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Obama, Dems redoubling money efforts to keep edge

His cash advantage threatened, President Barack Obama and his party are redoubling their fundraising efforts after robust hauls by Republican rival Mitt Romney and a slew of GOP-leaning super PACs that are raking in cash from the party faithful highly motivated to topple the Democrat.

Obama still has a significant edge, but it's shrinking rapidly.

That explains why the president, fresh off of back-to-back international summits, plunged back into his re-election race Wednesday with a series of fundraising events in Denver and California's Silicon Valley. The president was looking to stockpile cash to pay for his coast-to-coast organization, advertising to spread his message and get-out-the-vote operations in key states.

"We're going to have to contend with even more negative ads, even more cynicism and nastiness and just plain foolishness," Obama said in Denver. "But the outcome of the election is ultimately going to depend upon all of you." A woman shouted, "We'll just have to work harder."

It's the start of an extensive money push by Obama in the coming weeks that will feature a series of high-end fundraisers, including New York events with former President Bill Clinton and actress Sarah Jessica Parker and a Los Angeles trip to raise money among gay and lesbian supporters. Smaller-dollar pushes also are under way.

Obama, a record-shattering fundraiser four years ago, has a built-in fundraising advantage as the incumbent and still has a wide money lead over Romney, the challenger who only recently combined fundraising efforts with the Republican National Committee after a bruising -- and expensive -- primary.

But well-funded Republican outside groups, which are able to raise unlimited sums from donors, are narrowing that gap quickly and using their multimillions to run a slew of TV ads hammering Obama in key states. Obama aides acknowledge the possibility that he could be outraised by the influx of Republican money.

The numbers tell the story.

Through April, Obama and Democratic groups supporting his re-election bid have raised nearly $450 million during the election cycle and have more than $150 million in the bank. Romney and Republicans backing him have collected more than $400 million during the same stretch and have about $80 million at their disposal.

Gone is the 10-to-1 cash advantage that Obama held at the end of March.

To be sure, Romney was bound to erode that money gap as he pivoted to the general election. He still, however, lags on another measure of campaign strength: Obama has had months to prepare an extensive ground game to identify, register and turn out voters.

On the money front, Romney has benefited from a strong desire among GOP activists to defeat Obama, multiple GOP outside groups willing to spending tens of millions of dollars and a well-oiled fundraising machine within his own campaign. Showing that prowess, the former Massachusetts governor raised $15 million this week during three days of fundraising in New York.

"What you see in a very short period of time is a very well-run operation that is putting Gov. Romney in a position where he's going to, maybe not outspend, but to compete with the collective Democratic fundraising," said Sara Taylor Fagen, a former political director for President George W. Bush.

Romney has been the all-but-certain GOP nominee for more than a month now, and while he's focused primarily on fundraising, super PACs backing him have been going toe to toe with Obama's campaign in TV advertising. That means that Romney hasn't had to spend heavily from his own campaign account. Chief among those groups has been Crossroads GPS and its affiliated super PAC, Crossroads USA, which quickly matched Obama's ad buy this month after the president's team laid out plans for a $25 million advertising campaign.

Democrats haven't had as much success with super PACs.

A pro-Obama group, Priorities USA Action, has badly lagged behind Crossroads, while Romney has gotten extra help from another super PAC, Restore Our Future. Mary Beth Cahill, a former campaign manager for Sen. John Kerry, recently came aboard as an adviser to help.

The influx of campaign cash in the first presidential campaign since the 2010 Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court, which helped create super PACs, has taken some Democrats by surprise.

"I don't think anyone realized going into this cycle exactly how much money was going to be involved," said former Rep. Martin Frost, D-Texas, a past chairman of the fundraising arm for House Democrats. "This is a brave new world of campaign finance."

Obama was cheered by 550 supporters in Denver, where tickets at a fundraiser started at $250 and topped out at $40,000 per couple for a photo with the president. Obama accused Romney of seeking to return to economic policies that preceded the recession. "It's the same old stuff they've been peddling for years," the president said.

Afterward in California, Obama spoke at a fundraising dinner in Atherton that included a performance by David Crosby and Graham Nash. About 60 people paid $35,800 per person to attend. The president said the nation had made significant strides during the past 3 1/2 years but said "we may not even finish it in 5 years but I certainly need 5 more years to get us locked in on where we need to go."

Obama capped the night at a reception with 1,100 people in Redwood City, with a performance by Ben Harper. Tickets started at $250, with some couples paying $12,500 for a photo with the president. On Thursday, Obama was speaking at a private fundraising breakfast in San Jose.

To keep his edge, Obama isn't just focusing on big money.

Many of the planned high-dollar fundraisers include a raffle designed to raise millions more and get more people involved.

In some cases, the grass-roots component raises more than the swanky fundraiser: Of the $15 million Obama raised at a celebrity-studded dinner two weeks ago at actor George Clooney's Los Angeles home, $9 million came from small-dollar donors hoping to win a chance to attend.

Clinton, arguably the most prominent Democratic fundraiser not in the White House, is joining Obama for two events in New York on June 4. Obama's campaign also is raffling off a trip to New York -- including airfare and hotel for what's being called "Barack on Broadway" -- for two winners and their guests to attend. The two presidents will attend a dinner later that evening featuring a performance by Jon Bon Jovi.

Two days later, Obama jets to Los Angeles for a high-dollar reception with gay and lesbian supporters, featuring a performance by Pink, and a $25,000-per person dinner at the Beverly Hills home of "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy and his fiancé David Miller. Events also are planned next month in Baltimore, Boston and back in New York, where the president will raise money at the home of Parker, of "Sex and the City" fame. A travel-package raffle for small-donors is tied to that, too.

"It should be fabulous," Parker said in an email to Obama supporters.

Obama began airing two new ads Wednesday, one about his work with veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and another aimed at seniors dependent on Medicare.

In the veterans spot, Obama credits veterans for allowing the U.S. to "go after al-Qaida and kill (Osama) bin Laden" and says the nation has a "sacred trust" to help veterans heal their wounds and find jobs. The ad on Medicare notes that Obama was raised by his grandparents and cites his administration's efforts to root out health care fraud.

The TV ads are part of the $25 million ad buy the Obama campaign launched in May, running in Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia.

Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said Obama's team can't "distract voters from three years of broken promises on Medicare and our commitments to our veterans."

_{Wed, 23 May 2012 22:50:07 -0700}

Facebook stock climbs, but company faces lawsuits

 Facebook's fourth day of trading as a public company saw an increase in the company's stock price and shareholder lawsuits related to the social network's botched initial public offering.

Facebook Inc.'s stock climbed $1, or 3.2 percent, to close at $32 on Wednesday. But the gain was only a small reprieve for shareholders. The stock's rocky inaugural trading day Friday was followed by a two-day decline. The stock is still trading nearly 16 percent below its $38 IPO price.

The initial public trading of Facebook's stock was tarnished Friday morning by a half-hour delay, caused by glitches on the Nasdaq Stock Market. It was marred further this week as investors began accusing the banks that arranged the IPO of sharing important information about Facebook's business prospects with some clients and not others.

Several shareholders who bought stock in the IPO have filed lawsuits against Facebook, its executives and Morgan Stanley, the IPO's lead underwriter. At question is whether analysts at the big underwriter investment banks cut their second-quarter and full-year forecasts for Facebook just before the IPO, and told only a handful of clients about it.

One suit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, claims Facebook's IPO documents contained untrue statements and omitted important facts, such as a "severe reduction in revenue growth" that Facebook was experiencing at the time of the offering. The suit's three plaintiffs, who bought Facebook stock on its first day of trading May 18, claim they were damaged in the process.

Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Facebook said the lawsuit is without merit.

Another lawsuit, filed in San Mateo County Superior Court in California, holds Facebook and underwriters liable, claiming that Facebook's IPO documents misled investors. Both suits seek class action status on behalf of investors who bought Facebook stock on Friday and lost money.

"No one gets it perfect, as far as saying what the financial results are," said Anthony Michael Sabino, professor at John's University's Peter J. Tobin College of Business. The bottom line, he added, is whether Facebook or the underwriter had material information about Facebook's finances that was not disclosed publicly.

"At this moment, it's still too early to say," he said. "We don't know enough, but this could turn out to be an issue."

What is known is that beginning in March, Facebook began meeting with analysts at the underwriting firms. The gatherings are a customary part of the IPO process and are designed to help analysts understand the company's business so they can make accurate financial projections.

On May 9, day-three of Facebook's pre-IPO roadshow to meet with prospective investors, the company filed an amended IPO document that said its mobile users were growing faster than revenue. According to a person familiar with the matter, Facebook then had another meeting with analysts and told them that based on the new information in the filings, the analysts' forecasts should be at the low end of the range that the company gave them in April. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not publicly authorized to discuss the matter.

Adding to the day's events, Facebook was in talks with the New York Stock Exchange to move its stock from the Nasdaq Stock Market after the botched offering, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The news of the talks was first reported by Reuters.

NYSE spokesman Rich Adamonis said: "There have been no discussions with Facebook regarding switching their listing in light of the events of the last week, nor do we think a discussion along those lines would be appropriate at this time."

A Nasdaq spokesman declined to comment.

_{Wed, 23 May 2012 22:27:27 -0700}

Tests find drug-resistant bacteria even in antibiotic-free meats

The many people around the Bay Area firing up the grill during the holiday weekend should be aware of the serious risks presented by drug-resistant bacteria found in meat.

16,000 Americans died last year from such bacteria, and doctors say most of that meat came from animals that had been treated with antibiotics.

For some consumers, buying meat is not big deal.

"Honestly, I try to ignore the fact that there are antibiotics in the meat," said Christy Bliss from Oakland.

For others, buying antibiotic-free meat is a priority. At Berkeley Bowl, 80 percent of the beef and pork and all its chicken is labeled antibiotic free. Their consumers demand it.

"I don't want antibiotics in the meat that I eat because I don't want the resistance to the bacteria," said Alex Luksza from Richmond.

Whole Foods in Oakland doesn't bother putting up signs anymore. 100% of the meat in the meat department is free of anti-biotics.

Some consumers told KTVU they are willing to pay extra.

"It's worth it to me. We don't get the nutrients from the food that we used to get," said Oakland resident Yvonne Smith.

Farmers routinely used antibiotics to enhance animals' growth. Last month a new federal policy took aim at that. But KTVU's new investigation reveals that policy is flawed. Supporters say it finally ends decades of unnecessary and potentially dangerous overuse of antibiotics in animals. Farmers argue it may actually raise prices, while critics say it doesn't go far enough.

"The guidance laid out by the FDA would allow many of the same uses currently in existence to continue under a different name," said Avinash Kar, attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. 35 years ago, the FDA found routine antibiotics in farm feed actually harms human health but it did nothing.

Kar and his team sued the FDA The lawsuit triggered the new policy, but KTVU learned it is voluntary and it allows antibiotics if farmers just say they the drugs are for disease prevention.

"There are low levels of use of antibiotics on a herd-wide level for indefinite periods of time. This is exactly the kind of thing that can lead to antibiotic resistance," said Kar.

We've obtained new federal tests on California raised chickens. At least two-thirds were contaminated with bacteria. Our analysis reveals about three-quarters of those chickens are resistant to antibiotics including the drug Cipro, which was banned in poultry 7 years ago.

"We believe antibiotics are appropriate for chickens like they are for our children and our pets, for treating sick birds," said Bill Mattos from the California Poultry Federation.

Apparently, a lot of California's 300 million chickens and turkeys are sick.

"We do put antibiotics into the flock to treat it but that is done a very minute amount of time. We think about 50% of the time throughout the year. We don't believe there's been any link to the poultry medications that we use and what's resistance in humans," said Mattos.

But KTVU Health and Science reporter John Fowler discovered multiple studies showing human infections by drug resistant bacteria from poultry, beef and pork. In fact, grass-fed beef has about the same drug-resistant bacteria as grain-fed. And some animals which never got antibiotics still had drug-resistant bacteria.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria appear to stay perhaps years in the soil, in pens and coops.

The message? Safe handling of meats has never been more important. Cook all meats thoroughly because, no matter the labeling or policy, food-borne bacteria remains a dangerous risk.

_{Wed, 23 May 2012 21:32:26 -0700}

News Source: MedleyStory More Local News Stories