The Pentagon accused China of cyber-espionage; the conflict in Syria is now “a brutal campaign of sectarian cleansing,” with death toll around 80,000; sectarian violence is spreading to Iraq and Lebanon; North Korea is issuing new threats; more bombings in Pakistan; our overseas consulates have indicated possible terror attacks this summer; the suicide rate is up 28 percent in the past ten years; millions of part-time U.S. workers may see their hours cut because of the Obamacare rules; wages have been virtually flat since 2009 and, as Bloomberg puts it, “long-term unemployment is turning the jobless into pariahs”; only 57 percent of Americans are doing any saving for retirement at all (down from 65 percent in 2009); and the rate of single parenthood has increased more dramatically as the Great Recession drags on.

So, what’s the president doing tonight, Mark Knoller? “This evening, Pres Obama attends a DNC fundraiser at a local hotel. His 5th fundraiser this year. But no press coverage.”

He golfed yesterday, of course, his twelfth round in his second term.

So, remember the final item in Friday’s Jolt, about an Obama campaign finance scandal about to break? Over the weekend I received the gist, but was told to hold it until 9 a.m. Eastern Monday. Bits and pieces are now cropping up on conservative web sites, so here’s the gist: President Obama’s campaign web site does not meet the industry standard for secure use of credit cards — nor do about 47 percent of campaign web sites, including the 2010 campaign web site of Sen. Marco Rubio.

Anyone who’s ever bought anything on the Internet knows that you’re usually asked for the security code on the back of your credit card; this prevents someone who knows your name and credit card number but who hasn’t stolen the card from fraudulently using it. You even need the security code to purchase Obama paraphernalia from his campaign web site – but not to make a donation!

The portions of the report, from the Government Accountability Institute:

“There has been a lot of discussion of the role that money plays in our elections but little or no focus on the vulnerabilities of our election system to be influenced and or possibly manipulated by foreign and fraudulent campaign donations. That is precisely what this report is about, and it’s very troubling,” said Peter Schweizer, President and Co-Founder of the Government Accountability Institute.  “The findings in this report reveal that foreign agents of influence can easily be contributing untold amounts of illegal money into presidential and congressional campaigns.  Here’s the good news for most of those who are vulnerable: it’s a three-minute, couple-of-clicks solution,” said Schweizer. “We are urging all congressional offices and President Obama to turn on anti-fraud credit card protections immediately.”

The report found almost half (47.3%) of congressional campaign donation websites lack anti-fraud credit card security systems common on most e-commerce websites.  As for Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign, the research found his website does maintain the proper security measures.

Nearly Half of Congress Vulnerable to Fraudulent and Foreign Donations: Of the 446 House and Senate members who have an online donation page, 47.3% do not require the three or four digit credit card security number (officially called the Card Verification Value, or the CVV) for Internet contributions. The CVV is an industry-standard anti-fraud credit card security feature used by over 90% of all e-commerce operations and nineteen of the twenty largest charities in the United States. By not protecting themselves with industry-standard security, larger campaigns pay millions of dollars in extra card processing fees that could otherwise be avoided with the use of the CVV.

Given the scope of the problem within Congress, the Institute created an interactive 50-state map to allow citizens and journalists to identify which members of Congress lack industry-standard anti-fraud credit card protection on their campaign donation websites. Go to: www.CampaignFundingRisks.com

· Donation Solicitations On Foreign Websites To Then-Candidate Marco Rubio’s 2010 Donation Page: The Institute discovered multiple Spanish language, foreign websites featuring video links that included embedded advertising directing individuals to the donation solicitation page of then-U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio. In addition, Rubio lacked CVV protection, which was corrected in May of 2012. As of this report’s publication date, many of these links are still up and active. This is a potential violation of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) solicitation laws.

Ø  Obama Campaign Lacks the Industry-Standard Level Of Credit Card Security For Donations, But Uses It For Merchandise Purchases: To purchase Obama campaign merchandise, the campaign requires buyers to enter their credit card CVV security code, but does not require the credit card security code to be entered when making an online campaign donation. By GAI’s estimates, the Obama campaign’s failure to utilize industry-standard protections potentially costs the campaign millions in extra processing fees.

Ø  Obama.com Purchased By An Obama Bundler In Shanghai, China With Questionable Business Ties to State-Run Chinese Enterprises: In 2008, Obama.com was purchased by an Obama fundraiser living in Shanghai, China, whose business is heavily dependent on relationships with Chinese state-run television and other state-owned entities.

Ø  68% Of Traffic To Anonymously Registered Obama.comIs Foreign: According to industry leading web analytics site Markosweb, an anonymously registered redirect site (Obama.com) features 68 % foreign traffic. Starting in December 2011, the site was linked to a specific donation page on the official www.BarackObama.com campaign website for ten months. The page loaded a tracking number, 634930, into a space on the website labeled “who encouraged you to make this donation.” That tracking number is embedded in the source code for Obama.com and is associated with the Obama Victory Fund. In early September 2012, the page began redirecting to the standard Obama Victory Fund donation page.   Search engine optimization (SEO) efforts, using common spamming techniques, may have also been undertaken by unknown third-parties, generating foreign traffic to Obama.com.

Romney adviser Ed Gillespie held another conference call with reporters this morning.

“We need a real recovery,” Gillespie began. “As Congressman Ryan has said, this is not what a real recovery looks like. We need a real recovery, one that generates 12 million new jobs, unleashes American energy and opens new markets for our goods and services, and gives people opportunity. We’re going to emphasize this clear choice and the sharp contrast between the two visions going forward. Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan are going to emphasize all of that this week, talking about the benefits of the Romney-Ryan plan for a stronger middle class and addressing the costs of Obama’s failed policies. The American people see those costs every day in the joblessness, the increased poverty, the skyrocketing federal debt, the higher prices, the lower household incomes that cause them to live paycheck to paycheck, and falling home prices.”

“This message emphasis this week will be on that big choice before the American people, between a dynamic growth economy or a stagnant economy that fosters government dependence. We believe that as we head into debate season, and Americans will begin seeing these two candidates side by side for the first time, we think that this emphasis on this stark choice will be critical to how they decide to vote in November.”

Romney and Ryan will be on a bus tour through Ohio this week.

I asked about Romney’s schedule – last week Byron York noticed that most days the GOP nominee was doing only one public event per day most days.

“He has been doing a lot of events per day, but a lot of them are fundraising events,” Gillespie said. “Governor Romney is the first Republican nominee for president to run outside the public finance system, to not take the public money. Obviously, we have to complete with a very well-funded Obama machine on the other side. That does mean that you end up having to do events that are sometimes outside the target states  — I don’t think anyone considers Utah to be on the target state list – but it was an important event for us, to be able have the resources to be competitive with the advertising and expenditures necessary, to be competitive with the Obama campaign in those target states.”

“We’re going to reach a point here, hopefully soon, where we’ll have the resources we need to carry us through November 6, and we won’t need to do those finance events. Those also entail travel, getting to those events, and we’ll be able to concentrate on being in target states for longer stretches of time, and able to do more political events as opposed to finance events. We’re all looking forward to that moment in time.”

So, American companies moving jobs overseas to benefit from cheaper labor is terrible, right? After all, it’s the centerpiece of the latest Obama attack on Mitt Romney.

So which companies are among the worst? Let’s go to some good lefty source, like, say, the Center for American Progress, to find some companies that we should consider to be among the biggest offenders:

3. The global electronics contract manufacturing industry reached a staggering $360 billion of revenue in 2011, and is expected to expand to $426 billion by 2015. This figure consists of companies, many of which are American, contracting outside firms largely in third-world countries with cheaper labor costs to manufacture their products. While this figure is not exclusively U.S. companies, large corporations such as Apple Inc., which conducts all of its manufacturing on foreign shores, and Nike Inc., which subcontracts all of its footwear production to independently owned and operated foreign companies, lead the trend.

That’s strange. According to the Federal Election Commission, President Obama has taken $94,543 from employees of Apple, Inc. and another $17,500 in campaign contributions from Nike, Inc. employees. (These are the employees who work in the U.S. whose jobs haven’t been outsourced.) And that’s just this cycle, not even looking at the 2008 campaign.

But wait, everything I’m hearing from the Democrats insists that they think off-shoring is wrong! President Obama and his allies wouldn’t just make a big hullabaloo about an issue just to have fodder for attack ads, right? He and the Democrats don’t secretly think that this practice is okay, and take money from companies that subcontract all or almost all of their merchandise production to foreign companies to exploit big labor, right? I thought you could count on a Democrat to Think Different™! That when it comes to cozying up with offshoring companies, he wouldn’t Just Do It ™!

I wonder how many folks will denounce Romney for alleged outsourcing using an iPhone while wearing Nikes.

Mickey Kaus spotlights the most Orwellian fundraising pitch ever:

Someone from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee just sent me an email. It struck a jaunty note:

Hey friend — Our team is reviewing supporter records this weekend, and I noticed that you haven’t made an online donation yet. (I pasted your supporter record below):

Supporter record: 7331251

Name: , friend

2012 online support: pending

Suggested support: $5.00

Ensure your voluntary contribution to the party committee is up to date and generous, Komrade, so we may continue to fight for your privacy rights against big corporations!

Over on the home page, I dive into the spreadsheets to look at how the Obama campaign has spent $148.7 million so far. One of the fun sections was the food:

FOOD: It is claimed that Napoleon said that “armies march on their stomachs,” and the same is true for campaigns. The Obama campaign spent $96,389.41 on catering/facilities. The largest single expenditure in that category was $13,128.72 to Big Delicious Planet catering in Chicago. The campaign also spent $2,571.27 at a Subway sandwich shop in Columbus, Ind.

Nationwide, the Obama campaign has clear preferences for coffee; it spent $552.67 at Dunkin’ Donuts, $389.85 at Einstein Bros. Bagels, $229.22 at Starbucks, and only $183.15 at Caribou Coffee. The campaign has spent $239.38 at 7-Eleven.

The Obama campaign appears to run on pizza: $2,084.37 went to Domino’s Pizza, $1,774.78 went to Pizzanno’s Pizza, $1,167.45 went to Papa John’s, $834.03 went to Pizza Hut, and $362 went to Little Caesars.

(One hopes Michelle Obama won’t find out that some Obama campaign staffer in Winston-Salem, N.C., spent $239.39 at Krispy Kreme.)

That’s right, the Obama campaign has spent $6,222 on pizza so far.

And if you have ever wondered how much David Axelrod charges the Obama campaign:

The man most publicly associated with the Obama campaign, the president’s longtime strategist David Axelrod, is not directly paid by the campaign. Instead, his firm, Axelrod Strategies LLC, is listed as receiving 24 payments totaling $181,582, with most months including a $15,000 payment for “consulting/professional services/media” and then a separate payment of a three- or four-digit sum to cover travel and lodging costs.

UPDATE: A Republican chuckles that the Obama campaign is spending a lot of money at Dunkin’ Donuts, owned in part by . . . Mitt Romney’s old firm, Bain Capital.

Hollywood director Judd Apatow, who donated $30,800 to the DNC in September and has given $63,000 to President Obama, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and other Democrats since 2008, responds to today’s Supreme Court ruling striking down state-level restrictions upon political donations by declaring, “Supreme Court Reversed Anti-Citizens United Ruling From Montana – aaaaagg!! More money in politics!!!”

You know, if you want less money in politics, you could stop writing five-figure checks to political causes. But I guess he’s really upset about other people’s money in politics.

The Republican National Committee is chuckling this morning, pointing out that the latest fundraising numbers, for the month of February, show the Obama campaign, DNC, Victory Fund, and State Victory Fund raised a total of $45 million, down from the $56.78 million Obama raised alone in February 2008. They eagerly point out the figure is despite Obama holding more fundraisers in the month of February than any month since announcing for reelection.

Along with the numbers, the RNC’s Kirsten Kukowski issued a statement in response:

After three years of policies that have left our country with record debt, high unemployment, and soaring gas prices and healthcare costs, it’s clear President Obama is having a hard time convincing voters he deserves another term. The president who ran on change and hope has left our country wanting and whether it’s showing in fundraising or in the polls, Americans are enthusiastic about replacing him in November.

Of course, I wouldn’t chuckle too loudly. As an incumbent president, Obama doesn’t need that much money to get his message out.

There’s campaign news and talk of war in the Middle East in today’s edition of the Morning Jolt, but the two sections dealing with Obama seem the most likely to generate buzz . . .

Good Morning, Mr. President!

Breaking this morning:

Two American brothers of a Mexican casino magnate who fled drug and fraud charges in the United States and has been seeking a pardon enabling him to return have emerged as major fund-raisers and donors for President Obama’s re-election campaign.

The casino owner, Juan Jose Rojas Cardona, known as Pepe, jumped bail in Iowa in 1994 and disappeared, and has since been linked to violence and corruption in Mexico. A State Department cable in 2009 said he was suspected of orchestrating the assassination of a business rival and making illegal campaign donations to Mexican officials.

When The New York Times asked the Obama campaign early Monday about the Cardonas, officials said they were unaware of the brother in Mexico. Later in the day, the campaign said it was refunding the money raised by the family, which totaled more than $200,000.

At least these guys are courteous enough to tip the administration that supplies their friends with guns so well . . .

What It Takes to Get Barack Obama to Leave a Room

I’m surprised to see this complaint in Al Hunt’s column:

The White House put out a picture of a private meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 27 that included former President George H. W. Bush and his son, Jeb, the former governor of Florida.

The Bushes were in town for the annual black tie dinner the next night at the Alfalfa Club, a gathering of business and political elites. The two featured speakers, both intended to be brief and humorous, were Obama and Jeb Bush. The president spoke to good reviews. He left before Bush spoke.

Obama hates such dinners. Some of his aides, in particular his political adviser David Plouffe, urged him not to spend an evening mingling with the 1 percent. Yet he chose to go, and attendees said it was the first time they could recall a speaker leaving before the other side had its fun. In addition, Obama’s 87-year-old predecessor was present.

Imagine the criticism five years ago if President George W. Bush had walked out on a dinner before Hillary Clinton spoke, with Bill Clinton in the audience.

I mean that I am surprised that a non-conservative made the complaint, not that Obama behaved this way.

Put another way, Obama will walk out on Jeb Bush, or debt-ceiling talks, but not a 50-minute anti-American diatribe from Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega.