Tag: Campaign Funding

One Billion And Counting

I read today that the Harris campaign has raised $1 billion for the campaign….and the word is that it may not be enough….think about that for a moment.

In less than three months as a presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris has raised more than $1 billion—a historic pace. That’s more than her opponent, Donald Trump, has raised all year, per the New York Times. The Harris figure comes not from required campaign filings, the next of which is due later this month, but from multiple people who know of her operation. Despite the unheard-of fundraising rate, aides are concerned the Democratic campaign might not have money to win, the Washington Post reports. They’d also prefer the $1 billion figure not receive much attention. Their fundraising reasoning includes:

  • The short campaign: Entering the race long after Trump has meant Harris has to make her pitch to voters in much less time and has to rely on more sweeping, expensive efforts to reach them.
  • Battleground states: In all seven swing states, polls show no lead that isn’t within the margin of error. The Harris campaign figures it will have to spend big in all of them. “There have never been so many electoral college votes in play so late in the cycle, which means that our strong fundraising and volunteer enthusiasm are not guaranteed to be enough to fully reach voters everywhere they are,” one Harris person emailed the Post.
  • Perceptions: “Talking about this type of big money doesn’t convey the sense of urgency to do every single thing in all of the big and small ways,” another person involved said Wednesday.
  • The opposition: Trump pulled in $309 million through the end of August, and Harris reported spending about three times what the Republican nominee did in August. But super PACs, including Elon Musk’s, are helping narrow the spending gap to turn out GOP voters, per NBC News.

Does anyone see a problem with a campaign that has $1 billion and could still not be enough?

All these elections are getting out of hand….every year it takes more and more to fund a run for office.

That figure should have people starting to consider some sort of campaign funding reform.

Just a thought!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Should We Worry?

My biggest worry is that it is 5am and the temp is 90….but that is just me.

Should we worry…..more so than normally?

A political career, these days, lives or dies on the backs of campaign dollars…..and of course 2024 will be an expensive one indeed.

So I thought I would dive into the funding thing as soon as possible….these are the latest figures but that could change the closer we get to an actual vote.

Let’s begin with Trump and his minions that bankroll his sprint to the presidency….one would think a guilty verdict would stifle the cash infusion…..you would be mistaken….

Recall President Biden’s big fundraising lead over former President Trump? It’s nowhere near as big owing to a surge of donations following Trump’s May 30 fraud conviction in New York, the Washington Post reports. Trump and the Republican National Committee say they raised $141 million in May, per the New York Times, far outpacing the $85 million raised by Biden and the Democratic National Committee. Biden’s team had $212 million in the bank at the start of June, reports the AP. Trump’s total was at least $170 million, according to the Times, and that represents only a partial count.

Given that Trump was behind by $100 million in April, the trend is clear. Biden and the Democrats may still hold a cash advantage, but “almost four months before Election Day, Trump’s side is closing the gap—if it isn’t closed already,” per the AP, which describes Trump’s May haul as “jaw-dropping.” The Trump team says it raised $53 million in the first 24 hours after Trump’s conviction and $70 million in the first 48 hours, though the numbers won’t be verified July. Both camps also have benefited from mega-donors:

  • For Trump: Billionaire banking heir Timothy Mellon donated $50 million to Trump’s political action committee Make America Great Again on May 31, the day after his conviction.

What will $50 million buy from a president?

While Trump is raking in the dollars the Biden camp is not as lucky…..

Joe Biden’s campaign planned to bury Donald Trump in an avalanche of cash.

Instead, his allies are bracing for a slugfest without the benefit of a fatter wallet, as financial reports showed Trump outraising Biden in back-to-back months, hauling in huge sums after his 34 felony convictions and erasing Biden’s longstanding financial edge.

Democrats in recent days largely downplayed Trump’s new financial lead in the same way Trump’s allies had when Biden was running ahead in the money race — saying the president would have enough money to compete.

But privately, several Democratic strategists and donors were reeling.

“There was the strategy of raising all this money on the front end so we could have this huge edge,” said one Biden bundler, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “The whole point of it was to come out with a sizable cash advantage and, you know, we’re now even and it’s June. … I have no other word for it other than ‘depression’ among Biden supporters.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/23/biden-trump-finances-00164566

What is it they say about the ‘best laid plans’?

Dollars are not the only situation that is not looking good for Dems, at least the Dem candidate for president…..the Hispanic vote is slipping through the Dems fingers all on the back of immigration…..

Both Hispanic and non-Hispanic voters in the seven swing states trust former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party more on immigration than President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, according to a new poll.

While 38% of Hispanic voters in battleground states trust Biden more on immigration, 41% trust Trump more, and 16% are undecided, according to a survey released last week by the polling agency Equis.

Additionally, 34% of non-Hispanic voters in swing states trust Biden more on immigration, while 49% favor Trump more, the poll shows. 

The results for both groups are outside of the poll’s 2.5% margin of error.

Hispanic voters have historically supported the Democratic Party, but the surveys show that support appears to be shifting towards Trump ahead of the 2024 election.

This poll was conducted April 20-May 5, 2024 with 3,569 registered voters in 11 states, including all seven swing states and four solidly Democratic states, and it has a 2.5% margin of error.

(justthenews.com)

Immigration looks like the hot button issue…..for now.

A lot can change in the months that lead up to the vote….but I do not see any of that actually happening, do you?

Change is something that most Americans have a rash when mentioned.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–25Feb20

First let me say Happy Mardi Gras!

Debate Night!

There will be 7 or so Dem candidates on the stage for the debate tonight……and of those there only Bernie is flush with cash……(sorry about that I was ignoring the billionaires buying their way forward)….

At a time in the race when running a presidential campaign is getting more expensive, many of the Democrats remaining have less money. After being camped in Iowa for what seemed like ages, the candidates now have multiple, scattered primaries ahead. And on top of competing with Bernie Sanders’ fundraising surge, they now face a billionaire climbing in the polls who can spend as much as is needed. Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren are nearly out of cash, Politico reports. Financial disclosures filed Thursday night show Biden down to $7.1 million, Buttigieg with $6.6 million, Klobuchar at $2.9 million, and Warren having just $2.3 million. At the other end is Sanders, who has close to $17 million. For January, the candidates raised $58 million in total and spent nearly $357 million, per the Hill.

The struggling candidates are taking steps. Buttigieg, who raised $6.1 million in January but spent more than twice that, asked supporters this week to kick in another $13 million by Super Tuesday on March 3. “We are now also up against a billionaire who is throwing colossal sums of money on television instead of doing the work of campaigning,” he wrote, referring to Michael Bloomberg. Tom Steyer also is funding his own campaign. Warren has taken out a $3 million line of credit, though she had a strong month in January, collecting $10.2 million. The problem was that she spent twice what she took in. With the new need to buy ads in 14 states, super PACs are stepping in, as well. A new one, Persist PAC, lined up more than $1 million worth of ads this week for Warren.

Most of these candidates……are depending on South Carolina to give them a bump and some much needed cash infusions.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“Citizen United” On The Ropes?

Now that the impeachment debacle is over the House has returned to trying to do the work of the people…..

Most Americans know and despise the “Citizen United” ruling by the SCOTUS that gave corporations unlimited power in our elections. But now the House is finally trying to change that damage….

Most Americans agree on background checks for gun purchases, lower prescription drug prices, and the need to take on climate change. But for years, an army of lobbyists and unrestricted outside political spending by corporations have blocked nearly every attempt to make these things happen.

A big reason for this, argues Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), is the the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling, which he says has resulted in “the corrosion of our democracy.” The Supreme Court’s ruling notably allowed corporations to create super political action committees (PACs), which are not required to disclose their donors, and spend billions of dollars in US elections.

A growing number of Americans want to get money out of politics. Nearly seven in 10 Americans support a constitutional amendment that overturns Citizens United, according to a 2018 study by the University of Maryland School of Public Policy’s Program for Public Consultation. Now that almost 20 states and more than 800 local governments have called for a constitutional amendment that places reasonable limits on corporate campaign contributions, some members of Congress appear to be listening.

Congress (Finally) Considers Amendment to Overturn Citizens United

I like that idea…..but the House can pass all they want…it will be up to the Senate to come on board…..and I do not see that part of the Congress that is mostly controlled by corporations going against their masters.

In other House news……they have signed on to a pro-labor bill…..

Union leaders and labor rights advocates applauded the Democrat-controlled U.S. House for passing landmark legislation Thursday night that supporters have called one of the most notable efforts to expand workers’ rights in several decades.

House lawmakers voted mostly along party lines to approve the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R.2474), which passed 224–194 with 12 members not voting. See the roll call vote here.

“This is a watershed moment for the labor movement and shows what working people can accomplish when we come together to demand a voice on the job and a seat at the table,” said Lee Saunders, president of AFSCME, the nation’s largest trade union of public employees.

“Make no mistake, this is the most significant step Congress has taken to strengthen labor laws in the United States in 85 years and a win for workers everywhere,” said AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, declaring the measure “the labor movement’s number one legislative priority this year.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/07/victory-workers-house-praised-passing-landmark-pro-act-strengthen-unions-and-labor

Another bill that will die a death in the Senate……

“The Senate where good bills go to die!”

Then there is a waning support for that abortion that Trump calls a “peace plan” for the Middle East…..

Over 100 House Democrats signed a letter, released on Friday, critical of President Donald Trump‘s peace plan for the Middle East.

The two-page letter, with seven pagers of signatures, was led by Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif., and warns that a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine would be impossible under the plan. At a White House ceremony on Jan. 27 unveiling Trump’s 200-page peace plan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to move forward on establishing additional settlements and exercising Israeli control of the disputed West Bank area.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/02/07/Over-100-House-Democrats-sign-letter-rejecting-Trumps-Middle-East-peace-plan/6031581102952/

I agree with these Reps but I need to add….their concern is way too late….the damage is being done…..

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

Money And Elections

The 2018 mid-terms is just days away…..and as with every election for decades the talking points will be about which party and/or candidate has put together the most donors and cash.

Everybody knows the old talking points about campaign cash…..he who spends the most wins….Dark money……yada yada…..

But there is a bit more to the effects of cash on elections than the 30 second sound bite network TV gives the listeners….

The Nerds at geeky website, fivethirtyeight.com, has put together a good piece to explain the effects of cash on elections.

To quote the great political philosopher Cyndi Lauper, “Money changes everything.” 1 And nowhere is that proverb more taken to heart than in a federal election, where billions of dollars are raised and spent on the understanding that money is a crucial determinant of whether or not a candidate will win.

This year, the money has been coming in and out of political campaigns at a particularly furious pace. Collectively, U.S. House candidates raised more money by Aug. 27 than House candidates raised during the entire 2014 midterm election cycle, and Senate candidates weren’t far behind. Ad volumes are up 86 percent compared to that previous midterm. Dark money — flowing to political action committees from undisclosed donors — is up 26 percent.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/money-and-elections-a-complicated-love-story/

SCOTUS has made corporations equal to individuals and in doing so made the dark money a driving force in elections…..it has replaced real issues with the direction of donors.

Just 15 groups were responsible for more than 75 percent of dark money political spending from 2010 to 2016, and together poured more than $600 million—out of a total of $800+ million—into campaigns in the wake of the landmark Citizens United case, according to a new analysis from Issue One, a nonpartisan nonprofit that advocates for stricter campaign finance rules.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/09/13/citizens-united-just-15-groups-account-75-percent-800-million-dark-money-spent-us

Dems are just as bad as the GOP…..they talk a mean game but do little to change anything…..

For voters concerned about the bad consequences of big business spending on elections, a New York Times reportlast month promised mid-summer relief. “Tired of Money in Politics, Some Democrats Think Small,” the headline read.

The accompanying article, which focused on a Minnesota Congressional contest, noted that, “in mid-term races around the country…dozens of Democrats [are] rejecting donations from political action committees, or PACs, that are sponsored by corporations or industry groups.”

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/09/12/big-money-in-politics-are-leading-democrats-really-on-the-wagon-or-still-sneaking-a-drink/

Dems are always bitching about the money in politics and all the while are standing with their hands out.  There is only one way to remove big money from politics……by law and by making elections a federal funded operation…..no private money.

Campaign Funding

I am sure that most Americans realize just how much it costs to campaign these days.  Thanx to Citizens United it will get more and more expensive.  Think about it….last election it cost damn near a billion dollars to run for the office of president.

Personally, I would like to see all elections publicly funded….people would pay a fee as in a tax filing every year….no more dark money or PAC interference.  Each candidate would have an election budget spent however they see fit but no additional money when it is all gone.

This political system needs reforming…..it has gotten out of hand……and wasteful.

The goals behind the public financing of elections have shifted. The old dream of completely eliminating big, private money from politics has been dashed by Citizens United and other court rulings.

“It’s probably not a realistic goal in any case,” says Michael Malbin, executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute. “People who are interested in politics have many ways of influencing the political system.”

Now, the hope among some advocates of publicly financed campaigns is to impose limits on the size and scope of campaign treasuries while increasing citizen involvement. To do that, reformers are promoting the use of matching funds and so-called democracy vouchers, which allow citizens to steer government money directly to the candidates of their choice.

Source: The New Strategy for Advocates of Publicly Funded Campaigns

If we are serious about the slogan…”Of the people, by the people and for the people” then this reform is a necessity.

Of courser as badly as it is needed reform is not forthcoming…..cash can buy at lot things….can keep things as they are today.

We will truly have the “best government money can buy”…..

The Leader Of A PAC

No I am not nostalgic for the early ’60’s tunes…..

WE have Dark Matter….dark Energy….and Dark Money.

Ever thought about running a political campaign?

If so you need an education on where the real money lies for such an endeavor…..Dark Money.

money donated to politically active nonprofit organizations or anonymous corporate entities, which spend this money to influence political campaigns or other special interests but are not required to reveal their donors.

Source: Dark Money – Definition

Now that you have an idea what it is….you will need a course of action to get into the field……and I can help…….

Dark Money refers to political spending meant to influence the decision of a voter, where the donor is not disclosed and the source of the money is unknown. Depending upon the circumstances, Dark Money can refer to funds spent by a political nonprofit or a super PAC. Here’s how:

  • Political nonprofits are under no legal obligation to disclose their donors. When they choose not to, they are considered Dark Money groups.
  • Super PACs can also be considered Dark Money groups in certain situations. While these organizations are legally required to disclose their donors, they can accept unlimited contributions from political non-profits and “shell” corporations who may not have disclosed their donors, in these cases they are considered Dark Money groups.

Source: Dark Money Basics • OpenSecrets

Now you have a working knowledge of dark money and how it is used….so go out and have fun with your newly acquired knowledge…..see just how sleazy you can be.

2016: Could This Be True?

2016 like any other election has had its share of accusations about this candidate or that…..this time around it has run the gambit from outlandish to just plain lies…..

I have posted on the possible connections of the Clinton Foundation to foreign entities and that means the candidate has these connections….and I read a piece yesterday about the Trump connections….

But a new piece in Newsweek has made some disturbing accusations about the GOP’s magic candidate, Donald J. Trump…..

Probably the most talked-about political story of the day comes courtesy of Newsweek, where reporter Kurt Eichenwald details Donald Trump’s intricate business ties with foreign businessmen, governments, “and even criminals” via his Trump Organization. With deals in nations such as Russia, Turkey, India, and Saudi Arabia, Eichenwald writes that conflicts of interest regarding national security would be impossible to avoid, even with Trump’s plan to put the business in a blind trust and turn it over to his kids. He concludes that the only way to avoid what he calls “legal bribery” is for the entire Trump family to sever itself from the sprawling Trump Organization if the candidate wins in November. Among other things, he notes that the organization has trademarked the Trump name for branding projects in Russia.

“Never before has an American candidate for president had so many financial ties with American allies and enemies, and never before has a business posed such a threat to the United States,” writes Eichenwald, who concludes with this jarring line: “If Donald Trump wins this election and his company is not immediately shut down or forever severed from the Trump family, the foreign policy of the United States of America could well be for sale.” Click for the full investigative piece. Meanwhile, former campaign-official turned-CNN-talking-head Corey Lewandowski blasted both Eichenwald’s credibility and the entire premise of the story, notes Politico. “Do his children continue to run a $10 billion corporation that their father has built?” he asked. “Absolutely they do. Why wouldn’t they?”

Source: How the Trump Organization’s Foreign Business Ties Could Upend U.S. National Security

I will admit that Newsweek is not one of my favorite sources but I wanted to be fair after writing about these connections of the Clinton candidacy….this piece has all the length of ….say…War and Peace…….

Now I wait to see what comes from the fingers of those aged Trump supporters in his defense….

The Foreign Invasion of American Politics

Much has been said this election about the amount of foreign money that appears to be streaming into our politics…..as one candidate has called it….”pay for play”…..

This is not the first time that foreign players have invested in our political process….but it is the first time it has gotten this much scrutiny…….

Foreign free riders hate Trump and love Hillary – with good reason

As one of my Twitter followers put it so succinctly: “Globalization: Where leaders from any country get to pick US Presidents.” As the Clinton campaign’s Robby Mook tears a page out of Joe McCarthy’s book and smears Donald Trump as being “Putin’s puppet,” the irony is that this election has seen foreign interference in American politics to an unprecedented degree – on Hillary’s behalf.

In the past, foreign actors tried to hide such activities, rightly thinking that they might encounter resentment – or even legal consequences – for trying to meddle in affairs that are none of their damned business. Not anymore. Now that we’re a global empire, with our leaders proclaiming the supreme importance of exercising “US leadership” and sticking our noses in every petty squabble on earth, our client states are openly interfering in our internal affairs. After all, if we can engage in “regime change” campaigns, and dictate the terms and results of Lower Slobbovia’s elections, why can’t they interfere in ours? To this end they employ legions of publicists, lobbyists, and tame congressmen to pursue their national interests, mostly at our expense: the billions in “foreign aid” we ship overseas come back to our shores in the form of exorbitant fees paid to PR firms – a rare trade deal where American firms actually come out ahead!

Source: The Foreign Invasion of American Politics – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com

This is one of the reason that the US is one of the top ten most corrupt countries….

1. The rich are well placed to bribe our politicians to reduce taxes on the rich. A nonentity like Donald Trump got filthy rich via tax loopholes, and is now trying to buy the presidency. The way the Supreme Court got rid of campaign finance reform and allowed open, unlimited buying of elections is the height of corruption. Note that despite his supposed “populism,” Trump never talks about the unfairness of our current tax system, instead dividing and ruling working and middle class Americans by stirring racial and religious hatreds. As it stands, 400 American billionaires are worth $2 trillion, as much as the bottom 150 million Americans. That kind of wealth inequality hasn’t been seen in the US since the age of the robber barons in the nineteenth century. Both eras are marked by extreme corruption.

There are other reasons as well…….

Source: Top 10 Signs the US is the Most Corrupt Country in the World | Informed Comment

And dat is da name of dat tune!