Donald Trump went after Ted Cruz’s reliance on Super PACs at the GOP debate in Miami on Thursday, saying that his own history of buying influence with politicians better positions him to take on systemic corruption than having been on the receiving end.
“These Super PACs are a disaster, by the way, folks. Very corrupt. It’s going to lead to lots of disasters. But Ted has Super PACs, and you have to look at the people that are giving to those Super PACs, number one,” said the real estate mogul. “It’s very important to do that.”
Super PACs are technically “independent” groups that allow corporations and wealthy individuals to spend unlimited sums of money backing candidates.
“There is total control of the candidates,” Trump said. “I know it better than anybody that probably ever lived. And I will tell you this: I know the system far better than anybody else and I know the system is broken.” He went on:
And I’m the one, because I know it so well because I was on both sides of it. I was on the other side all my life and I’ve always made large contributions. And frankly, I know the system better than anybody else and I’m the only one up here that’s going to be able to fix that system because that system is wrong.
Although Trump criticized Super PACs and does not currently have any backing him, he did not rule out embracing them in the general election.
Watch the exchange:
Cruz has rallied a phalanx of Super PACs, which has raised more than $40 million during the course of the race, in addition to the $56 million raised by his campaign. Trump’s campaign has raised $25 million to date, 70 percent of it from self-funding. Prior to Super Tuesday, Republican Super PACs had already aired 8,500 ads against Trump.
Although Trump did not get into specifics, he could have mentioned how two Texas billionaires who made their fortunes in fracking gave $15 million to outside groups backing the senator. Cruz is an outspoken advocate of fracking.
And making a further mockery of rules that ban coordination between Super PACs and campaigns, one of Cruz’s former chiefs of staff just took the helm of the Trusted Leadership PAC, a Super PAC that is coordinating pro-Cruz activities.
Related:
“I know the system far better than anybody else and I know the system is broken.”
“I will fix It” (system, trade infrastructure, jobs, fair and lawful immigration) should be Trump’s campaign slogan. He must also denounce violence and turn to the center and tell how he is going to reform the system to the advantage of ALL citizens, turn to A POSITIVE MESSAGE. If he fails to make the turn and explain he is toast.
Alone there are not enough minorities to elect Hillary or enough angry whites to elect Trump. There exists in both parties a centralist force that cannot vote for either more of the same or the “present” Trump, but might vote for a “future” more centralist Trump. There are a lot of people who want to fix the broken system and want an outsider candidate.
Trump so far has ran too NEGATIVE a campaign for a general election that has divorced the center and enraged both demonstrators (good) and disrupters (not good). The tectonics of this election may allow the center to pick the winner. This is a good thing, Bush and Obama fail to the right and left and fail to inspire movement away from a broken system.
Ted Cruz PsyOp
http://www.voltairenet.org/article190187.html
Good article, they ALL do it to one degree or another. In the old days it was just poles and districts now political messages are more sophisticated tailor and targeted to zip codes even individuals, your consumption, habits or traits mark you as a con-game mark.
Last election I got a political flyer that was “punching my buttons’ read half realized it was “loaded” threw it in the trash. Technology gives “them” a personal read. When someone you do not know seems to know you realize you are being marked for manipulation.
Mr. Trump does make a valid argument about cutting out the middleman. Why elect a puppet when you can elect the person pulling the strings?
The world’s most incorruptible leader is undoubtedly Kim Jong Un. He owns North Korea, so there is literally no way for anyone to offer him a financial enticement. The United States has traditionally been wary of adopting this political model, but there is no denying its efficiency. Instead of politicians spending all their time wooing special interests, they’ll be able to concentrate on more important tasks, such as preserving their own power. Give Mr. Trump absolute power and he becomes incorruptible.
Sometimes complex problems turn out to have simple solution.
Donald Tramp is a complex solution to a simple problem. A small part of the solution is real (that was verified by a lady tugging at his orange mane), and the majority of it is imaginary. Like all complex numbers, you would still be able to get a real solution (even if negative) if you could somehow get a square deal, but then that’s not going to happen as he is the the master of deals.
I support Donald Tramp and his war on corruption.
Corruption; you can’t do business without it. I would like to see a run off between Bernie Sanders and Trump with both of them beating up on the system and Bernie winning with millions in the streets cheering and promising to be back in the streets if things don’t change and change fast. Trump is telling you the truth on corruption and he would have never made it without being corrupt, nor would anyone else. My biggest problem with Trump is not Mexicans or Muslims, that is just talk to get voted from the conbot base. My problem is, climate change with is an extensional threat to humanity….does he believe what he says or is it just more rhetoric. I feel the Bern where I don’t have to wonder, he has a lifetime of integrity to examine openly.
So just to confirm that I am blocked fourth time posting this or just particular authors.
Why not? Its my post and I can post it four times if I want to. ; )
The conservative empire was willing and able to unite to “stop Obama” with never-ending theatrical displays of whatever fiction they can put together but they are completely overwhelmed by the easy target Trump? I don’t think so. They want to win and think that he can but distance themselves from Trump’s methods.
If the helpless act continues and its not just a sham for which ever candidate they are actually planning on putting out there (which is despicable enough) the Republican traitors and their media are stating in their refusal to stop Trump, that they are willing to accept and perhaps were even hoping for civil war in America as long as they can put an R on the POTUS chair, anything goes! They can only unite in war.
The future of Trump vs Sanders or anyone:
“U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Saturday blamed supporters of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders for protests that shut down his Chicago rally, calling the U.S. senator from Vermont “our communist friend.”
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-blames-chicago-protest-communist-sanders-436277
Gee, I wonder how that will materialize when candidates have been chosen.
If only the protesting could start happening outside the main hq of various cable news stations, but in the land of the free they probably have their own private military for such an occasion.
I’m sure our representatives in name only and their international sponsors will eventually stop hiding that they consider this country under their occupation but with a pres Trump’s inability to cope with dissent, the future of protests will probably have drones flying overhead “targeting leaders” much sooner and with the support of Americans that believe all of the disagreements of the world can be solved by shooting at them. Not to worry, they wont take responsibility for anything they are aiming at its the left’s fault! Those diversity loving, unarmed Americans with the funny clothes and hair did this to America not you, you love Jesus and you have values.
The difference between Trump and other Republican candidates would be that he wouldn’t restrict himself to the little people. He’ll go after anyone and that might give some rich conservatives pause but in our beloved top secret militarized society I’m sure they aren’t too worried about it.
https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/the-kill-chain/
I’m guessing there wouldn’t be a chain if Trump got elected.
Cruz’s $40 million isn’t just a $15 million donation. After that it’s two more $10 million donations (some split between husband and wife or two brothers). With just a handful of owners responsible for nearly all funding, Cruz should be seen more as a limited partnership than a publicly traded stock.
That said, the joke with Trump is that while he doesn’t have PACs, he has … business. When he sells a beauty contest, nobody knows if he got an extra five million in exchange for a little side-agreement. He has unlimited opportunities to sell himself with no regulators looking on. I mean, isn’t that what we pay CEOs those incredible salaries to do? To make the right bribes, hire the right crooks, all the stuff that a company needs to survive but can’t trust ordinary schmucks like you and me to do for a schmuck’s wage?
Donald J Drumpf is full of himself. He is a master at getting media coverage. He Twitters, emails, phones in: the least inexpensive means to communicate. If, god forbid, he becomes President can we expect that we will get all our communications from him by smoke signal?
Trump is full of shit. If you don’t think he will use the power of the presidency to his and his business associates monetary advantage your full of shit too. The fact that he is a billionaire is a conflict of interest. He will no longer have to buy influence to further his agenda he will be the influence.
What a guy:
http://www.alternet.org/watch-daily-show-digs-disgusting-nuggets-trump-archive-trashing-poor-people?
“Trevor Noah has hit something of a stride on “The Daily Show” lately in going after Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. Thursday night, he dug up some fairly disgusting quotes from the Trump archive in which Trump expresses his utter contempt for anyone who is not rich.
The candidate, who has spent about “58 percent” of his campaign bragging about how rich he is, has won the support of some poor and working-class folks, something that Trump, of course, also brags about. These voters apparently like the fact that Trump says exactly what’s on his mind; he “tells it like it is.” We guess so. In old interviews with the New York Times, Trump has called poor people “morons” and expressed the view that no one should be president if the salary for that office is more than they have ever earned before.
Yep, that’s called plutocracy.”
What we will get with Hillary: more of the same.
What we will get with Trump: no more middle east invasions. No war with Russia. No TPP or other “trade agreements”. No more neocon sock puppetry.
I understand his “ya gotta be one to know one” schtick, but do you really think the American people should trust a bully strong man to move humanity forward? Are you too shallow to understand the incrementalism that’s required to keep us from incinerating ourselves?
You’re awfully optimistic about Trump’s abilities. You have been gulled.
You could be right about Trump, but unheilig is definitely right about proven war criminal Hillary Clinton.
Well, don’t big corporations (and even the government itself) hire former criminal hackers to test the security of computer systems? Who better to know where the weaknesses are and the best means of exploiting them? Doesn’t the same rationale apply to Trump? It actually seems to be a pretty good argument (and I’m not a Trump fan).
Yes they “hire former criminal hackers” but they don’t make them the CEO.
We are going to watch the end of an empire very soon if some major changes don’t happen soon. With the exception of Trump, who’s a wild card that I can’t predict, the Other GOP’s don’t have a clue or don’t care about the growing climate crisis. They want to impose a privileged religious ideology on all the people, no women’s/civil rights to choose, tax breaks to the wealthiest, less public support in general, privatizing/consolidating public utilities etc. All one has to do is look closely at the heavy red states and see that the majority are now failing in most respects, Louisiana, for one, most likely Michigan, to see how the trickle down policy is failing on all counts. We need a leader that can actually change things, to pull out of a stagnant morass of endless wars, energy policy that’s killing the planet, support of terrorist Arab states, and liberal civil liberties to make our own choices. We have little choice this time around, but I’ll support the democratic nominee because at least they acknowledge the crisis of the climate and that’s more important to me than any other concern, of which I’ve pointed out a few.
Ted Cruz looks like another Bush to me. Jeb’s out of the race, but now this: “Neil Bush, the son of President George H. W. Bush, who defrauded U.S. taxpayers out of $1.5 billion dollars in the savings and loan scam, and later peddled influence for the Chinese government, (who plied him with Chinese prostitutes) has formally endorsed Senator Ted Cruz for president. You can’t make this stuff up.”
http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/10/ted-cruz-a-bush-by-another-name/
Mr. Jilani
“……Although Trump did not get into specifics, he could have mentioned how two Texas billionaires who made their fortunes from fracking gave $15 million to outside groups backing the senator. Cruz is an outspoken advocate for fracking……”
Nothing wrong with that. There are a lot of people who support low gas prices at the pump including Ted Cruz – and fracking has contributed to the low prices. Personally, I support any process which lowers energy prices (including coal).
As much as Trump may say that super PACS are wrong, it was the Supreme Court decision that granted its legitimacy (free speech). Are super PACS effective? Super PACSs were used to try to derail the Trump candidacy last weekend without much success.
Systematic corruption of the federal government, spanning the judicial, legislative and executive branches – it’s not the American way, it is rather a perversion of the principles enshrined in the Constitution.
But what do you neocons say about the Constitution? “It’s just a piece of paper?” Didn’t George W. Bush have it specially printed on rolls of toilet paper so he could wipe his arse with it?
“……it’s not the American way, it is rather a perversion of the principles enshrined in the Constitution……”
Like lobbying and campaign contributions as an affirmation of free speech?
Let’s see if a story-book approach will aid your understanding:
Let’s say I’m out driving drunk at high speeds, threatening people’s lives. A police officer pulls me over. I engage in ‘protected free speech’ by offering him $300 to let me go. Should this be legal?
How about we make it more like the political process in Washington? I make a charitable ‘free speech’ donation of $10,000 to the police officer’s union, and in return I get a placard for my car. If I ever get pulled over for anything, the deal is that the placard gets me off with a friendly warning, no fine, a little slap on the wrist.
So, let’s look at the massive Wall Street lobbying expenditures, the huge donations to politicians campaigns, their habit of hiring ex-government bureaucrats as VPs and board members. 2008 economic crash involving all kinds of fraud at Goldman Sachs? No prosecutions, none. HSBC laundering drug money for Sinaloa Cartel? “Deferred prosecution agreement” and a fine, no jail time.
What the Supreme Court has done, well, the conservative gang of sleazy political operatives that is, is to make my $10,000 donation to the police officer’s union SECRET – and I keep the Get Out of Jail Free card in my wallet, so that the general public doesn’t know exactly who is getting the free pass for criminal behavior.
Ok, now can you grasp the difference between “free speech” and “government corruption?”
Do you also support economically irrational processes with a negative return on investment?
Fracking is a poorly planned enterprise that amounts to throwing money away in order to damage the environment.
Will Trump point to specific instances of his donations to the Clintons paying off, should Hillary be the nominee? (Aside from their going to his wedding.)
I hate to say it but Trump has made a great argument for Why he is the best republican candidate on the stage. He has admitted that he has participated in buying politians for personal gain. The fact that Clinton wont admit the same should disqualify her as a candidate. One more good reason to vote for Bernie!
I always thought that was stupid: Participating in corruption should immediately disqualify someone from complaining about corruption. Not only the one who receives the bribes is corrupt. The briber is corrupt as well.
Well that disqualifies basically every elected person in Washington from complaining about corruption…
Well, but the Supreme Court has generally held that political bribery is legal, so we can’t call it corruption, unless we also want to say that the Supreme Court’s Citizens United was a corrupt decision on a 5-4 vote by a pack of self-styled ‘conservative legal scholars’ who are really nothing but a pack of partisan political operatives posing as interpreters of the Constitution. . .
The legalized political bribery of course goes back well before Citizens United, and involves not just politicians running for office taking bribes to finance their election campaigns, or setting up private foundations (the Clinton Foundation, say) and collecting millions in speaking fees to big corporations like Goldman Sachs (who is also Marco Rubio’s top declared donor) – no, the bribery also extends
to federal bureaucrats of all stripes, who go through the revolving door from government agencies to corporate boardrooms and back again.
An illustrative example of this kind of apparatchik game is the career of James Comey of the FBI – from the U.S. Justice Department (1996-2005) to Lockheed Martin and HSBC (2006-2012) and, then Obama appoints him director of the FBI (2013 to present) – where he diligently looks out for the interests of Wall Street and Lockheed Martin (whose top foreign client is Saudi Arabia), while also trying to expand domestic mass surveillance in order to keep tabs on his critics. Hilarious, isn’t?
The phrase that applies is:
“Systematic corruption of the federal government, spanning the judicial, legislative and executive branches.”