Posted on 08/01/2015 6:44:23 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
It took Ted Cruz three months to raise $10 million for his campaign for president, a springtime sprint of $1,000-per-plate dinners, hundreds of handshakes and a stream of emails asking supporters to chip in a few bucks.
One check, from one donor, topped those results.
New York hedge fund magnate Robert Mercer's $11 million gift to a group backing the Texas Republican's White House bid put him atop a tiny group of millionaires and billionaires whose contributions already dwarf those made by the tens of thousands of people who have given to their favorite presidential candidate.
An Associated Press analysis of fundraising reports filed with federal regulators through Friday found that nearly 60 donations of a million dollars or more accounted for about a third of the more than $380 million brought in so far for the 2016 presidential election. Donors who gave at least $100,000 account for about half of all donations so far to candidates' presidential committees and the super PACs that support them.
The review covered contributions to outside groups that can accept checks of any size, known as super PACs, and to the formal campaigns, which are limited to accepting no more than $2,700 per donor. The tally includes donations from individuals, corporations and other organizations reflected in data filed with the Federal Election Commission as of Friday, the deadline for super PACs to report for the first six months of the year.
That concentration of money from a small group of wealthy donors builds on a trend that began in 2012, the first presidential contest after a series of court rulings and regulatory steps that created the super PAC. They can openly support candidates but may not directly coordinate their actions with their campaigns.
(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...
Welcome to the Oligarchate.
I wish I had $1 million to donate to Ted and all of the other small donors did too.
Nothing personal, but I do not wish Cruz to be under your command and control.
Sugar daddy’s control the candidates. If you think these huge amounts are given to candidates because of philanthropy or love, think again. The oligarchs own the professional politicians.
bttt
Exactly. Just see how quickly congress jumps to enact hideous laws that deprive American workmen of jobs and the people of the right to know what's in their food. Republicans are even worse than democrats on these two issues that are close to my heart.
Hey I was just chastised that these million-dollar donations to Super-PAC’s have no control or connection to the candidates.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/gop/3319427/posts?page=13#13
Yep, these millions and millions were just give from the goodness of their hearts. They don’t expect any favors or anything you know.
*wink* *wink*
plutocracy bump for later....
I think you (GeronL) are much smarter than that. The superpacs of all professional politicians are funded by their “friends” *wink* *wink* who contribute millions each!
Trump has again and again discouraged small and large donations. If you really wish to contribute, stay under $100.
If some people start a Trump superpac, there will be no mega-rich contributors with million dollar donations in it. It will probably be donors who want to contribute a few thousands more than maximum allowed by law. For example $5000 or $10,000. I can guarantee those people will not be able to command and control Trump.
None of the other candidates are worth more than $25 million of personal net worth. None of them can survive the long primary campaign without mega-rich donors.
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