follow the money and other tales

Those looking for change may be in for a surprise. If Barack Obama wins, which now seems all but certain, his successful fundraising may come to haunt his presidency. According to the latest numbers, Obama has raised well over $650 million and that is more than any other presidential candidate ever. And no, these are not the little $25 contributions coming in over the internet, as the party would want you to believe.

Fully three-quarters of Obama's fundraising is big money donations. Big, big money. The type of big money that is looking for favors. And who is there you may ask? How about those investment bankers in need of a government bailout and in fear of more regulation? Some of the people who got Wall Street into trouble may be advising McCain, but the people running those banks, the "greedy Wall Street bankers" are the ones filling Obama's coffers. Those same bankers were more than a little bit ticked off at McCain's language of late.

The GOP depends on two constituencies that have little in common: the fundamentalist christians, and the superrich elite. The elite provides the money, while the christians make up the bodies. McCain may be a maverick but he should know better than antagonize the money men. Sarah maybe delivering the christians but without the money it won't matter much. Those money men have already run over to the other side. They weren't too thrilled with all the talk about "cleaning out Wall Street."

What that also means is that Obama may soon do a Bill Clinton on that tax break for the middle class that will be funded by milking the superrich. We have heard all these promises before. All that talk about change is nothing new. The only thing that ever changes is the "face" in the White House. As I have indicated before, that face is just a face. An actor or puppet, beholden to the puppeteers who hold the money strings. It appears this will soon be more true than ever. $$$