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Soros Says He's Not Influencing Policy, Hasn't Talked to Obama
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10/22/08 11:05 AM ET
George Soros, the powerful financier spoofed on "Saturday Night Live" as owner of the Democratic Party, said that he doesn't affect government policy and that he hasn't spoken with Barack Obama recently.
Soros made the remarks when asked by CNN's John Roberts this week whether his enormous wealth gives him too much influence over the political process.
"First of all, I have had absolutely no contact with Senator Obama ever since he started running for president," Soros said.
When Roberts noted that he has funded liberal organizations such as MoveOn.org and the Center for American Progress, Soros said that he funds groups that "bring out the vote."
"And, of course, they do have a certain bias," he said. "There's no question about it. But I exercise no influence on the government policy. I don't need any favors from government. So, I do want the government to function better. But I'm not looking for any kind of personal favor. I don't need it."
Soros, founder of his own investment firm, said his political efforts this year haven't been as extensive as his 2004 voter turnout project "because I felt that in 2004, the greatest benefit that I could bring to humanity was to prevent [Bush's] re-election," Soros said.
He said that the next president will have face an "extremely difficult task" and will have to do "something unusual."
"He has to take some steps, something out of the box, to -- to justify the hopes that are attached to him," Soros said. "And I think it has to be probably in the area of energy. Global warming, and energy independence because that's where very large investment needs to be made."
Soros didn't take offense at "SNL"'s depiction of him as an omnipotent investor who will be the beneficiary of the $700 billion government bailout plan. He said there was no foundation to it. (Video of the skit, which has been pulled from NBC's websites and others, can be seen here.)"Well, I was amused," Soros said when asked about the skit.
Soros made the remarks when asked by CNN's John Roberts this week whether his enormous wealth gives him too much influence over the political process.
"First of all, I have had absolutely no contact with Senator Obama ever since he started running for president," Soros said.
When Roberts noted that he has funded liberal organizations such as MoveOn.org and the Center for American Progress, Soros said that he funds groups that "bring out the vote."
"And, of course, they do have a certain bias," he said. "There's no question about it. But I exercise no influence on the government policy. I don't need any favors from government. So, I do want the government to function better. But I'm not looking for any kind of personal favor. I don't need it."
Soros, founder of his own investment firm, said his political efforts this year haven't been as extensive as his 2004 voter turnout project "because I felt that in 2004, the greatest benefit that I could bring to humanity was to prevent [Bush's] re-election," Soros said.
He said that the next president will have face an "extremely difficult task" and will have to do "something unusual."
"He has to take some steps, something out of the box, to -- to justify the hopes that are attached to him," Soros said. "And I think it has to be probably in the area of energy. Global warming, and energy independence because that's where very large investment needs to be made."
Soros didn't take offense at "SNL"'s depiction of him as an omnipotent investor who will be the beneficiary of the $700 billion government bailout plan. He said there was no foundation to it. (Video of the skit, which has been pulled from NBC's websites and others, can be seen here.)"Well, I was amused," Soros said when asked about the skit.
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