How Obama May Make Some More Prosperous
Mark Steyn and Ace of Spades‘ Dave in Texas, among others, have reported that Mary T. Biskup of Manchester, Missouri is listed as the donor of $174,800 to the Obama campaign. Here is Steyn’s account:
Which brings us to the case of Mary T Biskup of Manchester, Mo, who discovered there were scores of small online donations made to the Obama campaign in her name, even though she hasn’t given him a dime. They added up to $174,800, which is a wee bit over the $2,300 limit. This very generous donation was not billed to her own card, but to someone else’s – meaning (as the Post says) “someone appropriated her name”.
If I were Mary T. Biskup of Manchester, Mo, I would tearfully confess to having made the donations, claim confusion about the law — easy enough if she’s over a certain age –, and ask for $172,500 back. Would not the Obama campaign be legally obligated to refund the money? She could offer the FEC a no-arguments, no-lawyers, on-the-spot 10% or 20% or 30% penalty up front and still come out way ahead. If so inclined, she could pass on $2,300 (but no more) to the McCain-Palin campaign as further punishment for the anonymous perpetrators of the fraud on her good name.
Hmmm, I wonder if anyone has contributed to the Obama campaign as ‘Dr. Weevil’ (it wouldn’t be the most unlikely name on the list) or [insert my real name here]? This looks like an opportunity for patriotic Republicans to ‘do well by doing good’. To put it another way: if sleazy Democrats have disguised their illegal contributions by attaching the names of unsuspecting Republicans or independents to them, it could and should come back to bite them.