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Kochs Plan to Spend $900 Million on 2016 Campaign

TurtleDude said:
better them than foreign scumbags like Soros or the left-wing MSNM
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The myth of the MSNM has got be one of the dumbest myths invented by the right-wing...sorry but only the biggest fools buy into that one.
 
tres borrachos said:
Great. If there is tons of evidence of their money forcing a politician to cast a vote on legislation in a way that he wouldn't have voted without their influence, then it should be easy for you to post tons of links showing that.
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OK, so you're saying the Koch brothers and all the rest of the big donors, such as the FIRE sector which alone donated nearly $500 million to candidates in an off year, and the firms who spent about $3 billion in lobbying last year, in D.C. alone, are stupid and wasted all that money. Good point!
 
Unrepresented said:
Citation needed.

I would want campaign contributions to be aimed at candidates who support workers if the contributions were being made by an organization formed of and for workers.

That's generally a position held by democrats.
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When I was having dues taken from me and donated to Democrat reelection funds I wasn't naive enough to think that my rights as a worker were being protected.

I saw the corruption and the destructive nature of organizations that had gone unchecked for decades.

Who cared about their own survival than the workers they claimed to represent.

My dues were going to a organization that was losing influence because they refused to change with the times. Because they refused to adapt to a changing dynamic that they had no control over.

They were ideologues blinded by decades old pro-Union cliches who claimed that taking from the worker and driving out industries was the only way to save the worker.

And I hated it. What a waste of good money.
 
Jack Hays said:
Interested parties have "been in the room" while legislation was negotiated since our Republic was founded.
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Perhaps you are comfortable of living in an oligarch, but I am not. Our politicians are supposed to represent us. That's why we vote for them in the first place. When only lobbyists are in the room and they are paying DC politicians 900 million dollars, then NOBODY in that closed room represents us or our interests during the negotiations.
 
The Koch Brothers aren't all powerful as they appear to be. If I had that much money, I'd be doing the same thing and doing it better than they do. They frequently get on the wrong sides of issues, and they lose elections by backing more hard right conservatives instead of other what is considered "establishment types."

I've always said, if they are so powerful. Why is Obama President? Why is he President from 2012 on? Let them spend their money. That's what Dems want right? You gotta spend money to keep the economy going. Right?
 
SheWolf said:
Perhaps you are comfortable of living in an oligarch, but I am not. Our politicians are supposed to represent us. That's why we vote for them in the first place. When only lobbyists are in the room and they are paying DC politicians 900 million dollars, then NOBODY in that closed room represents us or our interests during the negotiations.
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The great interests compete, so it's not like they all want the same thing. In the space created by their conflicts our interests are reasonably well taken care of.
 
Jack Hays said:
The great interests compete, so it's not like they all want the same thing. In the space created by their conflicts our interests are reasonably well taken care of.
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That is not only extremely naive, it's blatantly false. Our interests were not addressed when the housing bubble was growing, when it exploded, when the lobbyist and their firms were bailed out, nor were our interests addressed or met during the recovery, or even now. The same people continue to run The Fed. Next financial melt down they will run back to DC with their hands ready for their bailouts.
 
ModerateGOP said:
The Koch Brothers aren't all powerful as they appear to be. If I had that much money, I'd be doing the same thing and doing it better than they do. They frequently get on the wrong sides of issues, and they lose elections by backing more hard right conservatives instead of other what is considered "establishment types."

I've always said, if they are so powerful. Why is Obama President? Why is he President from 2012 on? Let them spend their money. That's what Dems want right? You gotta spend money to keep the economy going. Right?
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I think it's a stupid investment. Spending 900 million will not guarantee a win. It could be better spent actually helping the community. It's insane how much money people spend on campaigning. Sheldon Adelson blew over 100 million on Newt, and we will continue to see people throwing in billions.

You think these people would wise up eventually, but maybe they have too much money to care... :shrug:
 
SheWolf said:
That is not only extremely naive, it's blatantly false. Our interests were not addressed when the housing bubble was growing, when it exploded, when the lobbyist and their firms were bailed out, nor were our interests addressed or met during the recovery, or even now. The same people continue to run The Fed. Next financial melt down they will run back to DC with their hands ready for their bailouts.
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My interests were addressed just fine. Of course I had not over borrowed. When the bubble burst and interest rates fell I was able to refinance twice and now pay a historically low rate. I retired from one career in 2009 and took up another in 2010. Doing just fine. I don't see the problem.
 
Jack Hays said:
My interests were addressed just fine. Of course I had not over borrowed. When the bubble burst and interest rates fell I was able to refinance twice and now pay a historically low rate. I retired from one career in 2009 and took up another in 2010. Doing just fine. I don't see the problem.
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I didn't borrow any money, nor did I own a home. I was not direcetly impacted by the housing bubble, but I was impacted by the economic crash. It's difficult to believe that you were not, or that your investments didn't lose value, your job remained completely stable, etc., and if the economic crash was a walk in the park for you, then good for you. You should feel blessed. But if the irresponsibility, the bailouts, government's mishandling of the issue, and the growing power of lobbyist doesn't concern you, then you don't understand the world around you.
 
SheWolf said:
I didn't borrow any money, nor did I own a home. I was not direcetly impacted by the housing bubble, but I was impacted by the economic crash. It's difficult to believe that you were not, or that your investments didn't lose value, your job remained completely stable, etc., and if the economic crash was a walk in the park for you, then good for you. You should feel blessed. But if the irresponsibility, the bailouts, government's mishandling of the issue, and the growing power of lobbyist doesn't concern you, then you don't understand the world around you.
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It's just the ups and downs of entrepreneurial capitalism in a liberal democracy.
 
Jack Hays said:
It's just the ups and downs of entrepreneurial capitalism in a liberal democracy.
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That is not what capitalism is. :lamo

Capitalism is not about a select group of people financially influencing the government to write favorable legislation, and expecting taxpayers to payoff and subsidize all financial losses caused by their bad investments and business decisions.
 
JANFU said:
Kochs Plan to Spend $900 Million on 2016 Campaign
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Meanwhile George Soros has probably spent more than that for all kinds of pseudo-socialist issues. That's including bankrolling the Jerk-In-Chief's campaigns, various media smear campaigns, and just recently funding Ferguson rioters..err...protesters.

This is like someone whining about how much Microsoft is worth, while going out and buying an iPhone every year.
 
Velvet Elvis said:
Meanwhile George Soros has probably spent more than that for all kinds of pseudo-socialist issues. That's including bankrolling the Jerk-In-Chief's campaigns, various media smear campaigns, and just recently funding Ferguson rioters..err...protesters.

This is like someone whining about how much Microsoft is worth, while going out and buying an iPhone every year.
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Got a link for that?
 
Fenton said:
When I was having dues taken from me and donated to Democrat reelection funds I wasn't naive enough to think that my rights as a worker were being protected.

I saw the corruption and the destructive nature of organizations that had gone unchecked for decades.

Who cared about their own survival than the workers they claimed to represent.

My dues were going to a organization that was losing influence because they refused to change with the times. Because they refused to adapt to a changing dynamic that they had no control over.

They were ideologues blinded by decades old pro-Union cliches who claimed that taking from the worker and driving out industries was the only way to save the worker.

And I hated it. What a waste of good money.
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Charles-Koch_minimum-wage.jpg


Tell me more about how this man is protecting workers' rights.
 
vesper said:
Good for the Koch brothers! That 900 million might make up for all the funding from the AFL-CIO, ActBlue, American Fed of State Employees Union, American Federation of Teachers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, National Education Association, United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Laborers Union, .....
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1. With some exceptions (ie. Soros) money from the left comes from organizations representing thousands of people who made modest donations, not just a handful of extremely rich people. Labor unions represent 14.6 working Americans.

2. Most of the causes championed by the left do not financially benefit a small number of people. Most of the causes championed by the right do financially benefit only a small number of people who are already rich and powerful.
 
Velvet Elvis said:
Meanwhile George Soros has probably spent more than that for all kinds of pseudo-socialist issues. That's including bankrolling the Jerk-In-Chief's campaigns, various media smear campaigns, and just recently funding Ferguson rioters..err...protesters.

This is like someone whining about how much Microsoft is worth, while going out and buying an iPhone every year.
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I'm pretty sure Soros hasn't spent more than 900 million.

BTW, iPhones have nothing to do with Microsoft. If you hated Microsoft, buying an iPhone would just show that even more.
 
vesper said:
Good for the Koch brothers! That 900 million might make up for all the funding from the AFL-CIO, ActBlue, American Fed of State Employees Union, American Federation of Teachers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, National Education Association, United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Laborers Union, American Association for Justice, Communication Workers of America, Teamsters Union, United Auto Workers, Communication Workers of America, Plumbers and Pipefitters Union, Newsweb Corp, Emily's List, Sheet Metals Workers Union, National Beer Wholesalers Association, Operating Engineers Union, United Steel Workers, International Association of Fire Workers, Time Warner, Iron Workers Union, Airline Pilots Association, National Air Traffic Controllers Association, American Postal Union, United Transportation Union, University of California, Walt Disney Co., Human Rights Campaign, Saban Capital Group, Skadden Arps Et Al, Seafarers International Union, National Cmte to Preserve Social Security & Medicare, Harvard University, National Rural Letter Carriers Assn , National Cmte for an Effective Congress the Democratic party enjoys.

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php
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Ah, so money is only bad when Democrats spend it. Gotcha.
 
vesper said:
If you add up all the web of organizations that he funnels his money through it would be interesting to see a total. But one thing for sure is there isn't a Democrat in office that hasn't benefited from Soros' deep pockets.

While it is being reported that Koch brothers are going to spend 900 million on this next campaign, how much will Soros and all his 527 groups cough up is still to be revealed. And another thing to remember is the Koch brothers have heavily donated to certain Democrats in the past like Mario Cuomo. Soros doesn't have that kind of record. So this whole thread is based on jive time nickel dime Bull S***.
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Claiming that Soros spends as much as the Kochs is not a good argument against doing something about the disproportionate amount of political influence the extremely rich can buy.
 
Fenton said:
When I was having dues taken from me and donated to Democrat reelection funds I wasn't naive enough to think that my rights as a worker were being protected.

I saw the corruption and the destructive nature of organizations that had gone unchecked for decades.

Who cared about their own survival than the workers they claimed to represent.

My dues were going to a organization that was losing influence because they refused to change with the times. Because they refused to adapt to a changing dynamic that they had no control over.

They were ideologues blinded by decades old pro-Union cliches who claimed that taking from the worker and driving out industries was the only way to save the worker.

And I hated it. What a waste of good money.
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Were you a shop steward? Did you raise the issue with other union members? Did you attend meetings? Vote? Run for office within the union? If not, you got the union you deserved.
 
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