Validating the TV spot I made in February 08 and ran on cable and broadcast:
The price of admission to the U.S. House of Representatives keeps going up.
More than half of the winning candidates in November — 252 in all — raised more than $1 million for their races, including each of those in the 50 most competitive contests, Federal Election Commission records show.
That’s 27 percent more than the 199 members who reached that threshold in 2004, the last U.S. presidential election.
“It is a new era of fundraising that raises the bar for non-incumbents” and encourages incumbents to seek “more and more cash to scare off challengers,” said James Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University in Washington. “The real election is the race for money.”
Bloomberg.com: News [1].
We have the best politicians money can buy. And you wonder why your dollars don’t do as much for you as they used to?
The only way we’ll see real change in government, is when we see change in campaign finance. I’ve often said there should be a cap on how much you can spend on a campaign- it should never exceed what the position will pay over the term.
So, if you are going to make $400K as President for 4 years, the most you could spend on the campaign is $1.6 million. That’s a far cry from the billion dollar smackdown we just had (I’m guessing at how much was spent in the presidential final- add in the primaries and it was probably closer to $3 billion).
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tISxC39Bpc[/youtube]
My favorite is the one where you have tape over your mouth.
We should do a sequel!
;)
It looks like you could’ve bought yourself a Senate seat in Illinois.
Classic. Blagojevich has been leading the most corrupt state in the union. Illinois, including Barry, are as corrupt as they come. Anything and everyting is for sale.
Class Act.
This may go all the way the the White House, the Barry White House that is……….. Barry knew what was going on, it was his seat, it was his buddy. Geez, if ain’t cheatin’ you ain’t tryin’.
US Politix is a joke. Pay to Play baby.
Maybe not, Gene.
“The charges also state that in a conversation with Harris on November 11, Blagojevich said he knew that President-elect Obama wanted a specific candidate for the open Senate seat but added “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. [Expletive] them.”
Doesn’t sound to me like Obama was playing ball with him.
If Barry is guilty I say we impeach him. You know he is involved. Pay to Play – the American Public is screwed once again!!!
Axlerod, November 23, 2008: “I know he’s (Obama) talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them.”
Axlerod, Yesterday: “I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the President-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy. They did not then or at any time discuss the subject.”
Hmm. Axlerod apparently “misspoke”. I dunno. I would’ve liked to see Obama’s Fight the Smears truth brigade right the first statement the day after it was made, and not the exact day that the whole process of picking a Senate replacement was found to being corrupt.
Obama, on Blagojevich: “If the governor asks me to work on his behalf, I’ll be happy to do it.” “We’ve got a governor in Rod Blagojevich who has delivered consistently on behalf of the people of Illinois.” If Obama can’t even judge the character of an extremely corrupt Governor, what’s he going to say about the horrible dictators that he plans on chilling out with?
He is too inexperienced (Obama) and his true colors shall be revealed in the upcoming months. He is involved, he is one of them…..
Obama has plenty of jobs to fill in his own administration. He can appoint whomever he wants, all by himself. He doesn’t need the governor of Illinois to do it for him.
It was a safe bet that the vacant seat was going to go to a democrat because Blagojevich is a dem. Beyond that, I doubt if Obama cared WHO got it.
Why would he try to buy that kind of favor from someone who was already known to be under investigation for crooked hiring practices?
If you don’t want to give him any credit for having integrity, at least give him credit for having some brains. He’s way too smart and calculating for that.
Fact: The prosecutor said Obama wasn’t implicated.
Fact: The suspect is heard cursing Obama multiple times on the tape for not playing the game.
Exactly how many doses of medication do you have to skip to get from those facts to: “He is involved, he is one of them.”?
Sad to hear that I can’t run for Congress. Maybe I should be a sports star or maybe I will start to cozy up to some of those non-taxed cults they seem to know the movers and shakers.
On Obama: Isn’t it funny how the Republicans couldn’t dig this out before the election? Christ they ripped Kerry to shreds but couldn’t find any kyrptonite on Obama….its as if they didn’t even try….as if they didn’t really want to win the election….like they didn’t support John McCain…..that Karl Rove is smarter than we thought not?
Is a system corrupt if it delivers to the only people who care about it? You have to admire politicians they are a shining example of America’s true motto. Always disguard morality for financial pursuits…just like our founding fathers and their big ol’ slave plantations, not?