New York 2006

Chapter 135 Politicians’ Obligations

On August 2007, 8, Luo Ji's tour team came to Chicago.Recently, there was a three-day large-scale music festival in Grant Park in Chicago, Lollapalooza Music Festival.

Therefore, Luo Ji's Chicago concert was integrated into the music festival.The organizer of the music festival is willing to free up a special time node and venue to allow Luo Ji to hold two shorter concerts, and the ticket revenue will be divided according to a certain proportion.

The entire tour team stayed at a two-star hotel next to Grant Park.After all, you are spending your own money, so there is no need to be so particular about touring. Save what you can.

However, the soundproofing effect of the hotel was not very good, and Luo Ji could hear the shouts of the fans outside.He slightly lifted a corner of the curtain and looked outside. There were about a hundred fans outside.The bad thing about being a singer is that there is no privacy. This group of fans has great powers and they can keep track of Luo Ji's whereabouts at all times.

"Fili, do you want to meet the president of the Chicago Fan Club?"

"You can arrange it. Let's arrange to meet in your room."

Luo Ji still had this awareness. As a singer, he was earning money from exposure, so he couldn't have emotions.After all, these fans are our food and clothing parents.

"Okay, then I'll make arrangements."

"Logic, I love you so much, can you stay with me again!"

The female fan in front of her was filled with tears, and she was holding Luo Ji tightly.Luo Ji reached out and patted her back: "I have important things to do later. I'm really sorry."

"Okay." The female fan wiped the tears on her face, and then whispered: "Can I go find you tonight?"

Luo Ji often encounters this kind of thing during his tour promotion. This kind of thing cannot be vague and must be rejected outright without giving fans any room for imagination.

A female fan whom Luo Ji met before also asked the same question. Luo Ji replied that he had other things to do at night and declined politely.As a result, the female fan thought there was something going on and came to see him again the next day.

"I have a girlfriend," Luo Ji said.

The female fan's face was full of disappointment. Fiona walked to her side and pulled her to the other side.Luo Ji looked at the other members of the Chicago fan club.

"Then I'll leave first. For low-price tickets, please remember to submit your list to the fan club president. I've reserved the best seats for you from the stage."

"Thank you, Logic."

Luo Ji walked out of the door and was greeted by his best friend Blake. He whispered, "William Daly has arrived in your room now."

As soon as Luo Ji arrived in Chicago, William Daley called and said he wanted to meet him. He didn't say what the specific matter was. Luo Ji didn't need to think about it. He must have come to take advantage of him again.These politicians want him to attend various events for free.

It is worth mentioning that Daley Jr. successfully ran for mayor of Chicago at the beginning of this year. M-Fxxk, this is the sixth time he has been elected mayor of Chicago. It is almost like a hereditary election.

"Logic, how come you, a big singer with an annual income of hundreds of millions of dollars, live in such a cheap hotel?"

"It's relatively close to Grant Park, and my performances these two days are nearby."

Luo Ji showed his trademark fake smile and walked up to shake hands with him.William Daley patted Luo Ji's shoulder and pulled him to sit on the sofa.

"Come, let's catch up on old times. We haven't seen each other for a long time."

"Ah."

The two sat on the sofa. William Daly glanced at Blake who was still standing in the room and said nothing.

Luo Ji reacted and said to Blake, "You go out first!"

Blake nodded and walked outside to close the door.William Daly then smiled and said: "Congratulations, you have become the second one on the Forbes Celebrity List."

"The main reason is that my record company earns more money." Luo Ji emphasized the word "record company" to indicate something.

William Daley pretended not to hear Luo Ji's teasing and said sourly, "I heard that you donated over 10,000 meters to Ms. Clinton's presidential campaign?"

Because there is a strict limit of $4600 for individual donations to a single candidate, of which $2300 is for each primary election and formal election.Therefore, most of Luo Ji's political donations to Ms. Clinton, except for family members, relatives and friends, were made by employees of the company and then "reimbursed" in the form of bonuses.This is a common method used by many companies in the United States to donate to politicians.

Of course, this kind of thing can only be hinted at, and no written or audio evidence can be left behind.Also, for example, the amount of the bonus cannot be the same as the donation amount, and there must be sufficient reasons for the bonus, etc. Luo Ji did it very secretly.

The reason William Daley was able to trace Luo Ji's donations is because federal political campaign donations in the United States are supervised by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), including the Senate, House of Representatives, and presidential campaigns.

The FEC lists the amount raised and spent by each campaign, along with a list of all donors over $200, along with each donor's home address, employer and position, so it's easy to track Luo Ji by employer.

Luo Ji would not admit such an unspoken donation in front of him, but asked instead, "Didn't I donate a lot of money to you before? Mr. William."

Luo Ji had previously attended various fund-raising dinners and charity dinners for William Daley for free, plus political donations and foundation donations to him, which amounted to more than 20 U.S. dollars at least. Where could he find such a generous donor?

As a result, when Luo Ji was confronting Universal Music, the Chicago prosecutor stabbed him in the back.

"Haha, thank you for the donation you gave me before."

After William Daley finished speaking, his expression suddenly became serious: "So, I came here this time to fulfill the politician's obligations to the funder."

"What do you mean?" Luo Ji felt a little disdainful.

"Are you familiar with Norman Xu?"

"Well, I usually call him by his Chinese name Xu Yongqian."

William Daley moved his body closer to Luo Ji and whispered: "The FBI is investigating him recently. When you are on the phone with him, it is best not to talk about sensitive topics, as this will put you in danger." ." "How do you know the FBI is investigating him?" Luo Ji became wary.

William Daly said calmly: "I naturally have my own channels, and it is easy for me to figure this out."

"Why investigate him?"

"Next year is the presidential election," William Daley reminded.

"Did you only investigate him?" Luo Ji asked.

"Of course not, this is a large-scale investigation. You have to be careful about talking to the major package fundraisers."

Luo Ji understood that before 1996, the struggle between the Donkey and Elephant parties in the United States was relatively mild.However, during the Clinton era, the struggle between the two parties gradually became more intense. Not only did the two parties attack each other's politicians, they also began to investigate whether the funders behind them had violated any rules.

People like Xu Yongqian, important package fundraisers of both parties, will be investigated in every election.However, the Republican Party has a relatively large influence on the Federal Election Commission, and most of the time in every election, Democratic donors are passively beaten.

There have been many cases of investigations like this before. Money laundering in political donations, the inflow of foreign funds, donations not made in the United States, etc. are all illegal. The Federal Election Commission has investigated no less than a hundred people with problems. .

Luo Ji smiled and said, "The fight between the two parties has become increasingly outrageous in the past two years. As a senior Democratic Party fundraiser, Norman Xu will not make such small mistakes."

William Daley retorted: "It's not that simple this time. There are rumors on Capitol Hill that it was a direct order from Senator McCain."

"Is that Senator McCain from McCain-Feingold?"

"Yes."

This brings up "hard money" and "soft money".

The so-called "hard money" refers to funds donated directly to candidates.The campaign funds Luo Ji donated to Ms. Clinton through operations were “hard money.”

And "soft money" refers to funds donated to the Republican Democratic National Committee.That's money donated directly to both political parties.The money is outside the oversight of the Federal Election Commission, and there are no limits on contribution amounts.

In addition to allocating part of the money directly to candidates, both parties spend more money on advertising and organizing voters, which has become an important but unsupervised part of the campaign.

However, the Democratic Party has long supported globalization. Many large companies have moved their factories to countries with cheaper labor in order to make profits.And that's what Republicans are opposed to.Naturally, most of the donations from big businesses go to the Democratic Party.

Therefore, the "soft money" received by the Democratic Party far exceeds that of the Republican Party.This is something the Republican Party is very unwilling to see.

After Enron's bankruptcy in 2002, it was discovered that the company had long used "soft money" to influence national energy policy. Taking advantage of this incident, the Republican Party promoted the "McCain-Feingold Act", also known as the "Bipartisan Campaign Reform" The passage of the Bill.The bill bans partisan soft-money spending.

This also gives Senator McCain a big say in the election finance investigation. This investigation is led by him and it should not end so easily.

Luo Ji paused and said, "Will you protect him?"

"of course."

William Daley then smiled and said meaningfully: "It is the obligation of politicians to protect their donors."

Luo Ji didn't accept the ambiguity and said bluntly: "What about the black prosecutor last time? He directly threatened me to restart the investigation. We clearly agreed at the time."

William Daly looked at Luo Ji with some surprise: "You really don't look like a 16-year-old child."

The fight with Universal Music made Luo Ji understand that blind compromise will not earn respect.He doesn't want to be seen as a weak person.

Luo Ji said with an expressionless face: "He almost caused me to lose the war with Universal Music."

William Daly said: "Logic, can I ask him to come and apologize to you in person? Didn't things happen in the end? It's not good for anyone to break up. Although my family has strong control in Chicago, He’s an elected prosecutor supported by South Side blacks, and we really don’t have that much control over him.”

Luo Ji was a little reluctant: "I'll think about it."

Seeing Luo Ji's unwilling expression, William Daley hurriedly said: "The prosecutor's power is really great. You must not try to mess with him to make him aware. This will kill him. Especially if you become a billionaire After becoming rich, he must have a sense of crisis and must be very vigilant. Logic, sometimes reconciliation and compromise is also an art."

Luo Ji thought for a moment, and finally reason overcame emotion: "Okay."

……

Luo Ji watched William Daly get into the car and leave, then returned to the hotel room and fell into deep thought.

Politicians protect their donors out of interest. If they can't even protect basic safety, who will donate to them?

William Daly's posture this time was indeed very low, a bit too low. He gave Luo Ji enough face, but he was not at all as aggressive as when they first met.

But he is a member of the Daley family, and they do not lack that kind of funds.Moreover, it was impossible for Luo Ji to publicize the inside story everywhere, and Luo Ji could not put any pressure on the Daley family from public opinion.There was no need for his posture to be so low today.

Perhaps the conversation just now revealed the truth about William Daly's good attitude this time.

The last time they called, Luo Ji and the black prosecutor broke up on bad terms.After the news spread that Luo Ji became a billionaire, the black prosecutor was afraid of Luo Ji's revenge, so he asked William Daley to be the peacemaker.

"So, is this why William Daley is so accommodating to me today?"

Luo Ji smiled and shook his head. He stopped worrying and called accountant Lin Qingji: "Go to Xu Yongqian and tell him face to face. Tell him to pay attention recently. The FBI is investigating him. Remember, don't contact him via mobile phone." His phone calls may have been monitored."

(End of this chapter)