Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said Monday evening he would release new details on the levels of campaign contributions raised by "bundlers" for his presidential campaign, "something that no other candidate has done," according to campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
Burton said the campaign "is putting together the information now" and "very shortly" intends to publish a list of bundlers and the levels of money they've raised for the campaign.
Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and other candidates have publicized the names of their "bundlers," supporters who volunteer to raise tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for their campaigns, campaign finance watchdogs said. Obama had previously disclosed that his bundlers have raised at least $50,000, while Clinton had identified that her bundlers -- known as Hillraisers - have raised at least $100,000.
Obama's announcement is "refreshing," said Craig Holman, an expert on money in elections for the nonprofit group Public Citizen.
Massie Ritsch of the political money group Center for Responsive Politics called the move "new, unique and significant."
"This is one area in the campaign finance process where there is almost complete darkness," Ritsch said. "We wish all candidates were willing to shine light on who their biggest fundraisers are and how much they've raised for them."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/11/obama-campaign-.htmlObama continues to be the most transparent candidate. He has disclosed his 2006 earmarks, Hillary hasn't. He hasn't taken subsidized corporate jets since Jan 2006, Hillary has. He released his income tax returns to the public, Hillary hasn't. He's pledged to take public financing in the general if his opponent agrees, Hillary hasn't. He has championed ethics reform in the Illinois State Senate and the U.S. senate... The list goes on:
http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/2007/11/05/barack-obama-vs-hillary-clinton-records-on-transparency-lobbyists-and-ethics/**Update: More Obama Ethics History Info**
"Obama has made ethics reform a central part of his political career. Two years into his first term in the U.S. Senate, he has had limited opportunities to leave a mark at the federal level, especially as a member of the minority party. But he has worked with Republicans on new good-government laws. He co-sponsored one, signed in September, that will create a federal spending database so Web users can track all grants, loans and awards greater than $25,000. He also pushed to limit the Federal Emergency Management Agency's authority to award open-ended, no-bid contracts in the wake of major disasters — a reaction to post-Katrina abuses. More to the point, last year Senate Democrats tapped Obama as the chief negotiator for their caucus in talks over post-Abramoff ethics reforms, though those negotiations faltered. Ethics reform was one of Obama's signature issues in Springfield, as well. Beyond the Gift Ban Act, he helped push Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich's 2003 ethics reforms. The gift ban law, the first broad ethics reform in Illinois since the Watergate era, prohibited politicians from using campaign funds for personal use, barred fundraising on state property, established ethics commissions, curtailed fundraisers in Springfield during legislative sessions and mandated online reporting of campaign finances. The 2003 ethics package created independent inspectors general with subpoena powers to look into abuses by legislators, statewide officeholders and their employees. It further clamped down on the types of gifts lawmakers can receive and prohibited lobbyists and their spouses from sitting on state boards and commissions. Obama also touted publicly financed judicial campaigns, an idea that was approved by the Illinois Senate but languished in the House."
http://illinoisissues.uis.edu/features/2007feb/obama.htmlCurrent Ethics Reform Plan:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/corruption/
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