The FEC Can't Handle Obama's Not-So-Transparent Fundraising

Gather.com ^ | 5-26-08 | Rob Port

[Nailbiter]

i think that was lay on his wife, but no takers

[fso301]

bump

[khnyny]

That’s right. So - for all intents and purposes - there is no FEC during this election cycle.

[rawhide]

Any contributor giving less than $200 doesn’t have to report a name or anything to the campaign for reporting to the FEC. These contributors are, essentially, anonymous.

Boy, does this open the door wide for abuse!

[rdb3]

i think that was lay on his wife, but no takers

You got that right.

[Mariebl]

a)an office that hasn’t been won by a Senator since JFK

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean a thing in a year when we know, as much as we can know anything, that the office WILL be won by a Senator.

b) hasn’t been one by a Democrat who campaigned as a liberal since LBJ

And, he's certainly a liberal, but I wouldn't say he's campaigning as one. Hope. Change. Change. Hope.

[cpa4you]

As a former auditor for the FEC, I can assure you that these stories are vastly misleading.

You're right. Any contributions from individuals through ActBlue, Moveon.org, etc. are remitted along with a detailed list of the contributors, regardless of the amount.

Furthermore, while the law doesn't require disclosure for contributions under $200, if they aggregate more than $200 they are fully reportable, from dollar one.