President Obama fought his 2008 presidential campaign with a vow to end “special interest” politics, but with his cozy relationships with companies such as General Electric, and now his generous offerings of government jobs to faithful donors, the President’s 2008 campaign platform has been severely compromised.
According to the Politico, and investigated by iWatch News, “nearly 200 of [Obama's] biggest donors have landed plum government jobs and advisory posts,” alongside many business donors, who have won million dollar federal contracts and other business perks. iWatch gave these Obama donors a particular name, “bundlers,” as they bundled together large sums of cash for Obama’s 2008 campaign. iWatch’s investigation was thorough and quite exploitative:
• Overall, 184 of 556, or about one-third of Obama bundlers or their spouses joined the administration in some role. But the percentages are much higher for the big-dollar bundlers. Nearly 80 percent of those who collected more than $500,000 for Obama took “key administration posts,” as defined by the White House. More than half the 24 ambassador nominees who were bundlers raised $500,000.
• The big bundlers had broad access to the White House for meetings with top administration officials and glitzy social events. In all, campaign bundlers and their family members account for more than 3,000 White House meetings and visits. Half of them raised $200,000 or more.
• Some Obama bundlers have ties to companies that stand to gain financially from the president’s policy agenda, particularly in clean energy and telecommunications, and some already have done so. Level 3 Communications, for instance, snared $13.8 million in stimulus money.
Coincidence? I think not.
