Democrat National Convention Ends In The Red, GOP Convention Ends In The Black

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Written By:
Rob Port

Oct 19, 2012
10:52am

Under President Obama this country has added more to the national debt than any other president in history. With a Democrat Senate majority blocking progress, the nation hasn’t passed a budget in 1,270 days.

So perhaps it’s fitting that the Democrats ended their national convention in the red.

Democrats ended their convention more than $8 million in debt on a loan secured by Duke Energy, while Republicans reaped massive donations from corporations and a stable of major conservative donors, new federal filings show.

The Charlotte 2012 host committee, organized by city officials, will get stuck with the responsibility for paying the debt. The Democratic Party and the Obama campaign will not tap any of the nearly $1 billion they’ve raised for the 2012 election to help, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee said.

The article makes it sound, in the opening paragraphs, as though Democrats didn’t take corporate money, but they did:

Democrats raised millions of in kind donations from corporations, and tapped direct corporate contributions for another fund for throwing events around the convention. Duke Energy, in addition to securing the line of credit, donated $5.7 million in direct contributions, office space and other gifts.

Meanwhile, Republicans ran their convention finances a bit more competently:

Republicans ended their convention in the black after getting help from major corporations, including $3.1 million from AT&T, $3 million from Cisco Systems and $2 million from oil companies through the American Petroleum Institute. Major Republican donors also contributed giant checks, including $5 million from casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and $1 million each from financial titans Robert Mercer, Paul Singer and the firm of John Paulson. Billionaire David Koch, owner of the Kansas-based Koch Industries petrochemicals conglomerate, also gave $1 million to the 2012 Tampa Bay Host Committee.

You can’t make this stuff up.