Barack Obama opted out of government financing in his first presidential campaign and is rejecting it in his campaign for a second term -- setting a fundraising goal of $1 billion. He initially rejected involvement with a superpac but has changed his mind, arguing that he can't afford to disarm himself against his political opponents. His surrogates will be allowed to meet with super-funders but cannot solicit money.
The Sunlight Foundation has calculated that President Barack Obama has received more campaign funding from Wall Street than any other prior president. To this point, Obama has received $42 million from Wall Street movers and shakers, according to the Sunlight Foundation..
About six months into Obama's current term in office, a group of Foreign Service officers did a fairly unusual thing: they sent a letter to President Obama raising a concern about him breaking an unwritten rule that no more than 30 percent of ambassadorial appointments should go to major fundraisers or those closely politically connected to the president. Obama then reportedly dialed down such appointments. Yet, plum appointments to Japan, the United Kingdom and France went to major donors.
Way back in November 2009, the Center for Responsive Politics reported that 24 of Obama's high-profile nominees were "bundlers" for him. Bundlers gather together campaign contributions from a number of major donors. Coming up to more recent times, in October 28, 2011, the New York Times' Eric Lichtblau reported that the Obama campaign was working with 15 bundlers who were linked to the lobbying industry. Collectively they had raised more than $5 million. Technically, they were not lobbyists because they were not registered as federal lobbyists with the U.S. Senate. Two of the people, at least, were lobbyists for major corporations: Sally Susuran with Pfiger and David L. Cohen with Comcast.
Given President Obama's track record, those to whom campaign finance reform is a major issue should not expect any action until at least 2017 if Obama wins a second term.
Gun Control
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's chief policy adviser reported that they're still waiting for President Obama to carry out his promise to Rep. Giffords (D-AZ) to do something on gun control. This promise, made shortly after Giffords was severely injured with a gunshot to the head, is extremely unlikely to be fulfilled before November 2012, because Obama doesn't want to incur the wrath of the National Rifle Association.
The other major firearms issue President Obama has faced is the very embarrassing program labeled "Fast and Furious," whereby guns were allowed to be purchased near the Mexican border, with the goal of tracking them to drug cartels. At least three White House officials knew about the operation but a senior official said there was nothing to prove that the White House knew of the "investigative" aspects.
There have been two happenings in the past year that illustrate how intense the desire is to get more guns into the hands of U.S. citizens. The GOP-controlled U.S. House passed a bill requiring states that issue permits allowing residents to carry concealed weapons to recognize the permits issued by every state. Thus, states with stringent training and age requirements would need to recognize permits issued by states with very lax requirements.
The second, more recent happening, was the action of the Virginia legislature in repealing the law limiting gun purchases to one a month. It is hard to imagine why people need an unlimited number of guns in their possession and why there there is no concern about community safety with so many guns around.
There is a fascinating counterpoint in tales of the Wild West, centering on gunfights, as opposed to the open availability of firearms today, even the right to carry concealed firearms. Adam Winklere, in this book, Gun Fight, noted that state and local governments routinely banned concealed weapons in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Even Dodge City and Tombstone required "new arrivals" to turn their guns over to authorities while in town.
Media and general public discussion focuses on a ban on assault rifles and denial of access to guns by unstable or mentally ill individuals. Such a limited perspective on gun control is a misnomer, as the handgun is the major instrument of crimes causing death and serious injury. Gun, or firearms control should be focused on a ban on the manufacture or importation of handguns and handgun parts.
Unless I become too lazy, I will do a major piece on firearms control in the future.
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