奥巴马筹款 加州小城要收费

美国加州橙郡的小城新港滩近期向奥巴马总统的竞选团队开出了一张缴款单，要求该团队为奥巴马总统今年2月在当地举办的筹款活动支付超过3.5万美元的额外安保费用。新港滩市长表示，开缴款单是他的主意。他认为，总统的筹款活动是个人行为，而不是在履行总统职责，所以要为额外的公共服务买单；任何类似的个人行为都应该向活动赞助方收取安保费用。据悉，这张缴款单的开出日期为5月10日，将于6月9日到期，奥巴马竞选团队尚未对此做出回应。新港滩是加州相对富裕的一个地区，当地共和党与民主党成员的比例为3比1。奥巴马当选以来曾先后十次到访该地区，最近一次是在今年5月前往好莱坞影星乔治•克鲁尼家中参加为他举办的筹款晚宴。

California has a reputation for being an "ATM" when it comes to presidential campaigns, but one city in the Golden State is tired of bearing the hidden costs of high-end political fundraisers.

Newport Beach in Orange County, Calif., has just slapped the Obama for America campaign with a bill for $35,043.04, reports Corona Del Mar Today. The figure represents the cost of extra police officers, reserve officers and overtime pay that the city contributed to the President's visit in February of this year.

The bill was City Manager Dave Kiff's idea. In a written statement to Corona Del Mar Today, Kiff said:

I think it is appropriate to treat it like a private event -- if another private event that large and which required that much police presence occurred, we would bill the event sponsor ... If the president was here on presidential business, we likely would not have billed for that.

However, Kiff emphasized in his statement that the President's visit was still an honor. "We are of course always honored when any US official, especially the President, comes to visit our community."

Newport Beach residents told CBS2/KCAL9 that they agreed with Kiff's decision to bill the President for city services rendered.

"I don’t care what the political party is … I am not in the President’s party," said Scott Mason, who lives on the same street that the President held his fundraiser. "If you are using the public sector to support fund-raising ... you have to pay for that."

Newport Beach residents Jeffrey and Nancy Stack hosted the breakfast fundraiser for the President. Ticket prices to the event ranged from $2,500 to $35,800.

Newport Beach's revenue department sent the invoice, dated May 10, to the Obama for America office in Chicago, reports the Los Angeles Times. As of late Thursday, there's been no official response to the bill. It's due June 9.

Newport Beach is a conservative, affluent city. The median income is estimated at $107,007 (California's median income is $60,883) and registered Republicans outnumber Democrats three-to-one.

To date, President Obama has made 10 visits to the Southland since he was elected. His most recent visit in May brought him to the home of actor George Clooney, where a star-studded fundraising event raised a record $15 million for one night. Two-thirds of the figure came from small donations across the country for a contest that would fly the winners to Los Angeles for the event.