George Soros
More Money, More Problems: How Occupy Wall Street Is Really Funded [UPDATED]
UPDATE: This story was revised October 18 with new information including an updated number for the total amount of funds raised by the protest. It was originally posted on October 14 and ran in The New York Observer print edition Wednesday, October 19.
“George Soros money is behind this!” Rush Limbaugh told his listeners two weeks ago, feeding speculation that the “99 percent” agenda espoused by the Occupy Wall Street protesters has filthy-rich backers—a claim picked up by Reuters and heatedly debated in the media. Soros money? If only. Around the time Reuters was walking back its headline, “Who’s Behind the Wall Street Protests,” later revised to “Soros: Not a Funder,” protesters were voting on whether to spend $3,000 on brooms and trash cans to clean up the occupied plaza in order to avoid eviction by the city.
Back in July, when local activists hammered out the logistics of the Occupy Wall Street protest, they were planning for little more than an urban camping trip. Committees were established to handle security, medication and sanitation. Nourishment was a major concern. Fundraising was an afterthought.
Still, onlookers are rightfully eager to follow the money. Politics have been so dominated by financing for so long that a major movement without major backers seems unthinkable. Last week, Republicans announced a new Super PAC determined, according to The New York Times, to “raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to defend the party’s majority next year”; meanwhile, President Barack Obama raised more than $42 million for his re-election campaign over the last three months.
Donations are flowing into Occupy Wall Street as well, though on a much smaller scale; as of Tuesday the protest’s general fund has raised approximately $294,000, according to members of the finance committee on Tuesday (although the committee is still refining its balance sheet in advance of giving it to a CPA). That’s enough to keep the demonstrators well-fed and livestreaming, but it’s not Soros-level treasure. READ MORE
“George Soros money is behind this!” Rush Limbaugh told his listeners two weeks ago, feeding speculation that the “99 percent” agenda espoused by the Occupy Wall Street protesters has filthy-rich backers—a claim picked up by Reuters and heatedly debated in the media. Soros money? If only. Around the time Reuters was walking back its headline, “Who’s Behind the Wall Street Protests,” later revised to “Soros: Not a Funder,” protesters were voting on whether to spend $3,000 on brooms and trash cans to clean up the occupied plaza in order to avoid eviction by the city.
Back in July, when local activists hammered out the logistics of the Occupy Wall Street protest, they were planning for little more than an urban camping trip. Committees were established to handle security, medication and sanitation. Nourishment was a major concern. Fundraising was an afterthought.
Still, onlookers are rightfully eager to follow the money. Politics have been so dominated by financing for so long that a major movement without major backers seems unthinkable. Last week, Republicans announced a new Super PAC determined, according to The New York Times, to “raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to defend the party’s majority next year”; meanwhile, President Barack Obama raised more than $42 million for his re-election campaign over the last three months.
Donations are flowing into Occupy Wall Street as well, though on a much smaller scale; as of Tuesday the protest’s general fund has raised approximately $294,000, according to members of the finance committee on Tuesday (although the committee is still refining its balance sheet in advance of giving it to a CPA). That’s enough to keep the demonstrators well-fed and livestreaming, but it’s not Soros-level treasure. READ MORE
Reuters and George Soros: Before and After
Update 7:24pm: Reuters has reverted the post back to its original story (Who's behind the Wall Street protests?), and added a different URL to host the updated one (Soros: not a funder of Wall Street protests). So it looks like they're running both pieces with no indication that the other one exists. Reuters Social Media Editor Anthony DeRosa said on Twitter that there was a "note added at bottom with link to original story, which should have been done in the first place" but we don't see it at this URL. Or the other one. Got it? Yeah, we're confused, too.
Reuters caused a bit of a stir today when they published a story connecting George Soros to Occupy Wall Street. This did not go over well, because the connection was tenuous at best, and at its worst, patently questionable.
So: Reuters changed the story. Not "corrected," or "published a rebuttal to the original reporting," but "changed the story."
These are both at the same URL, with no correction or note appended at the bottom.
Before: READ MORE
Reuters caused a bit of a stir today when they published a story connecting George Soros to Occupy Wall Street. This did not go over well, because the connection was tenuous at best, and at its worst, patently questionable.
So: Reuters changed the story. Not "corrected," or "published a rebuttal to the original reporting," but "changed the story."
These are both at the same URL, with no correction or note appended at the bottom.
Before: READ MORE
Reuters and the Occupy Wall Street ‘Connection’ to George Soros: The Reviews Are In!
Newswire service Reuters published a piece today looking to follow the money and the foundation of Occupy Wall Street. The not-at-all-subtle headline by (Reuters' New York and Northeastern Bureau Chief) Mark Egan and correspondent Michelle Nichols' report: "Who's behind the Wall St. protests?" Their answer is even better: liberal billionaire George Soros. How'd they get there? READ MORE
Soros is Thrown a Lawsuit While Pawlenty Throws in the Towel
The riots in London seem finally to have subsided, but strange things are afoot stateside this week, so much so that we’re starting to wonder if Mercury, which went retrograde Aug. 3, is currently doing to the entire planet what it once did so publicly to Jeremy Piven. (Also, when does the statute of limitations READ MORE
George Soros Is Probably Not Issuing Grants Via Email Spam
Despite appearances to the contrary, billionaire philanthropist George Soros is probably not issuing grants via email spam originating from a U.K. Microsoft Live email account. A colleague at The Observer this morning received two emails purporting to grant a $900,000 George Soros Empowerment Award to the recipient. The humorous text of the email follows:
GEORGE SOROS READ MORE
George Soros’ Weed Donation Goes Up in Smoke
Billionaire investor George Soros' efforts to legalize marijuana in California appear to have been wasted. Despite a $1 million donation in support of California's Proposition 19 and a heartfelt op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, voters have spurned the budding ballot issue.
Advocates attempted to sell the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act READ MORE
George Soros Tries to Buy Pot Legalization
Shortly after the publication of his Wall Street Journal editorialextolling the virtues of marijuana legalization, Bloomberg reportsthat billionaire money manager George Soros has donated $1 million to support California's Proposition 19. Approval of the state referendum would make it legal to possess and grow marijuana for personal use.
Soros may have acted READ MORE
Potato, Potato: NYTSays Hedge Fund Pay ‘Roars Back,’WSJ Says CEO Pay ‘Falls Again’
The covers of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times' business section today both have huge stories on Wall Street pay. And they look very different.
Writers on Craic! PEN Festival Carries On Despite ‘Freak Year’
“I think this year is just a freak year,” said the writer Salman Rushdie, during a wine-and-cheese reception at the Instituto Cervantes on Wednesday, March 25, to announce the lineup for next month’s fifth annual PEN World Voices Festival, “when just to be able to do it at all is an achievement—and especially READ MORE
Ron Perelman, Steven Spielberg, George Soros Cough Up Big Bucks for Obama Inauguration
In the interest of drumming up maximal funds—or "transparency"—Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration Committee has released a chart (to be updated in real time) listing the names, employers, cities, and contributions of everyone who donates money to help make January 20 the best inauguration ever. The PIC won't be accepting any more than $50,000 READ MORE
Soros Money Flows to New York Senate Democrats
Liberal billionaire George Soros and members of his family have contributed a little more than $1 million into state campaign coffers since 2000, with nearly all of it going to help Democrats in the State Senate.Already this year, George, his son Robert, Robert’s wife, Melissa, and another son, Jonathan, contributed $199,500. George, Robert and READ MORE
Soros Donates to Kevin Powell
George Soros just contributed $500 to the campaign of congressional candidate Kevin Powell, who is running to unseat 13-term Representative Ed Towns in Brooklyn.Soros' political director Michael Vachon confirmed the contribution by the billionaire liberal activist, saying Soros made the donation on-line about 30 minutes ago. “Soros is supporting the candidacies of several young READ MORE
Dick Affidavit: Soros Acted Like a (Private) Dick [UPDATED]
If you needed any reminder that the fog of litigation clouding the allegedly “fraudulent” sale of the GM Building to Harry Macklowe in 2003 involves actual people, rife with human intrigue, here’s a reminder from an affidavit signed by real estate developer and investor Leslie Dick.
We know it's confusing; but first, some READ MORE
Isac, Yoel and The Billionaire
Yes, Isac Weinberger spends most of his work day at the D.O.T. calling political reporters - without the kind of retribution you'd expect - but he knows how to work the party circuit.
Here he is, on the right, with political operative Yoel Lefkowitz on the left. The man in the middle READ MORE
George Soros to Host John Hall Fundraiser
John Hall, a freshman Democratic congressmember from the Hudson Valley, is having a fund-raiser at the home of Democratic super-donor George Soros on December 17, and Representative Charlie Rangel will be in attendance.Tickets start at $500.The invite notes that Hall is a Democrat facing a tough re-election, and:
“won election by the closest READ MORE
Another Shot at the Soares-Spitzer Connection
Here's the latest from Michael Caputo: a flier which delves into an old court case that is intended to expose a connection between Eliot Spitzer and David Soares, the Albany District Attorney who just cleared the governor of criminal wrongdoing.
It's a reflection of the broader Republican strategy ofundermining READ MORE
Spine or Scat? Marty Peretz Gets Down
One great thing about blogging is it reveals a writer's true nature, flaws and all. (Like my flakiness; I try and ground myself but there it is; I think in Kabbala they would say I am too much in my chochma). The latest evidence of this is Marty Peretz's pro-Israel blog, the Spine. Peretz is READ MORE
A Lobby for the Rest of Us
Further proof that anyone who said Walt and Mearsheimer were extremists had their head up their— Today's Ha'aretz reports the formation of a lobbying group to counter AIPAC's hawkish position in the U.S. George Soros is involved. So is IPF, M.J. Rosenberg's Washington sock. What great news; it's about time. The world is changing! READ MORE
Fuel for Soros Theorists
Greg Sargent, in his new side-gig at TPM Cafe, reports that gazillionaire George Soros will be hosting a Hamptons fund-raiser in August for the DNC. His analysis: "You may recall that Soros pledged to raise $75 million to defeat George Bush in 2004, a vow which inspired much muttering on the right about Soros's READ MORE
Hillary’s Party
Two Hillary items not to miss: The Washington Posts's disclosure yesterday of the fact that Harold Ickes is setting up what amounts to a parallel Democratic Party to the one run by Howard Dean (whom they obviously don't trust), using George Soros's money for one of those fancy voter databses that some credit with READ MORE
The Power Geezers
The great editor Clay Felker, who invented so much of what drives this newspaper and so many magazines in New York City, liked to refer to New York as the “City of Ambition,” a phrase created by his friend Tom Wolfe. What is the City of Ambition? Exactly what you’re thinking: the astonishing combination ofREAD MORE
Scandal! Greed! Conniving! Gluttony! Gallo In $2.4 M. Flip. Plus: Gail Gregg Sells Studio; Soros Gets $5 M. in Village
Brown Bunny auteur and downtown fixture Vincent Gallo may take risks with film critics (Roger Ebert lambasted the movie as "The worst film in the history of the [Cannes] festival"; Mr. Gallo retorted with unkind remarks about morbid obesity), but he certainly counts his chips in the high-stakes Manhattan real-estate poker game.
After already swapping a READ MOREConservatives Shocked By the Power of Money
Whenever Republican leaders complain about the power of money in politics, the source of their concern is always the same: Somewhere, a Democrat of means has just written a substantial check. To Republicans who regard their financial advantage as a partisan birthright, such leveling gestures seem terribly unfair-as unsporting as a liberal who fights back.
So READ MOREBrill Enters ‘Dot-Com’ Sweepstakes, Soros Backs His ‘Planet Content’
When Brill's Content moves out of the dowdy offices at 521 Fifth Avenue it's been in since the magazine started last year and into new space this winter, there will be extra room for a new venture that's tentatively being called Planet Content. It's Steve Brill's update on the Amazon.com idea, the thing that will READ MORE
Is the Big Bang Just a Big Hoax? David Berlinski Challenges Everyone
Everyone assumes David Berlinski must have a hidden agenda. Everyone-well, not everyone, but a number of the evolutionists and cosmologists he's outraged with his iconoclastic critiques of conventional wisdom in their fields-assumes that, lurking somewhere behind Mr. Berlinski's stinging attacks on the mathematical foundations of the grand theories of the origins of man and the READ MORE