Anna Wintour, the Vogue editor that hosted Obama’s supporters in her New York townhouse and who recently co-hosted a $35,000 per person fundraiser at Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s home, is heading up the venture. In the past, Wintour’s tony political functions were attended by the likes of Alicia Keys and $70,000 dinner power couple Coldplay singer Chris Martin and his actress wife, the “suddenly everywhere” Miramax “muse,” Gwyneth Paltrow.

So with Wintour now raising reelection funds, you can just forget the $5 raffle tickets for a hot dog dinner with Barry and Shelley. Instead, the campaign will be hawking designer duds to people who, last time around, were in such dire straits they hoped the new president would fill their gas tank and pay their mortgage.

For her latest effort, Anna Wintour has recruited Hollywood notables, designers, pop and hip-hop artists, and other all-around really rich people to raise money for Barack 2012 by designing overpriced T-shirts, tank tops, scarves, wristlets, and bags to sell at inflated prices to people who, in the midst of an Obama recession, really can’t afford them.

Thus, “Runway to Win” is yet another example that Barack Obama and his helpful circle of elite Hollywood friends and Seventh Avenue designer devotees are all pretty much insulated from reality, out of touch, and oblivious to the plight of the common man.

Recently, in order to make a point that a $40 tax cut is needed in order to feed starving American families, Obama asked the question: “What does $40 Mean to You?” Most Americans were probably thinking warehouse club paper towels and lunch for two at Taco Bell, not $45 T-shirts.

Unlike them, Obama was thinking T-shirts!  Apparently, the budget-minded President is comfortable with Mrs. Jay-Z, barely off the delivery table and out of the special maternity suite with the 10-man security team at Lenox Hill Hospital, designing cotton tee jerseys for impoverished Americans.

Beyonce’s creation stands to pull down a hefty profit for merchandise that’s actually worth no more than $5. For 45 bucks, clotheshorses all along the “Flaws and All” campaign trail, instead of buying groceries, will have a chance to wear a cheap quality “Yes we can… Greater Together” T-shirt.

New mom Beyonce is only one of many slobbering Obama supporters who will be joining forces to produce a trendsetting Barack Obama clothing line for 2012.

Thanks to all the participants, Obama for America supporters will have an opportunity to parade around with an Obama-logo tote bag while wearing clothing that shouts to the world that just because a person’s been unemployed for more than three years doesn’t mean they don’t want to contribute to four more years of watching Michelle Obama wear $2,000 sundresses.

For most Americans, splurging means shopping at Target. In the meantime, while the 99% eat Spaghetti-Os for dinner, the “Runway to Win” list of designers reads like a Who’s Who of attendees at White House Wednesday-night Kobe-beef Conga/cocktail parties.  The list is a couture catalog of who dresses Mrs. Obama in outfits whose one-year cost, when totaled, tallies to an amount that could save 1.2 million American homes from being foreclosed.

Some of the 22 designers participating in the effort are: Russell Simmons, billionaire business magnate of Def Jam fame; Sean “Diddy” Combs, another billionaire, rapper, and record producer who’s also recognizable by the names Sean John Combs, Puff Daddy, and P. Diddy; and even Tory Burch, the designer of the $500 boots Michelle wore to turn over the White House lawn when instructing Americans on the money-saving benefits of planting an at-home organic vegetable garden.

Many of Michelle Obama’s highbrow clothes designers will also be contributing to the effort: Narciso Rodriguez, Jason Wu, Alexander Wang, Joseph Altuzarra, Rag and Bone, Rachel Roy and Tracy Reese.

For those wanting a “first access pass,” on the tongue-in-cheek “Proudly made in America” campaign blog is the following announcement:

We’re launching something new, and a little different, over the next few weeks: Runway to Win, a collaboration by some of the country’s top fashion designers in support of Obama 2012. In the coming weeks, we’ll be rolling out Obama-inspired designs by everyone from Tracy Reese to Jason Wu to Tory Burch at runwaytowin.com. The details are still under wraps, but sign up for your First Access pass to get updates—and a first look at the new designs. Then invite your friends and family to do the same.

The truth is, any designer invested in Obama winning another term is probably secretly hoping their names will continue to be printed on the tags of what fills Mrs. Obama’s sartorially-stuffed clothes closet.

On the other hand, previous Obama supporters like Donna Karan, who participated in 2008, decided this year their idea of change would be to put Republican customers and capitalism first. Apparently, some decided to bow out because maintaining a customer base means more to them than being introduced by Scarlett Johansson at an Obama 2012 fashion show/fund raiser.

So, while Americans continue to suffer, big-name fashion designers and a diverse group of entrepreneurs like ‘Let’s Move’-Beyonce will be directly involved in “Runway to Win.” And yet, aside from the all the glitter and glamour, in light of 2008’s “Runway to Change,” the whole thing is really a bit scary. Why? Because if “change” is any indication of what four years of “winning” will be like, instead of walking the runway, if Mr. Fashionista manages to win a second term, America will more likely be walking the plank.

Guess what tycoon is Occupy Wall Street’s most vocal supporter and fervently in attendance at its events, eagerly addressing the crowds and speaking to the media on its behalf? Yes, Russell Simmons, a.k.a. Uncle Rush, the hip-hop mogul with uber-cool credentials and author of SuperRich: The Guide to Having it All (yes, you read that title correctly, and no, it is not by The Donald). Thanks in large part to his founding the wildly successful Def Jam record label and Phat Farm clothing line, Simmons’ net worth exceeds a whopping $300 million. A true American success story!

Hang on, though.

The Occupy movement is, first and foremost, about income inequality and the so-called “need” for wealth redistribution, as evidenced by its “we are the 99%” slogan and its angrily protesting outside notable 1%ers’ homes. So, what is a rollin’-in-cash 1%er doing at an Occupy rally? Need I even type out the phrase “inherent contradiction”?  Reading about Russell and his “support” for Occupy, I had one of my Mugatu breakdown moments (i.e., “Doesn’t anyone notice this?! I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!!!”).

So just how does Uncle Rush reconcile his 1% membership with his support for Occupy? By re-framing what the movement is about, of course! Whether speaking to CNN reporters at Zuccotti park or on Keith Olbermann’s show (remember Olbermann?), Simmons takes the liberty of reinventing Occupy’s main goal:  “It’s very simple – they’re at Wall Street ’cause Wall Street runs our government and they’d like to.”  Hmm, not exactly, Russell.  They’re at Wall Street because they’re targeting the 1%, and what better concentration of the 1% is there than in the nation’s financial hub? The “movement” is, again, about income inequality – the inequality of which Simmons is a perfect poster boy. Yet Simmons recouches the aims to suit his own participation. I can almost see the Occupy protester in his beanie hat, standing behind Russell while he’s talking to CNN, going: “Pssst, dude – hm, thanks for being here ’n all but we’re actually, like, more about the 1%’s greed,” only to have Russell smile and dismiss him as yet another avid fan trying to get an autograph. Indeed, throughout Simmons’s October interview with Olbermann, Simmons never once cites Occupy’s “we are the 99%” slogan! Why? Because Simmons is in that very 1 %… but why should such inconvenient truths interfere with the chance for some good P.R.?

When the French Revolution took place (and I’m fairly certain some Occupiers would love to see us go that route), no aristocrat had the chutzpah to come out of his manor and say: “Pay no attention to my luxurious abode! I’m totally with you guys!” They put down the flaming torches and pitchforks only to tear his limbs apart before he could even get a word out. The fact that Simmons gets a free pass by Occupy and its supporters says a great deal about our tolerance for Hollyweird and other celebrity liberals’ hypocrisy, who fly on private jets whilst proclaiming themselves environmentalists, who rake in millions yet claim to be “down with the little people,” etc. At least back in ole France, the 1%ers knew one cannot have one’s cake and eat it, too (though tell that to Michelle-Antoinette who refused to cancel her Hawaii vacay and save us taxpayers $4 million). While I realize it’s uber fashionable, Russell, you simply cannot kick it in Zuccotti Park with the Occupiers when you’re worth 9 figures, sorry.

Worse yet, for all his attacks on Wall Street, Russell is no foe of the banking world. Rivaling the “are you kidding me?” shock-value of king-of-the-libs Alec Baldwin’s Capital One Card commercials, Simmons hustles his very own pre-paid debit card, “Rush Card.” But it’s not something Russell discusses publicly much nowadays – indeed, his Wikipedia bio, curiously enough, omits any mention of Rush Card. As reported in July, the Florida Attorney General’s Office is investigating Rush Card for charging hidden fees. Uh oh. Let’s examine this:  liberals love to shriek that the 2008 economic collapse was caused by “predatory lending” (in reality, it was caused by liberal social engineering – sideye to Barney Frank! — pressuring banks to make subprime loans to under-qualified minorities so they could realize the “home ownership dream”… but let’s go with the liberal view of the “evil banks” and “predatory lending” for argument’s sake). Yet here we have Russell Simmons speaking at an Occupy rally while profiting off a questionable pre-paid card targeted at African-Americans? Crazy pills moment indeed!

On Christmas Eve, the New York Post’s gossip column, Page Six, reported on the inherent hypocrisy with a quick piece entitled:  “Occupy Saint Barths,” noting Simmons’ ritzy vacation and implying it seems at odds with his support for Occupy. Only hours later, Uncle Rush’s sweet vacation was interrupted by at least one Tweet that got under his skin. @DefendWallStreet tweeted: “Where is champion of 99% @UncleRush? Vacationing on a tropical island for two weeks for the holidays”, to which Simmons replied:  “So what ii can vacation U guys eat a d*ck u control too much of our government Happy holidayz .” With such foul language, he forgot to hashtag his tweet with “#keepingitclassy”. Perhaps one Page Six commenter said it best, wryly remarking that Simmons was doing his activist work in a place… where he would not be bothered by the other 99%.

Now, perhaps Uncle Rush means well. Let’s put it to the test, shall we? If Simmons truly believes in the need for income redistribution, why not take action himself? Why wait? So Russell, I propose you do the following:  Go ahead and advocate for increased tax rates to affect others like you across the board, sure, but in the meantime, why don’t you write a check to the U.S. government (they’ll accept it!); take no deductions and use no loopholes on this year’s tax return, especially considering you bemoaned during the Olbermann interview that you don’t pay taxes because of said loopholes (I’m sure your accountant will oblige your request!); and give away a significant portion of your wealth to the 99%’ers! What’s that, Russell? I hear crickets.

Until the “tax me more! honestly, I mean it!” Russell Simmons and Matt Damons of the world quit the lip service, quit the hypocrisy, and actually pony up some cash and put their money where their mouths are, or, better yet, admit they have a right to their own fair-and-square-earned wealth and that it does more good in the private sector than in the government’s hands… we have many more Mugatu “crazy pills” moments ahead of us.

For your enjoyment, check out this clip of Russell rightly being heckled for his hypocrisy by the only two Occupy attendees with a triple-digit IQ. Fast forward to the 2:00 minute mark for “YOU are part of the problem, Rus-sell!” Her smirk adds a level of sass appreciated by yours truly.

What do you all think?  Is Russell Simmons a limousine liberal hypocrite extraordinaire or does his stance make sense?

The hip-hop impresario recently told The Huffington Post that it’s his “moral duty” to support the nascent movement, a veritable “revolution” that represents his most important work to date. What, more important than installing a gold toilet in your home? C’mon, that’s crazy!

Here’s Simmons’ response to a question on why a 1 percenter like himself cares so much for the 99 percent types:

It’s part of human kindness and I feel it is my moral duty to do this. You give what you get. I want to do what I can to relieve suffering and improve the quality of other’s lives. A yogi’s commitment to life is to relieve suffering, protect all beings and improve the quality of life for all.

So … can we expect Simmons to visit an OWS throng with a fistful of tens and twenties eager to make those out-of-work protesters’ lives a little less painful?

We’re waiting.

By the way, have you seen Russell Simmons’ gold toilet?

He of the $350 million, he of the gold toilet, he of the Rush Card that exploits the poor is only fooling the willfully stupid MSM, not the Occupiers.

Must-see video below the fold….

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You know, I’m starting to think these Occupiers aren’t all degenerates.

Can you imagine the fun political satirists could have with this, you know, if we had any.

You would think MTV would ask Simmons about the questions surrounding his Rush Card.

MTV:

So what if Russell Simmons is rich? The hip-hop mogul doesn’t believe that takes away from his support of the Occupy movement in the least bit. For the Def Jam co-founder, it doesn’t matter if he is part of the 1 percent — ultimately all he wants is to be part of the solution.

“I can’t show solidarity with the people that are suffering?” Rush asked MTV News rhetorically. “I just don’t want to have corporations control our government, I want a better democracy. I’m part of the 100 percent. If they’re suffering, I’m suffering with them.”

Russell, who has spent much of his career fighting social injustice, wrote a blog on his Global Grind website in September asking the U.S. government to raise his taxes in an effort to reverse the effects of the economic recession. “For far too long in this country we have allowed the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer,” he wrote.

Simmons has since been a chief supporter of New York’s Occupy Wall Street movement, which began in September. Rush, who is worth more than $340 million, will not let his bank account or celebrity keep him from doing what he feels is right. “Muhammad Ali, didn’t he help build the Nation of Islam? Did he help stop the war in Vietnam? Did Harry Belafonte and those guys help Dr. Martin Luther King?” the mogul questioned.

Real reporter follow up: “Does someone worth $350 million who truly cares about the poor charge the poor those kinds of fees for a pre-paid Visa?”

The conservatives always say to me, would I, why don’t I just write a check for more taxes.  … Well, no, I won’t give my money to war machine and to other things, but if it will help the education and the health care for people who are locked out, of course I want to pay more taxes.

Oh, so that’s the hold up. He only wants to pay more taxes if those taxes are directed towards what he believes in. Unfortunately, that is not how taxes work and you can bet Simmons know this. But he lacks the moral courage to speak the truth and say he doesn’t want to pay more taxes.  Furthermore, a gift to the Treasury doesn’t fund anything. It helps to pay down the national debt. So Simmons doesn’t even have his facts straight.

Hit PLAY and hold your nose. The hypocrisy is strong with this one:

What a weaselly, pathetic excuse.

And naturally this raging hypocrite wouldn’t dream of giving the rest of us the choice of where our taxes go to, because I can assure you that all of mine would be directed towards the “war machine” and not a penny would go towards a drug of dependency known as welfare. 

More here from our friends at Newsbusters.

West, reportedly wearing his signature accoutrement, couldn’t stay long since he was quickly mobbed by the masses. Simmons reflected on his time with the protest on his blog Global Grind:

“It was amazing to see how people loved seeing Kanye West at Occupy Wall Street. His music and his art has always been about the voice and the power of the people. Kanye just wanted to come down and experience the growing movement that has opened the eyes of many around this country and around the world of the struggles of poor people. The energy at Liberty Plaza was electrifying and the momentum to get the money out of politics is growing quickly.”

No word on whether either megastar would be redistributing any of their wealth directly to their new best buds. And one wonders if Simmons drove to the protest in these fine wheels?

Whatever happened to live the change you want?

Newsbusters:

As FNC’s Geraldo Rivera appeared in New York City for his Geraldo at Large show on Sunday night to give attention to the Occupy Wall Street protests, participant and music mogul Russell Simmons sparred with FBN’s Charles Payne after Simmons complained that his taxes were too low and claimed that his employees pay more taxes then he does.

When Payne jumped in to suggest, “you could have written an extra check,” Simmons shot back: “Why am I gonna write a, that’s a dumb thing.”

Payne mocked Simmons’s refusal by cracking, “Because you feel patriotic.”

After Simmons indicated that he contributes money to charities instead of donating more taxes, Payne challenged the music mogul on a credit card business Simmons apparently earns money from, and whether such a business is what the protesters Simmons supports are complaining about. Payne:

But, listen, you have a credit card company, you have a credit card company, and you charge people interest to use those cards. Isn’t that what they’re railing about? It’s not a free card. How did you make $100 million?

Simmons again defended his refusal to voluntarily contribute more taxes:

The point I’m making is that I’m not knocking corporations. I’m knocking the game they’re playing. I’m not knocking the players, I’m knocking the game. And what I’m telling you is that this country allows too much access to their politicians by too much interests and too much money. It’s really simple. And I’m happy to pay more taxes, but I’m not going to pay more taxes alone. I’d rather give it to my charities.

Simmons only compounds his raging hypocrisy with the absurd claim we should excuse his refusal to raise his own taxes because of his charitable giving. Hey, what do you know, Russell thinks he can do a better job of helping those in need than the government.

Welcome to the club, Russell. But full membership requires an end to your lobbying to take money from the private sector necessary to create jobs and give it to the big, fat, bloated, incompetent and corrupt federal government.

Much more here.

Simply put, whereas Simmons’ defense of Trump was well-received because Trump’s past doesn’t contain even a hint of racist tendencies, his attempts to gloss over Common’s participation in a White House event are untenable.

Why?

Well, for starters, Common is another disciple of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. You remember Rev. Wright don’t you? He’s the one who cursed America in God’s name and then implied that terrorist attacks against us were proof that “America’s chickens were coming home to roost.” (Of course, in a perverted way it makes sense that Common would be going to the White House as the President himself is another Rev. Wright disciple: the only difference being that Common admits and maintains his ties to Wright while Obama tries to downplay his.)

In addition to having close ties to an America-hater like Rev. Wright, another problem with Common’s scheduled White House appearance is that he seems to take joy in celebrating cop killers. For instance, of Joanne Chesimard, a woman who was convicted for “the 1973 slaying of Trooper Werner Foerster on the New Jersey Turnpike,” Common raps: “Your power and pride is beautiful. May God bless your soul.”

Two questions: Number one, why would the president of the United States, a man who can rub elbows with the crème de la crème of society on an international scope, invite someone to the White House who thinks it’s cool to honor cop killers? Number two, why in the world would Simmons, or any nationally known figure, defend a man (like Common) who obviously thinks cop killing is cool?

And this all gets worse when you consider the fact that Joanne Chesimard is not even in prison for killing Trooper Foerster (she escaped from prison in 1979 and is living in asylum in Cuba under the name “Assata Shakur”).

The bottom line is this: for some strange reason, the very man who garnered respect via his defense of Donald Trump is now willing to risk that respect and more by trying to convince us that Common is a fitting guest for the coming White House event.

I’m sorry Mr. Simmons, but it should be crystal clear that there’s no suitable justification for a President of the United States to honor a man who praises cop killers. (Unless of course Rev. Wright told Obama he had to invite Common, which is an angle I hadn’t considered until just now.)