The Wealthy Liberal Elite

Most liberal politicians (at the national level) are very wealthy, yet they portray themselves as the champions of the little guy.  Even the politicians who are multi-millionaires talk about rich people in the third person. Mr. and Mrs. Barack H. Obama have the wildly inappropriate habit of enjoying expensive vacations — at Martha's Vineyard in the summer and Hawaii in the winter — as well as junkets to other parts of the world, aboard Air Force One.  The Democrats are constantly wailing about the gap between the "haves" and "have-nots", and they want you to believe they fight for the poor and downtrodden.  In a recent speech, President Obama said he believes the greatest threat facing our country today is income inequality.*  If he truly believes that, why does he flaunt his wealth and soak the taxpayers for his semi-annual vacations? Related topics: Barack Obama, the gas-guzzling limousine liberal Michelle Obama's apocryphal lingerie shopping binge Project Obama: A Puppetmaster or a Puppet?  [Scroll down]  His limp-wristed demeanor, more typical of a world-weary courtier than a king, bespeaks indolence rather than energy.  What we know about his schedule is certainly no evidence of a workaholic.  Endless hours spent on the links, a net of three months over the last three years, so that his caddy has far more face time with the president than any member of his cabinet.  Frequent, prolonged vacations in posh spots.  Regular, come-hell-or-high-water parties at the White House, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous.  Sybaritic habits and expensive tastes in food (Wagyu beef, which sells for upwards of $150 per pound, is said to be a particular favorite) matching his spouse's exorbitant taste in clothes. First lady's office will not comment 'as of right now' on $2K SOTU dress.  While the president spoke about the economic frustrations of average Americans in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, his wife, Michelle Obama appeared at the event in a sapphire blue dress from designer Barbara Tfank's 2012 Resort collection, estimated to cost over $2k. Obama's Open Buffet.  While the nation drowns in debt and the economy continues to teeter, Obama devotes himself to the empty symbolism of the "Buffett rule."  He had the Omaha billionaire's secretary placed in a seat of honor near the First Lady.  Barack and Michelle are the quintessential champagne socialists, enjoying the trappings of power — the First Lady donned an ostentatious royal blue designer dress that probably cost more than several months of her prop's secretarial salary — while decrying the excesses of the rich. The land of Obama make-believe.  Where did President Obama go after killing off thousands of Keystone XL pipeline construction and manufacturing jobs?  Why, Disney World, of course.  Sabotaging work is hard work for Goofy and his pals.  And where'd he head after that?  Why, up to Manhattan for more high-priced campaign fundraisers charging up to $38,500 per partier. The Bank of (Democratic Party) America.  President Obama, man of the people, will deliver his presidential nomination acceptance speech at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. — so that Democratic Party fundraisers can reward big donors with skyboxes and other lavish perks.  As usual, the White House and its allies are trying to camouflage naked partisan money-grubbing in populist garb. Environmental activism + Kennedy surname = big bucks. Gov. Cuomo's ex wife Kerry Kennedy in $40 million anti-oil deal.  Governor Andrew Cuomo's (D-NY) ex-wife Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, stands to make up to $40 million while promoting a ridiculous $18 billion judgment from an Ecuadoran court against Chevron by indigenous peoples.  That case, where the US judge hearing Chevron's countersuit stated that much of the evidence presented in Ecuador was "fraudulent," has been a windfall for western environmental groups who gleefully pounced on the opportuntity to politicize a case that never should have gone to trial. Cuomo's ex Kennedy stands to make $40M in secret anti-oil deal.  What [Kerry] Kennedy has never mentioned during her campaign is that she is being paid handsomely for her seemingly selfless advocacy.  Kennedy, 52, was secretly hired as a "public-relations consultant" by the lawyer representing the Ecuadoreans in an $18 billion lawsuit against Chevron, according to court documents.  Cashing in on her respected family name and legacy, Kennedy raked in tens of thousands of dollars and was given a 0.25 percent stake — worth as much as $40 million — if the $18 billion judgment handed down by an Ecuadorean judge is ultimately upheld. Obama's DNC speech could move to BofA stadium.  President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is considering moving the final day of the Democratic National Convention to Bank of America Stadium to sell more skyboxes to wealthy donors, three Democrats involved in the fundraising told Bloomberg News. Obama raising money in DC for Democrats.  [Scroll down]  At the first event Obama was to join around 25 guests for a closed-press roundtable discussion with tickets $45,000 each and proceeds split between his campaign and the Swing State Victory Fund, which supports Democrats in battleground states. Middle Class Warriors Dine Out for $260.  I realize the Obamas are wealthy people, and that wealthy people have the right to drop $260 of their disposable income on chow.  But if you're going to invite Associated Press photographers along to capture your trip to Target and stage photo ops at PetSmart and Best Buy, then I'm going to write about your unpublicized excursion to Alan Wong's.  The press pool was not invited in to take photos this time.  In fact, others were discouraged from doing so too. Uproar over Michelle Obama's $2,000 Sundress.  We're back to Michelle Obama, and as much as I hate to say it yet again — it's all about the double standard.  Here we have a woman who preaches financial abstinence, but whose personal expenditures are promiscuous beyond belief.  Mrs. Obama is a harbinger of 'safe-spending' and then uncontrollably prostitutes herself on the altar of sartorial elegance and sumptuous living.  The latest controversy surrounds a $2,000 designer sundress the first lady wore to church on her $4 million Hawaiian vacation. Same Politico Obsessed with Palin's Wardrobe Ignores First Lady's Pricey Duds.  Personally, I don't care what Michelle Antoinette wears on her taxpayer-funded lavish Hawaiian vacations with her husband President FailureTeleprompterDuffer.  Thanks to an autobiography that was probably ghost-written by domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, Obama's a millionaire and more power to him.  If the First Lady wants to lord over the peasantry her fashionable dresses and skirts and purses that cost enough to feed about 500 hungry families, that's Our Champions Of The Poor's business. The Democratic Party's War on the Poor.  The day the American welfare system first made it more desirable to stay on relief than to move up to just the next notch upward — that was the day that the Democrats truly declared war on America's poor.  The right may not look like Santa Claus nearly as often as the left does, but the right is always the one with the best interests of the poor in mind. Michelle Obama's lavish Hawaii wardrobe revealed.  Michelle Obama successfully managed to rile U.S. taxpayers with her lavish $4m family jaunt to Hawaii this Christmas.  But it seems her expensive taste has not stopped there, as her vacation wardrobe has proved to be equally lavish. Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein Are Stinking Rich.  According to the Center For Responsive Politics, our San Francisco reps have a total net worth of greater than $310 million.  That includes Pelosi's whopping net worth of $196,299,990; Sen. Dianne Feinstein's $93,707,020; and Congresswoman Jackie Speier, who is the 31st-richest rep, with a net worth of $20,527,999.  Meanwhile, Senator Barbara Boxer is valued at a little more than $5 million. First Family Arrives in Kailua.  First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters, Sasha and Malia, spent the night in Kailua, Oahu, on Saturday [12/17/2011].  President Barack Obama has not yet arrived for the family's 17-day holiday vacation in a beachfront home. Another Load of Trickle-Up Economics.  It's the return of Trickle-Up Economics, an article of nearly religious faith on the Left these days, despite the rather stunning volume of evidence that it doesn't work.  Cast a flurry of government dollars across the deserving poor, and their rush to spend Big Government's largesse will cause businesses to pop up all over the place and begin hiring.  Obviously liberals are in love with this fantasy, because it means Big Government gets to exercise ever-greater control over the private sector.  Taxpayer money is seized and spent, while liberals get to posture as the selfless champions of the little guy. The Rich Are Not Conservative.  Where is income highest in America?  It is not where oil company executives live or where computer software executives roost, but rather the environs of our nation's capital:  ten of the top-sixteen highest-income places in America are Virginia or Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. As Americans struggle, the Obamas make do with 37 Christmas trees.  The economy may be weak, unemployment strong and the first family soon to vacate the White House for another half-month of vacation in Hawaii.  But the Obamas have gone all out in decorating their house this year, including a nearly quarter-ton gingerbread White House.  They have also installed 37 different Christmas trees.  Thirty of the trees are live, or were, including one nearly 19-feet tall from Wisconsin. FLOTUS dines at Co Co. Sala.  First lady Michelle Obama enjoyed a lovely evening at Co Co. Sala on F Street on Monday night [11/28/2011]. ... We're told Obama's favorite savory was Chef Tiptur's Moroccan Swordfish Sliders with chermoula marinade, fennel salad, aged pecorino and hazelnut coffee dressing. The very angry first lady Michelle Obama.  Mad Michelle this week popped down to Davis Island, Fla., to hobnob with the very people her husband despises — the 1 percent.  At a massive mansion on the bay, filled with the wealthiest of the wealthy, America's first lady launched into a tirade about "them" — the Republicans. Report: Democrat spends $9K to attend donor's wedding.  Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J., spent more than $9,000 in campaign funds so he and his family could be in Scotland for the wedding of a donor, a New Jersey newspaper reports.  The Star-Ledger of Newark reviewed Andrews' campaign-finance reports and found Andrews spent $7,725 for three nights in a ritzy hotel in Edinburgh, $953 in cab rides, meals, tips and airline baggage fees, and $463 on china as a wedding gift — all paid for out of his campaign account. Obama's growing disdain for American worker.  The president, jaunting around the world as America's economy crumbles and Congress lumbers along, leaderless, dropped into a high school in Australia.  Talking to the Aussie kids, he said America's public school students have "fallen behind" them in math and science.  And he said in the U.S., many children don't get the "support they need when they're very young" so they're "already behind" when they enter elementary school.  Of course, that doesn't apply to the president's and first lady's daughters.  There was no chance the One Percent Couple were going to send their own children to a public school in the District of Columbia; they're off at a private school that costs $30,000 per child per year. Joe Biden addresses secretive donor conference.  Vice President Joe Biden spoke at a secretive conference attended by about 150 rich liberals deciding how to divvy up their cash in the run-up to the 2012 election.  A variety of liberal groups pitched the donors throughout the three-day conference, including a network of Democratic outside groups hoping to raise upwards of $120 million to fund a sort-of shadow party effort supporting the reelection campaign of Biden and President Barack Obama. 6 Million Dollar Man: Obama Family Plans to Spend Holidays in Hawaii.  "It is great to be home, great to feel that Aloha spirit.  And Michelle and the girls will be back shortly for Christmas vacation, as we do every year.  We'll see if Washington gets its business done, so I can get here as well.  But that's always a challenge," Obama told a room of at least 300 supporters who paid $1,000, $5,000 or even $18,000 to attend his fundraiser at the Aulani — A Disney Resort & Spa — in Ko Olina. Michael Moore's Mansion Beyond 99 Percent's Wildest Dreams.  Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore has been touring Occupy Wall Street demonstrations across the country — including some of the most violent, such as Occupy Oakland — urging activists to continue their fight against the wealthy "one percent" of Americans.  Initially, Moore tried to deny that his massive wealth made him a member of that one percent. Nancy Pelosi's '60 Minutes' Of Fame.  [Scroll down]  A version of the swipe-fee bill made it into an amendment by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to the Dodd-Frank bill in 2010.  As the bill was proceeding, Pelosi's husband, Paul, a wealthy San Francisco investor of the type the Occupy Wall Street mobs have targeted, bought $1 million to $5 million of Visa stock in three separate transactions in a part of the IPO that "60 Minutes" said was offered to a select group of investors.  Interestingly, the wealthy Pelosi has voiced support for the OWS mobs, calling them a genuine and spontaneous movement protesting the very financial wheeling and dealing that the great unwashed feel has victimized them. The Rich Kids of Occupy Wall Street.  People spending their free time camping out in protest of the wealthiest one percent share more in common with that top one percent than with the bottom one percent with whom they wish more to be shared in common.  One needn't rely on visuals of the protestors' Cabela tents or iPhones.  The Daily Caller has examined the arrest records of hundreds of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators and found that they live in homes with a median value of $305,000 versus the national median of $185,000.  The median rent for apartments listed by OWS arrestees was $1,850. NYC arrest records: Many Occupy Wall Street protesters live in luxury.  Many "Occupy Wall Street" protesters arrested in New York City reside in more luxurious homes than some of their rhetoric might suggest, a Daily Caller investigation has found.  For each of the 984 Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested in New York City between September 18 and October 15, police collected and filed an information sheet recording the arrestee's name, age, sex, criminal charge, home address and — in most cases — race.  The Daily Caller has obtained all of this information from a source in the New York City government. Ten richest celebs supporting OWS have collective net worth over a billion dollars.  Celebrity airheads who are supporting the occupiers are feeding Wall Street to the crocodile, forgetting that the beast quickly gets hungry for more.  Celebrity Net Worth has a highly amusing article on the subject. More about Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. The very angry first lady.  Michelle [Obama] is going to break with a hundred years of tradition and play the role of attack dog, heaping derision on her husband's political opponents like no other first lady before her.  And it's already begun.  Mad Michelle this week popped down to Davis Island, Fla., to hobnob with the very people her husband despises — the 1 percent.  At a massive mansion on the bay, filled with the wealthiest of the wealthy, America's first lady launched into a tirade about "them" — the Republicans. Obama Rakes In Cash From Lobbyists, Enron Executives.  [Scroll down]  Meanwhile, First Lady Michelle Obama will be hosting a big-bucks fundraiser in Houston next week... at the home of a former Enron executive.  Politico has the details:  ["]An upcoming Houston fundraiser featuring first lady Michelle Obama at the home of a former Enron executive who is part of a movement to convert public pensions to 401(k)-style plans is angering some local Democrats.  John Arnold, a Houston billionaire and former Enron trader, is hosting the Michelle Obama event with his wife, Laura Arnold, at their Houston home on Nov. 1.["]  Arnold, for the record, says he's a libertarian, while his wife is a Democrat.  If you want to reminisce about the Enron glory days with him and Michelle Obama, you'll have to fork over $10,000 for a ticket to the event, or go for the "co-host level" gold with a $35,800 contribution to re-elect Barack Obama. Middle Class Warrior Obama Hits Hollywood For Millions.  [President Obama joined] Actor Will Smith and basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson for dinner and Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas for post-meal canapes. Michelle Obama and 'the Few at the Top'.  When Ms. Obama charges, "Will we be a country where opportunity is limited to just the few at the top?  Who are we?" one wonders, why, then, in the past three years of hard times, did she insist on vacationing, in iconic fashion, at Vail, Martha's Vineyard, and Costa del Sol, the tony haunts of "the few at the top"?  In these rough times, surely a smaller staff, less travel, and budgetary economies would have enhanced her populist message of some at the top enjoying perks at the expense of others. Obama freezes local reporters out of S.F. event.  President Obama is scheduled to appear before hundreds of donors at a $7,500-a-plate noontime fundraiser today at San Francisco's W Hotel — but not a single local reporter will be allowed inside to cover his only stop in the area, the White House said Monday [10/24/2011]. First Lady Asks for $10K Photo Fee.  How much would you pay to have your picture taken with First Lady Michelle Obama?  When she travels to Chicago next week to tour Chicago food deserts with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and later host a fundraiser at Plumber's Hall, she will be asking for a pretty penny.  The going rate for a photograph at the near West Side fundraiser with the First Lady is $10,000 for a family of up to six members. Protester: fundraisers tie Obama to 'money elite'.  President Obama's high-dollar fundraisers demonstrate that the president is "in touch with the money elite,' says a Washington D.C. protest group representative who supports the Occupy movement against "corporate greed."  Kevin Zeese observed to WMAL.com that "President Obama, with his one billion dollar campaign, is holding fundraisers that cost $38,500 to get into." ... He added that such a fundraiser "puts Obama out of touch with the people and very much in touch with the money elite." Pelosi's disclosure belated in husband's land deal.  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's husband, a real estate developer and investment banker, stands to make millions of dollars in a previously undisclosed residential real estate project in California as a partner with the father of a woman Mrs. Pelosi helped become ambassador to Hungary, records show.  Paul F. Pelosi's investment in Russell Ranch is worth at least $5 million and possibly as much as $25 million in a deal put together by his friend and longtime business associate, Angelo Tsakopoulos, patriarch of a multimillion-dollar real estate development firm, according to Mrs. Pelosi's latest personal-disclosure statement. Alec Baldwin Fund Tied to Wall Street, Big Oil.  Well now.  Isn't this rich?  Morgan Stanley, the legendary Wall Street investment banking company founded by J.P. Morgan that took $10 billion in federal bailout funds back in 2008 during the financial crisis, is a "Corporate Partner" providing funding to the Carol Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund. Obamas celebrate wedding anniversary at stylish $150-a-head restaurant.  Restaurant Eve has two 'dining experiences'.  One is the 34-seat 'Chef's Tasting Room' with prix-fixe tasting menus costing up to $150.  Mr Armstrong's signature dishes include the heirloom tomato tart with garden basil and butter poached Maine lobster with Eastern Shore corn. Donors Get Reception With Michelle Obama.  First lady Michelle Obama will meet supporters who donate at least $250 at an upcoming Washington, D.C., fundraiser for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. Ten Lessons from Obama.  [#5] Obama cemented the notion that liberal Democrats are the party of really big money and of very little money — and of few in between.  The next populist will have to cut back on golf, stay at Camp David, and avoid the playgrounds of the rich and famous. Two days, seven fundraisers for Obama.  On Sunday, September 25, Obama began his tour at 12:33 p.m. with a fundraiser at the 27,000-square foot, art-draped home of former Microsoft chief operating officer Jon Shirley in Medina, Washington.  65 attendees paid $35,800 per couple to join Obama at an intimate dinner. Hollywood won't abandon Barack Obama.  [Scroll down]  In July, the President attended a fundraiser at the house of producer John Wells. Steven Spielberg, Will Farrell, Tom Hanks, and George Clooney paid $30,400 per couple for dinner and a photograph with Obama.  That month's quarterly report said that Obama had just passed the $85 million mark in fundraising for 2012.  Forty percent of his money was "big money bundles" that had come from, amongst others, Hollywood big-shots Steven Spielberg, Jerry Katzenberg, and Andy Spahn. Obama gets $7 million from Hollywood.  Among the Hollywood VIPs who turned out for Mr. Obama at a $17,900-per-plate dinner late Monday night [9/26/2011] at the chic Fig & Olive restaurant on Melrose Place in Los Angeles was Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, whom the president praised for "helping us consistently move an agenda forward that creates a more just and fair and more competitive America." Showbiz Heavies Plan More Democratic Party Fundraisers.  House minority leader Nancy Pelosi will be the big draw at a Tuesday night [9/27/2011] fundraiser hosted by director J.J. Abrams and his wife, Katie McGrath.  The event will be held on the rooftop of Abrams' Santa Monica production studio Bad Robot, with all proceeds going to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. How to triple the Dow and cut unemployment in half.  Rather than do his job as president, Barack Obama is out raising money from millionaires to finance his billion-dollar re-election effort.  Apparently every limousine liberal in Hollywood wants a Solyndra to call his own.  The president's talking points are laughable. Why Obama and Warren Buffett are suddenly best pals.  First, President Obama seized upon populist comments by multibillionaire investor Warren Buffett to make his tax-the-rich proposal more palatable.  Now, Buffett says he will attend an Obama fundraiser.  He's becoming the poster boy for Obama's plans. The Bugaboo of the Left.  Contrary to the Marxist "working class" myth, the left has always been a movement largely of and by intellectuals.  Their strong suit is propaganda, and they owe their undeniable successes in propaganda warfare to acting in a highly disciplined fashion and strictly hewing to their own rules of the game. The Five Million Dollar Man.  The Chicago Tribune reports that an investigation it conducted with WGN-TV found "23 retired union officials from Chicago stand to collect about $56 million from two ailing city pension funds."  That's an average of $2.4 million each, and some will rake in even more.  Dennis Gannon, a former president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, stands to collect some $5 million. Michelle Obama dazzles in New York, wearing diamond bangles.  The First Lady wore Katie's Lotus cuff priced at $15,000 with 2.9 carats of diamonds, her Gothic cuff at $15,350 with 2.17 carats in diamonds and the Quatrefoil bracelet at $11,800 with 1.73 carats in diamonds. A $35,800 Date With the President.  [Scroll down]  The location of the early reception is the Woodside home Symantec CEO John Thompson and his wife Sandi.  The entrance price at the Thompson's is $2,500 without a picture or $7,500 with a photo of yourself and the president.  The evening meal will be far more costly.  A dinner date with Mr. Obama will cost a cool $35,800. I'm exactly what's wrong with Barack Obama's America.  Barack Obama would prefer we all be wards of the state rather than active producers.  How else can you explain the incentives he champions:  endless jobless benefits, cradle-to-grave welfare handouts, "tax cuts" for non-taxpayers, and on and on.  Thus proclaims the president who himself raked in a cool $7.2 million over the past two years, "I do think at a certain point you've made enough money."  The key word there is "you." Mark Levin: Michelle and Barack Obama "power hungry," "arrogant".  During the 2008 election cycle, political talking heads kept a sharp eye on the alleged extravagance of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.  And decades ago they had a lot to say about First Lady Nancy Reagan and her lifestyle in the White House.  Why are there no stories about First Lady Michelle Obama?  London's Daily Mail newspaper claims Michelle Obama has spent $10 million in taxpayer money on vacations. Expensive massages, top shelf vodka and five-star hotels.  The Obamas' summer break on Martha's Vineyard has already been branded a PR disaster after the couple arrived four hours apart on separate government jets.  But according to new reports, this is the least of their extravagances.  White House sources today claimed that the First Lady has spent $10 million of U.S. taxpayers' money on vacations alone in the past year. Obama goes hobnobbing with friends and donors.  Barack Obama is spending time apart from his wife and daughters during their family holiday on Martha's Vineyard, opting instead to schmooze with friends on the golf course and at their private oceanfront mansions.  The President has been hobnobbing some long-time confidantes, as well as some deep-pocketed donors while on his break. Obama's Vineyard retreat stirs criticism.  There's never an ideal time for a presidential vacation.  But President Barack Obama's sojourn this week to Martha's Vineyard — known as a playground for the wealthy and well-connected — comes in the wake of the nation's first credit rating downgrade, with the economy sagging, the markets zigzagging and unemployment hovering at 9.1 percent. It's official, President to vacation on Martha's Vineyard.  The White House confirmed Wednesday [8/10/2011] what many people on Martha's Vineyard have known for weeks.  The Obama family will vacation on the Island for the third summer in a row. It's no time for a presidential vacation.  Is there anyone in the White House with nerve enough to tell Barack Obama that Martha's Vineyard is the last place on earth that the president of the United States should find himself next week? The partier in chief.  This is the third year the Obama family has escaped to the liberal, upper-crust enclave of Martha's Vineyard.  They are staying "up-island" in the town of Chilmark, far away from the troubled cities and towns of America's heartland.  The commander in chief will relax at Blue Heron Farm, a $20 million mansion he rented for its sprawling 28 acres of property complete with swimming pool, basketball court and putting green.  The elite island is the kind of place where Mr. Obama feels right at home. Will ritzy vacation trip Obama up?  [Obama has] mostly played out of the spotlight, and his team has done its best to downplay the recreational aspects of what is undeniably a very rich guy's very expensive vacation in a place regarded as a lobster-roll-and-Chardonnay Shangri-La for the moneyed Democratic elite. Limousine liberals don't send their kids to government schools. Emanuel's children going to private school this fall.  Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his wife have decided to forgo Chicago public schools and send their children to the University of Chicago Lab School in Hyde Park this fall, a source familiar with the decision has told the Tribune.  Leah, Ilana and Zach will be going to the same school once attended by Barack and Michelle Obama's daughters Sasha and Malia, the source said. Barack's Bankruptcy/Birthday Bash.  The elaborate Chicago event will serve as an all-in-one Obama 2012 campaign fundraiser, concert, and birthday celebration. ... The entry fee to get into the Aragon Ballroom for Barry's big day will cost well-heeled couples a large pile of the type of "additional income" Obama just the other day suggested they should give to the needy.  Without having to win the "Dinner with Barack and Biden" raffle, donors willing to part with $35,800 get to enjoy a private dinner with the President and VIP seating at a birthday concert rumored to be featuring native Chicagoans. Prez's vacation makes little $ense right now.  Obama, who's got us panicked over this debt-ceiling stalemate, will soon be off — again — to Blue Heron Farm, Martha's Vineyard.  Check out the pictures of this "farm" online.  You practically drool.  It looks like the centerfold of "Town & Country," the magazine for aspiring zillionaires. DNC White House Event Included Big Money Obama Donors.  A March 7 White House meeting with President Barack Obama hosted by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for several dozen Wall Street executives also included several big-money Obama fundraisers.  The meeting, which White House Spokesman Jay Carney said "was not a fundraiser" included many big-money donors known as bundlers, a moniker derived from the fact that they solicit large contributions on behalf of a campaign. Bill Clinton made $75 million from speeches.  In the 10 years since leaving the White House, former President Bill Clinton has earned more than $75 million in speaking fees alone, including nearly $11 million last year, a report Tuesday [7/12/2011] found. 141 White House staffers make six figures.  One out of every three White House employees makes at least $100,000 a year, according to data released by the White House on Friday [7/1/2011].  Top earners pull down a salary of $172,200 a year, while three employees have a salary of $0.  Most staffers fall somewhere in the middle. What Obama donors ate last night.  What did Obama supporters get for $35,800-a-plate at Thursday night's DNC fundraising dinner at Manhattan's swanky Daniel restaurant?  The menu included Maine lobster salad with roasted beets, followed by a duo of Black Angus beef made with braised short ribs, roasted tenderloin, baby spinach, stuffed potato and hen of the woods mushrooms. Liberal American Jewish suckers.  At a five-star hotel [6/20/2011], eighty Jewish donors shelled out between $25,000 [and $]35,800 to attend a fundraiser with US President Barack Obama. Pelosi's wealth grows by 62 percent.  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) saw her net worth rise 62 percent last year, cementing her status as one of the wealthiest members of Congress.  Pelosi was worth at least $35.2 million in the 2010 calendar year, according to a financial disclosure report released Wednesday [6/15/2011].  She reported a minimum of $43.4 million in assets and about $8.2 milion in liabilities. Obama wants credit for cleaning up 'big mess'.  "My job over these first two years has frankly been to clean up a big mess," Mr. Obama said at a $10,000-per-ticket event at a gated mansion in Miami Beach. ... The president spoke to guests on a tented lawn with a view of the Miami skyline at the $5.9 million home of former Samsonite CEO Steve Green, former ambassador to Singapore in the Clinton administration. Leave No Limo Behind.  They are buying limousines in Washington.  Lots of them.  The number of government limousines increased by 73 percent during the first two years of the Obama administration.  The official justification for the acquisition (with borrowed Chinese money) of all this rolling stock is "security."  Our bureaucrats, it seems, are not safe riding around in ordinary vehicles or, perish the thought, driving themselves to work.  This, it seems, is especially true of those brave souls who toil at the State Department, which is where most of the limos have been put into service. More about President Obama, the gas-guzzling limousine liberal. Royals, Obamas Sip $1,000 Vino.  Finally, after two straight presidents who didn't appreciate the taste of a fine French burgundy, Buckingham Palace tonight [5/24/2011] had a chance to put on the Ritz for a first family who enjoy a long dinner and luscious wine.  Most notable from the wine cellars of the famous palace:  A Echezeaux Grand Cru 1990, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, that goes for $1,000 — $1,700 per bottle in the United States. The world's richest dinner party.  It's difficult to imagine a wealthier set of guests than those invited to the home of Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr earlier this year, in the mega-wealthy enclave of Woodside, California.  Together they represent companies worth nearly $1 trillion.  By all accounts, Obama didn't have an easy ride — many of the diners are generous political donors and the President was criticised for slow progress on policy promises. Obama's $3 million S.F. dinner — the complete guest list.  [Several famous people] happily dropped $35,800 to dine with President Obama at billionaire Marc Benioff's San Francisco home Wednesday evening [4/20/2011].  These are just some of the 85 famous names on the fundraiser's guest list which was plainly visible to rubberneckers as attendees checked in.  Combined, Obama's take for the 90-minute event was a cool $3 million — or $3,043,000 to be exact (85 guests x $35,800 each). Obama Visits the S(lush) F(und) Bay Area.  [Scroll down]  After satiating the hoi polloi with his Facebook stagecraft, Obama set off for some hardcore fundraisin' — the real point of the visit.  The first, and swankiest, of his three whirlwind back-to-back-to-back fundraisers was a $35,800/plate (not a typo) dinner at the Presidio Heights home of billionaire Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff. The US President's $30,800 dinner menu.  Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson hosted a dinner for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama this week at his newest restaurant Red Rooster in Harlem.  The small dinner party of 50 shelled out $30,800 (€27,710) per plate for the party fundraiser.  Samuelsson is one of the president's favorite chefs and has been called upon to cook a handful of state dinners for him in the past. Lead balloon.  Rhode Island federal district court nominee John J. "Jack" McConnell Jr. is due for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee today.  His nomination should be rejected due to ethical questions about his record.  In addition to being accomplished at the dark arts of ambulance chasing, Mr. McConnell is a political high roller.  In the past two decades, he and his wife donated $700,000 to Democratic Party groups and candidates. Michelle Obama carries $1,000 tote.  Michelle Obama put another label name on the map this week, when she was spotted carrying a bold new handbag to her daughter's parent-teacher conference.  The teal blue leather tote by U.S. designer Reed Krakoff has already sold out around the world — despite the fact that it costs nearly $1,000. Big Obama donor quits envoy job amid criticism.  As a supporter of presidential candidate Barack Obama, Cynthia Stroum was a superstar whose financial backing of the campaign landed her a plum diplomatic posting in Europe. Democrats, environmentalists pushing Blacks out of their neighborhoods.  The black population of San Francisco is less than half of what it was in 1970, and it fell another 19 percent in the past decade. ... Blacks are being forced out of San Francisco, and out of other communities on the San Francisco Peninsula, by high housing prices.  At one time, housing prices in San Francisco were much like housing prices elsewhere in the country.  But the building restrictions — and outright bans — resulting from the political crusades of environmentalist zealots sent housing prices skyrocketing in San Francisco, San Jose and most of the communities in between.  Housing prices in these communities soared to about three times the national average. The Rise of the Adolescent Mind.  Just because one is a former Chicago organizer does not mean he cannot be the largest recipient of Goldman Sachs or BP donations in history.  Railing against Las Vegas jet-setters does not mean that one cannot prefer Martha's Vineyard, Vail, or Costa del Sol to Camp David.  We talk about all these "millionaires," but fail to include a Rahm Emanuel who managed to receive several million for his apparent fiscal and investment "expertise" or the liberal Clintonite insiders who looted Fannie and Freddie in bonuses just before these agencies imploded.  The Koch brother are deemed evil; George Soros and Warren Buffet enlightened billionaires about whose modes of acquisition of riches we must be indifferent. Progressive Ralliers Call for Lynching of Black Justice.  Among Common Cause's, well, common causes, are campaign finance reform, net neutrality, outlawing the filibuster, promoting cap and trade, and in this particular case, herding a mass of protesters outside a nearby hotel to yell at Charles and David Koch for being conservative and rich.  Unfortunately several "haves" have missed the memo that you're not to be both rich and conservative at the same time, and that bankrolling your pet causes is an extra no-no if you're conservative — thus exempting left-wing billionaire philanthropists George Soros (from whom Common Cause has received $2 million over the past eight years) Peter Lewis, John Doerr, Julian Robertson, Nicolas Berggruen, and many others from being yelled at too. Pelosi spent $101,000 in two years while travelling with US Air Force.  If the US Airforce did all airline food, it would be strawberries dipped in dark chocolate and grilled chicken salads all round.  Unfortunately this luxury is reserved for top US politicians alone, as new documents detailing Nancy Pelosi's travel expenses reveal.  The former House Speaker was showered with a cornucopia of gourmet food and alcohol as she travelled over 90,000 miles around the world in just nine months last year — all courtesy of the US Airforce (USAF). More about Pelosi's jet, provided at taxpayer expense. $$ party for Charlie.  Charles Rangel wants to party away his legal bills.  The embattled Harlem congressman — who has been buried under a mountain of debt from his ethics case — is throwing a fund-raiser next month to raise money for his legal-defense fund.  Tickets to the event — co-hosted by former state Comptroller Carl McCall — start at $250 and go up to $5,000. Foie Gras and Other Healthy Fare.  Recently, America was shocked to learn the Obamas' 10-day-plus Hawaiian Christmas is costing over $1 million.  The fact that the First Family shows their faces outside the beachfront compound takes guts, especially in a season when some Americans are struggling just to eat.  Don't the Obamas know that throwing rollicking palace parties while the little people starve is the stuff insurrections are made of?  The Obamas' behavior has reduced America to a famished child with its nose pressed against the cold windowpane of a warm bakery where Michelle and Barry, covered in cream from unlimited Charlotte Russes, toss maraschino cherries at one another, laughing and having a wonderful time, oblivious to the waif outside. Obama party stays in home taxed at $300.  The absentee owner of a multimillion-dollar home being used by President Barack Obama's visiting entourage gets one of the biggest residential property tax breaks on Oahu.  Kevin Comcowich, the Houston investment executive who purchased the nearly 5,000-square-foot home for $9 million in January 2008, was charged $300 in property taxes this year. Obamas Depleting U.S. Lobster Supply.  So how much lobster are you having during these precarious economic times?  What?  You've had to cut back?  No longer ordering it stuffed with crab meat, at least?  Well, if you happen to be the President of the United States or the First Lady, your lobster consumption is continuing at a robust pace. Obama Has Shot 41 Rounds of Golf as President.  President Barack Obama has played a remarkable 41 rounds of golf since becoming president, easily outpacing his predecessor and possibly damaging his ability to portray himself in 2012 as a populist advocate of average folks. Liberal Math.  Why do Democrats always go after the orthodontist, electrical contractor, or insurance agency owner, and never the Buffetts, Kerrys, or Gateses? Lifestyles of the Rich and Liberal.  In July 2010, as Bill and Hillary Clinton were throwing a $2-3 million-plus wedding for their daughter Chelsea of which $11,000 went for a gluten-free wedding cake) and Michelle Obama was planning a lavish vacation to Spain's Costa del Sol, the Boston Herald revealed that John Kerry was the owner of the Isabel, a 76-foot, $7 million yacht custom-made in New Zealand, which he had kept at a dock in Newport, Rhode Island, to avoid paying an estimated $500,000 in Massachusetts state tax.  The boat, according to the brochure of the company, had two VIP suites (and one for the help), a wet bar, cold wine storage, and seated six around a custom-made table of Edwardian style ornate varnished teak. Add this to the Heinz-Kerrys' five land-based places of residence, and they now have in all six luxury "houses," each estimated at over $4 million, for a total of $36 million. How Privileged Democrats Pay for Their Houses.  Former senior senator from Delaware and current Vice President Joe Biden has a custom-built house in Delaware's ritziest Chateau Country neighborhood.  It is now worth at least $2.5 million and is the Bidens' most valuable asset.  Biden tapped campaign funds to pay for his compound's lawn needs.  He secured the new estate with the help of a corporate executive who worked for Biden's top campaign donor, credit card giant MBNA.  In 1996, Biden sold his previous mansion to MBNA Vice Chairman John Cochran.  The asking price was $1.2 million.  Cochran forked over the full sum. The Obama-Soros Connection.  The first shots in the Obama Revolution, the highly unlikely campaign that elevated an inexperienced former Chicago community organizer born in Hawaii and raised in Indonesia into the Oval Office, were fired at the Long Island Southampton beach house of billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros.  Soros is one of the wealthiest men on the planet, with a personal fortune of at least $7 billion and additional investments of another $11 billion or so.  His collaborative group of pro-Left foundations distributes more than $400 million a year to causes ranging from underwriting left-leaning Democrat Party candidates to legalizing marijuana to advocating for euthanasia. Still Hill's fattest cat.  [Sen. John] Kerry's financial disclosure form revealed that, despite the struggling economy, his minimum net worth at the end of 2009 was $188.6 million — an increase of more than $20 million from 2008. ... Rounding out the top 10 richest members of Congress are:   2. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., $160 million   3. Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., $152 million   4. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., $83 million   5. Rep. Michael McCaul, D-Texas, $73 million   6. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., $70 million   7. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., $56 million   8. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., $53 million   9. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., $49 million  10. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., $46 million The Editor says... Looks like a lot of Democrats in the top ten. The Party of the Rich.  We live in an era — the worst economically since the Depression — when the daughter of the first couple of the Democratic Party has a multi-million dollar, Marie Antoinette-style wedding with port-a-potties almost as luxurious as a toilette in Baden Baden; its self-proclaimed environmental leader, the first global warming billionaire, sprouts "green" McMansions from Nashville to Montecito; and its already multi-billionaire senator from Massachusetts moors his yacht in another state to escape taxes we hoi polloi could only dream of paying.  But wait, as they say, there's more. Liberal Billionaires Good, Conservative Billionaires Evil.  Liberals love their billionaires, a very long and sometimes radical list that includes Barack Obama's special favorites Warren Buffet and George Soros. ... [But] For liberals there is a special place in hell for conservative billionaires who support free market economic think tanks and causes. Fine dining:  [Scroll down]  Obama, apparently, was a big fan of chef Scott Ehrlich's beef tenderloin and short ribs, so the prez ordered it for his entre after his appetizer of pasta with lobster.  The first lady, resplendent in a black and white Narciso Rodriguez dress and a cropped black cardi, chose local greens (because she's a big fan of farmers) and the beef tenderloin with a lobster tail instead of the highly caloric short ribs.  The group shared four desserts including a creme brulee. Could you just put that $1 million in the mail next time?  If you live in Los Angeles, like I do, you already know that things went [bad] Monday night thanks to President Obama, whose arrival in town for a fundraiser at "West Wing" producer John Wells' Hancock Park house caused utter chaos, snarling traffic all across the city's Westside.  It was ugly.  It was also one of those events that may represent a tipping point when it comes to people's attitudes about an out-of-touch politician and his wealthy supporters. Obama goes Hollywood at tonight's fundraiser, $30,400 apiece.  Democrats like to characterize themselves as the party of "the guy who showers after work, not before."  The people bankrolling the continuation of Obama's agenda — the ones he'll be mixing it up with tonight in Hollywood for a major Democratic Party fundraiser — don't take showers.  They take baths in tubs of caviar. Obama:  Fighting the Yuppie Factor.  From the price of arugula to vacations in Marbella, the Obamas are the perfect yuppie couple. ... Barack Obama — the son of a Ph.D. and a Harvard-educated economist, graduate of a Hawaii prep school, replete with Ivy League education, stylish digs in a good Chicago neighborhood, properly tamed and presentable radical social circles, and the requisite power-couple marriage — appreciates the ambience of a vacation spot:  Who goes there and why, and what others will say and think, alone matter.  Otherwise, the sun and surf at Pismo Beach would do just as well. Michelle Antoinette?  I think the Obamas' tone-deafness, which was on exhibit long before Michelle's Spanish vacation, more likely results from their inexperience and the fact that if you are a significant figure in Democratic Party politics, you spend a great deal of time with rich people.  That can skew one's perspective. Out-Of-Control Michelle Obama's Spending Spree.  After blowing nearly a half-million dollars on a Spanish shopping spree, Michelle Obama has plans to spend a whopping $2 million in the coming year — while the nation struggles with its worst recession ever. The Party of the Rich.  At this moment, two of [the Democratic Party's] leaders from a supposedly disadvantaged minority are about to be tried for ethical transgressions (read: thievery) even Congress couldn't sweep under the rug.  Never mind that these transgressions mostly exploit the very minority these people purport to represent.  It's part of the game.  Convince minorities they should act like victims.  Extort guilt payments from the majority and keep the change.  Meanwhile, nothing improves for the minority because it would interrupt the system. President Obama courts wealthy donors.  Four times in the last week, President Barack Obama has quietly slipped into private, exclusive Democratic Party fundraisers around town, glad-handing well-heeled donors away from the eyes of the press — and contradicting his pledge to run the most transparent administration in history. Obama lands in Dallas for fundraiser at Highland Park lawyer's home.  President Barack Obama landed at Dallas Love Field this afternoon [8/9/2010], en route to a fundraiser at the Highland Park home of a prominent trial lawyer. Obama's Dallas host is prolific Democratic donor.  The host for President Barack Obama's Dallas fundraiser is a well-known trial lawyer who has been a prolific donor to the Democratic Party.  Russell Budd served as a "bundler" in Obama's presidential campaign, raising at least $50,000 for the presidential campaign by soliciting money from other donors.  Budd and his wife, Dorothy, will host the president at their Highland Park home, where Vice President Joe Biden also came to raise money in March. Michelle Obama, Sasha on Lavish Vacation While President Turns 49.  Mrs. Obama and Sasha were invited for an "official" visit with Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia during their stay — expected to last about four days.  Spain's royal couple happen to be vacationing at their summer palace on the island of Majorca, and Mrs. Obama is likely to join them there. Michelle and Sasha go to Spain.  Greeted by a large red, white and blue banner, Michelle Obama landed safely in España.  The First Lady and an entourage including daughter Sasha and three dozen of Michelle's closest and most intimate friends were warmly welcomed on the Iberian Peninsula for "a private, mother-daughter trip."  Notwithstanding the 5-star rating, the Villa Padierna is a peculiar choice for a mother/daughter moment as it is "often associated with reality TV and gangsters." Another getaway for Mrs. Obama.  First lady Michelle Obama may catch some flak for vacationing at an expensive luxury hotel on Spain's Mediterranean coast.  By the end of the summer, Mrs. Obama will have taken eight vacation trips — including her visit to Marbella, staying at the five-star Hotel Villa Padierna with daughter Sasha and some pals. Material girl Michelle Obama is a modern-day Marie Antoinette on a glitzy Spanish vacation.  While most of the country is pinching pennies and downsizing summer sojourns — or forgoing them altogether — the Obamas don't seem to be heeding their own advice.  While many of us are struggling, the First Lady is spending the next few days in a five-star hotel on the chic Costa del Sol in southern Spain with 40 of her "closest friends."  According to CNN, the group is expected to occupy 60 to 70 rooms, more than a third of the lodgings at the 160-room resort.  Not exactly what one would call cutting back in troubled times. Let them eat tapas.  The Obama family has been working hard to show their indifference to the plight of middle America.  Whether it's the president's golfing fetish, private air transportation for family dog Bo to a Maine vacation, or Michelle Obama's taxpayer subsidized trip to the Spanish Riviera, the gulf between the White House leisure class and the American middle class has grown to unprecedented proportions.  Everyone is entitled to some R & R, though Mrs. Obama's jaunt is her eighth holiday this summer. Spanish police close public beach for Michelle Obama's £250,000 Spanish holiday.  Michelle Obama today faced a fresh wave of attacks over her lavish break in Spain with 40 friends, which could easily cost U.S. taxpayers a staggering £50,000 a day.  The First Lady has been lambasted for her extravagance at a time when the economy is still struggling. One blogger went so far as to brand her a modern-day Marie Antoinette. Michelle Obama's Lavish Spain Vacation Sparking Criticism.  While First Lady Michelle Obama continues sightseeing and shopping in southern Spain with daughter Sasha and friends as "private" tourists, questions are being raised about the cost to taxpayers and whether a lavish vacation sends the right message during tough economic times in the U.S. What Was Michelle Obama Thinking?  When we're in the middle of the worst recession in living memory, it's not a good idea to take a luxury vacation that most of your countrymen could never possibly afford in the best of times, at considerable taxpayer expense for the security, in a foreign country. The Pain in Spain Falls Mainly on US Taxpayers.  While millions of Americans cut back on what they can spend on their vacation, Michelle Obama is concluding her last vacation with a new vacation trip along with 40 guests to Spain billed at a cost of 300,000 dollars a day.  If Michelle Obama wants to go for a swim, an entire beach in Spain must be closed.  Considering her busy working schedule of appearing on talk shows and then appearing on magazine covers, I think we can all agree that nine vacations is very modest.  And the real tab gets much higher when you consider how many of the other unstated expenses are being picked up by "friends", which is usually a fancy way of saying people who expect favors in return, again, at taxpayer expense. Even the liberal Seattle Times questioning Obama's 'lavish' vacations.  More than any presidential couple in recent memory, the Obamas are demonstrating that they see themselves not only better than everyone, but more privileged than the rest of us.  They've made it to the penthouse and are determined to enjoy their status to the fullest. Pampered populists.  It's surreal to see President Obama play the class-warfare card against the Republicans while on his way to vacation on the tony Maine coast, and even more interesting to note that now gone are the days when the media used to caricature Bush I for boating in the summer off the preppie-sounding Kennebunkport.  The truth is that the real big money and the lifestyles that go with it are now firmly liberal Democratic. Obama raises nearly $1 million for Giannoulias.  The nearly $1 million fundraising event at the Palmer House Hilton highlighted a quick visit by Obama back home to Chicago that also included a tour of a Southeast Side Ford plant and a 49th birthday dinner Wednesday night [8/4/2010] with friends including Oprah Winfrey. Price to attend Obama's birthday bash:  $30,000.  Happy Birthday, buddy!  Sneed hears real estate mogul Neil Bluhm is tossing a private birthday party here for President Obama, who turns 49 on Aug. 4.  The shocker:  The dinner invite to the Barack bash at Bluhm's home requires a $30,000 donation to the Democratic National Committee! Obama Meets With Big Donors.  President Obama met with about 50 of the Democratic Party's biggest donors on Tuesday night [7/27/2010] at an upscale Washington hotel, but aides excluded reporters from the event since the president did not give a speech. Obama ate alone at fund-raiser dinner.  The big spenders who shelled out $30,400 a head for dinner with President Obama at the Four Seasons restaurant and at Anna Wintour's house didn't actually break any bread with him.  After starting Tuesday night [7/27/2010] at a dinner for 60 high-rolling Democratic supporters hosted by hedge-fund billionaire Marc Lasry, Obama headed to a private room at the Four Seasons to wolf down steak, potatoes and broccoli with two aides before heading to Wintour's Greenwich Village home. John Kerry will pay if 'taxes are owed'.  U.S. Sen. John Kerry, the owner of a new, super-luxe 76-foot yacht, is not dodging a six-figure Massachusetts tax bill by docking the Isabel in Rhode Island and will pony up to the state if "any taxes are owed," a spokesman for the alleged tax-skipping skipper said.  And it appears the senior senator may be on the hook for more than $500,000 in state and local taxes because Kerry tied his toney tub up in Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket waters within six months of buying her. John Kerry saves $500,000 by docking ultra-luxury yacht in Rhode Island.  Times are tough for everyone. Including gazillionaire John Kerry.  The Massachusetts senator is under fire for docking his brand new $7-million yacht in Rhode Island.  It's not illegal to moor your boat there or anything.  It's just that Rhode Island doesn't have a boat sales and use tax anymore. Kerry's $lick sailing.  John Kerry, the tax-happy Massachusetts Democrat, is docking his new, multimillion-dollar yacht in Rhode Island — an eyebrow-raising decision that saved him an estimated $437,500 in sales tax from his home state, it was reported yesterday [7/23/2010]. The more Kerry changes, the more he stays the same.  Give John Kerry this.  Some things, he learns.  Republicans swift-boated him in 2004. Yesterday he swift-boated his wife for the second time in three days, when asked about whether he ducked a half million in state taxes by berthing his $7 million, foreign-built yacht in Rhode Island.  "That depends on who owns it," he said when asked whether he's ever docked the oh-so-posh Isabel here.  Translation:  Take it up with Teresa. Benedict Arnold's Yacht.  If Massachusetts Senator John Kerry had escaped $500,000 in state taxes by docking his yacht in Rhode Island, the offense wouldn't have been as serious as, say, plotting with the British against the Continental Army in 1780.  But then, it was Kerry himself who upped the rhetorical ante against those who use tax loopholes for their own gain. Update: John Kerry's bucks stop where?  It's been more than three months since we first told you about Capt. John Kerry's high-seas tax dodge on his new $7 million yacht, Isabel, and the town of Nantucket still doesn't have a check from the senior senator!  You may recall that Kerry lowered the flag and surrendered in July, agreeing to pony up more than $400,000 to cover state taxes on the toney tub. President Obama to summer like it's 2009.  President Obama, his poll numbers tanking, will return to Martha's Vineyard — the most Democratic spot in the bluest of blue states — for his summer vacation next month, island sources said.  Our spies on The Rock report that the first family will return to Chilmark's Blue Heron Farm for about 10 days in August. This was apparently not intended to be satire, as far as I know, and yet... President Obama, to see sights, eat lobster in Bar Harbor, Maine.  Exactly 100 years after the last President visited this coastal haven in Maine for old-money Republicans, President Obama and his family are arriving Friday [7/16/2010] for the weekend.  The summer playground of the Astors, the Rockefellers and the Morgans — as well as newer social titans like Martha Stewart — the island is positively aflutter. Obama's Maine Island Long Visited by Rich.  Serving as a summer retreat for Rockefellers, Vanderbilts and Morgans, this town and the surrounding area have long been known as a place where well-heeled and well-known visitors could beat the heat — and have their privacy respected. Obama Team rewards Hollywood donors.  Why the rush to help Hollywood?  Well, midterms are approaching, the Democratic Party is held in high disregard by many Americans, and the fundraising is reflecting its bad poll numbers.  So why not go where the money is?  This is Cook County pay-to-play politics writ large. Clintons dealing for $11M Westchester mansion.  Looks like Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton are moving on up — to a deluxe mansion away from prying eyes.  Sources told The Post the Clintons are planning to trade their almost-modest suburban Chappaqua home for a sprawling $10.9 million estate in the bucolic Westchester town of Bedford Hills, complete with 20 acres of gorgeous land surrounded by New York's elite. Kerry and his energy companies.  For all you curious as to why Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is so inspired to cut a deal on energy reform, wonder no longer.  Apparently, the senior senator from Massachusetts is positioned to hit the jackpot if a subsidy-laden energy "reform" bill passes.  In some years, Kerry makes more money in dividends and capital gains from these holdings than he does as a senator. A Surreal Presidency.  Obama enjoys the top job in the country and avails himself lavishly of all its perks, posting as well an annual income in the millions of dollars, over five million in 2009 alone.  His cohorts and backers are doing quite proudly too, not to mention Democratic godfather George Soros, one of the world's richest men.  Home foreclosures and job terminations are not an issue for these people, who are good at theoretical empathy and not much else, apart from making the situation even worse than it already is. Pelosi's New District Office Costs $18,736 a Month.  San Francisco is a high-rent city.  Just ask Nancy Pelosi.  The House Speaker's district office in the new federal building in San Francisco costs a whopping $18,736 a month — the highest rental paid by any member of the House — or, more precisely, the highest rental paid by taxpayers on behalf of a member of the House. Obama raises $1.7 million for Boxer, Dems.  President Barack Obama flew into San Francisco Tuesday night [5/25/2010], spoke at two receptions, had dinner with some high-rolling donors and raised $1.7 million for Sen. Barbara Boxer and Senate Democrats.  This was the second fundraiser the president has done for Boxer in just over a month, and raised $600,000 — bringing to $1.1 million the amount Obama has brought in for her. Barack Obama didn't part the waters — he just made them dirtier.  On the day of the memorial service for the 11 dead on the oil rig last week, Barack flew to San Francisco for a fund-raiser on behalf of the hideous Sen. Barbara "Botox" Boxer.  It was held in a mansion owned by a member of the Getty family, of Big Oil infamy.  And yet nary a word among the usual Ivy League pukes on MSNBC and in The New York Times. A Bad Case of the Bitters.  With oil from the still-gushing, five-week-old Deepwater Horizon leak lapping unimpeded into the marshes of Louisiana, on Tuesday [5/25/2010] the President of the United States jetted past the oily Gulf to a San Francisco fund-raiser for Sen. Barbara Boxer, held, incredibly, at the home of the 350th richest person in America — Gordon Getty, inheritor of the Getty Oil fortune. Chuck Schumer and the confluence of policy and campaign cash.  Chuck Schumer has always lived at the intersection of Big Money and Big Government.  He regularly leads the Senate in raising funds from the biggest industries.  His former top staffers are now Wall Street lobbyists and his top fundraisers. Obama's Wall Street problem.  How much credibility can a person expect to have if demonizing fat cats is the basis for fund raising at $50,000-dollar a couple events? ... Speaking on behalf of the poor, indigent and oppressed Obama reiterated the call for Wall Street reform and in the process raised $1.3 million from 185 donors. The Obamas Made $5.5 Million in 2009.  President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama released their 2009 federal and state income returns today [4/15/2010], reporting an adjusted gross income of $5,505,409.  Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden released their returns as well, reporting an adjusted gross income of $333,182. Ka-ching:  Obama is rich!  [Scroll down]  As a side note, the White House still hasn't said where that Nobel Prize money is going. In case you haven't heard, President Obama won the Nobel Prize and apparently put the prize money in his pocket. How Obama Himself Made More Than 'Enough Money':  In defending his administration's efforts at putative financial reform, President Obama suggested a ceiling, perhaps government-imposed, for Wall Street executives.  Although he did not begrudge them income that is "fairly earned," he added ominously, "I do think that at a certain point, you've made enough money."  The president may be projecting guilt from his own excellent adventures in greed. After beating up Wall Street 'fat cats,' President Obama takes their money.  President Obama has been happy to beat up on Wall Street "fat cats," but tonight [5/13/2010] he'll be even happier to take their money.  The President is slated to headline a superswank, $50,000-per-couple fund-raiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at Manhattan's gilded St. Regis hotel on Fifth Ave.  The high-dollar affair will feature fine French food, a bevy of Wall Street titans and 23 Congress members — including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). 2008 Market Crash Should be Investigated.  [Scroll down slowly]  Over the years, [George] Soros has positioned himself to take control of the Democrat Party through the hundreds of 527 organizations he has helped financed.  These organizations have become a "Shadow Party" unto themselves, and manipulate public opinion for their own end.  Among them: the National Education Association, ACORN, AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers, The Media Fund, the Open Society Institute, Planned Parenthood League, the Sierra Club, America Coming Together, the Huffington Post, Moveon.org.  If a left-wing organization is in the news, it has probably received money from George Soros. Reflections on the Revolution in America:  The present attempt to remake America is the effort of the liberal well-to-do — highly educated at mostly private universities, nursed on three decades of postmodern education, either with inherited wealth or earning top salaries, lifestyles of privilege indistinguishable from those they decry as selfish, and immune from the dictates they impose on others. ... They are all battling on behalf of "them," the poorer half of America, currently in need of some sort of housing, education, food, or legal subsidy, whom the above mentioned elite, in the way they live, send their children to school, socialize, and vacation so studiously avoid. The real fat cat party.  The U.S. Climate Action Partnership, led by GE, includes many other Fortune 500 companies, including Goldman Sachs — the company that has profited mightily from Obama's brand of hope and change.  CAP is an aggressive supporter of the Democrats' climate change scheme.  Why?  Because GE and company stand to make billions from carbon pricing, thanks largely to investments in technologies that cannot survive in a free market without massive subsidies from Uncle Sam. The Pathology of the Rich Socialist.  People such as George Soros and Michael Moore certainly talk a good game, but the next Mother Teresa they are not.  Mother Teresa never criticized the free-market system; wealth just wasn't for her.  Soros and Moore are quite the opposite.  They will never take a vow of poverty and dedicate themselves to helping the poor.  They just want our civilization to take a vow of poverty and become poor. Nancy Pelosi spends $2,993 on flowers.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) spent $2,993 in taxpayer money on flowers between June and October.  House Majority Whip James Clyburn has a thing for Chantilly Donuts, spending about $265 at the Virginia shop in the past quarter. ... Pelosi, who has come under fire in the past for spending on flowers, also spent roughly $30,610 in food and beverage and about $2,740 on bottled water, contributing to the nearly $120,531 total from all congressional leadership accounts. It takes this much money to eat with Barack Obama.  [It took $34,000] for a couple to have dinner with Barack Obama on Thursday night [10/15/2009] in San Francisco's Westin Hotel.  And hundreds of Northern Californians lined up to do so.  It better be an abundant shrimp cocktail for that price. Big money buys seats at lawmakers' dinner tables.  Want to dine with five U.S. senators?  Then just drop by Wednesday night and, oh, by the way, bring $30,400.  That's what it costs to be a "co-chair" of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's Women's Senate Network party, thrown by power lobbyist Heather Podesta. Four of the top five are Democrats. Report:  237 millionaires in Congress.  As Washington reels from the news of 10.2 percent unemployment, the Center for Responsive Politics is out with a new report describing the wealth of members of Congress.  Among the highlights:  Two-hundred-and-thirty-seven members of Congress are millionaires.  That's 44 percent of the body — compared to about 1 percent of Americans overall. Insult and Injury.  The entire intellectual infrastructure behind the stimulus, the bailouts, the auto-industry takeover, and the proposed health-care takeover rests on the assumption that the people who staff the Obama administration are smarter, better, more caring, and more decent than you yahoos out there in the general public, who simply cannot be trusted to make your own decisions about important matters, such as what sort of health insurance to purchase or whether to buy a car that gets 20 miles per gallon or 22 miles per gallon. The Emerging Liberal Oligarchy:  Right or wrong, the age of liberal idealism is over.  We live today in a different era. ... The liberal aristocracy that once knew itself to be "the best" has become, after half a century of power, merely "the few," just another cabal of ruthless men and women fighting to keep their hands on the levers of political power.  Our liberal friends do not yet understand how their years of political and cultural power have corrupted them; they still imagine themselves as plucky outsiders battling for the people against the powerful.  There is a word for a misunderstanding of reality like that.  The word is "delusion." Is Democracy the Killer of Liberty?  It is a fact that, without funds, one cannot even run for the city's dogcatcher. ... How about seeking to be the mayor of New York City?  Michael Bloomberg is presently running for election to his third term as the mayor of the city.  This man is reportedly the 17th wealthiest person in the world.  He spent $73 million of his own money on his first term campaign ad and apparently he is spending at least $18.5 million of his own funds again for a third mayoral term in 2009 campaign.  Is Bloomberg, one of the greatest contemporary titans of business, a fool to spend that kind of money for a post that doesn't pay even a fraction of what he is spending?  No.  He is not a fool. Two years later... Mayor Bloomberg gives $50 million to fight coal-fired power plants.  New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will donate $50 million to the Sierra Club to support its nationwide campaign to eliminate coal-fired power plants.  Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune described the gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies, which will be spread out over four years, as "a game-changer, from our perspective." The Soros-Axelrod Axis?  George Soros is one of the big sugar daddies of the Democratic Party.  He also is the ruler of an archipelago of so-called 527 groups that pose as non-partisan activists groups, but in fact are often hyper-partisan (such as MoveOn.Org), and are often employed by Democrats to influence elections.  Soros, for years, has been the top funder of such groups. Democrats Declare War on the Poor.  The pawn shop business is very easy to understand, and if the interest rate seems exorbitant to middle-class folks and liberal do-gooders, maybe it's because they don't understand how grateful pawn shop customers are for the service.  Who else offers on-the-spot credit to those who might otherwise have no source of quick cash?  It is idiotic that, on the one hand, Democrats demanded that taxpayers bail out the mortgage industry, while on the other hand they are trying to put pawn shops out of business. Obama vacations where the elite meet.  As the health care debate rages on, President Barack Obama will begin a weeklong vacation Sunday [8/23/2009] in Martha's Vineyard, an enclave of liberal royalty far from middle America, where his approval numbers are starting to stall.  Already, at least one group on the right is taking a jab at Obama over his beach vacation — at a 28-acre farm, said to rent for up to $50,000 a week. Obama's Martha's Vineyard lair:  28 acres.  The place where the Obama family plans to spend the last week of August will offer some room to roam on the remote island off the coast of Cape Cod.  The Blue Heron Farm, a 28-acre retreat in the town of Chilmark, once deemed one of the most expensive towns in America, is among a stable of resorts that fetch $35,000 to $50,000 a week, according to an island correspondent, Sam Bungey... A $6,000 purse? Michelle Obama flashes expensive taste.  Talk about luxury in the woods!  Michelle Obama showed off her more expensive taste in fashion by carrying a $5,950 VBH black alligator manila clutch while strolling the wooded landscape outside of Moscow, Russia this week. Update: Bag manufacturer:  Mistaken identity on First Lady's clutch.  Italian luxury goods manufacturer VBH boasted yesterday that First Lady Michelle Obama had toted their $5,950 alligator manila clutch earlier this week while on a trip to Russia.  No way, said the White House, which countered that the First Lady was carrying an $875 VBH patent leather clutch. The Editor says... Oh!  It's only an $875 purse.  Everybody has a couple of those, right? First Lady Michelle Obama steps out in Lanvin sneakers and they're only $540!  While volunteering Wednesday at a D.C. food bank, the First Lady sported her usual J.Crew cardigan, a pair of utilitarian capri pants and, on her feet, a sneaky splurge:  trainers that go for $540.  That's right:  These sneakers — suede, with grosgrain ribbon laces and metallic pink toe caps — are made by French design house Lanvin, one of fashion's hottest labels. Fashionable First Lady Michelle Obama helps the poor in $540 sneakers.  First Lady Michelle Obama, who's become quite the fashion role model with her J.Crew wear and buff-arm-spotlighting sleeveless frocks, is under scrutiny for what she wore on her feet the other day.  They're trendy Lanvin sneakers.  Which look really nice and comfy and all.  Trouble is, they cost $540.  If you can find a pair anywhere. Michelle Obama orders thigh-high boots.  Michelle Obama has kicked aside controversy over her expensive French sports shoes and ordered thigh-high luxury boots from the same country, her new shoemaker said today. ... In April, Mrs Obama attracted a flurry of comment after she wore a fashionable $540 pair of Lanvin sneakers when she handed out food to the poor at a Washington food bank. Pardon Me, But Did He Just Ask for Grey Poupon?  [Scroll down]  And that burger "joint" — well, it's not exactly a glorified White Castle or Steak and Shake — or even a Five Guys, it's a spot where you can drop up to $17.50 on a burger.  You can get yours with foie gras, bordalaise sauce, and even white truffle oil.  Just like Mickey D's, right?  It turns out that maybe the cool "let's-show-them-we-are-just-like-them" adventure was at least a little flawed, but you'd never know it by the news coverage. Obamas made $2.7M in 2008, paid $855K federal tax.  President Barack Obama's long tenure on the best-seller list is paying off:  He and his wife, Michelle, made $2.7 million last year, nearly all of it from his books.  While the income was far more than the U.S. median household income of about $50,000, it was far less than the $4.2 million the Obamas made in 2007. Obamas fly in chef 860 miles... just to make pizza.  When you're the president of the United States, only the best pizza will do — even if that means flying a chef 860 miles.  Chris Sommers, 33, jetted into Washington from St Louis, Missouri, on Thursday [4/9/2009] with a suitcase of dough, cheese and pans to to prepare food for the Obamas and their staff.  He had apparently been handpicked after the President had tasted his pizzas on the campaign trail last autumn. Rich, Raise-Your-Taxes Populists.  The tragedy is that moralists like Daschle, Geithner, Solis, etc. have far more access to tax lawyers and are far less likely to pay the consequences when caught than the putative "rich" that the liberal left, for the last year, has so cavalierly trashed.  Something larger and really weird is going on here.  Liberal tax raisers are not paying taxes.  The majority of big Wall Street money (cf. AIG, Fannie, Freddie, Goldman-Sachs, etc) is going to the Democratic Party. Everyman Obama courts socialites.  While publicly identifying with the nation's have-nots, the Obama administration has been quietly cultivating the Beltway social elite behind the scenes. Obama's Billionaires.  Despite funding the majority of his presidential run with paltry $5 donations from everyday Americans, President-elect Barack Obama has had a slew of billionaire backers with him on his journey to the White House -- plutocrats who provide economic and political advice and help to raise money.  Lots of money. Obama's billionaire buddies:  Ever since he ran for the Senate in 2004, Barack Obama has had a wealth of 10-figure tycoons advising — and funding — him. Caroline's Crib.  Forget Chappaqua.  This amazing Martha's Vineyard spread will be the next home-away-from-the-Beltway for New York's junior senator if Caroline Kennedy is tapped to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton.  The 366-acre estate — worth at least $50 million — just underwent a major renovation and rezoning that will keep it the exclusive province of Kennedy, 51. Democrat fat cats.  The Democratic House Caucus retreat was held this weekend at a Williamsburg luxury spa, to the cost of half a million dollars for the American taxpayer, and Mr. Obama flew the 155 miles on Air Force One (after getting to Andrews AFB by Marine One) for a brief appearance.  This is not just blatant hypocrisy by the president, it is downright political folly. ... Mr. Obama, who was all fire and brimstone for two years on the campaign trail, expressing solidarity with the poor and underprivileged in America, should be a bit more circumspect in events such as this. The Editor says... How many of you would take an airplane on a 155-mile trip?  It would be twice as fast to drive to your destination, because of all the delays and hassles at the airport.  Mr. Obama is above all that.  This incident also shows Obama's poor judgment:  For a lot less money, he could just as easily have taken the Marine Corps helicopter all the way to his destination.  But you see, your money doesn't matter to him. Superdelegate system is pure elitism.  In 1903, Wisconsin's "Fighting" Bob La Follette organized the first primaries in the United States.  La Follette hated boss-controlled conventions.  The aim of the primaries, he once said, is to remove the nomination from the hands of professionals.  There were no superdelegates prior to the 1980s, when Walter Mondale, one of the early architects of the superdelegate system, repudiated La Follette's democratic philosophy.  With the explicit aim of preventing voter insurgencies, Mondale helped to create a bloc of unelected kingmakers drawn from the Washington establishment. Obama campaign flush from wealthy California donors.  Howard Marks, chairman of Oaktree Capital Management in Los Angeles, donated $57,000, as did musician Herb Alpert.  Others include actors Harrison Ford and George Clooney, who gave $30,800 each; Rob Reiner, who gave $33,100; and Jennifer Aniston, Larry David, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Renee Zellweger and several other Hollywood figures, who gave $28,500. Washington's elite abuzz as Obamas settle on a school.  In a city where social status is conferred by proximity to political power, the Obamas' decision on where to educate their two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, seven, had assumed outsize importance — in no small part because of the potential social opportunities it offers to Washington's elite and wealthy parents. Limo Shortage for Denver Dems.  Limousine liberals may be forced to take the bus at the Democratic National Convention this month because Denver simply does not have enough limos and black cars to go around. Big Money Still Has Prominent Seat at Parties' Conventions.  When Senator Barack Obama gives his acceptance speech before 70,000 people at Invesco Field on Thursday in Denver, most supporters will be sitting under the open night sky.  But a group of lobbyists and corporate executives will watch the event from plush skyboxes, with catered food and a flowing bar, and a price tag of up to $1 million. The new world devised by Maurice Strong and George Soros.  In spite of the hype coming out of the Office of the President-elect, Obama is merely a fop for the global elite.  He is their, and not the people's true agent of change.  The January 20 inauguration with its promise of 5 million observers in Washington, D.C. will be the extravaganza of a lifetime, deepening recession notwithstanding.  It is Obama's job to demoralize the 58 million people who did not buy into his campaign and for all of those who do not want One World Order.  Starring among all the glitterati at the Inauguration Ball, Barack and Michelle are like the stick figures from a kindergartener's drawing, for this is an emperor who truly has no clothes. Pelosi's Wealth Greater Than Other Congressional Leaders.  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is the wealthiest of the top congressional leaders, with total assets valued at somewhere between $30 million and $131 million, according to federal financial disclosure statements. Where's the wealth gap?  Try Congress.  Together with her husband, Paul, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi owns a vineyard in St. Helena, Calif., valued at $5 million - $25 million; a town house in Norden, Calif., valued at $1 million - $5 million; rental property in Napa, Calif., valued at $500,000 - $1 million; and a Wells Fargo bank account containing $100,000 - $250,000.… Rent from the Napa property totaled $15,000 - $50,000; rental income from the vineyard totaled $50,001 - $100,000. House members doing well despite economic slump.  Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., one of the wealthiest members of Congress, and her real estate-magnate husband Paul Pelosi spent between $1 million and $5 million to buy the home they'd been living in on San Francisco's Broadway.  They also own a vineyard in St. Helena, Calif., worth between $5 million and $25 million and a town house in Norden, Calif., valued between $1 million and $5 million, according to annual financial disclosures released Monday [6/16/2008]. Filings provide a glimpse of corporate Clintons.  A close look at the delayed financial disclosure report of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for 2007 should banish any lingering thoughts that she and the former president are distinct entities.  As she entered the 2008 election year, the New York Democrat and Bill Clinton were clearly a corporation and they were rich. … They sold 165 separate securities accounts in April, 2007.  The valuation tables employed in the form indicate they were worth up to $25,440,000.  Significantly all 165 accounts were marked "J," meaning joint. Lawyer in Edwards saga bankrolls Texas Democrats.  The Dallas lawyer who helped John Edwards' former mistress move across the country has donated $3.5 million since 2005 to help fuel a Democratic resurgence in Texas, a newspaper reported Saturday.  Fred Baron has been by far the largest donor to a group called the Texas Democratic Trust, and Republicans are now taking aim at candidates who take money connected to him. A perfect match:  Barack Obama and the dogma-lite elite.  Barack Obama's presidential campaign has rested on two very different sources of financial support.  The first has been well documented:  the million or so small donors who gave less than £100 each, largely through Obama's peerless website and social networking efforts.  The second is less well known, but far more significant in terms of his future administration.  These are the financiers, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who perceive in him not only a likely winner, from an investment perspective, but also a man whose rise and ideology-lite politics closely mirror their own. Help!  I'm a Hollywood Republican.  It is, I kid you not, a badge of honor in Hollywood to hate America.  These airheads who have amassed millions through the free market economy constantly spout nonsense about the need for a Scandinavian style socialist government.  They don't even know that the Scandinavian countries are economic basket cases.  I'm not making this up.  They actually cruise Sunset Strip in their Bentleys and accuse Republicans of being greedy. It Can't Get Any Worse?  Idling behind a Lexus this morning I saw the latest bit of agitprop from the Obama campaign  — a "Got Hope?" bumper sticker.  The first question that popped into my mind was, "How bad can it be if you're driving an ES 350?" Obama's Little Red Schoolhouse.  [Barack Obama] recently told an interviewer that he opposes school choice because "although it might benefit some kids at the top, what you're going to do is leave a lot of kids at the bottom."  Not being left behind are Obama's daughters, who attend the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.  There, tuition ranges from $15,528 for kindergarten to $20,445 for high school. Joe Biden and the American nomenklatura.  In large and prosperous non-profit organizations I have gotten to know, I have observed all sorts of compensation to senior executives that doesn't show up as income.  Lavish offices, ample free time (some even offer paid "sabbaticals"), flexible work schedules, expense accounts, first class travel to exotic destinations for conferences, research, and other pleasant activities, superb dining facilities and cuisine, and on and on.  The net effect of wealth is transferred without the appearance of wealth. Joe Biden's his own worst enemy.  You want more proof that Joe Biden is Joe Six-Pack?  "Walk into Home Depot with me where I spend a lot of time."  To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, if a man will lie to you about hanging out at Home Depot, he'll lie to you about other things as well.  Home Depot?  What was Sen. Biden picking up, chlorine for the pool?  It surely wasn't a hammer, or work gloves.  When did the Home Depot start selling arugula? Michelle Obama says $600 is the price of a pair of earrings.  Michelle Obama said in Pontiac, Mich., on Wednesday [7/9/2008] that if her husband is elected he will offer more than a "quick fix" on the economy.  "You're getting $600 — what can you do with that?  Not to be ungrateful or anything, but maybe it pays down a bill, but it doesn't pay down every bill every month," she said.  "The short-term quick fix kinda stuff sounds good, and it may even feel good that first month when you get that check, and then you go out and you buy a pair of earrings." Obama's Fancy Snack:  While he [Barack Obama] was at a meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria at 4 p.m. Wednesday [10/15/2008], Michelle Obama called room service and ordered lobster hors d'oeuvres, two whole steamed lobsters, Iranian caviar and champagne, a tipster told Page Six. 'O' Ring: 30G Bling for Michelle.  The country's economy is in shambles, but President-elect Barack Obama is reportedly sparing no expense when it comes to bling for his first lady.  Obama is giving wife Michelle a $30,000 diamond-encrusted Harmony ring made of "black gold" — rhodium — the world's most expensive metal, London's Daily Mail reported online last night. Obama aide denies ring story.  The communications for Obama's transition, Dan Pfeiffer, flatly denied a Daily Mail report that Obama is buying an exotic $30,000 ring to thank his wife "for her support during the election." The Editor says... Does Obama himself deny it, or just some disposable "aide"?  Is Obama denying the purchase itself, or just the motive given by the Daily Mail? Reality sets in about Obama.  After abandoning his pledge to abide by public financing, this apostle of cleansing the political culture is now going after the high rollers.  As the July 3 New York Times reported, "Last week, the Obama campaign collected about $5 million at an event featuring celebrities in Los Angeles.  The evening began with a dinner at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for more than 200 people who had contributed $28,500 per couple, or raised $50,000." Obama's Liberal Shock Troops:  In 2005, billionaire investor George Soros convened a group of 70 super-rich liberal donors in Phoenix to evaluate why their efforts to defeat President Bush had failed.  One conclusion was that they needed to step up their long-term efforts to dominate key battleground states.  The donors formed a group called Democracy Alliance to make grants in four areas:  media, ideas, leadership and civic engagement.  Since then, Democracy Alliance partners have donated over $100 million to key progressive organizations. Cutting Off Energy:  The super luxury Kingsmill Resort, owned by Anheuser-Busch, sprawls over 2,900 lush, rolling acres along the James River in Virginia.  It's an incongruous place for a meeting of liberal Democrats who never tire of attempting to ingratiate themselves with America's blue-collar workers, folks who could never afford the luxury of traveling to Kingsmill for a round of golf followed by a session in the spa for the "gentlemen's skin renewal" or "revitalizing pedicure" services. Democracy Alliance:  Billionaires for Big Government.  Corporate America now leans left.  A year ago, six of the ten top-giving industries gave more to the GOP, but the watchdog Center for Responsive Politics finds that all are now giving more to Democrats.  (The Politico, October 15, 2007) Of more than $577 million donated by business, 56% has gone to Democrats, 44% to Republicans. Flatbed Hillary:  One of the more bizarre developments of this campaign season has been to see Hillary Clinton, of all people, turned into an electoral favorite of blue-collar white voters.  The reality is that very few people in politics have more contempt for white workers than does this product of Park Ridge, Wellesley, the Senate Watergate Committee, and the super powered Rose Law Firm. The Democrats' recurring nightmare:  The Party of the Little Guy appears to be caught in what Marxists like to call a contradiction.  Their rhetoric is all about compassion and helping, and taking care of the unfortunate.  But their political philosophy is anchored in elitism:  the notion that the government (and the elites running it) know better than Everyman what is good for him. … It turns out that Obama is as much of a snob as Kerry, albeit with a wife who thinks she is poor when they earn a million bucks a year, and feels aggrieved at the cruel way America has treated her. Media have a knack for hyping up the news.  Journalists still love to claim that the Democrats are the party for the poor and middle-class workers, while the Republicans cater to the rich.  If the truth be told and emphasized, the Republicans gain more of their political contributions in smaller amounts compared to the huge personal and political donations by the fat cats and corporations to the Democrats. Rangel Rents Apartments at Bargain Rates.  While aggressive evictions are reducing the number of rent-stabilized apartments in New York, Representative Charles B. Rangel is enjoying four of them, including three adjacent units on the 16th floor overlooking Upper Manhattan in a building owned by one of New York's premier real estate developers. Congressman Charlie Rangel Facing Questions About His Harlem Rental Apartments.  The New York Times reports that Rangel — who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee — has three adjacent apartments at a building called Lennox Terrace. He also has a fourth apartment which he uses as an office despite regulations that require a rent-stabilized apartment to be used only as a primary residence. Mr. Rangel's Very Good Deal.  Rent-stabilized apartments in New York City are supposed to be a way for the city to retain residents with moderate incomes — teachers and police officers, for example.  These apartments are very hard to get and even harder to keep.  And in recent years, too many senior citizens or struggling families have been evicted from their apartments — and the city itself — as landlords upgrade buildings and raise prices. Only after getting caught... Rangel:  I'm Evicting Myself.  Rep. Charles Rangel said today he will give up one of his four rent-stabilized apartments, for which he has paid about half of market rate for more than a decade.  "The decision has been made to relocate as soon as possible," said Rangel spokesman Emile Milne, as the Harlem Democrat faced a storm of controversy. Rangel's $trangle.  Embattled Rep. Charles Rangel has become an albatross around the necks of congressional candidates across the country.  In at least a dozen contests, Republican challengers are demanding their Democratic rivals return donations from Rangel, who is under fire for having four rent-regulated apartments. Rangel Calls for Probe into Letterhead of Law.  Embattled Rep. Charles Rangel said yesterday [7/17/2008] that he will seek an ethics ruling on whether it is proper for him to continue using congressional stationery to solicit funds for a controversial Harlem center named for him.  However, Rangel said the House Ethics Committee had no business probing his leases on four rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem, which critics have blasted as improper. Clintons' wealth skyrockets by 5,600 percent.  Hillary and Bill Clintons' wealth has skyrocketed to more than $20 million last year, a staggering 5,600 percent increase since President Clinton left the White House, according to their newly released tax records.  In Clinton's last full year in office, 2000, he and Mrs. Clinton earned $357,026. Last year, their estimated total income was $20.4 million.  That is an increase of more than 5,600 percent. The Clinton Cash Register:  Bill Clinton collected $10,085,000 in speeches alone in 2007, a figure that underscores his continued rock-star credentials on the international lecture circuit, according Sen. Hillary Clinton's financial disclosure forms for 2007, which were released Wednesday morning by the Secretary of the Senate. Rapid rise of Hillary's fortune:  The meteoric rise of the Clintons to the ranks of America's wealthiest families has presented a challenge to Hillary Clinton's presidential ambitions at a critical stage in the battle for the Democratic nomination.  The Clintons left the White House burdened by debt but have earned $109 million in the past eight years, putting them among the 14,500 richest families in the country and presenting a stark contrast to the impoverished families championed by her campaign. Canada a cash cow for Clinton.  Bill Clinton landed at Pearson International Airport one day in the autumn of 2005, and by the time he boarded his plane at the end of the day the former president's excellent Canadian adventure had earned him $475,000.  In that one day in the GTA, he had earned double his annual salary as president of the United States. Bill Clinton just keeps on getting.  Bill charges as much as half a million dollars to deliver the platitudes, homilies and dramatic pauses that made him bigger than Oprah. … Obviously, the most effective way to save lives and deliver hope to young people the world over is to hobnob with corporate tycoons and give speeches at half a million dollars a pop.  And so that is what Clinton has done.  Tirelessly.  For eight long, wearying years. Bill Clinton Earned $15.4 Million From Burkle Firm Since 2003.  "Most people who make that much money work for it," said Yale University tax law professor Michael Graetz, a former Treasury Department official in President George H.W. Bush's administration.  "What are they being paid for, and if it's the Sheikh of Dubai paying the husband of somebody who might be the next president of the United States, what do they think they're paying for?" Boy, That's Rich, Bubba!  Bill and Hillary Clinton have earned a staggering $109 million since leaving the White House — fueled by the former president's lucrative paid speeches, books and business deals at home and abroad, according to tax returns released late yesterday [4/4/2008].  The records give the most detailed glimpse yet of the one-man cottage industry that Bill Clinton has become since 2001. Clintons Report $109 Million in Income Over 8 Years.  It's good to be the Clintons.  On the same day that she proposed creating a cabinet-level position devoted to ending poverty, Hillary Clinton and her husband reported earning more than $109 million over eight years in newly released tax data. Are We an 'On Your Own Society'?  America has become a heartless "On Your Own Society," Hillary Clinton argues, where "the fruits of our modern global economy are showing up in the corporate bottom line, not in workers' paychecks."  This is hardly new rhetoric from Democrats. … So if Clinton isn't original, is she at least correct in her assessment? Liberals and Their False Idols:  Politicians, unlike cops, firemen and members of the military, are not called upon to do anything dangerous, heroic or the least bit self-sacrificial.  Instead, they build up fiefdoms on your tax dollars, go on junkets around the world, receive the sort of health care only millionaires can dream of and the sort of pensions no working stiff can even imagine. Al Gore's $100 Million Makeover:  Al and Tipper used to fret occasionally about money.  Not anymore.  They have a new multimillion-dollar home in a tony section of Nashville and a family home in Virginia, and have recently bought a multimillion-dollar condo at the St. Regis condo/hotel in San Francisco.  Available data indicate a net worth well in excess of $100 million. Al Gore's Convenient IPO:  What's an Emmy worth?  If you're former Vice-President Al Gore, it's worth just north of $1 million a year and roughly another $48 million in stock.  That's a hefty sum for a guy who of late has traveled the globe as a goodwill ambassador for mankind, stressing the need for humanity to wake up to the dangers of global warming.  Where's Gore getting the dough?  From a tiny, lightly watched cable TV channel called CurrentTV. Why the Obamas don't advertise their standard of living:  Campaigning for her husband in Zanesville before the Ohio primary, Michelle Obama described to a group of women how hard it had been for her and Barack to make ends meet:  "We spend between the two kids, on extracurriculars outside the classroom, we're spending about $10,000 a year on piano and dance and sports supplements.  And summer programs... Do you know what summer camp costs?" Obamas Donated Less Than 1% of Their 2000-2004 Income.  Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife Michelle gave $10,772 of the $1.2 million they earned from 2000 through 2004 to charities, or less than 1 percent, according to tax returns for those years released today by his campaign. … Bill Burton, a campaign spokesman, said the Obamas gave as much as they could afford. Obama's Former Pastor Getting $1.6M Home in Retirement.  A two-week FOX News investigation ... has uncovered where Wright will be spending a good deal of his time in retirement, and it is a far cry from the impoverished Chicago streets where the preacher led his ministry for 36 years.  FOX News has uncovered documents that indicate Wright is about to move to a 10,340-square-foot, four-bedroom home in suburban Chicago, currently under construction in a gated community. Wright Moves On Up.  The concept of practicing what you preach is apparently lost on Wright.  After decades of lecturing blacks to remain loyal to the black ghetto and eschew the white suburbs, he's now building a 10,340-square-foot mansion in the white suburbs.  Among its amenities:  an elevator, a rubberized exercise room and room for a future theater and indoor swimming pool. McMansion Marxism:  Padding between his reported whirlpool and circular driveway, or maybe while fishing out a snack from the butler's pantry, Wright can develop some thoughts for volume one of his memoirs on the blinding racism of bourgeois living in the USA.  Not that Wright is alone in his McMansion Marxism.  That's the familiar posture of most radicals:  the farther they get from Marxism, the better it looks; the more America protects their celebrity, status, and wealth, the more secure they feel in denouncing it. A Rich Irony:  Democrats have always insisted their party is the friend of the poor and unfortunate.  But a new analysis suggests their carefully cultivated image is false.  By crunching Internal Revenue Service data, the Heritage Foundation has found that the Democratic Party is the party of the rich.  Democrats now represent a majority of the country's wealthiest congressional districts. Inconvenient Al Guzzles More Electricity Than 20 Average Right-Wing Climate-Change Deniers.  [Al] Gore's mansion, [20-room, eight-bathroom] located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).  In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home. Gore Travels in Style.  Take for instead, his mode of both, air and ground transportation.  Since Gore only travels in hybrid vehicles, the Lexus that got him from the airport to the Brandt Centre was just that -- an $80,000 hybrid.  Turning now to the air, with the fuel Gore's private plane used for this trip, you could probably take your vehicle and travel back and forth between Vancouver and Halifax about four-and-a-half times. The great environmentalist? Tennessee mine enriched Gore, scarred land.  Al Gore Jr. received more than $500,000 in royalties from the owners of zinc mines who held mineral leases on his farm near Carthage, Tenn.  Now the mines have a new owner and are scheduled to reopen later this year.  Before the mines closed in 2003, they emitted thousands of pounds of toxic substances and several times, the water discharged from the mines into nearby rivers had levels of toxins above what was legal. Party of the Rich:  Using data provided by the Internal Revenue Service, [Mike] Franc looked at single-filer taxpayers earning more than $100,000 per year and married joint-filers earning more than $200,000 per year.  Franc discovered that the Democratic Party is the "party of the rich."  Franc said, "Electing Democrats is very closely correlated with how many wealthy households are in a district." Bill Clinton May Get Payout of $20 Million.  Former President Clinton stands to reap around $20 million — and will sever a politically sensitive partnership tie to Dubai — by ending his high-profile business relationship with the investment firm of billionaire friend Ron Burkle. Clinton loaned her campaign $5 million.  Senator Hillary Clinton confirmed at a press conference in Virginia this afternoon [2/6/2008] that she'd loaned her campaign $5 million … She's drawing on a pool of personal wealth estimated to be as much as $41 million, as well as a reported payout to Bill Clinton of $20 million from the Los Angeles billionaire manager Ron Burkle. Clinton gang sets up $1 million heist in the Hamptons.  The Clintons are heading for the beach this summer along with the Hamptons moneyed elite.  Next weekend they will be attending five fundraisers that could collect $1 million for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign war chest. Clinton Foundation Raised $135 Million.  Former President Clinton's nonprofit foundation raised more than $135 million last year as his wife ramped up her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to tax forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The Clintons' New Escape:  Bill and Hillary Clinton have their eyes on the ball when it comes to 2008, but in the meantime, has anyone noted that they bought a piece of beach property in the Dominican Republic right next to the beautiful domain of designer Oscar de la Renta and his wife, Annette? Clinton made $10 million for one year of speaking.  Bill Clinton has taken home more than $10 million for his speaking engagements in the last year.  The former US President is one of the best-paid speakers on the lucrative US circuit, but his biggest single fee was £230,000 paid for a talk in London last September. To Avoid Conflicts, Clintons Liquidate Holdings.  Concerned that their personal finances might become a political liability once again, Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton in April sold the millions of dollars of stocks held by their blind trust after learning that those investments included oil and pharmaceutical companies, military contractors and Wal-Mart, their aides said Thursday. Bill Clinton:  $10 Million Haul for Talks.  Former President Clinton, who might someday be the first spouse, traveled the globe last year, making more than $10 million giving speeches at corporate retreats, trade group gatherings and motivational venues.  The speaking engagements and their top-dollar fees were detailed in Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate financial disclosure report, made public Thursday.  The report showed that the former president and his presidency-seeking wife had assets of at least $10 million and might have as much as $50 million with no liabilities. $10 Million Blabber Bubba.  A globetrotting Bill Clinton raked in a whopping $10 million last year on the speaking circuit — his most successful year since leaving the Oval Office — pushing the former first couple's nest egg to as much as $50 million.  New personal financial records filed in the Senate by Hillary Rodham Clinton showed the ex-president hit the talk tour with gusto, delivering speeches across Europe, and in Australia, Canada, the Bahamas and South Africa. Hillary Defends Corporate Jet Use.  On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton was challenged by the press about the Clinton family's acceptance of more than $900,000 in free private travel from Infousa, a company linked to scamming the elderly. … And it's not like the Clintons couldn't afford to buy an air ticket — the family income since 2001 has been more than $63 million!  So why do they have to freeload from rich friends? 2008 Candidates Rely on Private Jets.  A flock of small jets took flight from Washington Thursday [4/26/2007], each carrying a Democratic presidential candidate to South Carolina for the first debate of the political season. … No one jet pooled, no one took commercial flights to save money, fuel or emissions. Corzine earned $6.1 million last year.  Multimillionaire New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine earned about $6.1 million during his first year as governor, nearly $50 million less than what he earned in 2005, according to income tax estimates released Thursday by his office. Save the Green Movement by Stopping the Insanity.  Laurie David has been labeled a "Gulfstream liberal" by Eric Alterman, himself a proud member of the Left and a regular columnist for the Nation.  He recognizes that Ms. David's brand of environmentalism is nothing more than a facade, a distraction from the financially secure yet intellectually boring life of the fabulously wealthy.  But this hobby has dire consequences for the rest of us. Call him 'Dollar Bill' Clinton.  No one brings in money for the Democratic Party like Bill Clinton.  Before the former president and party mega-star even took the stage at Newark's Performing Arts Center for New Jersey Democrats' annual fundraiser Friday night, the party has pulled in $1.3 million and counting.  Some of the money was raised because of Clinton's unmatched ability to draw out deep-pocketed donors. Ex-presidents' big payday.  We learned last week that in the six years since Bill Clinton left office, he has pocketed a staggering $40 million in speaking fees.  Tirelessly working the lecture circuit, he has delivered hundreds of speeches, often at a price of $150,000 and up.  Two-thirds of his speaking money has come from foreign sources, according to the Washington Post, including "Saudi Arabia's Dabbagh investment firm, which paid $600,000 for two speeches, and China's JingJi Real Estate Development Group, run by a local Communist Party official, which paid $200,000 for a speech." All the ex-President's money.  Former President Bill Clinton is one of a kind, but we knew that already.  No president before him has managed to cash in from his time in office with such shameless abandon.  A Washington Post story by John Solomon and Matthew Mosk is staggering in its revelations of Clinton's greed.  In the six years since he left the presidency, Clinton has taken in nearly $40 million -- between nine and 10 million of it last year.  Clinton averaged "almost a speech a day" in 2006.  Twenty percent of his fees reportedly "were for personal income."  The rest of his speeches, says the Post, were for no fee or for donations to Clinton's foundation. Clinton and the Boardrooms:  Senator Clinton has spent the past few months raising tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions from corporate America.  She splits her time between a $2.8 million mansion in Washington and a $1.7 million, five-bedroom house in Chappaqua. Hill Hauls In a Cool $10 Million.  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's weekend trip to California capped off a breathless week of fund-raising that hauled in nearly $10 million, revealing the reach of her network of wealthy supporters. Deval says state police helicopters are at his service.  Throwing caution to the political wind, Gov. Deval Patrick is hopping state police helicopters for beat-the-traffic trips, and aides say he'll keep using the taxpayer-funded chopper chauffeur despite his predecessor Jane Swift's public slapdown for similar flights.  "The state police helicopter is there for his use when he needs it for official business," said Patrick spokeswoman Cyndi Roy.  "The governor during the campaign pledged to be governor of the entire state," she added.  "He's not going to be a governor who sits in his office on Beacon Hill." A spendy dinner for Obama backers.  More than 350 generous campaign contributors — some of them donating $28,500 to dine with a presidential candidate — cheered Democrat Barack Obama on Wednesday [8/7/2008] at an exclusive fundraiser for him at the Hilton Minneapolis Hotel. Hillary and Barack battle it out for Hollywood elite's millions.  Barack Obama's surging campaign for the White House is winning him new friends in Hollywood, where chequebooks speak louder than political opinions and some of the most influential entertainment industry figures are already promising big-money contributions that might otherwise be going to Hillary Clinton. Hollywood heavyweights set to rake in cash.  One of the first major fund-raisers for the budding Barack Obama presidential campaign will be hosted by entertainment moguls David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg — that's the Hollywood buzz. Oprah Winfrey is TV's richest celebrity.  Winfrey, whose media empire includes a magazine and stakes in syndicated daytime talk shows by Dr. Phil McGraw and Rachael Ray, earned an estimated $260 million between June 2006 and June 2007. The Porkbusters Hall of Shame:  If you're a West Virginian, you have to recognize a central truth:  it's Robert Byrd's state -- you're just living in it.  In his over forty-eight years (!) in the United States Senate, Senator Byrd has achieved a pork record that is second to none.  From the Robert C. Byrd Expressway to the Robert C. Byrd Freeway; the Robert C. Byrd Institute to the Robert C. Byrd Federal Building (both of them), Senator Byrd has truly left his mark on West Virginia -- and the federal budget.  It would be appropriate to erect some kind of monument to his century-spanning resume -- except that he already did so himself. Pelosi's Four-Day 'Coronation' Draws Conservative Criticism.  The swearing-in of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as the first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives next week will be the focus of four days of concerts, church services and fund-raising events that conservative analysts called a "coronation" that will emphasize partying over policy. Billionaires for Big Government.  The Democracy Alliance does not endorse candidates for public office. … This emerging vanguard of the proletariat is hardly open to the common rabble because its members must satisfy one requirement:  They must be rich.  Members, who are called "partners," pay an initial $25,000 fee and $30,000 in yearly dues.  They also must pledge to give at least $200,000 annually to groups that the alliance endorses.  Partners meet two times a year in committees to decide on grants, which focus on four areas:  media, ideas, leadership and civic engagement.  Recommendations are then made to the DA board, which passes them on to all DA partners.  The alliance discourages partners from discussing DA affairs with the media, and it requires its grant recipients to sign nondisclosure agreements. Why Kerry's crack matters.  Despite their pose as "the party of the little guy," the dominant Democrats are patronizing elitists who were born to privilege — people like Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and, yes, John Kerry.  As a matter of fact, the very phrase "little guy" or "little people" is obviously condescending.  The people who volunteer for our armed services aren't little in any sense:  they're big and self-reliant and proud and powerful and determined, and rightly annoyed by Kerry's demeaning but revealing attitude.  Predictably, major veterans' organizations (including the American Legion) have demanded his apology. The elite doesn't understand the South.  The know-it-alls in New York and Washington don't have a clue about the American South.  They don't comprehend its political might and economic muscle, and thus the ultimately crippling impact Katrina is going to have on them, too.  It's that simple. Kerry Asked About Campaign Donations.  Democrats could win the House and maybe even the Senate next month.  So why isn't John Kerry, the party's 2004 presidential nominee, opening his wallet to help?  That's the question raised on a Web site, heyjohn.org, which points out Americans gave more than $300 million to the Massachusetts senator's bid for the White House two years ago and argues Kerry should be more generous. Kerry is pressured to share campaign wealth.  As he campaigns extensively on behalf of House and Senate candidates, Senator John F. Kerry is under increasing pressure from Democratic Party leaders and activists to tap his $14 million campaign account and spread the money around to help the party's efforts.  Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, has given less than $15,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee since the beginning of 2005. Kerry's inconvenient truth.  While running for eco-moralizer-in-chief in 2004, Kerry was asked by The Detroit News editorial board what car he drove.  Without any hint of irony, he said:  "Well, we have a couple of Chrysler minivans.  We have a Jeep. ... and a PT Cruiser up in Boston. ... and we have some SUVs. ... and an old Dodge 600 that I keep in the Senate. ... and I also have a Chevy.  A big Suburban." Lifestyles of Lear Jet liberals:  Limousine liberals, move over.  You've been out-glammed by Lear Jet liberals who burn beaucoup fossil fuels in the sky as they soar around the planet fighting global warming.  Last week, they flew to their Mecca, the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York City.  For the left-leaning and loaded, this is the meeting that has it all — the mega-rich paying to be seen caring about poor people and the environment, while posing for photos with former President Bill Clinton. The Top 1% ... of What?.  As many others have done, Virginia's Democratic Senator-elect Jim Webb recently complained in The Wall Street Journal of an "ever-widening divide" in America, claiming "the top 1% now takes in an astounding 16% of national income, up from 8% in 1980."  Those same figures have been repeatedly echoed in all major newspapers, including The Journal.  Yet the statement is clearly false. Former President Rakes in $7.5 Million.  Life after the White House has proven lucrative for former President Clinton, who made nearly $7.5 million in speaking fees last year and sometimes earned as much as $350,000 for a single appearance. Liberals pledge millions to revive US left.  Scores of the US's richest people have pledged $1,000,000 or more towards a new attempt to reinvigorate the American left and counter the powerful Republican political machine.  The money will be funnelled through an organisation called the Democracy Alliance which, according to a report in the Washington Post, will help fund a network of thinktanks and advocacy groups seeking to halt the shift to the cultural and political right. Who would have thought Hillary would be perceived as too conservative? Stars take the shine off Hillary's bid.  From George Clooney to Sharon Stone to Susan Sarandon, the Beverly Hills set has turned on Clinton. … Hollywood liberals are a vital source of election funds.  "Hollywood is like a piggy bank for the Democrats.  No one wants that cut off," said one senior Democrat activist. Guest-worker plan is un-American.  Sen. Ted Kennedy may do a lot of talking about his love for the little guy, but if two major proposals he has made in this Congress were to become law, it would be a disaster for the poorest American workers and a blow to American freedom. Kennedy to Cash In.  A bidding war has erupted for the rights to Sen. Ted Kennedy's (D-Mass.) autobiography, which could end up well into the mid-seven figure range.  The floor price to get in the running is believed to be around $2 million. Liberals and class:  Part II.  Having imagined a world in which each individual has the same probability of success as anyone else, intellectuals have been shocked and outraged that the real world is nowhere close to that ideal. Liberals and class:  part III.  Sometimes it seems as if liberals have a genius for producing an unending stream of ideas that are counterproductive for the poor, whom they claim to be helping.  Few of these notions are more counterproductive than the idea of "menial work" or "dead-end jobs." Rich Liberals:  John Kerry and his wife, Teresa, are worth an estimated $500 million.  Along with a $35 million private Gulfstream V jet and an $800,000 boat, they own five homes in the U.S.  (Source:  MSNBC.com) There is much more information about John Kerry (in case you've forgotten) here. Social Security reform threatened by elitist liberals.  According to public record, one of every three members of the Senate and one out of every four members of the House are millionaires.  Despite popular stereotypes of Republicans as the party of the rich and Democrats as the party of the working class, the wealthiest member of the Senate (John Kerry of Massachusetts) and the wealthiest member of the House (Jane Harman of California) are both Democrats.  Of the top six wealthiest senators, five are Democrats. Easy money in California:  Much of this exclusionary agenda is pushed by people who inherited great wealth and are using it to buy a sense of importance as deep thinkers and moral leaders protecting the environment.  The foundations and movements they spearhead are driving working people out of areas dominated by limousine liberals, who are constantly proclaiming their concern for the poor, the children and minorities. The oldest fraud:  Election frauds are nothing new and neither are political frauds in general.  The oldest fraud is the belief that the political left is the party of the poor and the downtrodden.  The election results in California are only the latest evidence to give the lie to that belief.  The most affluent counties were where Kerry had his strongest support. Party stereotype update.  Democrats:  the party of the little guy.  Republicans:  the party of the wealthy.  Those images of America's two major political wings have been frozen for decades.  The stereotypes were always incomplete, but for a long time they reflected rough truths.  Over the last generation, however, that has dramatically changed. John Kerry, Useful Idiot.  While Kerry's handlers might try to cast their candidate as a man of the people, he is anything but.  Remember, this is a man who has twice married multimillionaire heiresses; a man who has multiple mansions on multiple continents; a man who windsurfs (poorly) off tony Nantucket; a man who rides a bicycle that costs more than some new cars; a man who spends, oh, maybe $15,000 to jet his hairdresser cross country for a trim.  Yes, John Kerry is the latest in a line of "inheritance-welfare liberals" — those who were raised dependent on inheritance rather than self-reliance.  Is it any wonder, then, that the character and values of these inheritance-welfare liberals are all but indistinguishable from the character and values of those who depend on state welfare? Kerry's Class Warfare:  "Working Families" vs. "The Privileged".  In his victory speech at the Iowa caucus, John Kerry uttered a line that exquisitely captured a staple of his Leftist politics — class warfare.  "Count the cost that working families are paying while the privileged ride high and reap the rewards," he said. Vote your gun.  Gun owners and hunters, don't let Kerry fool you with his "I'm a gun owner and hunter and I respect the Second Amendment" bovine scatology.  Kerry is about as pro-gun and pro-hunting as I am pro-Dixie Chicks, Michael Jackson, Cat Stevens and Hans Blix.  Have you seen any video or stills of Kerry handling a gun?  He looks about as knowledgeable, natural and comfortable with a firearm as Al Gore does trying to French kiss Tipper. Here's your bill.  There is no bigger name in making a business out of post-presidential life than Mr Clinton.  Reports have him earning well over $130,000 a speech, and this week he is making at least three…. John Edwards Edwards' haircuts cost a pretty penny.  Looking pretty is costing John Edwards' presidential campaign a lot of pennies.  The Democrat's campaign committee picked up the tab for two haircuts at $400 each by celebrity stylist Joseph Torrenueva of Beverly Hills, Calif., according to a financial report filed with the Federal Election Commission. John's $400 Trim:  Democratic White House hopeful John Edwards insists on first-class pampering — enjoying $400 haircuts on the road and plunking down nearly $500 for swank spa treatments, according to campaign records.  Edwards, who touts himself as the poor man's champion and even launched his bid from New Orleans' hurricane-devastated Lower Ninth Ward, tucked the vanity treatments into his 5,236-page first-quarter Federal Election Commission filing under "consulting" expenses. Update: Cost Of Edwards' Haircut Hits $1,250.  Beverly Hills stylist Joseph Torrenueva tells the Washington Post that one of his haircuts for Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards cost $1,250 because Torrenueva had to fly to Atlanta and missed two days of work as a result. … Torrenueva, a Democrat, said he began cutting Edwards' hair for free but wound up charging him $300 to $500 per haircut, plus the cost of airfare and hotel stays.  That's because Torrenueva was often forced to meet Edwards on the campaign trail to shear his locks. Hair comes the groomed.  Poor John Edwards.  He follows Barack Obama on the podium at a conference of mostly anti-war Democrats and it's like watching air whistle out of a balloon.  Obama, a charismatic candidate for change in the mould of Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy, has just worked the crowd brilliantly.  Then Edwards walks in…. The Breck girl and (tax-funded?) haircuts.  John Edwards has acknowledged that one haircut (and almost certainly at least two others) he received during the 2004 general-election campaign, when he was the Democrats' vice presidential nominee, cost $1,250.  His staff insists that Mr. Edwards paid for the haircuts himself, but it has declined to provide the evidence in the form of cancelled checks or credit-card statements. Edwards touts record as trial lawyer.  Democrat John Edwards says his experience as a trial lawyer makes him the presidential contender best able to give voters hope — and to give the establishment grief. The evolution of John Edwards:  John Edwards tells voters that there are still two Americas.  What Iowa caucusgoers must decide is if there are two John Edwardses.  Four years ago, the fresh-faced then-North Carolina senator defended his support for the Iraq war, prescribed a gradual approach to health care reform and told Iowa caucusgoers not to expect him to criticize his fellow Democrats running for president.  Today, he calls his Iraq vote a mistake, embraces universal health care and regularly attacks party front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. Two Americas.  When Sen. John Edwards ran for president four years ago, the North Carolina Democrat declared that President Bush had divided the nation into "two Americas ... one America that does the work, another America that reaps the reward."  Turns out that the other America lives right next door to the 28,000-square-foot, $5.3 million mansion Mr. Edwards has built near Chapel Hill, N.C. Edwards Takes Heat Over Lavish Estate.  With a current building value of $4.3 million, the unfinished Edwards estate is already about $1 million more expensive than any other house in the county, according to tax records.  It sits on land worth about $1.1 million.  Edwards first purchased the land in 2004, during his failed run as vice president.  He recently sold his mansion in Washington's tony Georgetown neighborhood for $5.2 million. How John Edwards makes his millions grow:  Edwards' sprawling, 48-page campaign-finance disclosure for 2006 reveals substantial investments in limited partnerships, subprime-mortgage lenders and an offshore hedge fund.  The latter two run contrary to stands he has taken as a candidate. The Party of the Rich.  The GOP has historically been the party of both Main Street and Wall Street.  But over the past decade, the plutocrats have increasingly become Democrats.  Billionaires for Bush are increasingly outnumbered by billionaires who hate Bush.  And Republicans in limousines are being outpaced by Democrats in Lear Jets. In the Beverly Hills Style:  Candidate's $400 Coiffure.  John Edwards, the North Carolina Democrat, announced on Thursday that he was reimbursing his campaign $800 to cover what his aides said was the cost of two haircuts. … Mr. Edwards has presented himself in the Democratic field as an advocate of working-class Americans, lamenting the nation's growing economic disparity. $400 haircut could ruin one's image.  Granted, John Edwards is a wealthy man and he can pay whatever he wants for a trim.  But those of us in the cheap seats are likewise entitled to think his pricey coif sends a message jarringly at odds with the populist theme of Edwards' campaign.  After all, this is the guy who likes to style himself the "son of a millworker," standing up for the common man.  The common man, not to put too fine a point on it, doesn't pay $400 for a trim. Edwards Got Rich Hurting the Poor.  Trailing in the polls, John Edwards spent the past week telling the poor and downtrodden how much he cares about them.  He even insisted that his Kennedy-esque "poverty tour" was not part of his campaign to capture the White House.  Yeah, just like all those years he spent latched to the back bumper of an ambulance were all out of the goodness of his heart. Don't shut Edwards up.  "They want to shut me up," says John Edwards, who apparently thinks jokes about his $400 haircuts are part of a plot to keep him quiet.  I am on his side.  Leave the man alone.  Let his jaw keep flapping at 100 mph.  With every word the Democratic candidate for president utters, the public learns that much more about his demagogic, hypocritical phoniness.  Even in a recent Creston, Iowa, tantrum about scary forces spouting trivia to drown out his seriousness, he was busily providing evidence that bunkum is his specialty. Poor Scam:  John Edwards is hawking only himself.  Last week, we learned that Edwards received $55,000 to give a speech, "Poverty, the Great Moral Issue Facing America," at the University of California, Davis.  The poor students who attended were charged more than $17 a ticket.  Earlier this month, it was reported that despite the fact he denounces predatory lending and subprime mortgages for the poor, Edwards made nearly $500,000 as a consultant to a hedge fund involved in that business. Is Edwards running for king?  He already has a castle.  When it comes to big houses, how big is too big?  The answer apparently is 28,000 square feet, which is the size of John Edwards' North Carolina home.  If Edwards wants to continue being in the top tier of Democratic presidential hopefuls, he may well have to put a "For Sale" sign on his behemoth of a house and move into ordinary rich man's digs, like, say, a 12,000 square foot mansion. Elizabeth Edwards Favors "Rage".  How in the world did these vile women find positions as the official bloggers in the Edwards campaign?  According to Men's Vogue magazine, they were hired by, you guessed it, St. Elizabeth.  And even after their wretched bigotry triggered a national outcry, John Edwards refused to fire them.  But Elizabeth Edwards wasn't confronted on a single one of these statements during any of her media appearances. That Was No Lady -- That Was My Husband.  The Edwards campaign is apparently still running low on donations, so this week they went back to their top fundraiser: me. Nonprofit center benefited Edwards.  John Edwards ended 2004 with a problem:  how to keep alive his public profile without the benefit of a presidential campaign that could finance his travels and pay for his political staff.  Edwards, who reported this year that he had assets of nearly $30 million, came up with a novel solution, creating a nonprofit organization with the stated mission of fighting poverty. Edwards Returns Lobbyist Money.  Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, who reiterated his commitment Tuesday [7/24/2007] to never accept campaign donations from special interest groups, recently returned $3,400 from lobbyists.  Edwards spokeswoman Colleen Murray said the campaign returned some money donated by a registered lobbyist last week, and money from two others was refunded Tuesday after The Associated Press inquired about the donations. The Man Behind the Haircut.  Last month, Elizabeth Edwards complained:  "We can't make John black, we can't make him a woman.  Those things get you a lot of press, worth a certain amount of fund-raising dollars."  That's right:  All Edwards has is a wife with cancer.  And as fiercely as the couple tries to play that victim card, Edwards remains in third place. Edwards' finances and populism clash.  Once again, John Edwards' money is getting in the way of his message.  His Democratic presidential campaign spent yesterday responding to a front-page Wall Street Journal report showing that a company Edwards worked for and has invested $16 million in, Fortress Investment Group, owns mortgage companies that have moved to foreclose on homeowners in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans.  The newspaper identified 34 homes in foreclosure suits. Edwards backs mandatory preventive care.  Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said on Sunday [9/2/2007] that his universal health care proposal would require that Americans go to the doctor for preventive care. It's easy to throw somebody else's money at the country's problems. Edwards Calls For Universal Preschool.  Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards rolled out a program for reforming primary education in the United States on Friday [9/21/2007], proposing to pay teachers up to $15,000 more in high poverty areas and initiating universal preschool.  Edwards was to detail the proposals, which also include longer school years and reforming No Child Left Behind, later in the day in a speech at a Des Moines middle school. John Edwards Thinks He's Wiser than Ben Franklin.  Franklin you see, believed in the wisdom of the individual rather than the government, and he spoke often about the need to guard against the growth of government and the inevitable intrusion on individual rights.  Believing he and government know best, Edwards has now announced more details about his plan for government to take over the healthcare decisions for every man, woman, and child in America. Two Edwardses:  Once a great hope, now unliked in party.  The dynamic performance by John Edwards at last Sunday's Democratic presidential debate, assailing his competitors for the nomination, got high marks from political reporters, Republican politicians and left-wing activists.  But not from the Democratic establishment.  Once their great hope for the future, Edwards now is massively unpopular among party regulars who neither like nor trust him. Edwards plans big for presidency.  John Edwards says if he's elected president, he'll institute a New Deal-like suite of programs to fight poverty and stem growing wealth disparity. … Edwards, a former Democratic senator from North Carolina, says the federal government should underwrite universal pre-kindergarten, create matching savings accounts for low-income people, mandate a minimum wage of $9.50 and provide a million new Section 8 housing vouchers for the poor. Edwards gets $50,000 to make a speech about poverty An embarrassment of riches for John Edwards.  Democrat John Edwards has eloquently established his credentials as an advocate for the poor with a presidential campaign focused on the devastating effects of poverty in America.  But the former North Carolina senator's populist drive has hit some land mines:  a pair of $400 haircuts, a $500,000 paycheck from a hedge fund, and now a $55,000 payday for a speech on poverty to students at the University of California-Davis. John Edwards Charged $55,000 to Speak About Poverty, Media Mum.  If a Republican presidential candidate like Rudy Giuliani or John McCain charged a $55,000 fee to speak at a major university about poverty, would the media be all over it like white on rice? Immigration Inconsistencies.  There is, of course, the hilarious inconsistency and largeness of John Edwards charging $50,000 to give a college speech on poverty; specifically noting that we live in two Americas, one rich (those who get paid $50,000 for a half-hour speech) and one poor (those who have to take out a long-term loan to pay for their college textbooks — and whose college payments paid for Edward's $50,000 speaking fee). Edwards' bumper sticker:  Last month he was the poster boy for hair bling and offshore fund-dumping.  Last week he was spanked for receiving $55,000 to speak to a group of students at a public college about poverty and getting a cut of the booty from the recovery of $500 million in sunken treasure. Conservatives are more generous than liberals Conservatives More Charitable than Liberal Scrooges.  During this holiday season, it is worth remembering some classic examples of liberals not putting their money where there mouths are.  For instance, reporters discovered that Vice President Joe Biden donated an average of $369 a year to charity.  In 1997, reporters unearthed that then-Vice President Al Gore only donated $353 to charity the previous year. ... These examples of liberals being miserly perfectly symbolize the class of elite liberals who want to fund every pet cause with everyone else's money but their own. Money, time, blood.  Arthur C. Brooks spent 12 years as a professional French horn player with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and other ensembles.  Then he entered academia and is now Professor of Public Administration at Syracuse University.  In his well-researched book, "Who Really Cares:  the Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism" (Basic, 2006), Brooks uses statistics to demolish years of propaganda. Why are conservatives more generous to the poor?  So what are we to make of the fact that conservative Americans donate 30 percent more to charity than liberal Americans?  A new book called Who Really Cares, by Syracuse University professor Arthur Brooks, is not going to please the Howard Dean crowd.  The book states flat-out that religious Americans who vote Republican are far more likely to be generous to the downtrodden than secular-progressives. Professor Stumbles on the obvious:  Conservatives More Generous Than Liberals.  When it comes to the charitable impulse, liberals are only compelled to give away other peoples' money.  Left to their own devices, they'd just as soon pass the plate up and have somebody else fill it. Who really cares?  People who identify themselves as conservatives donate money to charity more often than people who identify themselves as liberals.  They donate more money and a higher percentage of their incomes.  It is not that conservatives have more money.  Liberal families average 6 percent higher incomes than conservative families. Charitable Nation.  The further to the left you are — particularly to the secular left — the less likely you are to donate your time or money to charity. … What's interesting to me is that Europeans are uncharitable for the same reason liberal secularists tend to be.  In America, as in Europe, the more you think the state should provide for everything, the less you think anybody else should provide anything. Why the 'Christian Left' is not.  Who was it that brought relief in record supply to Tsunami and Katrina victims — not the leftist Academics, spoiled Hollywood starlets, or the National Organization for Women.  It was the bible-believing, faith practicing, church going religious right.  For biblical Christians to associate themselves in any way with the progressive leftists in America today is to associate oil with water.  So take your pick, choose to be a faithful, biblically centered Christian, or a godless, amoral leftist — but the two do not go together. Liberals Give 'Til It Hurts (You).  In 2009, the Obamas gave 5.9 percent of their income to charity, about the same as they gave in 2006 and 2007.  In the eight years before he became president, Obama gave an average of 3.5 percent of his income to charity, upping that to 6.5 percent in 2008.  The Obamas' charitable giving is equally divided between "hope" and "change."  George W. Bush gave away more than 10 percent of his income each year he was president, as he did before becoming president. Anti-capitalism Much of the effort to "watch out for the little guy" is the result of the political left's jealousy of other people's wealth, or guilt about their own wealth.  Either way, liberals can't stand it when capitalism succeeds.  But it is a mistake to believe that poor people are built up when rich people are torn down. More class warfare.  A key element of the John Kerry-John Edwards campaign is an us-versus-them theme, where "us" are the poor and middle class and "them" are the greedy rich.  Edwards famously characterized this dichotomy as "Two Americas" during his run for the Democratic nomination.  The clear implication of the Democrats' message is that the rest of us would somehow be better off if the rich were worse off. 'Depleting' water, 'poisoning' drinks.  For nearly four years a worldwide network of Leftist activists has been trying to blacken the name of The Coca-Cola Company.  The purpose of this corporate campaign is to put a halt to ostensibly unjust business practices, particularly at Coke bottling plants in Third World countries.  Led by Ray Rogers, a renowned New York-based hired gun for organized labor, the campaign shows no signs of slowing down.  Exactly where Rogers' Campaign to Stop Killer Coke is getting its money is a separate, if intriguing issue. The Few Jerks That Make Everybody Suffer.  Every time [an overpaid executive] in effect pillages a publicly held company, it provides more fodder for Democrats and liberals who perpetually seek to "tax the rich."  In "rich," of course, they usually include families with three kids and parents who are not multimillionaires, but who might make a combined $250,000 yearly.  In fact, the new Democratic Congress may shove into higher tax brackets families earning far less than that. Dems to tackle "income inequality".  Understanding [Barney] Frank requires understanding the deep recesses of the Democrats' psyche about wealth and its creation.  Recall former House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri, who once said people of wealth in America are "the people who have won the lottery of life."  Obviously, Messrs. Frank and Gephardt consider the old hard-work formula dated and dysfunctional. "Corporate Social Responsibility" Environmentalists practice Corporate Social Irresponsibility.  It's trendy to talk about "corporate social responsibility."  The idea is companies have obligations beyond making a profit for their shareholders or creating products and services that their customers want; they have responsibilities to wider society as well.  So, CSR may sound harmless, even noble.  But in practice it can be deeply injurious to some of the world's poorest, least advantaged, and most vulnerable people. Shame on You!  During the past decade social and environmental activists have been wildly successful convincing thousands of business executives to embrace corporate socialism.  The so-called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement had business executives spending corporate capital on programs and policies that contribute very little to profitability and, in some cases, harmed their companies' bottom lines. ... Guess what all of you corporate appeasers, CSR is about to become real mandatory! CSR:  Corporate Shakedown Racket.  For those who value private property, unfettered competition and the principle of taxation with representation, wake up and smell the new generation of power-hungry socialists hiding within a Trojan Dragon called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Corporate Social Responsibility:  Picking 91 Million Pockets.  Corporate executives are responsible for obeying laws and regulations.  However, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement is all about business leaders spending company resources (a.k.a. other people's money) on social and environmental programs that are not mandated by law.  It does not take an economics guru to conclude that diverting corporate assets away from activities that improve earnings endangers the financial wellbeing of millions of Americans. General Electric and Al Gore Scheme to Undermine Domestic Oil Drilling.  It's tragic that key corporate giants are on the wrong side of the energy debate.  Rather than recognize that our current economy is dependent on fossil fuels, too many CEOs have been seduced by the notion that corporate responsibility is defined by Al Gore's view of climate science. Forty Years of Perverse "Social Responsibility":  Lewis Carroll's "Looking Glass" logic too often seems to be a guiding principle for environmental and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activists.  They claim to be committed to people and planet, not just profits — and to honesty, transparency, accountability and human health.  One would expect that such basic ethical standards would apply equally to for-profit companies and nonprofit advocacy corporations.  However, the activists who defined CSR standards routinely exempt themselves and use the terms primarily to pressure companies, raise money and advance political agendas. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the Rope that will hang Capitalists.  Karl Marx once remarked, "The last capitalist we hang shall be the one who sold us the rope."  However, Marx had no idea the rope would be corporate social responsibility (CSR) and not greed.  In keeping with CSR doctrine, CEOs are opening their doors to activist groups with great fanfare in hopes of maximizing both "the social good" and corporate profits.  Regrettably, these CEO's are maximizing neither. The responsible corporation.  Does anybody believe that companies should be socially irresponsible?  I don't think so.  The problem is that few people seem to agree on what corporate social responsibility actually means. Putting Class Warfare in Context:  Even if you took every last dollar of profit and redistributed it into wages and benefits, it would amount to a 21.6% hike across the board.  And then the economy would collapse, because no sane businessman will stay open (and thus provide jobs) if he's forbidden to make money. GE Irresponsibility:  CSR activists call themselves stakeholders, and demand a controlling voice in all matters corporate.  But they weren't elected.  They have little or no ownership interest in the company.  And their only real "stake" is a desire to advance their ideologies.  Their agendas typically oppose energy development and emphasize distant, minor, conjectural or exaggerated risks like global warming and "endocrine disruption." Corporate Social Responsibility cuts both ways.  It is tiresome to note that Americans are divided politically.  Despite this fact, companies are becoming ever-more entrenched in political issues.  Not just any issues mind you; contentious issues that have already driven a wedge through our country's political institutions. Shining the Light on Wal-Mart's Corporate Social Responsibility Blind Spot.  Wal-Mart's emphasis on fluorescent lighting illuminates a much deeper problem.  First, it illustrates the company doesn't understand the nature of its battle or the motivation of its adversaries.  For the Left and its socialism leanings, Wal-Mart is a symbol of capitalism and free enterprise.  This represents a mortal threat to labor unions and aspiring liberal politicians who value economic equality through wealth redistribution. The economics of CSR:  Economics matters; the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement obscures basic economic principles by redefining the meaning of a private transaction.  Should this redefinition be successful, our economic growth and vitality will suffer.  Right now, the prognosis is not good because the Corporate Social Responsibility movement is steadily gaining prominence in the business community. CSR and the Democratic takeover.  It?s official.  Nancy Pelosi is going to be the next Speaker of the House and Harry Reid will be the next Majority Leader of the Senate.  Should the Left consolidate its power past 2008, the future of tax cuts and pro-growth legislation would be in doubt and economic growth would suffer as a result.  There is, however, another less obvious implication from the election that may significantly affect the economic well-being of our country:  the Democratic takeover of the Congress hands the political levers of power to people who support the efforts of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activists. The Economic Recession and the Future of CSR.  It was against CSR's initial rise that Milton Friedman famously wrote: "That is why, in my book Capitalism and Freedom, I have called it [CSR] a "fundamentally subversive doctrine" in a free society, and have said that in such a society, "there is one and only one social responsibility of business?to use it resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud." "Socially Responsible" Corporations:  Whose Wealth Are They Spreading Around?  Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) departments are much in vogue among Fortune 500 companies, but what do they really do?  In Africa, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere around the world, large corporations frequently boast about the social welfare CSR projects they fund as a way for them to "give back."  Such comments raise this question:  If these corporations are so flush with cash, why don't they reinvest it to grow their businesses, or "give it back" to their customers in the form of lower prices or their shareholders as dividends? Corporate social responsibility as corporate welfare.  Walter Olson and blogger Professor Bainbridge make the case that the notion of "Corporate Social Responsibility" can be a smoke screen for efforts to kill smaller competitors. Michelle Obama's apocryphal lingerie shopping binge: Editor's note: This event may or may not have happened.  See recap/commentary at the bottom of this subsection. Agent Provocateur sales boosted by US First Lady Michelle Obama.  The First Lady is better known for shopping at more modestly priced High Street brands.  But along with the the Queen of Qatar, Sheikha Mozah, she closed off part of Madison Avenue to spend time in the luxury lingerie shop.  Their purchases contributed to a market-spanking 12.5pc lift in sales.  Agent Provocateur, which is styled on vintage Hollywood glamour, sells handmade Calais lace corsets that sell for up to £900, which could ruffle the feathers of more than just President Obama in an election year. Undie-Gate at the White House.  At a time of budget cutting and belt-tightening in the U.S., the White House found itself in the awkward position of having to deny several stories that ran in British newspapers on Monday that claimed First Lady Michelle Obama loosened her purse strings last year to go on a $50,000 lingerie shopping spree at Agent Provocateur on Madison Avenue in New York.  The Telegraph, one of several British publications that ran the story, claimed the high-end lingerie shop had to close temporarily last year so the First Lady could shop with the Queen of Qatar, Sheikha Mozah. Michelle Obama 'spends £32,000 on lingerie'.  Like the Duchess of Cambridge, Mrs Obama is known for shopping on the high street.  But she took advantage of a private visit to one of the firm's New York stores alongside the Queen of Qatar, Sheikha Mozah, after part of the city's Madison Avenue was closed off to the public. Editor's note: If you're keeping track of the number of news outlets reporting this story as fact, it was also reported in a tabloid called the Mirror, but it was accompanied by too many salacious illustrations for my taste, so I hesitate to even mention it. Is Michelle Obama America's Agent Provocateur?  [Scroll down]  But what we do know is that Mrs. Obama would have zero problem brazenly shutting down a street in New York City; she did it before for date night, and if in need of shopping therapy in a sexy skivvy shop, she'd likely do it again.  Despite White House denials, it could be that at one point Michelle did shop at the Madison Avenue boutique, and if she did, reports are that she allegedly rang up a $50K tab. White House "Fury" Over Queen Moochelle's $50K Shopping Spree Story.  Come to think of it, that choreographed trip to Target sure looks like some pre-emptive damage control. The Editor asks... You remember Michelle Obama's Target trip, don't you?  At the time, I filed that under Obama manipulates the media. White House fury at 'false' claims Michelle Obama [spent] $50,000 on lingerie'.  The expensive wardrobe she packed for her $4 million Hawaii Christmas break, including a $2,000 dress and $1,000 skirt, also sparked a reaction. ... The First Lady's striking cobalt blue Barbara Tfank dress, worn for last week's State of the Union address, is believed to be worth approximately $2,000. Sheer nonsense: Carney busts lingerie story.  The report by a British newspaper that the first lady accompanied the queen of Qatar on a $50,000 lingerie shopping spree is false, White House Spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.  Carney, however, declined to offer any evidence of his denial, simply insisting that the British press can't be trusted. Michelle Obama's lingerie spree? No way, says White House.  The White House is slamming claims that Michelle Obama singlehandedly boosted sales at a British lingerie store with an outrageous shopping spree.  The first lady's director of communications shot down rumors that she ran up a $50,000 bill at Agent Provocateur last year. ... Britain's The Daily Mail, The Sun and the Telegraph all reported the story, claiming Obama was the reason the risqué shop saw a 12% sales hike last year. The Editor says... Whether the lingerie shopping spree story is true or not, this much is apparent:  (1)  Given Michelle Obama's past behavior, this anecdote is believable, except that I would think that she and the Queen could probably buy every item in a lingerie store for less than $50,000.  (2)  Three British newspapers reported it, but the American press did not, except for WLS radio* and Women's Wear Daily,* which would be exactly the coverage one would expect if the story were true.  (3)  The White House press secretary will say whatever he is told to say, even if it is transparently false.  That is his job.  His vigorous denial doesn't carry much weight, in my opinion.  (4)  On the other hand, the British tabloids tend to specialize in indecent and sexually suggestive stories about public officials and self-appointed celebrities (of which Michelle Obama is the latter only), and some of the stories in the tabloids are dubious at best. Jump to Liberals - Intro Page Back to the Home page

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