Vice President Joe Biden promised gay and lesbian Democrats that the White House will push harder on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and other LGBT issues.

Biden spoke last night at a controversial LGBT fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee. He said he understood the anger of many gays and lesbians toward the Obama administration and pledged to “put some pace on the ball.”

“I don’t blame you for your impatience,” Biden said. “I hope you don’t doubt the president’s commitment.”

Politico reported that “Outside the hotel about 50 protesters held up signs chastising participants – which included all three gay members of Congress, Reps. Tammy Baldwin, Barney Frank and Jared Polis – with sayings such as ‘Gay Uncle Toms.’”

Prominent activists, donors and organizations boycotted the dinner, including Human Rights Campaign grass-roots chief Marty Rouse, Gay and Lesbians Advocates and Defenders projects director Mary Bonauto, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund President Chuck Wolfe, the Stonewall Democratic Club, former Clinton backers David Mixner and Richard Socarides and Utah contributor Bruce Bastianbut. Howard Dean pulled out for family reasons, he said.

Despite the protest, the dinner netted about $1 million which is roughly 250,000 more than the event raised last year.

Biden mentioned that the administration appointed 60 LGBT people, including nine that require Senate confirmation. He said that gay and lesbian concerns will not be “delayed, put off or not end up on [Obama's] plate” because he is dealing with so many other issues.

He promised that the White House would take up the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the passage of the Lieberman-Baldwin bill on health benefits, a ban on workplace discrimination, adoption rights for all and an end to the HIV travel ban.

Obama campaigned to repeal DADT, but the White House has said it’s seeking congressional action on the policy, which bars openly gay men and women from serving in the military.

Biden said the White House is committed to “the unfinished business of true equality.”

“I promise you with your help we’ll get there in this administration,” he said.

The full story is at Politico. ]]> http://www.365gay.com/news/joe-biden-assures-lgbt-dems-of-obama-committment/feed/ 105 http://www.365gay.com/news/gop-files-complaint-about-obama-fundraising/ http://www.365gay.com/news/gop-files-complaint-about-obama-fundraising/#comments Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:31:31 +0000 Jennifer Vanasco http://www.365gay.com/?p=3580 (Washington) The Republican National Committee has filed a complaint alleging that Democrat Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has received illegal contributions from foreigners and donations that exceed federal limits.

The complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission is based largely on media reports, including one from a conservative news Web site that suggests donors who listed their state as “IR” may have been from Iran. In FEC reports, the designation “IR” typically stands for “information requested” because the donor did not supply it.

In the complaint, the RNC asks the commission to audit Obama’s campaign fund to determine whether it has violated the law by accepting money from non-citizens and whether individual donors have exceeded contributions to the campaign.

In response, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, “We constantly review our donors for any issues and while no organization is completely protected from Internet fraud, we will continue to review our fundraising procedures to ensure that we are taking every available step to root out improper contributions.”

Federal law prohibits contributions from foreign nationals, and individuals are limited to contributions of no more than $2,300 per election. That means a person can contribute $2,300 to Obama for the primary elections and $2,300 for the general election.

The FEC routinely has notified both campaigns that their cumulative financial reports show many contributors have exceeded the limits.

The RNC complaint says Obama’s campaign has remedied several excessive contributions but has “failed to refund or reattribute the full excessive portion in all situations.” A Newsweek report says Obama had reported more than $17,000 in contributions from a donor identified as “Doodad Pro” and more than $11,000 from one identified as “Good Will.”

The complaint also cites an article by Newsmax.com, a conservative news Web site, that asserts that a database of FEC records shows “questionable overseas donations that contains more than 11,500 contributions totaling more than $33.8 million.”

But an FEC analysis of donors whose home state identification did not match any of the 50 states or the District of Columbia yielded about 8,000 individual contributions totaling only $1.1 million. Of those, more than 2,400 were armed services post offices or from Puerto Rico, Guam or the U.S. Virgin Islands, whose residents are U.S. citizens.

More than $500,000 came from donors who listed their state as “ZZ,” or which the campaign designated as “NA” for “not available” or “IR” for “information requested.” In most cases, the cities listed were foreign.

By contrast, McCain had only 330 donations that identified non-U.S. states and most were from armed services post offices or Puerto Rico.

In August, The Associated Press identified 6,948 contributions from people who appeared to live outside the United States and who were not obviously in the U.S. military. The AP contacted 123 donors in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain and Switzerland and interviewed them about their citizenship and donations.

The review found that Obama’s campaign accepted contributions from at least three foreigners.

Though federal law required campaigns to identify only donors who contribute in excess of $200, McCain’s Web site lists all donors to his campaign. Independent watchdog organizations have asked the Obama campaign to do the same; it has not.

Obama’s campaign, which is not accepting public financing for the general election, has raised more than $468 million. About half has come from small donors, a point of pride for the campaign.

Lynn Forester de Rothschild has said she thinks Democratic nominee Barack Obama is arrogant and has a problem connecting with average Americans.

Rothschild is a member of the DNC’s Democrats Abroad chapter and splits her time living in London and New York.

She was one of Clinton’s top fundraisers, bringing in more than $100,000 for her presidential campaign.

Rothschild built a multimillion-dollar telecommunications company before marrying international banker Sir Evelyn de Rothschild.

Ralph Reed, former director of the Christian Coalition, touted himself as a member of McCain’s “Victory 2008 Team” in an e-mail that solicited donations on McCain’s behalf. The Republican National Committee is hosting the fundraiser set for an Atlanta hotel on Aug. 18.

A House investigative committee in 2006 found that Reed interceded with the Bush White House to help some of Abramoff’s clients. Reed’s public relations firm also received $4.2 million from Abramoff to mobilize Christian voters to fight the opening of casinos that could compete with Abramoff’s Indian tribe clients.

Reed later said he regretted the actions, which contributed to his 2006 Republican primary loss in a bid to be Georgia’s lieutenant governor. Abramoff went to prison for conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion.

McCain led a Senate investigation into Abramoff’s dealings with Indian tribes, which included information about his ties to Reed. McCain said in a November 2007 presidential debate: “I led in the Abramoff hearings in the, in the obscure Indian Affairs Committee, for which people are still testifying and going to jail.”

On Wednesday, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean criticized what he called “McCain’s decision to cozy up to one of the central figures in the Republican culture of corruption.”

In an e-mail statement, Reed said he holds “no position, title or official role in the McCain campaign and am not seeking one.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that Reed sent a message to an undetermined number of Georgia Republicans, saying that McCain “will be coming to Atlanta on August 18 for a very special event at the Marriott Marquis downtown and I have agreed to serve as a member of the McCain Victory 2008 Team.”

Reed urged the recipients to donate money, saying, “If you select to use your credit card, you may fax the form to me.”

The McCain campaign Wednesday referred questions to the Republican National Committee.

RNC spokesman Alex Conant said, “It’s laughable Democrats would try to make this a political issue, considering John McCain led the Abramoff investigations and has a record of fighting to reform Washington.”

Conant noted that Democratic candidate Barack Obama has had fundraising controversies, too, including instances in which Obama returned donations from tainted contributors.

The House Government Reform Committee reported in 2006 that Reed, who was close to Bush political adviser Karl Rove, helped Abramoff obtain a spot on the administration’s 2001 transition team at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, an agency important to his clients.

“Do you think you might be able to contact Karl, as I am sure you have more weight there,” Abramoff said in an e-mail to Reed. “Be happy to,” Reed replied.

The House report found at least 14 instances in which Abramoff asked Reed to contact Rove on matters including political appointments “and obtaining favorable actions on client matters.”

The report confirmed e-mails that Time magazine published in 2005 in which Abramoff asked Reed to help block the proposed appointment of the wife of Orson Swindle – who was a Vietnam prisoner of war with McCain – to an Interior Department job.

“Can you ping Karl on this?” Abramoff wrote. “I can’t believe they just don’t get this done.”

Reed responded: “Talked to Rove about this and I think I killed it. He’s on it. Keep this between us, don’t want to raise expectations, but I banged on this one hard.”

Swindle’s wife did not get the job. Swindle has been an ally of McCain’s campaign, criticizing Obama supporter Wesley Clark last month for saying that McCain’s Vietnam service doesn’t qualify him for the White House.