This is the sort of thing that makes me livid:
Dear XXXXXX,
I'm co-hosting a small dinner with President Barack Obama at the Park Avenue home of Jane Hartley and Evercore CEO Ralph Schlosstein on Monday September 19th at 5:30pm. Evercore Chairman and former Assistant Treasury Secretary Roger Altman is also a co-host. Many other senior Wall Street individuals will be attending.
This will be an intimate dinner with the opportunity to spend quality time with the President in a private home. Given the current Republican field, it is more imperative than ever that we re-elect President Obama and I hope you can join us on September 19th.
You can RSVP to me directly or here: http://my.barackobama.com/...
$35,800 per person / $71,600 per couple
But that's now all... link and more outrage below.
So I stumbled on this at a financial news, gossip and analysis site:
Hi there - fundraising this quarter has been a struggle (as you can imagine give all the negative stuff around the President) - they are offering a one off opportunity to attend this small dinner on Monday for $25k instead of the full max out of $38.5k, or a couple at $38.5k instead of $77k. Just wanted to offer that in case you're interested!
Charles A. Myers
Senior Managing Director
Evercore Partners
Direct: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Mobile: XXX-XXX-XXXX
xxxx@xxxx.com
Isn't that great! For a mere $25K instead of the usual $38.5K one can have dinner with Obama in the company of Evercore executives and other "senior Wall Street individuals."
Barack Obama for Sale: 50% Off -- Zero Hedge
Who are these people at Evercore, one might wonder. I had no idea, but one of the comments had some background info:
This is all a small price to pay in order to repay Obama for the GM restructuring...wonder what the final total of Evercore employees in attendance will be?
""Altman is founder and chairman of Evercore Partners, which advised on the GM deal. Evercore, after being paid $46 million by GM pre-bankruptcy, asked for a $17.9 million "success fee." A U.S. bankruptcy trustee termed the fees "staggering" and "inordinately large" and said it "clearly exceeds the bounds of reasonableness" given that "Evercore had no success at finding a purchaser or funder for the Debtor.""
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
--NumberNone
I suppose people who get those sorts of fees for bailing out GM's incompetence (and how did that bail out work?) can afford a $25,000 dinner. (Imagine an alternate universe where those $46 million fees actually went to GM workers, or those laid off, or small businesses in Flint MI.)
Here, BTW, is the official Roger Altman bio from the Evercore site:
Roger Altman is Founder and Chairman of Evercore Partners, which has become the most active investment banking boutique in the world.
Mr. Altman began his investment banking career at Lehman Brothers and became a general partner of that firm in 1974. Beginning in 1977, he served as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for four years. He then returned to Lehman Brothers, later becoming co-head of overall investment banking, a member of the firm’s Management Committee and its Board. He remained in those positions until the firm was sold to Shearson/American Express.
Roger C. Altman
Lehman Brothers! Blackstone Group! Just the kind of progressive corporations I want working with my president to solve the country's economic crisis. (Well, RIP Lehman I guess.)
It seems crony capitalism isn't only for the Rethuglicans.
As it happens, I'm not on Charles Myers's email list but I was the recipient of a similar email just today from a certain Sarah Bard at the DNC:
Hello
We are kicking off a new campaign to re-elect President Obama, and we want you with us from the start.
[Invitation details]
Sarah Bard
Director of Jewish Finance
Director of DexPats Finance
Democratic National Committee | Obama Victory Fund 2012
430 South Capitol Street, SE | Washington, DC 20003
Phone: (202) 572-XXXX | Mobile: (202)713-XXXX | Email: BardS@dnc.org
As a somewhat lesser star in the Obama fundraising universe, my dinner would have been only $1000, not $25,000. I feel offended.
The problem here, however, is that Ms Bard emailed me on the address I used back in those happy times when I believed in Obama and made contributions (about $250 I believe -- can I have it back please?) to the campaign. After two or three of the initial heartbreaking Obama disappointments (i.e. about two months after the inauguration) I officially removed myself from the email list and explained my reasons for doing so.
This DNC email therefore must have been based on the Obama list, from which I removed myself. In addition, there was no "opt out" link at the bottom of the email.
All this has left me rather pissed off. However, if anyone wishes to join the dinner, I leave Sarah Bard's email above. Feel free to contact her and request a place for $1000. I'm afraid, to quote Peter Cook, "I find myself watching television" that evening.