$$$ in politics, or the fundraiser follies. Jeff Yass cuts an $8 million check. Billionaires be.....

yogibear1963

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Monday April 15, 2024 · 10:23 AM PDT

2024/04/15 · 10:23

Fundraisers are for pikers. Why collect 400 checks when one big one will do.

From Bloomberg via Yahoo.

www.yahoo.com/…

“Jeff Yass, the Republican political donor who holds a 15% stake in TikTok parent ByteDance Ltd., gave $8 million in March to a Republican super political action committee.

Yass is stockpiling the funds in the Protect Freedom PAC, which has backed GOP candidates in congressional races and Kentucky’s 2023 gubernatorial election. The group, which counts Yass as its most significant donor, began April with $10 million on hand that it can spend on the 2024 election, according to a Federal Election Commission filing disclosed Wednesday.

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Billionaires sure can afford a lot of free speech.

Actually, this sounds like a good scam model. In fact it is.

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USA Today via Yahoo:

www.yahoo.com/…

“A super PAC raised money to support Virginia's GOP candidates. They didn't see any of it.

…

Unleash America super PAC received $103,489 in individual contributions last year, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

In November, Republicans lost the House of Delegates in Virginia. They failed to flip the Senate. Was all that money raised by Unleash America spent in vain?

No. It doesn’t look like Unleash American spent any money at all to support Virginia’s 2023 candidates.

According to the Federal Election Commission and Virginia’s State Board of Election filings, not a single Republican candidate for state or local office received any direct financial support from the federal Unleash America super PAC.”

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I’m thinking of starting a Super Duper PAC. It will pay me contributed money to raise more contributions.

It has been working for The Donald, with the RNC being the bagman.

Why work 9 to 5 when you can grift 24/7?

It's infrastructure week in Minnesota. Again.

yogibear1963

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday January 18, 2024 · 9:38 AM PST

2024/01/18 · 09:38

Governor Walz has proposed a $982 million bonding package to improve roads, bridges, water supplies, and public safety. This follows a $2.2 billion package passed in the last session. The reason that one was so big was because Republicans had controlled the senate and blocked spending for 2 years.

With a $2.4 billion surplus and upcoming elections there is a good chance money will be spent. A lot of it on good things.

minnesotareformer.com/…

One Republican response: “State Sen. Karin Housley, R-Stillwater, said in a statement that she is still gathering information about Walz’s plan. She offered an opening salvo in what will likely be a months-long negotiation, however: “I am concerned there isn’t more money in this proposal for local needs across the state. Wastewater treatment and crumbling roads might not be glamorous, but they are the basic necessities that every community needs to thrive.”

Which proves she can’t read graphs as it cleary shows 22%, over $200 million, going to roads and water. If more is called for why doesn’t she give specifics? Because it is hard to attack Democrats if you have to use facts. So she uses generalizations in her attack.

RIP Joe The Plumber

yogibear1963

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Monday August 28, 2023 · 9:25 AM PDT

2023/08/28 · 09:25

His name isn’t Joe and he wasn’t a plumber,

but he got 15 minutes of fame and fortune by attacking Obama,

much to the media’s delight.

www.yahoo.com/…

“Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, who became known as “Joe the Plumber” after he famously confronted then-candidate Barack Obama over his tax policy during the 2008 presidential campaign, died Sunday. He was 49.”

Cancer got him.

Insurance premiums drop significantly 7 years after medical marijuana passage

yogibear1963

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday August 17, 2023 · 9:31 AM PDT

2023/08/17 · 09:31

www.marijuanamoment.net/…

“A new study in the International Journal of Drug Policy found that states with legal medical marijuana enjoyed significant reductions in health insurance premiums compared to states where cannabis remained completely illegal.

Analyzing a decade’s worth of private health insurance data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, researchers determined that in the years following a state’s implementation of a medical cannabis law, premiums dropped dramatically.

While the reductions were modest immediately following implementation, the study found that by seven years afterward, annual premiums had fallen $1,663 compared to states in the control group. Similar reductions were seen after eight years ($1,542) and nine years ($1,626), indicating that the decline was fairly stable over time.”

The study was on medical marijuana, not recreational marijuana.

The insurance premiums were for individuals, not group or government policies.

Someone who can barely speak English has been paid a lot to give speeches

yogibear1963

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday July 14, 2023 · 5:36 AM PDT

2023/07/14 · 05:36

www.yahoo.com/…

More than $8 million to Donald Trump.

More than $1 million to Melania Trump.

I will let you guess which one can barely speak English.

…

“A revised personal financial disclosure filing from former President Donald Trump made public Thursday offered new details about the roughly $1 billion that he appears to have earned in his post-presidential life, including lucrative speaking engagements by Trump and his wife, along with more specifics about his foreign business ventures.

Trump, who leads polls for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, was paid a total of $2 million for speaking at two Universal Peace Federation World Summits in Bedminster, New Jersey, and Palm Beach, Florida. The group was established by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the Korean evangelist and businessman who founded the Unification Church, and his wife, Hak Ja Han.

His most lucrative speaking engagement: $2.5 million in September 2021 from Triller Legends II LLC, a media company that has promoted professional fights.

Trump earned the seven-figure fee providing commentary for Triller Fight Club’s Evander Holyfield vs. Vitor Belfort boxing match in 2021, a lawyer for the company confirmed in an email to CNN.”

…

The Moonies? Really? Outrage from the right in 3, 2, 1, never.

…

“In all, the filing shows Melania Trump made more than $1.2 million in speaking fees.”

…

As someone pointed out in the comments, how come they don’t pay taxes?

Rupert Murdoch's engagement to Ann Lesley Smith is off

yogibear1963

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday April 04, 2023 · 7:57 PM PDT

2023/04/04 · 19:57

I guess we have a new unit of time.

Friedman Unit = 6 months (specifically the next 6 months, the time we should give George W Bush’s invasion of Iraq to work itself out)

Scaramucci = 11 days (how long Anthony Scaramucci lasted as Trump’s communications director)

Murdoch = 16 days (how long his engagement to Smith lasted)

Sources say he became disenchanted with her being an evangelical extremism.

Strange, he has so many on his payroll one would think he likes them.

www.yahoo.com/...

Gary Sick talking about the original October Surprise

yogibear1963

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Saturday March 18, 2023 · 7:00 PM PDT

2023/03/18 · 19:00

The term “October Surprise” was invented by Reagan campaign aides, maybe William Casey himself, to try and paint the hostage story as a dirty trick.

Gary Sick was a middle east expert who served on the presidential security councils for Ford, Carter, and Reagan. A stand up guy, who the Republicans tried to drag through the mud after he broke the story.

The story goes that William Casey met with Iranian revolutionary figures and cut a deal where if they would hold on to the hostages until after the election (thus denying Carter a bombshell headline) the new Reagan administration would give them some goodies.

The media tried very hard to prove that Casey wasn’t the bag man, and they came close to a shut out. There was about ½ of 1 day in Casey’s schedule that couldn’t be accounted for.

It now seems that Casey was not the actual bag man, just the higher up running the bag man.

Here is Gary Sick in a 1991 interview promoting his new book “October Surprise.”

(at 4:50 “I’ve got a modem, a fax machine… everything I need”

ooohhhh, a modem, the newest star trek stuff. he he he (snark))

YouTube Video

There are only two comments and 29 likes to that video.

Maybe we should all give it a thumbs up to try and get it trending.

A company illegally hired 3 minors to run a wood chipper. And, you guessed it...

yogibear1963

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday February 15, 2023 · 8:48 AM PST

2023/02/15 · 08:48

“17-year-old worker was pulled into woodchipper before he died, feds say.”

www.yahoo.com/…

“A tree service company allowed three minors to use a woodchipper — forbidden under federal child labor laws — before one of them was killed using the machine, according to federal authorities.

The 17-year-old worker was feeding “entangled material” into the woodchipper on Aug. 9 at a work site in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, when he was “partially pulled” in, the U.S. Department of Labor said in a Feb. 13 news release. He later died of his injuries.”

-—

Now let’s see if someone pays the price for violating federal laws.

A lot of times there is no justice, but this particular company probably

doesn’t own a senator or congressperson.

I'm sorry I put my face in front of your gun

yogibear1963

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday February 07, 2023 · 6:56 AM PST

2023/02/07 · 06:56

Harry Whittington has died. Dick Cheney shot him in the face 17 years ago.

www.texastribune.org/…

“Harry Whittington, an Austin attorney who helped the Texas GOP rise to power in the second half of the last century and became the center of international attention in 2006 after he was shot by then-Vice President Dick Cheney in a hunting accident, died Saturday morning.

He was 95. His death, which followed a short illness, was confirmed by two people close to his family.”

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Rumors were that Cheney was hunting without a license.

Rumors were that Cheney was drunk.

The media wasn’t interested in rumors about Republicans back then.

The secret service held the media at bay until Cheney had

sobered up and a license had been bought, and then they

held the police at bay and there was no investigation or seizing

of the weapon.

And then Whittington had to apologize to Cheney for being shot.

I am sure everybody else would have gotten the same treatment.

(snark)

He made it to 95 so the wounds were superficial, though people

have been charged with murder when someone died from

their wounds years later.

But not in this case.

This story will be forgotten by tomorrow.

President Biden is giving the State of the Union speech tonight.

Someone somewhere will be outraged and demand an

investigation and impeachment of the president and the

media will be focusing on that story.

(maybe snark)

Here's A Headline You Won't See On Fox Noise

yogibear1963

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday December 21, 2022 · 7:14 AM PST

2022/12/21 · 07:14

“Joe Biden made the oil trade of the year”

From Tim Fernholz at Quartz via Yahoo.

Biden sold 180 million barrels of the strategic petroleum reserve at about $96ish per barrel and is now refilling it at about $73ish per barrel.

The US govenment will realize a $4 billion profit (180,000,000 X $22).

(it’s actually not that simple, but in the ball park)

www.yahoo.com/…

“Gas prices were a major story in 2022: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled energy markets and some predicted the US dollar might be subsumed by a new, commodity-backed trade currency.

Instead, it appears the US government made the oil trade of the year: Releasing 180 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve between March and the end of this year in an effort to blunt the effect of rising prices, the US government appears to have made about $4 billion, as prices have fallen dramatically over the course of the year.

Selling when crude oil prices were high, the US captured billions in value. By one widely-used measure, the price of crude oil in Texas peaked at about $124 a barrel in March, and the average price during the SPR sales period was about $96; today that oil costs just $73 per barrel. “

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Republicans (derisively) “Let’s Go Brandon”

The World “Holy Crap! Look At Brandon Go”

Competence. We has it. For a while.

More bad news for Minnesota Republicans

yogibear1963

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday December 06, 2022 · 8:55 PM PST

2022/12/06 · 20:55

The Minnesota Department of Management and Budget announces an expected surplus of $17.8 billion. Most of it is a surplus that wasn’t dealt with because the Republicans who controlled the Senate wanted permanent tax cuts (mostly for the upper class, natch, and refused to compromise) And some is from higher than expected tax revenue.

Gee, a responsible government leads to economic prosperity. Who knew?

The DFL flipped the Senate and will control all branches of government in Minnesota next year. The Republicans will be crying in their Chardonnay.

All Minnesotans will be looking to get a flat amount tax rebate. Probably $1,000. (Some of the Republican donor class was hoping for a couple of extra zeros). Some infrastructure projects will move forward, child tax credits, day care, and the rainy day fund may get a boost. Their is a decent list of goodies that would help people, and the Republicans can’t screw with it much.

www.minnpost.com/...

Jury says MN Pharmacist did not discriminate when refusing to sell morning after pill

yogibear1963

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday August 05, 2022 · 11:38 PM PDT

2022/08/05 · 23:38

www.yahoo.com/…

“A jury on Friday ruled that a central Minnesota pharmacist did not violate a woman's rights when he refused to provide her emergency contraceptives more than three years ago.”

---

“Anderson brought her prescription for a morning-after pill to the Thrifty White pharmacy in McGregor in January 2019. Longtime pharmacist George Badeaux told her he could not fill the prescription based on his beliefs.”

====================

I lived in that area for several decades. The right wing media, both online and the local papers, have brainwashed many of the locals. In 2016 the morning gaggle at the local McDonalds was all about praising Trump.

I am not exactly surprised by by this verdict. I would be surprised if the state supreme court didn’t overturn it. It is clear cut discrimination and most on the supreme court are sane people. The only possible interpretation is that the guy had the right to refuse but the store had the duty to fill the prescription, so the guy was within his right but the store was not. The store settled a lawsuit earlier.

I predict both the store and the pharmacist will fund raise off of this with gofundme or some such. I further predict the pharmacist will become a national hero to the right wing, and may get some face time on the usual right wing outlets.

=======

update:

The yahoo source is lousy. According to KARE channel 11 the jury awarded $25,000 for “emotional harm”, but found no sex discrimination. I can’t wait to hear the mental gymnastics the jury went through to come up with that.

The odds that the pharmacist fund raises off of this is now 125%.

www.kare11.com/…

“An Aitkin County jury has awarded a Minnesota woman $25,000 in damages after she filed a lawsuit claiming she was denied emergency contraception by a pharmacist in McGregor in 2019.

However, the woman's legal representatives from Gender Justice still plan to appeal the ruling to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.”

Thanks to MNPundit for catching the omission.

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2nd edit.

Someone complained about the word “acquit” in the title so I changed it.

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