Posted on 09/21/2006 6:45:04 PM PDT by SmithL
LOS ANGELES - Movie producer Stephen L. Bing is believed to have set a new California campaign contribution record with Thursday's announcement that he has donated an "unprecedented" $40 million to Proposition 87, the oil tax initiative on the November ballot.
While other wealthy activists have contributed large sums to their own political campaigns, no individual is known to have contributed this much to a ballot measure in California.
Airline executive Al Checchi, for instance, gave more than $40 million to his 1998 gubernatorial campaign before losing the Democratic primary.
Former President Bill Clinton praised Bing for his $40 million donation to Proposition 87 during remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York City Thursday morning.
The president also voiced support for the initiative, calling it a "big deal," according to a transcript of his remarks supplied by the "Yes on 87" campaign.
The "Yes on 87" campaign held a telephone press conference to confirm Bing was depositing more than $13.5 million into its campaign coffers on Wednesday, bringing his total to more than $40 million.
"Mr. Bing wants people to join this crusade," campaign spokesman Yusef Robb said. "And he's putting his money where his mouth is to inspire others to do so."
Robb wouldn't say whether Bing would donate more to the campaign.
Bing, the 41-year-old heir to a real estate fortune, was in New York, attending Clinton's meeting, and didn't comment on his donation. He rarely comments publicly, but campaign strategist Paul Begala called the donation "unprecedented."
Bing is co-chairman for Proposition 87, a measure that would impose a tax of up to 6 percent on oil produced in California to pay for up to $4 billion in alternative energy vehicles, fueling stations, research, education and training.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
A foolish measure that would further discourage drilling in California. I guess that's the plan.
Right... Californians want to pay another 6% for their gas...
Just one more reason to vote against this idiotic proposition.
And then they'll (Liberal Californians) will whine when energy is expensive.
You would have thought they would have learned from the numerous power outages of a few years ago.
It's much easier to complain than to actually fix something. The Democrats plan is to complain enough so that they can get back into power, but still not fix anything.
Produced? Is this on oil pumped or refined in California?
Yup.
It was enough to get Gray Davis fired, though.
I think it's on oil produced. Sort of an ad valorem tax.
Billionaire Socialist Spends Pocket-Change Millions To Raise Taxes on The Rest Of Us
Isn't Bing the slime ball that tapped Elizabeth Hurley then claimed it couldn't be him that fathered the child - then it turned out he indeed was the father?
$40M not available to finance the campaigns of liberal, political candidates.
Yep, that's the "gentleman."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.