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President Obama granted plum jobs and appointments to almost 200 people who raised large sums for his presidential campaign, and his top fundraisers have won millions of dollars in federal contracts, according to a new report from the Center for Public Integrity.

In one example detailed by the group's iWatch News, Telecom executive Donald H. Gips "bundled" half a million dollars in contributions to the president for his reelection campaign. ("Bundling" is the practice of gathering together a group of donations, and was popularized because of legal limits in individual contributions.

Gips went on to take charge of hiring in the Obama White House and (was later) named ambassador to South Africa. And his company, Level 3 Communications, was granted millions in stimulus contracts for broadband projects. Gips told iWatch he was "completely unaware" of the federal windfall. The company has taken $13.8 million in stimulus money.

The report found that 80 percent of Obama bundlers who raised $500,000 or more for Mr. Obama - many of whom are being asked to do the same for his reelection bid - ended up in "key administration posts," in the words of the White House.

More than half of Mr. Obama's ambassador nominees were from this group. One of them, Cynthia Stroum, became U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg; she resigned shortly before the release of a State Department report that deemed her "aggressive, bullying, hostile and intimidating."

Mr. Obama's bundlers were also granted White House access - they and their families "account for more than 3,000 White House meetings and visits," according to iWatch. (There were 800 bundler visits to the White House in just the first few months of the administration.) The report also found that "[a]t least 18 other bundlers have ties to businesses poised to profit from government spending to promote clean energy, telecommunications and other key administration priorities."

When the new administration set up shop in the White House on Jan. 20, 2009, the money raisers soon followed. Visitor logs show about 800 bundler visits during the formative early months of the administration, and overall, the top-tier bundlers tended to visit far more often than those at the bottom rung.

Some are longtime friends of the first family, such as Chicagoans Cindy Moelis and her husband, Robert Rivkin, who as a couple bundled at least $200,000. Obama appointed Moelis to direct the Presidential Commission on White House Fellows. Her husband was appointed general counsel of the Department of Transportation and special adviser to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Rivkin, who worked as a lawyer with a Chicago risk management and insurance firm, had once served as general counsel to the Chicago Transit Authority.

Moelis told iWatch News that she and her husband were “highly qualified” for their jobs and that they “took pay cuts and made considerable sacrifice” to enter public service. “We truly believe in it,” she said.

Harvey S. Wineberg, a certified public accountant from Chicago who raised at least $100,000 and is Obama’s personal accountant, said his fundraising had “nothing to do” with his appointment to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability in December 2010. Wineberg said he called a White House staffer, whom he declined to name, to ask about serving. “I thought I’d be good,” he said. He has since resigned.

The bundlers often went to the White House to see David C. Jacobson, then a special assistant for presidential personnel. Jacobson, a Chicago lawyer and himself an Obama bundler, served as the 2008 campaign’s deputy finance director. Jacobson, who departed in September 2009 to become ambassador to Canada, scheduled about 90 meetings with bundlers, according to an iWatch News analysis of visitor logs. Two-thirds of them had each raised at least $200,000.

Gips, who served as White House director of presidential personnel before taking the post in South Africa, saw more than a dozen bundlers. Other inner-circle White House officials, such as presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett, also a bundler, met with more than 50 bundlers, mostly the heavy hitters.

Obama met with at least two dozen bundlers either privately or with another person, according to the visitor logs.

Ambassadorships have been the traditional payoff for big bundlers. But it’s not just the posts in foreign capitals that are attractive. Light, the NYU expert on presidential transitions, said that in recent years many have sought jobs with deep reach into the federal bureaucracy — and found a receptive ear in the White House.

“When they get a résumé from a bundler, that is a real signal of seriousness,” Light said. “It’s also a thinly veiled quid pro quo,” and it “goes without saying they will get considered.”

The cluster of appointments among top bundlers suggests that the size of the donation may have been a factor at least in getting a foot in the door. Less than one in five at the $50,000 level got an administration position. Half of $200,000 bundlers were picked for some post; 80 percent of the $500,000 bundlers were appointed.

i guess it pays to play, eh? hopenchange!

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So, basically, he has become what he supposedly ran against in 2008.

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Originally Posted by Incog Nito:
So, basically, he has become what he supposedly ran against in 2008.

only worse. in bush's two terms, he appointed 200 of these bundlers. it just took obama 2 years to surpass that number. more cronyism.

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When are folks gonna finally admit that this president is just plain crooked?  Are they afraid of being labeled racist?  Because this stuff is getting pretty obvious and it doesnt appear he's even trying to hide it anymore.

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This is why I think there should be a cap on legal campaign spending, a maximum individual contribution, and a ban on businesses making contributions.  But thanks to the SC this would require an amendment.  

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Originally Posted by Bryant Platt:
This is why I think there should be a cap on legal campaign spending, a maximum individual contribution, and a ban on businesses making contributions.  But thanks to the SC this would require an amendment.  

how about a ban on the money laundering service that IS the unions? because private industry throws money into both sides, but the dems OWN the unions in terms of contributions. the dems take care of the unions, and the unions take care of the dems. and most of the problems we now see with our campaign finance laws stems from mccain-feingold.