quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
When have rules meant anything to Democrats?

Except when they are going after a Republican?

I think you meant to say "ESPECIALLY when they are going after Republicans". Then it's free rein...

I was wondering if this was going to happen.

Bloomberg was staffing up so fast, some of the people he hired took his money and campaigned for his competitors.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/...ndthescenes-n2563763

Despite the terrible strategy from the beginning, it turns out Bloomberg's campaign staffers lacked enthusiasm and some were even secretly working to get their preferred candidate elected

When Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) pressed Bloomberg on sexual harassment allegations and actively removing the gag on those who were bound by an NDA, the former NYC mayor declined. His staffers cited that specific exchange as the campaign's implosion.

“The people who liked Mike initially didn’t care about the sexual [harassment] allegations or stop and frisk, but they got turned off because they thought he made himself look weak and that he had let Warren walk all over him," the second field organizer explained. “I had to organize [a] debate watch party.… The whole bar was full of Bloombros. You could just feel everyone getting silent and awkward whenever Warren tore into Bloomberg.”

It's looking more and more like Bloomberg's staffers joined the campaign to make a quick buck , not because they believed in his candidacy. And that even includes members of the leadership team.

“Most people knew this was a grift,” a campaign staffer explained.“At our first office meeting, my [director] said, ‘We don’t need to canvass. We can just make calls, right guys?’ And everyone was like, ‘Yeah, that’s sensible.’”

But the real kicker is that these staffers allegedly campaigned on behalf of Bloomberg's opponents.

“I would actively canvass for Bernie when I was supposed to be canvassing for Mike. I know of at least one team of ‘volunteers’ that was entirely fabricated by the organizers who had to hit their goals," a former staffer told The Nation. "It was easy enough to fudge the data to make it look like real people put in real volunteer work, when in reality Mike was getting nothing out of it.”

A former staffer in the San Diego area said the Bloomberg campaign was used to advance other races they were actively working on.

“In San Diego, the regional organizers also exploited the campaign’s resources, staff, and infrastructure for local races they either were running in or consulting on," the person revealed.

In addition to utilizing campaign resources, staffers admitted to faking voter contact data, including the number of calls made and doors knocked.

Money can't buy you love.

Sure it can

quote:

Originally posted by Texas Bob C.:
Money can't buy you love.

It can rent it.

Bloomberg should have spent his money on a Glock G19, Ruger 10/22 and a pound of cheese. It wouldn't have bought him love but it certainly would have bought him happiness.

Bloomberg spent a lot of $

https://nypost.com/2020/03/20/...ed-presidential-bid/

Mike Bloomberg pumped nearly $1 billion into his failed presidential bid — almost double what was previously reported, according to a new Federal Election ­Commis­sion filing.

The total cost of the Big Apple billionaire’s short-lived and self-funded 102-day campaign was $935,360,675.56

The news of Bloomberg’s billion-dollar investment — previous estimates put his mammoth ad buys and staffing expenditures at over $500 million — came on the same day he said he would transfer $18 million to the Democratic National Committee to help Democrats win up and down the ballot in November, specifically targeting President Trump.

Bloomberg 2020 will also transfer several former field offices to state parties and help speed the hiring pace for top positions in organizing, data, and operations across battleground states, the campaign said in a statement.

The media mogul would have been unable to give such a large sum of money to the DNC as a regular donor, but presidential candidates are able to transfer unlimited amounts of campaign cash to their national committee.


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seen at

https://theconservativetreehou...-to-win/#more-186965


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adding

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/...-to-the-dnc-n2565399

Mike Bloomberg is sending $18 million from his defunct presidential campaign to the Democratic National Committee, a dramatic investment in the national party that appears to push the boundaries of campaign finance law.

The massive transfer signals a change of plans for Bloomberg, who is nixing an earlier idea to form his own super PAC to take on President Donald Trump in 2020.

A press release accompanying the memo said that staff in six battleground states will be "employed and paid" through the first week in April and have "full benefits" through the end of that month.

And now with the virus crash happening, the value of his company holdings are worth much less.

Let's see...if his ad buys and staffing costs were estimated at $500 million, and he spent over $935 million, then where did the remaining $435 million go in a mere 102 days? Was he traveling with 200 staffers on those rare occasions he bothered to travel?

Mini Mike is Hard Wired to the Chinese Communist Leaders. He refused to call the "Commie King" a dictator. But he promised to crash our 2nd Amendment and confiscate our firearms. I bet 100 years ago he would have faced a firing squad.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
Bloomberg spent a lot of $

Mike Bloomberg is sending $18 million from his defunct presidential campaign to the Democratic National Committee, a dramatic investment in the national party that appears to push the boundaries of campaign finance law..

For a guy that just pissed away $935 million dollars, I would NOT consider $18 million a "dramatic" investment. More like a drop in the bucket. I think Bloomie doesn't have much faith in the Democrat ticket.

I'm sure the DNC pressured Mini Mike to withdraw and support Biden. That was an easy way out and a stop to flushing his money down the crapper. However, he seems smart enough to know that Joe is not the Trump beater that the Dems would like people to believe he is.
Rod

https://nypost.com/2020/03/20/...ed-presidential-bid/

quote:

"The media mogul would have been unable to give such a large sum of money to the DNC as a regular donor, but presidential candidates are able to transfer unlimited amounts of campaign cash to their national committee."

This is a curious statement. One would assume donated campaign funds could certainly be transferred to the DNC, but Bloomberg was self funded.

Sooo, just how much did he 'donate' to his campaign? Is there a loophole in the FEC Regulations / Campaign Finance Laws here? This needs to be looked into!

Hah! And now the Dems are pissed because he's not setting up the SuperPAC he promised, and because he only donated a "measly" $18 million. Raise your hand if you're surprised. So how's he being punished? By being damned for not keeping his campaign workers on (and presumably "working against Trump" by working for the DNC) through Election Day like he promised.

http://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/...0-dnc-181655684.html

"Is there a loophole in the FEC Regulations / Campaign Finance Laws here?"

yes

https://hotair.com/archives/ja...mp-18m-dncs-coffers/

Michael Bloomberg’s ill-fated presidential bid may be “suspended” (which means ended for all intents and purposes), but it’s still active in a way that’s exposing a glaring loophole in our campaign finance rules

Michael Bloomberg announced he will transfer $18 million from his failed presidential campaign to the Democratic National Committee—a move experts say exploits a loophole in campaign finance laws…

Experts are assailing the move, which they say allows Bloomberg to bypass individual donor limits. “Incredible. Candidates may transfer leftover campaign funds to the party, but I don’t believe that loophole has ever been exploited in this way and to this degree,” said Brendan Fischer, program director at the Campaign Legal Center. “It guarantees that Bloomberg will retain enormous influence over the Democratic Party.”

Normally, individual donors are limited to giving $35,500 to either the DNC or the RNC. They can also contribute a bit more than $100K to other projects such as convention costs and legal defense funds. But political campaigns are allowed to “transfer” their extra money to other committees with no limits on the amounts involved.

This usually isn’t a problem because the campaigns generally collect money from individuals who are all capped in how much they can give. In that sense, when a campaign conducts such a transfer, they’re basically just taking those smaller, individual donations, bundling them and shifting them over to the committee.

But the Bloomberg campaign was rather unique in that regard. That was almost entirely Bloomberg’s own money and he’s now giving a huge shot in the arm to the DNC that normally wouldn’t have been possible.

every billionaire in the country could just announce that they are running for some high office, form a campaign, flush massive amounts of money into it and then drop out of the race. Sure, it would be totally obvious what they were doing and the optics would be terrible, but it would still be legal.

the rules clearly need to be changed

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
"Is there a loophole in the FEC Regulations / Campaign Finance Laws here?"

I don't think we'll see a bunch of fake campaigns popping up, but if we do, I would expect the FEC to interpret a good faith requirement into the rules. And I guarantee this practice will end the very first time a Republican billionaire tries it.

In any event, I'd prefer a rule that says that leftover funds of failed campaigns go to the US treasury. That would prevent the fake billionaire campaign problem. Also, people who give to candidates don't necessarily support the eventual nominee. It's not really fair to give their money to the party. There is no way to return the funds because they are all commingled. Seems like the best option is to give it to the Treasury to be put in the general fund.

The bigger question(s) I have are...

(1) How much money was left in Bloomberg's campaign fund when he 'suspended' his campaign?
(2) Did he make a huge 'donation' to himself right before he suspended to exploit the 'loophole'?
(3) Did the action of suspending close the window on additional 'donations' to his campaign?

The technical answer to (3) is "maybe". Other campaigns (including Hill the Pill's) have continued to take donations after suspension and even ending in order to cover debts that weren't paid during the campaign. Whether there's simply an open door or whether there's some limit related to existing debt, I don't know.

So it only cost him $9,170,202.70 per day to pretend he was a Presidential candidate.