Obama and Romney raising money

RIMANEWS - President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will spend Monday raising campaign dollars. Obama's fundraisers will be in New York City, where he will be joined by former President Bill Clinton. His day includes a special performance by Jon Bon Jovi.

Romney, meanwhile, will be on the other coast, with fundraisers in Oregon and Washington - and apparently no high-profile entertainment on the schedule.

Vice President Joe Biden will be in Florida, where he will deliver the commencement address to Cypress Bay High School graduates in Weston, Fla.

GOP Sen. Marco Rubio will be in Indiana campaigning with Richard Mourdock in his run for the U.S. Senate.

And then there is this: The Senate returns Monday from its Memorial Day recess. Talk is likely to intensify on what to do about keeping the rate on some federal student loans low. The clock is ticking. The deadline is July 1. ABC

FACTS & FIGURES

The presidential candidates have raised more than $330 million for their campaigns to date, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. NYT

The presidential candidates spent over $1.3 billion on the 2008 campaign, a record. The election cycle in 2008 cost more than $5 billion, including congressional races and the primaries. Foreign Policy in Focus

American elected officials spend 30-70 percent of their time fundraising. Common Dreams

In a recent This American Life episode, a tax professor estimated what one dollar of lobbying netted on the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, which provided tax breaks to multinational corporations. Foreign Policy in Focus