Campaign Contribution Limits? No Problem, Just Contribute Online
By Matthew Weaver on October 24, 2008 at 6:30 PM in Barack Obama, Campaign promises, Campaigns & Campaign Financing, John McCain, Public Finance
Obama reneged on his commitment to use public financing and has gone on to raise over $600 million dollars, including a reported $150 million just last month.
Obama claims that much of the record-breaking donations come from small donors, often via his Web site. The symbolism of both the size and number of those donations has taken on mythical proportions. However, it is very worrisome that Obama doesn’t share the details of how those Web donations are procured.
In fact, if the details are as suspected, Obama has found an “inventive” way to fund his campaign and to subvert campaign finance laws. (This week, regular NoQuarter reader Craig initiated a myth-breaking investigation, and his findings are being published widely, at least around the blogosphere. Links to the blog posts are listed at the end of my story.)
John McCain noted yesterday in an exclusive interview with Joseph Curl of the Washington Times:
Mr. McCain said Mr. Obama’s giant fundraising total — he announced this weekend that he raised more than $150 million in September — is going to produce “a scandal.”
His campaign and the Republican National Committee have released the names of all his donors, including those who have contributed less than $200. That’s not required by federal election rules, and Mr. Obama has declined to release his small-dollar donors, leading to speculation that some donors are trying to circumvent fundraising laws.
Some of Obama’s donors are trying?! It’s more that his donors are indeed circumventing fundraising laws. Consider how this works …
You can contribute to Obama’s campaign via his Web site in amounts from $5 to $2,300, in each instance. There appear to be no sensible checks in the submission form, and there’s only a simple note at the bottom of the page that states that an individual can only contribute up to $2,300 per election and that the contribution made on the Web site page “is designated for the general election.”
But, this reminder is virtually meaningless since no wording on the Web site page that states that donors must use their real names. Nor does the Obama donation page require that you confirm that you are using your real name.
In other words, in Barack Obama’s world, your decision to obey FEC (Federal Election Commission) laws is entirely voluntary.
Most alarming is that there appears to be NO mechanism on Obama’s donation page to ensure that the name of the donor matches the name on the credit card.
- Go to the Obama Web site to make a contribution.
- Fill in the form, even with bogus information—nothing asks for true or correct information.
- Enter a contribution from $5 to $2,300.
- Enter a credit card type, number, and expiration.
- Check the confirmation that you are legally eligible to make a contribution (i.e., that you are a U.S. citizen or legal resident, at least 16 years old, etc.). Again, nothing is required that you verify that you are using your real name.
- Submit the contribution.
- You will receive a thank you note. The note is quite simple: “Your donation has been processed. Thank you for your generous gift.”
This is campaign money laundering made easy. There is no validation that the name and address entered match the credit card’s information. Nor was the security code on the card requested.
Ignore the campaign aspect of this for a moment.
The Obama Web site is obviously set up to bypass common security checks: There is no Address Verification Check (the 3-4 digit number on your card). And there is no requirement to match your billing address, no City-State-ZIP code match.
Since none of these is verified by the Web site’s programming system, it is very likely that the site is a dream for anyone whose donation comes from another country. Foreign donors, merely by using their credit cards, can donate just as easily as U.S. donors. These are settings that the Obama campaign had to intentionally set up, and it is at odds with the well-established security precautions implemented by nearly all online merchants and many brick-and-mortar businesses.
If you consider that any time you make a purchase, you are asked for or are tested for these common security precautions and verifications, why are these simple requirements not in place on Obama’s campaign Web site?
As others have noted, McCain’s Web site does perform those security and identity checks. Further, McCain is transparent on all donations. Obama is not. Why? He simply wants the money regardless of source, regardless of amount, and without respect for any applicable laws.
What does this mean?
- If the Obama campaign relies on the form information, rather than the credit card billing information, then they are blissfully ignorant of who is contributing, under what name(s), and how much they are contributing through multiple instances.
- The Obama campaign does not appear to validate your card entry, leaving the onus to catch fraudulent use to credit card companies or card holders.
- The lack of requirements to use one’s real name and offer validation appears to allow contributors to send as much as they want in multiple, small amounts under multiple names.
- Further, since you can buy anonymous gift cards, you can truly donate as much as you want without respect to campaign limits.
This is an incredible way to subvert campaign finance laws and to launder unlimited amounts of money into the Obama campaign. It is therefore no wonder that Obama opted to renege on public financing!
Yes, as Senator McCain notes, this is a scandal in the making. Not just $150 million, but over $600 million!
So, Senator Obama, I have a few questions for you:
- Do you match donor names with names on their credit cards before processing transactions? If so, what percentage of those names match up? If not, why not? When and how are discrepancies caught?
- Do you check donor IP addresses for U.S. locations? If not, why not?
- Have you received more than $2,300 from any given credit card? How many and how much?
- How much have you received from gift credit cards?
- Do you match donor and/or credit card names and contact information to state and local voter registration lists? If so, how many match or don’t match? If not, why not?
- How many donor email or physical addresses are not valid when you send ot that automated thank you note or a follow-up request?
- For the sake of transparency, will you release all donor names, matching credit card names, contact information, IP addresses, and amounts contributed?
Special thanks to reader Craig who pointed out the problems with Obama’s Web site fundraising. Craig shared his findings with other bloggers who have also reported on the disturbing lack of identity verification on Obama’s Web donation page:
- “WHO IS JOHN GALT?,” Powerline blog, October 23, 2008
- “WHAT DID DELLA WARE?,” Powerline blog, October 24, 2008
- “The Obama scammer,” National Review Online (Mark Steyn), October 23, 2008
- “We Get Results,”
National Review Online (Mark Steyn), October 23, 2008 - “Not a Bombshell: Barack Obama’s Campaign Website Encourages Fraudulent Donations,” Ace of Spades, October 22, 2008
Cross-posted on my blog, The Independent View.
, the basis for the Best Motion Picture Nominee (Golden Globes) starring Brad Pitt.
, the novel by John Le Carre, a new motion picture starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.
by 
* (Included in the 
* 
.by David Fredosso who wrote 2008's 
- You'll have access to 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books, as well as ultra-fast Web browsing with Amazon Silk -- faster than iPad. Full e-mail and document access and a keyboard. Fire can transmit what is on your screen onto a connected TV or monitor without an accessory. It runs Flash (iPad doesn't). 
