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Friday, September 5, 2008
Obama’s best fundraisers were given priority to go to Oprah Winfrey’s home

Source The Chicago Sun Times March 24 2008 by Lynn Sweet

Obama’s 2004 U.S. Senate finance committee contains the names of a number of Chicago based Democrats who have been long-time major donors and fund-raisers —and Tony Rezko and his wife, Rita. Rezko, on trial in a Chicago courtroom on corruption charges. On March 14, Obama said Rezko had raised about $250,000 for Obama—for his state senate, House and U.S. Senate runs.

For his 2008 presidential run, Obama does release the names of his best “bundlers” –those who raise between $50,000 and at least $200,000. Bundlers are people who tap into their own extensive personal networks to raise money for a candidate and in return are supposed to get recognition for their efforts from the campaigns.

But the Obama campaign has carved from these ranks of elite fund-raisers a National Finance Committee, who are deemed to have potential to raise money for Obama over the long haul.

Members of Obama’s NFC have been invited to special briefings with Obama and his advisors, were given priority in getting into Oprah Winfrey’s fund-raiser at her home near Santa Barbara, Calif. and have been encouraged to travel to primary and caucus states to volunteer knocking on doors and at phonebanks.

2008 OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL NATIONAL FINANCE COMMITTEE
Naomi Aberly
Gerald Acker
Charles Adams
David Adelman
David Agnew
Mark Alderman
Jeremy Alters
Eddy Arriola
Ricky Arriola
Nicole Avant
Stewart Bainum
Freddy Balsera
Rob Barber
Don Barden
Matthew Barzun
Doni Belau
Lawrence Bender
Michael Bennet
Mitchell Berger
Matthew Bergman
Andi Bernstein
Tom Bernstein
Don Beyer
Megan Beyer
Jeff Bleich
Neil Bluhm
Charles
Robert Bone
Harry Bookey
Demetrios Boutris
Tim Broas
Frank Brosens
Peter Buttenweiser
Peter Bynoe
Owen Byrd
Joe Calabrese
Michael Caplin
David Carden
Tom Carnahan
Brad Carson
Eileen
Chamberlain
Donahoe
Hasan Chandoo
Tony Chase
Cleve Christophe
Marissa Chun
Bob Clark
Diana Clark
Frank Clark
Bucky Clarkson
Bonnie Cohen
Dick Cohen
Lou Cohen
Tom Cole
Wilbur Colom
Les Coney
Jack Connors
Jon Cooper
Greg Craig
James Crowe
Jim Crown
Paula Crown
John Crumpler
Ian Cumming
Bill Daley
Richard Danzig
Mike Dardzinski
Ted Dintersmith
Kirk Dornbush
Becky Draper
Eugene Duffy
Carolyn Dwyer
Bill Eacho
Norm Eisen
Ari Emanuel
Christine Forester
Alan Fox
Daveen Fox
David Friedman
Lou Frillman
Michael Froman
Ann Fudge
David Gail
Mark Gallogly
Barbara Garrett
Tom Gearen
Katherine Gehl
Julius Genachowski
Alexi Giannoulias
Geoff Gibbs
Mark Gilbert
Don Gips
Steven Gluckstern
Barry Goodman
Mark Goodman
Mark Gorenberg
John Gorman
David Grain
Earl Graves
Howard Gutman
Joe Gutman
Ed Haddock
Daniel Halpern
Wahid Hamid
Todd Hamilton
Hill Harper
Scott Harris
Bill Harvey
David Heller
Victor Herlinsky
Bruce Heyman
Doug Hickey
Donald Hinkle
David Hinson
Gary Hirshberg
Mellody Hobson
Max Holtzman
Rick Horowitz
Jim Hudson
Dan Hynes
Mark Iola
Ian Isaacs
Rita Isaacs
David Jacobson
Valerie Jarrett
Jeh Johnson
Jim Johnson
Orlan Johnson
Sheila Johnson
David Jones
Sam and
Sylvia Kaplan
David Kasparian
Michael Kasparian
Allan Katz
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Julie Katzman
Eric Kearney
Bill Kennard
Lena Kennedy
Charlie Kireker
Steve Koch
Dan Kohl
Nancy Koppelman
Orin Kramer
Tony Lake
Nicole Lamb-Hale
Annie Lamont
Ned Lamont
Jonathan Lavine
Michael Lawson
Eddie Lazarus
Chad Leat
Ken Lerer
Steve Lerner
John Levi
Chris Lewis
Chuck Lewis
Margo Lion
Caren Lobo
Dan Loeb
Andres Lopez
Frank Loy
Jamie Lynton
Michael Lynton
Kerman Maddox
Steve Mandel
Susan Mandel
Bob Mandell
Karol Mason
Brian Mathis
Marina McCarthy
Carol McClure
Mattie
McFadden-
Lawson
Jon Merksamer
Ray Mikulich
Eric Mindich
Cindy Moelis
Ron Moelis
Jonathan Molot
Robert Monks
Sarah Morgenthau
Marie Helene Morrow
Alecia Mullen
Tim Mullen
Bruce Murray
James Murray
Bob Nelsen
Marty Nesbitt
Dan Nova
Bruce Oreck
Bill Orrick
Lynn Overmann
Spencer Overton
Jason Paez
Sebastiano
Paiewonsky-
Cassinelli
Steve Pajcic
Deven Parekh
Michael Parham
Cookie Parker
Jonathan Perdue
Tom Perrelli
John Phillips
Will Prather
Quintin Primo
Penny Pritzker
Wade Randlett
Deborah Rappaport
Doug Rediker
Tom Reed
Art Reimers
Jim Reynolds
John Rhea
Zeb Rice
Ellen Richman
Rebecca Riley
Bob Rivkin
Charlie Rivkin
Marjorie Roberts
Robert Roche
Desiree Rogers
John Rogers
John Roos
Lee “Rosy” Rosenberg
Skip Rosenbloom
James Rubin
Kirk Rudy
Karen Russell
Frank Sanchez
Andrew Schapiro
Michael Schell
Paul Schmitz
Tod Sedgwick
Jeff Shell
Laura Shell
Willie Shepherd
Bob Sherman
Ken Solomon
Alan Solomont
Alan Solow
Helen Spalding
Steve Spinner
John Steffen
Bobby Stein
Josh Steiner
Jane Stetson
George Stevens
Cynthia Stroum
Lou Susman
Tina Tchen
Vinai Thummalapally
Tim Toben
Bob Toll
Jim Torrey
Stan and
Sherri Toy
Kyriakos Tsakapolous
Grace Tsao Wu
Scott Tyre
Tom Unterman
Kirk Wagar
Wendy Wanderman
Anne Wedner
Daniel Weiss
Beatrice Welters
Alexa Wesner
Tony West
Steve Westly
Tom Wheeler
Barry White
Frank White
Abigail Williams
Todd Williams
Percy Wilson
Robert Wolf
Kneeland Youngblood

2004 OBAMA U.S. SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE

John Alarez
Joanne Alter
Bruce Baker
Michael Bauer
Deborah Beitler
Stephen Beitler
Marjorie Benton
Percy Berger
Robert Blackwell
Norman Bobins
Carole Boron
Keith Bronstein
Dudley Brown
John Bryan
Neville Bryan
Jonathan Bunge
Linda Bynoe
Peter Bynoe
Judith Byrd
Demetrius Carney
Mike Cherry
Robert Clifford
Bruce Clinton
Lester Coney
Kevin Conway
Phillip Corboy
James Crown
Louis D’Angelo
Allison Davis
Andrew Davis
Dean Dicke
David Dorris
Bruce Ettelson
Charles Frank
Deborah Friedman
Brenda Gaines
Judith Gaynor
Alexi Giannoulias
Howard Green
Jack Guthman
Joesph Gutman
Arthur Hahn
Briet Hart
Christie Hefner
Louis Holland
Charles Holley
James Houlihan
Valerie Jarrett
Albert Johnson
Kenny Johnson
Mike Jordan
Carroll Joynes
Joesph Kellman
Lou Anne Kellman
Steven Koch
Martin Koldyke
Michael Kraines
Michael Krasny
Clinton Krislov
Daniel L e vin
Fay Levin
Jack Levin
Lawerence Levy
Paul Levy
Julius Lewis
Lyle Logan
William Lowry
C. Mack
Tenetia Mack
Lewis Manilow
Susan McKeever
Edwin MClendon
Abner Mikva
Judson Miner
Newton Minow
Arthur Moore
David Mosena
Patricia Mosena
Martin Nesbit
Grace Newton
Abby O’Neil
Richard Phelan
Quitin Primo
Penny Pritzker
Stephen Pugh
Rita Rezko
Tony Rezko
Andre Rice
Shawnelle Ritchie
Kathleen Roach
John Rogers
Steven Rogers
John Rokacz
Lee Rosenberg
Andrew Rosenfield
Betty Saltzman
Paul Saltzman
Manuel Sanchez
Tia Sawhney
John Schmidt
David Schulte
Niranjan Shah
Harold Shapiro
Balvinder Singh
Jerold Solovy
Alan Solow
Harrison Steans
Avy Stein
John Sterling
Mary Stowell
Stuart Taylor
Christina Tchen
Christie Traubert
Gail Wallet
Gregory White
Jason White
Judy Wise

Also check this version:
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/03/sweet_obama_at_suntimes_reques.html

Acorn, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Barack Obama’s Finance Chair-Penny Pritzker, All Tied To The Sub-Prime Meltdown

http://rightvoices.com/2008/09/17/acorn-fannie-mae-freddie-mac-barack-obamas-finance-chair-penny-pritzker-all-tied-to-the-sub-prime-meltdown/

OT Reminder (and keep in mind who fights for housing, ACORN)

Comment: or more than five weeks during the brutal winter of 1997, tenants shivered without heat in a government-subsidized apartment building on Chicago’s South Side.

It was just four years after the landlords — Antoin “Tony’’ Rezko and his partner Daniel Mahru — had rehabbed the 31-unit building in Englewood with a loan from Chicago taxpayers.

Rezko and Mahru couldn’t find money to get the heat back on.

But their company, Rezmar Corp., did come up with $1,000 to give to the political campaign fund of Barack Obama, the newly elected state senator whose district included the unheated building.

Obama has been friends with Rezko for 17 years. Rezko has been a political patron to Obama and many others, helping to raise millions of dollars for them through his own contributions and by hosting fund-raisers in his home.

Obama, who has worked as a lawyer and a legislator to improve living conditions for the poor, took campaign donations from Rezko even as Rezko’s low-income housing empire was collapsing, leaving many African-American families in buildings riddled with problems — including squalid living conditions, vacant apartments, lack of heat, squatters and drug dealers.

“Their buildings were falling apart,’’ said a former city official. “They just didn’t pay attention to the condition of these buildings.’’

Eleven of Rezko’s buildings were in Obama’s state Senate district.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/353829,CST-NWS-rez23.article

Look back at Grim Proving Ground/Boston Article

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/27/grim_proving_ground_for_obamas_housing_policy/
Then again, why would you want to be educated..