Pilot Sully Sullenerger the Hudson River hero is a registered Republican but gave Obama $5000 in 2011. Good retention there, RNC

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2/13/12, "Affluent Californians send huge donations to Obama, Romney," California New Service, via Mercury News, by Yousur Alhlou

"DreamWorks co-founders Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg are among the affluent Californians taking advantage of new campaign rules that allow them to donate unlimited amounts to help President Barack Obama get re-elected.

Katzenberg donated $2 million to Obama's political action committee in 2011, the single largest donation to the president. Spielberg contributed $100,000. In all, 14 Californians accounted for half of the PAC's nationwide total.

On the GOP side, former Univision CEO Jerry Perenchio donated $2 million to elect Republicans, and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel has donated $900,000 to presidential candidate Ron Paul, a fellow libertarian. ...

Katzenberg, Spielberg, Thiel and Newsom are among thousands of Californians whose donations were revealed this month by the Federal Election Commission in its financial disclosure report for 2011.

Obama raised $13.7 million in California last year, more than all of his Republican challengers combined, the figures show.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the closest competitor, having raised $6.6 million. The rest of the Republican field raised considerably less in the state. Paul raised just under $1.5 million, Newt Gingrich raised $661,000, and Rick Santorum raised $62,000.

Retired airline pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who became a hero when he successfully landed in New York's Hudson River, gave Obama $5,000. The Danville resident is a registered Republican.

Obama's donors also included Hollywood stars Will Smith and George Clooney and Silicon Valley moguls Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, and Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.

"California is home to one of the strongest progressive networks in the country," said Bill Burton, a former White House staffer who co-founded Obama's PAC, Priorities USA Action. "We have spent a lot of time there, and we will be spending a lot of time there."

Romney's financial backers include Marc Andreessen, founder of Netscape; Carol Bartz, former CEO of Yahoo; and Ann Livermore, a former Hewlett-Packard executive vice president who now sits on the company's board.

Obama will visit California to raise more money this week. The president has two fundraisers scheduled for Thursday night in San Francisco. About 60 people will pay $35,800 each to attend a dinner at the home of novelist Robert Mailer Anderson and his wife, Nicola Miner. Afterward, there will be a much larger event at the Nob Hill Masonic Center, for which tickets cost from $100 to $7,500.

Romney's contributors, though less widely known, include powerful executives of large banks and real estate companies, including strong support from the company Romney co-founded, Bain Capital. Top Bain executives have donated at least $50,000.

The $26 million in direct contributions to the candidates' campaigns was supplemented by an additional $12 million in contributions to the PACs supporting the candidates.

As the result of several recent Supreme Court decisions, donors can give unlimited sums to such committees, known as super PACs, so long as they remain independent from and do not coordinate with the candidate....

While donors who contribute directly to presidential campaigns are limited to $5,000 -- $2,500 for the primary campaign and $2,500 for the general election -- the average California donation to a presidential super PAC was over $27,000.

The reports do not disclose the identity of all PAC contributors. Nonprofit organizations such as Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS are not required to reveal the identity of their donors. "...

[Ed. note: Bias. The author cites loopy Karl Rove and omits the biggest anonymous donor of all, George Soros, who gives to many groups that don't have to disclose donors. Soros spent over $20 million in 2004 trying to get rid of George Bush. Soros backed group Democracy Alliance won't give unless secrecy is guaranteed.]

(continuing): "Nevertheless, the contribution report reveals:

Romney's PAC received $2.3 million from California's private equity sector, including $200,000 from Richard Boyce, a former Bain Capital partner, and $100,000 from Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns Carl's Jr. and Hardee's.

PayPal co-founder Thiel donated $900,000 of the $1 million raised nationally by Paul's PAC, Endorse Liberty.

Los Angeles philanthropist David Segel donated $15,000 to Santorum's PAC, and Segel's company Arrabon Management Services donated another $15,000.

Colbert's PAC raised $20,000 in California, 10 times more than Gingrich's PAC.

Colbert's PAC-- Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow -- is really more of a punch line than a PAC. Colbert set it up to show how easy it is to get around the strict limits of direct campaign contributions...

Colbert's PAC raised $825,475 nationwide from its inception in the middle of 2011 through Dec. 31.

Presidential candidates typically rely on California donations, even if the bulk of the money is spent elsewhere in competitive swing states.

So far, the overwhelming majority of Obama's money has come from the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Romney and Gingrich have also drawn financial support from conservative areas closer to San Diego.

Hollywood's fondness for Obama is evident in the listings from several exclusive Los Angeles area ZIP codes. Donors include record producer Quincy Jones and director Quentin Tarantino, as well as actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks and Will Ferrell.

Romney raised large sums in Orange and northern San Diego counties, receiving more than $1 million from donors in Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Jolla and Mission Viejo.

The same area provided Gingrich with his largest totals. But his contributions -- only $128,000 -- are substantially less than Romney's.

Obama's substantial fundraising advantage in California is consistent with the presidential election in 2008, when he raised $77.7 million in the state, more than three times than GOP candidate John McCain."...

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• "Democracy Alliance" a Soros backed group demands non-disclosure from those it funds such as Media Matters, per Washington Post, 7/16/06:
  

7/16/06, Washington Post: "A New Alliance of Democrats Spreads Funding," by Jim VandeHei and Chris Cillizza

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