It’s becoming de rigueur for Democrats to refuse money from PACs and industry lobbyists, but Elizabeth Warren announced today that she’s taking it a step further:
There’s another huge way in which money influences presidential campaigns. It usually goes unspoken, but I want to call it out: Candidates for public office in America spend way too much time with wealthy donors.
Consider this: For every time you see a presidential candidate talking with voters at a town hall, rally, or local diner, those same candidates are spending three or four or five times as long with wealthy donors — on the phone, or in conference rooms at hedge fund offices, or at fancy receptions and intimate dinners — all behind closed doors.
Even when the candidate’s heart is in the right place and the donor is well-intentioned, that time creates a direct relationship between wealth and access to our political leaders. I believe that’s wrong: The amount of money you can give shouldn’t determine the amount of time you get to spend with a candidate…
So I’ve made a decision: My presidential primary campaign will be run on the principle of equal access for anybody who joins it.
That means no fancy receptions or big money fundraisers only with people who can write the big checks. And when I thank the people giving to my campaign, it will not be based on the size of their donation. It means that wealthy donors won’t be able to purchase better seats or one-on-one time with me at our events. And it means I won’t be doing “call time,” which is when candidates take hours to call wealthy donors to ask for their support. As a candidate for president, the expectation is you make hours of these calls a week and attend dozens of these exclusive events every quarter.
I’m saying no to that. I am grateful for every donation we get — and we need every single one! — but what matters more, much more, is that everybody who supports my campaign is treated equally, regardless of how much they can afford to give. And doing things this way will give me hundreds and hundreds of hours of time back to spend with more voters, grassroots donors, and volunteers.
She’s right, of course — the current fundraising system does amplify the voices of the wealthy. Democrats (and yes, Sanders too) have demonstrated you can raise scads of money if you get a lot of people to contribute a little, but even Mr. $27 sucked up to rich liberals like Ben & Jerry, didn’t he?
I don’t have a sense of how much money Warren or any other candidate would leave on the table by refusing to cater to wealthy donors who want face time. Is Warren’s move a unilateral disarmament that will give her opponents a huge — perhaps insurmountable — advantage? Is it smart politics in an era where addressing wealth inequality is an urgent priority for Democratic voters?
Beats me. But leaving aside political strategy considerations, I like the idea.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I have no idea if this will impact her likelihood of success, but it’s a good idea. And if I were her, I’d be relieved not to have to do those things.
It’s my regular blogging day. I blogged about how to add words without padding if your novel’s draft is too short.
trollhattan
Can’t wait to see how Top-This Wilmer responds.
“I will not have call time. I will have fax time only!”
kindness
If a millionaire wants to support policies that I support I would take their money and feel good about it. Isn’t it what they want more than how much they can pay? I think so.
MattF
So, if Jeff Bezos calls, she’s going to say ‘Get in line’?
germy
@trollhattan:
“I will only accept money from Russian bots!”
Anonymous At Work
I think it’s smart. Helps stick her out from the crowd a bit while out-flanking Sanders AND it gives people an affirmative reason to donate to her if they were on the fence before.
burnspbesq
No good deed goes unpunished.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@MattF: From what Betty posted, she’s pretty specific about what she says she won’t do (except for how she’d thank donors–that’s a little vague). But no exclusive reception, special seats, and call time would still allow her to talk to Bezos.
burnspbesq
Warren’s campaign will be remembered as a great lesson in how to shape the conversation without running any meaningful risk of actually winning.
I hope Harris, or Gillibrand, or Booker, or whoever gets the nom is smart enough to run on Warren’s policy portfolio. A skilled politician will KILL with this stuff.
Mnemosyne
Given that Wilmer’s supporters were screaming abuse outside of George Clooney’s house in 2016, I don’t think this is going to work as well as Warren hopes it will. As far as they’re concerned, a rich liberal movie star is just as corrupt as the Koch brothers.
tobie
I like Warren when she talks about policy. Her ideas on universal childcare are bold and welcome. Her proposal on corporate responsibility would help reverse the insidious pattern of funneling profits to shareholders instead of to employees. I’d be happy to hear her on federal financing for federal elections. BUT I hate this self-aggrandizing, inauthentic, penny ante bullshit. The series of tweets posted on this reminds me of her campaign kickoff video in her kitchen. Get it, she’s in the kitchen because she’s the candidate addressing kitchen table issues. Get it, she’s drinking a beer because she’s regular folk not an elitist who drinks chardonnay. It’s all so ham-handed. I like her progressivism but find her populism annoying.
WaterGirl
@burnspbesq: You don’t think Warren has any meaningful chance of winning?
satby
@Mnemosyne:
Fixed that for you.
NotMax
Close to an open thread, so FYI.
burnspbesq
@WaterGirl:
I wish I could convince myself otherwise … and if I’m wrong, I will gleefully eat my wotds … but no, I am nof seeing it. Having taught ay Harvard Law will be used against her by the right, and having not resigned from the faculty in the wake of Larry Summers’ horrific comments about women in the sciences will be used against her by the purer-than-thou left.
burnspbesq
@tobie:
That “insidious pattern” is an ironclad legal requirement. But you know that.
Betty Cracker
@burnspbesq: I hope you’re right that she shapes the conversation, win or lose. Still too early to tell, IMO.
eclare
I wonder if she is doing this she doesn’t think she would get their money? Not sure I agree with this, esp if it pushes other Dems to do the same. Money in politics corrupts, absolutely, but you better believe if Adelson wants a meet and greet, he’ll get one. Everything is on the line, if George Clooney wants to throw a fancy dinner for her, why not let him?
tobie
@burnspbesq: Sure…and I think you know that I was talking about creating incentives so companies would pay higher wages and offer better benefits to workers, which is not something shareholders generally applaud.
VeniceRiley
Call me a cynic, but maybe she isn’t getting any- so she says she doesn’t want any.
ruemara
@satby: Thanks. That’s the real deal.
Hmmm. The purity voices of a minority are really adding in a lot of constraints to the election. I can support it, because if I had that level of money, I’d donate it just because. I don’t need to meet you and frankly, if I can do it in my pjs without leaving home, I’m all for it. I just wonder if it takes enough rich person ego into consideration. The GOP is being propped up by very, VERY wealthy people. We shall see, won’t we?
eclare
@VeniceRiley: Great minds, see #18.
Jay
Google Regulatory Capture some time.
It’s a good move by Warren. Campaigns spend hundreds of hours chasing wealthy Donors, smoozing with wealthy Donors, all for $1500 in donation, “other” forms of support, PAC money, and any real, significant financial support involves corruption.
It’s how a Cantidate charges out of the gate as a Fight for $15 advocate and ends their campaign as “we can’t afford that yet”.
Raven
@Dorothy A. Winsor: If I had more time I’d write you a shorter letter.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Raven: Always a good one!
Steeplejack
I don’t pretend to understand the nuances of campaign financing, and I’m not sure that Elizabeth Warren is my preferred candidate, but this motivates me to throw her some dollars, which I will do this week. (Commitment!)
Mary G
The more I see of Warren the more I like her.
tobie
@VeniceRiley: Maybe…I don’t have any read on this. But one thing that some of Wilmer’s donors did is to contribute $27 ten times in the primaries to hit the max of $2700 without distorting his small donation statistics.
john b
@tobie: 100 times?
Mary G
tobie
@john b: Yes, you are correct with your figure. I have two friends who maxed out during the primary season through frequent small donations.
zhena gogolia
@MattF:
This feels like a gimmick to me.
I’m still with Harris.
Kay
Four hours. A day. And that’s before attending the dinners with rich donors and the fundraisers with rich donors.
This has turned into a substantial chunk of their work. So what’s the limit? Where does it end? Is it an arms race? If we spend 4 hours a day doing this do they spend 5? If they spend more this cycle do we then go to… 8 hours a day calling well-off people?
They should all thank her. Maybe if this gets tamed they can actually do their jobs instead of stroking the egos of their donors.
Princess
I don’t know how it will affect her but I gave her some money today because I agree that tiered/access fundraising is a problem, and also because I think supporting her early is the best way to end Wilmer’s campaign.
Kay
Did you require a personal phone call from the candidates you donated to in ’16?
Why not? So if you make 50k and donate a thousand you don’t deserve a call but someone with 500k who donates 10 needs one? Requires one. Must be personally called or they won’t donate? Do they not support the candidate same as you?
Damien
@Mary G:
Das ist eine amerikaner totenkopf der die untermensch. Einer von veilen.
Sorry, thought we should just discuss ICE in their mother tongue.
Steeplejack
@burnspbesq:
Are you moving to Texas, or did I misinterpret a comment of yours a few weeks ago?
ns
I happen to know that Warren went to a private fundraising dinner in SF last year that netted 200K from less than 20 people. According to the host, she was impressed how Warren spoke for several hours without even eating the food (catered from a chef in a Michelin starred restaurant). I’m glad she’s sick of that scene already but she isn’t exactly above it.
Brachiator
I really don’t care much about fund raising. I know that purity pony progressives slobber over grassroots contributors and ultimately only want government funding for elections, but I tire of the idea of the government as gigantic piggy bank that we dip into for everything.
And corporations exist. They are part of society. The only question is how you deal with and regulate them.
Kay
They all hate it. They all know it’s terrible. They all know it gets worse every cycle. Yet apparently they must keep doing more and more of it, forever.
That’s insane.Someone has to at least question it. Christ, they could have paid for an entire generation of “free college” for what they’ve spent on these campaigns.
Jay
@Kay:
Call time is basically boiler room work trying to get big donors to keep donating year after year and cross donate to other Democrats, the DCC and the DNC, and Democratic Party supporting/Single Issue PAC’s.
Doug R
Considering how much Obama raising from small donors, I don’t think Warren is in much trouble here.
Also a good way to slide sideways into public financing of elections.
Kay
@Jay:
Okay but if it’s 4 hours a day this cycle it’ll be 5 hours a day next cycle, because it ALWAYS goes up, never down.
You’re all telling me liberal donors support these candidates and policies. We donate without personal calls and meetings. Why can’t they? If they all stopped stroking them would George Clooney no longer care who is president? Because if he would then it’s not about candidates and policy, is it. It’s about access and special treatment.
Miss Bianca
@burnspbesq: Are you really so sure she won’t get nominated? You really think Booker or Gillibrand will show better?
Because I feel pretty sure that it’s way too soon to write her off, and way too soon to say categorically who is going to outperform her in the primaries.
Doug R
@Kay: I think Jesus made this point after watching a widow donate a mite which was all she had vs rich pricks donating a mere fraction of a percent of their wealth.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Miss Bianca: Right. A lot of unpredictable stuff can happen.
When are the debates?
tybee
perhaps a little light on Amy’s terribleness as a boss…
https://medium.com/@erick.garcia.luna/open-letter-to-the-editors-e65482976de7
Former Staffers on coverage of Amy Klobuchar
We previously worked for Senator Klobuchar and some of us were among the former staffers contacted by the New York Times and other media outlets to share our experiences about working in her office. Unfortunately, the positive anecdotes and stories we experienced have not been fully reported by the Times and other media. We do not believe these reports adequately describe our thoughts on Amy Klobuchar, many of which we shared with the authors.
Amy would be there for us after a loss in the family or help make an important call instrumental to our careers. She’d celebrate our professional accomplishments and be part of our lives, whether it was dancing at our weddings or visiting us after we brought our newborns home. She was there for us in the hard times, too. And at the office, she pushed us to be better professionals and public servants. We remain grateful for our time in Senator Klobuchar’s office and still consider Amy a mentor and friend. Sadly, this was not fully conveyed in the recent news reports…
Kent
Warren is the ONLY current candidate who has advocated abandoning the Senate filibuster. While she hasn’t outright advocated it, she has come the closest. Even Sanders supports the filibuster. As long as all the current candidates support the undemocratic notion that minority of conservative white Senators from red states can block any progressive legislation we will never get anywhere.
None of the rest of it really matters if Ted Cruz has a filibuster veto on any Dem legislation.
As for fundraising. I weary of this sort of posturing. No matter who wins the primary they will have plenty of funds to compete in the general election. In the primary itself, Warren has to win big early in small states that don’t require a lot of money. After that the race turns west and south where she will be at a disadvantage. If she doesn’t already have momentum going into CA and the south then the money isn’t really going to matter.
Kay
@Doug R:
The private fundraisers are different than the political events the public and media attend. One is private and one is public. She’s asking us to examine that and ask why that is. If it’s BECAUSE they donate large chunks and we donate small chunks than it is absolutely, 100%, preferential treatment. Maybe that’s fine with us. Maybe they can buy special treatment. But someone should at least question it.
If they’re spending 4 hours a day calling donors and you donated 238 dollars and they didn’t call YOU then let’s at least admit this is a tiered system and you’re on the bottom. Because that’s a fact.
Uncle Cosmo
@WaterGirl: burnsie, as always, pontificates as if his IQ is 50 points higher than that of anyone else in the conversation. In my experience, those who put an “esq” after their names usually don’t know esquat.
Uncle Cosmo
@Jay: FTR I think “Cantidate” is a prime candidate for best Fingerfehler of the cycle (I prezoom it was unintedated). Perfect description of Wilmer IMHO – with or without an apostrophe between the n & the t.
Jay
@Kay:
The Orgs, the PAC’s and many of the Campaigns rely on regular donations from the Big Donors. It’s the meat and potatoes, small donors are the gravy.
And yes, it’s gonna go up year after year because in one corner, you have the Kochs, the Mercers, Addelson and Citizens United, and in the other corner,……….. whistles.
And of course, it effects Legislators priorities and legislation, skewing it in favour of the few Big Donors and away from the 10’s of thousands of constituents.
Money in politics is a big problem. It’s one of the reasons “we” can’t have nice things.
gwangung
@Kay:
In the non-profit world, there is the 90/10 rule: You get 90% of your money from 10% of your donors.
I don’t think it’s any different in the political campaign world, and donors there expect more a say with the object of their donations.
I have no problem with this action, even if turns out to be more symbolic than substantive, if it turns a more illuminating light on campaign finances.
Uncle Cosmo
@Damien: Your German I teacher just told me he doesn’t know whether to kill himself in the name of atonement or kill you in the name of linguistic justice.
Jay
@tybee:
LGM put this up yesterday:
“Unlike Kirsten Gillibrand’s silverware choices or Kamala Harris’s condiment decisions, Amy Klobuchar’s alleged mistreatment of employees — subject of another prominent story — are theoretically material to her presidential candidacy. (On the other hand, the eating-salad-with-a-comb story that is getting all the attention is the kind of trivial bullshit the media obsessed over in 2015-6 while mostly passing over, say, Trump bilking tens of millions of dollars out of people with a fake “university.”) The question persists, however, of whether Klobucahar is being treated differently than a male senator who behaved similarly. Laura McGann has a compelling case that the answer is “yes”:”
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2019/02/amy-klobuchar-treated-double-standard
oldster
Saying, “she’s only doing this because the big money was not going to give to her anyhow,”
is another way of saying,
“other candidates don’t dare to say this, because big money has their mouths sewn shut.”
You think you’re making a clever criticism of her.
You’re not.
Instead, you are exactly illustrating why she is doing the right thing.
debbie
Jesus, NPR, kick Mary Louise Kelly to the curb. She is making even Laura Logan look good by comparison.
delk
Wow. RIP Mark Hollis
JanieM
@kindness:
Does she say anywhere that she won’t take their money? No she does not. In fact she makes it very explicit:
.
Patricia Kayden
Good move for Warren. Kind of separates her from the pack, at least for now. It’s a shame that money could buy someone as odious as Trump a second term.
Jay
@oldster:
Yup.
@JanieM:
Yup. She made it clear that her Campaign isn’t going to woo the Big Money interests.
Damien
@Uncle Cosmo:
Yeah, I’m garbage at German and fully admit it. Pero si nuestro ejército fascista ICE era más como algo de lo que se podría hablar más apropiadamente en español, ¡ya veremos quién es más basura!
JPL
@tybee: Thank you for that link. Early on I had read that republicans were concerned about her candidacy the most. I guess the NYTImes is just playing true to form. She’s getting the Hillary treatment early.
Michael Cain
Related from the perspective of without big-donor money, candidates need lots of little donors… I’m a registered Dem in Colorado and occasional contributor. Last year it was clear that candidates around the country were sharing e-mail lists — I got appeals for money from everyone. At present, the only fundraising e-mails I’m getting are from Harris. My hypotheses are: (a) she’s ahead of the others in getting her e-mail operation up to speed; (b) the software they all use has taken note of the fact that I very seldom donate outside of the 11 contiguous western states; or (c) they’re all conceding the West to her. I can’t decide which is more likely.
Uncle Cosmo
Quite wasted on me, hombre – no hablo español.
IMHO if yer gonna post in a language other than Murkin ya oughta be competent enuf to get it mostly right – or badly enuf wrong that it’s a hoot.
Doug R
@Damien: All you really need to know is “zeig heil!”.
bemused
@tybee:
Nice to read some positive things from Amy staffers. I think the blathering about her is somewhere in the middle. I’ve read people calling her passive aggressive. Heck, she’s a Minnesotan, born and bred. I don’t think many Minnesotans think being passive aggressive is much of a thing. We all know how to be aggressive passively.
piratedan
@tybee: so in usual NYT fashion, they came for the comprehensive profile showing that AK is a fully faceted person and then kept the dirt, turned it into a hatchet job because she’s a Dem candidate. There is a difference in being a bad boss and being a demanding task master who expect people to rise to the occasion. In the public service gig, failing on the job means that sometimes constituent needs go unmet, people don’t get paid or folks get deported or have their business shut down or even evicted.
Depending upon the circumstances, I can understand that bosses can get pissed if they feel passionate about their jobs and about helping people. Or it could be that AK has a temper and she gets pissed off and angry just like the rest of us do, perhaps she blows up and that’s the end of it. Perhaps she’s vindictive but then again, maybe she takes some of this personally and takes people fucking over other people personally, I don’t know.
One thing I do know, from now on, I’m going to have a hard time believing any dirt on any Dem candidate that comes out of a MSM outlet because it sure seems like the fucking knives are out for anyone that might be able to realistically be the Dem candidate.
Tiger Beat on the Potomac lives on apparently and if you’re not one of the cool GOP kids, be prepared to be slagged.
Doug R
@Michael Cain: I think they’re at the everyone for themselves stage. When there’s a few dropouts, then they’ll start sharing lists.
Mike in NC
@Patricia Kayden: In addition to the Koch brothers and Shelly Adelson, there must be at least a few dozen billionaires eager to bankroll Trump in expectation of huge tax cuts and more deregulation.
A Ghost To Most
@Uncle Cosmo: Esquat. So stealing that.
Lots of folks with letters after their name act that way.
jl
I think Warren is only doing this for the primaries. I don’t think she will take industry PAC money for general, but she won’t be quite as strict.
But, I wanted Warren to run in 2016, so I will help out all I can for her now that she is running.
Edit: Also think this kind of big bold policy first approach is needed for a good shot for any candidate running in Dem primaries.
spudgun
@delk: Oh no…a voice from my formative teenage years…
This is very sad news.
chris
Oh look, a generation of war.
ETA: Blog is dead?
rikyrah
Don’t think this is a good idea
sdhays
@Kay: And to link with the other points you were making in the previous thread, rich people aren’t smarter or better than the rest of us. Our society doesn’t benefit from letting them provide more input into our government. They’re morons, screwups, and, I assume, some are good people.
They will always have outsized influence because money is power. But it doesn’t have to mean they have to have all the power. I don’t know yet who I’ll vote for, but I’m more inclined to send money to Elizabeth Warren because of this move.
Steeplejack
@chris:
Yeah, weird. There was a gap there of almost half an hour with no comments anywhere.
trollhattan
@Steeplejack:
Hopefully it hasn’t caught comment measles from LGM. They’ve been jacked up for days.
Quarantine!
rikyrah
Uh huh ??
Letting Your Ego Hurt Your Cause: AOC Demonstrates with Green New Deal https://www.thepeoplesview.net/main/2019/2/25/letting-your-ego-hurt-your-cause-aoc-demonstrates-with-green-new-deal#
Baud
Pierce
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a26522490/elizabeth-warren-2020-child-care-big-donors/
Steeplejack
@trollhattan:
Eek.
There was a similar hiatus around 5:00 this morning, but lack of commenters is more plausible at that time.
Ohio Mom
@Michael Cain: I’m in Ohio and I get constant emails from Kamala Harris. Every day just about.
Baud
Dear Oligarchs,
If you want to pay fine face time with a Dem candidate, Baud! 2020! is open for business.
Baud
I thought the new TV show FBI would be all about going after a corrupt and treasonous president. Am disappointed.
Jay
@rikyrah:
AOC is the only Rep paying her staff a living wage for DC.
Meanwhile ReThugs are quoting Mussolini and calling for the murders of Democrats.
It would be nice if the “bagging on” confined itself to “them” and not “us”.
Amir Khalid
@Damien:
Das sollte “Das ist nur der Tod eines von den vielen amerikanischen Untermenschen.” sein.
debbie
@rikyrah:
That was a short honeymoon.
chris
@Baud: All in for Baud!2020!
(I’m in Canada. Please send details on money laundering.)
Jay
Long read, inside the nasty, miserable and PSTD world of the “contractors” the Book of Faces underpays to moderate Facebook Filth.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona
Jay
@chris:
You’ll need to send the money to me, I’m the Campaign Finance Chair, and because I’m also in Canada, your FEC alibi.
gwangung
@Baud: Baud! Fuck yeah!
waratah
I do not see why they can’t accept the maximum amount from an individual if they can afford it. This is not giving them promises any more than my small amount.
How you stop the dinners I do not know. Even the small donors go to see them talk personally in the hope of seeing them.
She may be heading off Bernie’s followers attacks like they did to Beto. They noticed larger amounts working at certain company’s. I think that everyone should be able to donate where ever they work.
The Midnight Lurker
Bernie’s townhall is on CNN. Just FYI.
And he WILL release 10 years of tax returns. Soon. Maybe.
“They’re very boring tax returns.”
Christ, I HATE CNN!
gwangung
@waratah:
Think you misunderstood. She’s stopping the private dinners available only to the richest donors, who aren’t necessarily giving individually, but as part of a PAC.
Brachiator
@Jay:
So, how much do they pay?
Kirk Spencer
@Baud: So either I’m misreading or I seeing a lot of misdirection.
I read “I will not pursue big donors but I’ll take their money if they give it.” I’m seeing a lot of claims she said “I won’t take big donors’ money.”
(Edited to note I’m not claiming Baud is doing this. His is just the convenient comment to which I’m responding.)
There’s a large gap there, and it’s setting up a false claim of hypocrisy. That’s something I’ve seen before – subtle, but powerful if not called out before the attacks.
waratah
@gwangung: thank you I thought she had already put PAC’s off the table.
Jay
@Brachiator:
$15 an hour.
The Midnight Lurker
Bernie paraphrasing FDR now. Blitzer looks drugged.
Wish I was.
The Midnight Lurker
Warm crowd for Bernie when he says (me paraphrasing Bernie) ‘We need to leave our children’s children a habitable planet!’
Jay
@waratah:
A SOP is for a Corporation to give Managers a $3000 bonus, on the condition that they “donate” $2700 to the Corporations cantidate or preferred PAC.
It’s illegal but the FEC is about as good at investigating and prosecuting Big Donors as the IRS is at auditing Billionaires.
Clooney’s hosted party for Hillary Clinton had a $10k cover charge.
burnspbesq
@Steeplejack:
Done deal. Working on insuring and registering the car this week then driver’s license, then voter registration.
Living in Cedar Park, the first suburb northwest of Austin. Laughing at the locals who think they have bad traffic and an out-of-control housing market.
waratah
@Jay: I know company’s do that but I can’t see why the candidate would owe that company.
What I do not know is how are donations like the ones Clooney arranged classified.
burnspbesq
@Uncle Cosmo:
Explain why I’m wrong, or …
chris
@Jay: Nuh uh, principals only. Baud can come to the wall and I’ll catapult it over. Large coffee can full of loonies and toonies should fly pretty good, eh?
Baud
@Jay:
Since the personal donation limit is less than that, the money didn’t all go to Hillary.
JR
@Kay: It’s basically a rule of fundraising. Sure you can raise funds without hassling people, but hassling people works. There’s pretty much no amount of regulation/behavioral change that will fix this problem. All you need is one lost campaign where the candidate (rightly or wrongly) fingers lack of money as a contributing factor for their loss.
Baud
@chris:
That’ll buy you a Robert Kraft Special.
Brachiator
@Jay:
That’s not enough.
chris
@Baud: LOL!
Steeplejack
@burnspbesq:
Cool. I used to visit Austin a lot, but I haven’t been there in over 15 years.
So what prompted this big move? Job change? Vision quest? Joining a cult?
Gin & Tonic
@Steeplejack: Maybe he likes bats.
Uncle Cosmo
@burnspbesq: Or what? You’ll chastise me? As they say by the Volga, horrorshow!
I’m not the one here preening as the repository of all wisdom. I owe you nothing, but you may have my scorn gratis.
Steeplejack
@Gin & Tonic:
All the times I was in Austin, I never went to see the bats. Next time, you always think.
Jay
@waratah:
Pay for Play is common.
So, if you don’t vote the Money’s interests, you don’t get more money next year.
All the groups and Reps that you either shared that windfall with or were also recipients of that largess will hector you daily to vote the money, and will cut you dead if you don’t.
So, 99.9% of the time that a recipient votes against the money, it’s a symbolic vote. The recipient votes for anti-money legislation that’s never going to pass, or they vote against legislation like takes cuts, that is guaranteed to pass, and of course they inform the Money that they are voting for “cover”.
Big Money is seen on the center-left as the major corruptor in American politics and it is. Look at the NRA, or Fossil Fuels.
The Clooney money didn’t just go to Hillary’s Campaign. It was shared out to the DNC, the DCC, various PAC’s and various House and Senate races. That’s a lot of “impact” all across America from one Hollywood party.
@Baud:
In some cases, that’s the problem. When the money is shared across a broad network, that’s also a broad network that can bring pressure to vote the money, and bring pressure to keep bringing in the money.
trnc
Expect a metric ton of right wing assholes to donate a dime and demand time with her, then complain when they don’t get equal time. I love the idea of no favorite$, but she probably should have leaned toward something more vague like “I’ll spend time with as many supporters as I can, even if some of them can’t give anything.”
Having said that, I’m happy that there was no picture or video of a line in the article.
jackmac
I’m usually a lurker and this is Betty Cracker’s thread, but please allow me to share my story. I’m 64. My mom passed with I was eight, my dad three years later. My mom’s death was the pivotal moment of my life as I was placed in a Catholic home when my dad’s sisters (there were four) declined to take me in. I came out almost 10 years later quite ill-prepared for life. I was one of those ADHD kids who struggled and muddled through, drank too much as a young adult and finally had an epiphany when I lost a job. I quit drinking and channeled that ADHD energy to find direction and motivation. I managed to jump start my life and career (I’m a journalist, graphic designer and editor and have had the good fortune to write for major publications around the nation). Two kids came along and both are now in college and doing quite well. I’ve been married to the same women for 41 years. She’s the most patient and supportive person on the planet. Nowadays I still have lots of energy, multi task efficiently and always hit my deadlines! I think about my parents every now and then. There’s no blame or resentment for leaving me in a bad way, I just wish they were around to see their grand kids. The aunts are a different story. I do believe in an afterlife and they will have (or have already had) a day of reckoning for how they treated their brother’s son.
janesays
@Mnemosyne: Unless I misread it, it seems as though Warren intends to treat all wealthy people the same, regardless of how they became wealthy. That means no extra special attention for people like Jeff Bezos… or George Clooney.
Jay
@trnc:
She actually said she was going to spend the time “on the ground”, so if RWNJ’s want to send in a dime, and want her “time”, they can show up to one of her campaign events/open houses like everybody else.
Jay
@janesays:
You misread it.
janesays
@Kent: New Hampshire is an absolute must-win for both Warren and Sanders – whichever one of them doesn’t win that primary can consider their candidacy effectively over. Obviously, it would be best for all of us if Warren emerges as the victor in the Granite State. If neither of them wins, they’re both finished.
eemom
@jackmac:
I think you meant to post this on the next thread. I linked to your comment there.
Your story resonates with me because my Dad (gone 15 years) lost his parents as a young child and also spent years in an orphanage, back in the 1930s-40s.
Ruckus
@jackmac:
Thanks for sharing.
eemom linked to this and I’m glad.
Always nice to read a good story or maybe a not so great story with a great ending.
We can get better. We just have to recognize and try.
janesays
@Jay: Which part did I misread?
George Clooney is known for hosting fancy receptions for Democratic candidates where wealthy people pay $20,000/apiece to be in the same room as the candidate. Isn’t this exactly the sort of thing that Warren was talking about?