Posted on 01/23/2016 3:28:08 PM PST by LibFreeUSA
An Open Letter To Mark Levin
[Due to the hundreds of emails I am receiving, I have updated this letter and will continue to do so.]
January 22, 2016
Dear Mr. Levin,
My name is Lauren Stephens. I’ve been involved in politics for a long time – mostly just as a pissed off American, but I also own a campaign services company. I do not work for any of the Presidential Campaigns. I am not coordinated with any of them. I have not spoken to any of them. I am not being paid by anyone for this. I am getting absolutely nothing for writing this. I am not seeking publicity and have turned down all media requests. My name is attached to this so people will understand this isn’t some back door hit piece. I am a real person.
First off, I would like to let you know that I have been a huge fan and follower of yours since probably about 2007 or 2008. I have several, but not all, of your books. They are really good stuff. I have even downloaded the majority of your podcasts.
Mr. Levin, for years, I have had nothing but the utmost respect for you. Your word has always been your bond. If you doubt my sincerity, you can ask a former co-worker of yours from the Reagan Administration, Dixie Cassell. You could ask a real patriot, C Steven Tucker, from the Chicago area. You could ask a lot of people. They know me.
For years, you have been a champion of We The People, and maybe today, you still believe that you are. But at this point, I beg to differ. Not because I want to, but because I believe I have a little bit more inside information than you have on certain issues surrounding the Presidential race. And the GOP.
I hope you will keep in mind, my respect and admiration for you, before you respond – IF you respond. Although I am angry, I come to you without malice. I am here simply because I know of no other way to get this message to you.
A little background:
I lived in Wisconsin during the Reince Priebus reign of terror when he was the State GOP Chairman. I’ll bet not a lot of people know about his former life. Ask Former Congressman Mark Neumann, or any of the other Gubernatorial candidates, what happened when they dared to run against “The Chosen Oneâ€, Scott Walker, for Governor in 2010. Ask Michael Steele what happened when Reince Priebus decided he wanted Steele’s RNC Chairmanship. You can also ask Mark Willis the same thing, from 2013.
For that matter, you can also ask Rick Santorum, who decisively had the bulk of the primary support for the Presidential primary in 2012 in Wisconsin. Sorry Rick, you were in the way of the deal between Mitt Romney and Reince Priebus – who was desperate and willing to do ANYTHING to make sure that Wisconsin’s Golden Boy, Paul Ryan, was the Vice Presidential pick. But that could not happen unless Romney was the nominee. And I think we can all agree, Romney – as fine of a man as he is – was by far no one’s favorite. Everyone who was anyone in Wisconsin is well aware that there was a deal made with Romney which would guarantee him the nomination if Reince could get a Wisconsinite in the VP slot. Since they had already planned to run Walker for President, it could not be him.
3musketeers
By the way, Scott Walker, Reince Priebus and Paul Ryan have all been best buds for years. They all hail from Southeast Wisconsin. That alone speaks volumes, wouldn’t you say?
I FIND GREAT IRONY IN THE FACT THAT WALKER’S DONORS, INCLUDING THE KOCH BROTHERS AND CLUB FOR GROWTH, ARE ALL IN FOR CRUZ NOW!
Reince Priebus is a wannabe Lee Atwater. Remember the Southern Strategy? Well, welcome to the Wisconsin Strategy. Priebus really makes me miss Atwater.
I had Paul Ryan’s number way before you did Mr. Levin. Needless to say, I was happy when you finally realized what a fraud he really is. I cannot think of any other person who has done more damage to the GOP and Conservative values than him.
By the way, there is an OFFICIAL Paul Ryan primary effort and you can find their Facebook page here. That is not my page, nor am I an admin.
As far as the Wisconsin Strategy, You could also ask my dear, sweet friend Jeanne Tarantino what happened to her when she ran for an Assembly seat in Wisconsin recently. And let me tell you, Jeanne is the most ethical, decent, caring, SMART, beautiful and faithful person I have ever had the honor of knowing. At one time, the GOP felt the same way. She worked in Walker’s administration. She was also the woman who single-handedly got Lt Governor Rebecca Kleefish elected.
But, when you are going up against one of the establishment – there will be hell to pay. And there was. Mostly led by Wisconsin’s so-called Conservative media. Conservative as in RINO, not Conservative as in you and I. Do you want to guess who gives them their rules of engagement?
That’s just how the GOP Cartel rolls.
Fast forward to 2015: Cruz was the first out of the gate and I was on board right away. Who wouldn’t be, right? He talks the talk, he says what we all want to hear. But… what did I really KNOW about him? What did anyone really KNOW about him? Did anyone bother to do a little deeper digging?
Apparently not, because if they had, and if you had, you would know what I know.
But before I get to all that…
Here is what I can say: Admittedly, I have been a huge fan of Trump’s since the 80’s (remember the Reagan days?!), when I bought “Art of the Dealâ€.
Over the years, I have watched him. I have read many of his books. I have seen him on TV. I have seen him in Congressional hearings. I have seen his commercials. I have seen him on the front page of the Enquirer (Marla Maples). I have seen the good and the bad of Donald Trump.
One thing I know for certain and without any reservation whatsoever – Mr. Trump LOVES this country, and dare I say, he is IN LOVE with this country. And, he has always said that he loves the working man, and it is obvious from what we are seeing now, that love goes both ways.
When Mr. Trump says he wants to “Make America Great Again†I believe him. I believe him with everything in me. As do millions of other folks. I believe with the right people on board with him, this nation will prosper like never before. Trump is wise to seek the counsel of others. It is something he has done for decades. I don’t recall a time when Senator Cruz ever did any such thing.
Is it possible that Trump is not like you and I? Most definitely. However, I welcome his newer and more conservative positions than he has held in the past. We should always welcome this from anyone. Just as we did from former Democrat Ronald Reagan, and yes, just as we did from former Democrat Mitt Romney.
Mr. Trump has been a VERY, VERY generous donor to the GOP, the RNC, the RNCC, and most every other Republican committee in this country. I did the research. And this isn’t new. He has been a major donor to GOP causes since at least the 80’s. And when I say donate, I mean he has given hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Let’s all just click right here and take a look, shall we?
That search is just a search by name and the word “Republican†it is not very detailed, but still, it PROVES without a doubt that he isn’t new around here.
Mr. Trump’s generosity, kindness and loyalty to the GOP didn’t end there. He has been a major supporter of MANY Republican candidates. You may like to cherry pick those donations a little and make it sound like he has only donated to Mitch McConnell, but the truth is, he has donated to MANY many wonderful incumbents and candidates. Let’s see what he donated in the 2014 election cycle, shall we? Did he donate to RINOs too? Sure. But isn’t it you who always tells us that in the end, a RINO is better than a Democrat?
Make no mistake about it: If not for the generosity of Mr. Trump, not only would the GOP not be who they are today, but there would be MANY Republicans who would have never been elected at all. Imagine that.
I do not suggest that this should buy him any favors. No. Not at all. My point is, the GOP and MANY Republicans are WELL AWARE that Trump has been on our side for a long time, and yet, they knowingly and fraudulently choose to perpetuate these lies. The lies that he just joined the party. The lies that he isn’t Conservative. Lie after lie after lie.
I would like everyone who is reading this to please watch this video of Donald Trump, from 1988… at the GOP convention. After watching that, you will know that Trump is not a new to the party. You will know you have been lied to. Over and over again.
Now, before I get to the Cruz thing (which is going to be really bad!), there is something that has been bugging the shit out of me…
Why do I keep hearing about this ethanol thing? Why?
Do I favor subsidies? Hell no! Am I an ethanol fan? No!
But I do not believe the general public understands that ethanol has been around for a very long time and has numerous uses, which can be read about here.
Mr. Levin – it is absurd to go to Iowa, a state that obviously depends on the industry (thanks to Congress), an industry that employs what – 50,000 people supposedly – and announce, “The GOP says I am a jerk unless I come here and say we must get rid of ethanolâ€! I mean, who DOES that? Someone who is pandering to the GOP without any real consideration of the immediate consequences.
Does the President of the United States of America have the constitutional authority to end all subsidies? Without a pen and a phone of course. You know damn good and well that there is not one sitting Congressman who is going to allow that to happen.
So, Trump is “pandering†to Iowa, while Cruz is “pandering†to someone more evil, the GOP. Please tell us Senator Cruz, just how many jobs have you created in your entire life? Campaign staff not included.
I admit, I believe Mr. Trump is not on the right side of this issue, but I also believe it is possible that he clearly doesn’t understand why that is. And that is okay, he can be educated. He is a reasonable and intelligent man. I believe that in his heart of hearts, he just wants Iowa to prosper. After all, if you take away all those “subsidized†jobs, we will end up subsidizing those folks in the welfare system.
In the end, no one has the balls to eliminate ethanol subsidies, and we must blame Congress for that.
Now, what is so ridiculous here is that all this subsidy bashing seems to be limited to ethanol for some reason! Why?
Do we expect our candidates to go to Wisconsin and say “I am here to take away dairy and farms because you are subsidizedâ€! How absurd would that be? I don’t hear anyone railing on and on about that. Why not?
Senator Cruz sure is taking in a lot of money from “big oilâ€, so I am going to challenge him to get his butt down to Texas as soon as possible and proclaim to all those donors that he will be immediately working to END ALL OIL SUBSIDIES (which are far bigger than ethanol subsidies). Mr. Cruz, please, show us what a real conservative you are – tell your donors you are going to cut them off if they elect you. By an Executive Order if need be. If you are not willing to do that, then you are a hypocrite and by your own standards, not a real Conservative.
The sad fact is, nearly everyone and every thing is subsidized. And we are just going to have to give Congress the blame for this because, as you know, they are the ones with the power of the purse.
Now, I am going to tell you, and anyone else reading this, why I dropped my support of Senator Cruz.
First of all, the way I see it, Mr. Trump was truly kind to Cruz. I believe the bromance was genuine, on Mr. Trump’s behalf. So let us not forget it was Cruz who fired the first shot by speaking so horribly of Trump in the undercover audio, which was later released to the public. It proved, without a doubt, that Cruz saw Trump as nothing more than another vehicle to take him where he wanted to go. You can click here to hear it.
Just from that, we learned how disingenuous and manipulative Senator Cruz really is. He is no victim here.
Having said that, I believe someone in the establishment purposely set that up. I know they wanted those two to fight so it would clear the field for their chosen one, Marco Rubio. Sadly, Cruz fell for it. He just couldn’t help himself.
I will not address the birther issue, mainly because it isn’t valid, and if we really wanted to talk about birthers, we MUST look to Cruz’s own father. He is the most egregious birther I have ever seen. Let’s not go there.
When I first heard about the campaign finance issue, where Cruz claimed that he simply “forgot†to report those loans, I knew it wasn’t true because it was impossible. It is impossible because Cruz is a very smart man. He also has a legal and compliance team. He also has a treasurer. Ted Cruz lied to the American people. And I am very sorry that some people still refuse to accept this.
I immediately started doing my own research. What I found was pretty unsettling Mr. Levin. I believe if you happen to be reading this, you will agree that the prima facie evidence is strong. I have also verified this with the Enforcement Division of the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Let us all remember what Ted Cruz and his wife first told us when they said they cashed out everything they had. Was there any mention of a bank loan?
If you go to this story from 2013, you will see that not only was he on the record as making that claim (as he has made numerous times before), but there is also an audio clip of them (on the left side of the page).
“Ted Cruz recalled saying to his wife in the weeks before his Senate primary, when he was still behind in the polls, “Sweetheart, I’d like us to liquidate our entire net worth, liquid net worth, and put it into the campaign.â€
“What astonished me, then and now, was Heidi within 60 seconds said, ‘Absolutely,’ with no hesitation,†said Mr. Cruz, who invested about $1.2 million — “which is all we had saved,†he added — into his campaign.â€
Ironically, even Mrs. Cruz seemed uncomfortable with such a story, as she tried on several occasions to change it. The only reason to even bring this up on the campaign trail was to make people believe that not only did they have the money, but that they were so confident of Cruz, that they were willing to risk it all! This is one of the best fundraising strategies there is. And his campaign finance reports indicate that it worked.
Now, about the “forgotten†loans. Were they really forgotten? No. Here they are:
cruz-loans
As you can see, he reported loans. He reported them back then. He reported them on time. So that Sir, is another lie that he continues to tell to this day. He didn’t forget anything. What he did was lie to the FEC, claiming they were personal loans from his personal money. He had no choice. That is what he told the public he did. Additionally, he never filed ANY loan documentation, which is a requirement no matter WHAT the loan source is.
Now, he wants us to believe that he is “forgetful� That his legal and compliance team are inept? That his Treasurer might be crooked? INCONCEIVABLE!
If this is the case, then he has NO business seeking the Presidency of the United States.
In fact, the more I think about it, the more ridiculous and irresponsible it is for someone to take a loan for over a million dollars just to run for office that pays less than $200,000.00 a year. Is this part of our new conservative principles? Nah, it is just politics and it is acceptable if Cruz does it, but no one else.
By the way, the public needs to understand that the money was paid back, however, it was paid for with campaign donations, not his own personal money. The Cruz’s were out nothing.
Later on, his Senate campaign transferred a LOT of Senate campaign funds to his Presidential campaign account. There is no presumption that just because someone donates money to you for one office, means that they support you to run for a different office. I think Sarah Palin can back me up on this one. See this here?
transfer
In addition to that, I allege Ted Cruz violated other campaign finance laws, such as the ones that pertain to declaring a candidacy and filing appropriate documents when you plan to run for office. We require candidates to do this because we deserve transparency.
When you look thru Cruz’s Senate campaign account, you will see that, at least since December 2014, Ted Cruz started spending a LOT of money in preparation of his Presidential run. He spent a lot of money in “early statesâ€. He certainly exceeded the $5,000.00 threshold reporting requirement. He had 15 days to report. He waited at least THREE months. Although he started spending at least by December 2014 (and probably a lot earlier), he did not file his candidacy until March 23, 2015.
According to the FEC (VIA a phone conversation), these violations are:
11 CFR 100.72
11 CFR 110.3C5 (Permissible Transfers)
11 CFR 110.8D2 (2) No funds, goods, or services, including loans and loan guarantees, may be transferred between or used by the separate campaigns, except as provided in 11 CFR 110.3(c)(5)
11 CFR 100.3
There is also another issue where the very forgetful Senator Cruz forgot to disclose another one of his financial connections.
It would appear, that Senator Cruz believes that he is above the law and that the laws do not apply to him.
The issues that I discovered with Ted Cruz run way deeper than this. While you and others continue to slam Trump for donations to RINOs, Ted Cruz has been a major donor to RINOs himself. We certainly don’t hear about that, now do we?
Ted Cruz’s Leadership PAC, the Jobs, Growth and Freedom Fund, which he is directly in control of, has been handing out RINO money since he took office. For this cycle though, despite the fact that he has plenty of money in it, the only money he has been handing out is to… you guessed it – Iowa lawmakers. Click here for that. No pandering to see here folks! Move along!
Let’s take a look and see whose palms he was greasing in the 2014 election cycle shall we? Click here to see the list.
Hmmm, is that John Cornyn’s name I see on that list? Joni Ernst? Dan Sullivan? Yep. And once again, he greased every Republican palm in Iowa, didn’t he. That is what career politicians do.
Do I need to remind people that for the majority of his adult life, Ted Cruz has had one government or political job after another?
The deeper I dig, the more I don’t like.
Although Ted Cruz runs on a social conservative, evangelical platform, this is yet another deception. When Ted Cruz had the opportunity, THE opportunity, to nip gay marriage in the bud – did he? Nope, he turned and walked away. And what he chose NOT to fight for, is the exact case that led directly to gay marriage. You can read more about Lawrence vs Texas right here. You can read Supreme Court Justice Scalia’s response, right here. It sums it all up.
I am very disappointed by all the people who now own Ted Cruz, including his Super PACs. From the get-go, Donald Trump made it clear to others that he was adamantly opposed to Super PACs, and in fact, he sent letters to them, demanding they cease and desist.
Why won’t Ted Cruz stand up against this? Why does Ted Cruz allow these PACs to exist on his behalf? Is it because he received a lot of money from Citizens United, the organization responsible for the existence of Super PACs? If I am not mistaken, I believe there are more Super PACS and corporate money backing Cruz than any other candidate.
While Donald Trump is willing to fight his own battles and not hide behind Super PACs, Ted Cruz has been a coward, cowering in the corner, letting everyone else fight his battles for him. So he can then pretend to be a victim. It is repulsive and it doesn’t show strength or leadership.
One great example of this is how the OFFICIAL Ted Cruz campaign just put out a video implying that Donald Trump bulldozed an old lady’s house in New Jersey to make a parking lot out of it. Not only did he not buy the house, but the house is STILL THERE.
I repeat, the house is STILL there.
Furthermore, the one who created the problem in the first place was Bob Guccione, who first bought the surrounding property and actually built a construction cage around her home. Trump came in years later and tried to save the day – yes, even if it benefited him. The house finally ended up selling in 2014. To someone else.
I am very upset that people affiliated with Cruz are now fraudulently claiming that Trump is now a favorite of the establishment. How does anyone believe such nonsense? Trump is leading by a long shot, he certainly does not need favors from the GOP.
If the establishment is indeed warming up to Trump, you can believe it isn’t sincere. I can only imagine that it is either because they are hoping Trump will line their pockets or because Trump has put the fear of God into them and they are terrified that Trump will jump ship and run third party. I also believe it is entirely possible that, as I predicted months ago, they realize the only way to take Trump down is by trying to make the public believe he is aligned with them.
If we want to talk about establishment connections, we really need to look to what Cruz is doing now.
A couple of weeks ago, Cruz bragged on Twitter that he was helping failed candidate Scott Walker raise money to pay off his disastrous campaign debts. This is about as insider as you can get. Walker, Preibus and Omnibus Driver Paul Ryan have been tight for a real long time.
And recently, Ted Cruz has been attending events with party insiders, as can be read here, which tells the story of a recent fundraiser in the home of Mary Matalin and Democratic Strategist James Carville, which was attended by none other than S. Scott Sewell, a Bush insider.
Typically, I would just write off this sort of behavior to being “just politics†but it just doesn’t set well with a lot of people when you have someone like Ted Cruz out on the campaign trail, trying to pretend he is some perfect little angel and that he is being bullied by the big, bad Donald Trump.
And what about this? A real swell Wall Street Journal piece by none other than – Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan. Yes, Ted Cruz teamed up with none other than Paul Ryan. And this was less than a year ago.
I am also bothered by Ted Cruz taking in so much money from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, who is affiliated with Heinz, which of course is related to John Kerry. What the hell is that all about? Just politics, right? What about all that railroad money? Will we ever see the Keystone Pipeline under a Ted Cruz presidency? Probably not if his donors have anything to say about it and why wouldn’t they? He owes them now. That’s just politics and Ted Cruz is a career politician.
Another thing I feel compelled to inform people of is Ted Cruz’s new support of the Convention of States, which certainly does not coincide with his wife’s views on sovereignty, which you can read about here on the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) website article, Building A North American Community. I couldn’t help but notice that right after Ted Cruz’s long time buddy and mentor, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (Who is labeled a 2016 Kingmaker) came out in favor of the Convention of States – you changed your tune on Donald Trump. Did Cruz persuade Abbott to take up this issue as a favor to you or vice versa? The timing is pretty crazy.
Mr. Levin, this open letter is not meant to be disrespectful or to suggest that you are being dishonest. I believe that you have simply been too busy to do a lot of deep digging. I hope I don’t have to face your wrath, but I am willing to, because 2016 is important.
I also call on both candidates to knock this shit off. It is childish and unproductive. I appreciate that Trump is willing to take the heat for his past and ongoing positions. Mr. Cruz, I wish you would do the same, but the lies about Trump will only harm your candidacy. You can make it stop.
Think of it like this Senator, if Trump wins and you are VP, you’ll potentially have EIGHT years as VP and then guess what…. you’ll likely get EIGHT more as his successor. You win.
At the end of the day, I will vote for any Republican who is on the ballot in November, even if that happens to be Ted Cruz, but I believe that only Donald J. Trump can Make America Great Again.
Best Regards,
Lauren Stephens info@laurenstephens.com
PS Yes, I am a real person and yes this is my real name. Everything above links to a legitimate reference or news story. You can check the www.fec.gov website yourself.
PSS No I am not interested in doing any interviews, feel free to use the resources I have cited above. I am not doing this for publicity, which is why I removed the link to my business, which was only there to “prove†I am a real person.
Now Trump is bashing Cruz for not making deals with mcconnell reid.
Guess trump was ok with Cruz being a fighter and not being born in the US then!
Cruz never said he supported gay marriage. Trump has said he supported gay marriage.
Of course, supporting those subsidies and the Ethanol mandate is real conservative, considering the effects of the program. (Costs the taxpayer, hurts the people required to use it, and in most places, doesn't solve a problem because there wasn't one.)
The writer goes on to howl about ethanol having multiple uses, well, so does manure, but I don't want to put it in my fuel tank. If there are so many uses, the market will decide, the ethanol will be bought, and they don't need our tax money. In the meantime the Federal redistribution of wealth continues.
The writer also howls (in all caps) to eliminate oil subsidies. What oil subsidies?
Federal leases are leased, just like private leases, the Federal Government gets oil royalties (payments of a negotiated percentage of production--it's in the lease), just like private mineral owners do, and the Federal Government makes it considerably more difficult to drill on Federal Land because the permitting process is convoluted and goes through more federal agencies than any well drilled on private land. That's why more gas is flared at the wellhead on Federal Leases--the permitting process for feeder pipelines to get that gas to processing facilities is far more difficult to navigate than for a pipeline crossing privately leased rights of way. It costs more to drill on Federal Leases, but the Government gets paid, too. I don't see that as a 'subsidy'.
About that point, I quit reading. I noticed the comment about the Koch Brothers and others not sitting on their checkbooks, but changing the person they backed when Walker dropped out.
Does any of us behave differently if the candidate who was our first pick doesn't continue in the race? We find another person to back or we take our ball and go home.
The writer said Trump isn't beholden to any outside interests. Trump, however, is big enough to have 'inside' interests: namely Donald Trump.
Trump sold America down the river in Iowa. He not only said he backed the ethanol mandate but that he would have the EPA enforce the mandate to the extent required by law, which means the mandate is not going anywhere, the subsidies (reallocation of our tax money) will continue, but there is more--so will the EPA.
If I had to pick the one Federal agency, the destroyer of Coal, the bane of petroleum, the spiller of mine waste and polluter of rivers, the agency which has tried to give away a million acres of Wyoming, the one which should be cut back or abolished, the EPA would get my vote. Trump has already said he would continue the agency, and sold every driver in America down that river (10% lower fuel mileage) for ....Iowa.
Now, that concerns me. If the EPA, and E10(+) and those subsidies which affect virtually every driver and every taxpayer in the country are up for trade in the deal for Iowa, what will be in the deal for New York or California? Our RKBA? Maybe 'just' those ugly black rifles? Common core? Abortion on demand?
Someone who prides themselves in 'the art of the deal' to the extent that the 'deal' is more important than principle is cause for deep concern to me, and should be cause for concern for any Conservative.
We haven't even gone into the attempt to use eminent domain to ultimately benefit a developer over the property owner.
Mark for later read.
And she's turned against Cruz because of ethanol???
Trump didn't get it, but the house is gone (bulldozed after the lady died). That Trump attempted to get it is the issue, not whether he was effective in his intent.
Character counts.
Do you just not read posts, or do you just not care?
I never said that Cruz said he supported gay marriage.
I said Cruz is WHY we have gay marriage.
Gay people and the Supreme Court is why we have gay marriage and Donald used to support it.
You lie.
$6.4 Million from Soros Behind Legal Battles for 3 Conservative 2016 Contenders, Media Ignore -
By Mike Ciandella | September 16, 2014 | 10:53 AM EDT -
The media should be reporting on this, but they consistently ignore it.
Legal battles against state governor’s with higher political aspirations keep cropping up. But looking deeper into attacks on Republican governors from Texas, Wisconsin and Louisiana reveals George Soros’ checkbook was behind it all – but the news media aren’t about to point that out.
The group that first filed an indictment charge against Texas Gov. Rick Perry was funded by Soros, the liberal billionaire, but the trail of his money didn’t end there. Both the recall election for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and an even less successful recall attempt for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal were rooted in Soros-funded groups. Among them, these three potential Republican presidential candidates were targeted by groups receiving more than $6.3 million from Soros.
The media should be reporting on this connection, but so far they have completely ignored it. None of the broadcast news coverage of Walker’s recall election or Perry’s indictment on ABC, CBS or NBC have mentioned Soros. Attempts to recall Jindal weren’t mentioned by the networks, although left-wing outlets like The Huffington Post tried to promote them.
Soros Joined Unions to Recall Scott Walker
Walker’s 2012 recall election made national headlines, before he won reelection by a wider margin than he had won his original election.
Walker’s troubles began when he limited the bargaining power of unions. Predictably, this angered the AFL-CIO – and a Soros-funded network of liberal groups that the Wisconsin branch of the AFL-CIO was a part of. This network, dubbed America Votes, got at least $2.14 million from Soros in 2006 alone. Besides the AFL-CIO, America Votes includes the Human Rights Campaign (which had gotten $600,000 from Soros) and the American Federation of Teachers (which got $31,853).
And the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Soros’ son Jonathan also donated $5,000 to Walker’s opponents. Jonathan is vice chairman and director of the board for the Open Society Foundation.
Common Dreams and Workers Independent News worked to promote this recall, as did other Soros-funded media outlets, including Mother Jones ($485,000) and Alternet. They were among the first to report on the recall threat. All four of these organizations are also members of the Media Consortium. The Media Consortium has received $675,000 from Soros since 2000.
Yet, in all the network news coverage of Walker, America Votes was never mentioned.
Soros Groups Try and Fail to Oust Governor Jindal
Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana, also faced recall attempts, including one in June 2014. That recent attempt to garner support for his recall took the form of a petition on the liberal petition site MoveOn.org. Soros gave at least $1.46 million to MoveOn.org. According to its website, MoveOn works to pass progressive laws.
Even MoveOn.org acknowledged the Soros connection, although they thought it was important to make excuses for it. According to MoveOn.org, George Soros gave a sizable donation to MoveOn Voter Fund in 2004 to match the donations coming from small donors aimed at stopping President Bush’s horrible policies. He hasn’t given since and MoveOn’s Voter Fund, a 527 organization, was closed down after the 2004 election.
Only two governors in U.S. history have been successfully recalled: Gray Davis, D-Calif., in 2003, and Lynn Frazier, R-N.D., in 1921.
Governor Perry’s Indictment Attempt Started by Soros Group
Texas Governor Rick Perry is just the latest political target of George Soros’ network. Perry was indicted by a Texas grand jury for vetoing funding for the state’s public integrity unit, unless the lead prosecutor resigned following her drunk driving arrest.
Texans for Public Justice, one of the groups behind Perry’s indictment charges, is part of a progressive coalition that has received $500,000 from Soros. Besides Texans for Public Justice, this coalition included Texans Together, the Sierra Club, Texas Legal Services, La Fe Policy Research and Education Center, Public Citizen, and the Center for Public Policy.
Ironically, Texans for Public Justice (TPJ) listed Exposing ‘Dark Money’ as one of its top initiatives in its 2013 annual report. This same report acknowledged TPJ’s attempts to discredit Perry, noting that TPJ filed a formal complaint against the governor over his threats to veto the budget of the Travis County Public Integrity Unit, which prosecutes political corruption. A special prosecutor has been assigned to investigate TPJ’s allegations and potentially present them to a grand jury.
In addition to Soros’ Open Society Foundations, TPJ listed the liberal Sunlight Foundation as one of its donors.
Since news broke of Perry’s indictment on Aug. 15, none of the network morning or evening news broadcasts have mentioned the Soros connection, or even the group Texans for Public Justice.
Did Trump say something about the Eminent domain issue today? That would explain why so many of his bucklebunnies are pissed about it - must’ve hit a nerve.
I don’t blame him for being frustrated either - I wouldn’t want to be in the position to have to explain and defend such noxious, anti-conservative, crony capitalist actions.
He hedged his bets and donated enough to both sides that he was still up on their big donor list. Maybe more went to those he thought would pay off the best, in terms of connections and gratitude (most likely to win), but that's the way it is done at that level.
It isn't principle, it's pay-to-play.
That was the point.
Go to the article, it has links. Or just keep living in your bubble thinking I'm a liar.
It's your choice.
Just sent Cruz $100.
Ronald Reagan was a liberal Dem and backed the socialist FDR, plus he led a labor union...and Republicans accepted him none the less. Now we look at him as one of the greatest presidents of the 20th century. How about it if you leave a little room for a person to learn from their mistakes, and to become more politically mature?
So...Trump is a nice guy who talks like a jerk and Cruz is a jerk who talks like a nice guy. Is that about it? :)
“Now Trump is bashing Cruz for not making deals with mcconnell reid.”
Is Trump now saying he wants to make deals with McConnell and whoever replaces Reid? Trump appears to believe that getting a deal done, any deal, will be his main focus. The outcome does not appear to be important, just winning and Trump will determine what’s a win.
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