Campaign Donation Disclosure: So Easy, a Caveman can do it

Well, cavemen, er cavepersons over at Slate.

Barack Obama refuses to release the names of the 2 million-plus people who have given his campaign less than $200. According to campaign officials, it would be too difficult and time-consuming to extract this information from its database.

So how come we were able to do it in a couple hours?

Oh dear. You have challenged Obama. Watch out for the pink slip getting kicked off the campaign bus.

Another Really Smart Guy draws a blank

This time it is Jeffrey Sachs.

Don't worry though. It's not like Jeffrey Sachs is an important really smart guy. Oh shit. He is.

How to contribute as much money as you want to a single campaign

My fellow Americans. I come before you today to explain how you too can donate as much money as you want to the candidate for political office of your choice and get away with it.

Right now you are limited to giving $2,300 to candidate X of party Y in the primary. You can also donate another $2,300 to candidate X of party Y for the general election. It doesn't matter if they win their primary. You can still donate this money.

Want to donate more? OK. Are you married? Your spouse can donate. Make sure he or she approves though. If he or she opposes, just don't tell them.

Score. $4,600 in the primary and $4,600 in the general.

Got kids? How many? How old are they? Oh hell, it doesn't matter. They're 2 and 7? Fantastic. They're each donating $4,600 too.

Score. $9,200 in the primary and $9,200 in the general.

Run a business? An Internet one? Awesome. How many employees do you have? 7? Cool. They're all donating and you're paying for it. Careful though. Remember your spouse? Yea, either don't tell them or tell them as little as they need to know. Someone might call and check them out. That's another $16,100 for the primary and $16,100 for the general.

Score. $25,300 in the primary and $25,300 in the general. You're on your way to bundler status all by yourself.

Wait. Along the way you noticed that you accidentally entered the wrong name for one of your employees. But the charge still went through. That's odd. These one time use credit cards are supposed to be more secure. Could candidate X of party Y not be checking for the names on the cards?

HOLY MONTALBALL SCORE! Let's try it out.

Killer. It worked. Josef Stalin just donated to candidate X of party Y with the one time credit card you purchased with your own name. But wait, the campaign has your card number. They can trace it back to you. You're screwed. Could candidate X of party Y be deleting your name associated with your one time use credit card to protect your privacy?

Boo yah! They are. Wait again. They have the card number. They can trace that too. You're in trouble.

Boo yah too! They're purging the card numbers as well. They protected your privacy and their ass all by playing ultra stupid dumb.

Now, how many one time use credit cards can you afford?

Have fun. Be careful. I've only done this once before. Push it to the limit.

lol, ObamaStock tickets sold out, not really

The free ones are all gone. Enough people handed over their personal information for data mining purposes. Now the short supply is entering the resale market.

FS: One ObamaStock ticket. Highest bid so far, $550.

He promised me a middle class tax cut. I spent it before I received it just to see the One.

What Honest Political Reporting Looks Like: Lynn Sweet Edition

ObamaStock 2008 in Grant Park is issuing tickets for data collection purposes for future use.

Dear Republicans,

Are you paying attention?

Sincerely,

The Silent Majority

TPM funnies without Josh Marshall

Governor Charlie Crist is extending early voting hours. TPM's David Kurtz goes fishing for for mud.

That seems notably, even surprisingly, non-partisan and inclusive. Is there a catch?

There is a catch. Charlie Crist is a Republican. He just so happens to be a Republican with huge favorability ratings with a long history of building consensus in government.

However, if you are first mate on the Talking Points Memo frigate then you see Republican and presume ditch digging.

Time to relax: Karen Tumulty isn't all insanity

Marc Ambinder wonders why Sarah Palin hasn't said Senator Stevens should resign. Uh, she's the Governor that would appoint a replacement and kind of, sort of, running for Vice-President.

Good news, I guess. Karen Tumulty actually rescues Marc Ambinder from an oblivion.

If Stevens resigns, she has to appoint a temporary successor pending a special election.

Bad news: Ambinder is paid to wonder about shit.

I swear for the last time that Josh Marshall is non-partisan

Whoops

Got it "right roots" fans?

Step 1: Do the work?
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit*.

*profit may be confused for celebration and reaction to water carrying press reports.

What short term credit market trouble?

Marc Ambinder says the Democratic Party has taken out a 10 million dollar line of credit.

It's like, if the prospects are there that the debtor will be able to repay the creditor, you can open a credit line. But this is a political party. What are they selling that they will sell a lot more of with this line of credit?

Average Joe's private records accessed; by an Obama supporter

Average Joe had his private records accessed in Ohio because he made a public appearance.

Ohio's inspector general is investigating why a state agency director approved checking the state child-support computer system for information on "Joe the Plumber."

Helen Jones-Kelly, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, confirmed today that she OK'd the check on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher following the Oct. 15 presidential debate.

Republicans in Ohio and the Barack Obama Campaign have both apparently asked for a formal investigation of these searches for Joe Wurzelbacher's confidential state records.

Diehard Hillary Supporters still fighting the good fight

Barack Obama and his supporters have never played slow pitch softball when it comes to campaigning. They are calculating professionals that will bite, scratch, and claw their way to victory by any means necessary.

They are damn good at it too.

Hillbuzz, a blog run by supporters of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary, are churning out reports that attempt to hold state Democratic primaries that hold caucuses to the letter of the law.

They have a new report on the effort in Nevada.

ACORN: We Registered 1.3 million new voters; NY Times: ACORN registered 450,000 new voters

Frank James of the Chicago Tribune says...

ACORN is an organization definitely in need of a brand makeover.

Americans United files IRS complaint against Catholic Bishop

Americans United previously was known as Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Prior to AUSCS, it was known as a project of the American Civil Liberties Union. They just filed a complaint with the IRS in regards to a column written by the Bishop of Paterson of the New Jersey Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church.

USA Today published the story.

In a letter sent to the IRS on Wednesday (Oct. 22), Americans United for Separation of Church and State accused Paterson Bishop Arthur Serratelli of illegal partisanship for lambasting Obama's support of abortion rights.

What did Serratelli write?

Serratelli wrote that Obama has pledged, if elected president, to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, abortion-rights legislation the Catholic Church vehemently opposes.

Seratelli is right. Obama did pledge to sign the Freedom of Choice Act. He told the Planned Parenthood Action Fund - which has subsequently endorsed him in the Democratic Primary and the General Presidential Election - that his first act as President would be "to sign the Freedom of Choice Act."

Bishop Seratelli violated no laws whatsoever. The Catholic Church is free to take positions in favor of, or opposing to, any specific legislation that conflicts with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Americans United is grasping for straws. Expect to see them use this non-issue complaint to raise money for their organization. The IRS will deny their complaint. Americans United will then claim all is not well in the United States and your money must contribute to their mission.

JOM Reacts to the NY Times' endorsement of Obama

The NY Times takes another head first dive into bilge water. Tom Maguire reacts.

There was time when the charge of racism carried some weight. As the Times demonstrates, it now comes so casually from the left as to not require justification or evidence.

AP Report on decline in Obama fundraising doesn't mention Address Verification System

Obama fundraising drops as McCain's cash dwindles

I have written to AP reporter Jim Kuhnhenn, AP DC bureau chief Ron Fournier, and AP Managing editor Michael Oreskas asking them if they had any information about the use of or lack thereof of the Address Verification System(AVS) that apparently is not being used by the Obama camp to validate online credit card contributions.