Campaign Contributions Issued

The New York Times - Contributions to Presidential Campaigns
Contributions of $200 or more to presidential candidates, as reported to the Federal Election Commission.
This is a really neat search engine to search either by zip code or last name for names of people that have donated and lists how much they have donated. It also displays the employer of the person that has donated.
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/campaign-finance/search-contributions.html

You may have heard of some of Obama's donors. Newsweek has reported that Mr. "Doodad Pro" and Mr. "Good Will" gave Obama more than $11,000 in increments of $10 and $25. Maybe you have heard about the Palestinian brothers in the Gaza Strip who had bought T shirts in bulk from the Obama campaign's online store, but you also heard that Obama's campaign gave $33,000 back to them after realizing that GA stood for Gaza, not Georgia. Hey, but it happens to every major candidate, the McCain campaign has returned money too. So, what's the problem? Well, the RNC is saying that the Obama campaign has not done enough to weed out these illegal donations. The fact is that the amount that the Obama campaign has recieved in small donations does seem a bit excessive. Check out the articles below.

Washington Post - Oct 5, 2008 - RNC to File FEC Complaint on Obama Fundraising Practices
"At the heart of the RNC complaint is a federal fundraising rule that lets campaigns accept donations under $200 without itemizing the names and addresses of the donors on its campaign finance reports. The rule was intended as a matter of practicality -- it did not seem reasonable to ask a campaign to gather that information from every five-dollar donor.
But the Obama campaign has raised more than $200 million this way, a staggering sum for donations that will not be subjected to outside scrutiny."
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/05/rnc_to_file_fec_complaint_on_o.html?hpid=topnews

Newsweek - Oct 4, 2008 - Obama’s ‘Good Will’ Hunting
"This summer, watchdog groups asked both campaigns to share more information about its small donors. The McCain campaign agreed; the Obama campaign did not."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/162403

Reuters - Oct 5, 2008 - Obama doesn't weed out illegal cash, GOP says
"More than half of the $454 million raised by Obama has come in small increments of $200 or less.
By contrast, one-third of McCain's $230 million raised during the primary campaign has come in small donations. McCain is taking public funds in the general election campaign so he is limited to $84 million."
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE4942Z720081005?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Do you think the Obama campaign should share more information about its small donors like McCain did? Leave a comment with your answer.

Please check out my related blog Obama Issued and feel free to use the envelope link below to email this to friends.