No, Joe. The "establishment" are the 60 billionaires who are funding your campaign ...

[Donkees]

Link to tweet

[George II]

1. Anyone ever notice he never names a SINGLE one of those "60 billionaires" or how much they gave?

[W_HAMILTON]

8. Because he is intentionally misleading, as usual.

Billionaires can only give the maximum $2,800 to Biden's campaign, which I'm sure many of his supporters have also given, although maybe in 280 increments of $10.

[George II]

12. The most extreme case is a woman in Michigan who gave him $3 more than 800 times.

[krispos42]

32. And how much can they spend on PACs and 501(c)4s?

Don't be obtuse.

[George II]

40. PACs can only contribute $5000 if they're a certain type of PAC and 501(c)4s can't give anything...

...to candidates.

[krispos42]

46. You're still being obtuse

I take $100M and start a PAC called "Left Handed Albino Optometrists for Joe Biden". I donate the legal maximum to his campaign. What do I do with the other $99.995M?

I buy pro-Joe ads on billboards, TV, Facebook, etc. I pay people to knock on doors. I organize rides to the polls. I hire a blimp to fly around with "VOTE4JOE" on it. I spread rumors on social media about his opponents. I have pro-Joe surrogates go and have long-form interviews with podcasters and YouTubers. I give out my own design yard signs and bumper stickers like crazy. I hire a guy in a costume to follow opponents around. I hire people to try to get his opponents and their surrogates to do something stupid and embarrassing on video, like punch an interviewer or take a crank phone call.

And it's all perfectly legal as long as I don't coordinate with the Biden campaign.

DON'T. BE. OBTUSE.

[George II]

49. Sanders said "The "establishment" are the 60 billionaires who are funding your campaign"!!!!

I'm not being obtuse, I'm just reading what SANDERS HIMSELF said!

If you don't coordinate with the Biden campaign you're not "FUNDING" his campaign.

[krispos42]

56. And now you're being pedantic

So because these billionaires are supporting Biden's run for office with money, but aren't directly giving to Biden's campaign more than the legal limit, they're not "funding Biden's campaign".

And thus, Sanders is completely with credibility and non viable.

I don't know whether Sanders is accurate or not; that's not the point I'm making. I'm making the point that millionaires and above give far more to get somebody elected than the FEC individual campaign limits. You are and are being dismissive of that fact and being deliberately obtuse to try to claim being "technically correct, the best kind of correct".

Sander's statement was not a precision statement in a legal brief. If you want to play that game then show me when Sanders said the specific, legal name of the campaign the rich were giving to.

[W_HAMILTON]

41. Here are the limits, since it's clear that you are the one in need of being educated about them:

https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/candidate-taking-receipts/contribution-limits/

Furthermore, here are Biden's FEC reports that shows where his campaign gets its money from: https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/P80000722/

It is individuals that are fueling the funding for Biden's campaign.

[StarfishSaver]

26. This sounds like McCarthy's ever-changing number of Communists in the State Dept.

[George II]

38. +1,000,000

[samnsara]

35. ...or who they are....

..this is like another Joe from the 50s saying there were 57 commies in the WH...

[LizBeth]

2. Ah. So now the establishment are the billionaires? That one is new

[samnsara]

36. ..this fiight was fine when we were in our 20s..in the 60s and 70s...

....but its an immature argument. Almost adolescent in nature.....WE are now the establishment and yep BS too IF he pays taxes...

[doc03]

3. Gee I heard Biden spent just $11000 and beat

Bernie in one state.

[George II]

16. Yes, that was Massachusetts. He won four states with no field offices.

[BeckyDem]

4. Damn right.

[NCProgressive]

19. You know 60 billionaires can only fund a total of $168,000 right?

You don't need a calculator to know that that is chump change compared to Bernie's haul of $400 million so far.

[Loki Liesmith]

5. Lol

[we can do it]

6. No BS the establishment is actual Democrats who are always Democrats.

Not just when it’s convenient.

[FoxNewsSucks]

7. I wonder if the rest of the

working middle class will be as surprised as I was to fi d out I. "Establishment"

I literally had no idea.

[Recursion]

22. Then you need to pay more attention

Of course you're the establishment. You can be even more "establishment" by showing up for your precinct or county Democratic party meetings.

[TwilightZone]

9. No, Biden is right.

Sanders supporters routinely act like 95% of Democrats are part of the establishment. You know what? That's accurate, and you can't have it both ways.

The establishment is the part of the party that gets things done - Democratic Congresspeople who don't spend all their time taking shots at some phantom "establishment" (the definition of which changes every ten minutes, now it's 60 billionaires) and the voters who elect them.

Keep targeting Democratic voters and see how far it gets you.

[calimary]

20. WE are the "establishment."

He uses the word as a negative. And frankly, I resent the hell out of that. Because I support someone else not him? Then that means I’m part of the establishment? I’ve never even run for office. I’ve sent in my little donations and worked with grassroots activists but I’m just another little old baby boomer with white hair.

And I’m sorry, but Bernie Sanders has been a certified member of the establishment in DC since 1991. In the House and then the Senate. And before that he served in office at the state level, becoming part of Vermont’s governmental establishment.

I’m so damn sick of it, dammit. There are honorable people trying to work for the greater public good in that dreaded so-called “establishment.” And all he’s succeeding in doing at this point is sowing division in the ranks, and giving his supporters false hopes for unrealistic goals both on the primary battlefields and in the White House.

I wish he’d stop.

[StarfishSaver]

27. This

[Hav]

10. That is an idiotic reply by Sanders

BS wasn't only rejected by those 60 but more importantly by actual voters across the country. The voters are the ones deciding the primaries.
Why is BS so incredibly dishonest? Just like someone else.

[dem4decades]

11. Must be all those AA billionaires.

[PubliusEnigma]

13. I'm funding Joe Biden's campaign. So are thousands of others.

Bernie needs to find his way to the exit before he embarrasses himself any further.

[NCProgressive]

14. Disingenuous as usual

These deceiving tactics belong in the Trump campaign ... not on our side.

[grantcart]

24. Rejoicing that they GOT 3 WHOLE RECS!!!!!

[TheCowsCameHome]

15. More BS from BS

The more of this rah-rah crap that gets posted on DU, the less I like him.

Hopefully Maddow will call him out tonight.

[Docreed2003]

17. Hey Bernie?? Why not insist "Our Revolution" release their donor info??

I mean it is your superPAC, totally not SuperPAC after all and they've been really shady in releasing their donor lists. How about taking the lead on the issue you proclaim to care so much about instead of shitting on your rival?

[Atticus]

18. That's today's definition of "establishment", is it? How about some cheese with

that whine, Bernie?

[rufus dog]

21. Just to clarify

Are we talking about billions in dollars or rubles?

Always want to make sure we are clear.

[grantcart]

23. This tiresome, blatantly false and intellectually bankrupt

nonsense will soon be over

How can you continually post such obvious nonsense.

1) Biden didn't have any money on Super Tuesday. Sanders has had a mountain of money, many many times more money than Biden. Even bringing up the subject just undercuts Sanders credibility.

Sanders won Vermont by 50% while Biden is going to win a dozen states where he didn't spend money by a greater percentage.

Sanders out spent Biden by a 100 times in Massachusetts where Biden had only one office and no media AND where the people know Sanders very well.

2) The center of gravity for Biden's campaign since SC has been AA barbershops, churches as well as winning white majorities in most states.

3) Sanders boasted that he was going to increase participation. In a sense that is true because while Sanders numbers are basically the same as 2016 millions of Democrats are turning out to vote for Biden and against Sanders.


The more you post idiotic and false trash like this one the less respect I have for Sanders and those who drink the ideological look aid parroting outrageous and idiotic charges against Biden.
I wonder if you are actually against Sanders when you post blatantly false BS. LIKE this

It is quite disgraceful.

It's Sanders that has the bankroll and it is Biden that is running a people's campaign.

The Sanders campaign is wounded now, will be mortally wounded in 72 hours and terminal DOA in 10 days.nonsense

[karynnj]

39. Great post - I wonder if these strident attacks reflect that what they are seeing in internal polls

agrees with your last sentence. It is sad to see Bernie himself go so negative.

[onetexan]

25. This is akin to the Idiot saying "many people..." without any real hard facts to back up his claim

Another BS from the BS camp.

[Bleacher Creature]

28. Biden was close to out of money, especially after putting everything into SC.

And yet he still trounced Sanders.

[Mike Nelson]

29. Go, Joe...

... make them spend it all!

[stonecutter357]

30. good let's go Joe !

[beachbumbob]

31. lol, funny how did sanders outspend biden 20-1 and LOSE?? apparently biden's billionaire backers

didn't have "money" in the game did they? The whining needs to stop. WE DEMOCRATS are supporting Biden, the only democrat left in the primaries in our view.

[karynnj]

33. I get that Bernie wants to make this an issue, but the FEC has the numbers on donations

and spending. The fact is that before SuperTuesday, the comments here from people in SuperTuesday states was that they saw NO or very few Biden ads - even though his team had made some excellent ads. He did not have the money for even moderate size ad buys. Sanders had plenty of money - for ads, staffers and offices. Yet, Biden won more votes and more delegates.

Clearly NOT because he had so much money from billionaires -- or anyone else. That lack of money, that turned around after SC too late to buy ads for SuperTuesday, was before SC seen as sign that his campaign was failing.

It is true that BLOOMBERG spent a fortune on ads in all those states. An eye opening truth from last Tuesday is - to paraphrase the Beatles - Money can't buy you votes - at least not legally via ads. The same was seen with the votes that Steyer got in SC.

[samnsara]

34. so EFFING what? If all of a sudden the universe made me a billionaire RIGHT NOW..

...am I in that category? Would I be the '61 billionaires funding your campaign?'


Im so glad my mom..rest her soul..... taught me to never have a purity test...

[BeckyDem]

37. Money only influences the other party, so they say.

Though Biden has pledged not to take contributions from registered lobbyists, the prohibition appears not to apply to big-dollar organizers of his Super PAC. Among the individuals involved with the effort are several lobbyists for leading corporations and foreign governments.

Longtime Biden supporter Larry Rasky, one of the people involved with the big-money effort, is the founder of lobbying firm Rasky Partners, which is currently registered to lobby on behalf of Raytheon, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, among other clients.
https://theintercept.com/2019/10/25/joe-biden-super-pac/

[Dem4Life1102]

42. Take the Money and Run

[BeckyDem]

43. I don't recommend taking advice from Maher on anything important.

When big money goes to a candidate they expect a return on their investment. Another thing, Bernie is having a hard time not due to lack of money, the youth vote has not been there for him as much as he needs them to be. Its not because they are going to Biden, lack of money is not the problem in this case, imo.

[Dem4Life1102]

44. Lack of money is not a problem for Biden?

Sanders outspent Biden 4 to 1

[BeckyDem]

45. I didn't say that, lack of money is not Bernie's main obstacle. He dosn't need

to compromise how he raises money as Maher is suggesting.

[wyldwolf]

47. Bernie Sanders, wrong again.

[MyNameGoesHere]

48. Here's hoping Former Vice President Biden, Proud and Loyal Democrat,

Gets 1000's of billionaires funding his candidacy.

If the Independent Senator from Vermont can't take the heat, end your campaign.

[Demsrule86]

50. Might work if Joe had money but he didn't have money to compete in states like Virginia...and

yet he wiped Sanders out...voters reignited Biden's campaign and will likely finish the job on Tuesday...and I will add I don't care about funding for our campaign..thanks to left Green voters who destroyed Gore, we have United...so we have face the reality of campaigns...and I would like to see who is funding O.R. Why won't sanders release the information?

[themaguffin]

51. Wow, all of their fortunes really were useful on Super Tuesday. Oh wait...

[Zambero]

52. That's quite interesting...

I wonder why they all decided to skip out on Super Tuesday?

[CatMor]

53. Very interesting...

it isn't 58 or 49 or 62 but exactly 60 no name billionaires.

[padah513]

54. This thread has legs

Five days and it's still running

[Jrsygrl96]

55. No. No. No.

I was registered Independent (unaffiliated) for 40 years until last year. Changed to Dem so I could vote in primaries. My preference was Klobuchar. Second Biden. Gave money for the first time ever to a political campaign last Saturday -- to Biden.

I guess am the "establishment" Democrat Sanders is complaining about. I am NOT a billionaire. We have NO extra money, especially after that "tax cut" last year which cost us thousands! We need to get 45 out of there and I believe Biden is the one to do it. What I see is that Sanders is nothing more than MF45 on the other extreme side of the Bell Curve with a cult following. Quit whining! Our goal is to DUMP 45!

Period.

[brooklynite]

57. I gave the same amount to Biden that all the Billionaires did ($2800)...

Was I supposed to ask for something?

[tavernier]

58. Turn those sour grapes into wine, Bernie,

have a piece of cheese, and relax, sweetie. We understand how badly you want this, but you are not doing yourself or our country any favors by giving the republicans the ammunition they seek for the months to come. And you look like a man on the brink. We worry about you. If you want to keep going, that’s fine... your supporters will help you through this... but don’t blow yourself up in the process.

[evertonfc]

59. Railing on rich people is not a winning strategy

[W_HAMILTON]

60. When this election season is over, I hope we, as a community, reevaluate this part of our rules:

Do not post disrespectful nicknames, insults, or highly inflammatory attacks against any Democratic public figures. Do not post anything that could be construed as bashing, trashing, undermining, or depressing turnout for any Democratic general election candidate, and do not compare any Democratic general election candidate unfavorably to their general election opponent(s).
Why we have this rule: Our forum members support and admire a wide variety of Democratic politicians and public figures. Constructive criticism is always welcome, but our members don't expect to see Democrats viciously denigrated on this website. This rule also applies to Independents who align themselves with Democrats (eg: Bernie Sanders).

I think ~five years of "turning the other cheek" is just about enough.

[comradebillyboy]

61. Who are those 60 billionaires? Or do they only exist in Sanders imagination?

[SiliconValley_Dem]

62. Sanders' desperation is sad