The New York Post on Sunday brought us another tale of a foreigner easily donating money online to Barack Obama's presidential campaign, in defiance of U.S. campaign law:
Chris Walker, a British citizen who lives outside London, told The Post he was able to make two $5 donations to President Obama???s campaign this month through its Web site while a similar attempt to give Mitt Romney cash was rejected. It is illegal to knowingly solicit or accept money from foreign citizens.
Walker said he used his actual street address in England but entered Arkansas as his state with the Schenectady, NY, ZIP code of 12345.
???When I did Romney???s, the payment got rejected on the grounds that the address on the card did not match the address that I entered,??? he said. ???Romney???s Web site wanted the code from the back of card. Barack Obama???s didn???t.???
Gosh, and that Obama fellow is normally such a stickler for the rules. Well, at least for writing complicated rules that other people have to live by. Just try breaking one of ObamaCare's million rules and see what happens to you.
The Post goes on to note that, according to Federal Election Commission data, Obama's campaign raked in over $2 million in donations that lacked complete zip codes in September alone. $130,867 of it came from donors who provided no zip code at all.
The Obama campaign claims this was a "minor technical error." But they'd really, really like Mr. Walker to repeat that error:
The Obama campaign says it ???screens all credit-card contributions that originate from a foreign IP address??? and requests proof of citizenship if questions arise.
But not only did Walker???s Obama donations go through, but he said he began receiving two to three e-mail solicitations a day to give more. The e-mails asked for $188 or more.
If Walker gave $188, his total contribution to Obama would be $198 ??? less than the $200 threshold at which campaigns have to identify the donor to the FEC.
???I have not had any e-mails asking for proof of identity,??? Walker said.
Hey, no big deal. If Obama wins, none of this will ever be investigated, and even if it were, the results would not jeopardize the results of the election; if he loses, anyone who tries to investigate it will be accused of "living in the past" and "refusing to let go" by red-faced Democrats.
Campaign finance law is something every American is supposed to be very concerned about - Obama has actually promised to modify the Constitution to over-ride Citizens United, a Supreme Court campaign finance decision he dislikes. But in practice, campaign finance shenanigans only matter when the media decides to get upset about them. They don't seem terribly concerned with Obama's wide-open campaign donation system, which eschews the routine security measures employed for the sale of T-shirts from the very same website.
