President Biden managed to raise $25 million in one night by holding a panel discussion with former Presidents Clinton and Obama at Rockefeller Center Music Hall.
Jay Kuo of “The Status Kuo” reports on the festivities:
Trump was determined to outdo Biden, so he held a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, with a fee of $814,600 required to be named as a co-chairman and a fee of $250,000 to be a member of the Host Committee. Trump claimed he raised $50 million in one night, but let’s wait and see what he reports to the Federal Elections Commission.
Step back from the festivities and ask yourself, why is it so expensive to run for office? Why should the person who raises the most money have a better chance of winning?
This is a time when we lament the loss of Senator John McCain, who really wanted campaign finance reform. No othrr Republican does.
The dependence on big donors creates obligations that are at odds with the common good.
The Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision of 2010 removed limits on corporate contributions to political campaigns. Since then, all electoral races have become dependent on fundraising.
This is a shameful state of affairs. It erodes democracy. Elections are decided by money, not policy.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Think about it? Who would give $814,000 without expecting something in return? At some time, the “gifted” of $814,000 will call in the favor, expecting something for their gratitude. (This is true in either party). The campaign finance corruption is foundational to why our Democracy is screwed up. Throw in Citizens United, making $$$$ “Speech” and the rich are guaranteed a louder “voice” than poor people who cannot afford to buy politicians. Fix campaign finance and our democracy will greatly improve. I vote for funding Federal Elections – Taxpayers fund 100% of the elections and any candidate who takes any more than $1.00 from anyone is barred from being a candidate. This will eliminate the ability to purchase a politician.
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Will funds redirected to legal defense be reported to FEC; or will they be like a casino skim, off the top and never reported to anybody?
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Citizens United was possibly the most disastrous SCOTUS decision in my lifetime. One might even say it led indirectly to the Dobbs decision by enabling the nomination and election of Trump, who then stacked the Court with his conservative nominees.
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Pied Type: About Citizens United: yes indeed, disastrous.
It made democracy into a merely transactional operation. It stole the “power of/for/by the people,” and gave it instead to “for the RICH people.”
Guess what: ”Our democracy” is already an oligarchy. CBK
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Citizen’s United has given us a Kleptocratic Oligarchy. True Democracy died years ago.
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On March 20, 2002, Hillary Clinton voted YES for the Campaign Reform Act, also known as the McCain-Feingold Act or BCRA.
I’m not sure many know about that.
The only reason I do, is because during the presidential debates between Traitor Trump and Hillary, the traitor said Hillary never did anything as a Senator, never accomplished anything.
So, I fact checked Hillary’s voting record through Vote Smart during the debates while Traitor Trump kept stalking Hillary on stage, sniffing and lying, and learned that was another one of the traitor’s endless lies.
https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/55463/hillary-clinton/?p=17
I think Hillary or McCain would have turned out to be great presidents, ranked high on the historians list that ranked Traitor Trump dead last (that four letter bold faced word is a hint to the traitor — may he rot in hell if it is possible when he’s going to be frozen in a lake on Dante’s ninth circle).
And Hillary co-sponsored another bill: The Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001.
https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/55463/hillary-clinton/?p=18
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So he had less than 200 people at his so called fundraiser. And pledged does not mean in the pocket.
He probably needs that much to pay his lawyers. And once that is spent (on fines and fees) he’ll have no one else because these big donors maxed out to the donation limit just on Saturday alone.
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Trump is not getting large numbers of donations from small donors. He has tapped them out with daily appeals. Biden is getting more small donors than Trump.
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The cheapest ticket at Trump’s event was $250,000.
The cheapest ticket at Biden’s event was $250.
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Diane” What can one say about anyone who actually believed Trump’s numbers, even for a minute? Here’s my face: hit me again. CBK
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The donor class always wins!
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