation on Thursday.

According to a Republican operative, the Democratic representatives who have kept money from Weiner are numerous, and include New York’s Tim Bishop ($10,000), Bill Owens ($4,000), Carolyn McCarthy ($1,000) and Brian Higgins ($4,000), Virginia’s Gerry Connolly ($1,000), Colorado’s Ed Perlmutter ($1,000), Pennsylvania’s Tim Holden ($2,000) and Mark Critz ($1,000), Georgia’s John Barrow ($6,000), Michigan’s Gary Peters ($1,000), New Jersey’s Rush Holt ($1,000), Missouri’s Russ Carnahan ($1,000) and Oregon’s ($1,000) Kurt Schrader.

As early as mid-Weinergate, the National Republican Congressional Committee launched a campaign against Democrats who had accepted funding from the disgraced representative, urging them to donate the money to charity or find a way to return it.

As part of the campaign, the NRCC sent press releases to the districts of each congressman who had received money from Weiner urging constituents to support the rejection of the funds.

In a release sent to Barrow’s district, NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay stated that “Congressman Weiner’s behavior is so unbecoming for a Member of Congress that it should have been a very easy decision for John Barrow to return or donate the money he has received from his disgraced colleague.”

“Instead, Barrow continues to pocket his embattled ally’s cash and essentially pretend that Weiner’s behavior is not a problem,” the statement said. (OUT: Rep. Weiner resigns from Congress)

While the pressure has reached some of the recipients of Weiner’s funds — Democratic congressmen who have returned the money include Connecticut’s Joey Courtney and Jim Himes, Minnesota’s Tim Walz, Ohio’s Betty Sutton, Iowa’s Dave Loebsack, Indiana’s Joe Donnelly and Illinois’ Bill Foster — the majority of recipients have refused to dispose of the now-tainted contributions.

Bishop, for example, Weiner’s fellow New York Democrat, received an impressive $10,000 donation from the scandal-embroiled former congressman. Despite calls for Bishop to return the money, however, his press secretary Oliver Longwell said in an email to TheDC that Bishop is unlikely to do so unless the House Ethics Committee were to declare the funds ill-gotten or obtained through impropriety.

“Bishop returned donations from a colleague in the past when the Ethics Committee determined that there were improprieties in that Member’s fundraising,” Longwell added. “Should that be found to be the case with Mr. Weiner, Bishop will return the funds.”

Spokespeople for other representatives did not respond to The DC’s requests for comment.

Read more stories from The Daily Caller

Will Dems give back their Weiner money?

Howard Dean called a 'fiscal conservative'

Union leader calls New Jersey gov 'Adolf Christie,' compares pension battle to 'World War III' [VIDEO]

Pawlenty, unwilling to attack Romney in debate, takes shot on Twitter

'Go the F**K To Sleep' tops NYT bestseller list, audiobook gets narration from Samuel L. Jackson

View the original article here