Even as the Obama campaign continues to disingenuously claim that it doesn’t accept money from special interests, a new Politico report reveals that nearly 80 percent of Obama’s top donors landed cushy positions in his administration:
These “bundlers” raised at least $50,000 — and sometimes more than $500,000 — in campaign donations for Obama’s campaign. Many of those in the “Class of 2008” are now being asked to bundle contributions for Obama’s reelection, an effort that could cost $1 billion. …
Overall, 184 of 556, or about one-third of Obama bundlers or their spouses joined the administration in some role. But the percentages are much higher for the big-dollar bundlers. Nearly 80 percent of those who collected more than $500,000 for Obama took “key administration posts,” as defined by the White House. More than half the 24 ambassador nominees who were bundlers raised $500,000.
Obama isn’t the first president to reward donors this way, but he also based his 2008 campaign on the vow that he would put a stop to this payoff mentality in Washington. This is yet another campaign promise that he failed to deliver on. And Obama’s supporters weren’t the only ones let down by this deceit – career diplomats who have been passed over for jobs in favor of massive Obama donors also feel that they were treated unfairly:
The Obama record has disappointed the American Foreign Service Association, which believes these appointments should mostly go to career diplomats. The organization cites the 1980 Foreign Service Act, which states that political contributions “should not be a factor” in picking ambassadors, a rule presidents of both parties have all but ignored.
Passing over career diplomats in favor of megadonors amounts to “selling ambassadorships,” said Susan Johnson, president of the American Foreign Service Association.
Obama was something of a blank slate back in 2008, and it was easier for him to convince Americans that he might actually follow through on his loft ethics promises. But after years of no change in this regard, voters will likely be a lot more cynical when they head to the polls in 2012.