Obama: Public Financing System Is "Creaky"

In Possible Argument For Bypassing It, Candidate Says System Is In Need Of Reform

(CBS/AP)  The nation's system of public financing presidential elections is "creaky" and needs to be updated, Sen. Barack Obama said Friday, offering another possible argument for bypassing the three-decades-old system that has helped pay campaigns for the White House.

Obama, who has raised a whopping $234 million from about 1.3 million donors, said the limited amounts of money available from the federal treasury for presidential campaigns pose difficult choices for candidates raising large sums.

"I think that it is creaky," he said of the program financed by $3 dollar checkoffs in tax returns. "The amount of money raised through the public financing system may be substantially lower than the amount of money that can be raised over the Internet, which presents candidates then with some pretty tough decisions in terms of how they want to move forward if they want to compete in as many states as possible."

This year, the presidential nominees would be entitled to $84 million in public funds in the general election.

Speaking to donors at a fundraiser this week in Washington, Obama likened his fundraising to a "parallel public financing system," a remark that set off speculation that if he is the Democratic nominee he would be the first presidential candidate to forego federal funds in three decades.

CBSNews.com's Brian Montopoli reported on Wednesday that Obama may be poised to turn down public financing.

But Obama on Friday said he had not made a decision about his general election money plans and said that if he secures the nomination he would meet with John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, to discuss ways to reduce the influence of outside groups in the election.

McCain is taking steps to accept the public funds, returning money he has raised so far that was designated for the general election.

Obama noted that participation in the $3 checkoff had declined, reducing the amount of money in the fund. Obama himself, however, did not check off the $3 designation in his 2005 and 2006 tax returns.

Obama, who had checked off the box in previous returns, said it was an oversight

"It may be a situation where my accountant didn't do it," he said.

In talking to reporters, Obama also weighed in on the controversy surrounding Hillary Rodham Clinton's former chief strategist, Mark Penn, whom she demoted because of his private work for the Colombian government on behalf of the free trade Agreement, a pact that Clinton opposes. Colombia was a client of Penn's large public relations firm, Burson-Marsteller.

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The Money Race
Check out February tallies for Clinton, Obama and McCain, including how much they've raised and spent since the campaign began.

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"It was surprising to me that a high-ranking, if not the highest-ranking member of Senator Clinton's team would be engaged in business activities and lobbying that was directly contrary to a position that Senator Clinton had taken," Obama said.

"I know that if staff of mine were putting me in that kind of position, I would get rid of them," he said.

While Obama has relied on an unusually large number of small donors who have given less than $200, he also has relied on well-connected fundraisers with corporate interests.

On Friday he said his financial operation is separate from his policy positions.

"We have a national finance committee, they are very active but they don't interact with me," he said. "They are not as a general rule part of my day-to-day policy or advisory committee. Although there are some people who have raised money for me who are also prominent business leaders, so if we were putting forward an economic plan and there was some expertise there we would tap into it."

Obama also demanded that company shareholders have a say in how much executives get paid as he pushes his populist message.

Obama said he wants Congress to pass legislation he has sponsored that would require corporations to have a nonbinding vote by shareholders on executive compensation packages. The bill is in the Senate banking committee, chaired by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., an Obama backer and former presidential candidate.

Obama said he expected Dodd to first have to deal with housing legislation before taking up corporate pay.

Under Obama's legislation, shareholders could not veto a compensation package offered to an executive and would not place limits on pay. Rather, they would have a means to publicly express their position.

A similar bill passed the House last year.

USA Today reported this week that the top 50 chief executives in the United States made about $15.7 million last year, even though some of the companies were not performing well.

[jockh]

Hillarys problem is that voters know how easily the Clintons lie; and that both Hillary and Bill would lie on a stack of bibles.

Misspeaking is one thing, repeating something over and over makes it a FLAT LIE !!
The Clintons simply cannot help themselves; they tell a big lie when a small lie will do. And they tell a small lie when the truth will do. After careful training from Bill, Hillary can lie out of both sides of her mouth at the same time even when there''s no particular reason to.
Lets face it, it takes a bare faced liar to confuse a hug from a little girl in Bosnia with the terror of running from sniper bullets.

If you are inclined to overlook Clinton lies just because Hillary is your favorite for nomination then just look at the trouble the country is in because of the lies of President Bush: one million Iraqis and over 4000 American servicemen dead; that%u2019s right DEAD, all because of lies. So you see, the lies of a President really do matter and God help America if the world famous misspeaking Clintons get elected.

[jonesforch]

Wow BLKPRESIDENT..I thought you would be all over this one.

[greenfun]

n 2007, Barack Obama committed to accepting public financing if he was the Democratic presidential nominee. While the Obama campaign has tried to cloud the issue, this was his response to a 2007 survey by the Midwest Democracy Network:

If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?

Yes. I have been a long-time advocate for public financing of campaigns combined with free television and radio time as a way to reduce the influence of moneyed special interests... 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.

Recently however, Obama has backed away from the commitment -- saying that he will ''pursue an agreement,'' that calls for the McCain campaign to control the spending of outside groups that are legally prohibited from coordinating with McCain. Thus Obama''s public financing commitment dies a quick and dirty death.

[truth-hurts]

By the way...The NAACP, the largest and oldest Black organization in the country is having Uncle Jeremiah Wright as their keynote speaker at their largest yearly event. The NAACP is a half-million member organization embracing the anti-White American teachings of Rev. Wright. Is this the sign of things to come???

They are holding this event in Detroit. In 1967, the Blacks burnt down half of Detroit. All people attending this event will be asked to leave all matches and lightors at the door.

The Black slogan of 1967; BURN BABY BURN!!

Another one of Hillarys HQ''s was torched last night with 2 people inside. Luckily they escaped.

[rhondagem]

Who cares if he did or didn''t give the whopping $3 to the Presidential Election Fund?
The question is, how much of the money people have donated is being wasted on First Class Airplane rides and High End food, drinks and clothing as well as stylists, etc?
They''re all guilty, but those who have contributed to the "campaign funds" are disgusting. There are so many good people who really do deserve help in the U.S., who go through trauma and hardships only to have the state systems tell us there''s nothing they can do, for example, my youngest son''s father will be in prison until he''s older than 18 and I don''t make enough money to support him and my other 2 children so therefore, other people in my family are forced to help provide for him. Isn''t it the father''s responsibility? The US government won''t even stick up for a child''s rights to support from a father, no matter where he''s at (or substantiate it themselves), but people are pouring out money to the "beautiful people of politics"?
Woo hoo, makes me wanna give my $3 (NOT!!!!)

[truth-hurts]

Good Idea nokoolaid!!

STEP DOWN OBAMA!!!! LOL! LOL! I wonder what happened to you.......NOKOOLAID

[mudrose-2009]

No, actually he really is the Manchurian Candidate. In November B. Hussein Obama said he would accept public financing for the general campaign if John McCain committed to public funds. Now he doesn''t want to be tied down by the spending limits attached to public funds. This is embarrassing. Solution: call his Internet contributors a "parallel financing" system. Actually B. Hussein lives in an alternate Universe. He is George Soros''s Water boy which is why he can smile in his arrogant way with his little behind up in the air, rather smug because he knows who his pimp is. There is a real parallel funding system ready to support B. Hussein Obama. It''s called George Soros and so-called 527 groups such as the Democrat-supporting Fund for America or the newly named Progressive Media Fund founded by none other than a guy of questionable sexual orientation by the name of Brock. Then there is Bagala. That makes for the Divine Trinity of backers for B. Hussein Obama. Soros, Brock and Bagala. Progressive Media recently announced that it plans for a $40 million four-month campaign against Mr. McCain, and that''s only one group. They are going to smear McCain through the 501(c)s since you can''t identify the donors that way. So while B. Hussein Obama is attempting to preserve his reputation as a reformer, he''s exploiting his new financial advantage. My, my we are all beginning to learn how expansive the meaning of "change" is.

[blackspirit3]

IN 1992 THE CLINTONS WENT TO THE WHITE HOUSE TO FIX THINGS

- The only president ever impeached on grounds of personal malfeasance
- Most number of convictions and guilty pleas by friends and associates*
- Most number of cabinet officials to come under criminal investigation
- Most number of witnesses to flee country or refuse to testify
- Most number of witnesses to die suddenly
- First president sued for sexual harassment.
- First president accused of rape.
- First first lady to come under criminal investigation
- Largest criminal plea agreement in an illegal campaign contribution case
- First president to establish a legal defense fund.
- First president to be held in contempt of court
- Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions
- Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions from abroad
- First president disbarred from the US Supreme Court and a state court

IN 2008 LETS SEND THEM BACK TO FINISH THEIR JOB

[greenfun]

INCONVENIENT PROMISE
FLIP/FLOP
Obama made a campaign promise which he apparently has no problem breaking. Is it his inexperience that has him making these promises without thinking it all the way through? (If so, can we afford to have Obama negotiating with world leaders if he''ll be making promises he can''t or won''t keep?)

Or is it that he in fact had no real commitment to keeping the promise?

[jack3213]

OBAMA SHOULD LEARN SOME INTELLIGENT VOCABULARY. CLINTON SHOULD LEARN TO BE QUIET ALONG WITH HER SCUMBAG HUSBAND.

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by nokoolaid at 01:38 PM : Apr 11, 2008

Of course they''re listening. Frankly even McCain would be ten times bettter than Obama the incompetent scammer.

[blackspirit3]

STOP WHINNING AND DONATE MONEY TO YOUR CANDIDATES. THOSE WHO SUPPORT OBAMA PUT THEIR MONEY WHERE THEIR MOUTH IS, WHY DON;T MCCAIN AND HILLARY FOLKS WHINE WHEN THEY REFUSE TO INVEST IN THEIR CANDIDATE, PUBLIC FINANCING IS WACK, WHY SHOULD I PAY MY TAXEWS TO HELP SOMEONE I WOUOLD NEVER VOTE FOR RUN FOR MY VOTE? ANOTHER FORM OF WELFARE - POLITICAL WELFARE

[libh8er]

Just look at all the good McCain-Feingold did when they tried to ''fit it''.

[jack3213]

"While Obama has relied on an unusually large number of small donors who have given less than $200, he also has relied on well-connected fundraisers with corporate interests." A MAN WHO TALKS OUT OF BOTH SIDES OF HIS A-- ALOT LIKE MRS CLINTON, THEY MUST BE LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER..LOL

[rowdytexan2]

Listen at him cover his arse! Pathetic excuse.

[vet999999]

This year, the presidential nominees would be entitled to $84 million in public funds in the general election.

I would think that 84 million would be enough to get your message out over a span of 2 months.

[popstom1]

Can''t buy votes without money