I'm running against some folks who are billionaires.

[Uncle Joe]

Link to tweet

[tritsofme]

1. And here is Bernie, a mere lowly millionaire!

Must be rough, that poor guy!

[totodeinhere]

2. One million dollars is not enough to finance a primary campaign.

But if you have billions then you do have enough to try to buy the nomination.

[Uncle Joe]

3. + the obvious

[HarlanPepper]

5. Whose supporters constantly remind everyone about how much money he raises.

[CentralMass]

40. In comparison Sanders net worth is $2 million and Bloomberg's is $61.7 billion.

Bloomberg has 30,850 times more wealth then Sanders.

[keithbvadu2]

42. Even though he only has a 'mere' $2 million, he still hides some of his financial situation.

Even though he only has a 'mere' $2 million, he still hides some of his financial situation.

As well as his health conditions.

[UniteFightBack]

59. HYPOCRISY wrapped up in a pipe dream. nt

[boston bean]

6. Same ole smears about democrats.

What is he really saying? He is saying all others but him are corrupt.

I ain’t buying it.

[Uncle Joe]

9. Are the Republicans corrupted or corruptible by big money?

The political system dependent on the largess of wealthy benefactors at the very least skews agency by elected politicians towards those with the most means at the ever increasing expense of the average American and poor.

[boston bean]

10. Are democrats corrupt? Yes or No. you answer the question.

Is Bernie truly the only non corrupt person running?

[Uncle Joe]

11. Are Democrats human? Yes or No. you answer the question.

Bernie is not dependent on big contributions.

[boston bean]

35. If you are gonna go in circles. You can do so yourself.

[ehrnst]

57. Is accepting big donations and hiding the donors' identity corrupt? Yes or No.

Answer the question.

Under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, an entity directly or indirectly established by a federal candidate or officeholder is not allowed to “solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or spend funds in connection with an election for Federal office” unless the “funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements” of federal law.

According to Our Revolution’s tax returns showing contribution amounts but not contributor names, data compiled and first reported by the Associated Press, from 2016 to 2018 Our Revolution raised almost $1 million dollars from contributors who gave in excess of the applicable $5,000 contribution limit, including multiple contributions of between $100,000 and $300,000. Our Revolution has not disclosed any of its contributors to the FEC, as required by federal campaign finance law.

“Americans expect and deserve to have our campaign finance laws enforced and they expect political organizations to abide by the law, regardless of their political views,” said Paul Seamus Ryan, Common Cause vice president for policy and litigation. “The facts surrounding Our Revolution, including its founding by Sen. Sanders, its receipt of six-figure contributions, its failure to disclose donors to the FEC, and its political spending in Iowa and elsewhere, point to a clear violation of the federal soft money ban. Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization and we work to hold power accountable regardless of party affiliation or policy positions. It is critically important that the soft money ban be enforced, or outside groups founded by candidates will become a commonplace means to evade contribution limits and disclosure requirements.”

https://www.commoncause.org/press-release/common-cause-files-complaint-against-pro-bernie-sanders-group-our-revolution-for-violating-soft-money-ban/

[Zolorp]

16. Yep

[Amimnoch]

22. Yep. If only he focused just a bit on Tramp sometimes, he'd have some cred.

Just more smears from the BS camp against Democratic Party candidates.

Know who's getting a shitload of money from the rich and doesn't even get a mention from Bernie? Trump.

Maybe this is part of the reason why Republicans are asking their constituents to come into our primaries and vote for Bernie.

I tell you one thing.. I trust a candidate that's getting the same small donation cap from some billionaires, or has earned their own billions over the candidate that Republicans want elected.

But maybe that's just me.

[CentralMass]

41. What he is saying is that the U.S. has become an Oligarchy.

https://www.businessinsider.com/major-study-finds-that-the-us-is-an-oligarchy-2014-4
Major Study Finds The US Is An Oligarchy
"Researchers concluded that U.S. government policies rarely align with the preferences of the majority of Americans, but do favour special interests and lobbying organizations: "When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organized interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the US political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favour policy change, they generally do not get it."

[UniteFightBack]

60. Dems are the only ones standing between this country going into the abyss - nobody should be

attacking this party or it's members when it is Russiapublicans who should get all the negative attention.

[democratisphere]

7. BS always bitched about millionaires until he became one.

Now only billionaires are evil doers.

[Skidmore]

26. Yep.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2019/04/12/how-bernie-sanders-the-socialist-senator-amassed-a-25-million-fortune/#4b1b2d7336bf

In addition to the books are his government pay and pension accounts. Sanders has collected a six-figure annual salary since he joined Congress in 1991, some of which he and his wife (who herself commanded hefty pay as head of now-defunct Burlington College) plowed into personal real estate. Then there are his pensions, which are based on income and years of service. With 28 years in office and a current salary of $174,000, Sanders is entitled to around $73,000 a year from the federal government for the rest of his life. If he were to sell that guaranteed income stream for a lump-sum pile of cash, Forbes figures he could get around $650,000 for it.





https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2019/04/12/how-bernie-sanders-the-socialist-senator-amassed-a-25-million-fortune/#4b1b2d7336bf

As with many Americans, the bulk of Sanders’ net worth is tied up in his home. Unlike most Americans, however, he owns three. In Burlington, he keeps a four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath colonial that he purchased in 2009 for $405,000. Last year, after the hefty book profits started rolling in, Sanders paid off its 30-year mortgage, 25 years early. In D.C., Sanders owns a row house a short walk from the Capitol, which he bought in 2007 for $489,000. Forbes estimates he still has around $350,000 left on the mortgage there.

His vacation pad, however, was paid for in cash. Sanders made headlines when he snapped up a Vermont summer home for $575,000 less than two months after ending the 2016 campaign built on lambasting the rich. Sanders chose a tranquil, four-bedroom, three-bath home with 500 feet of shorefront access on Lake Champlain, 50 minutes north of Burlington. His wife, Jane, told the Associated Press that the couple financed the deal with Bernie’s book advance money, plus some of her retirement savings and proceeds from the sale of a cabin owned by her family.


Even after the big purchases, the couple has around $500,000 in

[redstateblues]

28. Funny how millionaires are not evil anymore!

[mr_lebowski]

8. Well ... if you could take ALL their money it might work ...

Just sayin'

[evertonfc]

12. class warfare

dosent work. Wealth is not bad. Bernie is a millionaire.

[RandySF]

13. A millionaire is running against a billionaire.

[Uncle Joe]

14. A millionaire financed and given voice by more average Americans than any other

Presidential Candidate in history against a billionaire with a mega-phone.

[RandySF]

20. And how many of his books did the campaign buy?

[Skidmore]

29. Bernie's own book of the month club

https://www.greenmountaindaily.com/2019/04/25/bernies-own-book-of-the-month-lub/



According to FEC filings, the Sanders campaign bought thousands of dollars of his books. Sanders spent almost $445,000 of his donors’ campaign funds with Verso Books, the publisher of Outsider in the White House, which was a quick re-working of his earlier Bernie book: Outsider in the House. I mentioned the purchase in a diary: Campaign dollars to donuts back then without really taking aim at it; I don’t recall it making any waves in that long campaign.

[ehrnst]

58. Selling one's wares on Amazon really can bring in the $$$...

As Cyndi Lauper said, "Money changes everything."

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/13/bernie-sanders-says-millionaires-less-in-2020-democratic-primary.html

[Kurt V.]

36. for a little context. .. if dollars were seconds, a million bucks would be 11days. a billion

Would be over 30 years. Incredible isn't it.

[PETRUS]

44. That makes Bernie 22 days and Bloomberg 1,800 years. Or so. nt

[Zolorp]

15. And yet, nobody knows how many billionaires fund his Super PAC.

Hypocrisy is as hypocrisy does.

[George II]

18. That's Super PACs - plural.

[Uncle Joe]

19. Using your logic, no doubt there must be a bunch of billionaires just chomping at the bit

to have their taxes dramatically increased and that's why Bloomberg is spending hundreds of millions of dollars out of his 60+ billion to saturate the airwaves because he didn't believe Bernie would raise their taxes.

[Zolorp]

21. Hypocrisy is as hypocrisy does

[W_HAMILTON]

34. Uh, both of the billionaires currently running for our nomination have proposed raising their taxes.

[George II]

17. Oh geeze, poor downtrodden multimillionaire. Did he say he's running against DEMOCRATS?

By the way, according to Federal regulations, NO candidate can take more from a contributor than $2,800 - an amount he's accepted from many contributors.

And since more than 70% of his contributions are "un-itemized", we have no idea whether or not they came from billionaires, millionaires, CEOs, etc.

Speaking of Federal regulations, Sanders' campaign has had more contributions flagged by the FEC than all the other candidates (even before many dropped out) combined.

[Amimnoch]

23. Or worse, some of his funding may be coming from actual full on Republicans.

After all they're encouraging their base to come into our primary elections and vote for Bernie.

https://www.wyff4.com/article/upstate-conservative-campaign-encourages-republicans-to-vote-for-bernie-sanders-in-sc-presidential-primary/30780304#

"This is an opportunity for us to support President Trump. We can't vote for him in primary this year so we can help him by participating in the Democrat Primary and voting for the candidate we feel is least electable and is also creating a lot of dissension between The Democratic Party and the Democrat voters,” said Shea.

https://thehill.com/homenews/481489-republicans-urging-gop-voters-to-vote-for-sanders-in-south-carolina-primary-report

Leupp said that he believes that the state's large Republican voter base could make the difference in the primary. To his point, in 2016 roughly 740,000 people voted in the state's GOP presidential primary, while only 370,000 voted in the Democratic version.
“I think we can easily affect the outcome,” Leupp told the paper. “This is going to catch on like wildfire.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/07/bernie-sanders-republican-senate-1307296

Republicans like their chances of keeping the Senate in 2020. But there’s one thing they think would all but seal the deal: Bernie Sanders as the Democratic presidential nominee.
Some GOP incumbents are practically cheering him on, confident there’s no way a self-described democratic socialist could win a general election against President Donald Trump and that he’d drag other Democrats on the ballot with him.

“It would be good for us to have a nominee like that,” said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who is up for reelection next year and sounded downright giddy about the prospect of Sanders representing Democrats at the top of the ticket.

[brooklynite]

24. "I'm running against some folks who are Democrats"

[Amimnoch]

25. Hmm.. so "billionaire" support or "Republican" Support.

I think I'll trust either of the self made billionaires running,
Or the candidates that gets their little individual donation bumps from some billionaires as well
SOOOOO much more than the candidate that has Republican support and loving coming his way.

Yeah, much preferable than the one that Republicans are backing:

https://www.wyff4.com/article/upstate-conservative-campaign-encourages-republicans-to-vote-for-bernie-sanders-in-sc-presidential-primary/30780304#

"This is an opportunity for us to support President Trump. We can't vote for him in primary this year so we can help him by participating in the Democrat Primary and voting for the candidate we feel is least electable and is also creating a lot of dissension between The Democratic Party and the Democrat voters,” said Shea.

https://thehill.com/homenews/481489-republicans-urging-gop-voters-to-vote-for-sanders-in-south-carolina-primary-report

Leupp said that he believes that the state's large Republican voter base could make the difference in the primary. To his point, in 2016 roughly 740,000 people voted in the state's GOP presidential primary, while only 370,000 voted in the Democratic version.
“I think we can easily affect the outcome,” Leupp told the paper. “This is going to catch on like wildfire.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/07/bernie-sanders-republican-senate-1307296

Republicans like their chances of keeping the Senate in 2020. But there’s one thing they think would all but seal the deal: Bernie Sanders as the Democratic presidential nominee.
Some GOP incumbents are practically cheering him on, confident there’s no way a self-described democratic socialist could win a general election against President Donald Trump and that he’d drag other Democrats on the ballot with him.

“It would be good for us to have a nominee like that,” said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who is up for reelection next year and sounded downright giddy about the prospect of Sanders representing Democrats at the top of the ticket.

[Uncle Joe]

30. Didn't you say you would vote for Trump over Bernie?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287496037

[beastie boy]

31. It's beyond me how Bernie and his supporters don't get it.

When you are outspending your opponents, you are buying speech that others can't afford. Simple as that.

IT DOESN'T FREAKING MATTER WHERE THE MONEY IS COMING FROM! You are still using shitloads of money to outspend your opponents. Not to outsmart them. This is predatory capitalism at its purest. Parsing this corrupt at its core transaction into good money and bad money obfuscates the issue.

These are the rules of the game Bernie is playing along with everybody else. He is not complaining about the use of money in politics, his only peeve is the source of money, not how it's used.

You don't like the game? Don't play it. Or change the rules for EVERYBODY.

[Still In Wisconsin]

32. Poor, poor Burnie.

He has no money at all. He's probably subsisting on cold beans from a can and stale toast.

Burnie's not helping. He really isn't.

[W_HAMILTON]

33. I'd prefer you take their billionaire money and just not sell out...

...rather than begging poor people for their pocket change so you can buy ads to beg even more poor people for their pocket change.

[Blue_true]

37. Yeah. I don't know where the notion that if you take money from some people, you

automatically sell your soul.

[W_HAMILTON]

38. Sanders and his people -- that's where that notion came from.

[ehrnst]

49. "Use your head man.."

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.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/bernie-sanders-regular-luxurious-dscc-fundraising-retreats

April 15, 2015

“I am one of the exceptions," he said. "I am not going to start a super PAC. I’m not going to go around the country talking to millionaires. Now I'm saving my time because they wouldn't give me any money anyhow and that's fine."

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senator-bernie-sanders-calls-hillary-clinton-foundation-money/story?id=30687863

October 14, 2015

Mr. Sanders was cheered at a fancy campaign fund-raiser at the Hollywood home of Syd Leibovitch, a high-end real estate agent, and his wife, Linda, on Wednesday night.

Tickets for the event sold for a minimum of $250. Those who spent the maximum, $2,700, or who raised $10,000, were invited to a “pre-event reception,” according to the invitation.

The 14 co-hosts included Cindy Asner, the former wife of the actor Ed Asner, the actress Mimi Kennedy, and Benjamin W. Decker, whose website notes that he was once called the “legendary Hollywood P.R. maven” by Forbes magazine, and used to produce “celebrity-driven red-carpet movie premieres.”
...........................................
It was the ninth such event of his campaign, his aides said, according to the pool report.
................................

As Mr. Sanders began speaking to the guests, he joked that the Leibovitch house was a “proletariat” home, and told them, “The truth is there are many people in this country who have money but also believe in social justice.”

https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/10/15/bernie-sanders-has-fund-raiser-at-fancy-hollywood-home/

And sometimes really big donors can hide their identity, if given help:

Common Cause Files Complaint Against Pro-Bernie Sanders Group Our Revolution for Violating Soft Money Ban

Under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, an entity directly or indirectly established by a federal candidate or officeholder is not allowed to “solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or spend funds in connection with an election for Federal office” unless the “funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements” of federal law.

According to Our Revolution’s tax returns showing contribution amounts but not contributor names, data compiled and first reported by the Associated Press, from 2016 to 2018 Our Revolution raised almost $1 million dollars from contributors who gave in excess of the applicable $5,000 contribution limit, including multiple contributions of between $100,000 and $300,000. Our Revolution has not disclosed any of its contributors to the FEC, as required by federal campaign finance law.

[Kurt V.]

39. Anybody that studies these things will say big numbers are hard to comprehend. for anybody.

so here it is. if dollars were seconds a million dollars is 11 days. a billion dollars in over 30 years.

[gollygee]

43. You can't win an election without money

Sorry. You also can't win an election in 2020 with the word "socialist" attached to you.

We need to 1. get rid of Trump. We can talk about changing the system after we've gotten rid of trump.

[denem]

45. Sanders returns the donations from billionaires.

It is not as if some do not support him. Ate you telling me if he accepted $2,800 from Ben Cohen he would be in hock to a 'corrupt system' ?

[ehrnst]

50. There are some questions...

Under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, an entity directly or indirectly established by a federal candidate or officeholder is not allowed to “solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or spend funds in connection with an election for Federal office” unless the “funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements” of federal law.

According to Our Revolution’s tax returns showing contribution amounts but not contributor names, data compiled and first reported by the Associated Press, from 2016 to 2018 Our Revolution raised almost $1 million dollars from contributors who gave in excess of the applicable $5,000 contribution limit, including multiple contributions of between $100,000 and $300,000. Our Revolution has not disclosed any of its contributors to the FEC, as required by federal campaign finance law.

“Americans expect and deserve to have our campaign finance laws enforced and they expect political organizations to abide by the law, regardless of their political views,” said Paul Seamus Ryan, Common Cause vice president for policy and litigation. “The facts surrounding Our Revolution, including its founding by Sen. Sanders, its receipt of six-figure contributions, its failure to disclose donors to the FEC, and its political spending in Iowa and elsewhere, point to a clear violation of the federal soft money ban. Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization and we work to hold power accountable regardless of party affiliation or policy positions. It is critically important that the soft money ban be enforced, or outside groups founded by candidates will become a commonplace means to evade contribution limits and disclosure requirements.”

https://www.commoncause.org/press-release/common-cause-files-complaint-against-pro-bernie-sanders-group-our-revolution-for-violating-soft-money-ban/

[radius777]

46. I trust Bloomberg money more than Sanders supporters money.

Bloomberg is funding his own campaign, thus answers to himself.

Sanders campaign is funded by his supporters, who I don't like or trust to make decisions about anything, and don't want them running the Dem party or the country. (of course if Sanders is the nominee I'd hold my nose and vote for him over Trump).

[ehrnst]

51. How about big donors whose identities are hidden?

Today, Common Cause filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging reason to believe that Our Revolution, a nonprofit political organization established by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in 2016 and now supporting his 2020 presidential campaign, violated the federal ‘soft money’ ban. Sen. Sanders has been a longtime critic of super PACs and so-called “Dark Money” groups. The complaint documents that Our Revolution has solicited contributions explicitly to elect Sanders president, received contributions far in excess of the applicable $5,000 contribution limit and spent funds in connection with federal elections, including current voter mobilization efforts supporting Sanders in Iowa.

Under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, an entity directly or indirectly established by a federal candidate or officeholder is not allowed to “solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or spend funds in connection with an election for Federal office” unless the “funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements” of federal law.

According to Our Revolution’s tax returns showing contribution amounts but not contributor names, data compiled and first reported by the Associated Press, from 2016 to 2018 Our Revolution raised almost $1 million dollars from contributors who gave in excess of the applicable $5,000 contribution limit, including multiple contributions of between $100,000 and $300,000. Our Revolution has not disclosed any of its contributors to the FEC, as required by federal campaign finance law.

“Americans expect and deserve to have our campaign finance laws enforced and they expect political organizations to abide by the law, regardless of their political views,” said Paul Seamus Ryan, Common Cause vice president for policy and litigation. “The facts surrounding Our Revolution, including its founding by Sen. Sanders, its receipt of six-figure contributions, its failure to disclose donors to the FEC, and its political spending in Iowa and elsewhere, point to a clear violation of the federal soft money ban. Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization and we work to hold power accountable regardless of party affiliation or policy positions. It is critically important that the soft money ban be enforced, or outside groups founded by candidates will become a commonplace means to evade contribution limits and disclosure requirements.”

https://www.commoncause.org/press-release/common-cause-files-complaint-against-pro-bernie-sanders-group-our-revolution-for-violating-soft-money-ban/

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

52. TELL 'EM UNCLE JOE!! GREAT POST... SO EFFIN' TRUE!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[ehrnst]

56. Then there's this little detail...

https://www.commoncause.org/press-release/common-cause-files-complaint-against-pro-bernie-sanders-group-our-revolution-for-violating-soft-money-ban/

[democratisphere]

53. What happened to those evil millionaires.

Oh. That's right. Bernie became one.

[betsuni]

54. "folks" and "billionaires" don't go together.

[greymattermom]

55. So if Bernie is elected,

will he be a Democrat? That confuses me. If he's not a Democrat, would that matter?