http://www.eagletribune.com/latestnews/x1767479236/Obama-heads-to-Mass-for-fundraisers
Obama heads to MA for Fundraisers. (full AP story at link)
.The president’s first event is a small campaign round-table at Hamersley’s Bistro in Boston’s South End with 25 people. Tickets cost $40,000 per person.
Obama will later speak to 1,800 people at Symphony Hall in Boston. General admission started at $250 with top seats going for $2,500.
Obama is expected to be introduced at the event by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren.
The president will finish Monday at a fundraising event at a private home in Weston with tickets costing $17,900 per person and $35,800 per couple..
johnd says
Is this a 1%-er party only? That’s a lot of money. I just can’t take it when money enter politics like this. Contributors will be looking for access to people, pushing their agendas. What about the little people? Will the Occupy wackos be out protesting?? They should!
$40K seems very obscene… you guys ok with this whole thing? Can’t we limit contributions by individuals? How come I can only donate $5,000? Are they getting around the law somehow?
methuenprogressive says
You know, like your pal Scott Brown held with all his Wall Street cronies.
danfromwaltham says
The folks paying $40K are cronies too, right?
johnd says
We often hear the left puking all over Republican “fat cats” and the 99%ers complaining about people’s high compensations… well how much money do these Democrats make who are shelling out $40,000 for a ticket? How many meals on wheels could these donors buy instead of cutting a check for a future “pardon”? I would totally agree that both parties do this but the narrative typically heard from the left makes it sound like the 1%ers are all old white Republicans…
David says
is that the first $5K goes directly to the candidate, and the rest goes to the party. The party limits are much higher. Both sides have been doing these kinds of very high-dollar events for several years now.
joeltpatterson says
and they made this Citizens United world. These $40K a plate fundraisers are a consequence of George W. Bush, GHW Bush, and Ronald Reagan winning elections. JohnD, you should read Erik Loomis’ brief history about politics before progressive election laws. And check out the comments on it, especially the one by “rea”:
“If money is speech, why is bribery illegal?”
johnd says
I think we should have campaign financing from the government. Give them equal amounts and let them fight it out. Stop corporate money ($40K dinners) and stop huge union support (whether the rank and file like it or not).
kbusch says
I would hope that none of my wonky liberal friends hates the uppermost 1% or regards them as some kind of enemy as if they were communist infiltrators or something.
The problem, as E. Warren herself points out, is that the very wealthy have the capacity to get the system to favor them and they have succeeded in doing so. What we need to do is restore equity and democracy. We’re not talking about a Stalinist elimination of the Kulaks so much as a re-establishment of sane governance.
michaelhoran says
Because I’m guessing that these folks aren’t in need a good lunch and an autograph.
Yes, John, the Occupy “whackoes” are out there demonstrating tonight.
Just as we were a few months ago when Senator Brown was holding high-priced fundraisers with Gov. Crist at Copley.
I can reluctantly accept the “we can’t unilaterally disarm” argument, but it seems that, as a result, we’re witnessing the same variety of escalation we did/do with “defense” spending. And, too, no one can possibly feel good about events so exclusive that only those capable of shelling out 40k without any pain can attend. There’s something simply too princely about the whole thing.
I’d have preferred to see the President spend the day stumping in Mattapan, myself.
whosmindingdemint says
–
merrimackguy says
they could get one ticket.
merrimackguy says
who just want to give back.
hlpeary says
Please read ” Republic Lost” by Harvard professor Lawrence Lessing. A pox on both parties. They are selling our Republic to the highest bidder. Influence peddling is rampant and without shame. And although I will vote for Obama, I must say his “You Can Win Dinner with Barack” contest I find the most degrading…diminishing the President of the U.S. and the leader of the free world to a raffle prize.
danfromwaltham says
Dinner with the Prez is fine, especially if he is having a beer summit. The most degrading thing Obama does is bow to foreign leaders when he shakes their hand.
Ever watch the beginning of the 1936 Olympics when all the athletes paraded around Hitler? Every one of them tilted their flag down as they passed Hitler. All but one, the USA!!! The guy holding Old Glory made sure it was held up straight as an arrow. Obama needs to do the same for his back when he meets foreign dignitaries.
empowerment says
how can you justify supporting either one of them?
Especially in a state whose electoral votes are more or less predetermined — yet another way in which we have given up any *actual* control over our government.
This is nauseating stuff, and it’s only going to get worse, unless we can find a way to break out of this vicious circle.
whosmindingdemint says
They won’t be reading anything that came out of Havad, unless its from the business school.
johnd says
Smart guy?
David says
whosmindingdemint says
I was kind of hoping the loyal opposition could tell us what they like about him.
Bob Neer says
Democrats are the way forward. More to the point, the Democrats currently hold more of the elected branches of the government than the Republicans do, which makes the latter the opponents.
whosmindingdemint says
So when a republican (presumed) throws out Gregory Mankiw as an example of someone they might read from Harvard, particularly after spending most of the day bashing Harvard, how does this choice square with conservative economic thought?
I am merely suggesting that the loyal opposition doesn’t know what its talking about and I thought they might take the opportunity to prove me wrong.
They haven’t.
whosmindingdemint says
Oh, I see, you found someone you like so you’re gonna stop bashing Havad now, right? Or perhaps he’s just an exception to your rule? Please, enlighten us.
Christopher says
Do people seriously think we are going to unilaterally disarm, especially considering the huge advantage the other side has in this department? David pointed out that these are contributions subject to limits to both candidates and parties. What the President is doing tonight is the legitimate way to fundraise. No, johnd (I really hate repeating myself.), we do not complain about being rich per se, we complain that our laws do not require them to contribute fairly and/or make life a little easier for the non-rich.
whosmindingdemint says
Rockefeller has left the building. Besides, he was just name-dropping like some Havad wannabe.
HeartlandDem says
Sure campaigns cost money and it is still fucking disgusting that tickets cost a year’s salary for working people. Do you think that the hardest working (Latina) woman I know who is past middle age, takes the bus to work six days a week and cleans for eight hours before taking the bus home, to clean and feed her family, feels included in this campaign or party? Do you think my proud African American friend who has watched our privacy erode under the Obama/Holder Administration, with fear and disdain as she wakes at the crack of dawn 10 months of the year to try to educate “majority, minority” children in a corrupt city on a teacher’s aide salary, feels included in these campaigns or party? No, and neither do I.
I am not voting for them, but at least the Republicans aren’t hypocrites when it comes to the haves and have nots.
HeartlandDem says
barf, ralph and throw-up in my mouth!!!!
Christopher says
How would YOU recommend financing THIS election? If you want public financing, required free air time, or Citizens United reversed, great; I sympathize with all of that. However, none of that is going to happen before November 6th. Remember, the policies are still starkly different and ultimately the President doesn’t need you. If he loses he will retire with a nice pension and/or be able to make gobs of money in other ways. All he will really suffer is a bit of a bruised ego, plus he’ll probably personally be wealthy enough to benefit from Romney’s policies. It is the rest of us who will be stuck with the consequences if we start copping attitudes because our candidate isn’t a saint!
michaelhoran says
It’s not just a question of purity. I mentioned above that I thought it might have been nice if maybe he spent a few precious minutes in Mattapan, had a look-see, shook some hands. You know, just a touch of noblesse oblige–“no, I’m not going to waste any time sitting down to dinner with you folks, but sure, I know you’re out here. Gotta run, but, hey–good luck!”
Where does he go? To the town with the highest per capita income in the state. If you think that’s a sound strategy, you aren’t hearing from the folks I am. All the money in the world isn’t buying them.
Christopher says
I’ve never had enough money to go to even the events like at Symphony Hall that go for “only” $250. However, I’ve been to plenty of rallies and events featuring sitting Presidents and nominees and have shaken hands with Clinton, Gore, Kerry, and Obama in such settings. It IS possible to see a President or nominee without the big bucks.
danfromwaltham says
I shook hands with former Senate-President William Bulger. What a nice guy, the first and only time I met him, he treated my an old freind.