Doc110 Loc: York PA

10/03/2015 Who Owns Your Presidential Candidate?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-03/who-owns-your-presidential-candidate

It’s a new era of American politics. With regard to campaign finance, the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling — and the arguably worse McCutcheon v. FEC ruling — opened the doors to unrestricted corporate funding of our national elections.

The primary mechanism in place facilitating this flood of private money is the super PAC. You’ve probably heard of super PACs and how they’ve essentially taken over the role traditionally filled by individual campaign donors in Political Action Committees (PACs). But super PACs aren’t the end of it. There are puppet political non-profits, business associations, and now, single-candidate “dark money” outfits that, as of September 21, have already raised $25.1 million — five times the amount spent by this time in the 2012 election cycle.

Small, private donors still exist, of course. Their campaign contributions are still capped at about $5,000 per individual, making them the tip of the iceberg in political campaign spending. Enter super PACs and single-candidate committees, who, because of the aforementioned SCOTUS rulings, have the ability to slither in between campaign finance laws and flood our elections with unlimited corporate money. The “dark money” 501(c) groups, sometimes known as “social welfare” organizations, are particularly insidious because, unlike super PACs, they are not required to disclose their donors to the public. Since they are legally viewed as a type of business, they don’t have to disclose disbursements until the IRS requires it. This means there is essentially a network of politically advantageous winks and nods, whereby candidates receive unlimited parallel spending from an interconnected syndicate of super PACs, non-profits, and business associations.

Of the 20 biggest spenders, only one is openly committed to a liberal viewpoint, which gives conservatives an advantage. That said, while Democrats have questioned the legality of “dark money” groups, they have not discounted the possibility of utilizing this tactic in addition to super PACs, which must legally disclose the source of their funds within a few weeks (though several groups have found loopholes allowing them to wait up to 7 weeks).

Needless to say, this is an election in which most of the candidates are seeking support from wealthy donors instead of the citizens they are supposed to be representing.

Despite the arguably undemocratic, obfuscating nature of our nation’s campaign finance laws and the blatant corporatist agenda mandated by the Supreme Court, let’s attempt to break down the major sources of political spending so far in the 2016 presidential election. You may be surprised to find out who is donating money to your candidate — and how that contribution may affect future policy positions.

JEB BUSH

The one-time prospective GOP front-runner has taken a beating in recent polls, with many politicos saying extreme factions of the conservative party aren’t happy with his more centrist attitudes toward gay marriage, immigration, and abortion rights. But the big establishment money still has his back.

Corporate and other Special Interest donors (top 5):

Goldman Sachs ($161,100)
Neuberger Berman LLC ($65,800)
Bank of America ($43,750
Citigroup Inc ($41,500)
Tenet Healthcare ($35,900)
Super PAC/“Dark Money”:

The Right to Rise super PAC supports Jeb Bush and has raised over $100 million. As of mid-September, the group planned to spend $24 million on television ads in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. According to the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, the primary donor list for Jeb Bush’s super PAC includes various spheres of influence:

“Texas oil men, New York investment bankers, Miami healthcare company owners, and three former ambassadors — two of whom served under Bush’s brother, former President George W. Bush — gave 25 contributions of $1 million each. Mike Fernandez, the Cuban-American billionaire founder of Coral Gables-based MBF Healthcare Partners, gave $3 million, the largest contribution to Right to Rise.”

Other wealthy members of the PAC include:

“Hushang Ansary, Iran’s ambassador to the United States from 1967 to 1969. He serves as a trustee of the George W. Bush Library. Ansary and his wife Shahla became U.S. citizens in the 1980s.
Richard Kinder, chairman and chief executive of oil and gas pipeline company Kinder Morgan. His net worth is $10 billion. Kinder’s wife Nancy also contributed $1 million to Right to Rise.
Alfred Hoffman, U.S. ambassador to Portugal from 2005 to 2007. He founded Florida-based real estate company WCI Communities.
Nextera Energy, the publicly traded parent company of Florida Power & Light, which provides electrical service to nearly half of the state. Last year, Nextera reported more than $15 billion in revenue.
Julian Robertson Jr., New York hedge fund manager whose net worth is $3.4 billion. He made his fortune investing in golf resorts and vineyards in New Zealand.”
Jeb Bush, total raised so far: over $114 million

HILLARY CLINTON

In her career as a politician, Hillary Clinton’s top donors have been Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs, DLA Piper, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and Morgan Stanley. Many say such alliances irrevocably endear her to said institutions, rendering her incapable of reigning in financial corruption on Wall Street.

Her 2016 donors are slightly different, but really very much the same.

Corporate and other Special Interest donors (top 5):

Morgan & Morgan ($274,767)
Sullivan & Cromwell ($148,100)
Akin, Gump et al ($125,598)
Yale University ($95,434)
Latham & Watkins ($94,580)
Note: Morgan Stanley, Time Warner, JPMorgan Chase & Co and others are high on the list as well.

It is also important to point out that the lobbying and law firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, which employees many of Hillary’s lobbying “bundlers,” took donations from two of the biggest private prison contractors, Corrections Corporation of America and Geo Group, with fees totaling almost $300,000.

Super PAC/”Dark Money”:

Priorities USA Action is the super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. So far, the group has raised $25 million in only three months. Predictably, hardline progressives stringently object to Clinton using the wealthy billionaires of Priorities to raise money, but supporters say there is really no choice if she is to compete with the Republicans in a general election.

The most notable Priorities super PAC donors are George Soros and Steven Spielberg, but the list includes 31 individual donors who contributed over $200k each.

It’s fair to point out that Hillary Clinton recently made headlines by embracing a tactic to publically reveal big corporate donors. Whether this is political posturing or not, I will leave to the reader. According to the Los Angeles Times:

“Companies like Google Inc. — and even Shell Oil — touting environmental awareness have been exposed supporting shadowy organizations skeptical of climate change.”

Hillary Clinton, total raised so far: over $45 million

CHRIS CHRISTIE

Chris Christie, the two-term governor of New Jersey, is currently polling at 1%, but that has not stopped him from garnering the support of super PAC America Leads, which has raised $11 million with the support of 137 contributors, several of them billionaires. The PAC recently released its donor list. Politico describes what is perhaps the most noteworthy entry:

“Winecup-Gamble Inc., a Nevada ranch owned by former Reebok CEO Paul Fireman, gave the group $1 million. Fireman, who lives outside Boston, plans a massive, $4.6 billion casino in Jersey City if state voters approve a constitutional amendment to allow gambling outside of Atlantic City.”

Other America Leads donors include:

Las Vegas casino mogul Stephen Wynn
Hedge fund manager Steve Cohen and his wife Alexandra, who contributed a combined $2 million
Quicken Loans chairman Daniel Gilbert gave $750,000.
Home Depot founder Ken Langone gave $250,000
Anheuser-Busch heir August Busch ponied up $100,000.
Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman donated $100,000.
Wrestling mogul Linda McMahon gave $250,000.
George Harms Construction gave $25,000 (and it’s worth noting this company acquired more than $100 million in New Jersey state agency contracts in 2014)
Ferreira Construction gave $100,000 (also worth pointing out the $34 million this company received from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, also in 2014)
Public Service Enterprise Group gave $250,000.
Chris Christie, total raised so far: over $11 million

BERNIE SANDERS

Bernie Sanders entered the race as a democratic socialist dark horse but has quickly earned the feverish admiration of a wide spectrum of both progressive leftists and centrists, many of whom applaud his stated goal of taking on big banks and crony capitalism to fight for the middle class. Others see him as the unfortunate sequel to Obama, someone with grandiose reformist ideas who lacks the mettle and fearlessness truly necessary to stand up to the military-industrial complex and machinations of the Deep State.

One point concerning Bernie Sanders can’t be denied: his campaign financing is leagues above the others in terms of ethical sourcing. Sanders has refused super PAC money and continues to reiterate he will not use a super PAC or any shady billionaire money for the 2016 election. His full list of of regular PAC and individual donors, most of which is labor union money, is listed below, courtesy of OpenSecrets.org:

Machinists/Aerospace Workers Union $105,000
Teamsters Union $93,700
National Education Assn $89,242
United Auto Workers $79,750
United Food & Commercial Workers Union $72,500
Communications Workers of America $68,000
Laborers Union $64,000
Carpenters & Joiners Union $62,000
National Assn of Letter Carriers $61,000
American Assn for Justice $60,500
American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees $58,198
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $53,100
United Transportation Union $48,500
Sheet Metal Workers Union $47,000
Operating Engineers Union $46,100
Service Employees International Union $44,014
UNITE HERE $42,875
United Steelworkers $41,750
American Postal Workers Union $37,700
American Federation of Teachers $36,112
A report from October 1st shows that Bernie Sanders has nearly matched Hillary Clinton’s 3rd quarter campaign donations without using a super PAC.

Bernie Sanders, total funds raised so far: $26 million

JOHN KASICH

In a normal election cycle, John Kasich, the Governor of Ohio, might be polling higher than 5%. He is more of a centrist candidate that appeals to the base and has actual experience governing. Rumors persist that he may be tapped for VP on the eventual GOP nominee’s ticket, but so far Kasich maintains he isn’t interested in that.

Corporate and other Special Interest donors:

His donor list has been called a “who’s who of prominent Ohio political donors.” This list includes:

“Abigail Wexner, philanthropist and wife to Les Wexner, founder of The Limited; John P. McConnell, the chief executive officer of Worthington Industries and majority owner of the Columbus Blue Jackets; and John and Ann Wolfe, former owner of The Dispatch.”

Another interesting Kasich PAC donor is a Montana company called MMWP12 LLC. This company contributed $500,000 and is connected to Mark Kvamme, who spearheaded JobsOhio, the private, non-profit group whose goal was to create jobs in the Kasich-run state of Ohio.

Super PAC/”Dark Money”:

John Kasich’s super PAC is called New Day For America. The group has drawn contributions from 166 donors, totaling $11 million so far, over half of which is from Ohio.

According to Politico, the major names on this list include:

“Wendt Family Trust, Schottenstein Management Company and Tom Rastin, an Ohio-based Republican donor who donated to then-Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett’s re-election campaign in the 2014 cycle.
Floyd Kvamme (Mark Kvamme’s father), the retired venture capitalist, who donated $100,000
Philip Geier Jr. of the Geier Group, who donated $500,000 and is a member of New Day for America’s board
Jim Dicke, a big player in the Ohio Republican Party and the chairman emeritus of the Crown Equipment Corp. Dicke donated $250,000.”
Kasich also has a separate PAC called New Day For America Independent.

John Kasich, total funds raised: over $11,730,730

CARLY FIORINA

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s unexpected ascension as a viable GOP candidate was buoyed by three primary factors: her neoconservative war hawk ideology; her vociferous stance against Planned Parenthood, which appeals to the GOP’s dominant right wing base; and her secretary-to-CEO personal life story.

Corporate and other Special Interest donors (top 5):

LISI Inc – $12,400
Renaissance Technologies – $10,800
Western Care Construction – $10,800
Echo Pacific Construction – $10,400
Wilson, Sonsini et al – $8,100
Super PAC/”Dark Money”:

Perhaps as a result of her history as an executive of HP, Carly Fiorina’s super PAC, Carly For America, is full of deep-pocketed Silicon Valley donors. This includes:

Venture capitalist Tom Perkins – $25,000
Former Intel CEO Paul Otellini – $5,000
Former CEO of Univision, Jerry Perenchio, who donated a whopping $1.6 million
Former head of World Wrestling Entertainment and Connecticut Senate candidate Linda McMahon – $10,000
Palo Alto-based physicist Charles Munger – $100,000
Robert Day, who founded the Los Angeles asset management firm TCW – $100,000
The most mysterious donation, one that is actually being investigated by the FEC, concerns a $500,000 contribution from one of Ted Cruz’s super PACs, Keep the Promise 1. It is currently unknown why this donation was made.

Carly Fiorina, total funds raised so far: over $1.6 million

MARCO RUBIO

Marco Rubio, the junior United States senator from Florida, is another potential dark horse in this race because he appeals to the right wing of the Republican base while still striking Reaganesque tones during the debates. In fact, many pundits have noted the eerie similarities between Rubio and 2000 GOP candidate George W. Bush. Others have pointed out that Rubio’s Cuban American ethnicity could help Republicans win much-needed Latino votes.

Corporate and other Special Interest donors (top 5):

Goldman Sachs – $65,830
Steward Health Care – $49,400
Titan Farms – $23,200
Florida Crystals – $21,700
Oracle Corp – $21,600
Super PAC/”Dark Money”:

According to the latest filings, the Marco Rubio super PAC, Conservative Solutions PAC, has drawn in $16 million, doubling the funds earned from his private donors. Over 75% of this money came from just four donors:

Norman Braman, a longtime friend of Rubio who happens to be a billionaire auto dealer and former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles. Braman has been called Rubio’s “secret weapon” because he despises Jeb Bush and says he will spend anywhere from $10 to $25 million on Rubio’s campaign
Lawrence J. Ellison, the chairman of Oracle Corp who has donated $3 million
Philanthropist Laura Perlmutter (wife to Isaac Perlmutter, the billionaire CEO of Marvel Entertainment) donated $2 million
Besilu Stables, a horse racing company in Miami, donated $2.5 million
The Rubio campaign is also the beneficiary of a considerable amount of “dark money.” The source is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit called Conservative Solutions Project, which has raised an additional $15.8 million. The nonprofit, which, of course, is not required to disclose its donors, launched a massive ad campaign attacking President Obama’s Iran deal.

Marco Rubio, total funds raised so far: over $31.9 million

DONALD TRUMP

Donald Trump has stated repeatedly that he will self-finance his campaign and will not accept any special interest donations. His net worth is heavily contested, but Forbes estimates it is approximately $4.5 billion. Trump claims he will spend up to $100 million of his own money on the 2016 presidential election.

While the legacy of Trump as a self-made financial titan has catapulted him to an iconic status, Alternet.org posted an article debunking much of this fictitious fanfare. The article traces the roots of a $40-$200 million inheritance Trump received from his father, money that was bilked from governmental financing programs during the Great Depression; Trump parlayed that money into a series of businesses that went bankrupt, skirting SEC regulations and taking advantage of every tax loophole available in order to build his empire.

Donald Trump, total funds raised so far: $100 million (amount he pledged to his own campaign)

TED CRUZ

Ted Cruz is the junior U.S. Senator from Texas who made a name for himself by reading Green Eggs and Ham on the Senate floor as part of a symbolic filibuster of Obama’s Affordable Healthcare Act. He was also one of the 47 signatories of a letter sent to Iran stating that President Obama lacked the authority to negotiate with Ayatollah Khomenei.

More recently, he has led a weak coalition of congressmen aiming to shut down the federal government for the second time in as many years. His objective — and one of his major campaign platforms, in addition to repealing Obamacare and the Iran Deal — is to defund Planned Parenthood.

Corporate and other Special Interest donors (top 5):

Woodforest National Bank $75,200
Morgan Lewis LLP $68,850
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher $52,950
Pachulski, Stang et al $41,000
Jennmar Corp $40,850
Super PAC/”Dark Money”:

Ted Cruz’s campaign actually has four super PACs, all funded by Robert Mercer, a Long Island hedge fund magnate and climate change denier. Combined, they raised $31 million in the first four weeks of his campaign. Contributors to these super PACs include:

Koch brothers’ political network, 97% of which came from a single contribution from Robert Mercer himself
Billionaires Farris and Dan Wilks, who generated most of their wealth from the West Texas fracking boom – donated $15 million
Ted Cruz, total funds raised so far: over $31 million

BEN CARSON

Ben Carson, the retired John Hopkins neurosurgeon, was dead in the water a few weeks ago, but his numbers saw an unlikely bounce after the second debate. While Carson put his foot in his mouth when he suggested the U.S. marines were unprepared for combat, he startled many by suggesting that had George W. Bush sworn off petroleum in the wake of 9/11, taking bold diplomatic action over military strikes, the nation may have averted the incredibly costly war on terror. With his poll numbers rising, many pundits now wonder whether he could be tapped as VP.

Corporate and other Special Interest donors (top 5):

Coca-Cola Co $21,850
West Coast Venture Capital $21,600
Trailiner Corp $10,800
Ankom Technology $10,400
Jea Senior Living $10,000
Super PAC/”Dark Money”:

Like Ted Cruz, Ben Carson has more than one super PAC. One Vote, a super PAC led by Republican strategist Andy Yates, and Run Ben Run. Even before Carson decided to run, the National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee raised $13.5 million. Reports have surfaced that there is tumult and discord between the two primary super PACs, but as long as the money keeps pouring in, Carson doesn’t seem to be phased. Recently, he doubled down on anti-Muslim rhetoric, which seems to have bumped his fundraising figures even higher, bringing him to $20 million this quarter.

Very little information has been released about the bigger disbursements stemming from Carson’s super PACs. But interestingly, despite the big money pouring in, Carson has flourished with small donors. In fact, “eighty-four percent [of Carson’s donors] wrote checks for less than $500.”

Ben Carson, total funds raised so far: over $20 million

MIKE HUCKABEE

The former governor of Arkansas’ private donors are relatively small and unremarkable. His super PAC, Pursuing America’s Greatness, has received only two primary donations. In fact, almost all the money contributed to the super PAC came from one man: Ronald Cameron of Little Rock, Arkansas, the poultry magnate who donated $3 million. Notably, Cameron, who runs agribusiness giant Mountaire Corporation, which earned $1.22 billion in 2009, has been listed as a major contributor to the Koch Brothers political network.

Other contributions include $500,000 from Sharon Herschend of Herschend Family Entertainment and $50,000 each from real estate investor Jon K. Gibson and Cary Maguire, president of Maguire Oil.

Mike Huckabee, total funds raised so far: over $3 million

RAND PAUL

According to one insider, libertarian-leaning, low-polling Rand Paul could soon be dropping out of the race. Paul’s super PAC America’s Liberty PAC has received most of its money from only two donors:

George Macricostas, CEO of RagingWire, a data center operator – $1.1 million
Libertarian donor Jeffrey Yass, leader of trading firm Susquehanna International Group – $1 million
Rand Paul, total funds raised so far: $3.1 million

As you can see, the 2016 presidential election is, for the most part, an all-out corporate donor war. It’s important to remember that many of these totals are likely not current, as campaigns strategically withhold donation amounts. We also don’t know the full extent of “dark money” stemming from nonprofits and business associations. What we do know is that this will be the most expensive election in history. The Koch brothers alone have a budget of $889 million. When added to the spending expected from the Democrats and Republicans, we’re looking at a possible price tag of $5 billion.

If you have information on any significant campaign funds not included in this article, please email us or leave a comment.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

None of this was a surprise to me. I have stated for many years that Government policy, both foreign and domestic, is dictated by donor cabals, not common sense or National interests. Since the recent ridiculous court rulings, the 501 C 4 tax exempt codes are obsolete, but still serve a useful administrative function.

I've also predicted that each successive campaign cycle, will break previous donor and spending records. This does bring up an interesting question, which is; if the economy supposedly went into a recession in 2008-2009 and has barely recovered since - where did all these billions of dollars come from? A second question would be; why did all these wealthy people feel that election campaigns were such a valuable investment, in the face of dismal economic forecasts?

Wealthy people, by and large, are very smart folk and don't waste money by investing in products destined to lose money. Wealthy people would quickly become ordinary humans if they did. The incredible amounts of money invested in our political process since 2006, means that these people know something we don't. Although it's true that these donations are tax deductible, deductions are not dollar for dollar, so much of the money donated is not recovered through tax savings, so it must be recovered by some other method.

Since the Federal Government spends around 30 billion dollars a day, we can easily guess where the shortfall is recouped from. These wealthy donors are not so much trying to buy candidates, but are buying into the Government cash cow - and as evidenced by their willingness to invest increasing amounts of money - this cash cow is extremely lucrative.

Our political process is not up for sale, it has been bought and paid for long ago. What is being bid on now, is determining who will do the milking. We already know who will be mucking out the barn - the 99% of Americans not able to invest in the cow.

buffalo Loc: Texas

The corporate party is the only party. Democrats and republicans are merely its left and right arm. Many corporate and large donors hedge their bets by donating to multiple candidates from both arms. To the corporate party it matters not which arms' candidate the sheople "elect" as the corporate party elite will still call the shots.

zillaorange

LMAO ! Who indeed ?

buffalo Loc: Texas

You Can’t Separate Empire, the State, Financialization and Crony Capitalism: It’s One Indivisible System

Charles Hugh Smith
Washington’s Blog
October 3, 2015
Disagreement is part of discourse, and pursuing differing views of the best way forward is the heart of democracy. Disagreement is abundant, democracy is scarce, despite claims to the contrary.
If you think you can surgically extract Empire from the American System, force the State to serve the working/middle classes, end the stripmining of financialization, limit crony capitalism/regulatory capture and get Big Money out of politics–go ahead and do so. I’m not standing in your way–go for it.
But while you pursue your good governance, populist, Left/ Right /Socialist/ Libertarian, etc. reforms, please understand the system is indivisible: the Deep State, the Imperial Project (hegemony and power projection), the State, finance in all its tenacled control mechanisms (greetings, debt-serfs and student-loan-serfs), crony capitalism /regulatory capture, money buying political influence, media propaganda passing as “news”, and the evisceration of democracy (something untoward could happen if the serfs could overthrow the Power Elite at the ballot box–can’t let that happen)–it’s all one system.
Should any one organ be ripped from the body, the entire body dies. The entire system defends each subsystem as integral as a matter of survival. As a result, the naive notion that big money can be excised with only positive consequences is false: restoring democracy places the entire system at risk of implosion.
No more bread and circuses, no more Social Security checks, no more state employee pensions–it all melts into air if any subsystem stops doing its job.
The system is interdependent. Each subsystem needs the others to function. I drew up a chart of the major components (but by no means all) of the system:

The system is a machine in which each gear serves the whole. So go ahead and try to “reform” the system by extracting whatever gear you don’t approve of: the Deep State components, the Security State organs, the Federal Reserve, cartels/monopolies enforced by the State, the suppression of democracy, crony capitalism, whatever.
The machine will resist your “reform” to the death because should you succeed, the machine will implode. Take out the financialization gear and the financial system collapses.
So go ahead and reform to your heart’s content. Go ahead and believe the system is reformable, if it makes you feel better. Vote for Bernie or The Donald or whomever. Go ahead and disagree with me. Prove me wrong. Prove the State really, really, really wants to serve the working/middle class rather than the Empire that it is. Pursue your Left/ Right/ Socialist/ Libertarian fantasies of righting the Imperial Project by ripping the gears out of the very center of the machine.
It doesn’t work that way. We can’t remove the gears we find distasteful. Either the machine grinds on and we get our share of the swag–bread and circuses, corporate welfare, State jobs and pensions, Medicaid and Medicare, and all the rest of the immense swag of hegemony and the Imperial Project–or the system implodes and all the swag melts into air.
The great irony is what’s unsustainable melts into thin air no matter how many people want it to keep going.
But go ahead and disagree. It’s your right, by golly. Go ahead and try to “reform” the system and see how far you get.

Doc110 Loc: York PA

Yes I saw that article, when both are put together we see a much clearer picture. Thanks for the input.