A surprise disaster victim lays claim to the $10 Million

COLUMBUS: It may come as a surprise, but once in a while you get fast action from a politician. Do you remember last week I suggested that Obama and McCain encourage their supporters to donate $10 million to help the victims of our recent disasters? Obama took me up on it. He announced he would urge his big contributors to raise ten million dollars, and he wrote the first check himself.

But it was not for the Red Cross, it was for Hillary Clinton.

Barack wrote his check for $2300, and his wife also wrote one for $2300. Hillary put those checks in the bank, and announced she and Bill would each donate $2300. Well, I’m thinking, that’s wonderful; at least the Clintons want to help the Red Cross. But no, their checks were made out to Senator Obama.

I’m still scratching my head over that one. It’s got to be a racket, but I can’t put my finger on it. I’ll admit to being suspicious. Why exactly $2300? Well it turns out that’s the legal limit of what a person can give a candidate, even one that’s already lost.

This idea of politicians trading $2300 checks may be a racket, but who knows, it could start a trend. Every winning candidate in any election across the country will write a check to all the losers, and all the losers in turn write a check to the winners. It may not change anything or do any harm, but moving all that money around will get people thinking the economy is booming. Wall Streeters will be tickled, and it’ll be left to the banks to sort out the honest politicians from those who bounce checks.

Senator Obama wrote a personal check to Hillary, but I kinda doubt he’ll write one to McCain. And I guarantee he won’t be giving any dough to Ralph Nader.

For all those big donors who figure the folks flooded out of their homes in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri deserve assistance more than a senator from New York, I’ve got good news. For donations to the Red Cross, there’s no $2300 limit.

Here’s another item from last week. Oil shot up above $140 a barrel, so it seems Saudi Arabia was just pulling our leg. If we want oil to come down, we’ve got to do it ourselves.

Historical quotes from Will Rogers:

“Our country has got so that each one of us have to live by a ‘racket’ of some kind and none of us must be too critical of the other fellow’s ‘racket.’
When you figure it right down none of us are in a really essential business but the farmer, and he raises so much that even his business is partly non-essential.
But we got to be tolerant, for these New Yorkers are likable rascals even when they are skinning you.” DT #2103, May 1, 1933