This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
Obama's Legacy Billionaires
President Obama is now on his "quest for legacy" tour. He's saying things that will burnish his legacy, like expressing support for opponents of the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) which has sparked all the protests, including those led by native American tribes. At the same time, he's doing things, like pushing hard for TPP, the top item on every mega-corporation's wish list, so that he can finance that legacy.
Interesting two-step, burnishing the legacy with words that finance-the-legacy deeds erase. Think I'm wrong? Let's look at who finances presidential legacy libraries, and at what price. According to the New York Times (emphasis mine):
"With High-Profile Help, Obama Plots Life After Presidency
"...The dinner in the private upstairs dining room of the White House went so late that Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn billionaire, finally suggested around midnight that President Obama might like to go to bed.
"'Feel free to kick us out,' Mr. Hoffman recalled telling the president.
"But Mr. Obama was just getting started. 'I'll kick you out when it's time,' he replied. He then lingered with his wife, Michelle, and their 13 guests -- among them the novelist Toni Morrison, the hedge fund manager Marc Lasry and the Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr -- well past 2 a.m.
"Mr. Obama 'seemed incredibly relaxed,' said another guest, the writer Malcolm Gladwell. He recalled how the group, which also included the actress Eva Longoria and Vinod Khosla, a founder of Sun Microsystems, tossed out ideas about what Mr. Obama should do after he leaves the White House.
"Publicly, Mr. Obama betrays little urgency about his future. Privately, he is preparing for his post-presidency with the same fierce discipline and fund-raising ambition that characterized the 2008 campaign that got him to the White House.
"The long-running dinner this past February is part of a methodical effort taking place inside and outside the White House as the president, first lady and a cadre of top aides map out a post-presidential infrastructure and endowment they estimate could cost as much as $1 billion. The president's aides did not ask any of the guests for library contributions after the dinner, but a number of those at the table could be donors in the future.
"The $1 billion -- double what George W. Bush raised for his library and its various programs -- would be used for what one adviser called a 'digital-first' presidential library loaded with modern technologies, and to establish a foundation with a worldwide reach..."
More -- Obama wants to raise most of the billion dollars upfront so he doesn't have to do what Clinton did, engage in "endless fundraising":
"Supporters have urged Mr. Obama to avoid the mistake made by Bill Clinton, whose associates raised just enough money to build his library in Little Rock, Ark., forcing Mr. Clinton to pursue high-dollar donors for years to come. Including construction costs, Mr. Obama's associates set a goal of raising at least $800 million -- enough money, they say, to avoid never-ending fund-raising. One top adviser said that $800 million was a floor rather than a ceiling."
A few more names:
"So far, Mr. Obama has raised just over $5.4 million from 12 donors, with gifts ranging from $100,000 to $1 million. Michael J. Sacks, a Chicago businessman, gave $666,666. Fred Eychaner, the founder of Chicago-based Newsweb Corp., which owns community newspapers and radio stations, donated $1 million. Mark T. Gallogly, a private equity executive, and James H. Simons, a technology entrepreneur, each contributed $340,000 to a foundation set up to oversee development of the library."
And finally: "The real push for donations, foundation officials said, will come after Mr. Obama leaves the White House... How can you read that and not think, "When he presents the bill -- the big ask -- for what he did to please them."
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
3
2
2
