Bernie Sanders, answer why your presidential campaign even needs a dark money group

[Celerity]

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/todaysdebate/2020/02/02/bernie-sanders-campaign-dark-money-our-revolution-editorials-debates/4556051002/

snip

Sanders founded Our Revolution

This year brings a new chapter in the story. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has created, and is the beneficiary of, a new kind of dark money group called Our Revolution.

OUR REVOLUTION: Our mission is much more than electing Bernie Sanders

What makes Our Revolution different is that it is designed to advance Sanders’ cause against other Democrats in the primaries, rather than against a Republican in a general election. It’s one thing to say you have to play the dark money game because the other side surely will. It is quite another to be first off the mark in bringing its corrosive powers into a new area.

Sanders has long been a big critic of money in politics, often criticizing political action committees and the candidates who benefit from them. To then go out and found a group like Our Revolution is hypocritical.

Before and after Iowa caucuses
Our Revolution claims to voluntarily report all donors who give more than $250. But it doesn't file documents with any agency, provide identifying information about individuals or specify how much they gave.

snip



more background



Shadow group provides Sanders super PAC support he scorns

Bernie Sanders says he doesn’t want a super PAC. Instead, he has Our Revolution, a nonprofit political organization he founded that functions much the same as one.

https://apnews.com/345bbd1af529cfb1e41305fa3ab1e604

WASHINGTON (AP)

Like a super PAC, which is shorthand for super political action committee, Our Revolution can raise unlimited sums from wealthy patrons that dwarf the limits faced by candidates and conventional PACs. Unlike a super PAC, however, the group doesn’t have to disclose its donors — a stream of revenue commonly referred to as “dark money.”

Now, with less than one month to go before the Iowa caucuses, Our Revolution appears to be skirting campaign finance law, which forbids groups founded by federal candidates and officeholders from using large donations to finance federal election activity, including Sanders’ 2020 bid.

A debate over big money in politics has riven the Democratic primary with Sanders and fellow progressive, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, leading the attack on rivals including former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who have relied on big-dollar donors.

But while Warren has come under fire for courting wealthy financiers in her past Senate campaigns, Sanders and Our Revolution have largely avoided scrutiny during the primary, even as he has accelerated his criticism of others, among them Biden, for relying on super PACs founded by their allies.

snip

[still_one]

1. Do as I say, not as I do. New campaign slogan perhaps?

[sheshe2]

4. Yep.

Hypocrite.

[bluewater]

2. How's Sweden?

Which part of the country are you currently in?

[sheshe2]

7. What are you asking here?

bluewater
2. How's Sweden?

Which part of the country are you currently in?

So you are saying...
They are not a US citizen? You know that for a fact? You seem to doubt their facts and frankly attack them. We have many posters, US citizens that do not live here. We have others that are not and I love their imput.

[Celerity]

11. I am a US citizen by birth, in Los Angeles, but grew up in London mostly

I have always been open about my background since I joined, so they probably knew about the Sweden part

[sheshe2]

12. They/Posters do that a lot.

Diss people that do not live here that they
have no right to an opinion when in fact they are citizens.

[Celerity]

14. well, not nice if that was what was going on, but I take no real offence

I did live in the US for several years as an adult, I have travelled extensively there, plus I am a political junkie of some sorts, so feel up to the task of contributing here overall. Trump is a global threat, as is the entire Republican party, so waters edge with an ocean between is not a true barrier to the negative impacts, unfortunately.

Nice little corridor of tension if things go pear shaped with Russia and the Baltics.

[bluewater]

15. um, You mentioned in a post a day or so ago that you were currently in Sweden

I was just curious about what part of the country you were in, I have friends in Gothenburg.

I don't know why that other poster went off the deep end about me asking.

[Celerity]

17. Oh, it is all good!

Hugz

[bluewater]

16. Oh, please, no one is dissing anyone.

Where did you get that from?



They mentioned they were currently living in Sweden in a previous post, and I just asked what part of the country they were currently in.

Pardon me for wanting to discuss places I like learning more about.

[Celerity]

10. Stockholm,

Södermalm atm to be more precise

[squirecam]

3. Pete should have responded to Sanders

When he made the 40 billionaires attack with this info.

[octoberlib]

9. I tweeted the Common Cause link to Pete and Chas. I was surprised they didn't use it.

Bernie was just on CNN bragging to Jake Tapper that Our Revolution doesn't take money from billionaires. Well, how would anybody really know since Sanders hides the donors in violation of campaign finance law?


https://www.commoncause.org/resource/common-cause-v-our-revolution-soft-money-violation/

[lapucelle]

5. AP, Common Cause, and now USA Today...

let the vetting begin.

[George II]

6. Aside from Our Revolution (remember, Nina Turner was it's President until sometime in 2019)....

....he has several other national organizations that are openly supporting him:

Justice Democrats (PAC)
Sunshine Movement
Democratic Socialists of America (PAC)
People's Action (Super PAC)
Center for Popular Democracy (Independent Expenditure group)
National Nurses United (Super PAC)
Friends of the Earth (Independent Expenditure group)

Plus, his campaign hasn't disclosed the names, locations, or other data for 70% of his contributions.

[octoberlib]

8. Why is he hiding his donors? Are they Republicans?

Gabbard was caught at a fundraiser Republican donors held for her. Our Revolution's also not allowed to accept more than $5000 from any one donor and Sanders is accepting hundreds of thousands. Same thing the Trump campaign got in trouble over.

[betsuni]

13. K&R

[Cha]

18. KR