Campaign Finances

2/7/2012

Here is an interesting article and video from the WSJ on how President Obama is planning on raising money for his campaign. For the sake of the quiz you may either read the article, watch the video, or both. Why do you think that there are so many rules regarding campaign donations? Do the regulations put a disincentive on contributing to a campaign?

R10462776

2/7/2012 02:04:57 pm

Well in essence the designers of the bags are donating their time that could be using to get paid. It's almost like a bake sale fundraiser where the people putting on the sale donate their time and resources to the bake sale and expect nothing in return.

R10438726

2/7/2012 04:50:46 pm

Well as they said in the video the rules are in place to protect the people making the merchandise. No, I dont believe that the regulations have put disincentives on contributing.

R10397040

2/7/2012 11:45:05 pm

I don't believe that those "well-known" designers are doing it for free. Just like how i'm sure Elton John didn't get even a minuscule amount of money for his show for Hillary Clinton.

R10421613

2/8/2012 12:10:34 pm

I agree with this statement. Even if the designers are doing this for free, they are receiving the immense trade off of free advertising. I am sure they are receiving a fraction of the revenue as well.

R10407550

2/8/2012 01:55:28 pm

I agree. The designers just want to get their name out there even more, and having their name in relation to the president gives them an even larger audience. They may be doing it for free, but they get the advertisement which could essentially bring in more customers.

R10316907

2/9/2012 11:49:21 pm

I agree that the deisgners will be getting a percentage of sales, now a days hardley anyone will do something for free no matter who they are doing it for. Plus it is free PR for them right at the start of fashion week, they definitely get something out of it.

R10363252

2/9/2012 03:03:23 am

The issue of how much things cost to make really shouldn't be an issue. As someone involved in the retail world (cosmetics and accessories), I know how much it really costs to produce goods. This cost is way less than what it is sold for. If anything is being given up, it is the companies' and the designers' profits. As part of the voting population, they also get to decided what to do with their time and extra money.

Also, when did it become appropriate to call the current president Mr. Obama instead of President Obama? He may not be everyone's favorite person, but he still deserves the respect of the office he holds.

10371553

2/9/2012 09:38:13 am

What is the difference in them creating these bags as a volunteer effort rather than someone volunteering their time for the same cause (handing out fliers)? Either way if you believe in something and you want to help and make an effort why not do what you do best?

R10358457

2/9/2012 02:01:06 pm

because while it might have the same effect as handing out fliers they still gain alot of customers and their bags are advitisements in themselves, not saying its wrong but its the difference

Alfredo Galvan

2/16/2012 09:57:41 am

I agree, and unfortunately that's today’s reality. And until the government decides to regulate campaign funding, Americans will keep electing the highest bidders.

10404051

2/9/2012 10:51:00 am

I believe there are regulations because there needs to be fairness in the campaigning. Money should not be a factor in who becomes the next president, if one candidate has more cash than another they could easily use it to sell and promote themselves but that should not be the case. What the candidate wants to do for the country should be what people look at.

Daniel Earnest

2/10/2012 08:09:53 am

I agree with you on the subject that money should not be a factor on who is elected, but it plays a big role. The problem is many American are not actively engaging in current politics enough to evaluate all candidates and make their own personal decision. Instead they will only hear what comes on the tv between their shows and what they see as they drive down the road.

10469266

2/9/2012 11:11:40 am

Financing a campaign is a serious undertaking, if you don't put certain stipulations on the process to fund a person running for office, you're going to get donations, some meaningless, left and right. At that point raising money would be quite easy, as well as the fact that any contribution could be rendered as useless.

R10474647

2/9/2012 12:12:25 pm

As they explain in the video there are rules in place to keep Obama from paying these designers to create the memorabilia. If he was breaking any kind of rule he'd be stopped right away because he is the president and is probably under the biggest microscope than any other candidate. This is just a new and innovative way of raising money that reaches out to more people.

10363181

2/9/2012 02:31:59 pm

I think that if these designers are well known and usually design high end merchandise then there is no way they would just dedicate some of there so called free time to make a contribution to the Obama campaign. Mostly everything has a price now days.

R10462716

2/10/2012 12:47:42 am

I agree the designers are not actually doing it for free. The prices are reduced but still they have to comint a lot of time to make them. so the have to get some benifit. They also do it for advertisement and to get get their brand known.

10326603

2/9/2012 03:23:42 pm

This was just a new idea of promoting President Obama in a way that could benefit designers too. Obama gets his name across items so customers may purchase them and wear their support for all to see. The designers make themselves appealing by volunteering their time for the cause. I don't see why the cost to make the T-shirts and totes are an issue as well as the price they're being sold at. Yes, the designers sell their regular items for a much higher expense, but what is wrong with making President Obama campaign goods more affordable (not affordable, but more affordable) to someone who can't afford a $1,200.00 designer purse.

R10382294

2/9/2012 04:27:33 pm

The reason there are so many rules on campaigning is to simply keep it fair. Without these rules it would be way to easy for a politician to buy his or her way into office. The regulations allow for some what of an even playing field for all candidates.

Wesley Hayes

2/10/2012 12:56:00 am

The rules should be redesigned to be made fair. This is just a minuscule problem to what is really going on. Which is illegal coordination with super pacs which are the major funding for campaign ads. Although politicians clame not to be coordinating with their specified super pacs it becomes obvious that they are and there is barely any enforcement and little repercussions.

R10352332

2/16/2012 08:08:08 am

I agree with this statement, but overall politicians should be more responsible with the money which is donated to them. I feel that enforcing regulations on what is fair and what is not fair to spend campaign money on would be very difficult.

Daniel Earnest

2/10/2012 08:00:12 am

I don’t necessarily see this as an issue at all. Obama will have no problem with financing his campaign, but I am curious to see how he debates whoever wins the Republican GOP. Time and time again we have seen that having more campaign money really affects the outcome of the election, but this presidential election Obama will have to give some different rhetoric on why he should continue being the President. The last State of the Union address I swore I was having déjà vu because it sounded a lot like his 2008 campaign speeches. The reason is a lot really has not been done in terms of job creation and lowering the debt. Obama called President W. Bush “unpatriotic” when he had a 9 trillion national debt, when at the end of his 4 year term it will be close to 16 trillion… What would you call that?

R10352332

2/16/2012 08:05:58 am

I feel that what a politician does with campaign money is up to the politician. Donators should be more careful with whom they donate their money to, or else you could end up paying for some Obama tshirts.

R10374650

2/16/2012 11:23:57 pm

I believe that as long as the designers are donating their time, and all the money is going to the election there is no problem with it. All the republicans are doing is giving Obama more press, and any press is good press.

Jamal Atwell

2/18/2012 06:27:00 am

The rules are there to create fairness and equality between competitors regardless of financial standing but as a few people mentioned here, it seems there is very little difference between a business making a bag supporting a candidate and someone handing out fliers in a city center.

R10468504

3/7/2012 12:32:33 pm

The republicans are just nit-picking, trying to find any little thing to make Obama look bad. He is going to raise a ton of money reguardless and the republicans are looking for any leverage they can get. Its like any other donation except in the form of merchandise.

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