George Soros

Liberal billionaire George Soros and members of his family have contributed a little more than $1 million into state campaign coffers since 2000, with nearly all of it going to help Democrats in the State Senate.

Already this year, George, his son Robert, Robert’s wife, Melissa, and another son, Jonathan, contributed $199,500. George, Robert and Melissa each gave $25,000 to the New York State Democratic Party and gave the maximum allowable personal contributions - $9,500 - to Eric Schneiderman, David Valesky, Craig Johnson and Joe Addabbo.

(Two other members of the Soros family also contributed this year. Son Jonathan gave $9,500 to Democratic State Senate candidate Rick Dollinger and his wife, Jennifer, gave $1,000 to a pro-abortion rights lobbying PAC that donated to Johnson and Dollinger.  read more »

George Soros just contributed $500 to the campaign of congressional candidate Kevin Powell, who is running to unseat 13-term Representative Ed Towns in Brooklyn.

Soros' political director Michael Vachon confirmed the contribution by the billionaire liberal activist, saying Soros made the donation on-line about 30 minutes ago. “Soros is supporting the candidacies of several young progressives around the country and Kevin Powell is one of them,” Vachon said.

Arthur Leopold, a fund-raiser for Powell, tried to take the significance of the contribution one step further. “Soros endorsed Barack Obama early because he wanted a new wave of leadership. He’s not only looking nationally but I also think he’s looking locally,” Leopold said.

If you needed any reminder that the fog of litigation clouding the allegedly “fraudulent” sale of the GM Building to Harry Macklowe in 2003 involves actual people, rife with human intrigue, here’s a reminder from an affidavit signed by real estate developer and investor Leslie Dick.

We know it's confusing; but first, some background: Mr. Dick alleges that celebrity financier George Soros rigged bidding so that the trophy building would end up in Mr. Macklowe's hands. We'll get into the nitty gritty of that some other time. The real point of this post is to share the following juicy tidbit from the affidavit: Mr. Dick claims that, after he wrote Mr. Soros in November 2003 expressing his concern about the sale, Mr. Soros spied on him.  read more »

Yes, Isac Weinberger spends most of his work day at the D.O.T. calling political reporters - without the kind of retribution you'd expect - but he knows how to work the party circuit.

Here he is, on the right, with political operative Yoel Lefkowitz on the left.  The man in the middle is none other than George Soros, who hosted a fund-raiser in his Manhattan for freshman congressman John Hall.

Oh, to be Isac.

John Hall, a freshman Democratic congressmember from the Hudson Valley, is having a fund-raiser at the home of Democratic super-donor George Soros on December 17, and Representative Charlie Rangel will be in attendance.Tickets start at $500.

The invite notes that Hall is a Democrat facing a tough re-election, and:

“won election by the closest margin of any N.Y. race last year. He was on Karl Rove’s now notorious target list and is already facing a multi-millionaire G.O.P. opponent.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Here's the latest from Michael Caputo: a flier which delves into an old court case that is intended to expose a connection between Eliot Spitzer and David Soares, the Albany District Attorney who just cleared the governor of criminal wrongdoing.

It's a reflection of the broader Republican strategy of undermining Soares' findings by highlighting what they say is a conflict of interest.

On a whim, I called Oliver Koppell, the former attorney general who is a Democrat but no fan of Spitzer, and asked him what he knew of this suggested connection.

Koppell told me, "I recall that I think the Working Families Party gave money to him for use in the Democratic Primary, or in his election and there was questions as to whether that was appropriate or not. He was heavily supported by George Soros and this was a way of getting money to him not directly from Soros."

Koppell later said if the lawsuit against Soares was a private lawsuit, the attorney general would then have a lot of discretion as to whether or not to get involved.

If anyone knows more, please let me know.

One great thing about blogging is it reveals a writer's true nature, flaws and all. (Like my flakiness; I try and ground myself but there it is; I think in Kabbala they would say I am too much in my chochma). The latest evidence of this is Marty Peretz's pro-Israel blog, the Spine. Peretz is warm, funny, passionate and charismatic (I've met him), but there's something inevitably superficial and vicious, even scurrilous about him. The dictionary defines scurrilous as coarse abuse, and that's a manner Peretz is comfortable with, more comfortable with than ideas. Note his attack on George Soros and Morton Halperin for daring to launch an anti-AIPAC lobby. His argument boils down to the claim that he saw Halperin "brown-nosing" at a party at Harvard once (as if this were a significant character flaw; brown-nosing is alas the air that the meritocracy, and all other -ocracies, have to breathe), and that Soros doesn't know "shit" about Israel. Scatology 101.

The real fascination here is that in spite of Peretz's repeated dismissals of these events as inconsequential, it appears that Israel's American critics, harder and softer (from binational staters to Rabin-followers), are seeking a unified front on the left and—supplying further evidence for Walt and Mearsheimer's groundbreaking paper—the news of the anti-lobby is in Israel's leading papers, but not here.

Further proof that anyone who said Walt and Mearsheimer were extremists had their head up their—

Today's Ha'aretz reports the formation of a lobbying group to counter AIPAC's hawkish position in the U.S. George Soros is involved. So is IPF, M.J. Rosenberg's Washington sock. What great news; it's about time. The world is changing!

Is it coincidence that this has happened six months after the LRB paper? I don't think so. Walt and Mearsheimer embarrassed the liberal Jewish community: Where are you?

Greg Sargent, in his new side-gig at TPM Cafe, reports that gazillionaire George Soros will be hosting a Hamptons fund-raiser in August for the DNC.

His analysis:

"You may recall that Soros pledged to raise $75 million to defeat George Bush in 2004, a vow which inspired much muttering on the right about Soros's alleged desire too buy his way into a role as the Democratic Party's secret radical puppet-master. Apparently he hasn't given up on his dark designs."

-- Josh Benson

Two Hillary items not to miss: The Washington Posts's disclosure yesterday of the fact that Harold Ickes is setting up what amounts to a parallel Democratic Party to the one run by Howard Dean (whom they obviously don't trust), using George Soros's money for one of those fancy voter databses that some credit with giving the Republicans an edge last cycle. (Others credit voters.)

Also, Greg Sargent has a look on The American Prospect's blog at Mark Penn's briefing with donors, at which her pollster talked up that WSJ/NBC poll that has her as the nation's leading Democrat.

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