Obama Campaign Borrows $15M from Bank of America

Warren Buffett invested $5B in BofA last year

Obama For America took out a $15 million loan from Bank of America last month, according to the campaign’s October monthly FEC report. The loan was incurred on September 4 and is due November 14, eight days after the election. OFA received an interest rate of 2.5% plus the current Libor rate.

Warren Buffett, Obama donor and namesake of the infamous “Buffett Rule,” invested $5 billion in Bank of America last year in an effort to help the ailing financial institution. Last month, two weeks after OFA took out the loan, Bank of America announced a plan that would lay off 16,000 workers by the end of the year.

Obama has a complicated relationship with Bank of America. The bank contributed $20 million toward the cost of the Democrat National Convention earlier this year. Bank of America stadium, home to the Carolina Panthers, was supposed to host Obama’s acceptance speech. At the last moment, the campaign switched to a significantly smaller venue. The campaign claimed that an impending storm would not allow the President to deliver his address. Many questioned whether move was made because the campaign was having trouble filling such a large stadium.

It is unclear why the first $1 billion campaign needed an extra $15 million for the final two months of the campaign.

Via: WFB

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RNC Has $83 Million Cash On Hand, DNC Takes Out Loan

Heading into the final weeks of the 2012 campaign, the Republican National Committee announced that it raised $48.4 million in the month of September and has $82.6 million in the bank. The Democratic National Committee, meanwhile, took $10.5 million in loans and raised less than half the RNC’s total last month — $20.3 million. 

RELATED: Fundraising Numbers Show Obama Raising More From Military Than Romney

As of September 30, the DNC reported having $4.6 million cash on hand and $20.5 million in debt. $5.5 million of its debt is due to consulting services like pollsters, direct mail providers and events consulting firms.

The RNC’s large September haul came amid a disappointing month for Mitt Romney in the public polls, suggesting that the party’s October fundraising totals will outpace those in September.

President Barack Obama and the Democratic committees had a stronger fundraising month in September, raising $181 million to Romney’s and the GOP committees’ $170 million. However, the Democratic party spent heavily in the summer and early fall.

“While we continue to put money into our ground game and fully fund our absentee ballot, early vote and Election Day GOTV efforts in all our battleground states, our historic cash on hand figure also allows us to continue funding our independent expenditure committee, run highly effective hybrid ads and assist in electing Republicans across the country at all levels,” RNC chairman Reince Priebustold POLITICO.

Via: Mediaite

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