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Rosie O’Donnell offered $2 million in cash to senators willing to vote against tax reform

Lovebug said:
Donations are a form of bribery, so is voting for the person whom you think does your bidding. Both are legal within limits. Trying to buy a vote?
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What about the whole Koch network saying publicly they will revoke funding of the GOP if they do not pass tax cuts?

And everyone just sort of shrugged, and said, yep, we live in a corrupt world.

But, when it's celebrity hasbeen, everyone loses their hats?!

I have a problem with both, no one should be able to buy a politicians vote. They should be held accountable to their constituents, not someone with a fountain pen.
 
Winston said:
What about the whole Koch network saying publicly they will revoke funding of the GOP if they do not pass tax cuts?

And everyone just sort of shrugged, and said, yep, we live in a corrupt world.

But, when it's celebrity hasbeen, everyone loses their hats?!

I have a problem with both, no one should be able to buy a politicians vote. They should be held accountable to their constituents, not someone with a fountain pen.
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Did you see my ? ?
 
zimmer said:
Well... I looked for it in the NYT... nada... WaPo... has not come up with an answer. CNN... nada... other GIMPs (Goebbels Inspired Media Propagandists)... nada.

This would have been a great club to bash Republicans with... if true. Or?

Rosie McDonald’s effort was an overt bribe.

PS. Keep turning the pages, you seem to have a lot to learn.
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thank you. You have proven my claim about you.
 
zimmer said:
Businesses are owned and run by people. They do not have a right to spend their money as they see fit?

I suppose you would like to prohibit them advertising their wares too?

Why is it Leftists have such a fear of speech? Is it because when speech is free, they have difficulty spreading their lies?

Hillary Clinton’s accepting bribes at State doesn’t seem to bother Democrats much. I’d say Leftists have a moral crisis... because they don’t have much in the way of morals.
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If free speech=money that means that someone with more money than me has more free speech than me. Do you think that was the intention of freedom of speech?
 
danarhea said:
thank you. You have proven my claim about you.
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I looked on google.
Went to the news section, and founding only one made an assertion.
 
Winston said:
There is an equivalency between Rosie saying she will pay 2 million dollars for a 'no' vote and the Koch's saying they will withold billions unless they get what they want.

Graham: 'Financial contributions will stop' if GOP doesn't pass tax reform | TheHill

Graham: 'Financial contributions will stop' if GOP doesn't pass tax reform
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They do not want to support a party that fails to carry out what they promised. That’s fine. It was a party wide condemnation.

Rosie targeted two Senators and offered a bribe for them for them to change their votes. Can’t help it if she is stupid.
 
zimmer said:
They do not want to support a party that fails to carry out what they promised. That’s fine. It was a party wide condemnation.

Rosie targeted two Senators and offered a bribe for them for them to change their votes. Can’t help it if she is stupid.
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They each have individual contributors who said,

"If you don't vote yes on tax reform. I will revoke your funding."

Still trading votes for money, same thing zimmer.
 
MrPeanut said:
It's absolutely terrible isn't it? We've turned speech into just another quantifiable thing. Why do businesses have more freedom of speech than citizens? Bribery is a human tradition. It's a part of our darker nature that we are supposed to fight against and not embrace. We are in the midst a moral crisis.
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They dont have more freedom. Both have the same right to not have govt stop them from speaking. And the same right to spend their time or money doing it. Except maybe in offering bribes. Thats illegal.
 
Winston said:
They each have individual contributors who said,

"If you don't vote yes on tax reform. I will revoke your funding."

Still trading votes for money, same thing zimmer.
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That would also be illegal. If you have some proof, post it.
 
jonny5 said:
They dont have more freedom. Both have the same right to not have govt stop them from speaking. And the same right to spend their time or money doing it. Except maybe in offering bribes. Thats illegal.
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Yes they do. If free speech=money it is now quantifiable. If it is quantifiable you can have more or less than someone else. It is only not a bribe because it isn't called a bribe.
 
Winston said:
There is an equivalency between Rosie saying she will pay 2 million dollars for a 'no' vote and the Koch's saying they will withold billions unless they get what they want.

Graham: 'Financial contributions will stop' if GOP doesn't pass tax reform | TheHill

Graham: 'Financial contributions will stop' if GOP doesn't pass tax reform
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There isnt an equivelance. Donations to a political party to fund operations are quite different from cash payouts to a sitting senator for personal use in return for a specific vote.
 
jonny5 said:
There isnt an equivelance. Donations to a political party to fund operations are quite different from cash payouts to a sitting senator for personal use in return for a specific vote.
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Oh jonny5, don't be so naive. You think donations to political campaigns are spent just on TV ads and hat pins? Please....

What we have is cash payouts to representatives contingent on legislative action and/or votes on key issues. The proof is in the pudding. We live in a Democracy for the highest bidder. And I commend Rosie for perhaps inadvertently shining a light on it.
 
MrPeanut said:
Yes they do. If free speech=money it is now quantifiable. If it is quantifiable you can have more or less than someone else. It is only not a bribe because it isn't called a bribe.
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The value is moot. Your right is to be free from govt interference. The constitution is a restriction on govt, not a granting of a right. All individuals are free to speak (or not), in whatever form or value that takes, equally.
 
zimmer said:
Sad to say, but she does serve as a pretty honest face for the Democrat Party.
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She defines it to the finest detail perfectly. She's Hillary without the façade.
 
zimmer said:
Rosie McDonald’s bribery attempt should be made an example of. It’s a felony.
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You had better hope some of these senators take her up on it--:lol: This bill is NOT good for the middle class. Large Corporation tax reduction from 35% down to 21% is not going to be good for you. They're spinning as it will create more jobs here. Corporations move jobs overseas to avoid payroll and payroll taxes, workman's compensation, etc. (not their corporate tax liability.) So they'll probably take this money to expand operations overseas or just stuff their own pockets.

Middle class tax cuts will expire in 5 years and actually go UP, while large corporations remain permanent. What the government gives with one hand their very good at taking away with the other.

Fiscal Responsibility--just flew out the window with this bill.
 
Winston said:
Oh jonny5, don't be so naive. You think donations to political campaigns are spent just on TV ads and hat pins? Please....

What we have is cash payouts to representatives contingent on legislative action and/or votes on key issues. The proof is in the pudding. We live in a Democracy for the highest bidder. And I commend Rosie for perhaps inadvertently shining a light on it.
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I think if they arent, its a crime to be punished. Show me some proof that money is given for personal use, directly in exchange for a specific action and you would have evidence of it (as rosie did). Everything else is just politics, no differnt than you saying you wont support someone.

Hell, if Rosie has said "dont vote for this bill and Ill support you for relection and donate money to your campaign" that would be perfectly legal and moral.
 
Oreo said:
You had better hope some of these senators take her up on it--:lol: This bill is NOT good for the middle class. Large Corporation tax reduction from 35% down to 21% is not going to be good for you. They're spinning as it will create more jobs here. Corporations move jobs overseas to avoid payroll and payroll taxes, workman's compensation, etc. (not their corporate tax liability.) So they'll probably take this money to expand operations overseas or just stuff their own pockets.

Middle class tax cuts will expire in 5 years and actually go UP, while large corporations remain permanent. What the government gives with one hand their very good at taking away with the other.

Fiscal Responsibility--just flew out the window with this bill.
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Too late, its passed. Enjoy your savings.
 
Is what she did illegal? I don't think it is but if it is, expect her to be prosecuted. Trump f'ing hates O'Donnell.
 
You had better hope some of these senators take her up on it--:lol: This bill is NOT good for the middle class. Large Corporation tax reduction from 35% down to 21% is not going to be good for you. They're spinning as it will create more jobs here. Corporations move jobs overseas to avoid payroll and payroll taxes, workman's compensation, etc. (not their corporate tax liability.) So they'll probably take this money to expand operations overseas or just stuff their own pockets.

Middle class tax cuts will expire in 5 years and actually go UP, while large corporations remain permanent. What the government gives with the right hand they'll take away with the left hand. So if you're O.K. with giving Big Pharma, oil & others a yuuuuge tax break--go for it---:lol:

Fiscal responsibility just flew out the window with this bill adding 1.5 trillion to the deficit. It is a wealthy--large corporation tax cut, and it designed for that. When they start complaining about the deficit--then social security/medicare will be on the chopping block.
 
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jmotivator said:
Yeah, the thing I like about it is that if Flake and Collins were considering voting no Rosie essentially tied their hands by tying a no vote to a potential felony.
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Way to go Rosie!
 
jonny5 said:
The value is moot. Your right is to be free from govt interference. The constitution is a restriction on govt, not a granting of a right. All individuals are free to speak (or not), in whatever form or value that takes, equally.
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No it is not. You are making a philosophical argument and I am making a functional one. If wealthy people have disproportional political power because their money adds weight to their rights it is bad for the country. That is not equality.
 
jonny5 said:
I think if they arent, its a crime to be punished. Show me some proof that money is given for personal use, directly in exchange for a specific action and you would have evidence of it (as rosie did). Everything else is just politics, no differnt than you saying you wont support someone.

Hell, if Rosie has said "dont vote for this bill and Ill support you for relection and donate money to your campaign" that would be perfectly legal and moral.
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No, I'm not going to go searching through google for old news stories just to meet some artificial proof bar and then have you deny that too.

If you want evidence that politics is awash with bribe money that gets spent willy nilly on whatever the candidates want, there is a great story from SD where the voters passed a law to set up an independent ethics commission to investigate campaign bribes, and then SD declared a state of emergency, and overturned the will of the people, in order to keep their money party flowing.

https://www.salon.com/2017/01/25/so...n-political-coup-against-anti-corruption-law/

furthermore, what Rosie did is more or less the same thing as what that Republican lawmaker in the video I posted above, admitted his donors did.
 
Winston said:
zimmer, according to you the Democrats are the ones who do everything and are everything wrong with this country. When in fact, the GOP, I would argue is more tranparently bought and paid for then the Democrats.

I'm just curious what your position on Citizen's United is? The right wing talking point is that money=speech. So, if you agree with the right on Citizen's United, you have to agree here, that Rosie is just using her voice, and any limit on her bribing politicians is an infringement on her 1st amendment rights.

That is living in La-La land but, in order to protect the oligarchy one must.
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Citizens United wasn't about campaign contributions. It was about making a video program critical of Hillary Clinton, which is unquestionably speech. The law in question concerned electioneering communications, not campaign donations.
 
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