Obama's fundraising scams?

Newsweek's Michael Isikoff filed this report on some of the more blatant, already-identified abuses by the Obama campaign. In the old days before he drank the Kool-Aid, I seem to recall Isikoff was the first to publish news of a transgression by a President and an intern...and we know how that turned out with the country embroiled in Impeachment hearings for months.


So now we've accounted for around sixty grand of Obama's treasure chest...all we need is to understand where the other two hundred plus million of dodgy money came from, and then we could be reasonably satisfied that Obama played it by the rules!



The Obama campaign has shattered all fund-raising records, raking in $458 million so far, with about half the bounty coming from donors who contribute $200 or less. Aides say that's an illustration of a truly democratic campaign. To critics, though, it can be an invitation for fraud and illegal foreign cash because donors giving individual sums of $200 or less don't have to be publicly reported. 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鈥攂oth 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. Suzanha Burmeister, marketing director for Goodwill, said the group had "no clue" who the donor was. She added, however, that the group had received five puzzling thank-you letters from the Obama campaign this year, prompting it to send the campaign an e-mail in September pointing out the apparent fraudulent use of its name.

"Doodad Pro" listed no occupation or employer; the contributor's listed address is shared by Lloyd and Lynn's Liquor Store in Nunda. "I have never heard of such an individual," says Diane Beardsley, who works at the store and is the mother of one of the owners. "Nobody at this store has that much money to contribute." (She added that a Doodad's Boutique, located next door, had closed a year ago, before the donations were made.)

Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said the campaign has no idea who the individuals are and has returned all the donations, using the credit-card numbers they gave to the campaign. (In a similar case earlier this year, the campaign returned $33,000 to two Palestinian brothers in the Gaza Strip who had bought T shirts in bulk from the campaign's online store. They had listed their address as "Ga.," which the campaign took to mean Georgia rather than Gaza.) "While no organization is completely protected from Internet fraud, we will continue to review our fund-raising procedures," LaBolt said. Some critics say the campaign hasn't done enough. This summer, watchdog groups asked both campaigns to share more information about its small donors. The McCain campaign agreed; the Obama campaign did not. "They could've done themselves a service" by heeding the suggestions, said Massie Ritsch of the Center for Responsive Politics.

Anyone think this is another smear?

I think it raises issues that Obama's campaign needs to address NOW.

Though the article focuses on Obama, McCain's campaign has gotten similar donations.

No stuff like this happens all time and really isn't in my opinion at least Obama's fault.

McCain himself for example had many similiar problems.

Yes

In June, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gave a public speech praising Obama, claiming foreign nationals were donating to his campaign.
鈥淎ll the people in the Arab and Islamic world and in Africa applauded this man,鈥?the Libyan leader said. 鈥淭hey welcomed him and prayed for him and for his success, and they may have even been involved in legitimate contribution campaigns to enable him to win the American presidency..."
Though Gadhafi asserted that fundraising from Arab and African nations were 鈥渓egitimate,鈥?the fact is that U.S. federal law bans any foreigner from donating to a U.S. election campaign.

Nicely done, b. You turn some donation irregularities outside of the Obama Campaign's control into an Obama funding scam. Maybe they don't want to turn over the names because those contributing less than $200 were led to beleive that they would be anonymous by law, and that would violate that trust. Do you have any evidence that anybody from the Muslim third world has contributed to the Obama Campaign, or is this another assassination by inuendo? Did you work for KGB Disinformation Unit? If not, you missed your calling.

Yes, it is a smear...why didn't you link any valid news source?

EDIT: found it.....so, ok, how is he supposed to stop fake people from donating to him. It is a smear because you are calling it a fundraising 'scam'...when--as the news source says, "Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said the campaign has no idea who the individuals are and has returned all the donations, using the credit-card numbers they gave to the campaign".