We were scanning the news websites and came across a Google ad for Barack Obama's campaign asking us to join... so we did. We were immediately directed to a donation website with a treasure trove of revealing information.
First off let me say that we did not donate a red cent. This was strictly a fact-finding mission. This PPSIMMONS blogger lives in Canada anyway so it would be illegal to donate to an American campaign - but not impossible thanks to the ease of ability to hack into this donation page.
All that was required was an email address and a zip code. We used a hotmail address and simply entered 12345 as our zip code and voila!... we were in! We are now official members of the Barack Obama campaign.
The first thing we noticed was they only take credit cards. No debit or paypal - only credit cards. How fitting, we opined, that the Party which runs the country on debt would have as its only donation option - credit cards.
The next thing we noticed is a statement which declares that only donations above $200 are traceable. So essentially any person can join the Obama campaign using as many email addresses as they wish, and donate $200 as often as they wish from anywhere on earth. This is exactly what the Obama campaign website has officially confirmed - stunning. Remember that I am in Canada and I made it to the donation page no problem. I didn't give any money so I am not guilty of fraud but think about all the people who wish to funnel money to the Obama campaign. The person gives his legal amount of $5000 (2500 to the primary and $2500 to the general) and uses proxies to give any additional amount they please. Also remember that these people don't care about the honor system. If they want the President's ear it takes money - lots of it.
"Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name,
mailing address, occupation, and employer of individuals whose contributions
exceed $200 in an election cycle"
Finally we noticed that the bottom of the page gives a disclaimer. It says...
"Contributions or gifts to Obama for America are not tax deductible.
Obama for America can accept contributions from an individual of up to $2,500 per
federal election (the primary and general are separate elections). By submitting your
contribution, you agree that the first $2,500 of a contribution will be designated for
the 2012 primary election, and any additional amount, up to $2,500 will be
designated for the 2012 general election"
Obama appears to be preparing himself to be opposed in the primary election. But against who? Hillary? Bloomberg? Rosanne Barr? Obama is using this initial $2500 to combat the talking points and platforms of the GOP. This loophole allows for people to double their donations from $2500 to $5000. Either Obama is predicting a primary challenger or he's double-dipping. Is he the first? Probably not. However he may be the first to actively promote it on his personal website. And he wants all of his supporters to know that the limit is not really $2500 but rather it's $5000 (wink wink).
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