154 Comments

“Imagine if Caruso had sunk $62 million into affordable housing. Coincidentally, $62 million happens to be the goal of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles’s new Affordable Housing Initiative, to create homes for nearly 600 unhoused people.”

THIS! This is what Bass should be running ads saying; as many as she can afford. Along with her credentials, it speaks volumes about who really cares and can get the job done.

It’s sickening what these people are wasting billions of dollars on...to buy office for themselves or a lackey who will do as their told.

And then to say such huge imbalances in wealth make no difference. It makes ALL the difference. In so many ways.

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Unless we can somehow overturn Citizens United and McCutcheon v FEC, the money beats us. They've got the courts, the money, and the guns.

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Oct 5, 2022·edited Oct 5, 2022

Something seems self-evidently >wrong< about that zero-sum game, nonsense. As the orthodox economists like to bang on about, dollar value is inversely proportional to how much of it there is - non-Keynesian. It's a hackneyed Republi-wanker trope when it comes time to relieve some of the financial burden on most US Citizens - i.e. Covid relief. They're blaming inflation on Covid relief, raising minimum wages, and whining about labor contracts, among other things they want to distract us with, while trying to wheedle tax cuts for the ones who have all the money driving the damn inflation up in the first place! Like the "special master" said to ol' Tweety: Y'can't have it >both< ways!

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I was sickened when I read the NYT column how Corporate financial donations have returned to the 136 MAGA deniers, who voted against certifying Biden’s election. Now these same big money donors are back in the game with donations for these same insurrection supporting candidates.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/us/politics/republican-election-objectors.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

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I agree we need full funding disclosure. I do not support the use of any tax funds on candidates, but do support limiting citizen funding to a max of $50, and support making any commercial funding a federal felony with a minimum sentence of 20 years.

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I agree we desperately need to get money out of politics, But we also need to educate the voters. I am ashamed to admit that my State, California, has a very poor voter turnout in most elections. I have heard a lot of lame excuses, "my vote doesn't count" (BS, every vote cast in California is counted) "if I register to vote, I'll be called to jury duty" (shame on you, serving on a jury, like voting is both a duty and a privilege of citizenship) "they're all bad, in both parties, no one cares about the little guy" (exaggeration, if you're unhappy about your choices, attend your local preferred party and insist they promote a candidate who cares). Why don't we, as citizens, insist that civics is taught in all public schools beginning in kindergarten and enlarging through grade 12? Even little 5 year olds understand "fairness" - hey, that's part of Civics. If most of the voting age public understood the reason for voting they would be sufficiently informed to pick the candidate who most represents their ideals. This alone would give them reason to vote. Here, in California, we have universal vote by mail, we even have ballot tracking for both computer and smart phone, which notifies you when your ballot was received by the election office and when it was counted - all free! you don't even need postage. And still they don't vote.

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It seems too many checks and balances and social norms have been eroded. It would appear that our species deserves to go,extinct

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How do you think Florida got Rick Scott? Enough said!

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Citizens United is a lie. There is nothing United about it. It is not good for We the People. Get rid of Electoral College which is a way for racists to cheat. The Filibuster is another way to cheat We the People out of our votes. These 3 laws are not for a Democratic Republic. They are a way for the Republicans to cheat and steal our votes.

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Exactly what I've been thinking since Caruso's first big personal donations. If he'd just given all that money to building low-income housing in LA (or something that benefitted so many needs in the city), he wouldn't have had to spend much on campaign stuff. It's a perfect example of putting your money where your mouth is...

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I like Bass, but I was unnerved when she spoke about L.Ron Hubbard and was in favor of what they are doing. They are a cult and should not be supported politically.

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Or...

POOP: Professional Organization for Obfuscation in Politics

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GREED: General Recognition of Essential Economic Details

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Another incredibly important column, Robert. Thank you so much. You and Health Cox Richardson's daily "Letter from an American" are two of the places I go for truth.

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Thank you for this: public matching funds for small donors; and full disclosure of all sources of campaign funds. Yes!

Buying political positions (and buying ballot propositions) is just another form of the unrelenting cynicism within both the GOP and conventional thinking within the DNC, which often screws over the people with the truly bright ideas and passion.

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As you know, all political office is for sale in this country. That is what led to Trump. If this trend is not checked and the rich keep tightening their hold, the country that we thought we knew will disappear. Start thinking of what you want the future to look like

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