Choice Administration Jobs, Contracts, Meetings for Obama’s Megadonors

One of President Barack Obama’s first campaign promises during the 2008 election was that he would work to eliminate the influence of moneyed political players, who had “turned our government into a game only they can afford to play.” Yet some of the President’s biggest campaign donors have since landed choice jobs, contracts and private meetings with the Obama Administration.

An iWatch News investigation into the White House’s campaign contributors revealed “nearly 200 of his biggest donors have landed plum government jobs and advisory posts, won federal contracts worth millions of dollars for their business interests or attended numerous elite White House meetings and social events,” according to a POLITICO article.

“In filling these posts, the administration looks for the most qualified candidates who represent Americans from all walks of life,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz told POLITICO. “Being a donor does not get you a job in this administration, nor does it preclude you from getting one.”
However, the investigation found that “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… raised $500,000.”
These donors are known as “bundlers,” pooling donations from fundraising networks to avoid the Federal individual contribution limits of $2,500.
“Public Citizen found in 2008 that President George W. Bush had appointed about 200 bundlers to administration posts over his eight years in office. That is roughly the same number Obama has appointed in a little more than two years,” the article read.