Plutocrats and the 2016 Campaign

[Neutron Monster]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/jeb-bush-super-pac-rakes-in-cash-from-billionaires-1438372919

 

[vbsideout]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/jeb-bush-super-pac-rakes-in-cash-from-billionaires-1438372919

Home of the brave land of the rich!!!!

 

[Neutron Monster]

Times had a big story on this today - 400 people have donated half of all the money that has been donated so far this campaign season.

 

[millerbleach]

Everything you guys hate about politicians seems to be something Cruz isn't a part of. He's had more hard money contributions than anyone.
Where does Hillary rate next to Jeb?

 

[vbsideout]

I have always called our government legalized Mafia and it has gotten worst since citizen united

 

[Neutron Monster]

Everything you guys hate about politicians seems to be something Cruz isn't a part of. He's had more hard money contributions than anyone.
Where does Hillary rate next to Jeb?

I mean, you could try to read the article or similar articles before posting.

Looking at the campaigns only and not super pacs leads to misguided conclusions like this. Cruz has multiple donors who have each funded 10 M+ to a super PAC for him. One of those donors is a shale gas billionaire family. That is the definition of a plutocrat. There is a U.S. News article about this if you want to look up a source. There are countless other sources that have covered the names of major super pac donors since they are required to disclose donors of $200 or more.

Further, there is a republican who is nearly entirely funded by small donors: Rand Paul. He has a couple libertarian donors but nothing similar to the scale of other major candidates. And trump is self funding.

 

[millerbleach]

I mean, you could try to read the article or similar articles before posting.

Looking at the campaigns only and not super pacs leads to misguided conclusions like this. Cruz has multiple donors who have each funded 10 M+ to a super PAC for him. One of those donors is a shale gas billionaire family. That is the definition of a plutocrat. There is a U.S. News article about this if you want to look up a source. There are countless other sources that have covered the names of major super pac donors since they are required to disclose donors of $200 or more.

Further, there is a republican who is nearly entirely funded by small donors: Rand Paul. He has a couple libertarian donors but nothing similar to the scale of other major candidates. And trump is self funding.

If I ran, I can assure you there would be nothing but small donations. That would not mean I was a good choice. Having ONLY small donations isn't necassarily a good thing. I never said Cruz didn't have any large contributors. He has MORE small donors than anyone. That is something you libs seem to value.

 

[Neutron Monster]

What I value is immaterial. I just think it's bad for America that you have no chance to run a real presidential campaign without raising tens or hundreds of millions from really rich people.

Hell, you need millions to even run for congress now.

 

[millerbleach]

What I value is immaterial. I just think it's bad for America that you have no chance to run a real presidential campaign without raising tens or hundreds of millions from really rich people.

Hell, you need millions to even run for congress now.

I've never said it was good. If you want to limit how much total someone can recieve, fine, but don't do it through limits on individuals. If I can get a single donor to back me, why is that a problem? Ultimately I have to get people to select me.

 

[Neutron Monster]

Because you belong to that person or corporation when there is unlimited giving.

The way it works right now, there's no way you can win a competitive office without being a gazillionaire yourself or without the help of them. That's a major problem - it means the political system is set up to support the whims of rich people on both sides.

Look at Gingrich in 2012 - his campaign existed because of Sheldon Adelson. That's silly.

 

[Neutron Monster]

Because you belong to that person or corporation when there is unlimited giving.

The way it works right now, there's no way you can win a competitive office without being a gazillionaire yourself or without the help of them. That's a major problem - it means the political system is set up to support the whims of rich people on both sides.

Look at Gingrich in 2012 - his campaign existed because of Sheldon Adelson. That's silly.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/new-gingrich-questions-legality-jeb-bush-super-pac-120954.html too good not to share, read this right after I posted.

Does Gingrich have long-term memory loss? http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75418.html

 

[millerbleach]

Because you belong to that person or corporation when there is unlimited giving.

The way it works right now, there's no way you can win a competitive office without being a gazillionaire yourself or without the help of them. That's a major problem - it means the political system is set up to support the whims of rich people on both sides.

Look at Gingrich in 2012 - his campaign existed because of Sheldon Adelson. That's silly.

And Gingrich couldn't get people to vote for him no matter how much Adelson "owned him"! It may take money (cap how much you can raise if you want) but votes are won not bought or Romney and Clinton would have faced off.

 

[Neutron Monster]

Romney and Clinton might have some different political positions if they didn't need to raise a few billion to run. That's a problem.