Utopia Talk / Politics / Election war chests

habebe Member	Fri Sep 25 08:16:28 Well, its sounds cathier than funding. I can't seem to get clear numbers on the presidential race on who has more loot. I know Bloomberg is spending a lot, but much less than he promised.Well now that he is under investigation who knows. In SC its Lindsey Graham vs Jaime Harrison. I literally get JH vids every other commercial. He has supposedly raised 100 million to Lindsay's 13 million. Now Truth be told, Lindsey is not loved by anyone here. But we can live with him. Jaime has no real chance. An even worse waste of money is Kentucky. Libs salivate at getting rid of Mitch that they wasting shitloads of money on a race that Mitch has a 96% chance of winning. Does anyone have good cites on the amounts?
habebe Member	Fri Sep 25 08:26:02 Not sure if this is up to date http://www.opensecrets.org/2020-presidential-race
habebe Member	Fri Sep 25 08:26:59 http://www...ve-raised-in-the-2020-election This is Sept. 20th
Rugian Member	Fri Sep 25 09:05:55 Bloomberg is under investigation by the state of Florida for paying off the fines of ex-felons so they can vote for Biden. Lol
jergul large member	Fri Sep 25 09:26:42 Well that was a given. GOP controls Florida. Florida is one of the States that will not allow international observers to monitor the election.
Habebe Member	Fri Sep 25 09:31:33 Well, The issue is that he bluntly stated his intent. Which was to get more Biden votes. So the law sees that as giving someone " something of value" in order to effect there vote. Considering he did this with the intent that these people would vote for Biden it does seem wrong.
jergul large member	Fri Sep 25 09:39:38 Oh, is that what the GOP is saying. Nice! Anyway, it hardly matters. All that has happened is that the GOP stooge has asked the Feds to investigate. Perhaps bloomberg will be fined in a few years.
Rugian Member	Fri Sep 25 09:40:08 Jergul When was the last time your elections were subject to international observation? You hypocrite. Anyway, looks like Trump got crushed in August on fundraising. Maybe he should spend less time alienating his billionaire donors and more time trying to not look like an idiot.
jergul large member	Fri Sep 25 09:42:02 "Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his political operation have raised more than $16 million from supporters and foundations over the last week to pay the court fines and fees for over 30,000 Black and Latino voters in Florida with felonies, allowing them to vote in the upcoming election. The fundraising effort, according to multiple Bloomberg aides, will benefit the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, an organization run by formerly incarcerated people who are working to make it easier for ex-felons to vote. "The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy and no American should be denied that right," Bloomberg said. "Working together with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, we are determined to end disenfranchisement and the discrimination that has always driven it." The Washington Post and Associated Press earlier reported on the effort. Voters in Florida approved a constitutional amendment during the 2018 midterms that restored voting rights to more than a million people previously convicted of felonies, except those imprisoned for murder or sex offenses. Republicans in the state passed and signed a subsequent law that required all former felons pay their outstanding debts, including court fees. The Supreme Court later upheld the law. Bloomberg, after spending over $1 billion on a failed Democratic primary campaign, has committed to spend at least $100 million on helping Democratic nominee Joe Biden win Florida, a state central to President Donald Trump's electoral strategy. The money for this effort did not come personally from the former New York mayor, and an aide said the money raised would not count against his plan to spend over $100 million in the state." CNN Bloomberg is not actually paying the fines either.
Rugian Member	Fri Sep 25 09:42:18 Jergul What's your opinion on the New York AG using her powers to shut down the NRA and investigate the president? You're quite quick to call out Rep AGs for using their office for legitimate purposes; let's see if you're equally quick to call out Dem AGs who use their office to target their political opponents.
jergul large member	Fri Sep 25 09:54:53 Investigations into the Trump organization for tax evasion? That is evidence driven and is not timed to coincide with the election process. I will say tsk, tsk and a solid uffda if Trump's personal IRS returns are leaked before the election however. That would be bad. The NRA is supposedly a non-profit. http://www...-nra-after-fraud-investigation So, no. I am not as quick to condemn investigations into fraud as I am to condemn blatant voter suppression against the direct will of Florida's citizens.
Wrath of Orion Member	Fri Sep 25 10:01:22 http://www...-felons-fines-so-they-can-vote "'It is a third degree felony for someone to either directly or indirectly provide something of value to impact whether or not someone votes,' Gaetz said." Assuming this is accurate, it's unlikely to be problematic considering... "Florida's law requiring felons to pay fines before they can vote was recently upheld by a federal appeals court. Julie Ebenstein, an attorney with the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, says that in court part of the state's defense was that if felons don't have the funds, others could always pay for them." So apparently the state already set legal argument precedent in court that others paying the fines of the felons was acceptable. Now if the issue is the statements made by one of the aides about getting more Democrat votes, that's probably true, but certainly some will vote Republican. As far as I can tell, Bloomberg's group is not controlling how this donated money is spent by the FRRC. If *they* are specifically targeting and influencing people to vote Democrat, that would be a problem.
Habebe Member	Fri Sep 25 10:06:31 I will say on a moral basis the right to vite ahould.not have been taken to begin with. In practical terms, young black voters generally don't want to vote anyway, at least they have no enthusiasm to do so. Woo, There argument is not that someone else paid it, but that they paid it with the intent to get them to vote because they beleived they wouldmsupport there candidate.
Habebe Member	Fri Sep 25 10:08:40 Wo, My bad, you already addressed that.
jergul large member	Fri Sep 25 10:13:54 habebe Bloomberg is at least one step away. He is not paying the fines. An organization run by former inmates is paying the fines.
Wrath of Orion Member	Fri Sep 25 10:14:56 Yeah, I don't see any issue with Bloomberg's group here (at least from the little I've read). They donated to the group. Now, they know full well that it's likely more Democrat votes will come from this effort than Republican votes. It would be nice to see Bloomberg put money toward restoring more people's voting rights in general. Now, if something is discovered about the FRRC and using that money to essentially buy Democrat votes (rather just working toward restoring all eligible felons the right to vote in FL), then that would indeed be a problem. But from everything I've seen, the FRRC statements have been very neutral and down the middle regarding just getting felon's the ability to vote.
Habebe Member	Fri Sep 25 10:15:59 Jergul , That may have legally isolated him then, not sure. Regardless his 100 million being spent on ads and shit will have a greater impact I would think.
Habebe Member	Fri Sep 25 10:18:08 Taking away someones vote has zero detterence effect. Thus I don't see the logic behind it other than shrinking The voter pool.
Wrath of Orion Member	Fri Sep 25 10:18:51 I'm not sure about that, Habebe. The article I posted says most in FL have made up their minds and aren't likely to change. So their theory is that advertising won't make a huge difference, but adding to the eligible voter pool might make more of a difference. Again, I'm relying on the article for that information. I have not viewed numbers and polls myself.
jergul large member	Fri Sep 25 10:21:04 habebe It was never meant as a deterrent. It was always that morally corrupt individuals have no right to taint the election process with their vile votes.
Habebe Member	Fri Sep 25 10:24:47 Woo, I think enthusiasm to vote might have more of an effect. I wonder what the ages/races of these felons are. That could have an impact. 538 did a poll that showed 29% of younger black voters are enthusiastic to vote. Now Fla rates may differ from nationally. http://www...heading-into-election-day/amp/
Habebe Member	Fri Sep 25 10:26:00 Woo, So the combined effext.of increasing the pool AND driving up enthusiasm could have a greater effect.
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