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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is raising money for his re-election campaign from a small group of wealthy donors who each paid $35,800 to meet with him at a hotel near the White House. Friday's fundraiser at the upscale Jefferson Hotel was closed to media coverage. Obama's campaign said about 20 people attended.

President Obama will attend a star-studded fundraising gala in New York City on Mar. 1, the Washington Free Beacon has learned. The Obama Victory Fund 2012 will host the event at ABC Carpet & Home in Manhattan’s upscale Flatiron District, according to the official online invitation. Special guests are expected to include hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, New Age self-help guru Deepak Chopra, and culinary bigwig Jean-Georges Vongerichten, among others. Prospective partygoers can choose from three levels of tickets, “Event Chair” ($35,800), “Event Host” ($10,000), or for those with shallower pockets, “Gala Attendee” ($1,000 a piece). Their massive wealth notwithstanding, Simmons...

Top Obama fundraisers come from Hollywood, mediaBy Justin Sink - 01/31/12 02:48 PM ET The Obama campaign provided additional details about its $222 million fundraising haul Tuesday, revealing that many of the president's top fundraisers were leading figures in Hollywood and the media. Among those who have raised more than $500,000 throughout the president's reelection effort are Vogue editor Anna Wintour, producer Harvey Weinstein and DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. Actress Eva Longoria brought in more than $200,000 for the president, while disgraced MF Global Holdings CEO and former N.J. Gov. Jon Corzine brought in more than half a million for...

Pelosi tells Hollywood fundraisers Dems have 'a real chance' to take back HouseBy Justin Sink - 01/31/12 04:50 PM ET Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told a crowd of top Hollywood fundraisers that Democrats have "a real chance" to retake control of the House in 2012, according to a report in the Hollywood Reporter. Pelosi met with a group of more than 50 fundraisers and consultants Monday at the house of Haim Saban, the billionaire television producer who leads the ownership group of Spanish-language television network Univision. "They identified between 50 and 75 seats that are definitely vulnerable," one attendee told...

According to a new book, Michelle Obama is seeking to play a more active role on the policy side of her husband's White House. According to her recent schedule, she's certainly playing a more active role in the fundraising part of her husband's political life. Wednesday she was in Virginia and did two poilitical fundraisers, while her husband was in Chicago doing three political fundraisers. We pay so much attention to what comes off those teleprompters into the president's mouth, we thought we'd take a look at what his wife in saying at these financial collections. Scroll down for her...

It's all so weird. It's all so unseemly. Multi-millionaires begging for $3 and selling themselves off in raffles. The email Michelle Obama sent to me: This holiday has felt a bit like one last long, deep breath before we plunge into 2012. This time next year, I don't want us to have any regrets. I want to be able to say we rose to the task, and got it done. We've all got some work to do right now. Over the next 11 months we've got an organization to grow, voters to register, and people to get fired up. I...

President Barack Obama, who is a fervent basketball fan, will get his NBA fix next month but his campaign will have to postpone the Obama Classic fundraiser that was to feature more than two dozen professional basketball stars. The campaign on Thursday notified ticket holders the Dec. 12 event would now be held in the summer.

<p>Obama is visiting the 0.001%, the 0.0001%, and the 1% respectively, as he begins his evening at a private gathering in Manhattan with "25 to 30 people, each of whom paid $10,000" to giggle and make small talk with a man whose brain is processing the implications of a possible ground war with Pakistan.</p>

Today’s opening snark courtesy of Journolister Dave Weigel from his Slate perch: Big Government breaks the news that Bill Ayers hosted a fundraiser for Barack Obama; well, this was broken by Ben Smith in 2007, but still. I call it a “snark” because the word “lie” feels a little harsh during this holiday season. However, it’s just a fact that Big Government didn’t position the piece as “breaking news” and as far as I can tell it wasn’t even a featured story. But you have to admire a guy like Weigel who poses as an objective journalist and yet sees...

According to new emails released by House Republicans, George Kaiser, a billionaire investor and bundler for President Obama's 2008 campaign, discussed the now-bankrupt solar company Solyndra with White House officials. The emails show a series of exchanges between Kaiser (who has an apparent fondness for Comic Sans) and his associates, including Steve Mitchell, an employee at his VC firm Argonaut and Ken Levit, an employee at the George Kaiser Family Foundation, discussing a number of interactions with the White House, including a statement that Solyndra was among the "prime poster children" of the administration's stimulus plan and that Kaiser and...

Occupy Wall Street sweetheart and Massachusetts Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren spent Tuesday evening hobnobbing with Hollywood celebrities and fundraising for her campaign at the home of Emmy Award-winning television producer Norman Lear, The Daily Caller has confirmed. Dubbing Warren liberal Hollywood’s new “It girl,” The Hollywood Reporter’s Tina Daunt wrote last month that Lear and his wife Linda would be co-hosting an event for Warren, featuring such stars as Barbra Streisand, Rhea Perlman, Danny DeVito and Hans Zimmer. Attending the event required a donation of between $1,000 and $5,000, continuing Warren’s trend of raising money outside the state...

An investment firm whose vice chairman has been an adviser and fundraiser for President Obama saw one of its portfolio companies win approval this year for $50 million in loans from the administration’s clean-energy loan program. Washington-based Perseus says its affiliation with James A. Johnson, a major fundraiser for Obama’s campaign, played no role in persuading the Energy Department to award the loan to Vehicle Production Group, a Miami start-up that is manufacturing wheelchair-accessible cars and taxis. Johnson headed Obama’s vice presidential selection committee in 2008 and is the former chairman of housing mortgage giant Fannie Mae.

President Barack Obama told an audience in San Francisco Tuesday that the famous “hope” poster, popular during his 2008 campaign for president, is “kind of faded” and that it’s “not as trendy to be an Obama supporter” today as it was during his first run for the White House. “We’ve made a lot of change, but we’ve got a lot more work to do,” he told an audience during a campaign event at the W Hotel in San Francisco, California. “And I know that I’m now a little grayer. You know, and it’s not as trendy to be an Obama...

Byron Trott has a household name, provided that the household is worth a few billion dollars. Trott is a Chicago investment banker who has advised the likes of the Pritzkers and the Wrigleys. He earns their trust, friends and competitors said, because he is the soul of discretion, never leaking details of pending deals or hogging credit. Accordingly, he seldom gives interviews or takes leading roles in civic functions. Insiders said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel had to twist his arm to get him to join the board of World Business Chicago, the city’s economic development promoter. And yet Trott...

When first lady Michelle Obama comes home to Chicago next Tuesday, a group photo with her at a campaign fundraiser won’t come cheap. The asking price for a ticket to a "family photo reception" is $10,000, according to an invitation to the event. The invitation specifies that there may be a maximum of six guests in the photo.

Yesterday Obama attended four fundraisers, including one at the the home of Tom Carnahan, the founder of Wind Capital Group. Carnahan hosted approximately 45 people who contributed at least $25,000 to attend. Tom Carnahan is the son of former Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan and former U.S. Senator Jean Carnahan of Missouri. His brother Russ currently serves as a U.S. Congressman for the state of Missouri, and his sister Robin is the current Missouri Secretary of State, who ran against Republican Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri in 2010. Last year, Wind Capital's Lost Creek Farm facility received a $107 million "tax...

The actress, who is married to the Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, is said to have hosted a fund-raiser for the Democrats at her London home on Tuesday. The actress, 39, is one of London’s most prominent expat party supporters and has recently attended fund-raising events for the 2012 campaign ... (snip) The Independent reported that tickets for the dinner cost $7,500 (£4,870).

Alex reported on a fundraiser Rick Perry planned with a coal barron in Wheeling, West Virgina Thursday night, and apparently it was a successful event, raking in over $1 million for his campaign.

<p>Zebulon Vance was a veteran of the Confederate army who also served as governor during the Civil War. But most of the criticism centered on Charles Aycock, who served as governor from 1901 to 1905.</p> <p>Aycock is remembered as a strong proponent of public schools, which led to his being known as "the Education Governor." His name adorns schools and other public buildings across the state, and a statue depicting him stands on the grounds of the old state Capitol.</p>

Thousands of Tea Party Patriots greeted Obama at his last fundraiser in St. Louis. We Will Meet Him Again. Tom Carnahan, brother of Robin and Russ Carnahan, was awarded $107 million of stimulus dollars for his Missouri windfarm. To show his appreciation, Carnahan will host a $25,000-per-person fundraiser for Obama next week. We’ll be there. Jim Hoft (The Gateway Pundit) leads St. Louis Tea Party Coalition as it joins Americans for Prosperity, United for Missouri, and other organizations on Tuesday, October 4 to protest Stimulus Waste. Yes, the President will be here. Date: Tuesday, October 4 Time: 5 p.m. to...

Ted Leonsis owns a sports-entertainment conglomerate that includes three major-league sports teams, a major venue in Washington DC, as well as a number of Internet ventures. He’s vice-chairman emeritus of AOL’s board, which last year purchased Huffington Post. He’s also a big, big donor to the Democratic Party and its candidates, including Barack Obama, for whom Leonsis has already maxed out his contributions in this cycle and did the same in 2008. That was in June, however, before Obama decided to shift to the Left and start indulging in class-warfare, soak-the-rich rhetoric in order to bolster his sagging ratings and...

A heckler shouting about Jesus Christ interrupted President Barack Obama at a fundraiser before security dragged him out.

Buffett to headline blockbuster Obama Chicago fundraiser By: Steven R. Strahler September 21, 2011 (Crain's) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is coming to Chicago to help raise money for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign at a $35,800-per-ticket fundraiser next month at the North Shore home of investment banker Byron Trott, according to a draft invitation. The Oct. 27 event will be co-hosted by James Crown, Penny Pritzker, John Rogers Jr. and other major local donors who fueled Mr. Obama's first presidential campaign and are lining up to back him again. Mr. Obama is not expected to attend, according to Mr....

That was no ordinary bling on the wrist of First Lady Michelle Obama at the DNC fundraiser in New York Tuesday night. Those fancy diamond cuffs were the creation of 23-year-old Katie Decker, whose namesake jewelry line has been making a serious splash since her graduation from Texas A&M two years ago. The native Houstonian is over the moon with the fab pub that photos of the first lady in Katie Decker are already providing. Michelle Obama's stylist picked up the bracelets at Katie's showroom in Fragments in Soho. You can see more photos of the Obamas from the evening...

The White House faced mounting political complications as a second top fundraiser for President Obama was linked to a federal loan guarantee program that backed a now-bankrupt Silicon Valley solar energy company, and as two California lawmakers called for investigations of a state tax break granted to the firm. Steve Spinner, who helped monitor the Energy Department's issuance of $25 billion in government loan guarantees to renewable energy projects, was one of Obama's top fundraisers in 2008 and is raising money for the president's 2012 reelection campaign. Spinner .. was recused from the decision to grant a $535-million loan guarantee...

President Barack Obama's reelection campaign just sent out this creepy email, with the subject line "Sometime soon, can we meet for dinner," asking supporters to donate to his campaign for a chance to have dinner with Obama. "Maybe I'll get to thank you in person," it says. Obama's team has run a similar fundraising gimmick before — and the email says he plans on continuing it throughout the campaign. We just hope future emails aren't so unsettling.

(NBC Bay Area) — The Obamas seems to be making a habit of visiting the Bay Area. First Lady Michelle Obama visited earlier in the summer to raise money for her husband’s re-election campaign and the Democratic party. Now her husband is set to do the same thing. President Barack Obama will visit the monetary heart of Silicon Valley in two weeks for two private receptions at the homes of wealthy supporters. Mr. Obama will be the guest of honor at a reception at a private peninsula home on Sunday afternoon Sept. 25 followed by evening dinner in Atherton. The...

Timing is everything, and three Republican congressional candidates for Iowa's 2nd District agree it's past time for the current occupant of the seat to go. Republicans in southeast Iowa are hoping to build on the party's historic gains in 2010 and turn the southeast quadrant of Iowa red in 2012. Announced Republican congressional candidates Richard Gates of Keokuk; John Archer of Bettendorf; and Dan Dolan of Blue Grass, made their debut in Des Moines County Saturday night, speaking at the annual Des Moines County Republican steak fry fundraiser. "We've got to stop this type of politics where our elected officials...

While Bob Dylan wrote, “No one can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell,� it can be said, “No president can prolong the blues like Barack Obama.� He must be a glutton for punishment – why else would his campaign pick the House of Blues to raise money? On September 26, Obama will make two stops in Los Angeles, first at the House of Blues, and later at a tony restaurant where donors will plop down a cool $35,800 to attend, Bloomberg reports.  Don’t you have $35,800 just lying around?  If so, the president would like to meet you.

Warren Buffett will host a fundraiser for President Obama next month in New York City, the Berkshire Hathaway CEO told CNNMoney on Thursday. With the 2012 election season just around the corner, the campaign to put Obama back in the White House for a second term is well underway -- and it's not unusual for the campaign to boost the president's drawing power by allowing him to share the stage with a well known benefactor. Billed as an "Economic Forum Dinner with Warren Buffett," the fundraiser will be held at the Four Seasons restaurant in New York and moderated by...

The presidential motorcade on Martha's Vineyard peeled out of Blue Heron Farms at 5:15 p.m. with the president and Valerie Jarrett in tow. After 10 minutes, we made an abrupt left turn on John Cottle Road — an unpaved, deeply rutted eight-foot-wide private path hemmed in by ivy, scrub oak and big, scary boulders. After bottoming out four times — we're talking two-foot holes in a sand-and-gravel road, along with one hairpin turn — Obama and Jarrett arrived at the West Tisbury home of their friends Brian and Aileen Roberts, spokesman Josh Earnest informs us. It was 5:30 p.m. Roberts...

Some Democratic members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, tasked with identifying $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, have become the subject of criticism, but their appointments were only finalized Thursday. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, and Reps. James Clyburn of South Carolina and Xavier Becerra of California are already being targeted for circumstances that could compromise their abilities to negotiate. Becerra, for example, wasted no time before using his appointment as a fundraising tool for his own campaign.

Rep. Xavier Becerra — or, to be more precise, lobbyists working on his behalf — wasted no time Thursday capitalizing on the California congressman’s appointment to the congressional super committee. A little over two hours after Becerra was named to the powerful panel, Investment Company Institute’s Jim Hart sent out an email encouraging attendance for the trade group’s upcoming $1,500 per person fundraiser based on Becerra’s new found status as one of the elite 12. “We will host an event for Congressman Xavier Becerra, not only Vice Chairman of the Democratic Caucus but also who has just been named to...

President Barack Obama collected some big bucks Thursday night at a star-studded fund-raiser in the New York home of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Among the guests: actress Gwyneth Paltrow and her husband, Coldplay singer Chris Martin; comedian Jimmy Fallon, designer Vera Wang, singer Alicia Keys, and Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who co-hosted the event. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was also there as the guests packed around five tables in a basement room. Hundreds of people awaited the president's arrival on the streets of the West Village near the Weinstein residence, a multi-story brick row house. Weinstein said he had...

Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama turns his attention to campaign politics Monday night, as he headlines two events for the Democratic National Committee and his re-election campaign. According to the White House schedule, the president first attends a gathering of approximately 140 guests at a private residence in the nation's capital. A DNC official says proceeds from the $15,000 per family gathering ...

"It's been a long, tough journey. But we have made some incredible strides together. Yes, we have. But the thing that we all ought to remember is that as much as good as we have done, precisely because the challenges were so daunting, precisely because we we were inheriting so many challenges, that we're not even halfway there yet. When I said 'change we can believe in' I didn't say 'change we could believe in tomorrow.' Not change we can believe in next week. We knew this was going to take time because we've got this big, messy, tough democracy,"...

Campaigning like it was 2008, Barack Obama’s political team raced to collect every possible dollar before Thursday’s midnight deadline in hopes of turning the first meaningful fundraising report of 2012 into a show of force. There was campaign manager Jim Messina urging the faithful to help the president hit a record-breaking $60 million in combined Obama-DNC contributions. “If you’re planning on donating to this campaign at any point in the next 16 months…do it now,” he wrote about 12 hours before the critical second-quarter filing deadline.

PHILADELPHIA — President Obama raised more than $1.2 million at two campaign fundraisers here Thursday night, the last events of his money-raising blitz in this early stage of the 2012 campaign. Campaign officials said about 800 people, each giving at least $100, attended the first event, at a Hyatt hotel. Later in the evening, Comcast’s executive vice president, David L. Cohen, hosted about 120 people in his home for a dinner, each of the attendees giving at least $10,000 for Obama’s reelection campaign. Among the attendees were Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D). Dinner was arranged...

Barry. Please!

President Obama’s re-election campaign swept through Florida on Monday. Obama spoke at three fundraisers, including one that was open to the public. The largest fundraiser had a disappointing turnout. Politico reported that only 980 tickets were sold for the event at the 2,200 seat Adrienne Arsht Center. The upper level of the center was completely empty, the second and third levels only partially full, according to Politico.Tickets were sold at a relatively low $44. “I know the conversation you guys are having. ‘I’m not feeling as hopeful as I was.’ And I understand that,” Obama told attendees. “There have been...

MIAMI, Fla. -- A low-dollar fundraiser here Monday felt like a throwback to the 2008 campaign. There was the same old soundtrack – including “City of Blinding Lights” by U2, the president’s 2008 anthem -- the enthusiastic organizers and the abundant appeals for supporters to rally behind President Obama. The one missing element? Overflowing crowds. Granted, it was a fundraiser, not a free rally. But the empty seats were hard to miss. The top level of the 2,200-seat concert hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts was entirely empty, as were the seats along the side of the...

It’s a common and questionable practice pursued by recent presidents, Republican and Democratic: Fly somewhere to raise money, throw in an official event, and have the taxpayers pick up the dime for some of the travel since a portion of the work is government business. Now, it appears, the first lady is and will be and active participant in this seedy practice, at an extra cost to taxpayers. Mrs. Obama will be in California today and tomorrow, visiting Los Angeles, Pasadena, Oakland and San Francisco. She will hold two official “first lady” events and be the star attraction at FOUR...

(LAS VEGAS) – Likely GOP candidate Mitt Romney raised $10.25 million on Monday at a daylong fundraiser in Las Vegas. Romney’s finance chair, Spencer Zwick, said the former governor raised nearly twice as much money as he did in the 2008 presidential campaign, with twice as many backers at the one day event. With the help of Rep. Jason Chaffetz and other Utahns, Romney’s message of job growth and economic boost is clear. Romney said Obama’s economic plans have not worked and says Obama does not like free enterprise and capitalism. He says he wants to put America back on...

The White House Press Office has refused to give the Boston Herald full access to President Obama’s Boston fund-raiser today, in e-mails objecting to the newspaper’s front page placement of a Mitt Romney op-ed, saying pool reporters are chosen based on whether they cover the news “fairly.” “I tend to consider the degree to which papers have demonstrated to covering the White House regularly and fairly in determining local pool reporters,” White House spokesman Matt Lehrich wrote in response to a Herald request for full access to the presidential visit.

The civil rights hero who introduced President Barack Obama at a political fund-raiser in Washington Monday night, Ernie Green, pleaded guilty in 2001 to a federal misdemeanor tax violation after becoming enmeshed in an investigation into illegal foreign money given to Democrats in the 1996 election. Green gained prominence as one of the Little Rock nine--nine black students who desgregated that city's Central High School in 1957. He later served as an assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Jimmy Carter and won a Congressional Gold Medal from President Bill Clinton, who was a longtime friend of Green....

Obama Schmoozes With Planned Parenthood President at Fundraiser After his speech in El Paso, Texas, President Barack Obama made his way to Austin for a campaign rally where he asked hundreds of supporters to help him with his re-election bid. In a more private affair, he curried favor with the head of Planned Parenthood. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/05/11/obama-dines-with-planned-parenthood-president-at-fundraiser/

Reporting from Austin, Tex.— Osama bin Laden, mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, is now an applause line in a presidential campaign speech. Bin Laden’s name came up a couple of times in Obama’s address Tuesday evening at a fund-raising event in Austin, Texas. Early in Obama's appearance, someone shouted out, “Thank you for getting Bin Laden!’’ Obama said that was a “case in point’’ – a reason for voters to let him “finish what we started.’’ Later, Obama ticked off what he described as his administration’s accomplishments: lifting the ban on gays in the military; bringing troops home from Iraq....

Senators ask him to review wildfire devastation. Obama will be in Austin on Tuesday evening. He first visits El Paso to give a speech on immigration. He will head to Austin to attend a fundraiser for his 2012 presidential campaign. The private event will be at the ACL LIVE! at the Moody Theater , housed in the W Hotel at 310 W. Willie Nelson Blvd. While seeking money from people in Texas, last week the Obama Administration denied a request to declare a disaster in Texas because of the wildfires, which would make the state eligible for federal funds. Friday,...

Ex. Pro WWE Wrestler Rocky Jones with be doing a one man fitness challenge of 1,000 free hand squats to raise money and awareness to out Fallen Heroes. On Memorial Day in Times Square, Military Island @ 9am Rocky will attempt to do this challenge. "We ask that everyone pleae support our heroes" 100% of the proceeds goes right to the fund. Every dollar counts!!

...The president's visit threatens to disrupt Holy Thursday activities at St. Augustine Catholic Church, which is across the street from Sony Pictures in Culver City. Trish Gusman, the parish business manager, said she has heard — but has been unable to confirm — that police will be closing off streets in a wide area around the church. That would make it difficult for parishioners to reach St. Augustine's on one of the holiest days of the year, commemorating Jesus' Last Supper. "We haven't been able to get information from the Police Department or City Hall to find out what times...