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Subscribe to RSS*** UPDATED AT 1:15 PM WITH COMMENT FROM PRIORITIES USA ***
A top campaign watchdog group today is calling for a Justice Department criminal investigation into Super PACs supporting President Obama and GOP front runner Mitt Romney.
Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a group sharply critical of Super PACs, said Priorities USA Action, the Obama Super PAC, and Restore Our Future, a similar group backing Romney, are both "illegal operations" because of their close ties to the candidates they are backing.
In the wake of reports that the White House has signed off on plans to urge wealthy donors to contribute to the group, Wertheimer said he is writing a letter to the Justice Department today urging criminal probes of both groups.
"In order to believe that the Super PACs supporting President Obama and Mitt Romney are 'independent' from the presidential campaigns they are supporting, you must believe in the tooth fairy," Wertheimer said.
Bill Burton, Obama's former deputy press secretary and 2008 campaign spokesman, set up Priorities USA Action last year along with another former Obama political aide, Sean Sweeney. Burton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Restore Our Future, which has spent millions in the GOP primary so far, was set up by former Romney aides Charlie Spies, who was Romney’s general counsel during his 2008 bid, and Carl Forti, who was Romney’s political director. Forti is also the political director for American Crossroads.
The White House plan to steer wealthy donors to give money to Priorities USA Action was disclosed in a blog posting on the Obama campaign website, saying that the move was needed to "neutralize the avalanche of special interest spending" being mounted on the GOP side to defeat President Obama.
"The stakes are too important to play by two different sets of rules," Jim Messina, Obama's campaign manager wrote.
The New York Times reported that the White House plans to dispatch top officials, including senior advisers David Plouffe and Valerie Jarrett to meet with donors. Romney himself has appeared at Restore Our Future fundraisers, something he defended on MSNBC’s The Daily Rundown, saying he’d acted within the law.
“They can help in terms of fundraising, but cannot in any way communicate a course of advertising, suggest when ads run, where they run, what's in the content of the ads,” Romney said of candidates and campaigns and whether or how much they can coordinate with Super PACs supporting them. “Those are things that are prohibited so we're being very careful in that regard.”
A top strategist who works with Democratic Super PACs told NBC News that the White House decision came after mounting worries within party circles that spending by a phalanx of GOP Super PACs could reach $1 billion by election day -- including $100 million from the conservative oil magnate Koch brothers -- drowning out the president's message
"When you see numbers like that, it starts getting a little spooky," the strategist said.
He also said most big Democratic donors have so far been gun shy of the Super PACs, because of Obama's past criticism of such groups. In the 2010 election, Obama charged that GOP groups, fueled with “special interest” money, were threatening to “hijack” democracy.
"We need some of our big birds to get off the wire," the strategist said, noting that some wealthy donors have expressed concerns that they'll be "demonized" if they give to one of the Democratic Super PACs.
So far, Priorities USA Action has had relatively little success in raising funds, reporting last week that it had collected just $4.4 million through the end of last year. A Priorities official said it had raised another $2.3 million via a 501(c)4 arm that doesn’t have to disclose donors. (The Karl Rove-Ed Gillespie-led groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS have a similar set up and has raised far more money.)
That $6.7 million is compared to the $30 million raised by Restore Our Future and the $51 million reported raised by American Crossroads and its non-profit, non-disclosed affiliate Crossroads GPS.
The pro-Obama group did report a handful of big checks, including $2 million from Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, $1 million from the SEIU labor union, $100,000 from director Steven Spielberg, and others.
While individual donors can only give $2,500 a piece to official campaign committees, the Super PACs can collect unlimited donations from individuals, corporations, and labor unions. Priorities USA Action also reported last week that $215,000 of its operating expenses were being paid by its non-profit affiliate -- called Priorities USA -- which like Crossroads GPS, does not disclose its donors.
"As much as [David] Axelrod hates to give up this part of the president's message,” the strategist said, “most voters are pretty cynical about this stuff and don't much care.”
*** UPDATE *** Priorities spokesman Bill Burton disputes the notion that Priorities is an "illegal operation."
"We of course are abiding by all appropriate rules and laws," Burton said.
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wow....a drug cartel could buy an election...or the arabs or alcaida.....sick.
That is why you need a fair media and a well informed electorate in order to keep this country running
bobo-3834543 quoted Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com to declare the January 2012 unemployment figures a "lie" and to accuse President Obama's administration of generating "fantasy unemployment numbers."
This is the problem with rightwing extremists. 1. They love it when the economy is real bad. Its easier for them to blame President Obama for the damages caused by trillions of dollars in Bush tax breaks for the wealthy, two unfunded Bush wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and unfunded Bush prescription drup giveaway to the pharmaceutical companies. 2. They hate it when the economy gets better and their narrative can no longer be supported by facts on the ground.
The facts are simple: 1. When President Obama was sworn in on January 19, 2009 the United States economy was LOSING 850,000 JOBS EVERY MONTH. That was the horrible legacy left by the Bush/Cheney administration. 2. For the past three years, the Republican party and their extremist Tea Party cohorts have opposed everything President Obama tried to do to improve the economy. 3. For the last 23 months, hundreds of thousands of jobs have been created every month. A total of over 3.5 million jobs have been created. Of course, the economy would have recovered faster were it not for the Tea Party GOP obstructionists in Congress.
So, Don't be fooled by the GOP and their extremist Tea Party baggers. They will oppose anything Presdient Obama says or does, regardless of how reasonable it is.
Please don't try to confuse us with facts, the fantasies of the GOP/TP are much more palatable for the ignorant populace, the Fox viewers.
Hey, Rasp, truth is, any supporter of either of these parties is part of the ignorant populace...............yep, that includes you, as well as me, there is no escape from corporate money on either side, it's just a shame it took you this long to understand.
respect-please look up labor stats on how many people were working when Obama took office and how many now are. You can lower unemployment by reducing the number of people that could be working, not just how many are working. The labor force is way down. If you have the same size labor force as when Obama took office you would have unemployment around 10%. Now who or what caused this mess. 1/3 goes to government programs trying to get loans for folks that could not qualify for loans. That started during Carter and expanded under Clinton. 1/3 goes to Walls Street that became players in the market and over leveraged. 1/3 goes to the folks that took out the loan-no one put a gun to their head. If we do not know what caused it how can we fix it. Bush tried to reform Freddie/Fannie but was blocked by Franks/Dodd in order to keep the folks voting for them. Obama took office with a mess, no doubt about it but I do not think his policies have helped.
Respect- The House has passed over 30 jobs Bills but they have been blocked by the Senate. Over 1,000 days without a budget from the Senate. WHY?? They do not want you to see how bad things are or even you might get mad
oi812: give it up - You are the only american left who does not get the fact that the House Republicans dirtied up those bills with bad bills so they could not be passed.
Republican voting OBAMA and straight Dem Ticket 2012.
insight-where is the Senates budget????? The doing nothing Congress is in the Senate-sorry to hear you are buying the spin
oi, this is what the Super Pacs and advertising have done to people..............I am not feeling to good for the major voting bloc in this country................you are told to give it up over ideological media spun rhetoric.......................this is the voting bloc in America.
Andy- I agree it is hard to find the truth and the media does not help. Unless you watch the major networks, cable, radio and internet you will never get to the truth. Too many people still think Clinton was impeached for sex in the White House. The news media spun it. I could go on and on. Like this unemployment number, do you really think that we have less people able to work now than when Obama took office??
Nope, oi, the able bodied work force is larger than it has ever been, since I can remember, the excuse in my region, there aren't enough skilled workers to fill the position, which is BS. The true unemployment number is so much higher than what is published........................the factors that are used to devise these numbers leave so much out.............................and we have blind ideology all over this page.........................................ideology doesn't make jobs, nor does it make the country run..........................the constituents have been given the kool aid, and they drank the kool aid, and it was good...........................all is right in the world......................Really!? And this is the voting public? Have we become that naive?
Hell, doc, it's wrong all the way around, and I'm a conservative. He's not wrong, he is just following suit, his political life depends on it. Truly, TRULY the death of any morals left in any politics.................................business controls the candidates....................ALL of THEM! Welcome to corporatism 101, America.......................the capitalists have either morphed or died,.......................we really have no say anymore.
I have a bad feeling about this....
The American presidential office has, thanks to the buffoons on the supreme court, now been set up to be purchased by the wealthiest one in the land. Good job supreme court, in 20 years Im sure we'll look back at that moment and thank you for doing a fine job, dumb a$$es.
I see know other way to have it when you have freedom of speech. What remedy can you have? Should you not have the right to take out an ad. to support your opinion?? Should you be limited on your speech?? You can only spend so much?? Who decided how much is too much? Can unions spend their dues on speech? Look what the public sector unions have done. They take funds that come from tax payers to support and elect representatives to give them more tax payers money.
I'm with oi812.
"The Congress shall make no law abridging ... the freedom of speech"
We, the people, are pawns.
I am sure Ron Paul gets funding from all of these "special interest" groups. Oh yea, wait, he would eliminate them and their influence. No wonder why the media excludes him. When we the people have a chance to remove all of the giant leeches off of the beast and to put the beast on a diet, we should all be running for that opportunity. Ron Paul is crazy if you are a part of one of the hundreds of leeches, but if you are a typical American, listen to what he has to say. Even Obama supporters should actually listen to him. What he says might shock you, that is, if it isn't taken out of context by one of the leeches and fed to you.
The super pacs are the puppet masters.
The whole system is rigged you want to get rid of the scum you have to push them all into prison which i for one support. Let's fix the system...
Mr. Werthheimer is a long-time opponent of free speech. He seems to think that because his organization is a non-profit corporation that he is holier than thou.
Newsflash, Fred: "Free speech for me but not for Thee" is the cry of a hypocrite, and you are their king.
Two words- "Term Limits" Two more words- " outlaw lobbying ". I wonder if these rich guys would run for President if they had to spend their own money? I also wonder if these corporations could not file bankruptcy and continue to stay in business if we would have these problems. Here is an Idea, lets make the Corporations pay flat taxes no matter what , no matter who is in office Dem or Repub. How about a law that says you do not get paid any more than $80,000.00 while in office. I could live off of $80000.00 . How about they have to cut their staff in half and they have to actually work for a living like the rest of us. How about instead of congress deciding for us we have a general population vote across the United States for any bill that costs more than 10 Million. How about if we do not have the money to spend we dont spend it , That is what I have to do I dont get to borrow Xtimes what I make from China do you? Washington does not get it , they just keep saying anything to get elected , spend whatever they want when they want. My taxes are going up are yours, theirs? How does Romney get to 15% in taxes? Why is that ok? Why aren't we doing something about this. Why does Obama and Dems get to stop a pipeline that would help with A. JOBS, B. FOREIGN OIL . Why does washington bail out companies that have made millions over the years off of us , in interest, investments , planned oblselesnce products. I do care about Super Pac's , I do not care about the pres saying he gets better as time goes on. , I do not want to hear about the Bushies leaving a mess and he is not to blame , I do not want to him say "No politics as usual" again. We Americans deserve better than this..... They line their pockets and all the while the public picks a side D or R and try to defend both of their behaviors. This bull&$* needs to stop, we are being pit against eachother and they are laughing all the way to the bank. We the people are not DEM's or Repub's we are sheep to slaughter! Vote them all out anyone that is in now just vote them out. They have had their chance , they can't or won't fix anything. OMG you are right we are pawns.
If we are lucky, they will end up banning all of those dam super-pacs. It is such phoney BS about not coordinating with their respective politician that I can't even conceive of how this would really work without violating some aspect of the law. All these managers are just cheek and jowel with their politicians at some point that to say they are independent of them is ludicrous.
Once again with vigor: This is yet another very political decision by the Supreme Court to give Repuglicans an advantage.
Again, I am glad we don't have an important caucus system in Washington state. Stay away Super Pacs.
It does? As the left dollars are starting to pour in? What is your point exactly? This leveled the so called playing field, to where you and I do not count....................and you are complaining about Republicans..................you are completely lost.
first off PAC stands for politicians are crooks. now it quite obvious why obama refuses to tighten security on the mexican border. his buddies in the mexican drug cartels are financing his re-election campaign so he will keep the borders fluid so they can smuggle their drugs into america. pretty sneaky president isn't he. obama is the drug lord of america and we pay for it.
hahahahhahaha!...sure...
Ron Paul in 2012!! The only clear choice!
The reason the media is scared to death of him, along with the left and right............................I wonder why?
No matter what the super pacs on both sides do it will still come down to one thing on election. If you voted for Obama in '08 to prove you were not racist, you have to vote for someone else this time to prove you are not an idiot.
Really simple.
Stupid is as stupid does settersperch. Obama has done more for the United States of America than current Republicans--in spite of all of the Republican obstructionism.
silvan
Stop drinking the kool aid, loosen you tinfoil ( on way too tight ) and don't forget to take your meds on time. Your delusions will stop.
Just trying to be helpful.
Silvan, you are a victim of Corporatism. The numbers do not support your post.....................numbers never lie, especially when you look underneath those numbers...........................we are no better off than we were three and 1/2 years ago. It's not about ideology, it's about truth.
settersperch -
Yes, that is the only reason Obama won by 7 clear percentage points (oh, I forgot ACORN, voter fraud and Reverend Wright helped too).
I love how people are totally underestimating Obama when has to go face-to-face with Romney. We all know that when the debates and general election campaign start, Romney will be beat pretty bad. No one is doubting Romney's intellect. He is however, a terrible politician and Obama will tear him apart. If you can beat the Clintons, you can beat Romney. And Romney is by no means as formidable as Hillary.
It's all in the money, Super, all in the money. Slick Willy was the best orator of my time, neither Obama, or the Republican candidate will ever be able to give a speech like he did.......................and I'm a conservative!
The money the government spends is not the taxpayers` When the money goes into the government`s revenues it becomes the government`s money. Sure, they got it from the taxpayers, but once they get it, it`s theirs. Sorry about that.
You didn't do well in high school did you??
Wow, by, did you really just post that?..................................WOW
If the American people would support public financing, we could do away with Super Pacs and make it possible for ordinary folks to run for office, not just the rich and wealthy. We would also restore the principle of one person, one vote, the very principle our Founding Fathers supported in establishing our democracy. Plus, we could reduce significantly not only the influence of the rich and corporations in buying politicians and shaping policies which add to the inequality of wealth distribution in America. Regretfully, this still remains a hard sell with Republicans.
Walt, I love your spin, but it is totally wrong...................campaign dollars are not just a right thing.............................they envelop the entire realm of politics, this would be a hard sell to Democrats too.......................really sad that you do not recognize that.
The insanity is beginning to show as they struggle for power. They become exremely sensitive to small things even if real or not. They start to exhagerate the circumstances. Greed and power then the madness sets in . The signs are there ehh !
Gaddafi , Saddam and Mubarak all went mad in the end the same thing is happpening here . Term limit their madness and vote to shorten the term limit to four years max and save Obama and congress from this fate..
Blame the REpuick supreme court Obama tried to stay out of it but the enormous amount of money the Repuicks are getting is too much for him to stay out
Nice, R, do you actually know what the Democratic warchest contains?
R
I hate to tell you this but the present scotus is leaning liberal.
SETTER: The Supreme Court "leans Liberal"? Are you kidding me?
This is not even open to debate, there are 5 conservatives on the court (one who occasionally will side with liberals) and 4 Liberals. That's a fact, there is no dispute here.
LOL!!! TODAY, huh?
I guess it's been ok as long as Romney and the republicans were getting paid by these people, oops, I mean corporations, but wait, didn't the republican congress say, corporations, are people?
mos
Holder has his own problems to deal with so that won't go very far.
"We of course are abiding by all appropriate rules and laws," Burton said.// I remember when this passed and i said to myself does Obama know what his means. I mean read the fine print. Remember two words" loop holes" and read it before you sign it or it may end up biting you in the rear..ENRON !
funny how now that obama has one people want them all investigated.
No, people don't want this investigated, read the article, one group wants this investigated.
Soon they will have to issue titles just like you have for your car to all these politicians.If they don't how can we keep track of which corporation or rich guy bought which politician in the last election.Thanks supreme court first you put Bush in the white house.Then citizens united something tells me it's not just politician's who are bought
If it's connected politically at all, it stinks.......................to put an ideology to that stink is despicable........................every single one of them stink.
I've got two pledges I want to make, then I look forward to shaking some more hands. Pledge one is I will run a campaign that will make you proud. I'm going to run a positive campaign, a hopeful campaign, an optimistic campaign. I feel so passionately about the reasons why I asked my girls to run, that that's all I intend to talk about during the course of this campaign. America needs candidates who are willing to reject negative politics and campaign in a positive way. And here's my final pledge -- thank you for having me here -- should I be fortunate enough to become the president, when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not only uphold the laws of the land, I will swear to uphold the honor and the dignity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God.
George W. Bush Nov1, 1999
Take it as you will...
And what have you proven? That the left is better than the right? Think again, engineer, you are way off base.
I find it interesting that now that corporations can donate millions everybody is up in arms. It seems that these same people were fairly quiet when only unions could do it.
@john: Except then, and now, Unions have to disclose the amounts and to whom the contribution was given because the funds are collected through membership.
The Kochs', Coors', Scaifes', Hunts' and yes even Soros, are not required to disclose anything since the funds are private. Same rule applies for corporations. The rules have been changed. You do understand that, don't you?
Are teachers, firefighters, and other union workers allowed to not be a part of the union and keep their jobs or not pay a fine? The answer is no so the "donation" to the union to fund the campaigns is not individual donations. The same goes for corporations. In the corporation case the US government decided that individuals who work for a corporation are limited on contribution, but that corporations through PACs are not.
Unlimited donations by anonymous corporations, individuals or unions is not free speech.
Unions and corporations have always played by the same rules. The rules have been exxagerated, not the players. Don't confuse the two.
Sure, investigate the Super Pacs. Why? It is a waste of time.
Instead, investigate the individuals that sit on The Court of the Supreme Beings that wrought this idiotic Citizens United decision on the unwitting public.