Obama Rakes in More Than $3 Million For DNC in Star-Studded LA Affair
EmailABC News’ Sunlen Miller reports: President Obama attended two star-studded fundraisers in Los Angeles for the Democratic National Committee Wednesday night, raising an estimated whopping $3-4 million. Celebrities were plentiful in the crowd at the Beverly Hilton — Marissa Tomei, Kiefer Sutherland, Jamie Foxx, Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith, Holly Robinson Peete, Tyler Perry, Nicky Hilton, Seth Rogin, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., among many others. A concert was headlined by Chicago’s own Jennifer Hudson and Earth Wind and Fire. The president ticked through what he believes his administration has done in the four months that he has been in office, and gave a progress report of sorts, prompting a bold declaration about what he believes his administration’s progress has been. “I would put these four months against the four months of any prior administration since FDR,” a confident president said, referencing legislation his administration has signed. The president said that he’s confident in the future but much more work remains to be done. “We’ve had some fits and starts. I’ve made some mistakes and I guarantee I will make some more.” The president was also upbeat in his prognosis of the state of the economy. “When you look at the economy right now I think it’s safe to say that we have stepped back from the brink , that there is some calm that didn’t exist before.” The president also expressed confidence in his Supreme Court nominee, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, for the first time, taking on the criticisms directly about his criteria to choose someone with empathy. "A lot has been made about the Supreme Court and my criteria, that I want people who have a common touch, who have a sense of what it’s like to struggle. I think most Americans want someone at the bench when they’re making decisions that haven’t just spent their life in a cloistered ivy tower but understand what its like to break barriers.” As Mr. Obama’s motorcade rolled into the hotel for the pair of fundraisers, there was a group of protestors, among them some protesting Proposition 8. While the president did not mention what they were protesting, he addressed the idea of the protests in general. “There were some protestors out here, I could hear them vaguely — I don’t know what they were protesting. I think there was a group of them. But one of them started to chant, ‘Obama keep your promise’. And I thought that’s fair." And giving the ultimate shout-out to the entertainment industry which filled the event, the president encouraged the industry to maintain the role its medium plays in helping people define the world around them. “Keep telling us the important stories. The stories that make us want to leave the theater, and turn off the TV and to go save the world. That keep telling us the stories that don’t always find their way into the headlines, or on the cable news shows or the 30 second clips. Movies like An Inconvenient Truth, or MILK. Keep telling us stories that help us to remember, movies like Schindler’s List and the Saving Private Ryans.” The concert portion of the fundraising night had ticket prices ranging from $1,000 and $2,500. The dinner fundraiser sold tickets for $30,400 for a couple. This marked the third fundraiser the president has had in two days during his swing out west. — Sunlen Miller
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I apologize for going off topic here, but Jake, you should know if you happen to cover Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) at the White House today, that he’s picking up a Big Fat Check. Congress appropriated almost a BILLION DOLLARS to the Palestinians last week. Nearly a third of it was specifically designated to go to Jew-free Gaza
Gaza = HAMAS. I thought it was illegal to fund terrorists.
This was part of the same supplemental appropriations bill in which Congress denied the money Obama wanted for closing Gitmo – passed in the House May 14 and the Senate May 21.
Posted by: Anne Lieberman | May 28, 2009, 7:39 am 7:39 am
Obama cannot concern himself with pesky problems like North Korea. Mr. Party had a gig to attend!
Canadafreepress has an interesting article titled: Judge Sotomayor and Five Million Criminal Votes for Obama
Posted by: Michelle | May 28, 2009, 7:48 am 7:48 am
You mean people who spend their working lives living in a world of pretend and the other half in their homes abroad.. like this guy?
Posted by: david | May 28, 2009, 7:50 am 7:50 am
What a cad. Lumping Inconvenient Truth with Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List.
Posted by: Jason | May 28, 2009, 8:18 am 8:18 am
Oh my God!
A democratic president raising money for the democratic national committee.
What is this country coming to?
Posted by: watching | May 28, 2009, 8:30 am 8:30 am
So he took this trip to raise money for the DNC. We, as tax payers got to pay for 97% of this trip and the DNC paid 3%. Aren’t we ALL supposed to be tightening our belts??? Isn’t that what he told his cabinet and the American public? And where is the openness? How much did this cost the taxpayers? I don’t care if he takes these trips but if 60% of the time was to raise money for the DNC, then the DNC should pay for 60% of the trip. And the same thing goes for all the other politicain, Dem or Rep or Indep.
Posted by: whatashame | May 28, 2009, 8:38 am 8:38 am
Yael – Don’t apologize for going off topic, the topic was just more non-news, the usual fluff about the Fearless Leader. Funding terrorists by the U.S. Congress to the tune of a billion dollars is worth discussing. And who is Abbas? An irrelevent nobody who doesn’t even represent his own Fatah terrorists, who just formed a new ”gov’t.” with Fayyad as frontman so they could collect aid money from assorted Western suckers. Abbas doesn’t even control Ramallah where his HQ is.
This is a bad joke, a farce, a charade.
More money down the toilet, an agreement with Abbas is worth as much as used toilet paper.
Posted by: Terry | May 28, 2009, 8:39 am 8:39 am
Okay, I hated this when Clinton did it, and I hated this when Bush did it, and I still hate it that Obama is doing it. Stop with the perpetual campaigning and fund raising! I know presidents can multitask, but one of the plates they juggle does not need to be fundraising, especially in the first year of their presidency. (Yes, I know Obama is fundraising for other democrats, not for his own future reelection campaign.)
This trip out west is not presidential business with a few fundraisers mixed in– it is a trip driven by three fundraisers, for which the WH came up with some public events while the president was in the neighborhood in order to justify sending him out there on Air Force One. Bush and Clinton did the same thing all the time and it was equally unnecessary and annoying then as well.
Politics as usual. I am not surprised, but I am disappointed. Didn’t this guy say he was going to change the culture of Washington? Didn’t he say he was going to be a different kind of leader? Oh, yeah, they all come in making those promises. I’m still waiting to see someone mean it.
Posted by: moderate | May 28, 2009, 8:39 am 8:39 am
When anyone says: It’s about the principles..
That means: It’s about the money..
Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | May 28, 2009, 8:48 am 8:48 am
Let’s see….the President has managed to ‘buy up’ GM,AIG and a host of other banking and insurance interests, all in less than 100 days!
By the end of his term, the US govt may own more of their own private companies than Venezuela has managed to do in several Chavez terms.
When oil goes to $100 a barrel, can we expect the President to nationalize Exxon-Mobil and Chevron?
Posted by: J House | May 28, 2009, 9:13 am 9:13 am
Doesn’t the film industry enjoy some rather lavish tax breaks? I think if hollywood is going to engage in politics, an industry that communicates to the people of America, they should be taxed like everyone else.
Posted by: KR | May 28, 2009, 9:20 am 9:20 am
WATCHING YOU ARE A FOOL WHEN YOU USE TAX PAYERS MONEY YEAH IT DOESNT MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY OH THATS RIGHT HES MR.CELEBRITY.I LOVE HOW HE PATS HIMSELF ON THE BACK AS HE PUTS US IN DEBT IN THE TRILLIONS AND CLIMBING.ADDING ON TO DEBT DOES NOT TAKE YOU OUT OF DEBT THINK EVERYONE THINK.
Posted by: natale from mass. | May 28, 2009, 9:34 am 9:34 am
So the president wants us to tighten our belts while he uses tax payers money to promote a Democratic fundraiser??? No wonder people are telling me that the biggest hypocrite in this country is Obama. What a loser! Only the liberals can lap this up. People with intellectual maturity would him!
Posted by: Simon | May 28, 2009, 9:41 am 9:41 am
Simon – Again, where was the outrage of using Tax payers money when Bush was going to Texas almost twice a month on vacation? Only a Repub would lap that up as a good use of tax payers money!
Posted by: Try the truth | May 28, 2009, 9:46 am 9:46 am
So, this is what the POTUS means when he says ‘…the stars are aligned..’
Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | May 28, 2009, 9:49 am 9:49 am
TRYTHETRUTH: You may not realize it, but a lot of us were just as upset at other politicians (dems, reps and indep alike) for wasting tax payer money. Including Bush, Clinton, Bush Sr., etc. This is not the first time people have spoken up about this kind of use of public money. The point is, BO told us to tighten the belts. He does not give the impression he is doing any of that. He deserves to be chastised for this. And I like him. Also, stop using the lame excuse that if someone criticizes BO, they are right wing whiners. Wrong is wrong. He is wrong to do this.
Posted by: W | May 28, 2009, 9:51 am 9:51 am
.. the hollywood stars are a’lined up to hand over some payola cash …
Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | May 28, 2009, 9:51 am 9:51 am
Who paid to have Obama flown to CA? How much did this DNC fundraiser cost the US taxpayer? I don’t support or contribute to the DNC, how come my tax dollars are being diverted to this type of activity? This is theft and illegal use of government assets to force campaign contributions to the DNC.
YES WE CAN! HOPE AND CHANGE!
Total B.S.!
Posted by: sigh | May 28, 2009, 9:51 am 9:51 am
Does Barack realize that “C-in-C” does not stand for “Campaigner-in-Chief”?
Posted by: tjp612 | May 28, 2009, 10:04 am 10:04 am
trythetruth bush is not president anymore its getting old obama said he was change yeah right hes just like the rest of them left right doesnt matter they just dont get it.im a independent moderate i will never join either of these moron partys im waiting for a diffrent party to emerge god i hope soon
Posted by: natale from mass. | May 28, 2009, 10:09 am 10:09 am
In the meantime, flood victims in Florida with no where to live are waiting for him to sign off to release funds for assistance. Remember when President Bush had the audacity to have a piece of birthday cake during Katrina?
Posted by: jennifert7 | May 28, 2009, 10:25 am 10:25 am
“When you look at the economy right now I think it’s safe to say that we have stepped back from the brink , that there is some calm that didn’t exist before.”
Really?
- Federal tax revenue plunged $138 billion (34%) in April vs. a year ago (biggest drop since 1981)
- Unemployment appears headed to 10%
- U.S. AAA credit rating may be at risk
- Use of U.S. Dollar as reserve currency is drawing questions, particularly from one of our biggest lenders (China)
- GDP declined 6% in 1st quarter of this year; it is highly improbable that annual GDP will meet -1.2% annual GDP decline predicted by WH (GDP declines will be more severe than expected). This implies that projected deficits and national debt – as bad as they already are – will be revised to reflect LARGER projected deficits and national debt than previously predicted.
But, other than that, everything is great…. Of course the Hollywood elite are so detached from reality (as is Barry) that they have no problem believing what they hear.
Posted by: tjp612 | May 28, 2009, 10:26 am 10:26 am
tip…And don’t forget every rogue power is now “testing his mettle” to the point of Russia taking extra “security precautions” for fear of NK going nuclear and the SK/NK border on heighten military alert, first time in years, on and on and on..SO HOW IS HE DOING ON THE FOREIGN POLICY FRONT?? Gotta feel for Hillary..
Posted by: Parallax View | May 28, 2009, 10:41 am 10:41 am
>>>>Obama: A lot has been made about the Supreme Court and my criteria, that I want people who have a common touch, who have a sense of what it’s like to struggle.
Obama and cronies are basically repeating Sotomayor’s controversial comment about a Latina woman’s “rich” life experiences producing better legal opinions than white males.
Posted by: Josey | May 28, 2009, 12:26 pm 12:26 pm
Off topic, gays say no thanks to Ted Olsen help on gay marriage.
I want to take a moment to say I TOLD YOU SO!
Dems don’t care about gay marriage, they only care about using the issue politically. They cannot afford for the truth about this issue, that it crosses both parties equally, for and against.
They need to cling to the mantle that republicans are homophobes, and Ted Olsen could burst that bubble.
Therefore they will give up the issue before they allow themselves to be compromised politically.
Just like every other issue dems claim, they don’t care about fixing it, they just want to use it.
Have dems ever fixed anything ever???
They just cling to issues as scare tactics against republicans!
Posted by: MNM | May 28, 2009, 2:02 pm 2:02 pm
Obama offers no help to California to protect it from Arnold’s Shock Doctrine. Obama is callous. He also ignores gay rights.
I am NOT voting for him again, and I regret voting for him at all.
Posted by: Arnoldresignnow | May 28, 2009, 2:16 pm 2:16 pm
Gays are just a punchline to a joke in Obama’s world. Gays and Special Olympians make Obama laugh and laugh and laugh! I’m gay and I’m not laughing.
Obama won’t be laughing in 2010 and I think he may just be in tears come 2012.
Posted by: paul | May 28, 2009, 3:39 pm 3:39 pm
“In the meantime, flood victims in Florida with no where to live are waiting for him to sign off to release funds for assistance.”
May 27th: President Barack Obama has declared Volusia County a major disaster area, freeing up millions of federal dollars to aid victims of the flood ravaged site.
The president’s announcement Wednesday will assist victims with grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses. It will also include help for business owners recovering from the effects of the disaster.
The lesson as always? Right wingers lie.
Posted by: Ryan C | May 28, 2009, 4:51 pm 4:51 pm
I wonder what percentage of the actual money total is the $3 million.. he wouldn’t go 3,000 miles for that amount.
Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | May 28, 2009, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm
Re: “With the racist right wingers doing everything they can to drive Hispanics away from the Republican party”
Why do you think the only other choice is the Republican Party? People can vote third party, or they can stay home! Obama seems to have this attitude that he can take our votes for granted.
Posted by: Arnoldresignnow | May 28, 2009, 5:22 pm 5:22 pm
The narcissistic majority voting in narcissistic leaders who leverage our narcissism for their own narcissistic aspirations……Can a country truly stand in the face of such ego perversion….sigh.
Posted by: Osteoblast | May 28, 2009, 5:33 pm 5:33 pm
Obama was also fundraising for Harry Reid this week in Las Vegas. Just wanted to share a quote from Reid’s speech at that event -
“This man is extremely smart – he can communicate,” Reid said. “But the best part of Barack Obama is his heart is bigger than any heart in the world.”
Kind of scary.
Posted by: cappamore | May 28, 2009, 6:37 pm 6:37 pm
King Midas
still
Posted by: Omentum | May 28, 2009, 10:48 pm 10:48 pm
I gave you my dollar, so where’s my change?
Posted by: Martin P. | May 29, 2009, 12:47 am 12:47 am
He’s also said the “bailout” spending has already created some 150,000 jobs (cf. Newsy, Reuters, Fox, etc.). But my question is how exactly you track that. You can look at unemployment trends, but how do you know any one act is responsible for it?
Posted by: Daniel | June 10, 2009, 11:06 am 11:06 am
Granny sex.
Granny sex.
Posted by: Granny sex. | February 6, 2010, 2:13 pm 2:13 pm
Animal sex.
Animal sex.
Posted by: Animal sex. | February 7, 2010, 6:47 am 6:47 am