Cash Cow Obama Gives Staffers Extra Moolah
Filed under: Barack Obama
President-Elect Barack Obama raised more than $600 million for his presidential bid and, now, post-election it looks like he still has some major cash in the bank.
According to new reports, his hard working campaign staff is getting a nice bonus from boss man Obama.
Happy holidays to them!
They'll be getting a check equal to a month's worth of salary in the mail!
A former 'low-level' Obama campaign worker told the NY Daily News, "It was totally unexpected, and you can't believe how helpful this is with the holidays coming. A lot of people thought they were going to be broke and would have to try to find a job in this rotten economy. It's a huge help."
Furthermore, it's reported that staffers also have the option of keeping their campaign-issued computers and BlackBerrys (but must pay income tax on the items if they do so).
We're hopeful that President-Elect Obama will run the country as well as he ran his campaign!
P.S. Are U happy that your campaign contributions are possibly being spent this way????
[Image via WENN.]
IT'S OKAY BY ME!! I volunteered quite a bit for the campaign and the paid staff were working 12-16 hours days at one point! They deserve it! Nice to see he cares about his employees.
It's going to be a good next 4 years..whoever wants to bitch & moan, that;s just what your life is all about…it has NOTHING to do with Obama…have some faith, imagine great things happening, stop bitching about everything when you actually have it WAY better than some other countries who have REAL SERIOUS issues! I'm not trying to downplay the serious financial situation we are in, I know it's bad but we have to stand behind Obama, have faith and realize that we are FINALLY turning over a new leaf…please be patient and I know we will all be pleasantly surprised…peace out
ROCK ON OBAMA
Not going to the G20 Summit & concentrating on the fixing the economy & the USA overall welfare is a fresh start 
Another FRESH IDEA instead of giving the Banks / Wall street / GM more money ??would be to GIVE everyone that is a US citizen $100,000!!!homeless people ,those struggling , the elderly, & ALL could have the BUYING/SPENDING POWER to buy houses, cars, payoff debts & BRING POWER TO THE PEOPLE ! 
Make the DEMOCRATS PROWD & bring HILLARY in as Secretary of State too 
OBAMA for the People 
Re: Honey Rider – Re: Honey Rider – WOWWWW another moron… Obama is giving his campaign staff a month's salary because THEY ARE OUT OF JOBS NOW. He is allowing them to feed their families with this money- and if they keep their electronics they need to pay taxes on them. How the hell can you compare this to ONE family spending $150,000 on CLOTHES within a few months?! that's right- because you're a MORON.
hell yeah! They worked hard to get him elected and now are out of jobs AND the holidays are around the corner.
Yes, those staffers deserve a bonus for their hard work. They worked hard and the voting system actually worked! Can you believe it? Besides most politicians would use it to buy a gift for their mistress or spend it on themselves. And to all you racist mother fuckers out there, you better modernize yourselves. Have a great weekend all you cock suckers. Man, it felt good to write that.
Hell no im not happy….he should have donated the money to a charity or two.
once u give somoething to someone its theirs to spend however they please. and all good bosses give their employees bonuses… Obama isnt the first to do so! Kudos to him and his hardworking staff! Perez, stop bitchin!
Hell Yeah. Worth every penny. Unlike Repubs, Obama rewarded the little folks for working their ass off and doing what I paid them to do w/my donations. Enough said.
Re: PunkyBrewstein – Who are his people? The whites on his mother side or the Africans on his father side.
What silly backwards hillbilly thinking…Obama's going to take care of the Africans and whites and forget about the blacks, hispanics, asians, native americans, etc. Just silly.
I donated. In some ways I feel like it should be going back to the people who were broke but donated to Obama anyways….however, if it was my contribution that helped in anyway to make Obama the 44th president of the United States then I feel a little better.
Thank goodness - FINALLY, we have fewer dumb comments and SO many more that make sense!! I 100% agree with what he is doing. I was on a blog where people who believe in him gave $25 of their last $30 and campaigned for him tirelessly. They DO deserve that money! And anyone comparing this to Palin's Neiman's and Macy's spending spree (that she WASN'T supposed to do - she was supposed to get 3 outfits!), is ignorant.
yes, they deserve it. They worked their asses off to get him elected. Better them getting it than the millions of prisoners feeding off the tax payers money
I think he did a lot of shady shit and all of it got brushed under the table by the media
where's my christmas bonus? he should have donated that money to the childrens' hospital and to the homeless who always need a little extra boost during the holidays. we are all feeling the crunch, and the holidays are the worst because you see all these commercials and movies where people have a feast and friends and family, and now here we are, lucky if we can afford to put a decent meal on our table on a regular day, now imagine those arent' that lucky, they deserve a good meal.
I must admit I'm jealous, but if they worked hard for it then that's cool. As long as taxpayers aren't paying for it.
I don't have a problem with it. That campaign was actually really well-run, and his campaign staff is the reason he won. Honestly, they deserve the bonus.
Re: The World is Now a Scary Place – That must mean you are sexy bitch? Please, I bet you look like shit behind that keyboard.
Re: PunkyBrewstein –
PS, Obama's half white.
YES THEY DESERVE IT FOR HELPING GET OBAMA ELECTED!
You guys are all full of shit. Had it been McCain that did this, every single person on her that said it was ok for Obama to do, would be throwing a hissy fit right now.
Well given the crippled economy, I can think of quite a few better things that money should have went to. However I am not surprised he did it this way. Just another sign he doesn't use his brain very well.
All those cans of teflon he got sprayed with must have cost a fortune- I'm surprised he has any cash left over.
Those campaign workers deserve every bit of one months salary after all the hard work they put into his campaign
Absolutely! My family member worked as a paid staff member in Ohio and they were not paid a lot (which is fine) and worked their butts off. They worked 10-12 hour days and most lived with host families. So the extra pay is not a lot but very helpful to this staffers. Great job Obama staffers!!!!! Yes You Did!
I donated about $100 to his campaign and am fine with it. They deserve it, the campaign workers did an excellent job - OBVIOUSLY!
Sounds suspicious. From interviews he's given I know people who hardly had any money gave $5.00 or whatnot to this campaign. Don't you think they should get their money back? If you only had $5.00 to give you probably need it. What he is doing sounds illegal!
Re: Sweetmomma – I guess you've never gotten a bonus check from an employer during the holidays? Poor you, you don't know what it's like to have a real job.
Re: PunkyBrewstein – HIs "Own Kind"? He had a white mother you dumb fuck!
Why not!? They deserve it!
Hahahahah
all you losers donated
Suckerssssssssssssssssssss
you deserved to have your money go to someone else
and get used to it…He's going to be passing out everyone money in due time
They ran an amazing campaign and deserve every damn penny. As someone who did donate to the campaign I'd rather see my money go to the people who worked really hard than to anything else.
Re: Sgirl – Those people will be repaid once he is actually in office and the lower and middle classes get the help they so need. We will all live in a better America in 4 years time.
Why not give it to a charity? It would have been a MUCH better gesture than to just give it to his campaigners. If he really cared and wanted to help the people of America in my eyes he would have donated it so that families could put food on their table during the holidays.
From the article: "A lot of people thought they were going to be broke and would have to try to find a job in this rotten economy". Wow, having to get a job? That would suck - if you're a BUM! Poor people, having to work for a living and everything. My heart is just breaking for those poor people having to get a job to support themselves. Now where's my mini violin ….
I wouldn't care if he paid for them to go on an all expenses paid month long trip to Hawaii!!! Anyone who has ever worked on any kind of campaign, like with marketing or something, and you have all these dealines and last minute short notice emergencies, and moving people all over the place, all over the country, and being under constant pressure 24/7 for two years, knowing that the wrong move and you are seconds away from disaster over and over again, Sheesh!!! They made very few mistakes, if any and there was NO DRAMA. No mess. They earned every single dime. You couldn't ask for a more dedicated staff. Good for him that he was so compassionate and showed his appreciation. These peole gave him a piece of their lives for almost two years. One month's salary and a blackberry isn't too much.
How ironic that the first group to get fleeced by Obama are the people that donated to his campaign. Hold onto your wallets, it won't be the last time.
I kept expecting someone to mention this, but I haven't seen it (sorry if I've missed it).
To those of you concerned about the DNC asking for money, and the Obama campaign giving severance pay to campaign staff– They are SEPARATE entities.
I know that's kind of confusing, as the DNC funded much of the Obama campaign, especially in the last few months, but totally totally separate corporations. A lot of Obama funding came from donors direct to his campaign and the corporation set up to manage that money, not affiliated with or filtered through the DNC. The Obama campaign is currently hitting up their email list to ask for help for the DNC, which is in debt (related to this and other campaigns). Yes, it gets complicated, but hope that helps make some sense of it.
Anyway, I'm glad they're getting severance. Totally agree with you guys that said so!
Anytime a person or a business succeedes then the employee's that stuck it out do deserve a bonus. Alot of the people also put in time and effort as well as countless hours that they did not get compinsated for. Go Obama .. We should be more worried about the tax payers dollar that AIG keeps spending on their lavish trips for doing absolutly nothing but digging investors in a hole… SHOW ME THE RECEIPTS ( in the word of whitney houston)
I am thrilled to see the money spent that way and wish I could have contributed more. They worked incredibly hard for the benefit of our country and they of all people deserve a bonus!
How do you guys like the repeated emails from Obama's campaign saying their heavily in debt and STILL asking for contributions? Pay up! You've got many more cash handouts, blackberries and laptop computers to pay for! You've been had, bamboozled and hoodwinked - bent over and plowed with no lube and you actually paid of it. Nice job, you've just financed a few people who self admittedly didn't want to work anyway - and they're sitting on their ass with cash in their pockets, a blackberry and a laptop computer all at your expense. Haha.
Power to the people right?!
Re: OhPleaseShutUp – the RNC gave Sarah Palin grief over her wardrobe bcuz they were already using up much of the money on campaigning. and then she wastes money on clothes, etc. the Obama campaign however had plenty of money to shell out. the mccain campaign should have skipped public financing as well and could have had a better spending budget.
All you clowns that think it's OK for the money to be spent like that were the ones bitching about how much money Mariah Carey got paid for performing at an event. You wanted Carey to feed all the hungry children instead of pocketing the money. Now, wouldn't it be right that Obama should have fed all "the hungry children" with that money instead of giving it to his cronies?
Thank goodies I didnt vote for him lol
well i didn't donate so i dont really care, but it sounds like a good deal to me!
Thats freakin awesome!
Re: PunkyBrewstein – You are such a f@@king retard..he's half white fool so that means he will even cover you and all your ignorant trailer park trash a@# family…SMDH
HOW WONDERFUL. HAPPY WORKERS, HARD WORK. ANYBODY WITH BOSS METALITY KNOWS THAT THE WORKERS HAVE TO BE HAPPY TO HAVE THE BEST WORK DONE. NOW TO ALL OF YOU WHO BELIEVE IN THE TRICKLE DOWN THEORY, THIS IS YOUR ORGASM.
Re: PunkyBrewstein – YOU FUCKIN IDIOT!!! HE'S HALF WHITE!!! HIS MOST BELOVED FAMILY MEMBERS IS WHITE!!! SHEESH. WHY LORD ARE PEOPLE SOOOOO DUMB. LIKE THAT WOMEN THAT GOT KILLED BY THE KKK MEMBERS. HAVING A BLACK PRES ISNT THE BEST TIME TO BE TURNING YOUR BACK ON EVERYONE EXCEPT WHITE PEOPLE. DUMB BITCH.
Re: PunkyBrewstein – 19 White people were entrenched in his campaign staff, and he is half white, so taking care of white people would ecompass, "taking care of his own kind". You rode the "special bus" to school didn't you? I can't wait until karma visits your door.
Hey, what happened to spreading the wealth? Why spend it on people who don't really need it? It should be given to the people who actually put your ass in office, like the voters! lol
Re: PunkyBrewstein – Don't be so ridiculous, not all of his campaign workers are black…and even if they were, that's such a ridiculous and immature assumption anyway. Stop being bitter and support the man who WILL be our President, whether you like it or not. We're not going to get anywhere if you conservatives keep bitching.
Re: Bluebonnet – Well, see above. Nothing you're saying is making sense.. Are you just trying to be inflammatory? The DNC is broke, the separate but affiliated Obama campaign is quite reasonably spending its last money on severance pay, and none of those hard-working campaign folks seem averse to being, well.. hard-working.
P.S. Obama also donated extra equipment and remaining office supplies to a charity iloveschools dot com that sent 100 % of the items to needy school districts in ten states, per Obama's instructions. McCain, due to public financing regulations by the FEC, had to attempt to sell his leftovers first and what didn't sell went to schools and churches. He donated in his state and I applaud them both. All those expecting them to feed the world should look up campaign finance restrictions, and maybe you won't be so embittered.
yes it got the job done and his staff have worked hard to get through the blitz–merry x-mas- besides im sure the rest will go to more good stuff thats needed..at least noone had to buy new clothes at the cost of a house or car for the Obama's–
Re: Lucky21 – Ummmm he did donate it to HIS EMPLOYEES who are now out of work and NEED TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE…Geesh…learn how to read!
Taking care of his own instead of SPREADING THE WEALTH amongst EVERYONE, not just his own campaign people? He's a hippocrate!!
HE IS AWESOME. canadian government sucks.
Uh, oh, I'm sure, those people are going to PAY TAXES on their computers and Blackberrys, LOL!
Re: Bluebonnet – Oh sweet stupid woman….if this were the case he wouldn't have handed out bonus' to his peeps….Oh where Oh Where do you people come from anyhow??
Yeah!! They worked hard!!
I love Obama BUT the left over momey should go to help bailing out the country or charity not Xmas bonuses
i always thought the money put to make palin look like a $150,000 bucks was well spent. it helped boost republican interest. i'm even more inclined to say obama staffers earned my contribution money. they were out doing the dirty work that i wished i had the time and resources to do. money well spent and going to deserving obama staff.
If the concept is that bonuses are paid for accomplishments, then I'm perfectly happy to see campaign contributions used for this. After all, they were successful in getting their guy elected, weren't they?
Absolutely…His workers were part of a well oiled competent machine….
nice to see the new prez gives "bail out's" to his staff who was already hansomely payed. gotta love BIG government. they take care of themself before they do relive the tax payer. LOVE HOLLYWOOD - you got your man, now let him PAY the GOV BIG BIZ. yeee haaa.
Absolutely!!! His campaign workers earned that money. It's not like he's giving it to people that own 8 homes or 13 cars and make over $250,000.00 annually. It's not a hand out either, they worked for it. Good for him to share the money with the campaign staff!!!!!!!
Honestly, its not like Obama can just give all the unused money back to the individuals who donated. His staffers did a hell of a job and he didn't get to the whitehouse all by himself. Folks shouldn't be salty just because they aren't getting an end of year bonus and Obama's staff is.
I donated to the campaign and I'm totally fine with it. Those people work really hard and are usually kicked to the curb as soon as the election is over. I'm happy to see Obama taking care of his employees.
Maybe he should use his extra campaign money for the bailout of the auto industry he wants. You already got a $700 billion dollar bailout plan, what more do you want from us tax payers Obama! We're not all as rich as you are.
Hey, these people are the ones who helped get him elected, and keep that twat Palin away from the White House, so as far as I'm concerned…they can use some of my contribution to buy themselves a nice holiday gift with my blessing.
man, i can't wait till he's in office.
Oh now we are finally starting to see how Obama does NOT practice what he preaches– and before everyone gets up my A$$ about this i live a suburb right outside of chicago and let me tell you Politics are corrupt as hell in chicago and believe me Obama is NO expection– but he was the Media's Baby and got away with murder– I dont think McCain and Palin are god but give me a break– Obama spending his campgain money on this?? How much money do we need for the economy? I understand they worked hard and blah blah blah but they CHOSE to do that– I did not give any money for him– i hate that hes president and this is an example of how the rest of the next 4 years will be– he needs to put this money back into the economy– isnt that what he keeps blabbing about?? Maybe he should actually do something and not just give good speeches– but that is how his next 4 years in the white house will be– i just pray its only 4 years i cant handle 8 years of his Bullsh*t
Re: topper – Oh I know you are not comparing Mariah to Obama…the situation is COMPLETELY different! Obama did the right thing. Period.
Re: Hael679 – Are you serious? Obama got away with murder? I'm DYING to hear this…go on….
Re: LusciousLiz
What didnt Obama do? He was the Media Darling it was disgusting– if you look into his past or his wifes past it is so messed up he is president- but no one wants to call out Obama– doesnt matter who he has dinner with who he and his wife are friends with– he belonged to a church for about 20 years that preaches hate and hate against america– no one wants to hear it tho people want to hush it bill ayers?? and american terriost?? who cares they are friends right? No big deal Obama was only 8 when Bill Ayers set off bombs– No biggie- at all I know Idk who lives where but if anyone hears about all the corruption Chicago politicans are involved in right now– Obama is connected to ALLLL of them– but thats just another Rev Wright.. you know a close friend of the Obama's and his preacher for years– suddenly when the Media somewhat digs it up he disassociates himself the news declares that and American is once again dumb as rocks.. come on people do your research! News stations dont give you a unbias story they are as twisted as it comes– and please if Palin or McCain did any of this they would be going thru hell right now being torn apart– at least admit that the Media was biased
Re: LusciousLiz –
The situation is ALWAYS different although the reasoning SHOULD be the same.
YOUR reasoning is like this…..Someone drops $1 and you find it. You return it and feel good about yourself because you did the right thing. On the other hand, if someone drops $10,000 then you figure that a rich person should know better. So you keep the money. It's the same thing, different situation. Situations change but reasoning shouldn't.
Re: LusciousLiz
He also bought his house thru Reszko and a convicted felon but thats not a big deal either right?? Him and his wife are so radical its scary I do not claim a party- I voted for Kerry two elections ago and voted for McCain this election I hate Bush so I dont want all this stupid Sh*t blown up my ass- Obama is scary his wife is scary if anyone did any research and didnt eat his "change" bullsh*t and actually thought for themselves they would be worried they voted for him– he has no idea what he is doing– he is surrounded with corruption but because he can read note cards and give a good speech he won?? it is absurd to me that someone like McCain would lose out to Obama
They can use my donations that way, sure! I don't mind at all.
But the DNC needs to keep emailing me to say they are debt because of the Obama campaign then….
I'm kind of annoyed because I spent my own money traveling and volunteering for Obama as well as donating to him. And his paid staff just gets more money
?
I think its great that Obama gave his extra money to his employees…i just find it annoying that if mccain had won and had done the same thing, Perez would have complained that Mccain should have given the money to poor people or something. Thats all.
Re: PunkyBrewstein –
What do you mean by his own kind? The WHITE people that raised him?
As a former Obama staffer I can tell you that after working everyday for 15+ hours 7 days a week it is nice to get a little bit more for the hard work and long house we put in. Obviously a lot of you haven't worked on a campaign or known anyone who has. Most of us gave up our lives for the campaign, moving across the country thousands of miles from our friends and families to work for a candidate we felt so strongly about. Its not like we are getting the money for nothing. We had little sleep, little food, and little pay. So its great that we get this during the transition period.
Aww that's so nice!!
Why would anybody be angry at this? It's not like he's giving the money to random FRIENDS. He's giving it to STAFFERS, who worked their friggin butts off to run an impeccable campaign! They SHOULD be rewarded, and in my mind, there's nothing wrong with rewarding them with a bit of the very money they HELPED to raise!
(This isn't like a charity- when people donated, they were donating to the CAMPAIGN, and that's what they WANTED to do. Well, now that the campaign is over, some of the extra money is going straight to the people who helped make it happen. It's totally fair!)
i think that is a great way to use the extra money. give it to the people that worked their asses off to get him in office. i dont know of any employer who would be so generous. all of those people are now out of jobs, at christmastime, in this horrible horrible economy. i dont know what would be a better way to use it.
Hey I'd rather see a report of his staffers getting bonuses than hearing about them not getting an extra dime! At least its going to good use. I'm sure the repubs and all the other negative idiots in the room will have something foolish to say about it. LOL
No, especially since I am now getting emails about the tremendous debt that the DNC went into to get him elected. Are you sure they still have $600 million in the bank? That doesn't make any sense.
If you people actually read the emails sent out by the Obama campaign it says that if you contribute $30 you get a limited edition tshirt and the remainder goes to help the DNC for what they spent on the convention this year.
I contributed what I could and I am glad these people are getting a bonus. They worked like crazy. Manning the computers, calling voters, getting people the information they need when they needed it.
Dude, I volunteered…where's my bonus?
Well, really I put in a lot of hours, and I felt good about it, but I felt unappreciated in my local Obama office. Whatevs, at least he won I guess.
Obama sucks. NO ONE should be allowed to buy the presidency.
This is bullshit. If he was any kind of a man he would take himself, his wife and his children to Neiman Marcus and buy themselves some clothes with those campaign dollars. Damn, Obama, didn't you learn anything from Sarah Palin. Geez.
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Re: Hael679 –
The media doesn't contain honest journalists with any integrity anymore, they're nothing but puppets with the democratic party's hand up their ass.
Re: ObamaStaffer08 – But you CHOSE to work on his campaign, knowing what you would have to give up. BOO FUCKING HOO! So, don't bitch about how you suffered. Just have a nice fucking Christmas while the rest of us struggle to buy presents for our kids.
Rynne [192] says: NO ONE should be allowed to buy the presidency.
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Obama didn't "buy" the presidency. Campaign donations come from people who agree with his politics, and want to help with the costs of getting the message out. That is how the American election system is designed. You have some nerve saying Obama sucks, because he took his excess campaign donations and paid the people who did the work of getting that message out. What did Sarah Palin do with the Republican campaign dollars ~ $150,000.00 on clothing is ignorant, arrogant, selfish and unnecessary, especially given the current economic climate, and the fact that many campaign dollars are given by people who have very little themselves, and expect their dollars to be spent responsibly. I am sure there is not a Democrat donator who resents what Obama has done with the excess money. And Obamas buy their own clothes; they did not use any campaign dollars for that purpose. For those disgruntled Republicans who are hell bent on relentless and unwarranted criticisms of Barack Obama; somebody should tell you that you are a bad American, dragging your country down, not uplifting it; too stupid to succeed yourself, so you belittle those who aspire to great things in this limited time on earth. You need to set the bar a little higher for yourself.
jefdo [194] say: The media doesn't contain honest journalists with any integrity anymore, they're nothing but puppets with the democratic party's hand up their ass.
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How many times do I have to tell you that your name is spelled j-e-t-h-r-o. You keep trying to spell it like you say it. Stop that. It's making you look really dumb. And you have no business announcing that there are no honest journalists with integrity anymore, simply because they are reporting against your Party of choice. You are the one with your "head" up the Republican ass, because you can't even see what a hot mess the Republican Machine has become. I wouldn't even be surprised if John McCain even voted for Barack Obama.
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Re: Pig_Nasty –
It's not about my party of choice, there is a very obvious left bias in the media and everyone knows it. How about the big MSNBC report from a "McCain top advisor" saying Sarah Palin didn't know Africa was a continent. Turns out that report was revealed to be a hoax. There's countless incidents of the left bias in media, its no secret. The campaign bought clothes for Palin, she didn't spend their money. You think the Obama's didn't spend a ridiculous amount on their wardrobe with all their contributions, fat chance. I guess if MSNBC doesn't repot it it's not true right? I'm yet to hear you say anything even remotely intelligent. The sad thing is you've fooled yourself into actually thinking your witty and wise.
I think it's a great idea. Those people did work hard and they deserve it.
If you saw what campaigning is like and how little the people get paid you would want these people to get a bonus. After all people do deserve bonuses for jobs well done! When my family member campaigns he sleeps in a room with several other people, gets no sleep eats poorly and has to hold a job on top of that to afford to work on the campaign.
Re: Hael679 –
THE MONEY DOES GO BACK INTO THE ECONOMY!!!!!
These people are now out of jobs for the holidays. this money provides them with a break until they are able to find a new job. so they can spend for the holidays.
MONEY IN POCKET= MONEY SPENT= STRONGER ECONOMY