Tag: Donations

At Least One Billionaire That Does Good

I admit it I am no fan of billionaires….why?  Most do nothing to help their fellow Americans they pay little to no tax and buy politicians to keep the billions flowing.

With that said I have great admiration for one of them, Mackenzie Scott, ex-wife of the tool Bezos…..she is donating millions upon millions to help the less fortunate in this country.

While billionaires have come under fire for not living up to their philanthropic promises, one person is rising from the rest: MacKenzie Scott. She’s pouring billions into education, public health, and the environment—and now, she just funneled some of her fortune to help feed and support millions of Americans.

Scott recently gave a $70 million unrestricted donation to Meals on Wheels America, a leadership organization that supports nationwide charities in providing meals, social connection, and safety checks to more than 2 million U.S. seniors and homebound people every year.

The organization announced Scott’s donation last Thursday, adding that her contribution comes at a time when one in three local Meals on Wheels America providers have a wait-list, with elderly citizens having to wait an average of four months for meals and services.

Scott’s $70 million donation is just a drop in the bucket of her $26 billion philanthropic streak since 2020. The early Amazon employee and ex-wife of Jeff Bezos worth $41.1 billion is rewriting the playbook of billionaire philanthropy.

Thanks to Scott’s latest investment, Meals on Wheels said it can focus more on opportunities to “strengthen the network’s capacity” in the long term and give more resources to local providers.

Meals on Wheels America currently supports more than 5,000 community-based programs related to senior hunger and isolation. Scott’s gift will make a real difference, the organization says, but it won’t completely bridge the country’s growing needs. It hopes her donation will inspire others to support.

“We will steward the investment thoughtfully and responsibly to help generate economies of scale and impact that strengthen the capacity of local providers so they can reach more older adults with meals, connection and care,” Kristine Templin, chief development and marketing officer at Meals on Wheels America, tells Fortune in a statement.

“Ultimately, success means more seniors are able to access the support they need to live more nourished, independent, and healthy lives.”

https://fortune.com/2026/04/13/billionaire-philanthropist-mackenzie-scott-donates-70-million-meals-on-wheels-america-feed-2-million-people/

I say bully for her at least she deserves praise for the work is doing….how many others can you say that about?

(I’ll wait while you Google it)

I love this woman and If anyone deserves a medal of freedom it is she.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is This Even Legal?

News has come out that Donny will allow people access to security briefings for the right price.

President Trump’s political action committee is offering donors what it describes as access to his “private national security briefings” in a fundraising email built around an image from a recent dignified transfer of fallen American soldiers at Dover Air Force Base. The message, sent by Never Surrender Inc., pitches a “National Security Briefing Membership” and urges recipients to “claim your spot” via multiple donation links, CNN reports. In exchange, Trump’s primary leadership PAC promises “unfiltered updates on the threats facing America,” including what it calls “border invasions, foreign adversaries, deep state sabotage, and every danger the fake news hides.”

The email includes an official White House photograph of Trump saluting a flag-draped transfer case at Dover Air Force Base during Saturday’s ceremony for six soldiers killed in the war with Iran. “I’m the strong commander who stares down tyrants, obliterates terrorists, and never backs down.” Clicking through leads to a donation page that reads, in all caps: “I am President Donald J. Trump. You’re the only reason we saved America. … Now I am asking you to consider making a small sustaining contribution, so we can complete the MAGA agenda!” The appeal, one of several recent Trump fundraising pitches invoking the conflict with Iran, drew criticism from Democrats after screenshots circulated on social media.

Sen. Andy Kim posted on X that he hopes the donors’ briefing doesn’t leave out that “Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz,” a possibility he said Trump missed. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office accused Trump of “fundraising off of dead soldiers.” Never Surrender is Trump’s main leadership PAC, per Politico, after being converted from his 2024 campaign committee. Earlier this year, Trump’s operation sent out a first-person email in which he said he was sitting alone in a dark war room, per People. Last year, a fundraising email plea said, “I want to try and get to Heaven.”

Is this even legal?  Well it is Donny and he knows how to skirt the limits of legal.

We peasants cannot know what is in these briefings but for the right price billionaires can so they know where to put their money to keep the profits rolling in.

Just another Donny scam for increase in donations….kinda like his ‘help him get to heaven scam’.

Pathetic person for a pathetic time.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Another Win For Big Money?

SCOTUS years ago gave a big win to corporate bribery by ruling on Citizen United….(if cannot remember that far back then try Google)….

SCOTUS is hearing arguments on another challenge but I think the outcome, to be announced next year, is already a sure thing.

The Supreme Court will take up a Republican-led drive, backed by President Trump’s administration, to wipe away limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and president. The justices said Monday they will review an appellate ruling that upheld a provision of federal election law that is more than 50 years old, ignoring pleas from Democrats to leave the law in place, per the AP. The Supreme Court itself upheld it in 2001. But since Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court in 2005, a conservative majority has upended a variety of congressionally enacted limits on raising and spending money to influence elections. The court’s 2010 Citizens United decision opened the door to unlimited independent spending in federal elections.

Without the limits on party spending, large donors would be able to skirt caps on individual contributions to a candidate by directing unlimited sums to the party with the understanding that the money will be spent on behalf of the candidate, supporters of the law say. The case will be argued in the fall. Richard Hasen. an election law expert at the UCLA’s law school, has predicted the court will strike down the limits. “That may even make sense now in light of the prevalence of super PAC spending that has undermined political parties and done nothing to limit (and in fact increased) corruption and inequality,” Hasen wrote on the Election Law blog.

The Justice Department almost always defends federal laws when they are challenged in court. But the Trump administration notified the court that “this is the rare case that warrants an exception to that general approach” because it believes the law violates free-speech protections in the First Amendment. The Republican committees for House and Senate candidates filed the lawsuit in Ohio in 2022, joined by two Ohio Republicans in Congress, then-Sen. JD Vance, who’s now vice president, and then-Rep. Steve Chabot. In 2025, the coordinated party spending for Senate races ranges from $127,200 in several states with small populations to nearly $4 million in California. For House races, the limits are $127,200 in states with only one representative and $63,600 everywhere else.

Are you confused yet?

Maybe this will help out if understanding is what you are looking for….

The Supreme Court is taking up another Republican legal case seeking to erode campaign finance law and give more power to the wealthy donors seeking to influence elections.

On Monday, the court agreed to hear a challenge to campaign finance restrictions w limit the ability of party committees to directly coordinate spending with individual candidates. The anti-corruption group Public Citizen argues that this provision was put in place to “guard against the corrupting effect of large campaign contributions.”  (I would say that it failed in that aspect)

The challenge was brought by the National Republican Senatorial and Congressional Committees, as well as the 2022 campaigns of two Ohio Republican congressmen: former Sen. JD Vance, who has since become vice president, and former Rep. Steve Chabot, who lost his re-election bid in 2022.

The case seeks to overturn rules implemented in the Federal Election Campaign Act in 1971, which put strict limits on the ability of party committees to spend money in coordination with specific candidates. The Democratic National Committee will defend the rule before the court after filing a motion to intervene.

The rules were put in place, in part, to stop wealthy donors from using parties to get around rules about coordinating individual spending with candidates.

Read on….

https://www.commondreams.org/news/supreme-court-agrees-to-hear-gop-effort-to-further-gut-campaign-finance-law

Next year will will know what the Robert’s Court has to say about this…..personally I think believe it is a done deal and the bribery will be complete.

This Court will go down in history as the worse court ever and has done more to crap on the rights of the citizens and allowed bribery at the highest level….

Any thoughts on this POS?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those Political Donations

As we close in the vote it seems that the begging for bucks has gotten non-stop…..I do not blindly support any party especially with my cash…..but what about others?

All I can say is you need to beware of the robo-calls and such….

A CNN investigation has uncovered a troubling trend in political fundraising, one in which elderly Americans—particularly those with dementia—are unwittingly becoming major donors to campaigns. Both parties have benefited from the practice, which often begins with a small online donation to a candidate. But once the hooks are set, a barrage of texts and emails follow, often deploying deceptive practices that sign people up for recurring donations without them realizing it. Those donating commonly think they’re communicating directly with their favored candidate. The investigation reached out to more than 300 of the largest and most-frequent small-sum political contributors and found dozens of examples of “unwitting elderly donors.”

“The fundraising operations that have solicited money from vulnerable senior citizens use either WinRed or ActBlue, two juggernaut digital platforms that unite hundreds of political groups and campaigns under a single umbrella,” per the story. It’s a profitable enterprise: Each platform gets about 4% off each transaction. The FTC has logged more than 800 complaints about WinRed from 2022 through 2024, and 120 about ActBlue. The story includes multiple examples of families fighting to get back hefty sums, sometimes in the six figures. “He was old, lonely, and isolated,” says the son of an 81-year-old donor who wound up in debt after giving about $80,000 in small but constant increments. “‘Save America, help save America,’ that was the constant message,” adds the son. “He would get thanked for helping to save America.”

These creeps do not care about the person making the donations as long as they get a name and a number.

Please beware of these parasites.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Cash In–Crap Out

It is 2024 and election looms so by crap I mean idle promises, trash talk, insulting garbage and hate speak….now to the meat of this post….

Over the weekend Biden had a good run with donations to his campaign….

President Biden’s campaign reported Saturday that it raised $90 million in March, widening his financial lead over Donald Trump. For the quarter, that lifted Biden to a total of $187 million, per the Hill. His campaign now has $192 million in cash on hand, which it said is a record high for a Democratic candidate at this point of the presidential race. Two days last month stood out: a New York City appearance with former Presidents Obama and Clinton brought in $26 million, and $10 million poured in during the 24 hours after Biden delivered his State of the Union address.

The cash gap between the Biden and Trump campaigns widened. Trump’s collected about $66 million in March and reported now having $93.1 million in cash. Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez described the fundraising as historic, Politico reports, calling it “a stark contrast to Trump’s cash-strapped operation that is funneling the limited and billionaire-reliant funds it has to pay off his various legal fees.” For the quarter, the Democratic campaign said, 96% of the donations made were less than $200.

Then there was the fundraiser that Trump held overt the weekend….

ormer President Trump’s campaign said it raised $50.5 million on Saturday, reports the AP, a staggering reported haul as his campaign works to catch up to the fundraising juggernaut of President Biden and the Democratic Party. The reported haul from the event with major donors at the home in Palm Beach, Florida, of billionaire investor John Paulson sets a new single-event fundraising record and is almost double the $26 million that Biden’s campaign raised recently at a gathering with former Presidents Clinton and Obama at Radio City Music Hall. “This has been some incredible evening before it even starts because people—they wanted to contribute to a cause of making America great again, and that’s what’s happened,” Trump said to reporters as he arrived with wife Melania.

The event, billed as the “Inaugural Leadership Dinner,” sends a signal of a resurgence of Trump and the Republican Party’s fundraising, which has lagged behind Biden. Trump and the GOP announced earlier in the week that they raised more than $65.6 million in March and closed out the month with $93.1 million. Biden and the Democrats announced Saturday that they took in more than $90 million last month and had $192 million-plus on hand. Trump initially struggled to attract big donors in particular when he launched his campaign and some lined up to support the other Republicans in the primary. But as Trump racked up easy wins and became the party’s presumptive nominee, the GOP has solidified behind him.

Saturday’s high-dollar event hosted about 100 guests, including more than a few billionaires. Contributions to the event will go toward the Trump 47 Committee, a joint fundraising agreement with the Republican National Committee, state Republican parties, and Save America, a PAC that pays the bulk of Trump’s legal bills. In an unusual arrangement, the fundraising agreement directs donations to first pay the maximum allowed under law to his campaign and Save America before the RNC or state parties get a cut.

It is a shame that these high dollar slugs will not use their extra cash to help the nation’s struggling population.

So after these begging session for money nothing will change and we will get the same crap that we have been plagued with of decades.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–01Aug22

We all know that Trump is a pain in the ass of American society and then there are his cronies in Congress……the very voices of the Trump insurrection. Ever wonder just who is funding these toads and destroyers of the republic we say we love?

If you have ever wondered then the old Professor can help you understand.

In the month of June, as the House January 6 committee revealed alarming new details on former President Donald Trump’s coup attempt, corporate trade groups and Fortune 500 companies donated more than $819,000 to the Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.

That’s according to a new analysis provided to Common Dreams by the watchdog organization Accountable.US, which has been tracking corporate contributions to the so-called “Sedition Caucus”—the group of 147 Republican lawmakers who, just hours after the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, voted to overturn the 2020 election in an attempt to help Trump maintain his grip on power.

Accountable.US shows that since January 6, 2021, corporate trade organizations and the political action committees of top individual companies have donated a total of $21.5 million to Sedition Caucus members including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Those three lawmakers are among the 23 GOP members of Congress set to join Trump this week at the America First Policy Institute Agenda Summit, an event led by a think tank aligned with the former president. Trump is slated Tuesday to deliver the keynote address at the Washington, D.C. summit, which has been billed as an effort to outline a right-wing agenda as the former president gears up for another run.

McCarthy and Scalise have been the top recipients of corporate donations since January 2021, bringing in $701,000 and $617,500 respectively from corporate interests, some of which made a show of condemning the January 6 attack and voicing support for the democratic process.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/07/26/corporate-interests-have-given-215-million-gop-sedition-caucus-jan-6-attack

I read the list and will not use any product or service that these traitorous companies offer…..I may a small voice and may not make much difference but I will not let my money be part of the crap that Trump and his slugs spread.

You do what you think is right….just remember your country deserves better from its elected officials and the companies that depend on the nation for their protection.

If you are interested in where and who donates to Congresws then I have a site for you…..

Shedding light on the Fortune 500 corporations and big corporate lobbyists funding the 2020 Election objectors since January 2021—including those that broke their promises not to donate to their campaigns.

https://accountable.us/projects/corporate-donations-tracker/

The choice is yours.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–08Jun21

JP Morgan has the right idea!

I seldom say much good about corporations but JP Morgan has made an announcement that I can agree with fully.

JPMorgan Chase will restart its political donations but will not give to Republican members of congress who objected to certifying the Electoral College victory of President-elect Biden, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters.

Why it matters: 147 congressional Republicans, the majority of whom hold seats in the House, objected to state election results over baseless claims of widespread election fraud fueled by former President Trump.

Context: JPMorgan, the country’s largest lender, was among several big businesses that paused their political contributions following the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol as Congress voted to certify the election.

  • The bank said it will resume its contributions through its political action committee this month.
  • The big picture: JPMorgan plans to update its giving strategy by focusing on lawmakers who oversee financial matters that the bank considers “moral and economic imperatives for our country,” including addressing the racial wealth gap, education and criminal justice reform, according to Reuters.

https://www.axios.com/jpmorgan-gop-donations-election-certification-615c6c44-07bb-40d2-8ae1-1d1ba3afe939.html

Corporations played a major role in the Civil Rights passage….they should do so again.

They want to be ‘citizens’ of this nation then they need to step up and do the hard work to save our fragile republic.

JP Morgan has the right idea but how long will they beat this drum?

My guess is not long at all.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Big Tech For Voter Suppression

Do you use Facebook?

We all use Google.

What do you think of all the voter suppression in many states?

How does all these questions relate?

In the first quarter of 2021, Facebook, Google, and several other major American companies donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Republican political group that advocates for voter suppression laws around the United States.

Facebook donated $50,000, and Google donated $20,000, according to a new report from Popular Information, alongside a $50,000 donation from AT&T and $100,000+ donations from two major pharmaceutical companies: Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca.

The organization that received those donations — the Republican State Leadership Committee — describes itself as, “the largest national organization focused on electing Republicans to state offices in every corner of the nation.”

The RSLC supports Republican candidates that have supported voter suppression laws, and itself advocates for said laws.

https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-google-donated-tens-of-thousands-to-republicans-this-year-2021-4

So the very sites that you use to stay in touch and/or get information have spent time and money helping these voter suppression laws by Repubs get passed.

Then there is AstraZeneca…the vaccine hero for the pandemic…….helping save lives all the while working to help suppress the vote….a perfect example of the slim in corporate world.

Facebook and the others were not alone….

Since 2015, AT&T, Comcast, UnitedHealth Group, Walmart, and other big businesses have donated a combined $50 million to state Republican lawmakers who are currently supporting voter suppression bills across the United States—generous political spending at odds with recent corporate efforts to rebrand as defenders of voting rights.

A new report (pdf) released Monday morning by consumer advocacy group Public Citizen found that during the 2020 election cycle alone, U.S. corporations donated $22 million to Republican architects of voter suppression bills that are advancing through state legislatures nationwide.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/04/05/follow-money-corporations-gave-50-million-gop-lawmakers-behind-voter-suppression

Read the pdf and weep for our nation.

You still think these sites are indispensable to your life?

Maybe it is time to stop letting these corporate slugs run and ruin your life.

Thoughts?

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–15Mar21

No secret that I am a dog person……some of my best friends have been canine…..I try to support the local humane society…I seldom donate to a national organization simply because I do not trust them to use my donation wisely….I have read horror stories that tell of about 70% of donation go to admin salaries and such….they get nothing from me….nothing at all!

What prompted me to write this post was something I read about a Dog Rescue Charity…..seems this one is funneling money to Donald the Orange……

A dog rescue charity with links to Lara Trump has spent as much as $1.9 million at former President Donald Trump’s properties over the last seven years and will drop an additional quarter-million at his Mar-a-Lago country club this weekend.

According to a permit filed with the town of Palm Beach, Florida, Big Dog Ranch Rescue estimates it will spend $225,000 at the club where Donald Trump has taken up full-time residence since leaving the White House. All the profit from that spending winds up in his pocket.

Internal Revenue Service filings show that the group has spent as much as $1,883,160 on fundraising costs at Mar-a-Lago and Trump’s golf course 18 miles north in Jupiter starting in 2014. Lara Trump, the wife of Eric Trump, started being listed as a chairwoman for charity events in 2018, and the group’s president, Lauren Simmons, visited the White House in 2019 for the signing of a bill addressing animal cruelty.

https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/lara-trump-mar-a-lago-dog-rescue-charity-232906971.html

Now you see why I do not trust most so-called charities….

This is pathetic that people would support a charity that profits a person not the animal that it was chartered to do.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Look Before You Give

By now the whole world has seen the horrific photos of the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey….

The donations are poring in…..my neighborhood, which was hit hard by Katrina, has started clothing drives, food drives……all Americans need to pull together and help where they can.

Most people are donating money to the various charities that work during the disaster after math……but you need to be careful with these also….I wrote about the trouble the the American Red Cross is having……

Source: Closing Thought–30Aug17 – In Saner Thought

My family donates to the Salvation Army and the SPCA……

After the disaster in Haiti years ago the Red Cross got a bit of a bad name……some felt that it was undeserved criticism…..but after I watched an interview with a leader of the ARC I am not so sure……

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, many have criticized the American Red Cross, with Facebook and others even directing those who want to help to donate to a different charity. The criticism isn’t new: As NPR notes, there have long been reports that ARC misstates how donor dollars are used, or uses a significant percentage of that money on internal expenses. NPR’s Morning Edition host addressed those criticisms Thursday with Red Cross VP Brad Kieserman, but Kieserman couldn’t say what percentage of donations will go toward Harvey relief. “I don’t think I know the answer to that any better than the chief fundraiser knows … how many emergency response vehicles I have on the road today. So I think if he [were] on this interview and you were asking how many relief vehicles in Texas, I don’t think he’d know the answer and I don’t know the answer to the financial question, I’m afraid.”

Questions on high administrative costs reported on in the past led to a similar answer: “It’s not something I would have any visibility on. I can talk about what it costs to deliver certain relief services.” He continued to say that, no, he “really” doesn’t know what portion of donations goes to relief, though he did say that as of Wednesday morning the ARC had spent $50 million on Harvey relief. “We are committed … to using our resources and donor dollars in a way that best helps the people of Texas,” he said. “The folks I work for are very, very attentive to cost effectiveness and cost efficiencies in making sure that as much as every dollar that we spend on an operation is client-facing.” The organization’s president and CEO, Gail McGovern, was on CBS News Thursday defending the ARC, and she said that on average, 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends goes toward its services for victims.

Do your research before you throw your money at these people……but do not get discouraged……Harvey victims are in dire need of your help.

Please do what you can.