Free Republic

Billionaire reality TV star Mark Cuban played the president in "Sharknado 3," which naturally qualifies him to handicap the 2016 presidential field -- and encourage fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg to enter the race for the White House. ... In an interview with WABC Radio, Cuban said he would like to see a Bloomberg candidacy -- describing the former mayor of New York City as progressive on social issues, such as gun control, yet fiscally conservative. ... This isn't the first time Cuban has encouraged a Bloomberg candidacy. As he surveyed the 2008 Republican and Democratic contenders, he called on a...

The 100 biggest donors of 2016 cycle have spent $195 million trying to influence the presidential election more than the $155 million spent by the 2 million smallest donors combined, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance data. The analysis found that the leading beneficiaries of checks from the top 100 donors were Jeb Bushs floundering campaign for the GOP nomination (a supportive super PAC received $49 million from donors on the list), Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton (super PACs dedicated to her raised $38 million from top 100 donors) and Ted Cruzs insurgent GOP campaign ($37 million). In fact,...

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Donald Trump is so fiercely opposed by the Koch brothers network that some donors believe the powerful group will intervene to stop the billionaire if it looks like he could win the Republican presidential nomination. "They are always very hesitant to get involved in a primary, but I think if they were going to do it, this would be the time because they just hate the guy,” said a donor who attended the Koch network’s winter retreat, held over the weekend at a luxury resort on the edge of Coachella Valley. Both officials and donors within...

Billionaire investor Robert Soros 'siphoned $21million of joint tax refunds into his own bank account while his wife recovered from breast cancer' Billionaire financier Robert Soros funneled millions of dollars of join tax refunds into his personal accounts while his wife Melissa Schiff Soros recovered from cancer, it has been claimed. Soros, the son of billionaire investor George, is accused of debiting four checks worth a total of $21million into his private accounts despite the money being owed to both him and his wife. Schiff made the accusations in Manhattan Superior Court on Friday as she took to the witness...

Charles Koch is “disappointed” with the line-up of Republican candidates in the 2016 cycle, and is surprised by the lack of influence he and his brother have wielded so far. In an interview with the Financial Times, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist, said he’ll eventually support a candidate who he agrees with on some things with, but that it’s hard to get excited. He said a list presented to all the candidates about the Kochs' political arm's priorities “doesn’t seem to faze them much. You’d think we could have more influence.”

Friday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," host Joe Scarborough warned that the association between former President Bill Clinton and convicted sex offender billionaire Jeffrey Epstein will be something the media will be forced to focus on if Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump chooses to discuss it. And that could be a "big problem" for his wife Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, Scarborough said. According to Scarborough, previous allegations of Bill Clinton's indiscretions, particularly in the 2008 presidential cycle when Hillary Clinton ran against Barack Obama, were not discussed in public forums. However, this time will be different because of Trump's ability...

With a new wave of terrorism, mass shootings and unprecedented social violence around the globe now a part of the daily routine for billions of people across both developed and developing nations, one group wants to be certain there is no chance of "close encounters", violent or otherwise, with the peasantry during its upcoming annual boondoggle at the World Economic Forum in Davos. According to Swiss info, when the world's billionaires land their private jets in the gorgeous Swiss town (which at 1,560 m is also the highest town in Europe) on January 20, they will have up to 5,000...

1. Gives billions to left-wing causes... 2. Influence on U.S. elections... 3. Wants to curtail American sovereignty... 4. Media Matters: Soros is a financial backer of Media Matters... 5. MoveOn.org: Soros has been a major funder of MoveOn.org... 6. Center for American Progress: Headed by John Podesta, White House chief of staff under President Clinton, the Center for American Progress has been instrumental in providing progressive talking.... 7. Environmental extremism: Former Obama green jobs czar Van Jones and his leftist environmental ideas have been funded by Soros' money... 8. America Coming Together: Soros gave nearly $20 million to this 527...

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump got into an interesting war of words on Twitter last week with a Saudi prince. "Dopey Prince (Al-Waleed bin Talal) wants to control our U.S. politicians with daddy's money. Can't do it when I get elected," Trump tweeted. Trump's social-media salvo was truly provocative, and not because he called a billionaire member of the Saudi royal family "dopey." What made Trump's outburst on Twitter so interesting was his willingness to call out the tacit and longstanding subversion of the U.S. political system by foreign interests. "You are a disgrace not only to the GOP but...

Hillary Clinton is upping her anti-Wall Street rhetoric, amid reports that the Clinton Foundation is running a private-equity company down in Colombia.The same private-equity field dissed by 2008 Obama in hundreds of millions of dollars of negative ads against Mitt Romney b/c Romney earned his fortune w/ a PEF. The Bogota-based Fondo Acceso, started in 2010 by Bill Clinton, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and mining millionaire Frank Giustra....$20 million seed funding supposedly came from the Clinton Foundations Clinton-Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative and Carlos Slims the SLIM Foundation, the Washington Free Beacon reports. In an ominous sign, Fondo Acceso took down...

Despite a population of just over 1 million people and just 3 electoral votes, Montana continues to be a hot bed of spending for billionaire’s and their political non-profit groups. (cut, jump) Liberal Swiss billionaire and Center for American Progress board member Hansjorg Wyss has received much attention in recent weeks after The Daily Caller revealed that he had paid $1.5 million to a Colorado woman to settle sex abuse allegations. Money from Wyss’ charitable foundation has proven quite important in Montana’s environmental movement.

The State Department (which Hillary Clinton used to run and where she still holds significant influence) has been very clear about one thing. There is no relationship between donations to the Clinton Foundation and actions taken by the Secretary of State during her tenure there. Period. Full stop. End of discussion. Perish the thought. You’re all just a bunch of Clinton haters who are trying to stop the ongoing charity work of these wonderful people. And yet for some strange reason we keep seeing stories like this. Hillary hadn’t even finished unpacking her things in her new office at...

In 2013, John Podesta was paid $87,000 by a shadowy foreign billionaire whose passion is preventing energy exploration on American land. Just two years later, Podesta is a member of President Obama’s inner circle, and the driving force inside the White House to block 12 million acres of land in Alaska’s Artic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling. The circumstances suggest Podesta may have run afoul of Obama’s highly-touted ethics pledge, which requires political appointees to disqualify themselves in matters relating to the interests of a former employer or client. Podesta — who is preparing to leave the White House

You know you've 'made it' when the prince of one of the world's biggest human rights abuser (and leading 'beheader') nations calls you a "disgrace to America."

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s Warren Buffett and Blackstone Group LP's Tony James, two of Hillary Clinton's most high-profile supporters in the world of finance, will gather at a fundraiser in New York this month to support the Democratic Party, according to people familiar with the event. Attendees will pay $33,400 to the Hillary Victory Fund, ---SNIP-- Clinton "has a vision for America that's very similar to mine, in terms of everybody being included in the prosperity we enjoy," Buffett told Bloomberg's David Westin

It's a case of the billionaire versus the "BULLYionaire." Mike Fernandez, one of Jeb Bush's wealthiest donors, announced plans on Friday to buy full-page advertisements warning voters against being lured by Donald J. Trump's hateful message and comparing his rise to the conditions that led to some of history's most evil dictators. "Look at Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy and Peron in Argentina," Mr. Fernandez writes in the ad, which was first reported by Politico. "When people lose hope, they are susceptible to those who offer to think for them." Mr. Fernandez is chairman of MBF Healthcare Partners, a...

One of Florida's biggest conservative Republican moneymen - and a billionaire backer of Jeb Bush - is so disgusted by Donald Trump's candidacy that if he has to, he'll do the unthinkable: "If I have a choice - and you can put it in bold - if I have a choice between Trump and Hillary Clinton, I'm choosing Hillary," Miami healthcare magnate Mike Fernandez told the Miami Herald on Friday.

American businessman Sheldon Adelson with his wife, Miriam Adelson, center, during a roundtable discussion in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images) It is the biggest financial prize in Republican presidential politics: the endorsement of Sheldon Adelson, the multibillionaire casino magnate legendary for his willingness to spend huge sums to promote the candidates of his choosing. But this year the bidding to become the winner of what is informally called the “Adelson primary” has gotten complicated. After being wooed by virtually all the major GOP contenders, the 82-year-old Adelson was believed to be close to announcing his backing of Florida Sen....

The richest man in Illinois does not often give speeches. But on a warm spring day two years ago, Kenneth C. Griffin, the billionaire founder of one of the world's largest hedge funds, rose before a black-tie dinner of the Economic Club of Chicago to deliver an urgent plea to the city's elite. They had stood silently, Mr. Griffin told them, as politicians spent too much and drove businesses and jobs from the state. They had refused to help those who would take on the reigning powers in the Illinois Capitol. "It is time for us to do something," he...

Billionaire Paul Singer, best known in politics for his backing of Jewish and LGBT causes, has backed Florida Senator Marco Rubio in the GOP presidential race. The biggest donor in the 2014 race, Singer's LGBT activism is due to the orientation of his son, Andrew. The elder Singer has created at least two groups dedicated to protecting the state of Israel, loosening immigration laws, and expanding the role of government in promoting the LGBT community's goals. Rubio's star has risen since last week's GOP debate, especially with potential competitors for donors either leaving the race, such as Wisconsin governor Scott...