campaign finance

Democracy NC sent this out on Sen. Obama's opt out of public financing:

Statement from Bob Hall, Executive Director of Democracy North Carolina, regarding Barack Obama’s decision to forego participation in presidential public financing program:

Senator Obama’s decision is predictable, given the shortcomings of the presidential public financing program and his capacity to raise money from private sources. The current program lacks the carrots and sticks – the incentives and penalties – to attract and sustain participation by major party candidates.

How does Patrick McHenry manage to stand tall financially? His personal accumulation of assets through property deals has been a wonder. I’ve always been curious how a paper entry on a form turns into a cash windfall later. Now it seems he has a business partner in Republican State Senator and Lt Governor candidate Robert Pittenger, Lord of the LLC land deals, to help him along.

It seems like Patrick McHenry has the stereotypical edge here in the 10th District- having claimed $140,000 earned in the last quarter (according to the Charlotte Observer). In fact, he's got a huge campaign fund, which he intends to use to blast his competitors off the map... or so we'd think. Unfortunately, due to his backwards view on finance, nepotism, and the money required to hide his illegal/immoral actions, McHenry may as well have no money at all.

I'll link to the facts I've uncovered and you tell me what you think . . .

Some people may wonder about my apparent obsession with NC Realtors. It's really very simple. Political corruption is rooted in the large amounts of money injected into the political process. NC Realtors have injected the largest amounts of money. They've also targeted an issue I care about, sustainable growth and, the local government funding options required to provide for it. Roll a few pet peeves into one and you have Stop The NC Home Ticks.

The North Carolina real estate industry has a little secret that may get a little sunshine, or not. The Bonus Round

Delay-related funding almost $200,000, nearly 20% of McHenry's campaign total

Also, two major in-district fundraisers reportedly under investigation for Medicaid fraud [scroll to bottom for this one]

And while CharO covered the FEC lawsuit settlement by Citizen's Club for Growth, they failed to mention the nearly $200,000 of McHenry's 04 $923,795 came from the Delay-related funding.

Following up on my overview blog post about results from 11 Statewide Regional Town meetings of the NC Democratic Party, here is the package of resolutions to be considered at Saturday's (Aug 25, 2007) State Executive Committee meeting in Greensboro. Please see my prior BlueNC post for more information about what is on the minds of Democrats statewide.

Has anyone perused the list of NC Democratic Candidates available for donations on ActBlue?

Also, check out the Active ActBlue page.

Good stuff.

Also mentioned at DKos

Most of you know that when I was at Carolina, I was suckered into joining a hypercharismatic church that was once part of Maranatha Campus Ministries, a notorious campus cult from the 1980s. This church, King's Park International Church in Durham, is now one of the leading churches in Every Nation, which by all indications is a lineal descendant, if not an outright revival, of Maranatha. KPIC's founding pastor, Ron Lewis, is also the pastor of Morning Star New York, a church plant in Manhattan.

Well, a few days ago, one of my fellow EN refuseniks came upon a financial disclosure statement for Sam Brownback's PAC, Restore America. It seems that a mere nine days after Sam Brownback travelled to Manhattan, Lewis and two of his Every Nation colleagues donated a total of $2,200 to this PAC. At the very least, you have a presidential candiate taking donations from a guy with DOCUMENTED ties to a recognized cult. At most, it's potentially a violation of campaign finance laws.

Wether it is fighting to bring our troops home, leading on energy policy, or standing up to the rediculous right-wing media Senator Barack Obama is - hype included - emerging head and shoulders above Hillary Clinton in the policy arena heading into the 2008 sweepstakes.

Obama has now signed on Senator Russ Feingold's bill calling for greater public financing of campaigns.