patrickt
10-10-2012, 07:30 AM
Four years ago we learned that Barack Obama's website to collect donations had safeguards against anonymous donations from foreign countries disabled but nobody seemed to care. Now, we find out that foreigners have been proudly donating to Barack Obama and his campaign has been proudly accepting foreign donations.
"A conservative political watchdog group (http://campaignfundingrisks.com/) is raising the prospect of an “illegal-donor loophole” in the nation’s campaign finance system, and suggesting the grassroots-donor-heavy Obama Campaign may stand to benefit. In a 109-page report published at a new website CampaignFundingRisks.com (http://campaignfundingrisks.com/), the Government Accountability Institute alleges the current online campaign contribution system lacks accountability and transparency, making it highly susceptible to foreign and fraudulent gifts. The report’s focus is President Obama’s re-election campaign, which has collected historic sums from online fundraising, relying predominantly on donors who give in small-dollar increments."
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/10/group-warns-of-foreign-fraudulent-donors-to-obama-campaign/
"Just last week, a Canadian woman writing on President Obama’s official campaign website claims she made a campaign donation to the Obama campaign during the last election and that she intends to do so this time as well—a clear violation of U.S. election laws:"
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/09/Obama-Supporter-Brags-About-Illegal-Online-Donations-on-His-Own-Website
Perhaps President Obama has never felt bound by any laws. Perhaps he feels as a "citizen of the world" as he stated in Berlin during the initial campaign that he is, despite the law, entitled to collect money from foreigners. Of course, he's entitled and always has been but accepting donations from foreign nationals is illegal.
Should congress update the laws and make designing a system to donate that facilitates breaking the law a violation?
"A conservative political watchdog group (http://campaignfundingrisks.com/) is raising the prospect of an “illegal-donor loophole” in the nation’s campaign finance system, and suggesting the grassroots-donor-heavy Obama Campaign may stand to benefit. In a 109-page report published at a new website CampaignFundingRisks.com (http://campaignfundingrisks.com/), the Government Accountability Institute alleges the current online campaign contribution system lacks accountability and transparency, making it highly susceptible to foreign and fraudulent gifts. The report’s focus is President Obama’s re-election campaign, which has collected historic sums from online fundraising, relying predominantly on donors who give in small-dollar increments."
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/10/group-warns-of-foreign-fraudulent-donors-to-obama-campaign/
"Just last week, a Canadian woman writing on President Obama’s official campaign website claims she made a campaign donation to the Obama campaign during the last election and that she intends to do so this time as well—a clear violation of U.S. election laws:"
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/09/Obama-Supporter-Brags-About-Illegal-Online-Donations-on-His-Own-Website
Perhaps President Obama has never felt bound by any laws. Perhaps he feels as a "citizen of the world" as he stated in Berlin during the initial campaign that he is, despite the law, entitled to collect money from foreigners. Of course, he's entitled and always has been but accepting donations from foreign nationals is illegal.
Should congress update the laws and make designing a system to donate that facilitates breaking the law a violation?