[IMC-Boston-Dispatch] Fwd: News: Schwarzenegger¹s Rolling Stones Fundraiser Violates Massachusetts Ticket Scalping Law

[News at JamaicaPlainGazette.com]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Doug Heller <doug at consumerwatchdog.org>
> Date: August 19, 2005 3:03:49 PM EDT
> To: Doug Heller <doug at consumerwatchdog.org>
> Subject: News: Schwarzenegger¹s Rolling Stones    Fundraiser  
> Violates Massachusetts Ticket Scalping Law
>
>
> The Foundation  for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights
> 1750 Ocean Park Boulevard, #200, Santa Monica, CA 90405 - 4938
> Tel: 310-392-0522 € Fax: 310-392-8874 € Net: consumerwatchdog.org
> For Immediate Release
> August 19, 2005
> Contact: Doug Heller  (310) 392-0522 ext. 309
>
> Schwarzenegger’s Rolling Stones Fundraiser Violates Massachusetts  
> Ticket Scalping Law
>
>
>
> Local Consumers Can’t Pay $10-$100k for Sold-Out Show,
> Ask to Pay Face Value
>
>
> Santa Monica, CA — Massachusetts residents want California Governor  
> Arnold Schwarzenegger to comply with state laws that cap how much  
> can be added to the price of concert tickets and make the block of  
> Rolling Stones tickets he is selling to campaign contributors  
> available to the general public. Schwarzenegger is hosting a  
> political fundraiser for himself in which donors who pay $10,000  
> get a front and center seat to the concert and those who pay  
> $100,000 get a ticket to join the Governor in a luxury box.    
> Schwarzenegger reportedly received the event tickets from the tour  
> sponsor, Ameriquest, which is embroiled in state investigations  
> into its unfair lending practices.
>
> In separate letters to Schwarzenegger, two Massachusetts consumers  
> asked to have Stones tickets donated or sold at face value.  Under  
> Massachusetts’ anti-scalping law, tickets can only be resold with a  
> minimal mark-up over face value.   Consumer advocates at the  
> Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights believe that $450 is  
> the approximate face value of the seats that Schwarzenegger is  
> selling for $10,000.
>
> Copies of the letters can be downloaded at: http:// 
> www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/Stones_LetterA.pdf
> http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/Stones_LetterB.pdf
>
> “Massachusetts consumers are being squeezed out of the concert so  
> Schwarzenegger can raise millions of dollars to push his big  
> industry donors’ agenda in California,” said Douglas Heller,  
> Executive Director of the California-based non-partisan Foundation  
> for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR), which runs the website  
> ArnoldWatch.org.  “Not only is he hawking tickets for a show that  
> is sold out, he’s breaking Massachusetts’ anti-scalping law to do  
> so.   If Schwarzenegger’s allowed to sell these tickets with  
> outrageous mark-ups so his campaign can prosper, any scalper with  
> half a brain will find their way around the state law.”
>
> Consumer advocates said that Schwarzenegger’s predatory scalping of  
> these highly sought-after tickets seemed to be part of a theme for  
> the concert, because the show’s sponsor is mortgage lender  
> Ameriquest.  That company has long been accused of predatory  
> lending practices and recently set aside $325 million to settle  
> allegations of unfair practices from 30 state Attorneys General,  
> including Massachusetts.  In addition to being the Stones sponsor,  
> the company has sponsored Schwarzenegger’s political career,  
> donating over $1.5 million to the California governor.
>
> Schwarzenegger is selling the Stones tickets at hugely inflated  
> rates to raise money for his campaign in order to push a series of  
> ballot initiatives in an extra election he has called for this  
> November.  Polls show a majority of California voters don’t want to  
> spend the $80 million estimated cost to run a special election  
> since there is a 2006 primary already scheduled for June, according  
> to the non-profit FTCR. Schwarzenegger, who has traveled around the  
> country a number of times to raise money for his political  
> campaigns, has set a goal of raising $50 million for his special  
> election.
>
> Since beginning his campaign for governor two years ago, he has  
> already raised about $50 million, despite a pledge not to raise  
> money and to sweep special interests out of California government.   
> Early in his campaign, Schwarzenegger announced:
>
> "Any of those kinds of real big, powerful special interests, if you  
> take money from them, you owe them something."
>  And, "I will go to Sacramento and I will clean house. I don't have  
> to take money from anybody. I have plenty of money."
>
> When Schwarzenegger campaigned for governor during the state’s 2003  
> recall of then-governor Gray Davis, Schwarzenegger accused Davis of  
> spending too much time fundraising and creating an atmosphere of  
> “pay-to-play” in the sate government. Schwarzenegger’s fundraising  
> trip comes as California lawmakers are putting the final touches on  
> this year’s legislation. Last year, Schwarzenegger agreed not to  
> fundraise during this time, because it would create an appearance  
> that donors with bills on the governor’s desk are buying special  
> access at this critical time.
>
> “Arnold was elected on a promise to clean special interests out of  
> politics and focus on the needs of Californians.  Instead, he’s  
> traveling around the country, scalping rock concert tickets for a  
> hundred grand a piece to any special interest that wants access  
> during the key weeks of the legislative session ,” said FTCR’s Heller.
>
>
> -30-
>