Free Republic

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...

Be it movies or politics, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger likes to do things in a big way. And we do mean Big. Unlike past governors, who often made do with little more than a podium and a cranky P.A. system, when Arnold does an "event" -- be it filling a pothole, staging a town hall meeting or just saying a few words about Nobel laureates at UC Berkeley -- it's usually a four-star production. A costly one. In the first six months of the year, campaign records show that Schwarzenegger and company spent $622,000 to stage his various events. Individual billings...