Now CNN Picks up the Bernie Super PAC story

[Cali_Democrat]

Bernie Sanders backed by $570,000 from union super PAC

Washington (CNN) - A super PAC tied to a union supporting Bernie Sanders has spent almost $570,000 to help his presidential run, according the Sunlight Foundation and representatives from the group, spending that contradicts some of what the Vermont senator has said in the past about campaign finance reform.

National Nurses United For Patient Protection, a independent expenditure group, or super PAC, has spent $569,000 backing Sanders. National Nurses United, the union associated with the group, endorsed Sanders in August, the first national union to do so, and has since been seen supporting him at events across the country.

The backing offers proof that it will be difficult for Sanders to stick to a no-super PAC pledge.

One of the most well-received lines in Sanders' stump speech is when he blasts super PACs and suggests that they have a corrupting influence on the political system. Many of his supporters say one reason they like him is because of his view on super PACs, which are not subject to campaign finance limits.

"You are looking at the non-billionaire major candidate for president who does not have a super PAC," he told an audience in Boulder last month.

"I don't have a super PAC," he told reporters in Washington over the summer. "I am not going to have a super PAC."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/18/politics/bernie-sanders-super-pac-nurses-union/index.html

[leftofcool]

1. oops!

[AtomicKitten]

2. Good. Then we can discuss affiliated vs. unaffiliated super pacs.

And how much Hillary is bending the rules by coordinating directly with her super pac CorrectTheRecord.

[KittyWampus]

7. LOL! One of Bernie's superpacs is run by one of his high level ex-staffers.

[Gloria]

3. Maybe it was just really a big bake sale....

NO PACS for Bernie, right??

[leftofcool]

4. A half a million dollar bake sale is one I would go for.

Think of the chocolate.

[whathehell]

26. No Corporate PACs, No Wall St. PACs, which is more than you can say for Hillary.

Unions support workers, not CEOs and the Bottom Line -- Big difference.

[yeoman6987]

29. Maybe but I don't remember Bernie making exemption clauses with his

continuous negative view of PACS.

[whathehell]

35. Yeah, we knew the Hillary Camp was waiting for him to slip up at LEAST once, lol

hoping to make their candidate look a bit better for her SLEW of them.

[yeoman6987]

36. I am not really in any camp

I haven't completely decided who to vote for in the primary yet. By Maryland who knows how things will look. I will vote for the nominee in November no matter who it is.

[whathehell]

37. Okay..

It's good to hear you're still open to Bernie.

I, too, will vote for whoever gets the nomination -- Seems stupid

to do otherwise -- Any more Repukes in the Supreme Court and we're toast, imo.

[yeoman6987]

38. Totally agree. The Supreme Court alone should get every democratic voter to the booth period.

I love Bernie in many ways. He really believes what he says. I just know the congress and what they won't do for him after 7 years of watching them. The other thing is his foreign policy. It's a little bit naive to think our world can become kumbuya. How would he fight ISIS? I don't think he has answered that yet.

[whathehell]

40. Exactly..I may be wrong, but I think MOST here, from whatever camp, will vote for the nominee..

and that's why I REALLY don't get all the dissension and vitriole...Yes, I guess I've contributed a little, but honestly,

very little, and I believe the feistier partisans in both camps would confirm that.

I just don't get it -- If you're going to vote for the eventual nominee anyway, what, really, is the point?

I don't know if you were here in '08, but If you weren't, you should know that the animosity was HUGE, absolutely

every bit as bad, or worse, than it is now...

Again, I really don't understand. I've come to the conclusion that a lot of people simply enjoy fighting.

[Agschmid]

5. You know I'm going to take some heat for this...

But this isn't really a PAC for Bernie, at least IMO.

[msongs]

10. appears your are correct based on evidence provided nt

[angrychair]

16. Thank you for being intellectually honest. nt

[aidbo]

25. No heat! just a little bern. :)

[NurseJackie]

6. Uh-oh!

[mcar]

8. Uh oh

[99th_Monkey]

9. Well, I expect Clintonistas to be applauding Sanders for this

since they've been deriding him for being so "naive" to think he can win with
only small donors.

[NCTraveler]

11. I get the negative aspect of this...

But it appears to be union driven so it sounds pretty good to me. I don't begrudge Clinton with respect to her union money either.

[99th_Monkey]

13. Right. Like it's 'evil' to accept money from workers. -nt-

[Recursion]

21. Unions invented the super PAC

The first Independent Expenditures-Only Committee was Workers' Voices, a super PAC run by AFL-CIO.

[99th_Monkey]

12. Actually this isn't Bernie's super-pac, it's the union's super-pac. -nt-

[zalinda]

14. It was formed in 2009, so not for Bernie.

More corporate crap to boost Hillary.

Z

[LiberalArkie]

17. Oh the Horror.

[nc4bo]

18. Nice BB! nt

[enid602]

19. bernie

Oh, Bernie. First we learn that Jane mischaracterized a major asset on Burlington College's balance sheet to support a loan. Now this. I feel so let down.

[Jarqui]

20. Looks very real

http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandidateCommitteeDetail.do?candidateCommitteeId=C00490375&tabIndex=3

[AgingAmerican]

22. Does he have a super PAC?

A union super PAC is backing him? Not corporate? This is a bad thing? lol

[ericson00]

23. I thought all SuperPacs were evil...

next things, corporations and lobbyists (like PP/GP ones) wont' be evil anymore...

[aidbo]

24. Finally! Ò.Ó I really hope CNN gets to the bottom of this!

Close to $600,000!

That's like almost the average price of a home in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Are there any other super PACs spending this kind of money on politics?

[bravenak]

27. I knew he would do the Superpac thingy.

[coyote]

31. Except that he isn't

[bravenak]

32. Yeah right

[Fairgo]

28. Yet another disingenuous, facile meme

Like chum to sharks, this offal is meant to rouse a mindless feeding frenzy.

[ibegurpard]

30. Still trying to sell the LIE

That this is Bernie's PAC?
Nurses union has a PAC. They are supporting Bernie.
Correct the Record is a PAC that was formed for express purpose of supporting Hillary.
If you can't see th difference between those two please stay off the internet.

[Tarc]

34. There is no difference at all

Sanders has made "campaign finance reform" a central platform of his campaign, a platform which has featured attacks on Clinton daily over her her SuperPAC donors supporting her and her campaign. Now a SuperPAC is supporting Sanders and his campaign, it makes him look like a bit of a hypocrite.

I have no issues with politicians who raise money or with other who raise money to support them, but Sanders and his fans can't have their cake and eat it too; either he disowns and renounces that nurses union and their money, or he accepts it and drops what until now was one of his major selling points.

Pick.

[CajunBlazer]

33. Anyone who unilaterally disarms is an idiot.

I'm all for getting rid of super PACs, both corporate and union. Both represent special interests and, as such, have no place in our governmental system. But as long as they are legal, a candidate would be daft not to use them because the other side cettainly will. Obama had a super PAC and I didn't see him catering to special interests.

[reformist2]

39. So disingenuous of CNN. This is going to blow up in the establishment's face.

People will quickly be able to tell the difference between a $500 thousand unaffiliated SuperPac, and $50 MILLION of SuperPacs affiliated with the HRC campaign.

Again, to dispel the lie - Bernie does not "have" a SuperPac. On the other hand, Hillary has many that have (illegally) announced their affiliation with her campaign.