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WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has raised about $3.3 million from contributors who did not list a home state or who designated their state with an abbreviation that did not match one of the 50 states or U.S. territories, according to records provided by the Federal Election Commission. Most of those contributors did identify themselves as living abroad in foreign cities. Under federal law, foreign citizens cannot make political contributions, but U.S. citizens living abroad can. The Republican National Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Monday asking for an investigation of Obama's foreign contributions,...

FEC Queries McCain Campaign on 'Excessive Contributions' By Matthew Mosk While the Republican Party is pushing the Federal Election Commission to investigate the possibility that Democrat Barack Obama collected excessive contributions, its own candidate is facing scrutiny on the same subject.

The Republican national committee (RNC) said Mr Obama had accepted contributions from foreigners and taken more than the $2,300 maximum from donors who give in small amounts. RNC officials want the Federal Election Commission to examine Mr Obama's records in detail to determine the extent of the problem. An Obama campaign spokesman denied the charges. Bill Burton said: "Our campaign has shattered fund-raising records with donations from more than 2.5 million Americans. We have gone above and beyond the transparency requirement." Democrats are viewing the Republican claim as the latest example of a smear campaign against Mr Obama. On Saturday,...

JERUSALEM – Palestinian brothers inside the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip are listed in government election filings as having donated $29,521.54 to Sen. Barack Obama's campaign. Donations of this nature would violate election laws, including prohibitions on receiving contributions from foreigners and guidelines against accepting more than $2,300 from one individual during a single election, Bob Biersack, a spokesman for the Federal Election Commission, told WND in response to a query. The contributions also raise numerous questions about the Obama campaign's lax online donation form, which apparently allows for the possibility of foreign contributions. Last week, the Atlas Shrugs blog outlined a...

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—both in excess of the $2,300-per-person federal limit.

Obama doesn't weed out illegal cash, GOP says Sun Oct 5, 2008 5:15pm EDT By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican Party on Sunday said Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama had not done enough to screen out illegal campaign contributions and asked U.S. election officials to look into the matter. Citing news reports, the Republican National Committee said Obama had accepted contributions from foreigners and taken more than the $2,300 maximum from donors who give in small increments. The Obama campaign denied the charges. The RNC said it will ask the Federal Election Commission to examine Obama records in...

A lawyer for the Republican National Committee today said the party will ask the Federal Election Commission to look into the source of thousands of small-dollar contributions to the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama. The RNC is alleging that the Obama campaign was so hungry for donations it "looked the other way" as contributions piled up from suspicious, and possibly even illegal foreign donors. "We believe that the American people should know first and foremost if foreign money is pouring into a presidential election," said RNC Chief Counsel Sean Cairncross. Cairncross alleged there was mounting evidence of this, and...

In a confidential internal memorandum obtained by Face The State, the Colorado Democracy Alliance outlines a roster of "operatives" who worked for Democratic victory in the 2006 general election. The document outlines specific tasks for various members of the state's liberal infrastructure, including a campaign to "educate the idiots," assigned to the state's AFL-CIO union. Among the operation's intended targets: "minorities, GED's, drop-outs." Individuals named in the document, marked "CONFIDENTIAL," "for internal use only," and "DO NOT DISTRIBUTE," are high-level elected Democrats including House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, former Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, as well as Gov. Bill Ritter's press aide...

This is a bona fide bombshell. Obama loves to say that 90% (or whatever the phony made-up figure is) of his donors contributed less than $200? Sounds good, right? Real, honest to goodness grass-roots support there. The little people, the poor people, really want this guy to be their president. Well it turns out that 35 or 40 of those "people" turn out to be one person contributing nearly $9,000 to Obama; a clear violation of campaign finance laws restricting donations to a maximum of $4600 per election cycle. And the kicker? The guy is named Good Will. Mr. Will...

Mr. "Good Will," apparently. My pal Diana West points me to Ken Timmerman's must-read Newsmax column — which naturally is getting no coverage in the MSM — about Sen. Obama's eye-popping fundraising operation. Bottom line: the would-be President of the World is raising goo-gobs of money from foreigners outside the United States (a violation of federal law), and matching goo-gobs of money inside the United States from phantoms who are blowing out the individual contribution limits by, among other devices, making up identies and breaking up contributions in amounts less than $200, for which reporting requirements are less rigorous. According...

Via Andy McCarthy, who sets an example I’ll follow by keeping his own commentary short to get you to read the whole thing. To be clear: Obama’s not required by law to identify contributions of less than $200. But given that (a) McCain does it voluntarily, (b) The One claims to be all about a new, transparent politics in Washington, and (c) his campaign is famously powered by small donors, it’s a tad curious that most of the names of people who’ve dropped a little north of $222 million on him in small contributions remain known only to him and...

Party Time reveals fundraisers for members of crucial House Committee A list of the 258 fundraisers identified by the Party Time project being thrown for or featuring members of the House Financial Services Committee in 2008 can be seen here: http://politicalpartytime.org/search/Tags/House%20Financial%20%26%20Senate%20Banking/ Some 258 parties, a number of them hosted by lobbyists for the finance, insurance, and real estate industries, have been thrown for members of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee this year, according to an investigation by the Sunlight FoundationÂ’s Party Time project. Members of the House committee, along with the Senate Banking Committee, are considering the $700 billion...

The financial panic has opened a new front in Barack Obama's supposed war on lobbyists. "We're here," Mr. Obama said this week by way of explaining the cause of our financial problems, "because for too long, the doors of Washington have been thrown open to an army of lobbyists and special interests." Talk like this is political elevator music: fuzzy and more or less constant. Yet there's a reason promises to transform the ways of Washington keep coming. To wit, would-be saviors like Mr. Obama are never willing to discipline themselves and their allies, only some other guy who...

Toxic subprime mortgages and sickly derivatives are one thing, but even amid the write-downs and bailouts, Wall Streeters have to be wondering if they are getting a pretty bad return on another investment–the money they contributed to the Presidential candidates. Financiers have donated millions of dollars for Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, let alone the funds given to various House and Senate candidates. And sophisticated Wall Streeters surely know that when they make campaign contributions, they aren’t paying for specific policies as much as access. What Wall Street didn’t want was to be the campaign season’s favorite political...

Click on the box titled "New-2008 Presidential Donor A-List Chart"

When choosing who to support in politics, different people have various standards. Some are single issue voters and won’t cast a ballot for a candidate who disagrees with them on a specific issue, such as eliminating secret ballot elections. Others choose a candidate based on specific areas of concern, like national security or fiscal responsibility. And still others may seek out candidates they believe most closely shares their values. This weekend, liberal, Hollywood Democrats are choosing to support the candidates they believe most closely represent their values. This Saturday, the Hollywood crowd is hosting a fundraiser for like-minded Senate candidates...

Follow the Money: If you think Wall Street gives overwhelmingly to the GOP you're wrong. Democrats have been raking in investment banker money almost 2-1 compared to Republicans. Merrill Lynch was the only big firm whose employees gave more to Republicans than Democrats. Michael Franc provides an excellent summary over at National Review. Blame Liberalism: Democrats caused our current financial calamity. I know, the liberal press echoes the liberal politicians who bawl that it's the fault of those mean, deregulating Republicans. Noel Sheppard at Newsbusters gives us the real reason why: Jimmy Carter and a Democratic congress passed laws that...

Hillary Help Chris, Dina and Ed Dear Shaun, When Barack Obama and Joe Biden are in the White House next year (WINK!), they're going to need all the help they can get to change Washington. While we do everything we can to help them win, we have to focus on races down the ticket, too. That's why I'm proud to announce the first three U.S. House candidates HillPAC will be supporting for 2008: Rep. Chris Carney of Pennsylvania's 10th District, Dina Titus, running for Congress in Nevada's 3rd District and Rep. Ed Towns of New York's 10th District. Chris, Dina...

The San Francisco community organizer who illegally funneled state grant money into a campaign account of former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley was sentenced this morning to a year and a day behind bars. In July, a federal court found Julie Lee guilty of mail fraud and witness tampering charges. Shelley resigned months after The Chronicle broke news of the money-funneling scheme that involved a $500,000 grant for a Sunset District community center that was never built. Shelley was never charged with any crimes and denied knowing about Lee's intentions. Lee made an emotional plea for leniency in court,...

1. $120,349. Other People's Money. Senator Obama received more political contribution money from now-collapsed mortgage banks Fannie Mae [Federal National Mortgage Association] and Freddie Mac [Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp] than all but one of the 353 other senators and congressmen who received political contributions from these two entities which were recently taken over by the federal government. Even more dramatic is the fact that 19 years (from 1989 - 2008) of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac political contribution statistics show Senator Obama received his $120,349 despite having been in the U.S. Senate for just three years. Only Senator Chris...

WASHINGTON -- Women have donated twice as much money to Barack Obama than John McCain in the 2008 election, reversing past trends that favored Republicans, according to an analysis by the Women's Campaign Forum Foundation. In the 2000 election, women donated twice as much to then-presidential candidate George W. Bush as to his Democratic rival, Al Gore. In the 2004 election, women donated about the same amount to Mr. Bush and to Democratic Sen. John Kerry. Women are also on pace to contribute far more money to the presidential campaigns than ever before, the analysis showed. But they still make...

Ethan Winner Responds: Claims He Produced Video Ethan Winner responds. Written like a VP in a public relations firm that specializes in crisis management and grassroots organization. I'll post the whole thing below. He produced the video? He paid for the voice-over narration which he found through a talent agency? The voice-over artist has never done any work for the Obama campaign? Uh, yeah, right.He then goes on to sidestep the question of the lie he puts forth in the video: that Palin was a member of the Alaskan Indepence Party -- which she wasn't. That is empirical fact. Instead,...

Everything that you are about to read might be wrong. Roll Call’s annual attempt to rank the riches of Members of Congress is hampered by one fundamental flaw: It is based on the lawmakers’ financial disclosure forms, which are extraordinarily unreliable sources of information. The disclosure rules allow Members to report assets in broad categories, so there is no way to tell the difference between a $20 million investment and a $5 million investment. The top category on the Members’ forms is “over $50 million,” so it is impossible to accurately account for anything worth more than that — like...

As lawmakers were scrambling to crunch numbers related to the economy over the weekend, the presidential candidates were preoccupied with financial numbers of another type--midnight on Saturday was the deadline for the presidential hopefuls to report their August fundraising totals. Barack Obama reported a record $64.6 million, while John McCain raised his own personal best at $55.9 million (including money to his compliance committee, established to help him navigate the public financing system). In total, Obama has raised $454 million to McCain's $230 million. Because McCain opted into the public finance system, August was the last month he could raise...

A pro Obama PR firm has produced anti Sarah Palin videos disguised as home made videos. The Videos raised false allegations that Palin belonged to an Alaskan secessionist political party along with alleging she has radical anti-American views.

From Ace's site: Probably at about midnight or just before. It's Rusty's story. It'll be posted later. Midnight ET or maybe a bit after. The basics? Axelrod's astroturfing. An attempt to get a blatantly dishonest anti-Palin ad to go "viral" on YouTube. Gross deception in pumping out fake "amateur grassroots" ads which are really cooked up by a big PR firm strongly connected to David Axelrod and Obama's officially-acknowledged ads. And likely bright-line violations of electioneering laws, which require those putting out "electioneering communications" to disclose the true creator and sponsor of such ads. Oh, Yeah: I forgot to say:...

U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, has received $96,000 in campaign donations from mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since 1989 – ranking him seventh among all members of Congress who received donations from the two firms. The rankings were compiled by Capital Eye, a division of OpenSecrets.org, which describes itself as nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, and “the nation’s premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy.” The U.S. government recently took control of the two government-sponsored enterprises that have donated $4.8 million to current members of Congress – 57 percent...

There’s much more to the story of Obama’s amended campaign finance reports than what Obama and the Obamedia will tell you. I will fill you in on what’s missing in a moment. What we have here, essentially, is Obama using a non-profit group called Citizens Services Inc. as a front to funnel payments to ACORN for campaign advance work.

John McCain raised more than $8.8 million in the two days after he announced that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would join him on the Republican ticket -- his biggest two-day haul of the long-running presidential campaign. The Republican National Committee collected $4.5 million the day McCain selected Palin, newly filed Federal Election Commission reports show. McCain's decision to tap the then-little-known politician excited the Republican rank and file, helping him raise about $2.1 million in increments of less than $1,000 in two days. Altogether, McCain raised $6.8 million Aug. 30, the day after the Palin announcement, and $2 million the...

2008 Race: Virginia Senate Top Industries Mark Warner (D) Industry Total Lawyers/Law Firms $911,755 Democratic/Liberal $733,980 Securities & Investment $607,550 Retired $438,468 Real Estate $382,418 Misc Finance $246,500 Business Services $224,075 Computers/Internet $163,950 Leadership PACs $159,100 Lobbyists $147,732 Health Professionals $124,950 Insurance $106,750 TV/Movies/Music $99,200 Pro-Israel $83,901 Printing & Publishing $79,050 Education $74,101 Commercial Banks $69,950 Non-Profit Institutions $67,750 Tobacco $67,700 Misc Defense $61,950

For all Barack Obama's remarkable fundraising and sizable surplus, the Democratic presidential nominee entered the final two months of the presidential contest on virtually equal financial footing as Republican rival John McCain. According to finance reports filed in the past two days with the Federal Election Commission, Obama and the Democratic National Committee ended August with $95 million in the bank. McCain and the Republican National Committee ended with about $94 million. The parties are crucial players in the general election, coordinating some activities with the candidates while also spending independently to help them. Both sides also distributed money to...

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) donated nearly $5.5 million to three non-profit, leftist political groups to beat Republican politicians in Florida, Michigan and Ohio this year. AFSCME gave to Campaign Money Watch, Patriot Majority and Patriot Majority Midwest. AFSCME's role, however, was not well known until now. Detractors say that this shadowy financial support violates the spirit of campaign finance reform and open government. Allowing non-profits to raise and spend unlimited union or corporate funds violates the spirit of laws aimed at curbing special interests in elections, said Meredith McGehee of the non-partisan watchdog Campaign...

The wholesale descent into Swift Boat campaigning has been blocked — for now — by a federal judge in Virginia. But voters should not rest easy. A group calling itself The Real Truth About Obama is appealing the ruling. The group aims to block federal regulations so it can spend unlimited money on a commercial smearing the Democratic nominee as a zealous proponent of any and all abortion on demand — “at any time during pregnancy, as many times as a woman wants one.” If the group were to win on appeal, it would signal open season for countless stealth...

NEW YORK - Senator John McCain toiled for years to push a campaign finance overhaul through Congress. After the measure finally passed, Trevor Potter, a lawyer and vigorous advocate of the effort, was instrumental in defending it from challenges and pressing for it to be strictly enforced. The tactics appear to be legally permissible. And some argue that the McCain campaign is simply doing what is necessary in the face of the record fund-raising by his Democratic rival for the presidency, Senator Barack Obama, and Obama's decision to bypass public financing and its attendant spending limits. But critics say McCain...

<p>The Michigan AFL-CIO wants to make sure voters in union households back Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.</p> <p>President Mark Gaffney says the union plans to spend $250,000 by Election Day to reach union members at work and home through phone calls, literature and door-to-door campaigns.</p>

Former vice president and 2000 Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore has joined the liberal group MoveOn.org to raise funds for Democratic Senate candidates. In a fundraising e-mail, Gore singles out Al Franken (Minn.), Rep. Mark Udall (Colo.) and state Sen. Kay Hagan (N.C.) as “three champions of clean energy” who should be elected to the Senate. The former vice president began his fundraising bid by promising that Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) is the best candidate to address pressing energy issues facing the country, but he notes that Obama, should he win in November, will need help in...

Coinciding with the travel schedule of Barack Obama this week, the Republican National Committee is re-airing a pair of radio ads in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.

Many a film scene has been shot at the Greystone Mansion in Los Angeles, Calif., where a 55-room Tudor mansion tonight beckoned Hollywood glitterati to contribute $28,500 per person to the Democratic National Committee/Obama for America joint Victory Fund. In "Indecent Proposal," the tycoon played by Robert Redford was seduced by the real estate agent played by Demi Moore as she showed him through the empty living room of the Greystone Mansion. He didn't much care for the house, but her he liked. Film buffs might also recognize the manse from "What Women Want," "The Witches of Eastwick," "The Big...

Hollywood A-listers paid big bucks to see Sen. Barack Obama at a Beverly Hills dinner on Tuesday night, where Obama focused his remarks on easing Democrats’ jitters about the close race ahead. Obama spoke for around 15 minutes in an outdoor courtyard at the Greystone Estate, a Tudor-style mansion on 16 acres overlooking Los Angeles. Attendees at the $28,500-per person dinner included Will Ferrell, Chris Rock, Tobey McGuire, Leonardo diCaprio and Jodi Foster. “A lot of you, just in conversations while we were in the photo lines, had all sorts of suggestions,” Obama said. “…And a lot of people have...

First, McCain dispels the notion of an America in decline - “I reject that.” He says Obama is taking credit for the stimulus package, but the guy never bothered to even show up to vote on it. Then he points out that Obama received more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other senator except the chairman of the committee (Dodd). Then Obama made the Chairman of Fannie Mae, who ran that place into the ground, the chairman of his Vice-Presidential search committee (nice job on that too selecting Biden) and says that that is more of the...

When DBKP first reported on August 25 that the Edwards campaign had quietly refunded almost $4 million in campaign contributions to big donors and bundlers–leaving little campaign contributors, or shallow pocket voters, out in the cold–the response by some was: “so what” or “no big deal”. Others pointed out that, by law, once a candidate drops out of a Presidential primary election the campaign has to refund all contributions earmarked for the General election. So we decided to dig a “little deeper” and find out more about the role ’shallow pocket’ voters played in the Edwards campaign. We also looked...

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Barack Obama partied with Hollywood celebrities Tuesday night and with the help of Oscar-winning singer and actress Barbra Streisand raised an eye-popping $9 million for his presidential campaign and the Democratic Party. The night was split into two glitzy events, a reception and dinner costing $28,500 each at the Greystone Mansion, followed by entertainment by Streisand at the nearby Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. About 250 people were expected at the dinner and about 800 at the entertainment, which cost $2,500 a ticket.

The sense is visceral among many Democrats that when John McCain expressed confidence in the "fundamentals" of the economy to start the week, he returned the focus of the presidential race to a fundamental issue that will benefit Barack Obama. The Democrat's chief strategist, David Axelrod, certainly thinks so; chatting with reporters today, he said the campaign had been "blasted" back to first principles -- pocketbook concerns. But where was Obama headed after landing in Burbank? To Beverly Hills, for a couple of off-the-charts, star-studded fundraisers (including one headlined by Barbra Streisand).

Please note: links do NOT work. Goldman Sachs $691,930 University of California $611,207 Citigroup Inc $448,599 JPMorgan Chase & Co $442,919 Harvard University $435,769 Google Inc $420,174 UBS AG $404,750 National Amusements Inc $389,140 Microsoft Corp $377,235 Lehman Brothers $370,524 Sidley Austin LLP $350,302 Moveon.org $347,463 Skadden, Arps et al $340,264 Time Warner $338,527 Wilmerhale Llp $335,398 Morgan Stanley $318,070 Latham & Watkins $297,400 Jones Day $289,476 University of Chicago $278,885 Stanford University $276,038

When the federal government announced two months ago that it would prop up mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, CRP looked at how much money members of Congress had collected since 1989 from the companies.

Wall Street's grim news has plenty of people worried about their pocketbooks. Lawmakers are among them, not only concerned with how to boost the economy but with their own personal finances tied to companies that are struggling. The richest members of Congress seem to be the most invested in the companies at the center of the Wall Street shake-up. According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, nine lawmakers have between $785,900 and $1.8 million of their own money invested in Merrill Lynch, the brokerage firm that agreed over the weekend to sell itself to Bank of America for $50...

"[Barack Obama] talked about siding with the people, siding with the people, just before he flew off to Hollywood for a fundraiser with Barbara Streisand and his celebrity friends. Let me tell you, my friends, there's no place I'd rather be than here, with the working men and women of Ohio." -- John McCain John McCain RemarksVienna, OHSeptember 16, 2008 John McCain: "We've seen a telling moment in this campaign today. Senator Obama saw an economic crisis, and he's found a political opportunity. My friends, this is not a time for political opportunism; this is a time for leadership. "Too...

Name Office Total Contributions Dodd, Christopher J (D-CT) Senate $104,300 Obama, Barack (D-IL) Senate $45,111 McCain, John (R-AZ) Senate $41,200 Clinton, Hillary (D-NY) Senate $36,831 Baucus, Max (D-MT) Senate $24,750 Biden, Joseph R Jr (D-DE) Senate $19,975 Romney, Mitt (R) Pres $19,950 Sununu, John E (R-NH) Senate $15,950

Veterans for Freedom will launch a national cable ad Wednesday juxtaposing comments by Gen. David Petraeus on the success of President George W. Bush’s 2007 troop surge in Iraq and comments by Barack Obama opposing the strategy.

Nervous Democrats are organising an unprecedented wave of advertisements attacking Senator John McCain. The Republican presidential candidate has maintained his improved performance in the polls since picking Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Alarmed that Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate, may be slipping irreversibly behind with seven weeks to go, a raft of groups plan to flood swing states with adverts, emails and mailshots. MoveOn, a liberal group that started during the Bill Clinton impeachment hearings, said it will double its advertising budget to £3.5 million between now and polling day on Nov 4. Its executive director...