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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Federal Court Invalidates Maps of Two NC Congressional Districts
All I can say is: F I N A L L Y!
GM: AGOG S4 & F/WC RP; Co-GM: TABA, SOTR, UUA RP; Sub-GM: TTS RP. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire.![]()
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Similarly, part of Sanders' popularity comes successfully pushing his campaign as about the American people, contrasted with Clinton focusing more on putting forth her own capability and accomplishments.
This creates a more unique situation for Clinton, because it's not so much that other Democrats have a problem with her message, but with whether she's going to stick to her message. And if they don't believe that she will, then all of her experience and expertise, the cornerstone of her campaign, is rendered completely moot.
edited 5th Feb '16 9:35:58 PM by Eschaton
Laundering money into superPACs
is the new face of Citizen's United.
Stand for Truth, Inc., an emerging player in the orbit of often clashing constellation of pro-Cruz super PA Cs, recently pledged to air more than $4 million in television ads to back Cruz in Iowa and South Carolina. Super PA Cs can accept unlimited contributions but are required to disclose their financial backers. The twist here is that Stand for Truth has accepted more than $1 million in donations from corporations or limited liability companies, whose funders are difficult to uncover, meaning the original source of the campaign cash is hidden. While corporations can make donations to super PA Cs, an LLC allows individual donors to steer cash through easy-to-register, self-owned organizations.
"LL Cs seem to be a new vehicle for laundering money into elections," said Paul Ryan, a campaign finance reformer worried about donors essentially using them as shell companies to transfer cash anonymously. "It's really hard to find out about LL Cs. That's one of the reasons they've become popular."
Stand for Truth has largely operated quietly, not responding to questions about new television advertisements from media and discarding with the in-the-news public profile maintained by many powerful groups in favor of a sparse website. No leadership beyond the treasurer who filed its federal elections forms, a former counsel to Mitch Mc Connell named Eric Lycan, has publicly identified itself. Lycan has not responded to repeated requests for comment from CNN about the group's activities, and he declined to talk by phone this week. He did say in an email on Friday that the group was run by "consultants from across the country committed to electing a courageous conservative as our next President."
The main hand behind the super PAC is Josh Robinson, a former political director of the Republican Governors Association who now heads Red Print Strategy, Lycan confirmed. Another name behind the group, Lycan said, is a Texas strategist named Keats Norfleet, who did not respond to requests for comment. Overall, Stand for Truth raised nearly $2.5 million last year in the brief time it had before the December 31 filing deadline. On Thursday, it purchased an additional $800,000 in negative advertisements attacking Marco Rubio in South Carolina.
There is no evidence that routing the LL Cs was a coordinated attempt to avoid disclosures, but the amount of cash donated is substantial. Of the 29 individual contributions made to the group between Nov. 20 and Dec. 31, more than half of the gifts were not immediately connectable to an individual donor, the FEC report shows. On December 21, for instance, five seemingly identical donations in equal increments of $50,000 came from five different LL Cs — "LL Baltimore, LLC"; "LL Fort Wayne, LLC"; "LL Peoria, LLC"; ""LL West Allis, LLC' and "PF Fort Myers LLC."
Many of the individuals plotting the group's plans remain unknown as well. The individuals receiving payment from Stand for Truth are all being paid through similar entities, with all but one company receiving payment using a limited liability companies or a limited liability partnership to accept the funds.
It is not uncommon for vendors to receive payments from campaigns through groups like these, and some of those firms are easily identifiable, such as Lycan's Kentucky-based law firm, Dinsmore and Shohl. But LL Cs are more difficult to crack. The Texas-based "Stalwart Advisory LLC" and Robinson's "One Harbor LLC" that the group used as consultants are not visible to the public without sleuthing through Texas public records. Stalwart Advisory does not appear in any state's corporate records, according to Open Corporates.com, which tracks these filings, nor does One Harbor's ties to Robinson.
Lycan, asked why so much of the group's intake and outflow of cash were conducted through these LLC's declined to directly answer. "Stand for Truth reports the information for each donor from whom a contribution is received, in accordance with applicable law," he wrote in an email.
Donors are increasingly using LL Cs like these to give to political groups ever since the Citizens United decision made it easier for non-individuals to cut checks. But the prevalence of these opaque companies on Stand for Truth's report is widespread, campaign finance observers say. "The super PAC probably gets more corporate funding than most do by a pretty big margin, but still the bigger donors are individuals," said David Keating of the Center for Competitive Politics, a group advocating for looser restrictions on donations. "This isn't Exxon Mobil corporate funding."
Stand for Truth, meant to add to menu of choices for high-dollar donors, has so far focused on negative television advertisements aimed at both Rubio and Donald Trump. A leading force behind the group, Lycan confirmed, is Hal Lambert, a Dallas money-manager who was a co-chair of the official campaign's finance committee until he started the outside group and is a close ally of Willie Langston, the Houston campaign's finance chair. And largely funding the group is Adam and Tara Ross, a Dallas couple close to Ted and Heidi Cruz who together gave $1 million of the $2.5 million raised. Adam Ross is influential in Jewish Republican fundraising circles and is said to be close with Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley billionaire who has remained on the sidelines this year despite being wooed by much of the GOP field.
The super PA Cs supporting Cruz that have been blessed by the candidate himself, a network titled Keep the Promise, has not used virtually any of these LL Cs. The $40 million raised by Keep the Promise almost entirely comes from three families that each gave more than $10 million to support Cruz through their own independent groups — with their names attached.
(Washington Post) Paul Ryan: To the Tea Party: "You are the Problem"
Basically arguing that Republicans can't let themselves fight on emotions and feelings, they have to fight by being clever, and basically reject the Republican politics and promises of the last 7 years, and no we can't ban Muslims. Do not make this year about identity politics and True Scotsman-ship.
Feminist Gloria Steinem says young women support Bernie because they want attention from boys.
edited 6th Feb '16 11:44:42 AM by PotatoesRock
I don't dislike Paul Ryan. So far he's carrying the mantle of Speaker well—many an article anticipated him buckling under the pressure as Speaker Boehner had. We'll see what he and Obama can accomplish together this year.
An opening act, a former state senator, told the audience that "a feminist is a person who challenges the power structure of our country" and "Bernie Sanders is that kind of feminist." When it was Steinem's turn, she started off with an announcement: "I'm only here today to make Bernie Sanders an honorary woman."
The Time Gloria Steinem Made Bernie Sanders an "Honorary Woman"
edited 6th Feb '16 11:52:29 AM by SolipsistOwl
90% of what's "wrong" with Clinton is that her opposition has been deliberately shitting on her for literally decades. You can't walk through that and smell like roses afterwards.
Clinton is a long-serving statesman who has the experience and the working relationships with other federal-level officials to actually get shit done. While she's not perfect, she's also not the second-rate candidate whose only real qualification is "at least she's not as bad as Trump/Cruz/Rubio/etc".
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.All likelyhood of being co-opted by lobbyists aside, I find Clinton's policy stands to be significantly more acceptable than anyone in the GOP.
So despite the unpleasantness, it would be better than having any of the current GOP frontrunners win.
I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiotBoth campaigns were in New Hampshire on Saturday, ahead of Tuesday’s primary. Introducing Clinton in Concord, Albright said: “When she was secretary of state, she restored America’s reputation.
[* * *]
"People are talking about revolution. What kind of a revolution would it be to have the first woman president of the United States?"
That was met with a chant of "Madam President! Madam President!"
"Not only that," said Albright. "But she’s just the best!"
Albright was the first woman to be secretary of state and served during the presidency of Clinton’s husband, Bill. She closed her New Hampshire speech with an allusion to the ongoing struggle with Republicans over abortion rights.
Albright: 'special place in hell' for women who don't support Clinton
I can't help but feel that's because carpet-bombing America with plague-infested dead skunks would still stand to be more acceptable than the GOP policies.
I know Clinton is not so bad that the "first woman president would be nice" is her only credential, but these people are not helping her.
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She's speaking for herself, I think, but whatever. Yes, the idea of the first woman President has a certain natural appeal, so it'd be foolish to ignore it.
You are correct about the GOP's policies. Which is why one's personal feelings about Hillary's trustworthiness pale in comparison to the urgency of keeping Trump, Cruz, Rubio, or whoever else out of the White House.
edited 6th Feb '16 1:08:12 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"The converse seems to be that boys are only voting for Sanders because he's an angry old white man. She should know that if Elizabeth Warren were running, most of us would be in her Progressive camp. The calls for her to run were loud and common back in March and April, and especially notable for how often their argument hinged on her being more electable than Sanders.
That said, there's been entirely too much vitriol smeared over Clinton, and a lot of it smacks of incredulity that a woman should aspire to be president. It's been a challenge wading through articles which criticize her, it takes concentration to avoid letting one's mind infer and adopt the bias many of the authors seem to hold.
edited 6th Feb '16 1:59:35 PM by Artificius
"I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once."What makes her more electable by the way? Most times I hear about the two of them in the same breath, its either she's his Distaff Counterpart or he's her Spear Counterpart.
It had to do with her extant network of support and ability to compromise while keeping a solid set of Progressive ideals, aside from the fact that she's not a disheveled and ornery self-described Socialist. Basically, she presents better and believes most of the things Sanders does.
Thought I had that covered with "ornery."
edited 6th Feb '16 2:05:14 PM by Artificius
"I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once."

It would be fascinating to watch an LBJ-level legislator utilizing lawsuit-strong executive orders.