"My lips are not only thin, they're sealed."
We know many of the details of Mitt Romney's upcoming fundraisers in London. We know that the dinner costs $25,000 to $75,000 a head, while a reception goes for a mere $2,500. We know that Bob Diamond was
supposed to be a host of the event, but stepped down from that role in the wake of the Libor rigging scandal just as he stepped down from being head of Barclay's, but top executives at HSBC, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank remain as co-hosts. But the location is a closely guarded secret. Now,
unions are offering a reward to whoever tells them where the fundraiser will be.
The Steelworkers and British union Unite want to present Romney with two gold medals, "one for austerity (for others) and the other for financial secrecy." But they can't even try to do that if they don't know where he'll be. To that end, they're offering a dinner for two at a London restaurant to the person who identifies the location of the Romney fundraiser—not nearly a big enough prize to entice someone dropping $25,000 on a fundraiser, but maybe one of those people has a family member who's not on board with the Romney agenda. Or maybe a cook or a waiter or a janitor working the event will let the unions in on the secret.
"It's no surprise," according to Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, "that Romney is in London for a secretive but lavish fundraising event where bankers and other City elite can continue to back austerity for the 99 percent while they continue as if it's business as usual."
The funny thing about Romney's secrecy over the fundraiser's location is that it's not like unions or other critics would be able to get anywhere near him even if they did know the location of the event. This seems to be another of those cases, like his tax returns, where Romney has decided that whatever bad press he gets for being secretive is preferable to what might happen if he was open and honest. Which makes you wonder just how lavish the location of this fundraiser is, and just how recognizable, diamond-encrusted, and corrupt the guests will be.
