Hey everyone, I posted a long comment in The Troubadour's diary earlier today. Several people have asked me to post this is as a diary. I do not have an inside track, at the present time, regarding the facts to suggest any illegal contributions by foreign entities, or any laws that apply after the sweeping ruling by SCOTUS.
Has the MSM reported on SuperPac contributions made by Amway, or any of its foreign affiliates? I'm posting this hoping someone will. Amway tentacles may read like a genealogy chart. Sorting fact from fiction will require an investigative reporter, with great skill, resources and courage.
Sources on the internet are slim, limited primarily to left leaning, independent reporting sources. Alan Grayson piqued by interest.
Alan Grayson
Yesterday, I told you about my Republican opponent's Wednesday fundraiser in the Presidential Suite at the Amway Center in Orlando. A suite that costs as much as $295,000 to rent for the year. Maybe you wondered, "Who but Mitt Romney has that kind of money?" Answer: My opponent's fundraising event was hosted by one of the most corrupt elected officials in the history of Central Florida. It was dirty money, recruiting more dirty money, for the cause of generating still more dirty money in the future.
My opponent's event was hosted by Ron Howse, who served one inglorious term on a local City Council. Howse depicted himself as an "engineer." His main expertise was "engineering" permits and zoning changes for local developers who hired him.
Florida's Sunshine Law, which Howse derided as "evil," required Howse to disclose his conflicts of interest. I don't know how many conflicts of interest Howse actually had, but he declared 76 of them. At one meeting, he declared a conflict of interest on seven out of the 13 agenda items. At another meeting, Howse declared 20 conflicts of interest. Which did not keep him from actually lobbying ….snip
http://www.politico.com/...
Amway clans back Mitt
By ALEXANDER BURNS | 2/28/12
Members of two prominent Michigan Republican families formally backed Mitt Romney for president in a statement today, adding to the list of gold-plated GOP names in Romney's column on primary day.
A dozen DeVos and Van Andel family members -- from the two clans that founded the Michigan-based corporate giant Amway -- threw their support to Romney in a message describing him as a "leader who stands for economic freedom, hope and opportunity."
The two most significant names on the list of supporters are Dick and Betsy DeVos: she's a former Michigan Republican Party chair and he was the party's nominee for governor in 2006…..snip
http://corporatefraudswatch.blogspot.com/...
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Mitt Romney is a paid traitor to the American Republic
Shyam
Your free-thinking readers ought to be more-than-alarmed to discover that, Mr. Mitt Romney
http://www.bbc.co.uk/...
, the apparently pious, perceptive and patriotic 'Mormon' front-runner in the race to win the Republican party's nomination for candidate in the 2012 US Presidential election, has been bought by the gang of 'MLM income opportunity' cultic racketeers behind the pernicious 'Amway' copy-cat known as 'NuSkin.
In return for large bundles of stolen cash, Mr. Romney has become a misleading guarantee for criminals who has already enthusiastically-participated in promoting, and hiding, the blame-the-victim 'NuSkin' fraud.
http://www.motherjones.com/...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
Michael Isakoff
'NuSkin' has been described as the 'Mormon Amway.' The organization's US front-company has been investigated, and prosecuted on behalf of the public, by the Federal Trade Commission, for lying about the effectiveness its absurd pseudo-medical products ('weight-loss supplements, baldness cures,' etc.) and about the amount of money it is possible to make from participating in the so-called 'Nuskin MLM income opportunity.'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/...
Frank VanderSloot, billionaire Romney donor, uses threats to silence critics
Source: Salon
Frank VanderSloot is an Idaho billionaire and the CEO of Melaleuca, Inc., a controversial billion-dollar-a-year company which peddles dietary supplements and cleaning products; back in 2004, Forbes, echoing complaints to government agencies, described the company as “a pyramid selling organization, built along the lines of Herbalife and Amway.” VanderSloot has long used his wealth to advance numerous right-wing political causes. Currently, he is the national finance co-chair of the Mitt Romney presidential campaign, and his company has become one of the largest donors ($1 million) to the ostensibly “independent” pro-Romney SuperPAC, Restore Our Future.
http://www.salon.com/...
Glenn Greenwald
snip
He has a history of virulent anti-gay activism, including the spearheading of a despicable billboard campaign condemning Idaho Public Television for a documentary, entitled It’s Elementary
…..
VanderSloot is a devout Mormon and has been an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) since 1965. Over the last decade, he has continuously inserted himself into the political realm in all sorts of inflammatory and influential ways, clearly making him a public figure and fair game for scrutiny.
….
Anyone who is the national finance co-chair of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign deserves probing, substantial scrutiny. That’s equally true of someone who continues to use their vast wealth to influence the outcome of our elections and our most inflammatory political debates. And it’s certainly true of someone who has made it a regular practice of threatening journalists, bloggers and activists who shine light on his political and business practices. Journalists like Jody May-Chang who focus their journalistic light on people like Frank VanderSloot provide all of us with a vital public service, and deserve our full-fledged support when they are targeted with threats and retribution.
Anyone is welcome to all, or part of this diary to use as you see fit.