奧巴馬籌款 加州小城要收費

美國加州橙郡的小城新港灘近期向奧巴馬總統的競選團隊開出了一張繳款單，要求該團隊爲奧巴馬總統今年2月在當地舉辦的籌款活動支付超過3.5萬美元的額外安保費用。新港灘市長表示，開繳款單是他的主意。他認爲，總統的籌款活動是個人行爲，而不是在履行總統職責，所以要爲額外的公共服務買單；任何類似的個人行爲都應該向活動贊助方收取安保費用。據悉，這張繳款單的開出日期爲5月10日，將於6月9日到期，奧巴馬競選團隊尚未對此做出迴應。新港灘是加州相對富裕的一個地區，當地共和黨與民主黨成員的比例爲3比1。奧巴馬當選以來曾先後十次到訪該地區，最近一次是在今年5月前往好萊塢影星喬治•克魯尼家中參加爲他舉辦的籌款晚宴。

California has a reputation for being an "ATM" when it comes to presidential campaigns, but one city in the Golden State is tired of bearing the hidden costs of high-end political fundraisers.

Newport Beach in Orange County, Calif., has just slapped the Obama for America campaign with a bill for $35,043.04, reports Corona Del Mar Today. The figure represents the cost of extra police officers, reserve officers and overtime pay that the city contributed to the President's visit in February of this year.

The bill was City Manager Dave Kiff's idea. In a written statement to Corona Del Mar Today, Kiff said:

I think it is appropriate to treat it like a private event -- if another private event that large and which required that much police presence occurred, we would bill the event sponsor ... If the president was here on presidential business, we likely would not have billed for that.

However, Kiff emphasized in his statement that the President's visit was still an honor. "We are of course always honored when any US official, especially the President, comes to visit our community."

Newport Beach residents told CBS2/KCAL9 that they agreed with Kiff's decision to bill the President for city services rendered.

"I don’t care what the political party is … I am not in the President’s party," said Scott Mason, who lives on the same street that the President held his fundraiser. "If you are using the public sector to support fund-raising ... you have to pay for that."

Newport Beach residents Jeffrey and Nancy Stack hosted the breakfast fundraiser for the President. Ticket prices to the event ranged from $2,500 to $35,800.

Newport Beach's revenue department sent the invoice, dated May 10, to the Obama for America office in Chicago, reports the Los Angeles Times. As of late Thursday, there's been no official response to the bill. It's due June 9.

Newport Beach is a conservative, affluent city. The median income is estimated at $107,007 (California's median income is $60,883) and registered Republicans outnumber Democrats three-to-one.

To date, President Obama has made 10 visits to the Southland since he was elected. His most recent visit in May brought him to the home of actor George Clooney, where a star-studded fundraising event raised a record $15 million for one night. Two-thirds of the figure came from small donations across the country for a contest that would fly the winners to Los Angeles for the event.