Cruz rally in NY state.
Posted on 04/16/2016 5:21:13 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
Reality Check has already shown how “Neutral” Conservative News Websites Breitbart and The Daily Wire are actually fronts for the Ted Cruz Campaign. In our article “The $25 Million Dollar Trump Take Down” we clearly show that the owners of those sites donated over $25 Million Dollars to the Cruz Campaign and then use their websites to promote him. But is Talk Radio also on the take? Reality Check dug into Cruz FEC Filings and discovered the Cruz PACs paid a Talk Radio Insider over $8 Million Dollars, and the endorsements of Glenn Beck, Mark Levin and others quickly came in.
The FCC regulates the nation’s TV and Radio Stations because the signals they use are owned by the public. This is why you cannot use certain words on the radio, stations must have licenses, keep a public records file and make it available, etc.
One FCC rule is 47 U.S. Code § 317 or the Payola Rule. Simply put, Radio/TV Stations and their employees are not allowed to take money to put content in their programming, mention items, talk about candidates, etc. unless that sponsorship is disclosed.
In other words, if a Talk Show host like Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, Hugh Hewitt or others was paid money by a campaign to talk glowingly, defend or endorse a candidate, and not disclose that they were paid on-air to the audience, or the radio stations they are broadcast on, they’d be in violation of the law. The station could lose it’s license and the host could be jailed and fined.
Politico published an article in December called, “Talk Radio Rallies Around Ted Cruz” highlighting Glenn Beck, Mark Levin and Erick Erickson, amongst others as hosts defending Cruz and bashing Donald Trump (to Cruz’s benefit).
(Excerpt) Read more at republicbroadcasting.org ...
Payola. From Wikipedia:
“Payola, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on commercial radio in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day’s broadcast.”
I think the article is saying the word music can be substituted with political candidates.
Reading the article, I would have to say, I really doubt Hugh Hewitt’s support of Anybody But Trump was influenced by money. Hewitt is as GOPe as Paul Ryan or Jeb Bush. I think THAT and that alone influenced his decisions.
As for the others? Probably.
Trump will bring this to light in the public media and use it to his advantage whether it is true, false or a mix of both.
The strategic question becomes, is it better to let Cruz take away the votes from Kasich and then crush Cruz in one big swat prior to the convention (that is after you make a deal with Kasich as your VP) or to crush Cruz now and risk Kasich winning eight primaries with Cruz gone?
I really like Kasich as I remember the excellent job he did fiscally when Clinton was president. He could bring Ohio to be a red state in the general election... He not involved in a lot of scandal.... He’s smart and a hard worker.... If I were Trump, I would really do everything within my power to have Kasich as my VP... Besides, Trump doesn’t need Rubio to win Florida, that has already been proven.
The other kill shot to Cruz that I’ve been hearing, besides his harem accusations, is that both of Cruz’s parents were Canadian citizens when he was born and at that time they had to relinquish any other citizenship to become Canadian citizens. If that is true.... we have a Canadian running for U.S. president!!!
From a strategic perspective, Trump fighting with Cruz and the Republican Party moves him closer to the center and more electable by the Independents and the swing Democrats.
I think the perfect storm is brewing to position Trump in the center.
Listening to Levin, I believe he has become anti-Trump from TDS, not for money.
Anyone who thinks Brietbart is controlled by Cruz is insane. The site is derangedly pro-Trump.
So, none of you see this as another attempt to destroy talk radio? Couldn’t do it with the Fairness Doctrine. Think Rush or Levin need the money? You people better wake up.
Some one messed with Cruz’ mic feed for the Fox broadcast.....because it was in the home of “NY values.”, perhaps.
There has been ample support for both Trump and Cruz from Rush, Levin, Laura and Salem hosts. Some less, some more than others. Eric Ericson is the only #nevertrump, and he’s local Atlanta radio. Political junkie that I am, I hear all of them everyday. The story is bunk.
Cruz rally in NY state.
“Does any reasonable person think if this story were true the FEC, FCC, and Justice department wouldn’t be all over these talk shows?”
Try to think for a change VTenigma - would ‘any reasonable person’ think the IRS would ever be used for political purposes? How about the FBI (Hillary email investigation)? CIA? Ever heard of the EPA and their political hit jobs on politically incorrect industries like coal?
You may be right, but don’t think for a minute if it suits the political purposes of the Uniparty, various agencies will either go after, or fail to go after anyone.
That is certainly my sense of it. So is Drudge. It seems to be their feeling, as it is mine, that Trump is the only guy with the will and the capability to go to DC, shake it and break it -- in order to obtain a departure from status quo.
OTOH, Beck and Levin would be endorsing Cruz and bashing Trump regardless of any payoff, real or alleged; and they do so, as best I can discern, because they actually think Cruz can be elected. Their claques are so unanimous in love of Bible and Constitution, they seem to think the rest of the country is on the same page. The rest of the country, in fact, despises those of us who hold so steadfastly to such pure forms of conservatism. And so, just as there has never been a Bible-literalist, evangelical Christian, either in the White HOuse or on the Supreme Court, I am certain that trend will continue. We are, in that sense, second-class citizens.
You can't be serious? How many debates does Cruz need before you think he can beat Trump? Trump has been declared the winner of the past debates almost every time.
How in the world do you compare the Kennedy/Nixon debate (different parties) to a Republican debate? You don't make sense.
Kasich success was as a Gingrich minion...without a strong, Gingrich-like leader/visionary, Kasich looks to be little more than an establishment DC insider.
“Think Rush or Levin need the money? You people better wake up.”
You may have noticed that scores of billionaires and multimillionaires are working overtime to influence the election process and or take this country down the NWO path. And guess what? They don’t need the money either.
You would think that since the world is their oyster, they would have better things to do with their time and $$$ than fool around with politics.
You may be correct they don’t need the money (which may or may not be true anyway; only their accountant knows for sure), but money is only one motivator. Ideology and power are other common ones.
I posted something related to this last night. The Cruzbots are in totally denial about everything with their boy. Quite simply, the Cruz PACs are engaging in a quasi laundering scheme, funneling marketing dollars to radio stations and hosts to secure favorable coverage of Cruz. He’s a vile little man. Trump by ballot line or write in for me.
LOL, sure, Trump should debate Cruz one on one????
Don’t you realize that it’s always the LOSER who wants more debates?
Very well put. The republican esablistment are all left of center. They claim to be conservatives to get our money and votes. I’m
Talk show hosts like Rush always claim that republicans cave on issues to democrsts. I maintain they never cave, they actually dupport the issues that their friends in the democrat party do.
I play oldies CD's instead
Here is Bannon’s full statement in response to my questions about Breitbart’s relationship with Trump:
“We have no financial relationship with Donald Trump as an investor, advertiser or in any other capacity at this time — nor have we ever. The insinuation that we do — or did — is a lie. Mr. Trump is a savvy and successful businessman but not the type of investor I partner with in emerging growth companies. In fact, Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign hasn’t — unlike other campaigns — bought digital advertising on our site, though we would certainly be open for business on that front as we are with every campaign from both parties. Many campaigns have taken advantage of the fact Breitbart News Network has nearly 20 million readers and 90 million page views per month.
“We would assume Mr. Trump’s campaign would seek to advertise on our pages just like the campaigns of Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina and others have. As for our coverage of Trump, he’s the Republican frontrunner and we’re glad his campaign — just like every other campaign on the Republican side and certain campaigns on the Democratic side — values our impeccable news judgment and our audience. We are not ashamed that our reporters and editors regularly communicate with him and his staff just like they do with all the other campaigns for the presidency. That’s our job: Get news about what is happening on the campaign trail out to American people. We pride ourselves on being at the forefront of the coverage of the conservative populist movement in America, the United Kingdom and Europe.
“In the U.S., we’ve had reporters present at nearly every presidential campaign launch in both parties and offered unrivaled comprehensive coverage of the entire election as we continue to build a best-in-class news team. As Executive Chairman of a company in this space plus hosting six hours of a national political news show on Sirius XM Patriot every week, I also personally talk with many of the candidates and their senior staffers often — including three different candidates we are scheduling for Sunday night’s show.”
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