2009.03.31: March 31, 2009: Headlines: Figures: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Congress: Politico: Sen. Chris Dodd moved to change the location of a $1,000-a-head April 7 fundraiser in New York City Tuesday, after learning that it was to be held at an exclusive club long criticized for having no minority members
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2009.03.31: March 31, 2009: Headlines: Figures: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Congress: Politico: Sen. Chris Dodd moved to change the location of a $1,000-a-head April 7 fundraiser in New York City Tuesday, after learning that it was to be held at an exclusive club long criticized for having no minority members
Sen. Chris Dodd moved to change the location of a $1,000-a-head April 7 fundraiser in New York City Tuesday, after learning that it was to be held at an exclusive club long criticized for having no minority members
Said Dodd campaign manager Jay Howser, “We are going to move the event to an alternative site. We were not aware of the background of the venue. It was not a location chosen by the campaign.” The Harmonie Club has been the subject of political controversy in the past. Then presidential candidate Barack Obama rescheduled an event there in 2007 after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg expressed concern that the club had no minority members. The club was founded in 1852 by Jewish men who found themselves excluded from elite clubs of the era, and has long been closely associated with New York’s Jewish population. Harmonie Club Assistant General Manager David Ariyaratana said that, as far as he knows, the club has no African American members. But, he said, “our policy does not discriminate. I don’t think it’s intentional that minorities are not admitted to the club. Anyone who wants to apply, if they meet the criteria and can afford it, absolutely they will be admitted.” Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.
Sen. Chris Dodd moved to change the location of a $1,000-a-head April 7 fundraiser in New York City Tuesday, after learning that it was to be held at an exclusive club long criticized for having no minority members
Dodd shifts fundraiser site from club
By EAMON JAVERS | 3/31/09 7:21 PM EDT
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) moved to change the location of a $1,000-a-head April 7 fundraiser in New York City Tuesday, after learning that it was to be held at an exclusive club long criticized for having no minority members.
Dodd’s fundraiser is being hosted by one of the world’s richest hedge-fund managers, John A. Paulson – after Dodd held hearings as Senate Banking Committee chairman March 26 over whether to impose sweeping new regulations on the hedge-fund industry.
But after POLITICO raised questions about the site of the fundraiser, the Harmonie Club, Dodd’s office took steps to find a new location for the event.
Said Dodd campaign manager Jay Howser, “We are going to move the event to an alternative site. We were not aware of the background of the venue. It was not a location chosen by the campaign.”
The Harmonie Club has been the subject of political controversy in the past. Then presidential candidate Barack Obama rescheduled an event there in 2007 after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg expressed concern that the club had no minority members.
The club was founded in 1852 by Jewish men who found themselves excluded from elite clubs of the era, and has long been closely associated with New York’s Jewish population. Harmonie Club Assistant General Manager David Ariyaratana said that, as far as he knows, the club has no African American members.
But, he said, “our policy does not discriminate. I don’t think it’s intentional that minorities are not admitted to the club. Anyone who wants to apply, if they meet the criteria and can afford it, absolutely they will be admitted.”
According to the invitation, the event will be hosted by Paulson, whose hedge fund scored a $15 billion payday when it bet against the subprime housing market in 2007. Paulson’s personal take from that bet was estimated to be between $3 and $4 billion.
Paulson has been an active participant in the debate over hedge fund regulation, arguing that his industry needs new government regulation. But in a hearing last fall, Paulson defended the practice of hedge fund managers paying capital gains taxes on their income, instead of much higher income taxes that workers in other industries pay. “I believe our tax situation is fair,” Paulson said at the time.
As for the propriety of attending a fundraiser hosted by a hedge fund manager at a time when he’s engaged in the hedge fund regulatory debate, Dodd press secretary Bryan DeAngelis said, “Campaign contributions do not and never have influenced Senator Dodd’s agenda and priorities. As his record reflects – from working to stop abusive credit card practices and predatory lending to opposing industry-friendly bankruptcy reform and tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas – Chris Dodd’s priorities are not determined by the financial industry.”
A spokesman for Paulson & Co did not immediately respond to a call for comment.
Dodd has come under fire in recent weeks for accepting campaign contributions from AIG, the bailed out insurance company, and his role related to a controversial provision that protected bonus payments for companies including AIG. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Dodd tops the list of AIG contribution recipients, having taken $281,038 from the company since 1998.
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Headlines: March, 2009; RPCV Chris Dodd (Dominican Republic); Figures; Peace Corps Dominican Republic; Directory of Dominican Republic RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Dominican Republic RPCVs; Politics; Congress; Connecticut
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Story Source: Politico
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