Bernie Sanders a regular at luxurious DSCC fundraising retreats --the "Establishment"

[riversedge]

Sanders is just a typical politician--part of the Establishment.

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Bernie Sanders a regular at luxurious DSCC fundraising retreats http://on.msnbc.com/1XgMKDq




Bernie Sanders a regular at luxurious DSCC fundraising retreats
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/bernie-sanders-regular-luxurious-dscc-fundraising-retreats

02/09/16 04:10 PM—Updated 02/09/16 04:20 PM
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By Alex Seitz-Wald

During his 10 years on the Senate, Bernie Sanders has been a regular presence at luxurious Democratic fundraising retreats, according to more than a half-dozen lobbyists, donors and former Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee staff members with whom he attended the events. Sanders most recently appeared at one last July, shortly after he announced his presidential run.

Sanders’ connection to the DSCC has become a issue in his heated primary contest with front-runner Hillary Clinton, who has struggled to explain her close ties to Wall Street and the large speaking fees she’s been paid by Goldman Sachs and other banks. Sanders has made Clinton’s relationships with the financial industry a key point of contrast on the campaign trail.

RELATED: Bernie Sanders suddenly looks like a winner

Clinton has tried to push back, accusing Sanders of both failing to help fellow Democrats and of failing to meet the high-bar he set for himself on being independent of special interests.

The Sanders campaign is all about smashing the alleged stranglehold corporate power has on politics, and the candidate himself frequently touts that his insurgent run is funded by small donations, not wealthy people or outside groups.

..........................

Still, the party committee would wither without its largest donors, including industry lobbyists and wealthy individuals, who are feted at semi-annual DSCC retreats on Martha’s Vineyard and in Palm Beach, Florida, which always feature a large group of Democratic senators who are brought to schmooze with donors. Sanders has been one of the more frequent attendees since entering the Senate in 2007, including two last year, once before and once after he declared his run.

The private events attract around 150 to 200 guests, according to a former DSCC staff member, about half of whom are lobbyists and half are large individual donors. To attend, guests had to donate the federal maximum (currently $33,400 a year) to the DSCC, or raise $100,000.....................

[virtualobserver]

1. Team Hillary is pretty dumb to be pushing this nonsense

Criticizing Bernie for raising money for Democrats.

[99th_Monkey]

7. +10 nt

[mindwalker_i]

44. "He's not a democrat (tm). He's hanging out with us...

...in our posh hideout to raise money for democrats (tm)!"

This has got to be one of the stupidest posts of the day!

[wilsonbooks]

51. I heard NPR correspondent Mara Liasson pushing this phoney bull

this afternoon. This crap won't sell. They have nothing on Bernie and it is driving them crazy.

[hobbit709]

2. Must be the BS talking point dujour.

[elias49]

8. It's the poster's 3rd point dujour.

And this one is as pointless as the others.
Google is the poster's friend: anything Bernie
Oh well.

[hobbit709]

13. When they start repeating the talking point incessantly it reminds me of this.

[frylock]

59. They're trolling for hidden posts.

[MoonRiver]

3. Noooooo,

say it ain't so! Not Saint Bernie!!

[earthside]

33. So where was St. Hillary?

Was she not at these important Democratic Party fundraisers?

If not, why?

[nichomachus]

45. Goldman Sachs wouldn't let her go n/t

[berniepdx420]

4. This new organized smear line is baseless and embarrassing.. check this out....

Bernie confronting the establishment

From Youtube

[beam me up scottie]

5. So he was raising money for Democrats?

Cool!

[azurnoir]

11. Gosh who'd thunk it :)

[beam me up scottie]

16. Weren't they sceaming about how he WASN'T raising money for them?

So fickle, I wish they'd make up their minds.

[azurnoir]

18. well ya know as Dear Abby once said "any port in a storm"

[Rocky the Leprechaun]

14. That's very interesting, because

the Establishment still shuns Bernie being supportive of Democrats.

Really.

[Fast Walker 52]

17. so is the problem he doesn't raise money for Democrats or that he does?

[hobbit709]

19. It depends on whether it is an odd or even numbered day.

[beam me up scottie]

22. It's confusing, isn't it?

[TwilightGardener]

6. I see the word came down from on high. It's starting early, I would've

expected this tomorrow.

[cali]

9. This is a riot

The article suggests he went for luxurious vacations and oh my, he even talked to a lobbyist while the lobbyist was in a hot tub. And gasp, he took walks on the beach and went for a free boat ride.

[TwilightGardener]

12. He also had those fancy snacks on trays, what do you call them, horse doovers.

[TheBlackAdder]

26. This must be made to sound scandalous: Whores Du Jours

[Paulie]

25. He ate the chicken dinner

The horror

[cali]

46. I would suggest he gorged on caviar, kobe beef and lobstah

[Kelvin Mace]

10. So, if he had refused to help the DSCC raise money

what would you be claiming?

This talking point was debunked a month ago.

[Motown_Johnny]

15. I will repost what I said yesterday, but got no answer to.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1177516


Last month's meme was that he never raised any money for other Democrats.

Now, which side is making dishonest arguments?


http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251968425#post126

^snip^


Hillary raised $18 million for the Democratic party; Bernie raised nothing for other Dems.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251968425#post126

^snip^


riversedge (15,766 posts) Sat Jan 2, 2016, 05:59 PM

126. Meanwhile Hillary is fundraising to get Dems downticket elected and building a 50 state

infrastructure with the money she has raised---This 50 state strategy will help with the downticket Dems in the coming year.

[berniepdx420]

29. +1

[leveymg]

20. OMG, next thing you'll be telling us he owns a change of underwear.

And, maybe, a few spare suits. And, that he eats standard issue rubber chicken at events instead of a handful of rice.

I am s-o-o-o disappointed.

[DefenseLawyer]

37. Bernie didn't get much USO.

He was dug in too deep or moving too fast. His idea of great R&R was cold rice and a little rat meat.

[elias49]

21. Basically, a smear campaign here.

Nothing new for the Hillary crowd.

[PyaarRevolution]

38. Give me a reason to be inspired for Hillary.

The thing is, they CAN'T. I listened to Thom Hartmann today talking to a Hillary surrogate. You know what reasons he gave for why you should support Hillary? Electability and experience. Even of these have been thoroughly hashed out as being a load of shit. As far as I'm concerned with the latter it can be argued Bernie has more experience if you DON'T prefer to make the judgement vs. experience argument which is a fair one. The problem I have with that argument is that it concedes Hillary has more experience when I think that is actually debatable.
For the electability argument LOOK at the polls.

What is Bernie proposing? Rebuilding infrastructure, making sure the rich pay their fair share, universal Healthcare and tuition free college. The response? They say we're dreaming even though I have heard at one point college was free until Reagan revoked in California because those students didn't "Respect Mah Authoritay!". I joke but I saw a clip of how Reagan talked to some of those students and I must say...what an ass.

[CountAllVotes]

49. +1,000 !!!

Well stated, well said, etc. Thank you!!

Bernie Sanders 2016!!

[jillan]

23. OH NOES!!!!!!1!!!! He raised money for other Democrats.

How terrible.

[seaotter]

24. KKKarl Rove, is that you?

[berniepdx420]

30. +1

[Impedimentus]

27. Bernie Sanders Didn't Sleep On the Street at DSCC Fundraising Retreats !!!

"Proves he is secretly backed by billionaires."

Alternate to above if that nonsense doesn't work:

"Bernie Sanders isn't a Democrat, he sleeps on the street when attending DCSS retreats, not willing to mingle with other senators."


The Clinton campaign pretzel is amazing.

[Nanjeanne]

28. I'm sorry did Bernie campaign against going to events he was invited to?

So, he is invited to attend events in support of the DSCC and he goes and raises money as they asked. This is somehow analogous to taking SUPER PAC money from Wall Street? Or the same as taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wall Street to speak to them privately?

So does someone have a transcript of Bernie talking to someone at the raw bar?

[DefenseLawyer]

31. Do you think everyone is stupid?

Seriously. When you post something like this, do you just assume it will work as an attack because everyone reading it is stupid? That's the only conclusion I can draw.

[Fumesucker]

54. Dunning- Kruger explains so much...

[frylock]

60. Of course they do. They've done everything but flat-out state it.

[DaGimpster]

32. Raising money for the DSCC is suddenly hypocrisy?

Talk about apples & oranges...

[notadmblnd]

34. You're about a week late with this Buddy.

Please try and keep up.

[retrowire]

35. Dat ain't the establishment. lol You clearly don't get it. nt

[litlbilly]

36. You can smell the desperation, its dripping off them now. They are saying, a 15 point Hillary loss

tonight is an actual win for her. Ok, strange universe they live in. It would even be strange on Star Trek I hear them saying Hillary won the final count in Iowa, even tho, there was no final count at all.

[hobbit709]

41. "There's desperation in the air. It stains all your clothes and no detergent gets it out"

From "Life Is A Lemon(And I Want My Money Back) by Meatloaf.

[cherokeeprogressive]

39. You mean Bernie Sanders raising money for fellow Democrats? Another meme bites the dust.

Thanks for this!

[Sheepshank]

40. Would he be arriving by coach on a commercial flight, or personal Jet?

the hypocrisy is stunning

[nichomachus]

48. He arrives the same way as Hillary

Private jet. Presidential suite in a five-star hotel. Business-class travel and deluxe accommodations for her staff. People to keep the riff-raff away. A limit on pictures taken. A stenographer to take notes that are to be kept secret. No one else on stage. Appearance limited to 20 minutes.

You know, just what you're expect from a man of the people.

NOT -- only Queen Hilary demands that. It's a wonder she doesn't charge people to look at her.

[Vinca]

42. Putting aside the fact the Democratic Party demands such fundraising,

let's have Bernie's transcripts released and Hillary's transcripts released. I bet Bernie sounds like Bernie and Hillary sounds like someone who's just had $225,000 deposited into her personal bank account.

[Matariki]

43. Do you honestly believe this is going to work?

[Hell Hath No Fury]

47. "Thin gruel..."

That is how one reporter I saw recently on Hardball describe the "attack" dossier the Clinton camp was going to unload on Bernie.

Thin gruel.

I gotta say, if this is the BEST you guys have got --

You guys are Fucked.

[Gothmog]

50. For Sanders, campaign finance purity not always possible

This is a good article http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/sanders-campaign-finance-purity-not-always-possible

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) holds a fundraiser on the tony Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard every summer, which Sanders has attended several times to help raise funds for the campaign arm of Senate Democrats. Sanders is an independent who caucuses with the party.

Previously unreported are details about who exactly attended those fundraisers. A guest list shared with MSNBC from the 2007 event – the first year Sanders was in the Senate – shows the fundraiser featured 20 Democratic senators and their spouses, along with more than 100 lobbyists and wealthy donors who had donated the then-maximum $28,500 to the DSCC.

A Sanders campaign aide said the senator attended these events reluctantly and noted that New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, who has warmer relations with Wall Street, was leading the DSCC at the time and that Sanders and Schumer don’t agree on everything.

“The people who financially support the Democratic Party need to hear the message that Bernie is delivering and that is resonating all over the country. It is also important that the Democrats take back the Senate,” said spokesperson Michael Briggs.

The 2007 Martha’s Vineyard fundraiser guest list included professional lobbyists, corporate executives, trade association heads, labor union brass and wealthy individual donors.

Some are government relations executives directly employed by corporations such as the financial firms Blackrock and Prudential Financial, or the defense contractor Raytheon. Others represent large Washington law and lobbying firms, such as DLA Piper, Patton Boggs, and Akin Gump.

Some names stand out, like John Breaux, the former Democratic senator from Louisiana turned mega-lobbyist who has worked for Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Wal-Mart, Chevron, ExxonMobil and more. Then there’s former Texas Lieutenant Governor Ben Barnes, who has represented many petrochemical and pipeline companies as well as Stanford Financial, the now defunct financial firm felled by an alleged Ponzi scheme.

Other guests included a lobbyist for the private equity firm Blackstone Group as well as those who have represented pipeline company Kinder Morgan, the American Petroleum Institute, pharmaceutical giants such as Merck and Allergan (now involved in a controversial inversion deal), and the pharmaceutical trade association, among others.

Sanders met with lobbyists from Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street banks.

[Nanjeanne]

53. OMG if I go to a wedding

And there are lobbyists there - does that mean I met with them?

That there are lobbyists at the event at the invitation of the DSCC is not a surprise.

What's the point of this? Did Bernie pick their pocket over the shrimp cocktail?

[Renew Deal]

52. Good luck with this argument

"Sanders helped elect Democrats" is not a winning argument for Hillary

[AgingAmerican]

55. The establishment isnt about social events

Its about controlling power

[djean111]

56. This is starting to remind me of someone repeating their memorized 25 second sound bite -

and the cognitive dissonance must be dizzying. Only a little while back, Bernie was vilified for NOT helping raise money for the Dems. Maybe the campaign got faulty memory chips from China?

Personally, I don't care about the money - it does not make war, the TPP, fracking, or cluster bombs any more palatable.
Handy hint - Hillary's supporters should not whine about purity and then, evidently, expect Bernie's supporters to drop him over one issue.

[riversedge]

57. To me--it is the starting of media vetting Sanders.

[thesquanderer]

58. If this is what they've got, that he participated in fundraisers for the party...

...then by all means, bring it on! Really, the fact that this is the kind of nonsense they're reaching for just shows, they got nothin'.

[riversedge]

61. Shows Sanders is just a regular pol--not a Revolutionary

[thesquanderer]

62. Who made up this fiction, that Bernie is not a politician?

He is, and he is a good one. He may be honest and consistent, and have strong beliefs and lofty goals, but he still knows his way around and knows how to get things done and knows how to get elected and re-elected. Yes, you participate in fundraisers for your party (or in this case, even the party you caucus with). He'd be pilloried if he didn't. We're not voting for pope, here.

[riversedge]

63. and therefore part of DC establishment. YUP

[thesquanderer]

64. Heck, like Hillary said, he's been in congress something like 25 years!

There are different definitions of the word "establishment."