Reply #11: Mega-Bundlers Up Financing Ante

[ipaint]

"The Public Citizen study found about 200 mega-bundlers. Public Citizen applied the mega-bundler category to those who were identified as bundlers by either presidential candidate and had solicited at least one contribution of $10,000 or more from a co-worker or member of their household for a candidate's joint fund-raising account.

Donors are allowed to give as much as $70,000 to the accounts. The accounts legally skirt fund-raising limits because the money doesn't go directly to candidates. Instead, it is split in legal-size chunks between national and state political parties that then spend it on behalf of the presidential candidates.

...Sen. Obama and his supporters have touted a big infusion of small-dollar online donors as a sign that the spirit of campaign-finance reform was alive and well. But Sen. Obama had 119 mega-bundlers, according to the study.

Among them was John Arnold, an executive with Texas-based energy hedge fund Centaurus Energy LLC, who raised $176,000 for Sen. Obama from himself and six people. He declined to comment.
Chris Pohlad rounded up $170,000 for Sen. Obama from himself and six people at PepsiAmericas Inc. Mr. Pohlad, who left the company to joint the Obama campaign, declined to comment."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122584462604899359.html


The money that talks policy wise is from industry and lobbyist bundlers. Individual donations added up to quite a bit but the amount couldn't even buy us a public option.

When you start taking a look at the money to congress, to borrow a line from george carlin, "it's fucking horrifying".