If you visit http://www.unity08.com/believe, you will find that Unity08, the president-electing corporation, makes this bold assertion:
Unity08 intends to fix this broken system by electing a bipartisan “Unity Ticket” to the White House in ’08 funded solely by small-dollar donations from everyday Americans.
Unity08 also asks for donations this way (at https://secure.ga6.org/08/unity08donate_cleanmoney):
Our effort will be funded through small-dollar donations from people like you. Please give now.
“Small-dollar donations” from “everyday Americans” and “people like you”? Really now?
I want to assess that directly. So every day from now until, well, I’m done, I’m going to review what we know publicly about the donors to Unity08. We already know, in the aggregate, that Unity08 has broken its own Clean Money Pledge, garnering 92% of its contribution dollars in the 4th Quarter from contributions of more than $250. But how “everyday” are the 92% big money donors? How much are they “people like you?”
We’ll start right from the top and go smack dab down to the bottom, covering every single person in that ol’ 4th Quarter (covering every person is important, so you can’t say I’m picking and choosing).
Here are today’s donors. You tell me whether they are “everyday Americans” and “people like you.”
Well, first to come in the 4th Quarter report are… oh, darn. Why, they’re a bunch of people who apparently live in the Unity08 post office box! Eight of them, and all $5,000 donors. What a coincidynk! I know Unity08 has ethical problems, but I’m pretty sure the organization didn’t take the following people, put them in a blender, and pour them all together into the P.O. Box. For one thing, P.O. Boxes have little slits at the bottom, and people juice just would have poured out everywhere. Somebody’s hiding something here. But let’s talk about what we do know regarding these eight people:
1. Peter G. Peterson, $5,000 donation. The Brandt 21 Forum lets us know about him:
Born on June 5, 1926, Peter G. Peterson is Chairman and Co-founder of the Blackstone Group, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), founding Chairman of the Institute for International Economics (IIE), and founding President of the Concord Coalition. He is also Co-Chair of the Conference Board Commission on Public Trust and Private Enterprises.
Peterson is a former chair/CEO of Lehman Brothers (1973-1977) and former chair/CEO of Lehman Brothers, Kuhn, Loeb (1977-1984). From 1963-1971, he was chairman/CEO of the Bell and Howell Corporation.
Peterson served as Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs (1971) under Richard M. Nixon. He was named as Secretary of Commerce by Nixon in 1972. He also assumed the chairmanship of Nixon’s National Commission on Productivity and was appointed by Nixon as the U.S. Chairman of the U.S.-Soviet Commercial Commission.
He also currently serves on the boards of directors at Sirius Satellite Radio, and formerly served on the boards of the Sony Corporation, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M), General Foods Corporation, RCA, The Continental Group, and Cities Service.
2. Leon M Wagner, $5,000 donation. Goldentree Asset Management informs us about Wagner’s professional history:
Leon M. Wagner is GoldenTree’s Chairman, as well as a Managing Member, Founding Partner and a member of its Investment Committee. Mr. Wagner was Co-Head of High Yield Sales and Trading at CIBC World Markets from 1995 through April 2000 and at The Argosy Group L.P. from 1993 until its acquisition by CIBC in 1995. At these institutions, Mr. Wagner’s primary responsibility was to direct all public and private placement marketing and structuring for high yield issuance. CIBC’s High Yield franchise was often recognized for structuring value added, innovative transactions. At CIBC World Markets, Mr. Wagner was a member of the Investment Committee of Caravelle Advisors, LLC, the investment advisor of Caravelle Investment Fund, LLC, a $1.3 billion Collateralized Bond fund. From 1990 until 1993, Mr. Wagner was a partner in the Los Angeles based high yield boutique Dabney/Resnick and Wagner. From 1986 to 1990, Mr. Wagner was a Senior Vice President in the High Yield Department of Drexel Burnham Lambert where he participated in many of the firm’s most innovative financings. From 1977 until 1986, Mr. Wagner was a Senior Vice President in the Fixed Income Division of Shearson Lehman Brothers.
3. Glenn Dubin, $5,000 donation. The New York Times tells us that in 1987, Dubin married an editor of Vogue magazine, and was already Vice President of E. F. Hutton & Company. Investegate (see, it’s online) tells us a bit more about Dubin:
Mr. Dubin is a Managing Member/Co-Founder of Highbridge Capital Management which was founded in 1997 and has been Co-Chairman of Dubin & Swieca since it was founded in 1984. Prior to forming Highbridge Capital Management, Mr. Dubin, along with his partner, Henry Swieca, founded Dubin & Swieca, an asset management company specializing in alternative investment strategies.
4. Alison Mass Bommarito, $5,000 donation. I can’t find much of anything about Alison Mass Bommarito, except that she in on the Board of Directors of The Mount Sinai Children’s Center Foundation. The 4th Quarter Unity 08 report indicates that she is somehow employed by Goldman Sachs.
5. Salvatore Bommarito, $5,000 donation. Also a member of Board of Directors of The Mount Sinai Children’s Center Foundation. SEC Edgar Online tells us more:
Mr. Bommarito is the founder of Twin Capital, Inc./New Street Investments, L.P. a New York city-based investment banking firm, organized in January 1994, which services include advising on mergers and acquisitions and private placements and providing general corporate advice. From June 1990 to January 1994, Mr. Bommarito served as a Managing Director at Chemical Securities, Inc. in New York where he was founder and co-head of its high yield bond underwriting business. From December 1984 to June 1990, Mr. Bommarito served as a Managing Director at Bankers Trust Company in New York where he was the Senior Banker in the Merchant Banking Group which services included advising on mergers and acquisitions, private placement and venture capital.
6. Rafael and Yvette Mayer, $5,000 donation. Neither employer nor occupation of these two is not listed, and with the incorrect address of the two, I was at first unable to determine any information regarding them. However, through a Federal Elections Commission search, I have found that Rafael Meyer is the Managing Director of Khronos LLC and Zen Group LLC, two investment corporations. This Securities and Exchange Commission report also shows that in his work for Khronos, Rafael Mayer manages $137,758,000 worth of shares in the Ceridian and Microsoft corporations. This is not the work of an “everyday American.”
7. Fong Tat Chong, $5,000 donation. SEC Info informs us that Fong T. Chong is a Vice President of American International Group Global Investment Corporation.
8. James Stern, $5,000 donation. We find out about James Stern from ClubCorp, which specializes in providing “fine dining experiences and corporate meeting facilities in a private-club setting.” ClubCorp provides this biography:
James Stern is a director of ClubCorp. He has been the CEO and chairman of The Cypress Group since its formation in April 1994. Prior to joining Cypress, Stern was a managing director with Lehman Brothers, Inc. and served as head of the Merchant Banking Group. During his career at Lehman Brothers, he also served as head of that firm’s Investment Banking, High Yield and Primary Capital Markets Groups. Stern also is a director of AMTROL, Inc., WESCO International, Lear Corporation, Medpointe, Inc., and Affinia Group, Inc., and is chairman of the Board of Trustees of Tufts University.
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So you tell me. Are these Unity08 donors “everyday Americans”? Are they “people like you”?
Look for more tomorrow.
