# WTH? People can pull up my name and address if I make a Pres. campaign contribution? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 27, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801 "2004-03-27T22:05:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/1 "2004-03-27T22:05:58Z")
I’m not really sure I like this! I tried it and it works. [NEIGHBOR SEARCH](http://www.fundrace.org/neighbors.php/) ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/2 "2004-03-27T22:31:59Z")
Holy s - - t! Guess my contribution will go elsewhere - that’s truly scary. I pulled up a ton of folks in my neighborhood. On the other hand…“they” already know what we’re up to, right? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/3 "2004-03-27T23:21:23Z")
I think it’s great. If you’re willing to give money to a candidate, why should you be afraid if people know that? You’re going to tell your friends who you support anyway. And transparency is the best thing to keep the politicians honest. If Bush is taking money from, say, Ken Lay, you’d want to know that, wouldn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/4 "2004-03-27T23:37:37Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I think it’s great. If you’re willing to give money to a candidate, why should you be afraid if people know that? You’re going to tell your friends who you support anyway. No I don’t. Why is it any of their business who I choose to support? ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/5 "2004-03-27T23:48:04Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Why is it any of their business Just who in the hell are **'THEY"**? “They” always know more that anyone else and “they” are always trying to do the damnist things to the rest of us. **Who are THEY**? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/6 "2004-03-27T23:54:19Z")
I want to know because it is not impossible to imagine that some ‘made up’ people give money to candidates to get around the law. A friend of mine ran for city council and after the electon he found SIX DEAD PEOPLE that voted. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/7 "2004-03-28T00:13:38Z")
> [@kniz](#): > > Just who in the hell are **'THEY"**? “They” always know more that anyone else and “they” are always trying to do the damnist things to the rest of us. **Who are THEY**? 😕 Boy do I hate this question. Obviously he means “them”, as in _other_ people (ex: neighbors, friends, relatives, etc…). ---
**Author:** ![cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/8 "2004-03-28T03:02:14Z")
Famous people in L.A. who contributed $2,000 to a Democratic presidential candidate: [ul] [li]Ben Affleck[/li][li]Jimmy Buffett[/li][li]Johnny Cochrane[/li][li]Jamie Lee Curtis[/li][li]Ted Danson[/li][li]Mellissa Gilbert[/li][li]Melanie Griffith[/li][li]Matt Groening[/li][li]Steve Harvey[/li][li]Norman Lear[/li][li]Leonard Nimoy[/li][li]Bonnie Raitt[/li][li]Robert Reiner[/li][li]Paul Reiser[/li][li]Mary Steinbergen[/li][/ul] Famous people in L.A. who contributed $2,000 to a Republican presidential candidate: [ul] [li]Kelsey Grammer[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/9 "2004-03-28T12:05:03Z")
Hmm. Having that info out there probably is a good way to monitor for abuse, but it is a bit disturbing to not have any privacy. I wouldn’t want my info out there for the same reason I wouldn’t want people to be able to find out how I voted without my telling them. As for cynic’s list, really? I’m not surprised. Anyone who hasn’t already noticed that Hollywood is overwhelmingly liberal has been seriously in the dark. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/10 "2004-03-28T16:04:41Z")
Moving this to Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/11 "2004-03-28T16:17:22Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > Hmm. Having that info out there probably is a good way to monitor for abuse, but it is a bit disturbing to not have any privacy. I wouldn’t want my info out there for the same reason I wouldn’t want people to be able to find out how I voted without my telling them. You can’t have it both ways and this isn’t about who voted for who. > [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > **Obviously he means “them”, as in other people (ex: neighbors, friends, relatives, etc…).** By your own admission it includes different, but unspecified “other people” (which in itself is as informative as “they”.) :eek: [sup] **THEY are out to get me!** [/sup] > [@zebra](#): > > **A friend of mine ran for city council and after the electon he found SIX DEAD PEOPLE that voted.** Did any of them make a donation? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/12 "2004-03-28T16:33:39Z")
This is (at least) our second thread about this site. As has been pointed out, it’s not who you are going to vote for. There are people who have given to multiple campaigns, including to both parties. This particular site only show contributions through 12/31/03 so you can’t draw too many conclusions about who _hasn’t_ given. An awful lot of money has been raised in the last few months. I’ve always know that political contributions were public info, but I’d always imagined getting the records would be sufficiently enough of a hassle that the casual observer wouldn’t go to the trouble. That’s true for a lot of “public” information. In some ways, the internet has made stuff so easy to access, it’s altered my comfort level about what is public. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/13 "2004-03-28T17:44:37Z")
Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer both donated $2000 to Bush. Hmm…I smell a new scandal brewing. Remember, you heard about _Nerdgate_ here first! ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/14 "2004-03-28T18:23:25Z")
> [@cynic](#): > > Famous people in L.A. who contributed $2,000 to a Democratic presidential candidate: Only for a very narrow defintiion of “in L.A.” – if you check the regional city map, you’ll find lots of red dots for donations to Bush, especially around the Santa Barbara area. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/15 "2004-03-29T00:15:21Z")
How often is this updated? I can’t find myself. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/16 "2004-03-29T01:26:00Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > How often is this updated? I can’t find myself. [starts tape recording]The front page of the site says it has not been updated. It is current through 2003. [ends tape recording] ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/17 "2004-03-29T01:49:54Z")
Forget campaign contributions. If you have a listed phone number, try plugging it into Google. ---
**Author:** ![Jello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@Jello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jello)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wth-people-can-pull-up-my-name-and-address-if-i-make-a-pres-campaign-contribution/236801/18 "2004-03-29T02:07:47Z")
[http://www.fundrace.org/neighbors.php?search=1&type=name&lname=BAKER&fname=JAMES+A](http://www.fundrace.org/neighbors.php?search=1&type=name&lname=BAKER&fname=JAMES+A). It appears former Secretary of State James Baker has donated $4,000 to Bush. Isn’t this illegal? Or is there a loophole that makes this possible?