Following the Money

[JackLuis]

TO do this requires going to foreign sources as the LSM has forgotten what journalisim is about.

Financial titans behind slam on Clinton

Hedge fund managers and investors, together worth billions of dollars, are bankrolling a little-known super PAC that on Tuesday unleashed attack ads against Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

“Hundreds of thousands dead. Terrorists on the march,” the ad’s narrator says. “Where did it go wrong?”

The group, calling itself Future45, uses the television ad to paint Clinton as responsible for Islamic State’s rapid growth in Syria. It also slams her performance as secretary of state.

This is not its first time Future45 has launched an offensive against Clinton. In October, the super PAC ran ads blasting her for her foreign policy work in Libya.
The ad's sponsor

Future45 and sister nonprofit 45Committee are “focused on holding Secretary Clinton accountable by making certain that the American public has the full breadth of information on Secretary Clinton’s failures,” Ron Weiser, chairman of Future45, told the Wall Street Journal in October.

The group is backed by three known donors, according to federal records: Kenneth Griffin, president of Citadel; William C. Powers, an investor; and Paul Singer, founder of hedge fund Elliot Management.

Singer has personally endorsed Republican Marco Rubio for president.

 

[JackLuis]

Did this shadowy pro–Bernie Sanders super PAC just dupe James Bond?

Daniel Craig, the actor famous for portraying the British spy, confirmed to the Center for Public Integrity that he donated nearly $50,000 this summer to Americans Socially United, an organization purporting to support Sanders’ upstart presidential campaign.

What Craig apparently didn’t know: the super PAC’s founder, Cary Lee Peterson, has routinely run afoul of creditors and the law — including stiffing one of the nation’s largest news companies out of a six-figure sum.

Sanders himself has disavowed super PACs, which have no contribution limits, and his campaign has demanded that Peterson curtail his operation. But there is little the U.S. senator from Vermont can actually do to stop passionate supporters — or opportunists — from launching such groups.

Welcome to Scamalot, Danny boy!

 

[JackLuis]

Bush super PAC leads field in donations, with massive haul from the rich

Jeb Bush’s super PAC raised $108 million in the first six months of this year, nearly as much as all his GOP rivals combined, according to midyear filings submitted to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Friday.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, comes in second in the money race, solidifying his status as a formidable fundraiser. His network of Keep the Promise super PACs brought in $38 million, putting him ahead of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s super PAC, Unintimidated, which raised $20 million.

While Democratic Party front-runner Hillary Clinton has raised more money through her campaign than anyone else in the race, her Priorities USA super PAC total of $15.6 million trails five Republican candidates’ and is not much more than the $11 million that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s super PAC managed to raise from fewer than 100 well-heeled donors such as hedge fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen and his wife, Alexandra Cohen.

What percentage of these funds will be spent in Overhead and Consulting Fees? And how much to the Main Stream Media?

 

[JackLuis]

With billions set to flood presidential race, campaign finance laws wilt

Opposition to super PACs can also be found among those who view political donations as free speech deserving of First Amendment protections. Jim Bopp, the lawyer who first represented Citizens United in the case that wound up in the Supreme Court, said that with the increased spending by outside groups, “we have a less transparent and less accountable system. You can’t vote against a super PAC.”

He argues that the problem is actually too much regulation, which he likens to a game of whack-a-mole, with the closing of one funding source simply leading candidates to find murkier alternatives. “Money is being driven away from campaigns because of ridiculously low contribution limits,” he said. “Until we dramatically raise or eliminate those limits … there will be increased spending each election cycle by independent groups.”

The Fucken' Lawyers figuring and the lawmakers standing by twiddling their fingers.

 

[Hard_Rom]

Super PACS are fucked. A total loophole around donation limits and a way to distance ones self from attack ads. Total bastardization of democracy. Money rules!