Schwarzenegger & Rolling Stones Fundraiser for Calif GOP

[Guest guest]

Schwarzenegger & Rolling Stones Calif GOP Fundraiser

 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/11/122610/687

 

Schwarzenegger & Stones: " Paint It Green "

by SusanHu

Thu Aug 11th, 2005 at 09:26:10 PDT

 

" You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite/

You call yourself a patriot.

Well, I think you are full of sh*t!...

How come you're so wrong, my sweet neo-con. "

 

You gotta hand it to Mick Jagger and the Stones. They dish out lyrics that shock

-- like those above from their upcoming single, " Sweet Neocon. "

 

But they're foremost business-savvy merchants who toss us liberals a bone with

those lyrics while taking dough from their tour's chief sponsor, " mortgage

lender and mega-political donor Ameriquest. "

 

Their " A Bigger Bang'' U.S. tour opening on Aug. 21 at Boston's Fenway Park

features an Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fundraiser at " $10,000 a pop to get in on

a private preconcert reception and front-and-center seats to watch the show --

or $100,000 to sit with the governor in his luxury box. " (S.F. Chronicle)

 

We were all going to buy the single, " Sweet Neocon " right? I say DON'T BUY THE

SINGLE until the Stones stop mixing their music -- just to make a buck -- with

Republican corporate donors deadset on setting back California's health care

system.

 

: : : More Below : : :

 

* SusanHu's diary :: ::

*

 

[Ameriquest], based in Orange, is the lead sponsor of the Stones' 2005 tour

and has written $1.5 million in checks to the Republican Schwarzenegger's

campaign coffers to date.

 

 

 

LOOK: Even if the Stones aren't involved with Arnold's fundraiser, they are

involved with a major corporate donor to the Republicans and to the Terminator's

special election in November. The Californis Nurses Association says:

 

Why nurses Say Vote NO in November

 

Governor Schwarzenegger is taking millions of dollars from corporate

lobbyists to promote his special election in November that will slash public

healthcare and social services budgets and silence the voices of nurses,

teachers, firefighters, and other public service workers.

 

The threat is clear: fewer laws protecting patients and consumers, more

power for corporations, and cutbacks in healthcare, education, and other public

services. We've had enough. The California Nurses Association is fighting back.

 

 

 

From today's San Francisco Chronicle: " Governor to paint it green as Stones fan

For $100,000, you can watch concert with Schwarzenegger " :

 

" Politicians are always looking for more ways to raise money -- but

Schwarzenegger is one of those pushing the envelope and raising money in ways

with a vigor that ... we don't often see,'' said Steve Weiss, spokesman for the

Washington-based Center for Responsible Politics.

 

" Schwarzenegger is using his celebrity to his advantage,'' he said, but

increasingly it appears at odds with the candidate who " ran a campaign in which

he said he would not be beholden to special interests.''

 

The governor and committees backing his ballot measures had spent more than

$23 million during the first six months of the year, according to the most

recent disclosure statements released last month. Groups opposing the governor's

measures that would change teacher tenure and the state budget process had spent

just more than $10 million.

 

Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver liked the idea of sponsoring a

Rolling Stones fundraiser because " he's apparently a big Stones fan,''

Massachusetts GOP activist Melissa Lucas told the Boston Herald.

 

The event was arranged after Ameriquest offered the governor more than three

dozen center stage and luxury box seats for the Stones' first 2005 U.S. concert

-- seats currently going for $1,600 each on ticket brokers' Web sites.

 

" We were offered an opportunity for some tickets we could have for

fundraiser purposes,'' Wilson said. " It promised to be a very unique event and

something our supporters would respond to.''

 

No involvement from band

 

Fran Curtis, the longtime publicist for the Rolling Stones, said by

telephone from Toronto -- where they're preparing for the tour's start -- that

the band itself had no role in the matter. " We knew he was coming, but nothing

else,'' she said.

 

A spokesman for Ameriquest refused to comment on the arrangement. The

company, he said, " has a policy of not commenting on its political

contributions.''

 

The slew of scheduled fundraisers has delivered the governor's opponents

ammunition to fire away at what they call an increasingly shameless hat-in-hand

routine.

 

" Sounds like 'Sympathy for the Devil' to me, " quipped Gloria Nieto, a

Democratic National Committee member and director of the Lyon-Martin Women's

Health Services Clinic in San Francisco.

 

 

 

 

" When the power of love becomes stronger than the love of power, we will have

peace. "

Jimi Hendrix