Transition Dollars

TRANSITION DOLLARS... You're probably aware that Obama is still using his network of supporters to raise money. The Capital Eye blog at the Center for Responsive Politics tells us how this works:

According to the Presidential Transitions Effectiveness Act, a single donor can contribute a total of $5,000 to the transition effort, even if the donor already gave money to Obama's candidate committee or leadership PAC. Unlike contributions to these committees, however, donations to the nonprofit won't have to be reported to the Federal Election Commission as political contributions because the organization is set up as a 501(c)(4), as designated by the Internal Revenue Service (these contributions are generally not tax-deductible as charitable contributions). Instead, Obama will have to disclose the source, date and amount of each contribution to the General Services Administration by February 20, a month after he's already taken office.

Obama's transition chief, John Podesta, told the Washington Post the team would be disclosing the names of all donors at the end of every month.

Podesta noted in a conference call with reporters earlier this week that the transition will cost a total of $12 million, and that because Obama will receive some assistance from the federal government, he is hoping to raise roughly $7 million. My boss in MoJo's DC bureau, David Corn, asked the appropriate question two days ago: "Given that the nation is spending trillions of dollars to rescue the financial industry, it shouldn't be too hard to fund fully the transition effort. Can't Congress just appropriate another $7 million—which is chump change these days—and let Obama get on with the show?"