Obama campaign intentionally disabled address verification on donations (AVS)

A company hired by Newsmax to look into some of the questionable donations to the Barack Obama campaign has found even more strange cases of those who don't appear to be U.S. citizens, such as thousands for an assortment of Middle Eastern and Asian countries: link.

However, the most important bit appears to be the news that AVS was intentionally disabled and by a major company. Some news reports haven't mentioned it, and some have thought it could have just been an innocent move such as due to a bug in their software (no, really: meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/10/persecute_or_prosecute.php). However:
Newsmax asked James Wester, a spokesman for Chase Paymentech, who was responsible for taking the unusual step of deactivating the Address Verification Service recommended by VISA USA on the Obama Web site. Such security features can be deactivated by the processing company, or at the request of the merchant, in this case, Obama for America.

Wester said that Paymentech was "not going to be issuing a statement at this time."

VISA USA has a series of verification tools it recommends to online merchants to prevent online credit card fraud and to guarantee the security of personal credit-card information...

Comments

Look guys Obama is getting a hell of alot of foreign race hate money after-all obama is a foreigner who hates our freedoms.

I guess I and all my friends who donated $25-100 to the Obama campaign are Sekrit Ay-rab Muslins(tm) just like he is... pity nobody told us. You've bought into the big lie that Obama is being bankrolled by sinister forces out to destroy America. The reality is nothing more sinister than a groundswell of young Americans and struggling Americans heard his message and responded. When his aides said, "Give $25 more than you think you can afford, because we need it," I was prepared to give $25, because I couldn't really afford anything. A friend of mine, hearing this, gave me $25 to cover my donation. So I gave $50. Not because Barack Obama is THE ONE or THE MESSIAH. The only people saying that are the people trying to tear him (and us) down. You know how he got my intention? "I am an imperfect vessel for your hopes and dreams." After eight years of "Stay the course!" and "We can't admit we made a mistake or we'll look weak", I want a captain at the wheel of the ship who knows why that wheel TURNS. I want somebody who isn't afraid to change course when the situation calls for it. A perfect case in point? He saw the enthusiasm for his campaign and changed his mind about public financing. With so many people wanting to be a part of the political process, so many people wanting to help him get his message out, he was able to raise $600 million dollars. Not for his own use. That's not his money. It's us helping him get elected. American citizens. Why are you afraid of that?

(Oh, and because you're probably wondering "How much is the Obama campaign paying you to write these comments?" Nothing. I paid them!)

_...so many people wanting to help him get his message out,..._ What "message" would that be?

eh, it's been there on his website and he's been saying it for the past several months. If I give you a summary that fits neatly in a blog comment, you'll say, "BUT WHERE ARE THE SPECIFICS?" What's John McCain's message? His campaign consists of highlighting people that attended the same parties as Obama, that he met professionally, that he had conversations with... if working with somebody and conversing with them makes you their "cohort" or "sympathizer", then Reagan and Nixon are the biggest commies in American history. "Nixon: Palled Around With Chairman Mao." He's got nothing. Every day it's a different spin. Today letting tax cuts for the wealthy expire is socialism. Eight years ago letting those tax cuts be passed was a poison pill for the middle class. He tries to play that Obama's the one who shifts: "Under $250,000, you won't see a tax hike. Under $200,000, you'll see a cut." becomes "HE SAID TWO NUMBERS WHY CAN'T HE MAKE UP HIS MIND?" Joe Biden uses the example of somebody making $150,000 and that example becomes the new ceiling. Why does McCain focus on this? Because he knows Obama has a message and a plan on the economy and he doesn't. Why do you people swallow it? Because you're confused when you hear more than one number at a time? Because you're scared of the dark-skinned man with the funny name? Obama spent thirty minutes on Wednesday outlining his plans. McCain went on Larry King and all he could talk about was Obama. You can turn around and say "Like I'm going to watch a thirty minute infomercial for THE ONE." Right. You can claim the guy doesn't have a plan, doesn't have specifics and that we don't know anything about him... but every time he speaks you plug your ears and go "la la la la la la la." Obama is no enigma. H has two autobiographies. He's done interviews. His past has been investigated. "The MSM doesn't report Wright and Ayers and Khalidi!" Yes, they do. I've been seeing the reports on them all summer. But the public reaction to the revelation that "COLLEGE LECTURING CHRISTIAN HAS PASTOR, ASSOCIATES WITH PROFESSORS!" hasn't supported a continuing focus. The information was presented and people made up their own minds and the news went on to cover things that people cared about. Sorry that's so sinister to you. Obama has a plan for getting bin Laden. Said plan... surprisingly... involves moving troops and resources and intelligence gathering capabilities from a part of the world where bin Laden is NOT and moving them to a part of the world where he actually IS. McCain? "I know where bin Laden is and I know how to get him. Well, no, I don't. But I'll have a plan. I know how to come up with a plan." This is a guy who's going to keep us safe? He doesn't know how to "win" Iraq. He wants to win Vietnam. McCain said in his own book that he wants to be president JUST TO BE PRESIDENT. That's his sole ambition. It isn't about serving the co

It isn't about serving the country. It isn't about protecting us. It's about John Sidney McCain III getting his due. On the other side of the fence, we have Barack Hussein Obama II, who launched his campaign with: "I am an imperfect vessel for your hopes and dreams." and effectively wrapped it up on Wednesday with, "I am reminded every day that I am not a perfect man, and I will not be a perfect president." Oh, wow. Such arrogance. Only a super-duper double arrogant wannabe messiah would be arrogant enough to admit he's not perfect, I guess? We have one bitter old man who wants to be president no matter what (and boy, has he shown it!) and one intelligent vibrant man who believes that America truly is the greatest nation in the world and is ready to not just say so but actually show it. You go vote against the man with the scary name if you want to... but you might want to bear in mind that a man who would be president actually changed the pronunciation of his last name from "Reegan" to "Ray-Gun" because we're not so far removed from the time when IRISH was considered "un-American" and "scary ethnic".