Thread: Obama Campaign Borrows $15M from Bank of America

Obama Campaign Borrows $15M from Bank of America

Warren Buffett invested $5B in BofA last year

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff

October 19, 2012 10:40 pm

Obama For America took out a $15 million loan from Bank of America last month, according to the campaign’s October monthly FEC report. The loan was incurred on September 4 and is due November 14, eight days after the election. OFA received an interest rate of 2.5% plus the current Libor rate.

Warren Buffett, Obama donor and namesake of the infamous “Buffett Rule,” invested $5 billion in Bank of America last year in an effort to help the ailing financial institution. Last month, two weeks after OFA took out the loan, Bank of America announced a plan that would lay off 16,000 workers by the end of the year.

Obama has a complicated relationship with Bank of America. The bank contributed $20 million toward the cost of the Democrat National Convention earlier this year. Bank of America stadium, home to the Carolina Panthers, was supposed to host Obama’s acceptance speech. At the last moment, the campaign switched to a significantly smaller venue. The campaign claimed that an impending storm would not allow the President to deliver his address. Many questioned whether move was made because the campaign was having trouble filling such a large stadium.

It is unclear why the first $1 billion campaign needed an extra $15 million for the final two months of the campaign.

Obama Campaign Borrows $15M from Bank of America | Washington Free Beacon

Interesting....curious....

Also, it seems that SEIU now owns banks????

DNC Owes Union Bank $15M


BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
October 19, 2012 3:38 pm

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) now owes $15 million to the union-owned Amalgamated Bank of New York,campaign finance records show.

The DNC received a $7 million loan from the bank in September, in addition to the $8 million loan it took out the previous month, neither of which has been paid back. The loans account for the majority of the committee’s $20 million in total debt.

The DNC paid Amalgamated Bank more than $18,000 in loan interest for the month of September, the records show.

Amalgamated Bank, often described as “America’s Labor Bank,” is a national entity, the majority of which is owned by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a large, politically active union with deep ties to the Democratic Party.

The SEIU is also involved with the Democracy Alliance, a shadowy group of wealthy left-wing donors founded by billionaire investor George Soros.

In August, the DNC “moved its primary banking relationship” to Amalgamated Bank from Bank of America.

DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz hailed the transition, and noted the longstanding political and financial ties between the two organizations.

The committee, she said, had a “fiduciary responsibility to those who invest in our party.”

The SEIU is one of the most active political interest groups in the country, and a top financial backer of the Democratic Party.

The union has given at least $200 million in direct contributions to candidates and committees since 1990 and has spent at least $14 million on lobbying since 1998, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The SEIU spent more than $80 million in 2008 in support of President Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates, an investment that has reapednumerous political dividends.

The DNC went $15 million over its budget for the 2012 Democratic Convention in Charlotte, despite breaking its pledge to not accept money from corporations.

DNC Owes Union Bank $15M | Washington Free Beacon