Did The Defense Industry Really Give More To Bernie Sanders Than Any Other 2020 Candidate?!

Despite his frequent votes against defense bills, Senator Bernie Sanders has collected more presidential campaign contributions from defense industry sources than any other candidate, including Donald Trump. That’s according to data on 2020 funding at the OpenSecrets.org website, which is sponsored by the Center for Responsive Politics.

[12-2019] Defense Industry Gives More To Bernie Than Any 2020 Candidate (originally published at American Conservative)

Links to “Amy Klobuchar”, not “Bernie Sanders”?! According to OpenSecrets, Joe Biden received the most from the MIC. Donald Trump came in second, with Bernie Sanders in third place. OpenSecrets doesn’t distinguish between employers and employees!?*

H/T: Stephen Gardner’s interview with Winslow T. Wheeler

Related:

*Top 20 Recipients (Joe Biden and Donald Trump):

METHODOLOGY: The numbers on this page are based on contributions from PACs and individuals giving $200 or more.

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Who’s Funding ‘No Labels’? Pro-GOP Billionaires Opposed to Democracy

I’d argue that Biden is the status quo, as well.

“At the end of the day, these billionaires and large corporations are deeply invested in maintaining the status quo and opposing Democrats’ agenda for working people.”

Who’s Funding ‘No Labels’? Pro-GOP Billionaires Opposed to Democracy

Related:

‘No Labels’ Eyes a Third-Party Run in 2024. Democrats Are Alarmed

The Bipartisanship Racket: Fellow Centrists Warn No Labels 2024 Bid Would Just Hurt Biden

The Bipartisanship Racket: Fellow Centrists Warn No Labels 2024 Bid Would Just Hurt Biden

JEEZ, can’t we all just get along? Can’t we be civilized? Can’t we reach across the aisle, find common ground and get things done? Can’t we have a new Morning in America as clubby and chipper as MSNBC’s daily gabfest, “Morning Joe”?

The Bipartisanship Racket

Related:

Fellow Centrists Warn No Labels 2024 Bid Would Just Hurt Biden

Yay! Another party to support the “bipartisan consensus” on Ukraine and China! /sarcasm (the yellow is for piss)

The FTX Collapse Is Also a Huge Campaign Finance Scandal

Sam Bankman-Fried was set to testify before Congress on Tuesday, but before he could appear, he was arrested in the Bahamas. Not surprisingly, most of the charges he’s facing involve allegations of fraud related to the collapse of FTX, his crypto-trading platform. But a federal indictment unveiled Tuesday also accuses SBF—a prolific political donor who cultivated relationships with politicians and policymakers—of campaign finance violations.

The FTX Collapse Is Also a Huge Campaign Finance Scandal

Railroads Have Invested Heavily in Congress. They Need Their Payoff in the Senate.

A showdown over a looming railroad strike heads to the Senate floor this week, after a group of progressive Democrats, led by Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., pushed to modify a tentative agreement to include seven days of sick leave. The expanded agreement passed the House 220-206 on Wednesday, and the fight now moves to the Senate, where it remains unclear if there is enough Republican support to overcome a filibuster and send the agreement to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Railroads Have Invested Heavily in Congress. They Need Their Payoff in the Senate.

Related:

Why America’s Railroads Refuse to Give Their Workers Paid Leave

The answer, in short, is “P.S.R.” — or precision-scheduled railroading

What Is Behind Claim Joe Biden ‘Laundered’ Billions in Ukraine Aid via FTX?

What Is Behind Claim Joe Biden ‘Laundered’ Billions in Ukraine Aid via FTX?

Multiple tweets, posted between November 12-15, 2022, claim that Ukraine sent billions of dollars sourced from foreign aid to FTX, which was then sent back to the Democratic party.

Caught in the tailwinds of the scandal, many onlookers have pointed out the links between FTX and U.S. political parties, particularly the Democrats.

Bankman-Fried’s personal contributions to the Democrats have been public knowledge for some time, and he was the subject of a Politico profile in August 2022 that described him as the “newest megadonor,” but he has also made contributions to Republicans.

He tweeted on November 5, 2022, that he was “a significant donor in both D and R primaries. Supporting constructive candidates across the aisle to prevent pandemics and bring a bipartisan climate to DC. And working with them to support permissionless finance.”

“As part of this, @rsalame7926 [FTX Executive Ryan Salame] and I signed up campaigns to accept crypto; and gave some, including millions to Senate & House Republicans.”

Earlier this year, it was reported by The Intercept that FTX executive Ryan Salame started American Dream Federal Action, his own super PAC focused solely on electing Republicans, into which he invested millions of dollars.

Salame also contributed to the Republican Senate Leadership Fund and Congressional Leadership Fund. These donations were also reported, as per The Intercept article above, prior to the collapse of FTX.

The underlying implication among the claimants—that the Democratic Party was the sole beneficiary of donations stemming from FTX wealth—is provably false.

Related:

FTX’s SBF has made donations to Republican and Democrat parties

First, if there was any money laundering, both Democrats and Republicans were involved. Second, I don’t believe anything that Hal Turner says because he was an FBI Informant,

Peter Thiel’s midterm bet: the billionaire seeking to disrupt America’s democracy

Re-energized this election cycle, the tech entrepreneur joins other mega-donors apparently out to undercut the political system

Peter Thiel’s midterm bet: the billionaire seeking to disrupt America’s democracy

Related:

The Right’s Would-Be Kingmaker (archived, as it’s behind a paywall)

Anti-Globalist?! He invests in businesses, worldwide!? I doubt that it would be possible without globalization! 🤷🏼‍♀️

Andrew Yang Launches Third Party For Billionaires

Related:

Forward Party: What do you need to know about the new third political party created by Andrew Yang?

Rather than something new, the party is attempting to reach a previous Republican electorate that existed before Donald Trump took control of the party.

Universal Basic Income May Sound Attractive But, If It Occurred, Would Likelier Increase Poverty Than Reduce It

Opinion: Most third parties have failed. Here’s why ours won’t.

The People’s Party has their own problems, as well.