The funny thing about liberal billionaires
First of all : Who calls a political action committee "America Coming Together"? It sounds like Babes in Toyland event funded by Hugh Hefner, not a GOTV initiative started by George Soros.
Second, let's look at the numbers : The Federal Elections Commission fines ACT more than half a billion dollars ($775,000 to be exact) because said PAC raised some of its whopping $137MM " outside federal limits and source prohibitions to pay for expenses that should have been paid with funds raised within the federal contribution limits and prohibitions."
What does this verbiarge mean? ACT spent $137MM to pay people to do voter canvassing door to door, with direct mail and telemarketing and urge them to vote against Bush and/or progressive candidates.
That's $137MM.
Pre-blogs.
Did they liquidate the PAC because it didn't work or did they fold because they found cheaper ways to influence politics?
When I hear of money thrown into politics like this, I just want to scream. It corrupts the process, no matter the good intentions.
When you throw around $137MM only for elections, you're not supporting democracy. You are supporting a whole political class that has a vested interested in having things remain the same election after election.
And that's part of the problem.
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Finance Campaign Reform | GOTV | Influence Peddling | American Coming Together | Elections | George Soros
I gave at (not the office) the IRS because I worked
Submitted by Margaret Bassett on 30 August 2007 - 10:23pm.
It isn't necessary to tote that bale and shove that bar to be called a working person. All who put out effort and receive compensation are workers of some kind. If the paycheck was recorded we paid on April 15. So I agree, we shouldn't have to pay for government when we already have.
Just who is the investor class? Is it someone with a 401K who scrimped on vacations to put it there? Or those who knew how to raid the market by some "derivative" plan or other?
If we believe in fair elections, perhaps we will need to think much more carefully about giving money to candidates, even when the pennies are chicken feed. Is it possible to train candidates into thinking that they are worth more than their advertising budget? I don't know if that's possible, but I do know that if we resist making the highrollers feel like super patriots, it would help.
comments
i have two questions, How much exactly is an MM, and then what again is a billion dollars divided by two?