SOME SUPER REPORTING ON SUPER-DELEGATES BY SUPERMAN’S GIRLFRIEND …
Oftentimes we’ll skim articles without even noticing their bylines. And that’s exactly what happened late last week when one of our sources sent us a very well-written, well-researched story slamming Hillary Clinton for her campaign’s collusion with the Democratic establishment to purchase the loyalty of hundreds of her party’s so-called “super-delegates.”
“In August 2015, at the Democratic Party convention in Minneapolis, 33 democratic state parties made deals with the Hillary Clinton campaign and a joint fundraising entity called The Hillary Victory Fund,” the article noted. “The deal allowed many of her core billionaire and inner circle individual donors to run the maximum amounts of money allowed through those state parties to the Hillary Victory Fund in New York and the DNC in Washington.”
South Carolina was one of these states – selling out to Clinton for a measly $64,100.
“The idea was to increase how much one could personally donate to Hillary by taking advantage of the Supreme Court ruling 2014, McCutcheon v FEC, that knocked down a cap on aggregate limits as to how much a donor could give to a federal campaign in a year,” the author continued in her article. “In other words, a single donor, by giving 10,000 dollars a year to each signatory state could legally give an extra $330,000 a year for two years to the Hillary Victory Fund.”
So much for Clinton’s rhetoric on reforming America’s campaign finance laws, huh?
Anyway …
As shady as this incestuous fundraising apparatus is, it’s not illegal. But to those following the money – including the author of the column – it raises serious questions about the integrity of the Democratic nominating process.
Take this excerpt …
One could reasonably infer that the tacit agreement between the signatories was that the state parties and the Hillary Clinton Campaign would act in unity and mutual support. And that the super-delegates of these various partner states would either pledge loyalty to Clinton, or, at the least, not endorse Senator Sanders. Not only did Hillary’s multi-millionaire and billionaire supporters get to bypass individual campaign donation limits to state parties by using several state parties apparatus, but the Clinton campaign got the added bonus of buying that state’s super-delegates with the promise of contributions to that Democratic organization’s re-election fund.
That’s exactly what is happening …
Big money is effectively purchasing Democratic super-delegates … even if the voters of the states in which these delegates reside didn’t support Clinton. This disparity is abundantly clear in looking in the current Democratic delegate count. Among pledged delegates – i.e. those bound to the results of their state’s primary or caucus elections – Clinton enjoys a narrow 1,243 – 948 advantage over independent socialist U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.
Among the “super-delegates,” though, Clinton currently enjoys a whopping 469 – 31 advantage.
Does that sound even remotely right? Of course not. But when you follow the money trail through the state parties, it makes sense.
“If a presidential campaign from either party can convince various state parties to partner with it in such a way as to route around any existing rules on personal donor limits and at the same time promise money to that state’s potential candidates, then the deal can be sold as a way of making large monetary promises to candidates and Super-delegates respectable,” the article of the column explained.
So … who is author of this excellent investigative piece? Glad you asked: The story was written by Sanders’ supporter Margot Kidder.
Wait … who?
Margot Kidder … the actress?
Yup. This incredibly insightful, incisive rebuke of status quo chicanery on the Democratic side of the aisle was written by none other than the woman who gained international fame in 1978 for her portrayal of Lois Lane.
Now a 67-year-old progressive activist living in Montana, Lane … err Kidder … has come up with something we think the editors of the fictitious Daily Planet would have been honored to publish. We know those in her home state should be proud.
“That outsiders could make their votes count for more than our own in our Presidential primary by supporting a system that is rigged in favor of the wishes of lobbyists and billionaires running their money through our state democratic party coffers is a concept that most Montanans would be repulsed by,” Kidder wrote.
Indeed.
While we don’t necessarily embrace her politics … we admire Kidder’s willingness to confront the powers-that-be masquerading as champions for the downtrodden on the left. That’s exactly what we’re trying to do on the other end of the ideological spectrum.
Of course it’s one thing to try going after the powers-that-be … it’s another thing to draw some blood in the process, which is exactly what Kidder’s piece does.
As her support for Sanders’s socialist presidential bid attests, Kidder is obviously not someone with whom we will ever find ourselves in ideological alignment.
But we respect the hell out of her journalistic chops … and her ability to tell “truth to power.”
Lois Lane couldn’t have done any better …
29 comments
In other news, the SC School choice program is not corrupt at all…um..er…well
http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article69676722.html#storylink=mainstage.
It was always a scam, which is why we cannot let it expand further. It is nothing more than a way for parents to get the government to pay for their private schools.
Fits will never report on this. That is not news, like what a has been actress says about Hillary Clinton.
Because one is true, and the crap you spew is not. How much money is Hillary spending to buy this election by buying off the super delegates? I want to see that story?
Read the article. Sounds like a well run program. The SCDOR is keeping an eye on it, Their was not one mention of CORRUPTION. Not one fine, not one charge of illegality. Also the issue has been corrected. It’s a great program that gives parents of special needs children a choice at less expense than it would cost the state in public school education of these students.
The only people who could possibly be against this program are those with a vested interest in the state subsidized education monopoly. They pretend that there is no corruption in the public schools.
Wait a minute …
What does SCDOT have to do with School Choice? Didn’t you mean SCDOE?
I corrected it twenty minutes ago. Refesh. I’m on a smart phone. I never make corrections until after I post. The screen keyboard takes up 2/3 of the screen.
Bill and Wanda still around?
RESTAURATEUR PLEADS GUILTY TO TAX VIOLATION
Mike Soraghan, The Sun News
Myrtle Beach restaurateur Bill Howard got probation and a $5,000 fine Wednesday after pleading guilty to not filing state tax returns.
Howard, owner of the Original Benjamin’s Calabash Seafood restaurant on Restaurant Row and Howard’s Cattle Co., pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of not filing tax returns. His wife, Wanda, pleaded guilty to one count.
Howard received a one-year suspended sentence and three years’ probation in addition to the fine. His wife also was fined…
Published on 1997-09-11, Page 1D, Sun News, The (Myrtle Beach, SC)
No one can read that article and not see corruption. These are not real scholarships, based on need they are based on people making contributions. The program was supposed to be set up to prevent exactly what is happening. Instead the program is operating exactly as its critics said it would work. It is nothing more than a way funnel taxpayer money to private schools.
If you can give someone money, have them pay it back to you as a scholarship and get a tax credit for your contribution, the whole system makes absolutely no sense. You may as well cut out the middleman and give it to the people directly, which is exactly what the school choice scam is all about.
If you change the rules to make it clear that anyone who gets a scholarship from any non-profit, cannot get a tax credit for contributions to the program, the funds will dry up, because no one is doing this for charitable purposes.
And your typical Republican BS of attack the person who you do not agree with, does not work with me. I have no vested interest in public education other than I support a system of public education, that educates the children of all citizens equally regardless of their race, religion or economic circumstances, and does not require any taxpayer to fund religious education.
Only 60 individuals out of 1000 donors and 3000 scholarships
If anyone would look, I am willing to bet the vast majority of individual contributions can be traced back to someone connected to a “scholarship” recipient. I am equally sure that 2.75 million contribution came from some entity pushing the public pay for private school agenda. The whole program makes no sense. We are letting these people decide where to spend taxpayer dollars.
Why the heck would we let some person or company decide where the state spends 2.75 million taxpayer dollars??? This has nothing to do with charity. It is costing these contributors absolutely nothing.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. — Jerry Seinfeld
Only if you think that the state can make better decisions than parents. You can get tax payer paid grants and scholarships for private colleges. No difference.
Yes..Palmetto Kids First…er…wait…
http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article13853615.html
http://www.thestate.com/news/local/education/article13842254.html
http://www.scnow.com/news/education/article_ccef9be4-d214-11e4-9dea-f3fabd5844f0.html
“Every parent in 2014 who donated to Palmetto Kids First Scholarship Program and requested a scholarship from the nonprofit received the tuition assistance – about 60 donors overall”
You or the press hardly ever consider the children.
You want parents to pay for two school systems if the public schools don’t meet their needs
One of the parents who donated to Palmetto Kids First is Gregory Montieth, a certified public accountant at Sherman Capital Markets in Charleston. His 10-year-old daughter Emma, who has autism, goes to Trident Academy in Mount Pleasant, a private school for students with disabilities.
Two years ago, Montieth and his wife made the decision to pull Emma out of the public school system because her behavior wasn’t improving. She was acting out, throwing tantrums and wouldn’t interact with other people.
“It was an absolute disaster,” Montieth said. Emma started going to Trident in August 2013, where she began working on socializing and life skills. By Christmas, she was offering to help her mom do the dishes. Now, she walks up to people and introduces herself. Trident, Montieth said, “has been a godsend.”
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150331/PC1603/150339920/1434/private-school-choice-program-for-students-with-disabilities-under-scrutiny
And you fail to consider the thousands of success stories from public schools
I’m not a supporter of private schools. I’m a supporter of choice that includes traditional public schools, charter schools, magnet schools and private schools.
Private schools should not be in a financial disadvantage to public schools. The private school should be a practical option for the poor.
“I’m a supporter of choice that includes traditional public schools, charter schools, magnet schools and private schools.”
I am too, but my tax dollars should only go to schools that the government has good oversight on and has some control over. Government shouldn’t have control over private schools, I think we can all agree on that, so government shouldn’t be giving them money either.
If only we could take funding from public schools and give it to private scams like this one right?
Bernie has the same kind of fund- NPR reported it in December
Not only does Clinton have one, but so does her rival Bernie Sanders. His campaign and the DNC set up the Bernie Victory Fund last month. It doesn’t appear nearly as active as the Hillary Victory Fund.
There’s very little in it; he has to raise $ for the campaign. He said he might be able to contribute to it later. She’s using it to get around the campaign limits and buy her way to the WH. Of course.
Chuck Todd on Meet the Press shows that Hillary would still have a substantial lead among Super delegates if allocated by caucus and primary results, but her overall lead would be about 200 less than her current 700 delegate lead.
A solution for Bernie’s Super delegate problem. Who knew?
http://brianmeyer.deviantart.com/art/Superman-for-President-555625698
Faster than a speeding unencrypted top secret email from a private server!
whats new . hillry rotten clintons corrupt. nazis
Hillary is corrupt but the nazis are actually backing Trump.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/missing-superman-actress-found-frightened-in-bushes-1306667.html
Glad to see Margot has gotten her @#$! together. Last time she was in the news she was found hiding in the bushes in an LA suburb.
Hill’s first priority next January will be to deport her, if she wins that is.
Super Delegates that can vote how they see fit as opposed to how the majority the voters told them to vote are corrupt and take $$ for the casted vote. Why else would that ever happen? That’s probably why Hillary has always said she is going to win due to the Super Delegates. Rumor is she already bought them
I wish FITS would do the math for us on the number of the regular votes cast in a Democratic primary it takes to equal one super delegate vote. I tried to look it up and the closest I came was an article using the New Hampshire primary, the figure was approximately 10,000 to 1. If this is close, it’s great to see democracy in action.
kidder is canadian. and bat shit crazy. not that theres anything wrong with that.