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Donor Cash For White House Access
IBD Editorials ^ | April 16, 2012
Posted on April 16, 2012 10:28:03 PM EDT by raptor22
Corruption: A new study documents that access to the White House is based on how much money is put into the president's campaign coffers. At least the Lincoln Bedroom isn't for rent — yet.
During the Clinton administration, when the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House became a favorite place for campaign contributors to rest their weary wallets, the infamous Johnny Chung made the observation that the White House was like a subway turnstile: You put your token in and you got inside.
An analysis of White House access by the New York Times suggests that hope and change has changed nothing except maybe you don't get to sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom. But in exchange for enriching the president's campaign coffers, you do get to bend the president's ear with a frequency greater than heads of state and Cabinet members.
"Among donors who gave $30,000 or less, about 20% visited the White House," according to the Times analysis written by Mike McIntire and Michael Luo in the paper's April 15 edition. The analysis matched names in the visitor logs with donor records. "But among those who donated $100,000 or more, the figure rises to 75%," write McIntire and Luo.
Clearly, President Obama's much ballyhooed ban on lobbyist contributions has not prevented lobbyists and other representatives of special interests from visiting the White House frequently. Some of those who sought access, and quid for their quo, were quite open about it.
Patrick J. Kennedy, the former representative from Rhode Island, who donated $35,800 to an Obama re-election fund last fall while seeking administration support for a nonprofit venture, said contributions were simply a part of "how this business works."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...