Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

No one could have predicted…

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

This blog will pay for itself.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Infrastructure week. at last.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Bark louder, little dog.

Everybody saw this coming.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

We still have time to mess this up!

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / The color of money

The color of money

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It’s like a nightmare for Republicans, isn’t it? It just keeps getting worse and worse:

“Republicans should be under no illusion that for the first time in recent memory and despite record fundraising and spending by CLF, House Republicans are going to be massively outspent in October,” said a Republican strategist involved in House races. “We are facing a spending tsunami.”

Give to the Balloon Juice More More More fund that’s split equally among 46 Democratic candidates suggested by readers. You can just give to a couple candidates to avoid getting on too many mailing lists if you like.

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70Comments

  1. 1.

    Gravenstone

    “We are facing a spending tsunami.”

    This has to really scare them because anyone who is engaged enough to contribute will also be engaged enough to vote. And they’ll likely bring friends.

  4. 4.

    Cacti

    Funny how that just happens to coincide with Russian dark money coming under heavy scrutiny for the first time.

  5. 5.

    kindness

    We are supporting the guy running against my current teabagger Representative. I am so happy as the last couple days the media in this area has been inundated with hate commercials put forward by Paul Ryan’s PAC. The commercials running are horrible lies yet the stations take the money and run them. Yeay BJ. Will contribute more on Friday when I get paid.

  6. 6.

    artem1s

    The GOP has been losing contributors for decades. They just have more individuals that give at astronomical amounts. And with the advent of Citizen’s United, those donors can form their own PACs and send money straight to the crazy candidate of their choice. Louie Gohmert didn’t just screw liberals, he screwed any chance that those donors would naturally identify with the GOP. Every time the freedum caucus or Crazy Uncle Ron Paul or the Fundagelicals put Big Government or RINOs on parade as the enemy they drove another nail into the GOP’s coffin.

    the number one reason the GOP hated the Clintons and wanted them destroyed is because they were the first Dems since JFK who could raise Republican level money during campaigns and down ticket. Obama was just as great a threat and everything the GOP has done to enable Dolt45 is aimed at destroying the progress of the Obama administration.

    Yes they are panicking.

  7. 7.

    Nicole

    And I imagine a lot of that spending tsumani is being made possible by folk who usually don’t contribute to political campaigns and aren’t, individually, contributing a lot themselves, but added up it makes for more than the wealthy can do on their own.

    There’s a larger point to be made here, about the middle-class and the power they wield over an economy and why a lot of middle class people with some money to spend are better than a few really rich people with a lot of money to spend (and a lot of poor with no money to spend) but I think the rich have demonstrated again and again that they are too stupid to understand.

  9. 9.

    Ohio Mom

    @Ohio Mom: Oh, for an edit function!

    The best barometer I have that my area’s two Republican incumbents are running scared is that the local Gannett newspaper, The Cincinnati Enquirer, is running articles bad-mouthing one or both of the Democratic challengers just about every day. It gives me hope that the Republicans are so worried.

  10. 10.

    ruemara

    Until they’re dead, I don’t stop shooting. That rule works for zombies, feral animals and other dangerous predators. I won’t believe the Republicans have lost until they’ve fully lost in 2020.

  11. 11.

    Mike in DC

    @ruemara:
    Really we should be looking at winning 2018, 2020 and 2024, and holding control in 2022(and maybe picking up a couple senate seats). If we could hold control through two midterm elections, that might break the GOP as currently constituted.

  13. 13.

    Gretchen

    The RNCC cancelled a million dollars in ad spending in my district, KS-3. The Dem, Sharice Davids, was ahead by 8 in the last poll. She was in the first group Balloon Juice helped. Thanks, everyone!

  14. 14.

    FDRLincoln

    I’m in KS-2 and the GOP is going all-out with smear attacks on Paul Davis. He’s slightly ahead in the latest poll against a weak Republican but it is close. This is an open seat in a red district but Davis is well-known and a moderate who has a shot here.

    Davids and Davis for Kansas!

  16. 16.

    Roger Moore

    @ruemara:

    I won’t believe the Republicans have lost until they’ve fully lost in 2020.

    I won’t believe the Republicans have lost until the Republican party breaks up and is replaced by something new. Even then, I’ll want a second opinion.

  18. 18.

    John M. Burt

    I’m reminded of the coda I’ve been putting on every comment I’ve been posting at YouTube lately:
    “A #BlueWave is not enough.
    “Neither is a #BlueTsunami.
    “We need to make #6November2018 a nice day for a #BlueWedding.
    “If you’re a U.S. citizen eligible to vote, visit vote.org and make sure you’re correctly registered, and urge your friends to do the same.”

    My wife and I are too poor to donate and too busy to do much campaigning, but I do post things like the above, and I carry chalk with me to write VOTE.ORG in public places. Couldn’t hurt.

  19. 19.

    TenguPhule

    Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that the United States is terminating the Treaty of Amity reached with Iran in pre-revolutionary days, calling it an “absolute absurdity” given the tensions between the two countries.

    The impetus for the United States tearing up the treaty was a decision earlier Wednesday in the International Court of Justice, which ordered the Trump administration to lift some sanctions on Iran. The top U.N. court, which is located in The Hague, does not have the power to enforce its decisions, which are usually ignored by the United States anyway.

    “We ought to have pulled out of it decades ago,” Pompeo said, calling it “39 years overdue” in a reference to the 1979 revolution in Iran. “Today marked a useful point with the decision that was made this morning from the ICJ. This marked a useful point for us to demonstrate the absolute absurdity of the Treaty of Amity between the United States and the Islamic Republic.”

    U.S. terminates 1955 treaty with Iran, calling it an ‘absolute absurdity’

    The chickenhawks really want to kick off that war with Iran they’ve always dreamed of.

  20. 20.

    TenguPhule

    @Roger Moore:

    I won’t believe the Republicans have lost until the Republican party breaks up and is replaced by something new. Even then, I’ll want a second opinion.

    Double tap. Its the only way to be sure.

  21. 21.

    TenguPhule

    @ruemara:

    Until they’re dead, I don’t stop shooting. That rule works for zombies, feral animals and other dangerous predators.

    Technically zombies are already dead. What you’re trying to achieve is neutralizing them as a threat by depriving them of the ability to attack and infect others.

  23. 23.

    Walker

    @TenguPhule:

    Can the executive terminate a treaty without congressional approval? Or was this not really a treaty, but more of an agreement?

  24. 24.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Ivan X: I also donated a couple of weeks ago, to a bunch of campaigns. And while I’d been planning on doing it for …. months, I didn’t get around to it until “not before time, eh?” B/c it’s tedious (I did it by check … after check, after check …. *writer’s cramp*) and a PITA to look up all the addresses and such.

    Doug’s itinerant reminders with these posts was really helpful in reminding me to get off my fat ass.

    Thank you, Doug!

  25. 25.

    Major Major Major Major

    @TenguPhule: Night of the Living Dead sez:

    The Survival Command Center at the Pentagon has disclosed that a ghoul can be killed by a shot in the head, or a heavy blow to the skull. Officials are quoted as explaining that since the brain of a ghoul has been activated by the radiation, the plan is kill the brain, and you kill the ghoul.

  26. 26.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    That makes a much better than the fund-raising text message I got last night. “We just got the worst news from Capitol Hill. Republicans are bragging that after they cheered on Brett Kavanaugh in his hearing, money is FLOODING in from their far-right base.”

    So do I believe the “blue tsunami” stuff or the “Repubs are getting truckloads of cash”?

    I choose: neither. Just keep giving money to Democratic causes. Fund-raising on the other side is what it is, whether good or bad, we can’t worry or think about it.

    And what the hell is the Washington Examiner? Somehow when I clicked on that article I briefly found myself on another article, also the Examiner, that says Ben Carson has a brain boosting drug that makes him sooper smart and Donald Trump is demanding that it be released to the American people. It must have leaked from a parallel sci-fi universe because I can’t find it again.

    I suppose I don’t need to say here that I do *NOT* want any drugs that cause Carson or Trump to act and think the way they do.

  27. 27.

    TenguPhule

    @Walker: Its a treaty. Ratified by the Senate Juily 11, 1956.

    What’s one more Constitutional Crisis among so many others?

  34. 34.

    Mary G

    In 1992 I sent Barbara Boxer $5 because she had gone to Orange County to campaign and a bunch of young guys had made her give up speaking by shouting “Feminazi” at her so loudly that even with a mic she could not be heard. After that I never contributed to any politician, because I was hoarding money because I knew I would not be able to work much longer.

    I voted and read Balloon Juice, Andrew Sullivan, and the political news in the newspaper, but my engagement was limited to observation. Bush 43 excellent adventures ramped me up and after Obama was elected I was much more involved/active than I had even been. I started giving to campaigns of out-of-state Senators in 2010, but not much. More in 2010 to 2014 because I saw the train coming down the tracks. A lot, for me, to Hillary in 2016.

    This year all bets are off. I have been throwing $5 contributions to Democrats running for governor, Senate, House, you name it. I shudder when I look at my Act Blue account and see how much it’s added up to. But it’s worth every penny. One article I read said that Democrats were surprised how much they’ve taken in, and that refusing PAC and Goldman Sachs money was well worth it, because so many small donors had stepped up. One consultant said that now a 67-year-old woman giving $25 a month was the typical giver, and I raised my hand, except I’m younger.

  36. 36.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Mary G:

    now a 67-year-old woman giving $25 a month was the typical giver,

    (1) That’s $300/yr. I think that before this cycle, such a level of contribution was pretty much an outlier — that’s how skewed the entire distribution was, towards gynormous contributors.

    (2) it’s a good sign that more people are taking this seriously enough to donat their money at this level

    (3) but this is still ALL WRONG. Most political spending is a zero-sum game. It should all be publicly funded, and private contributions should be forbidden. Mr. Koch, do you wanna contribute? Roll up your sleeves and start working the phones, Mr. Koch!

  38. 38.

    Chetan Murthy

    There’s a saying about conservatives: they only understand a “social” issue when it hits close to home. Everything else is “identity politics”/”welfare state”/”crime”.

    I got to experience that, talking with a friend (she’s still a friend) about politics. She voted against Trump, and is against the GrOPers generally (hence, still a friend). But I made the mistake of engaging with her on the deeper issues. Turns out, she believes the GrOPers went off-the-rails two years ago; before that, heck, she’d have been happy voting for Kasich.

    She thinks the USG shouldn’t be a welfare state; that marijuana shouldn’t be legalized; and that we need to balance the budget. She’s completely unaware of the history of welfare for white people, and discrimination against black people. She has no idea about the careful studies that show that marijuana is wildly safer than alcohol. She thinks that the economy right now is doing great!

    She is, of course, LIVID at the way the GrOPers, Lord Littledick, and his acolyte Rapey-K, have treated and will treat women. But it seems like that’s where it ends.

    It’s very disappointing. It just reinforces Chef’s dictum: “Never get out of the boat”.

    Sigh.

  40. 40.

    Chyron HR

    Fuck, I want to play mobile games instead of working but I have to keep my stupid phone shut off. Thanks, Obama.

  42. 42.

    Jeffro

    @ruemara:

    I won’t believe the Republicans have lost until they’ve fully lost in 2020.

    AND until after we’ve well-packed SCOTUS (I think 15 justices sounds pretty good) so that the hard work of President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, and Majority Leader Schumer don’t get undone by Koch-heads.

    THAT’S when I’ll believe they’ve lost.

  43. 43.

    TenguPhule

    The day after Ford’s testimony, Trump on Friday declared her to be a “very credible” witness.

    “I thought her testimony was very compelling, and she looks like a very fine woman to me. A very fine woman,” Trump said. He also praised Kavanaugh’s testimony before adding: “But certainly she was a very credible witness. She was very good in many respects.”

    That doesn’t comport at all with what Trump did Tuesday night, when he deliberately attacked her credibility. Trump’s allusions to the things she couldn’t remember were clearly geared toward suggesting that she had a selective memory or that her memory can’t be trusted. Trump tacitly admitted what he said Friday wasn’t honest.

    But what changed, besides the date on the calendar?

    I admit this only occurred to me too after the fact.

    Trump keeps contradicting himself so fast that its going Plaid.

  44. 44.

    John M. Burt

    I wouldn’t put too much stock in that claim that working-class voters are actually giving more than a handful of super-rich donors. Remember, this is a claim being made by GOPers with their hands out to working-class rubes.
    We’re in danger of putting ourselves in the position of the Russian Jew in the old joke, happily reading the anti-Semitic newspaper full of wonderful news about how rich and influential Jews are….

  45. 45.

    TenguPhule

    @Jeffro:

    THAT’S when I’ll believe they’ve lost.

    And even then, don’t rest easy until Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch and Roberts are having open casket funerals.

  50. 50.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @TenguPhule:
    When I saw that, it pissed me off so bad. US sovereignty is to not be violated but smaller, weaker nations can be rolled and must always abide by international law. It’s such disgusting hypocritical, neonationalist arrogance that could only come from the 21st century GOP

    I hope the rest of the world comes to associate American conservatives with this; that they are illegitimate and don’t truly represent us.

  52. 52.

    Jeffro

    @TenguPhule: Nah…I’m okay with having 11-4 decisions for the next several years. No need to wish them ill.

    I think it was in an earlier thread, though, where some commentor noted Trumpov’s future gravesite as a tourist attraction/urinal or something like that. To that, can I just say Ay-effing-men.

  54. 54.

    D58826

    Got the test txt. Sun still in the sky. Apples still fall to earth. Dogs contuse to smell each others butts. I guess we survived the textocalypse

  55. 55.

    germy

    @Amir Khalid:

    The phrase “Presidential alert” is one I would never apply to Donald Trump.

    I had more than enough trouble with “President Elect”

  56. 56.

    Mel

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:
    Wow! The “SooperSmart drug*” article sounds like a fine piece of journalism right up there with the “Hilary Adopts Alien Baby” National Enquirer bits from days of yore.

    “Smart like Ben!” Now there’s a Republican catchphrase that I actually believe.

    * Warning: SooperSmart Drug can cause narcolepsy, racism, misogyny, sociopathy, delusions of grandeur, severe cognitive deficits, public shoutiness, shrinkage of hands, and uncontrollable urges to hoard grain in makeshift pyramids. Take only as directed.

  57. 57.

    TenguPhule

    @Jeffro:

    Nah…I’m okay with having 11-4 decisions for the next several years. No need to wish them ill.

    Mark my words, the Nazis will escalate. They always do.

  59. 59.

    rk

    Well I just read that republicans are energized by Brent Kavanaugh. So much for the blue tsunami.

  61. 61.

    Mnemosyne

    @rk:

    And if a random pseudonymous commenter on a blog says it’s true, it must be true. I guess we’d all better stop contributing now, right?

  64. 64.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Mnemosyne: I don’t know if it’s true or not, but as I said in #26, DCCC is using those words in their latest doom-and-gloom fundraising text. I don’t respond well to those texts, they irritate the hell out of me, but I suppose they have their place in an all-out fundraising effort.

    It’s possible, even probable, that both things are true. That there has been a massive fundraising tsunami on the blue side, but that the Republican leadership has been able to use the Kavanaugh spectacle to shake a few more shekels out of their base too. Porque no los dos?

    If we hear that the Republicans are starting to put money back into the close races where they’re doing triage right now, then I’ll worry. But what good does worry do? Just keep giving (I tell myself).

  65. 65.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Specifically, what the DCCC text last night said was “GOP says it sees bounce from Kavanaugh and Republicans are bragging that… money is FLOODING… donations SKYROCKET”.

    So we don’t know what the numbers are, and no doubt the GOP is exaggerating the bounce, but the DCCC has decided to quote the GOP’s claims.

  66. 66.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Mnemosyne: On the other hand, I think noting that “Republicans” are in fact that they start getting really energized to vote for the GOP when… several women come out to tell credible stories that their SC nominee is a rapist.

    I guess it’s what they like to hear.

  67. 67.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Those awful DCCC fund-raising letters *always* claim doom and gloom. That’s how they try and get you to donate, and they’re incredibly exasperating. They try to make everything sound dire at all times so you’ll panic and give them money.

    They’re not a good indicator of anything.

  70. 70.

    J R in WV

    @Chetan Murthy:

    If you have a credit or debit card, ActBlue is a wonderful organization that accepts donations to progressive Democratic candidates and immediately moves those funds to the actual campaign fund. The organization is non-profit and funded by donations to ActBlue, It offers donors the opportunity to make a small “tip” donation to ActBlue when donating to a candidate, but that’s completely voluntary.

    Long ago I saved my CC data at ActBlue, which isn’t required at all, but it makes donating really quick and easy. You get an email receipt for every donation, which you can file in an ActBlue folder to track all your donation, and they also provide ways to track donations on their web site.

    It’s a well done interface both for donors and office seekers. I highly recommend their service if you want to donate in any amounts. I am fortunate to be able to donate frequently to people like Sharice Davids, MJ Hagar, Beto, Amy McGrath, etc. It helps me sleep a little better at night to know I’m doing all I can to help good Democrats run to defeat Russian-Republican fascists. I volunteer to do work as well. I hesitate to try to do door-to-door, my knees, ankles and hips are not what they once were, but sitting and phone banking, I can do that.

    And every once in a while I get a republican on the phone so obnoxious I can blurt out an obvious truth, like “You know that Voting R means voting for Russia, don’t you?” before hanging up… not great fun, but a little happy inside after that once in a great while. Some of those guys are so full of Faux News and so eager to share it with a self proclaimed Democrat that it just works for me to hit back where it hurts.

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