Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

.. yep, there are more important things than divorces, yet
they came in handy for Obama twice .. also see Soros ..

Because Obama was running against Blair Hull in the primary and then Jack Ryan in the general (both multi-millionaires), Obama could, and did, receive especially large donations from individuals, to so-called "millionaires exception." Normally individuals are limited to giving $2300 to candidates in federal elections, but when candidates are running against millionaires, these limits are lifted and candidates are allowed to receive up to $12,000 from a single individual. Soros and his family gave Barack Obama $60,000. This does not include money that Soros was able to funnel to so-called 527 groups (Moveon.org, for example) that have also been politically active; nor does it include money that Soros was able to raise from tapping a network of friends, business associates, and employees.

After taking advantage of the special freedom to raise large amounts of money from influential individuals, and as the campaigns entered their closing rounds, news was leaked to media outlets that both Hull and Ryan had personal scandals associated with them. The release of this news devastated both of their campaigns, leading to an easy run to victory for Obama in the primary and then in the general election. The New York Times Magazine revealed earlier in the year that David Axelrod, Obama's chief political and media adviser, may well have been behind the leak of the story that doomed the Hull candidacy as the primary reached its home stretch.

Axelrod is known for operating in this gray area, part idealist, part hired muscle.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/04/soros_obama_and_the_millionair.html

Fort Worth real estate group plans to tackle politics
By AMAN BATHEJA
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Two recently formed Texas groups are hoping to have an impact in the November elections -- one on local elections, another on the presidential race.

Since March, more than 200 new groups have registered with the Internal Revenue Service for so-called 527 status. The designation gives them the ability to raise unlimited cash from private donors and spend it on influencing elections around the country, according to the IRS.

Locally, the Greater Fort Worth Real Estate Council recently created a 527 group made of high-profile commercial real estate interests.

Directors of the group include former Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr; Trinity River Vision Authority Executive Director J.D. Granger; Mike Berry, president of Hillwood Properties and developer of Alliance Airport; and Phillip Poole, an urban planner who is involved with several projects in and around the Fort Worth Cultural District.

"We thought, 'Well, if we are serving as a voice for the commercial real estate development community, it might be worthwhile to form a PAC so that we can support upcoming local elections,'" said Susan Halsey, a lawyer at Jackson Walker law firm in Fort Worth, a real estate broker and chairwoman of the new 527 group.

The council formed about three years ago to serve as a voice for the commercial real estate interests, including developers, brokers, lenders and title companies, Halsey said.

It has taken public positions on issues before the Fort Worth City Council such as street impact fees on new businesses.

Funding for the council's 527 group will come from its members, currently made up of about 225 local companies, Halsey said. The group will focus on local races for now but may expand.

Save Our Republic

In the heated race for the White House, a group called Save Our Republic wants to influence who makes it across the finish line. The group registered as a 527 with the IRS in March. Based in Seabrook in Harris County, its goal is to sway the presidential election "so that the national security of our Republic, the United States of America, is saved, preserved, and improved," according to the group's filing.

Eric Malroy, a NASA engineer in Seabrook, is listed as Save Our Republic's president and director. He gave $500 to Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign in February, according to the Federal Election Commission.

The group lists Ohio-based conservative radio host Paul Schiffer as its vice president. Schiffer, who unsuccessfully ran for an Ohio congressional seat in this year's Republican primary, has reportedly said he worked as a literary agent for members of Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, a 527 group that criticized Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race. Two members of the group published a book about Kerry called Unfit For Command.

A telephone call to Malroy and e-mails to Schiffer were not returned Thursday.

Big contributors

Named for the tax-code provision governing their activities, 527 groups have elicited controversy for several years for the way they allow donors to influence elections without being subject to regulation by the Federal Election Commission.

So far this election cycle, the top contributor to 527 groups is New York-based billionaire investor George Soros, who has given more than $3 million to the liberal-leaning Fund for America, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The top Texan is Dallas oilman and philanthropist Lee Fikes, who has given at least $600,000 to the same group.
AMAN BATHEJA, 817-390-7695
[e-mail]
http://www.star-telegram.com/elections/story/632808.html

George Soros Backs Obama (But Hedges His Bets)
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/george-soros-backs-obama-but-hedges-his-bets/

.. on your petrol prices .. MAYBE ..

The price of crude oil today is not made according to any traditional relation of supply to demand. It's controlled by an elaborate financial market system as well as by the four major Anglo-American oil companies. As much as 60% of today's crude oil price is pure speculation driven by large trader banks and hedge funds. It has nothing to do with the convenient myths of Peak Oil. It has to do with control of oil and its price. How?
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=29114196&txt2find=pure