SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Oceans '16: Sanders Campaign Blasts $350K Dinner with Clooneys as 'Obscene'
'Now, most of us can agree that is an obscene amount of money,' Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said Friday
Mar 25, 2016
The $353,400 price tag attached to a Hollywood-Hillary Clinton fundraiser is raising eyebrows.
"It's a sum that would require an employee making the federal minimum wage to work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for more than 5 years."
--Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders campaign manager
The event, at which George Clooney and his wife, human rights attorney Amal Clooney, will sit at the head table, is raising money for the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee involving Hillary for America, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic committees of 32 states and Puerto Rico.
According to SFist on Thursday:
The dinner is set to take place at the San Francisco home of venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, and offers several tiered pricing options. For $353,400, you and your dining partner can be an honorary "event chair," a designation which comes with the exciting opportunity to lobby (likely future president) Clinton during a "roundtable" in addition to "premium dinner seating." A bit out of your range? For the $100,000, you and a guest can hang at the "host reception." Still too expensive? For $33,400 you can get a photo with candidate.
The Bernie Sanders campaign was among those raising concerns.
"Now, most of us can agree that is an obscene amount of money," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver wrote in an email to supporters on Friday afternoon. "It's a sum that would require an employee making the federal minimum wage to work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for more than 5 years."
Politico reported:
The Bay Area fundraiser, hosted at the home of venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, is one of two events starring the Clooneys. On April 16, Clinton and the Clooneys will reunite at the Clooney Los Angeles mansion, where tickets cost $33,400 per person to dine at the table with one of Hollywood's most glamorous couples.
Both events raise money for the Hillary Victory Fund. While the maximum donation to a presidential campaign is $2,700 for the primary elections (plus another $2,700 for the general), the Hillary Victory Fund can accept much larger contributions because it is a so-called joint fundraising committee that is comprised of multiple committees.
"Here is the truth: while tens of millions of Americans are struggling to put dinner on the table, the wealthiest people in this country have never had it so good," read the email from Weaver. "And the great question of this campaign is will we restore a vibrant democracy in this country, or will we slide into an oligarchy in which the economic and political life is controlled by a handful of billionaires?"
In an interview with the Guardian earlier this month, Clooney said: "I really love Bernie Sanders, and am really glad he is in the debate. He is forcing the conversation to things that never get talked about in U.S. politics: disparity between the rich and the poor, which is getting worse and worse every day."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
The $353,400 price tag attached to a Hollywood-Hillary Clinton fundraiser is raising eyebrows.
"It's a sum that would require an employee making the federal minimum wage to work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for more than 5 years."
--Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders campaign manager
The event, at which George Clooney and his wife, human rights attorney Amal Clooney, will sit at the head table, is raising money for the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee involving Hillary for America, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic committees of 32 states and Puerto Rico.
According to SFist on Thursday:
The dinner is set to take place at the San Francisco home of venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, and offers several tiered pricing options. For $353,400, you and your dining partner can be an honorary "event chair," a designation which comes with the exciting opportunity to lobby (likely future president) Clinton during a "roundtable" in addition to "premium dinner seating." A bit out of your range? For the $100,000, you and a guest can hang at the "host reception." Still too expensive? For $33,400 you can get a photo with candidate.
The Bernie Sanders campaign was among those raising concerns.
"Now, most of us can agree that is an obscene amount of money," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver wrote in an email to supporters on Friday afternoon. "It's a sum that would require an employee making the federal minimum wage to work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for more than 5 years."
Politico reported:
The Bay Area fundraiser, hosted at the home of venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, is one of two events starring the Clooneys. On April 16, Clinton and the Clooneys will reunite at the Clooney Los Angeles mansion, where tickets cost $33,400 per person to dine at the table with one of Hollywood's most glamorous couples.
Both events raise money for the Hillary Victory Fund. While the maximum donation to a presidential campaign is $2,700 for the primary elections (plus another $2,700 for the general), the Hillary Victory Fund can accept much larger contributions because it is a so-called joint fundraising committee that is comprised of multiple committees.
"Here is the truth: while tens of millions of Americans are struggling to put dinner on the table, the wealthiest people in this country have never had it so good," read the email from Weaver. "And the great question of this campaign is will we restore a vibrant democracy in this country, or will we slide into an oligarchy in which the economic and political life is controlled by a handful of billionaires?"
In an interview with the Guardian earlier this month, Clooney said: "I really love Bernie Sanders, and am really glad he is in the debate. He is forcing the conversation to things that never get talked about in U.S. politics: disparity between the rich and the poor, which is getting worse and worse every day."
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
The $353,400 price tag attached to a Hollywood-Hillary Clinton fundraiser is raising eyebrows.
"It's a sum that would require an employee making the federal minimum wage to work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for more than 5 years."
--Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders campaign manager
The event, at which George Clooney and his wife, human rights attorney Amal Clooney, will sit at the head table, is raising money for the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee involving Hillary for America, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic committees of 32 states and Puerto Rico.
According to SFist on Thursday:
The dinner is set to take place at the San Francisco home of venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, and offers several tiered pricing options. For $353,400, you and your dining partner can be an honorary "event chair," a designation which comes with the exciting opportunity to lobby (likely future president) Clinton during a "roundtable" in addition to "premium dinner seating." A bit out of your range? For the $100,000, you and a guest can hang at the "host reception." Still too expensive? For $33,400 you can get a photo with candidate.
The Bernie Sanders campaign was among those raising concerns.
"Now, most of us can agree that is an obscene amount of money," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver wrote in an email to supporters on Friday afternoon. "It's a sum that would require an employee making the federal minimum wage to work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for more than 5 years."
Politico reported:
The Bay Area fundraiser, hosted at the home of venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, is one of two events starring the Clooneys. On April 16, Clinton and the Clooneys will reunite at the Clooney Los Angeles mansion, where tickets cost $33,400 per person to dine at the table with one of Hollywood's most glamorous couples.
Both events raise money for the Hillary Victory Fund. While the maximum donation to a presidential campaign is $2,700 for the primary elections (plus another $2,700 for the general), the Hillary Victory Fund can accept much larger contributions because it is a so-called joint fundraising committee that is comprised of multiple committees.
"Here is the truth: while tens of millions of Americans are struggling to put dinner on the table, the wealthiest people in this country have never had it so good," read the email from Weaver. "And the great question of this campaign is will we restore a vibrant democracy in this country, or will we slide into an oligarchy in which the economic and political life is controlled by a handful of billionaires?"
In an interview with the Guardian earlier this month, Clooney said: "I really love Bernie Sanders, and am really glad he is in the debate. He is forcing the conversation to things that never get talked about in U.S. politics: disparity between the rich and the poor, which is getting worse and worse every day."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.