Buying 2012

[Nbadan]

Bernie Sanders names names

Bernie Sanders Exposes the 26 Billionaires who are Buying the 2012 Election

In front of a Senate panel today, Sen. Bernie Sanders outed the 26 billionaires who are members of 23 billionaire families that are using Citizens United to buy elections. Sen. Sanders estimated that these 26 billionaires are the tip of the iceberg. “My guess is that number is really much greater because many of these contributions are made in secret. In other words, not content to own our economy, the 1 percent want to own our government as well.”

Sanders explained how the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision put the government up for sale, “What the Supreme Court did in Citizens United is to say to these same billionaires and the corporations they control: ‘You own and control the economy, you own Wall Street, you own the coal companies, you own the oil companies. Now, for a very small percentage of your wealth, we’re going to give you the opportunity to own the United States government.’”

Sen. Sanders also did the last thing the billionaires wanted. He called them out by name.

http://www.politicususa.com/bernie-s...-election.html

Here they are..the 23 crooks trying to steal the 2012 elections...

1. Sheldon Adelson: casino owner and possible money launderer for foreign businessmen in places like China. What better way to funnel illegal foreign money into U.S. politics? “Lose” big at Adelson’s Macau casino, and he sends the money to Washington. Adelson is also trying to buy immunity from federal prosecution, because he paid out illegal bribes to foreign officials to get his casinos built.

2. The Koch Brothers: trying to buy more corporate welfare. This family, which got its start drilling oil for Stalin in Communist USSR sees no reason that it cannot get the USA to support it in the lifestyle to which it has grown accustomed. The cut down government owned trees using government built roads in order to create product for Georgia-Pacific and Dixie Cup. They graze their cattle on federal land for free. And they were paid a ton of money by W. to stockpile oil in the strategic oil reserve. They are buying the right to continue to manipulate oil prices for short term gain----and long term disaster for the U.S. manufacturing, transportation , travel and retail sectors.

3. Jim Walton wants Wal-Mart to be the ONLY store in town—and the only employer, too. He doesn’t want to have to pay overtime or provide benefits. And he will do anything to keep the unions out.

4. Harold Simmons runs something euphemistically called “NL”---for “National Lead.” He does not see why he has to dip into his own pocket to pay to clean up Superfund sites around the country. What is a little lead going to do to your baby?

5. Peter Thiel thinks that democracy went downhill when women were given the right to vote. He is a hedge fund manager and a venture capitalist. Enough said.

6. Jerrold Perenchio owns Univision, the largest Spanish language channel in the country. He lobbied heavily against an education bill in California designed to teach children English—presumably because it would have cut into his audience share. The GOP’s efforts to dismantle our public education system will allow his business to grow.

7. Kenneth Griffin: Another hedge fund manager.

8. James Simons: yet another hedge fund manager.

9. Julian Robertson: Eeks! It’s attack of the hedge fund managers!

10. Robert Rowling Oilman from Texas.

11. John Paulson: hedge fund manager.


12. Richard and J.W. Marriott: Mormons.

13. James Davis: founder of Major League Lacrosse. Wants more millionaires.

14. Harold Hamm Another oilman.

15. Kenny Trout. Does he mean Kenny Troutt, communications executive? No idea what he wants. Maybe another company since he sold his.

16. Louis Bacon Another hedge fund manager! That make six so far. Let’s hear it for the B Ark! As in...

Golgafrincham is a red semi-desert planet that is home of the Great Circling Poets of Arium and a species of particularly inspiring lichen. Its people decided it was time to rid themselves of an entire useless third of their population, and so the descendants of the Circling Poets concocted a story that their planet would shortly be destroyed in a great catastrophe. (It was apparently under threat from a "mutant star goat"). The useless third of the population (consisting of hairdressers, tired TV producers*, insurance salesmen, personnel officers, security guards, management consultants, telephone sanitisers and the like) were packed into the B-Ark, one of three purported giant Ark spaceships, and told that everyone else would follow shortly in the other two. The other two thirds of the population, of course, did not follow and "led full, rich and happy lives until they were all suddenly wiped out by a virulent disease contracted from a dirty telephone".


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Places_..._to_the_Galaxy

17. Bruce Kovner Hedge fund.

18. Warren Stephens Investment banking.

19. David Tepper Wait for it….Hedge fund! What are all the hedge fund managers and investment bankers buying with their millions? Immunity from prosecution for the part they played in destroying our economy?

20. Samuel Zell Destroyed the LA Times. Sees the mortgage crisis as a great way to get more people into his rental properties.

In April 2008, Zell made a controversial comment about the subprime mortgage crisis at a conference in Los Angeles, where he stated, "This country needs a cleansing. We need to clean out all those people who never should have bought in the first place, and not give them sympathy."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Zell

21. Leslie Wexner. Controls The Limited and Victoria’s Secrets which use slave labor.

22. Charles Schwab Investment broker.

23. Kelcy Warren. Natural gas and propane.

Note that 10 of the top 23 are hedge fund managers or investment bankers. These are the folks who destroyed our economy, and now they want to do it all over again.

[Nbadan]

This election may be seen in future generations as a turning point when democracy essentially was undermined by the power of corporations and the wealthy to buy elections. So what if 10,000 people contribute $200 each to President Obama's campaign when Sheldon Adelson contributes $20 million to a pro-Romney Superpac in June 2012 alone. Unless we manage to erase Citizens United, this could very well mark the year that we begin to rapidly move toward a corporate facist government headed by Romney as he blatantly pushes for tax cuts and benefits to the very rich while cutting needed benefits to 99 percent of Americans.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...KX5W_blog.html


Republican-aligned super PACs and other outside conservative groups have spent more than $144 million on general election ads in swing presidential states, a huge outlay of cash that has allowed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to not only combat but exceed heavy early ad spending by President Obama.

Roughly 80 percent of all ad spending by Republicans on the general election has come from these super PACs, as Romney has expended a relatively meager $35 million to date on ads in swing states, according to ad buy figures provided to the Fix by a GOP media buyer.


Republican outside groups have spent seven times as much as their Democratic counterparts on ads so far in the general election. In fact, the two-pronged American Crossroads (a super PAC) and Crossroads GPS (a 501c4) have spent in excess of $94 million on TV ads — approximately five times as much as Democratic super PACs have spent combined. And that $94 million is roughly two and a half times more than Romney himself has spent on ads in the general election to date.


What that raft of numbers make clear is that Republican super PACs and other outside groups have effectively kept Romney afloat as he recovered — financially and otherwise — from a costly Republican primary campaign.