Consider it practice for an Obama administration when it tries to raise taxes.
From Crain's Chicago Business:
The best-funded political campaign in American history says news organizations will have to pay—in some cases almost $2,000 each—if they want to cover Barack Obama's election-night celebration in Chicago.
A memo sent to news organizations on Tuesday by the Obama campaign says credentials will cost $715 to $1,815, depending on whether electrical and phone lines are needed and whether an indoor or outdoor seat is requested for the event, which is expected to be held outside the evening of Nov. 4 in Grant Park.
The only free admissions are for what's known as the "general media" area. But, as the memo stresses, "Please note that the General Media area is outdoors, unassigned and may have obstructed views . . . standing room only."
The General Media area also does not include any access to top Obama campaign officials, whose statements likely are to be in hot demand on election night. They apparently will be available only in the "press file" tent, to which an additional admission fee of $935 per person is being imposed.
In Illinois, what Obama is trying to intall is known as a "pay to play" scheme.
See Tony Rezko.
UPDATE 5:15pm Central: The original source of the story is Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times. Here is her take.
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9 comments:
Wow.
Now I've heard of everything - conservatives complaining about people having to take responsibility for the costs of the electricity they use.
I suppose you'd rather have taxpayers pay for the media to soak up that power, eh? Wouldn't that sort of be like ... "welfare" or "income redistribution"?
Say, what's that smell? Desperation?
How much has the Obama campaigned raised? $600 million?
The campaign should pay every dime--they've got the money...
Desperation? Hey, who is gaining?
Looks like it is, quite literally, time to pay the Piper.
Oh, and Rob ..., it's not that conservatives are upset that people are to be held accountable for the electricity they use.
It's the fact that the wrong people are being left with the bill for Obama's party (might have to get used to that theme).
Yo, the media doesn't have to be there if they don't want to be. (They complained about having to cover the Democratic convention too.)
Are you going to sing the media's praises if they demand free parking from the city of Chicago?
--
John, Sarah Palin is the one shooting to the stars... with her negative ratings, at least. She's dragging McCain down even more than Bush.
I suppose next you'll be demanding some "income redistribution" from the Obama camp yourself (you, like Obama, are an Illinoisan after all), just like Gov. Palin upped the "income redistribution" for Alaskans out of the Permanent Fund this year.
Unlike the McCain campaign, which wastes $150,000 on clothes and make-up for Sarah Palin and her family, the Obama campaign actually puts its money toward the campaign.
Give it up. Your inept whines are getting weaker and weaker by the day.
Drudge thought this newsworthy.
Whining? Not me.
It's "pay to play." Politics Illinois style. The Rezko way.
What goofy thing will Biden say next?
Yeah, Rob, I guess if an african-american were to finally win the White House, and there's a monster celebration in his adopted hometown ... the press shouldn't cover it at all.
Or, even if they did, they should be charged for generating all of that positive press for the man.
I mean, it's not like Obama owes them a HUGE favor, anyway, for not vetting him with the same vigor that the press vetting Joe the plumber.
As for Palin's negative ratings ... um.
17 million viewers tuning into SNL, last weekend weren't all hopium addicts.
As for the high cost of clothing the woman, interesting how you seem concerned about that and chirp not once about Obama backing out of his promise on public financing and then buying 30 minutes of airtime for an infomercial which could push back the first pitch of the World Series back 30 minutes.
I mean, $150k to take a woman from obscurity and into the VP candidate role shouldn't be seen as outrageous.
And it certainly is going towards the campaign (geesh!).
Besides,how much did Hillary spend on pant suits and make up and hair?
And, for a guy who is SOOOOO concerned about redistribution of wealth, you'd think he'd have the wherewithall to spend that $600M wisely.
Instead of flushing over half a billion dollars into a campaign drive which only temporarily helps people (mostly himself); and buying prime network time, maybe he could take his own medicine, use only what he needs and give the over-flow to charity.
And, to wrap up the point: a guy who "made" $150M in a month, shouldn't be nickle and diming the people who got him to where he is, today.
...Yo, are you blind to the plethora of news reports critical of Obama, his record, his plans, and more?
Do you not get Fox News on your cable subscription?
...And yes, the media chooses to cover what it wants to cover. They didn't dig into the Bush-Cheney propaganda before the Iraq War. I didn't hear conservatives complaining about any lack of coverage there. In fact, conservatives were doling payola to retired generals in order to prop up the rationals for invading Iraq to look for non-existent WMDs.
And if you think 17mil people tuned into to SNL last weekend because they're enamored with Gov. Palin you might want to remember it's a comedy show, and those 17million people were hoping to get some good laughs before dozing off for the night.
Finally, imagine if Obama spent anywhere near $50,000, let alone $150,000, of someone else's money to buy clothes and get hair cuts. (For the record, Obama buys his own clothes. And I've covered the McCain's public financing whines and hypocrisy elsewhere on this blog and others; McCain was for small-dollar donors before he was against them.)
Somehow I'm thinking your tune would be in a different key on this if the roles were switched. In fact, I know conservatives would react different given the baloney they spewed over Edwards' "stylist" (while ignoring Romney's own, more expensive stylist... and now saying that spending $150,000 of the cash-strapped RNC's money on Gov. Palin's duds is somehow a good thing).
Ruberry might still have some of the dramamine he needs from all of his spinning. You might want to take some yourself, Yo. ;)
Update:
Turns out McCain supporters really are hypocrites (but common sense folks already knew that, eh?).
Lynn Sweet is now reporting that the McCain-Palin campaign is not only also charging the press a fee to cover their own Election Night event, but that unlike the Obama-Biden event there is no free press coverage option at all.
(The Obama-Biden Election Night event has a press area available to credentialed journalists for free, with the caveat that there may be obstructed views and/or no access to the press filing area. The McCain-Palin campaign is not offering any such free area to reporters.)
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