Harris/Walz just got a shot of cash… fifty million dollars worth!
Bill Gates Makes Unprecedented $50 Million Pledge to Back Kamala Harris: ‘This Election Is Different’The billionaire Microsoft co-founder notes that to this point, he has “a long history of working with leaders across the political spectrum”The WrapBy Sharon KnolleOctober 22, 2024Bill Gates has donated $50 million to Kamala Harris’ campaign, a political backing that was originally intended to be private.The Microsoft founder confirmed the donation to The New York Times on Tuesday, saying “this election is different,” although he is still not endorsing Harris publicly.“I support candidates who demonstrate a clear commitment to improving health care, reducing poverty and fighting climate change in the U.S. and around the world,” he said in a statement. “I have a long history of working with leaders across the political spectrum, but this election is different, with unprecedented significance for Americans and the most vulnerable people around the world.”[…]Conservative politicians Gates has previously backed include Alaskan Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s Denali Leadership PAC and Arizona’s Charles Horne, according to OpenSecrets. But in the last two years, he has primarily donated to Democrats, including Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker.
But the Republicans have their hand out also to there billionaire friends…
The richest Americans have so far given more to Trump than to Harris in the 2024 presidential election campaign.BloombergBy Kristine Owram and Bill AllisonSeptember 10, 2024As Election Day approaches, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will be judged on their personality, policies and experience.Money is needed to get that message out to voters. And while both campaigns have raised millions from small donors and billionaires, it’s the latter whose power and influence can have an outsized impact on any potential administration.We compiled a list of the richest Americans who’ve supported one of the presidential candidates, either in word or in deed.Using Federal Election Commission data as of September, we looked at members of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index who’ve donated to the Harris or Trump campaigns (our methodology is explained at the bottom of this story). We also added high-profile members of the index like Elon Musk and Bill Ackman who don’t show up in the FEC data but have endorsed one of the candidates.Among the ultra-rich, Trump comes out on top. The former president has gotten at least $34.4 million from 14 members of the wealth list. Harris’ campaign, meanwhile, has received at least $16.8 million from 21 people, including those who donated to Biden’s campaign before he stepped down. Those contributions were rolled over to her when she became the candidate.
We have the best government money can buy!
All hail the Supreme Court in their infinite wisdom! Citizens United v. FEC in 2010 opened the flood gates of PACs! The Brennan Center for Justice write,
The 2010 Supreme Court decision further tilted political influence toward wealthy donors and corporations.By Tim LauDecember 12, 2019January 21, 2020 will mark a decade since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a controversial decision that reversed century-old campaign finance restrictions and enabled corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited funds on elections.While wealthy donors, corporations, and special interest groups have long had an outsized influence in elections, that sway has dramatically expanded since the Citizens United decision, with negative repercussions for American democracy and the fight against political corruption.
The ruling sided with Citizens United it said that corporations and other outside groups can spend unlimited money on elections.
What was the rationale for the ruling?In the court’s opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that limiting “independent political spending” from corporations and other groups violates the First Amendment right to free speech. The justices who voted with the majority assumed that independent spending cannot be corrupt and that the spending would be transparent, but both assumptions have proven to be incorrect.With its decision, the Supreme Court overturned election spending restrictions that date back more than 100 years. Previously, the court had upheld certain spending restrictions, arguing that the government had a role in preventing corruption. But in Citizens United, a bare majority of the justices held that “independent political spending” did not present a substantive threat of corruption, provided it was not coordinated with a candidate’s campaign.
And the cash poured in! As per the FEC… As of June 30, 2024, political action committees (PACs) have spent approximately $6 billion in the 2023-2024 election cycle
You saw that right… $6,000,000,000!
Now tell me who do you think the politicians will listen to? You who donated a $5, $10, or $100, or the billionaire who donated $5,000,00, $10,000,00 or $50,000,000? Do you remember back in the spring that...
“This is a scandal” and “an indictment of the system” — but probably legal, one legal watchdog told POLITICO.By Ben LefebvreMay 9, 2024Former President Donald Trump asked oil industry executives last month to donate $1 billion to aid his campaign to retake the White House, three people familiar with the conversation told POLITICO — a request that campaign finance experts said appeared troubling but is probably legal.The request, first reported Thursday by The Washington Post, occurred during a meeting of industry executives at the former president’s home in Palm Beach, Florida.[…]At the very least, the $1 billion ask points to problems with laws governing money in politics, said Erin Chlopak, senior campaign finance director at the watchdog group Campaign Legal Center.“At a high level, it perfectly captures so much of what’s wrong with our big money campaign finance system,” said Chlopak, who was a senior lawyer at the Federal Elections Commission, which monitors campaign contributions and spending.[…]Trump’s request is “shocking,” but it would almost certainly not break the law, said Meredith McGehee, an independent expert on government ethics and campaign finance. Unless Trump wrote on a napkin during the meeting an exact amount of money he wanted deposited in a specific campaign vehicle in exchange for a specific policy goal, there’s little chance it would violate bribery laws as currently interpreted by the Supreme Court, McGehee said.
In anything else, this would have been called a “shakedown!”
For the People Act (H.R. 1), Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act (DISCLOSE Act), and the Democracy for All Amendment were all introduced by Democrats to curb the money pouring into campaigns and all shot down by Republicans!
Vote Blue to bring back integrity, vote Blue to stop the lying, vote Blue to stop the assaults on minorities.
Vote “Yes” on the Connecticut ballot question for mail in voting for all, don’t believe the Republican “Big lie” about election fraud!
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