WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - With eight months to go before the U.S. presidential election, the candidates have raised almost $1 billion to fund their campaigns -- more than the size of the economies of several African countries.
The unusually long race for the White House -- which began in earnest more than a year ago -- has been a cash bonanza, especially for Democrats who are breaking all records.
Republicans lag behind but still rake in tens of millions and have time to make up ground in the money game between now and the Nov. 4 national election.
Between January 2007 and February, the candidates raised a record $814 million. By the end of this month, analysts expect the total taken in and spent by the candidates and interest groups will reach $1 billion.
"America's really taking a big step forward in terms of spending on their elections," said Steve Weissman of the Campaign Finance Institute, a research organization affiliated with George Washington University.
Weissman said the three main presidential candidates -- Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and Republican John McCain -- are pulling in a combined total of at least $100 million a month. Figures show the candidates are spending up to 93 percent of what they have raised.
To put the numbers into perspective, seven African countries or islands each have a gross domestic product of less than $1 billion, according to International Monetary Fund data. They include Sao Tome and Principe, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Comoros, the Seychelles, Liberia and Djibouti.
While they were careful not to criticize the American political process, people in some aid organizations mentioned other possible uses for so much money.
An official with CARE, one of the world's leading humanitarian organizations fighting global poverty, said even a fraction of $1 billion could help tens of millions of people.
"An additional $150 million could ensure that 10 million girls could receive a quality education. An additional $150 million could help make pregnancy and safe delivery available for 30 million women in 10 countries," said Deborah Neuman, senior vice president for resource development at CARE.
Neuman would not criticize the amount of money being spent on the campaign, saying it was important for Americans to become participants in the political process.
But she said, "Dollars need to be looked at and made room for in peoples' philanthropic giving for causes like ours and fighting poverty."
WHY SO MUCH?
Experts said the amounts being spent in this presidential election are much higher than in most other countries, though still only a fraction of what Americans spend advertising some basic products or eating out in restaurants.
A large portion of the money in the United States is spent paying for television and radio time while some other countries provide broadcast time to candidates, Weissman said.
More money is needed also because campaigns in the United States are much longer compared to many other nations. Under the American electoral system each state holds a nominating contest followed by the November general election.
Usually the battle ends early after only a few states are finished with their nominating contests. But with no incumbent this election has been different and both parties have waged a long battle to pick nominees for the upcoming election.
"We started two years out. Even by American standards that's a long election," said Gary Klaman, of watchdog group U.S. PIRG.
Groups like U.S. PIRG and the Center for Responsive Politics say while the use of the Internet has allowed many more people to take part by donating small amounts of money, the bulk of the fund-raising is still from large donors.
"Yes it's a lot of money. But really -- it's less about the overall amount of money than where that money is coming from and who is supplying it," said Klaman.
Massie Ritsch of the Center for Responsive Politics said even with the Internet contributions, only about 4 percent of Americans make a contribution to a federal politician.
"The bulk of the money is coming from a tiny group of largely wealthy Americans who are having a great impact disproportionate to their numbers on something that should be important to everybody," he said.
Klaman agreed.
"That is what should frighten Americans -- when these guys get elected are they looking primarily out for the good of the people or are there debts that they need to pay back," he said. (Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Richard Cowan and David Wiessler) (To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at http:blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)
http://africa.reuters.com/
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Hospitality can still make money during the credit crunch
Hospitality operators and industry observers have attempted to quell the rising panic over the credit crunch by insisting that there is still money to be made, despite uncertainty over consumer spending.
Companies such as Clapham House, Regent Inns, The Restaurant Group and Greene King have been all hit by the credit crunch, prompting fears that leisure spending across the board is set to slump.
But not everyone is suffering, with some operators taking advantage of their size. Stuart Hawthorn, co-founder of Heartstone Inns, an operator based in the South-west with four pubs in its portfolio, revealed that trading during December had been "reasonable" while January had been "really strong".
"We do not feel we are suffering the effects of the worsening economic climate," Hawthorn said.
"The main effect has been on planning. We have revised our budgets downwards as we want to have sensible, accessible prices for our customers. It is easier to bob and weave when you have four pubs not 4,000. You can make changes very quickly."
And it's not just the smaller operators that are still feeling confident. Graham Turner, chief executive of Café Rouge owner Tragus, said that his expansion plans were still on track for 2008. "It is tougher out there - there is definitely tightening of belts. But we are not in a situation like the late 1980s or early 1990s," he said. "We're still planning to open 30 outlets this year and 25 the next. The demand is still there for new sites, so the economy cannot be that bad."
Robert Barnard, partner at hotel consultancy PKF, agreed that the market was definitely not in early-1990s territory. "If you compare that with today, even if there are little nudges of inflation, we are in fact in very benign economic conditions," he said. "Yes there is the credit crunch, but that cannot last forever."
http://www.caterersearch.com/
Companies such as Clapham House, Regent Inns, The Restaurant Group and Greene King have been all hit by the credit crunch, prompting fears that leisure spending across the board is set to slump.
But not everyone is suffering, with some operators taking advantage of their size. Stuart Hawthorn, co-founder of Heartstone Inns, an operator based in the South-west with four pubs in its portfolio, revealed that trading during December had been "reasonable" while January had been "really strong".
"We do not feel we are suffering the effects of the worsening economic climate," Hawthorn said.
"The main effect has been on planning. We have revised our budgets downwards as we want to have sensible, accessible prices for our customers. It is easier to bob and weave when you have four pubs not 4,000. You can make changes very quickly."
And it's not just the smaller operators that are still feeling confident. Graham Turner, chief executive of Café Rouge owner Tragus, said that his expansion plans were still on track for 2008. "It is tougher out there - there is definitely tightening of belts. But we are not in a situation like the late 1980s or early 1990s," he said. "We're still planning to open 30 outlets this year and 25 the next. The demand is still there for new sites, so the economy cannot be that bad."
Robert Barnard, partner at hotel consultancy PKF, agreed that the market was definitely not in early-1990s territory. "If you compare that with today, even if there are little nudges of inflation, we are in fact in very benign economic conditions," he said. "Yes there is the credit crunch, but that cannot last forever."
http://www.caterersearch.com/
Make money from your mistakes
It is possible to profit from your mistakes. Let me tell you a little true story.
“ Once upon a time, one Saturday morning my (then) hosting company accidentally deleted one of my reseller accounts and failed to get the hosting back on-line for 2 and a half days, (the hows and whys of it are not for this post).
As you can imagine, my clients were furious. Even though it was not my error — I was responsible for it. So, once everything was back up and running, what did I do? Did I give them an imaginative excuse, using lots of acronyms and blaming everyone else? No. I sent all the affected clients a personalised email. Apologising and explaining what had happened and what I was doing to prevent it happening again. I sent this email to everyone, even to the clients who had not noticed the outage.
The response to that email was actually incredibly positive:
“Thanks for letting us know”
“I appreciate your honesty”
“Oh, by the way I need “X” doing, can you send me a quote.”
And business continued on happily after…
THE END ”
The moral of the story?
Now, whilst it is not the most exciting story, there is a moral: and no, it isn’t that you should disable your client’s hosting in order to get more sales. It is by being honest and upfront about your mistakes is not necessarily a bad thing; you can earn client respect, trust and sometimes even a little cash.
Have you ever profited from your mistakes? and if so how?
http://www.sitepoint.com/
“ Once upon a time, one Saturday morning my (then) hosting company accidentally deleted one of my reseller accounts and failed to get the hosting back on-line for 2 and a half days, (the hows and whys of it are not for this post).
As you can imagine, my clients were furious. Even though it was not my error — I was responsible for it. So, once everything was back up and running, what did I do? Did I give them an imaginative excuse, using lots of acronyms and blaming everyone else? No. I sent all the affected clients a personalised email. Apologising and explaining what had happened and what I was doing to prevent it happening again. I sent this email to everyone, even to the clients who had not noticed the outage.
The response to that email was actually incredibly positive:
“Thanks for letting us know”
“I appreciate your honesty”
“Oh, by the way I need “X” doing, can you send me a quote.”
And business continued on happily after…
THE END ”
The moral of the story?
Now, whilst it is not the most exciting story, there is a moral: and no, it isn’t that you should disable your client’s hosting in order to get more sales. It is by being honest and upfront about your mistakes is not necessarily a bad thing; you can earn client respect, trust and sometimes even a little cash.
Have you ever profited from your mistakes? and if so how?
http://www.sitepoint.com/
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