Hillary is holding $100,000 per person fundraisers.

[jillan]

Can we all at least agree this is disgusting & we need to get money out of politics?

This is a school in Detroit.


Infrastructure crumbling. This was in Minnesota 2007


We have people living in the streets



We have people who rely on food banks because they cannot afford groceries


We have people that are being poisoned by the water they drink


We have people that cannot afford basic healthcare


It makes me sick to see $100,000 per person fundraisers to elect a President when that money could and should be used for things that really matter.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/05/13/hillary-clinton-hosts-100000-a-head-fundraisers/

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is ramping up her fundraising schedule, attending a number of fundraisers this week that cost donors six-figures to attend.

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, jillan.

[senz]

2. The $100K folks live in her world. She serves them.

[jillan]

3. I've never seen that video before - wow! It's so true, and so nauseating to see what we

have become.

[senz]

5. It goes perfectly with your OP.

I watched it happen. It was slow and insidious at first. I began to notice homeless women and children in the streets a few years into the Reagan administration. I remember mentioning it to people. I didn't realize at first that it was an early, visible result of trickle-down economics. Before the early 1980s, the only "homeless" people were adult male hobos, the kind who rode the rails.

I had heard about the loss of private sector unions, starting with Reagan's crackdown on PATCO. The next thing I remember was the appearance chain stores replacing local businesses, then big box stores like Walmart and the disappearance of little shops -- stationers, hardware stores, corner groceries, five and dimes, little drug stores, local nurseries (we still have one in my area). That was deregulation leading to monopolies.

Then I began to notice that nearly everything I bought was made somewhere else, usually China. And then I heard about the collapse of American manufacturing. That was GATT/WTO and NAFTA. Right about the same time my line of work made me aware of massive student debt, something my generation hadn't worried about. Then I saw how panicked younger people were about finding a job. And of course learned about Mitt Romney-style vulture capitalism, buy-outs of existing companies resulting in massive layoffs and cash outs or confiscation of retirement plans. And the practice of hiring people part-time in order to deny them full employee benefits. And how helpless everyday people had become, how driven and needy.

At the same time, I was reading about the newly rich buying unbelievably ostentatious mansions and saw upscale neighborhoods full of immense mcmansions on relatively small plots of land.

And realized the America I knew as a young person had deeply and fundamentally changed -- primarily due to political decisions on the part of our elected representatives.

This is the "normalcy" that the establishment is protecting. Bernie wants to undo some of it, return us to a more just system in which a middle class can develop naturally and grow large again, where everyone would have access to a basic social safety net, and America's infrastructure could be rebuilt so future generations can live comfortably, safely, and with some degree of pride in this country.

And that is considered "radical" by TPTB.

[Armstead]

12. + 1 Million

You describe exactly the overall process.

And what is so angering is that the Clinton/DLC Democrats amped up these trends, and echoed the GOP, instead of working hard to undo the damage of the Reagan Bush years.

You don't effusively praise and support Alan Greenspan, and give Big Banks and Wall St. a "do whatever you want" pass if you want to actually attack the problem.

[StayFrosty]

4. You shouldn't go into a tank battle riding a horse.

[riversedge]

6. Well said

[CorkySt.Clair]

19. Mic drop

The naivety of some here...

[Arkansas Granny]

7. What makes you think any of that money would have gone to help the poor if it wasn't spent

for political events? These high dollar fundraisers also help elect other Democrats down ballot so the issues that will have the greatest impact on people who need help will actually make it through Congress.

Until we are able to enact election finance reform, it's going to take these obscene amounts of money to get people elected. That's a fact. How much more good could President Obama have done if he had been work with a Democratic majority instead of the obstructionists that hold office now.

[Recursion]

8. Er... you don't think retaining the white house "matters" for those problems?

That's kind of odd...

[DrDan]

9. the amount of money needed to lodge a presidential campaign is disgusting . . . however

this is the current state of politics in the U.S., so raising the needed money is not disgusting. It is simply a fact of life.

And . . . this money is also needed for campaigns of other Dems. Something BS seems to not care about.

[Agschmid]

10. And yet Bernie has spent more on tv advertising for fewer delegates.

Who is really wasting money?

[Armstead]

13. About 40 percent of the vote instead of the expected 5 or 10 percent

I's say that's a pretty good return on investment

[Agschmid]

14. Yes his % grew significantly.

But it's money in politics, and clearly as the OP states that money could have gone somewhere else.

Especially since his $$$ per delegate is quite high.

[Armstead]

15. Small donations by average people makes it even more impressive

It is an opportunity for a lot of average peope to have as much of a voice in the process as a handful of fat cats.

This is a lot bigger than Bernie vs. Hillary.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511954521

[jillan]

17. You're missing the whole point of my op. The question was are we spending money on the wrong things

in the US?

It wasn't a jab at Hillary.
It was a jab at the entire political process.

How about we have $100K per plate fundraisers to rebuild our schools instead?
In Arizona, where I live, some schools are infested with roaches. Children find pieces of roaches in their jello.

It's heartbreaking. Everyone of those pictures are heartbreaking.

We spend money on the wrong things.
We need public funding of elections. Enough of needing $100/plate dinners to run for President.

[JEB]

21. Ab-so-fucking-lutely correct. nt

[pinebox]

11. Agreed. She has 100% name recognition

and everyone in America knows the Clinton's. The problem here is that she could do something about it but chooses not to. Just like how she doesn't pay her interns and Bernie, who makes a LOT less, does.

The Clinton's have enough money that they could literally bring semi after semi filled with food to each campaign rally that they do. You want a tax write off, there you go Clinton Foundation but no. What do we get? Lip service and political opportunities. Nothing more, nothing less, all for the camera.

It says a lot that Hillary can't even support universal health care and a living wage and that all plays into it.

[kstewart33]

16. Good for Hillary.

She's going to need every dollar she can raise in her battle against Trump.

[jillan]

18. See post #17

[kstewart33]

20. Jillian, I agree with you completely.

Want to eliminate corruption in politics? Establish public funding of all elections, and end gerrymandering of districts. Politicians will be forced to focus on their constituents.

But now, and it stinks, Clinton must have all the $$$ she can get to defeat Trump.

Adelson, the billionaire, today pledged $100 million to fund Trump's campaign.

How in the heck can she compete with that?

You could say that Bernie could raise the $$$ but the problem is that he has not been thoroughly vetted by the media. The Republicans have done their opposition research. They are salivating to have Bernie as their target in the general. Ever wonder why Republicans have not said a peep about Bernie and are non-stop attacking Hillary in the primary states with millions of $$$ on Hillary hate ads?

But given the math, it's irrelevant anyway. So who do you want? Trump or Clinton?

To me, it's a stupid question. So we're back to Clinton getting as much $$$ as she can as quickly as she can. It stinks but it's real. And it's time to get real.