http://politicalamnesia.blogspot.com/2008/02/obamas-hope-fund-piggy-bank-for.htmlObama's HOPE FUND, Piggy Bank for SuperDelegates? Senator Barack Obama has said on numerous occasions that he doesn't take money from PAC's or Special Interest Groups. That is a bold statement considering the Chairman of the Nuclear Industry's Lobby John Rowe is one of Barack's largest supporters and who also is the Chairman of Exelon. Never mind all that- let's look at Senator Obama's Political Action Committee, uh, I mean HOPE Fund. During the 2006 election cycle HOPE Fund contributed over $337,000.00 to candidates or members of the House of Representatives running for re-election. HOPE Fund also contributed over $238,000.00 to Senate candidates or members who were running for re-election. So far during the 2008 campaign cycle, HOPE Fund has contributed a whopping $299,000.00 to candidates or sitting members of Congress. Compare those numbers to Senator Clinton's. During those same cycles HILL PAC contributed less than $110,000.00 to members or candidates running for House seats. And less than less than $180,000.00 to members or candidates for the US Senate. HILL PAC has not contributed to any members or candidates in the 2008 cycle, so far.
We all know money grants access, whether it comes from lobbyist, individuals, or the evil "special interests." The big question here is, will Senator Obama's HOPE Fund investments pay off in Super-delegates?
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/11/26/clinton_critiques_obama_pac.htmlClinton Critiques Obama PACSen. Hillary Clinton's campaign today accused rival Sen. Barack Obama of campaigning in a manner that "appears to be inconsistent with the prevailing election laws," a statement released in response to this morning's report in The Washington Post that described how Obama's senate leadership PAC doled money out to politicians in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
In January, Obama announced that he would stop raising money for the leadership committee, called Hopefund. But in recent months, Obama has handed out more than $180,000 from the PAC to local Democratic groups and candidates in the key early-voting states, campaign reports show. Some of the recipients of Hopefund's largesse were state and local politicians who have recently endorsed Obama's presidential bid. The fund also spent more than $440,000 on other expenses, including contributions to Democratic candidates in states that do not have early presidential contests.
The Clinton campaign put out this statement earlier today: "It is our understanding that a candidate's campaign is barred from using the candidate's leadership PAC to benefit his or her campaign which is why we shut down HillPAC when Senator Clinton announced her run for the White House. On the campaign trail, Senator Obama is outspoken about his desire to reform the campaign finance system so it was surprising to learn that he has been using his PAC in a manner that appears to be inconsistent with the prevailing election laws."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2007/11/oops-1.htmlTOP OF THE TICKET
POLITICS, COAST TO COAST, WITH THE L.A. TIMES
Turns out, some Obama PAC money came from PACsBefore he ostentatiously stopped taking money from political action committees to run for president, Sen. Barack Obama quietly took money from political action committees.
As a presidential candidate, Obama claims to be an outsider eager to shake up the Washington establishment by refusing to accept donations from political action committees and Washington lobbyists. This year, they're the bad guys.
But this wasn’t always the case.
Back in 2005 and 2006, Obama raised $123,283 from other political action committees and put them into a political action committee of his own. He called it Hopefund....
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barack_Obama's_contributions_to_campaign_endorsersBarack Obama's contributions to campaign endorsersThis article is part of the
SourceWatch and Congresspedia coverage
of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and
the 2008 presidential election
Barack Obama "has been the most aggressive of presidential candidates in using his leadership PAC—money
used for national party-building, including helping other members of Congress, or local candidates in the home state—to help the campaigns of state and local candidates and not coincidentally, the funds spent that way have gone to Democrats in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire<1> and South Carolina. More than one-third of his leadership PAC money is being used this way," Alex Knott reported November 16, 2007.
"Some of the recipients of Hopefund's largess are state and local politicians who have recently endorsed Obama's presidential bid," Solomon reported.<7> "Obama's PAC reported giving a $1,000 contribution, for instance, to New Hampshire state Sen. Jacalyn Cilley on July 25,<8><9> six days before she announced she was endorsing Obama for president.
"Likewise, state Rep. J. Todd Rutherford, a lawmaker from South Carolina, received a $1,000 contribution from Obama's PAC on Sept. 24, a few months after he endorsed Obama," Solomon wrote.
"The bulk of donations from Obama's PAC to state and local candidates this year went to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. In addition, there were more than $60,000 in donations to national candidates in those same states,<9> including $9,000<10><11> for Rep. Paul W. Hodes, the first member of Congress from New Hampshire to endorse Obama earlier this year....