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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bentway who wrote (644784)	2/7/2012 12:27:35 PM
From: PROLIFE	2 Recommendations Respond to of 1575985

of course your "dear leader" couldn't care less about violations, after all...he IS his daddy's son......: Designer Gear for Obama Raising a Ruckus Republicans Contend Relatively Low-Cost Items to Be Sold at Fund-Raiser May Amount to Campaign-Finance Violations WASHINGTON—Move over, PACs. The latest campaign-finance flap is about sacks. At a New York fund-raising event Tuesday called "Runway to Win," President Barack Obama's re-election campaign plans to begin selling campaign-themed tote bags, T-shirts and accessories designed by more than two dozen famous designers. Attendees can purchase a tote bag designed by Derek Lam for $75. A collectible makeup bag created by Richard Blanch with nail polish in Red-y To Win Red, Victory White and Bo Blue is going for $40. And a silk scarf featuring Mr. Obama's likeness by Thakoon Panichgul is $95. Profits from the sales will go to Mr. Obama's campaign chest. Republicans contend the sale might violate campaign-finance rules. The gear will sell for a fraction of the price the designers' merchandise typically fetches at department stores. Republicans say that suggests they relied on corporate resources to keep costs low, which could amount to illegal campaign contributions. On Mr. Lam's website, handbags range in price from $340 to $1,890. The three scarves offered on Mr. Thakoon's website go for $325 apiece. WSJ's Brody Mullins reports on a New York fundraiser for President Obama's re-election campaign at which fashion designers will roll out satchels, handbags and T-shirts to promote the campaign. Photo: Obama for America "This raises serious questions about whether corporate money, property and employees were improperly used in the design and production of these items without reimbursement," said Sean Spicer, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. Jan Baran, an election lawyer with Wiley Rein LLP, said designers can't ask employees to work on political projects unless they willingly volunteered their time. "Someone who is paid to do campaign work is not a volunteer," he said. If the designer or staff are paid by anyone other than the campaign, it would be considered a campaign contribution from a company to a candidate. The Obama campaign said the gear complies with campaign-finance rules. "All of the designers volunteered their personal time to create these great designs," the campaign said, and were "not underwritten with any corporate funds." People involved have another argument: They say the designers didn't spend much time on the items, which are also cheap to make. Out are leather straps and linen shirts, more typical of their designer goods. In are canvas bags and cotton T-shirts. The fund-raising effort will be launched before the start of Fashion Week in New York. It was a project of Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour, who rounded up Obama supporters to apply their creativity—and more important, their names—to otherwise pedestrian campaign gear. She referred questions about the project to the Obama campaign. Election finance regulations govern almost everything a campaign does, down to how singers, artists and designers can volunteer their time. One of the first rulings on the topic came in 1975, just a year after the Federal Election Commission was created. Mo Udall wanted to know if a well-known entertainer could perform at an event for his 1976 Democratic presidential campaign, or if he had to pay with campaign funds. The agency said entertainers can volunteer their time to perform, but ancillary costs such as travel expenses had to be paid by the campaign or counted as an "in-kind" donation. A few years later, the FEC expanded that definition to cover an artist who wanted to create an art print to raise money for the campaign arm of Senate Democrats. In 2008, the FEC permitted Elton John to perform for free at a fund-raising event for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign at Radio City Music Hall in New York. More recently, the Senate campaign of Sen. Scott Brown (R., Mass.) paid thousands of dollars to the band of Mr. Brown's daughter, Ayla Brown, a onetime "American Idol" contestant. Mr. Brown's campaign pays for compensation for the entire band and the band's overhead... online.wsj.com

To: bentway who wrote (644784)	2/7/2012 12:42:08 PM
From: PROLIFE	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575985

However, taxpayers will never recover about $20 billion of the $80 billion spent on the bailout, according to a recent government report Still, the advertising agency that created the commercial — Wieden + Kennedy — has members who have designed Obama campaign items or who have worked on behalf of Democratic causes. The creative minds behind the ad are in the agency’s Portland, Ore., branch. Aaron Allen designed a poster for the 2008 Obama campaign and Jimm Lasser designed a basketball sneaker called the “Obama Force One,” with an image of the president on the soles and the message “A Black Man Runs and a Nation Is Behind Him.” Lasser displayed the shoe in a 2008 gallery exhibition with the tagline “The Dunk on McCain.” Elsewhere at Wieden + Kennedy, which has Kraft and Coca-Cola on its client list, global public relations director Joani Wardwell worked in the press office of the Clinton White House. She started as a grassroots organizer for Democratic causes in the early 1990s and continues to do political consulting. “I’ve managed to always keep my toe dipped in the water that way,” she said in 2009. The Wieden + Kennedy spot set itself apart in two ways: its length — two minutes, compared with the standard 30 seconds — and its powerful message. “Detroit’s showing us it can be done,” Eastwood tells the audience. “And, what’s true about them is true about all of us ... This country can’t be knocked out with one punch.” American carmakers have seen better times since receiving taxpayer funds. Collectively, Chrysler, General Motors and Ford sold slightly more than 6 million vehicles last year, a 15 percent increase over 2010. However, taxpayers will never recover about $20 billion of the $80 billion spent on the bailout, according to a recent government report. thedaily.com