President George W. Bush promised to run an honest and ethical administration. His successor Barack Obama committed to change, saying he would deliver an open and transparent administration. Both catered to campaign bundlers and high dollar donors. IWatch News reported:
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 ambassador nominees who were bundlers raised more than half a million.Influence peddling is alive and well, despite Presidential promises. It's a PEU world. (PEU stands for private equity underwriters - masters of financial and political leverage.)
Big bundlers had broad access to the White House for meetings with top administration officials and glitzy social events. In all, campaign bundlers and their family members account for more than 3,000 White House meetings and visits. Half of them raised $200,000 or more.
Here's a trip down Obama campaign lane:
Moneyed interests "get the access while you get to write a letter, they think they own this government," Mr. Obama said in kicking off his presidential campaign in 2007. "But we're here today to take it back."Obama simply turned it from Red to Blue.
