"not take a dime"

President Obama has promised to “not take a dime” from lobbyists or political action committees. His recent fundraiser in Washington, DC at the Mandarin Oriental hotel on Thursday, 6/18/09 is a good example of how our president keeps his promises:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/us/politics/19obama.html?em

This activity brings a new level of hypocrisy to our capital. The following quotes from the above article describe the current fundraising process:

• But at the same downtown hotel on Friday morning, registered lobbyists have not only been invited to attend an issues conference with Democratic leaders, but they have also been asked to come with a $5,000 check in hand if they want to stay in good favor with the party’s House and Senate re-election committees.

• A ticket went for $5,000 on Thursday night, but most people contributed far more. The top tier for contributors was $100,000, known as the United Committee, which was assigned to those who donated their own money and helped raise even more. Most people gave $30,400 per couple, which included a photograph with the president.

• The familiar faces of Democratic donors, like Maurice Sonnenberg, a New York financier, and Wade Randlett, a San Francisco technology executive...

The following website provides campaign contribution data:

http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/barack-obama.asp?cycle=08#MoneySummary

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page in the above link there is a list of the top 150 individual Obama donors during the 2008 presidential election cycle.