291–300 of 553 posts
Why is it healthy for American democracy to have an oligarch purchase the U.S. Presidency like a shiny, new yacht?
having a lot of money makes it easier to run, but there's no guarantee of success
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Broad appeal among democrats , but the candidate with the best chances in the national election is not the center Democrat, it's the center American, which if you imagine Democrats and Republicans being two ranges butted up against the center, is the rightmost Democrat!
I don't believe republicans or "independent" voters will ever actually cross the aisle anymore. Trump still has massive MASSIVE support from registered republicans.
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He'll be on the debate stage tonight as a legitimized candidate -- having not participated in the competitive process at all, and without a single donor (doesn't need 'em), and levering his billions to flood media. It's a rather disgusting story, actually.
The "competitive process" is getting people to say they'll vote for you in polls. So he has been participating in that process. Bloomberg -- rightly or wrongly -- has a broad appeal.
Why is it healthy for American democracy to have an oligarch purchase the U.S. Presidency like a shiny, new yacht?
The entire political process is based on money (fundraising determines whether you're even on the ballot or a debate or able to be on a ticket) and controlled by money as there is a direct correlation between media spend and campaign success.
The worst part is that the "media" is the one sector in our country that has the most to gain from chaos and they're the ones who for the most part, control the dialog and the direction and worse, the cost.
Frankly, I am more shocked by the fact that people dont understand that its all about money.
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> Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with billionaires Debatable. Find me a billionaire who didn't get where they are through exploitive labour practices, monopolistic consolidation, political manipulation, massive environmental damage, or inheriting wealth earned in one or more of those ways. A world where billionaires can exists seems like a perversion of the ideals of "healthy" capitalism to me.
J. K. Rowling comes to mind.
More importantly, if she only had £60 million would she be any less happy?
A populist President can be mitigated by Congress if they choose to act and also take back some of the executive powers they gave the President.
Congress doesn't give the President anything except money. Executive powers come from the Constitution, not Congress. To put it simply: the President does not serve at the pleasure of Congress.
What a fascinating choice between two New York billionaires. A populist carnival barker vs. a man who built his own personal tech/media empire. I'd bet dollars to donuts Mike's got a tech team in place right now that is running rings around the DNC's haphazard patronage party.
Why is it healthy for American democracy to have an oligarch purchase the U.S. Presidency like a shiny, new yacht?
The alternatives are worse. The choices: 1. purchase it with their own money 2. purchase it with money from bribes 3. blackmail party insiders for the nomination and support Using their own money is the cleanest and most honest way to do things.
4. Convince millions to give just a little bit of time or effort because you spent your entire political career fighting for working people.
Which, in my view, is even better.
Why doesn't he just buy Fox News?
...it's not for sale? Never really understood this line of attack.
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Tax cuts and a big middle finger to the democrats.
I don't think they honestly cared about tax cuts. It's all about "Owning the libs" and making America "great" which Fox news tells them is exactly what America is now thanks to Trump and no no other countries are laughing at us constantly that's "Fake news"
There is a massive, silent, and barely political segment of the population between far left and far right. For that silent majority, the only real impact they will have noticed from the Trump presidency is that they paid slightly less in tax.
Most people genuinely don't care about politics. Everyone cares about their money. I think the tax cuts are more important than you let on.