Free Republic

[O]ne big loser was... McCain-Feingold campaign finance "reform".... Preliminary reports say a record $3.9 billion was spent on this year's Presidential and Congressional campaigns, 30% more than four years ago. Instead of severing the supposedly corrupting links between big money and politics, the reform's main effect has been merely to channel the cash through different political hands, and with less accountability. ...McCain-Feingold has succeeded in the narrow goal of staunching the flow of contributions from corporations, Big Labor and wealthy individuals to the two major political parties. Labor unions have turned more of their attention to voter registration and turnout....

Liberal activist Norman Lear told me last week that if George W. Bush wins re-election, "watch what happens to real estate in New Zealand." He wasn't joking. Mr. Lear may have an exaggerated notion of the number of Americans with means to relocate to the other side of the globe. But he accurately reflects the intense feelings of a few who do: himself, financier George Soros, insurance executive Peter Lewis and Hollywood mogul Stephen Bing. Together, they have spent more than $50 million to register new voters and defeat President Bush. They are the X factor in this year's election:...

Steven Bing, Peter Benjamin Lewis, George Soros It is late in the day, but there is still time to ask the Kerry-Edwards campaign and the Democratic National Committee about their financing sources. Equally important to ask is just what do these ridiculously rich and strange people expect to get for their millions of dollars. Let's look at three of Kerry's friends, probably responsible for at least $30 million in donations. Steven Bing: Our Victorian ancestors had the right words to describe Bing. He would have been known as "a cad and a bounder," while today he is dismissed as a...

It is late in the day, but there is still time to ask the Kerry-Edwards campaign and the Democratic National Committee about their financing sources. Equally important to ask is just what do these ridiculously rich and strange people expect to get for their millions of dollars. Steven Bing: Our Victorian ancestors had the right words to describe Bing. He would have been known as "a cad and a bounder," while today he is dismissed as a "poor little rich boy." Born in 1965, Steve is approaching his midlife crisis with all the arrogance of having inherited on his 18th...

Zach Exley - Former director of special projects for the MoveOn PAC is now the online communications director for the Kerry campaign. He’s also the one who started the Bush cocaine smear in 2000. Jim Jordan - John Kerry’s former campaign manager is now a spokesperson for America Coming Together, which is helping to sponsor anti-Bush concerts and is famous for using convicted felons to including sex offenders, to try and register voters door to door. George Soros - A direct contributor John Kerry’s campaign, he has donated literally, tens of millions of dollars to MoveOn.org, ACT, and The Media...

Top Individual Contributors to 527 Committees 2004 Election Cycle

When leftist billionaires such as George Soros, Stephen Bing, Peter Lewis and Ron Burkle donate to 527s and other groups trying to defeat President Bush, the media make, maybe, a passing reference to their Democrat party ties. For the most part, these donors are simply portrayed as "philanthropists." But when a wealthy conservative Republican donates to help the president, every donation he ever made and every Republican connection he ever had must be unearthed and splashed across the papers. After all, there must be a vast right-wing conspiracy at work. Take, for instance, Texas homebuilder Robert J. "Bob" Perry, who...

The Men Behind Edwards Our editor, Walter Olson, has covered this territory before, but it's worth revisiting as Kerry and Edwards make their way across key states in their bus caravan campaign. The report on the men behind John Edwards at EdwardsWatch makes for interesting reading.:According to published reports, Edwards received $4.65 million from 3,220 lawyers, 29 paralegals, 17 legal assistants and 555 people with the same address as a personal injury attorney contributor (such as a spouse or close relative). The $4.65 million represents 63% of the total money raised by Edwards. Over one-third of those contributors gave the...

All Page Six Stories TOP KERRY DONOR'S MAFIA PAL By Richard Johnson Fri Jul 30, 1:30 AM ET A SCANDAL might be brewing in John Kerry's camp over revelations that his biggest donor, billionaire playboy Steve Bing, has close ties to a Mafia hitman. Bing, who inherited a $600 million real estate fortune courtesy of his grandfather, Leo Bing, has amassed over $16 million for the Democrats. He has donated $8.1 million to groups that are creating and airing anti-George Bush TV ads, according to Variety. Now, ABC News reports that one of Bing's close friends is Dominic Montemarano, a.k.a....

Sorry This content is not available. We apologize for the inconvenience. Acording to Glenn Reynolds, ABC News.com has pulled the Steven Bing story about his alleged mob connections. Earlier I linked to an ABC story about suggested mob connections regarding Hollywood moneyman Stephen Bing. Now when you follow the link you get a "content not available" page -- though the link and synopsis for the story still shows up when you search "Stephen Bing" on the ABC site. This either means that the story has been pulled because it contains errors, or because somebody persuaded ABC to pull it for...

Slightly less interesting than Michael Moore in the booth with Jimmy Carter, but still: From left to right: Hillary, Willie Nelson, Stephen Bing.

B O S T O N, July 28, 2004 — As Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards arrived in Boston today for the Democratic National Convention, so did the California man who is their single biggest contributor. He is Stephen Bing, a wealthy film producer who, with little fanfare, has managed to steer a total of more than $16 million of his money to Democratic candidates and the supposedly independent groups that support them. "To most of the people who track money and politics, they're like, who the hell is Steve Bing?" said Chuck Lewis, founder of the Center for...

Glenn Reynolds on instapundit pointed this out Stephen Bing SearchThe story shows up in the results at the top, but Click on the Story Nothing

B O S T O N, July 28, 2004 — As Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards arrived in Boston today for the Democratic National Convention, so did the California man who is their single biggest contributor. He is Stephen Bing, a wealthy film producer who, with little fanfare, has managed to steer a total of more than $16 million of his money to Democratic candidates and the supposedly independent groups that support them. "To most of the people who track money and politics, they're like, who the hell is Steve Bing?" said Chuck Lewis, founder of the Center for...

B O S T O N, July 28, 2004 — As Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards arrived in Boston today for the Democratic National Convention, so did the California man who is their single biggest contributor. He is Stephen Bing, a wealthy film producer who, with little fanfare, has managed to steer a total of more than $16 million of his money to Democratic candidates and the supposedly independent groups that support them. "To most of the people who track money and politics, they're like, who the hell is Steve Bing?" said Chuck Lewis, founder of the Center for...

AUGUST 2, 2002 Having dragged a group of Manhattan elites back from the Hamptons last week to attend a fund-raiser at a tony Chelsea night club, Al Gore criticized the Bush administration for "working on behalf of the powerful, and letting the people of this country get the short end of the stick." Back when he was exhibiting the Democrats' renowned good sportsmanship after he lost the presidential election, Gore managed to fund his tantrum with donations sent in from such ordinary Americans as dot-com multimillionaire Steven Kirsch ($500,000), former Slim-Fast Foods chief S. Daniel Abraham ($100,000) and Minneapolis multimillionaire...

B O S T O N, July 28, 2004 — As Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards arrived in Boston today for the Democratic National Convention, so did the California man who is their single biggest contributor. He is Stephen Bing, a wealthy film producer who, with little fanfare, has managed to steer a total of more than $16 million of his money to Democratic candidates and the supposedly independent groups that support them. "To most of the people who track money and politics, they're like, who the hell is Steve Bing?" said Chuck Lewis, founder of the Center for...

George Soros says he’ll pony up his $7 billion fortune if it could defeat George Bush this November. Soros has already donated tens of millions to groups like MoveOn.org and left wing "527’s” to defeat Bush. But Soros is not the only billionaire who has a passionate hatred for George Bush. MoveOn recently reported that Peter B. Lewis, chairman of Progressive Corp., has already given 1.5 million to the group. Lewis is so anxious to help MoveOn he now promises to match the amount contributed to MoveOn by any contributor, 50 cents for each dollar donated upto $20,000. Progressive (you’ve...

Edwards' new digs The new issue of Washingtonian magazine provides a glimpse of Edwards' new Georgetown digs. The front of the $3.8 million home is included in a four-page spread, "Knocking on the White House Door," that examines the residences of presidential aspirants. The magazine notes that Edwards' home is "just one block from JFK's first house with Jackie." Edwards and his family recently purchased the house in the historic neighborhood of D.C. but are waiting to move in until renovations are complete. The Edwardses' neighbors will include U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, another Democrat looking to move to...