First lady urges Dem donors to ‘max out’

First lady Michelle Obama urged donors to “max out” their contributions at a pair of posh Manhattan fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday night.

“We need you to keep on writin' those checks!” she said, according to a pool report of one of the events. “And if you haven't maxed out, you know what's my motto: Max out! Let's say it again, max out! And if you've maxed out, get your friends to give and max out!”

“It sounds kind of baller too, maxing out!” she added. “Everyone here should be maxed out!”
The first fundraiser was at the Park Avenue private residence of clothing designer Tory Burch on the East side of Manhattan. About 100 people paid between $5,000 and $25,000 for the event. The second event was an LGBT Gala, where approximately 350 people paid up to $32,400 to see the first lady speak.

Actress Julianne Moore, designer Vera Wang, and Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour were among those in attendance.

Obama encouraged donors to shell out for upcoming elections, saying it was important to stay engaged in the political process even when “the excitement that comes with the presidential campaign has faded.”

“It's easy to get frustrated and to become cynical,” she said. “And now that the excitement that comes with presidential campaign has faded, it is so tempting to turn off that TV and wait another four years to re-engage. But make no mistake about it, while we are tuning out, let me tell you, other folks are tuning in.”

At the LGBT Gala, the first lady was introduced by Washington Wizards center Jason Collins, who earlier this year became the first man active in a major sport to announce he is gay.

“I hope my actions give courage to those still unsure about coming out, and I hope it shows them the overwhelming amount of support that is waiting for them,” Collins said at the gala. “If there's one thing to take away from my experience, it's that we're not alone.”

The first lady and President Obama were vocal supporters of Collins's decision to come out, and he called Michelle Obama “a steadfast champion for LGBT families.”

President Obama attended a pair of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraisers in Chicago on Wednesday night.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/302481-first-lady-urges-dem-donors-to-max-out

anyway, since we're all becoming landlords and labour aristocrats and microserfs, let's commit to giving away a good chunk of that excess money we'll surely have sitting around by december 2014. it's an election year in the US (sorta) which means dems need to get a majority to let obama be obama.

in canada, there are generous tax credits for donating to political parties, so it's basically should be illegal not to max out for the NDP.