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SheenaR

(2,052 posts)
Tue May 3, 2016, 02:41 PM May 2016

Wait... I thought Bernie was the devil for not helping down ballot candidates

And then I received this e-mail...


I want to share something with you that is probably going to make you angry, but then I am going to give you an opportunity to do something about it.

For months, you've heard the Clinton campaign endlessly repeat in interviews and on social media that they have raised millions and millions of dollars for state parties through something called the "Hillary Victory Fund." They've even used it as an attack line to insinuate Bernie wasn't willing to help down-ballot Democrats.

Well, yesterday morning, thanks to a Politico investigation, we found out that less than 1 percent of the $61 million raised by the Victory Fund has stayed in state party coffers. And indeed, the majority of the money spent by the Victory Fund has gone to benefit Hillary Clinton's primary campaign against us. The piece said some state party fundraisers believe they are basically acting as "money laundering conduits."

There's more, but first let me get to the part where you can take action. In recent weeks, the Clinton campaign has expressed a lot of interest in what is important to Bernie's supporters. Here's your chance to send a message about our distaste for big-money in politics:

Sign our petition calling on the Clinton campaign to stop bending campaign finance rules to their breaking point, and immediately transfer all the money allowable to the state parties participating in the "Hillary Victory Fund."

Here's how the scheme works for the Clinton campaign:

Rich people like Alice Walton of Walmart who have already contributed the maximum amount allowable to the Clinton campaign can contribute an additional $350,000-plus to the Victory Fund.
The first $33,400 of her contribution is supposed to go the DNC, and the rest divided up between participating state parties. But that's not what's been happening. The Victory Fund has mostly been doing one of two things with Ms. Walton's money:
1. Taking that money and spending it on advertisements and small-dollar fundraising solicitations. Then they take all the small-dollar contributions and data reaped from Alice Walton's contribution and transfer it directly to the Clinton campaign. This tactic is basically a way for them to benefit from a contribution much larger than the legal limit from Alice Walton.
2. They take Alice Walton's money and transfer it to state parties, who then immediately transfer it to the DNC. Often times they do it without the state party even knowing because the Clinton campaign controls many of the bank accounts involved. So at the end of the day, most of the state parties have received exactly $0 from their Victory Fund arrangement.


So, now that we know the Clinton campaign is taking advantage of state parties to skirt fundraising limits on her presidential campaign, it's time for her to do the right thing and let the state parties keep their fair share of the cash:
Sign our petition calling on the Clinton campaign to stop bending campaign finance rules to their breaking point, and immediately transfer all the money allowable to the state parties participating in the "Hillary Victory Fund."

It's unfortunate that Hillary Clinton has benefited from tens of millions of dollars in cash transfers and advertising to campaign against us in the primary. But it's not too late for her campaign to do the right thing by the state parties we're going to need to win elections up and down the ticket this November.
I'm sure if you sign our petition, that is something they will notice.
In solidarity,
Jeff Weaver
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floriduck

(2,262 posts)
1. Gotta feel sorry for the foolish that make up excuses for this. They're in the denial stage now.
Tue May 3, 2016, 02:51 PM
May 2016

But the attacks have already started.

Here's a thought: Why is Hillary Clinton incapable of using good judgment when she makes a decision? It's hurt her on Iraq, private prisons, banking relations, using unauthorized servers, utilizing people with ZERO security clearance and making foreign policy decisions on that, going behind the President's back to get things done. And the latest major fail was to throw away the coal worker's jobs in a statement she had to meekly apologize for.

Idiotic actions by a truly unqualified person!

SheenaR

(2,052 posts)
2. I do feel sorry for the Clinton supporters in GD-P
Tue May 3, 2016, 02:54 PM
May 2016

They pity us, like we are making things up. As if their candidate hasn't put her foot in her mouth countless times and has made poor judgment after poor judgment. Yet she will get to say she "misspoke" or this was a "simple oversight" and all is forgiven. Bull.

 

libdem4life

(13,877 posts)
6. As Obama has discovered, you don't get to have "do-overs" to
Tue May 3, 2016, 05:09 PM
May 2016

placate your progressive wing. You can't flip flop. You can't say one thing to one group and something different to another. You don't make mistakes...you screw up. And on and on.

She has terrible judgment, changes her mind/opinion, and her unfavorability rating shouts it out. But in a way, I wouldn't want to be her as president. The Republicans are so ready...20 years worth...to harass and hold her feet to the fire. She's pissed off her Progressive wing.

But worst of all, she's no Bill Clinton. She has zero charisma where he oozed charisma, in more ways than one. It was hard not to like him even when he did stupid things.

Hillary has been hiding from Bernie, or so it seems...you know, the debates and all. Lalalalalala I can't hear you only works until the GE. Even then, they may be kind because Bernie beats trump by double digits. She doesn't.

One way or the other, this is going to be one hell of an election season.

jillan

(39,451 posts)
4. As a reminder, it was Maddow that made this such a big deal about donating to down-ticket dems...
Tue May 3, 2016, 04:09 PM
May 2016

and how Hillary was raising millions, Bernie was not.

If you're on twitter, you know what to do...
@maddow

She needs to be called out on her bullshit. And she needs to do one of her dumb skits at the end of her show when she admits to making a mistake.

TexasBushwhacker

(20,044 posts)
9. And not helping down ticket races could bite Hillary
Tue May 3, 2016, 08:36 PM
May 2016

in the ass even if she did win. If we don't flip the Senate, we'll see at least 2 more years of grid lock. As much as the GOP hates Obama, they've been hating on the Clinton's a lot longer.

corbettkroehler

(1,898 posts)
7. 2004 Parallel Universe
Tue May 3, 2016, 08:21 PM
May 2016

Democrats around the world learned a very important lesson from Karl Rove in 2004. Identify your candidate's weakness and accuse your opponent of that weakness. Two examples:

1) John Kerry is an elite blue blood (W. attended Harvard).

2) John Kerry is a coward (Kerry volunteered for dangerous duty in Vietnam while W. took the cushy Reserve slot his father arranged for him).

In 2016, the Clinton camp accused Sanders of failing to raise money for the Democratic Party while Debbie Wasserman Schultz helped the Clinton Victory Fund rob the Democratic Party blind.

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