Obama backs out of public financing

nbiggershaft · 06-19-2008, 06:36 PM

And the true colors come out. I used to be sold on the whole image of him not being another slimy politician. Every day of this campaign does more to convince me Obama is a wolf in sheeps clothing.

McCain attacks Obama for opting out of public financing - CNN.com

what he said back when Clinton had more money than him

"In February 2007, I proposed a novel way to preserve the strength of the public financing system in the 2008 election. My plan requires both major party candidates to agree on a fundraising truce, return excess money from donors, and stay within the public financing system for the general election. My proposal followed announcements by some presidential candidates that they would forgo public financing so they could raise unlimited funds in the general election. The Federal Election Commission ruled the proposal legal, and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has already pledged to accept this fundraising pledge. If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election."

Dylith · 06-19-2008, 06:55 PM

It is fine with me if he doesn't want to use public funds if what he wants to do is collect revenue through small donations from citizens, as long as he isn't taking large ammounts of money from special interest groups/lobbyists then it doesn't bother me as much.

As a side note, McCain was quite active in campaign finance reform before running for president, but he left his work to die off without his support once he started to make plans on running.

Scrum · 06-19-2008, 08:15 PM

The public financing system is riddled with loopholes. I have no problem with him not wanting to use it.

He's not taking money from lobbyists and neither is the DNC. That's good enough for me.

thewise1 · 06-20-2008, 11:53 AM

I truly don't know why someone would complain that a presidential candidate is NOT wasting tax dollars on his campaign

lew · 06-20-2008, 11:55 AM

I am quite EXCITED that he is not using tax monies.

Fuck McCain, the "conservative" candidate for blasting Obama for not using tax money on a campaign.

thewise1 · 06-20-2008, 12:21 PM

Originally Posted by lew

I am quite EXCITED that he is not using tax monies.

Fuck McCain, the "conservative" candidate for blasting Obama for not using tax money on a campaign.

Seriously, lol. It's weird that the democrat would be more conservative about this than the 'conservative'

nbiggershaft · 06-20-2008, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by thewise1

Seriously, lol. It's weird that the democrat would be more conservative about this than the 'conservative'

Surely you both know it has nothing to do with that...

nbiggershaft · 06-20-2008, 12:38 PM

If anyone thinks this isn't hypocritical they have a short memory.

Stylerod · 06-20-2008, 01:31 PM

I gotta admit, this one has me a bit confused. I wasn't really sure what "Public" money meant or why he was for it before he decided to be against it. But it seems that "Public" money is transparent money. Everyone knows where it came from. What he is doing now has no transparency, which is what he used to be against.

Am I getting that right?

lew · 06-20-2008, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by nbiggershaft

Surely you both know it has nothing to do with that...

He changed his mind? Whoopie fucking do.

nbiggershaft · 06-20-2008, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by lew

He changed his mind? Whoopie fucking do.

Public financing is a big whoopie do, and it was a big deal for Obama before he realized he could use his money advantage against McCain.

lew · 06-20-2008, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by nbiggershaft

Public financing is a big whoopie do, and it was a big deal for Obama before he realized he could use his money advantage against McCain.

It is a big whoopie do, which is why I'm glad that Obama changed his mind.

Stylerod · 06-20-2008, 02:31 PM

Obama: We face opponents who've become masters at gaming this broken system. John McCain's campaign and the Republican National Committee are fueled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs.

This was his excuse for changing his mind (flip flopping?) on the Public funds. But he, of course, exaggerated quite a bit.

As of the end of April, the McCain campaign had reported receiving $655,576 from lobbyists, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That is less than seven-tenths of 1 percent of his total receipts of $96,654,783.

His campaign also took in $960,990 from PACs, amounting to just under 1 percent of total receipts.

And the facts show that it's the DNC that is masters of the "broken" system.

Also, for what it's worth, the Democratic National Committee has historically been far more reliant on PAC and lobbyist money than the RNC. In 2004, PACs provided about 10 percent of the DNC's total fundraising and only about 1 percent of the RNC's total, according to the CRP.

So much for the change part of Hope and Change. He's just another politician, lying and exaggerating to make his other lies more plausible.

Factcheck.org: Obama's Lame Money Claim | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008 | Newsweek.com

lew · 06-20-2008, 02:47 PM

Originally Posted by Stylerod

So much for the change part of Hope and Change. He's just another politician, lying and exaggerating to make his other lies more plausible.

Of course he is. But at least, this time around, he won't be using my money to spread his lies.

Phantom · 06-20-2008, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by lew

Of course he is. But at least, this time around, he won't be using my money to spread his lies.

I can agree with this.

IMO, the stupid decision was for Obama to talk about financing in the first place. He painted himself into a corner for a short term gain. I'm sure he's wishing he could take back all those statements about financing.

Scrum · 06-20-2008, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by Stylerod

This was his excuse for changing his mind (flip flopping?) on the Public funds. But he, of course, exaggerated quite a bit.

And the facts show that it's the DNC that is masters of the "broken" system.

So much for the change part of Hope and Change. He's just another politician, lying and exaggerating to make his other lies more plausible.

Factcheck.org: Obama's Lame Money Claim | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008 | Newsweek.com

2004? What does 2004 have to do with Obama?

He's not taking money from PAC's* or lobbyists and neither is the DNC now that he's the candidate.

edit - I meant 527's when I said PAC's. PAC's are small donor systems. 527's are Large donor lobbyist shelters.

nbiggershaft · 06-20-2008, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by Scrum

2004? What does 2004 have to do with Obama?

He's not taking money from PAC's* or lobbyists and neither is the DNC now that he's the candidate.

edit - I meant 527's when I said PAC's. PAC's are small donor systems. 527's are Large donor lobbyist shelters.

A. Those small donor PAC's can be just as influencial.
B. The whole point of the system Obama was trying to implement involved both parties making agreements for public financing. McCain was ready to meet him on those agreements and he backed out because he could take advantage. I don't buy anything noble going on here, he isn't taking as much (he still takes quite a bit of corporate money through private donation) corporate money for the sole reason of not needing it. If it was a principle matter he would have stuck to his promise.

Stylerod · 06-20-2008, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by Scrum

2004? What does 2004 have to do with Obama?

He's not taking money from PAC's* or lobbyists and neither is the DNC now that he's the candidate.

edit - I meant 527's when I said PAC's. PAC's are small donor systems. 527's are Large donor lobbyist shelters.

2004 was the most recent presidential election besides this one. Obama and the DNC are acting like it's evil to accept PAC and lobbyists money when, historically, they have been much more dependent on that money than the Republicans.

Laugh that off smart boy

kombayn · 06-20-2008, 05:29 PM

Obama put his foot in his mouth but this topic won't matter after 2 weeks. Obama is going to out-raise McCain easily. He told people he did the opt-out because of the smear campaigns they're going to throw at him. Why not out-spend McCain, he wants to win right? Well crush the mofo then.

Stylerod · 06-20-2008, 05:33 PM

Originally Posted by kombayn

Obama put his foot in his mouth but this topic won't matter after 2 weeks. Obama is going to out-raise McCain easily. He told people he did the opt-out because of the smear campaigns they're going to throw at him. Why not out-spend McCain, he wants to win right? Well crush the mofo then.

Change and Hope baby!

Obama: "I'm going to Change my mind about public financing and Hope McCain doesn't do the same thing!!!"

I didn't realize that was what he meant by that.