Tag: PACs

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”

Toyota Shuts Down Donations

Toyota seems to be taking the protests against them for supporting the insurrection of 06 January….

Toyota has reversed itself and now says its political action committee will no longer contribute to the Republican legislators who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.

The move by the Japanese automaker comes after a social media backlash over the contributions, including threats to stop buying the company’s vehicles.

“We understand that the PAC decision to support select members of Congress who contested the results troubled some stakeholders,” Toyota said in a statement Thursday. “We are actively listening to our stakeholders, and at this time, have decided to stop contributing to those members of Congress who contested the certification of certain states in the 2020 election.”

Axios reported that Toyota led companies in donations to the 147 members of Congress who voted in January against certifying election results on the false grounds that the election was stolen from then-President Donald Trump.

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-government-and-politics-elections-election-2020-a89989327a96ecc72b4fb808747a3aed

I say well done!

On the other hand is this a serious move or is it just a way to quell some of the blowback from their buying of political figures?

How many other corporations will follow suit?

So far I have heard nothing but crickets from others….

Time to eliminate the cash from corporations to buy individual representatives.

If we want to eliminate corruption at the highest levels then eliminate the cash flow.

I wrote about this earlier…..https://lobotero.com/2021/06/16/do-you-want-to-stop-the-bs-in-government/

Why bother…..as long as the profit rolls in and the politicians are owned it matters not what the people of this country want.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Can We ‘Move On’?

This is the desire of some when talking about the events of 06 January……especially those that either participated or helped fund the insurrection.

I especially like the statement by yet another moron in the GOP when he said that the insurrectionists were just a group of tourists visiting the Capital……

To that desire I say ‘bite me’.

They, insurrectionists, are traitors and anyone that defend this action is one as well.

No true American should never move on from this assault on our nation….would they have the country ‘move on’ from the events of 9/11?

A recent webinar of business PACs want to put this behind them and move ‘forward’…..

Following the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, dozens of corporations announced they were suspending PAC donations to the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the election. Many more announced they were suspending all PAC activity. For the National Association of Business PACs (NABPAC), the trade association for corporate PACs, this is a problem. 

Emails, video, and other internal documents obtained by Popular Information reveal how NABPAC has been encouraging its membership, which includes more than 250 corporate PACs, to “move beyond” January 6 and resume their political contributions.

On March 2, NABPAC hosted a webinar called “Where Do We Go From Here.” The event featured Michael DuHaime, a prominent Republican operative and crisis communications consultant. During the event, DuHaime and others provided strategic and messaging advice about how to restart political donations — including donations to the 147 Republicans who voted not to certify the Electoral College results based on Trump’s lies. 

The event was attended by about 80 representatives of corporate PACs, including major companies like Delta, Dow, Altria, Northrup Grumman, New York Life, Lincoln Financial, and Boston Scientific. NABPAC board members include representatives from Microsoft, Kraft Heinz, Eli Lilly, Home Depot, and Cigna. 

https://popular.info/p/exclusive-how-corporate-pacs-are

These PACs funded Donald Trump and the fools inn the GOP that made this insurrection possible and now they want us to overlook that and go back to business as usual.

Why do I say that corporations are just as guilty as the insurrectionists?

There’s been a lot of talk lately about fascism, generally in the context of Republicans denying people their right to vote or Donald Trump sending an armed mob to murder five people at the U.S. Capitol to try to install him as America’s first strongman dictator.

Indeed, authoritarian governance is a major aspect of fascism. But there’s another piece to the puzzle, and it is playing out right now across America, and getting almost no coverage whatsoever.

It’s when giant corporations are able to control government and thus stop things like a national healthcare system, rational gun control laws, free college, or even the tiniest tax on carbon. When they’re able to push through “criminal justice reform” that makes it nearly impossible to prosecute corporate CEOs when their companies kill workers, consumers, or even poison entire communities.

It’s when they don’t do it through presenting strong and defendable ideas in the public realm and before Congress, but by pouring cash into the pockets of individual politicians and their parties.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/05/08/corporate-america-has-been-shoving-fascism-down-our-throats-decades

Move on?  Again to that I say….’bite me’!

We should never forgive or forget

But sadly money talks and they will spend what it takes to make the American people forget their part in the insurrection.

This blog will never forget….and I will keep writing about the traitors that were part of this assault….whether physically there or behind the scenes financing the events.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–08Aug17

Agents Of A Foreign Power

We have heard all the mash up about this person or that that has been working as an agent of a foreign country……and how they failed to register as an agent or they forgot some vital information when filling out their security forms…..

To me there are some PACs that need to register……a group like the pro-Israel AIPAC…..is the first to come to mind.

Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a meeting ostensibly convened to discuss the failure to enforce the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (FARA). Originally rescheduled for this week, the postponed meeting would have featured Donald Trump Jr. and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort testifying about their controversial Trump Tower meeting, but their subpoenas were canceled at the last minute after they arranged to turn over documents. The June 2016 meeting under investigation included Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin, publicist Rob Goldstone, businessman Ike Kaveladze, and translator Anatoli Samochornov. Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner was also in attendance, apparently only briefly.

The Judiciary Committee hearing was originally set up to look at the possible Russian links of former journalist and head of the research firm Fusion GPS Glenn Simpson, who was behind the infamous Trump dossier that appeared in January. Yet in reality it is part of the broader effort to determine whether Moscow interfered in the 2016 election on behalf of the Donald Trump campaign.

Source: Should AIPAC Register as a Foreign Agent? | The American Conservative

Yes they should register as the agent of a foreign government especially since they have so much influence over Congress and presidents.

I think anyone or any group that takes money to influence or country should be on record as a foreign “agent”……matters not your station in life.

Time to bow out…..hope everyone has a good afternoon and a better evening and I will see you guys tomorrow….chuq

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.

Upset Republican donors: Have we wasted our money?

Think about the 2016 election and all the cash that donors have thrown at the various GOP candidates….and boy is it a lot of cash…..

But what have they got for their huge investment?  Jeb is losing ground with every dollar he spends.  Rubio is just too pretty and not so perfect.  Paul is a resounding failure as a GOP candidate.  Christie is still there with mouth in overdrive but cannot find the go button.

What has all that cash done for them….it has given them Trump…..the one candidate that they ignored until it was too late.

What can these PACs do salvage their investments and investors in this election cycle?

They say they’re starting to look for ways to make super-PACs more effective.

Source: Upset Republican donors: Have we wasted our money? | TheHill

Good luck to them….they had better find a solution to their campaign impotency…….3 weeks before the first starting pistol and then it may be too late……There is one thing they can see for sure this election…….so far it is NOT money well spent.

The oligarchs’ election – World Socialist Web Site

Today I will focus my attention and posts on politics……

2016 will most likely be the most expensive election ever……Citizens United has turned the American political system into spending frenzy of the wealthy…..all vying for control of a candidate which in turn will give them control of the government and the country…..

The decision by SCOTUS has taken the election of a president out of the hands of the people…….thus democracy is slowly dying…….

 

The oligarchs’ election – World Socialist Web Site.

Chris Christie: LMFAO

There some stories that are too amusing to pass on…..Chris Christie has started a PAC……presumably to explore the viability of his presidential campaign……

Earlier in the week, Chris Christie announced the formation of the political action committee Leadership Matters for America, located online at LeadershipMattersForAmerica.Org.

Catch anything interesting about that acronym?

Chris Christie’s PAC is http://t.co/4FE5NPxWKL — or LMFAO, in acronym form.

— Ilan Ben-Meir (@ilanagain) January 28, 2015

#YouHadOneJob RT @ilanagain Chris Christie’s PAC is http://t.co/yp2GrdBsbH — or LMFAO, in acronym form.

— Alheli Picazo (@a_picazo) January 29, 2015

Ha!

I may not be the first to notice – but someone in Christie world should have: Christie’s PAC http://t.co/GLkeO7hNgw Or LMFAO

— Brad Woodhouse (@woodhouseb) January 29, 2015

 

What can I say?  Kinda ironic…….whatcha think?

Speaking Of Corruption

And that darn pesky Citizens United……….

As I commented….”corruption is corruption, it is not open to gradation”…….we may call it whatever we like but politicians getting money and freebies from PACs is a form of bribery….we can pretend that it is anything but corruption…but if it smells like manure and looks like manure…it is most likely MANURE!

All us dedicated politicos have an opinion on the SCOTUS ruling for “Citizens United”…..basically it legally allows the buying of elections….just as certain as gerrymandering picks the candidates voter…..

There is a law that prohibits law makers from taking gifts and such from lobbyists…just ask Virginia’s governor (he and wife have been charged with illegal gifts)  and attorney general…….but just like ALL laws made by lawyers there is a way around the law…..for instance…….

In 2007, Congress passed measures largely barring lavish lobbyist-funded trips and gatherings. But what the New York Times calls “destination fundraisers” haven’t stopped, and, indirectly, they’re still funded by the lobbyists, who schmooze with lawmakers in places like Napa Valley, Las Vegas, and Bermuda. The money for the trips technically comes from lawmakers’ PACs: The lawmakers sponsor the jaunts and their PACs see donations of $1,000 to $5,000 from the donors and lobbyists who attend; the lobbyists foot their own plane and hotel bill, too. “An informal setting is an effective way to build a better relationship,” says a lobbyist. “It’s a way to get some large chunks of a lawmaker’s time.” Many lawmakers maintain they’re a great way to raise funds and say they bring in tens of thousands after expenses; those on both sides of the aisle hold such events. Among the Times‘ past and future examples are Maryland’s Steny Hoyer (Ritz-Carlton’s Dorado Beach hotel in Puerto Rico), Michigan’s John Conyers (Grammy Awards-tied event at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills), Missouri’s Ann Wagner (“Spa Weekend” in Vegas), Minnesota’s Collin Peterson (quail hunting in Georgia), and lots and lots of ski trips (see: Kelly Ayotte, Park City, Utah). At one recent two-day event in Vail, lobbyists got nearly six hours with Kentucky’s Edward Whitfield and other co-sponsors, the Times notes, “time that would be all but impossible to arrange in Washington.”

Bribery is bribery and it is also not open to gradation…….politics has become a wealth generating device and has stopped being how the nation is run…..