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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Highest Bidder

Highest Bidder

by Betty Cracker|  February 4, 20173:08 pm| 40 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Assholes, General Stupidity

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Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey received something like $60K in campaign contributions from Betsy DeVos, the absurdly unqualified Bible-humping wingnut billionaire Trump nominated for Education Secretary. DeVos is such an obviously bad pick that even squishy Dems like Manchin oppose her candidacy, and if Dems can peel off one more Republican, they can sink her nomination. But Toomey isn’t going to be that vote; he’s paid to believe (or at least say) that DeVos is a “great pick.”

One smart Philly teacher came up with the idea to “buy” Toomey’s vote back from DeVos by crowdfunding an amount greater than what DeVos doled out to the senator. Maybe this is the pathetic future of American “democracy” — middle-class folks banding together to strategically redeem elected officials from the fat cats who collect them by the dozen.

People on the left have been screaming about the corrupting influence of money in politics as long as I can remember — with good reason. But it’s getting worse, not better. The “economically anxious” who were supposedly fed up with a rigged system just empowered a conman who is rolling back Wall Street reforms, undertaking graft on an unimaginably huge scale, stocking his cabinet with robber barons and planning to appoint Supreme Court justices who will further entrench bad law like Citizens United. None of this seems to trouble the geniuses who voted for Trump, so I don’t think we can count on them to help us address the problem.

Maybe showily outbidding plutocrats on a selective basis is our only recourse. The “Buy Toomey’s Vote” thing is a stunt, of course — the funds will go to education-focused charities. Only plutocrats like DeVos can legally purchase the votes of US senators. But the crowdfunding thing sure did underscore the moral bankruptcy of the system in a way that’s hard to ignore. We’ll need creativity like that if we’re to ever wrest our government back from these creeps.

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Reader Interactions

40Comments

  1. 1.

    Paul T

    February 4, 2017 at 3:20 pm

    I’d love to see protesters arriving at Congressional offices with shopping bags full of money. If a lobbyist can make deposits at Congressional offices, why shouldn’t we?

  2. 2.

    Baud

    February 4, 2017 at 3:20 pm

    For the record, I am for sale.

  3. 3.

    lollipopguild

    February 4, 2017 at 3:22 pm

    @Baud: What is your price?

  4. 4.

    lollipopguild

    February 4, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    Since many politicians are quite open about selling their vote I see no harm in buying them or their vote. People in D.C have been quite open about Sen. Turtle being for sale.

  5. 5.

    Ruckus

    February 4, 2017 at 3:28 pm

    @lollipopguild:
    He didn’t win last time did he? So I’d guess not high enough.

    Sorry Baud, it was such an easy mark.

  6. 6.

    Brachiator

    February 4, 2017 at 3:29 pm

    @Baud:

    For the record, I am for sale.

    You can’t buy me. But I have very good lease terms.

    I really like this DeVos strategy.

  7. 7.

    Ruckus

    February 4, 2017 at 3:30 pm

    @lollipopguild:
    They seem to be pretty cheap votes, I wonder if their vote is for sale to the highest bidder or to the one on their side who answers the ad first.

  8. 8.

    lollipopguild

    February 4, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    @Ruckus: Not-Quite-President Baud needs to do a better job of selling himself/whoring himself out.

  9. 9.

    Pogonip

    February 4, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    @Baud: $12.39 is my offer.

  10. 10.

    lollipopguild

    February 4, 2017 at 3:34 pm

    @Ruckus: Many REPCONS are good at selling themselves to people who ask them to vote for what they(the politician) were going to vote for anyway.

  11. 11.

    rikyrah

    February 4, 2017 at 3:36 pm

    I think that it’s hilarious. Woeful commentary on the process, but hilarious.
    They did the same thing for Cotton in Arkansas. He was bought for under 9 grand by DeVos. Toomey sold himself for 60k.

  12. 12.

    dmsilev

    February 4, 2017 at 3:36 pm

    @Baud: Do you offer layaway?

  13. 13.

    lollipopguild

    February 4, 2017 at 3:38 pm

    @rikyrah: Cotton needs to get a newer/better price list.

  14. 14.

    lollipopguild

    February 4, 2017 at 3:41 pm

    @dmsilev: 12 months same as cash? Baud! for sale, easy terms. low down payment(and do we mean low down) and drive him off of the lot.

  15. 15.

    Elizabelle

    February 4, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    I like that the money will go to education related charities. Good touch.

  16. 16.

    dmsilev

    February 4, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    @lollipopguild: Can I trade in a used Baud for credit towards a new one?

  17. 17.

    mai naem mobile

    February 4, 2017 at 3:46 pm

    @Baud: I can come up withe 12.99. Big money. Big money.

  18. 18.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 4, 2017 at 3:46 pm

    Is there a market for Baud! offsets for when he inevitably disappoints me?

  19. 19.

    lollipopguild

    February 4, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    @dmsilev: Yes but depreciation. Once you drive him off the lot his value goes down.Sad!

  20. 20.

    JordanRules

    February 4, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    I got 5 on it!

  21. 21.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 4, 2017 at 3:49 pm

    The “economically anxious” are, by the most incredible of coinkydinks, also racist, misogynist fucks.

    Imagine that.

  22. 22.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 4, 2017 at 3:50 pm

    @lollipopguild: Cotton’s troops didn’t do their job in Iraq and make it so he’d never get a chance to take a bribe from the DeVos parasites.

  23. 23.

    Elizabelle

    February 4, 2017 at 4:01 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Yup. Gloriously fraggable. Is that the right word?

  24. 24.

    dww44

    February 4, 2017 at 4:05 pm

    We really do have to turn only one more Republican Senator but 2 or 3 more would be even better. I’ve already called and emailed my 2 Senators, one of whom has received over $23 grand from Devos. I’m calling again early on Monday. Maybe even send another message tomorrow. After all they’re liable to call for an even earlier vote on Monday morning to install her as Secretary of Education.

    It would be nice to eke out a victory on this one, for the sake of our kids and the future of public schools. But if we don’t, perhaps the majority of Americans will have another reason to show up in the polls next year.

  25. 25.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 4, 2017 at 4:09 pm

    @Elizabelle: Ayup. Niedermeyer material. As the deserting coward would have been if he went to ‘Nam, and Donald as well. But both found ways to avoid having to participate in their generation’s man test…as both enthusiastically supported the war that was not important enough for their asses to be placed on the line.

  26. 26.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 4, 2017 at 4:12 pm

    @dww44: once you turn one you turn more. Nobody wants to be the one who did it but once there’s cover it’s a freebie.

  27. 27.

    Roger Moore

    February 4, 2017 at 4:34 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Can I trade in a used Baud for credit towards a new one?

    The trade-in value is shit because the maintenance costs are so high.

  28. 28.

    brendancalling

    February 4, 2017 at 4:39 pm

    I did a video for Raw Story about Pathetic Pat earlier this week. Cross-posted at my place

  29. 29.

    Jeffro

    February 4, 2017 at 4:48 pm

    Big money has distorted our system so badly it’s hard to recognize…Congress does the bidding of the wackadoo .01% hard Randians instead of listening to its actual voters. Has to be brought up at every opportunity

  30. 30.

    Snarkworth, short-fingered Bulgarian

    February 4, 2017 at 5:17 pm

    Every once in a while I see Baud at my local thrift shop. He’s a bargain, and sometimes the tags are still on.

  31. 31.

    Thornton Hall

    February 4, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    So lazy. Politicians are motivated by votes. They raise money to get votes. If confirming DeVos would lose Toomey votes (in a primary or general) he wouldn’t do it.

  32. 32.

    James Powell

    February 4, 2017 at 5:47 pm

    @Thornton Hall:

    Thing is, he won’t be on the ballot till 2022 at which time his vote to confirm DeVos will have absolutely no impact on his re-election. Given that 2022 is a midterm election, if he runs he will be re-elected because people who support him turn out for midterms. People who do not support do not.

    tl;dr – Bothering Toomey is a waste of time.

  33. 33.

    Zinsky

    February 4, 2017 at 6:09 pm

    Most Western democracies have public financing of elections. Of course, most Western democracies have strict gun control and universal, single-payer health insurance too. We are half as great as Trump thinks we are and getting shittier by the day!

  34. 34.

    Bill

    February 4, 2017 at 6:21 pm

    I donated to this a couple days ago. It should be noted that Toomey has essentially vanished, not meeting with constituents, and all but turned off his phones. He was retreating with the Koch Brothers while his staff tried to handle tens of thousands of phone calls, emails and faxes. He made a statement about listening to his constituents on the DeVos vote, and then promptly announced his intent to support her. He’s a craven prick of the first water, and I can not wait to vote for his challenger in the next general.

  35. 35.

    Marcopolo

    February 4, 2017 at 6:52 pm

    There are at least 3 gofundme campaigns to buy back Devos votes: Burr, Toomey, and Cotton. At least that’s what a search on the keyword “senator” brings up. The Toomey campaign is now over its goal. Would love to see one for every R senator who received $ from her.

  36. 36.

    Betty

    February 4, 2017 at 6:58 pm

    His constituents made their voices heard loud and clear. He simply ignored them. He hasn’t heard the end of this. His quote the day after the election wss that he wouldn’t be a rubber stamp for Trump. He lied.

  37. 37.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 4, 2017 at 7:18 pm

    @lollipopguild: Case of beer.

  38. 38.

    Mercuria

    February 4, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    @Bill I have been calling, faxing, tweeting, everything short of going to his offices, and that’s down to working FT and location. Thousands of us in PA are well fed up and I cannot help but think that includes many who would normally support him. I’ve looked into a recall effort, but the PA constitution has no provision for recall. Which means, I think, that it’s not that it can’t be done, but we would have to invent that wheel. Met with a few people today who are interested and will be getting in touch with local State Reps to gather more info. Any suggestions would be welcome and greatly appreciated. Also asked the GoFundMe creators what their thoughts about it were, but have not yet heard back. Six more years of this crap is too long.

  39. 39.

    Mercuria

    February 4, 2017 at 9:35 pm

    @Bill:
    I have been calling, faxing, tweeting, everything short of going to his offices, and that’s down to working FT and location. Thousands of us in PA are well fed up and I cannot help but think that includes many who would normally support him. I’ve looked into a recall effort, but the PA constitution has no provision for recall. Which means, I think, that it’s not that it can’t be done, but we would have to invent that wheel. Met with a few people today who are interested and will be getting in touch with local State Reps to gather more info. Any suggestions would be welcome and greatly appreciated. Also asked the GoFundMe creators what their thoughts about it were, but have not yet heard back. Six more years of this crap is too long.

  40. 40.

    No One You Know

    February 4, 2017 at 10:15 pm

    @Roger Moore: Maintenance costs? A case of microbrew isn’t out of reach, if you shop for it at Costco…what more is needed?

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