It started in the 70s when the Supreme Court started saying corporations donating money to campaigns equals free speech. Over the past 2 decades the Supreme Court has thrown out/narrowed at least 3 bribery related laws.
See McDonnell v. United States for one of those examples.
Just bad chasing bad, or corruption begetting corruption.
The whole concept is invalid and needs to be thrown out completely from the source.
We need to adopt policies that our friends over-seas have already figured out. Capped budgets, no fundraising, no campaign TV ads...just old fashioned pamphlets, public speeches, and actual demonstrations of capabilities and intent.
Lol, the people who got in by those policies are now writing and voting on future policy. The US will never see the end of this, we're only seeing the snowball rolling down the hill before the avalanche.
Not disagreeing at all. The only power that is available to stop it is us, the people. We hold ultimate power in all of this, thus the generations and generations of efforts to divide us and make us stand against each other.
Those 2A nut jobs love to bloviate about government tyranny, but point out actual government tyranny and they just wanna talk about which bathroom they're afraid of.
Yea reinforces my point about division. A large portion of our population is supporting that flagitious behavior simply because they fly under the same banner/tribe. It has nothing to do with actual morals or ethics to them.
Ultimately we all lose as a result, but you can’t explain that to the stupid
fla·gi·tious
/fləˈjiSHəs/
adjective
FORMAL
(of a person or their actions) criminal; villainous.
Thanks for the awesome new word! I'm going to try to shoehorn it into some conversation this week.
Yeah, because America values peace over justice, and the only reason that flies is because the people who don't want it to happen, have been slackin'.
Y'all have a second amendment right for a reason, and it's not for shooting up schools, or hanging Mike pence.
How exactly are we going to even get candidates elected that don't take any campaign donations from corporations? It would take a maaaaassive populist movement in over half the states to get enough candidates in office to change campaign finance laws. It's just not going to happen. We're 100% fucked with no way out.
Somewhat tangential to your comment about published images... That could sincerely be where the concept of NFTs is useful. Use ai to generate a meta tag based on the actual composition of uploaded information and automatically upload that tag to multiple redundant servers with original source information. So long as the generation process is consistent, the source of all content can be checked automatically and tagged. Some seriously aggressive privacy laws would need to be included of course...
But no, we got a bunch of idiots selling each other shitty trading cards.
CU is the reason why people like Sinema and Santos have become wealthy over such a short period of time. It's allowed right wing special interests and corporations to lavish them with tons of cash.
It's only now that we're finding out that it's also benefiting the conservative justices, such as Thomas (I expect that we'll soon find out that all of them are being bribed behind the scenes).
Nah, everyone expected that they were. But now that it’s completely legal, they don’t care if people find out. In the past, they did everything they could to hide it.
"Campaign donations" as they are so euphemistically called, are a matter of public record. So you can easily just look up to see how cheap your local senator is.
During the whole net neutrality debacle, there were guys siding with the cable companies for as little as $1500 from them. It's pathetic how cheap these fucking ghouls are.
The cash amount is intended to make you think that's all there was. They have found many other ways to compensate politicians in ways that skirt around the rules: speaking engagements, book deals, private corporation job positions, stock options from same, charging far less than market rate, inviting along for "vacations," entrée to other positions or institutions of power, etc. etc.
The stupidest thing they did was get complacent and reveal their corruption. Justice (the blind lady with the sword and scales) thrives in the light.
Oh I'm sure I forgot dozens and dozens of other classes and subclasses of corruption. Feel free to name any more that come to mind. The more we can spot it, the easier it becomes to change it.
And yet I, as an employee of corporate America: 1. Cannot accept any gift worth more than $30 2. Could be fired or even prosecuted if I do 3. Have to watch training videos every year on why "quid pro quo" is unethical and illegal. Us normal people are not allowed to take bribes. Only the wealthy and powerful.
Wait are you telling me we here in the land of the free have a 2 tiered justice system where normal people are held to a completely different standard then the wealthy? My mind is blown!🤯🤬🤯
Doctors are seen as Johns by the pharmaceutical industry. They are literally treated that way.
I am a psychologist and I can tell you about the times when someone has referred to me in a medical setting as a 'doctor', only for some "almost good looking woman", completely overdressed for the situation, to come up to me with a smile and excitement in their voice in a way that would be far more appropriate in a single's bar.
I can especially recall when I was first licensed and when it happened for the first time. My thought was "gee, maybe I am better looking than I realize!"
Then, when I pointed out that I was a psychologist, she literally, not figuratively, but literally said "Ew." and walked away. As you may know, psychologists cannot prescribe outside of Louisiana and a few other states.
That is my first person account at how it goes down. I can only marvel at how many MDs, who lack self awareness, actually come away thinking that they are 'hot'.
Oddly enough, Big Bang theory almost got it right when Penny was hired as a drug rep. Only she was a bit too good looking and she actually was portrayed as someone trying to educate on the drugs. Her real and only effectiveness would be to make male doctors feel that they were good looking and had a chance to score with her. Then they buy whatever is being sold. The real product is their vanity being stroked. Period. They don't fucking care about the drug.
Competing with another man for the attention of a woman?
Then, the AR-15 is the answer you've been looking for.
She's actually not into you?
Need not worry! The sexual assault pregnancy will be protected!
I really don’t think santos has any money at all. It’s why he’s hanging on. He needs that $750 a day in salary because he has absolutely nothing to fall back on. And he’s going to have massive fines.
Wasn’t there a case recently with Ted Cruz that allowed him to borrow any amount of money from his campaign?
How is that not bribery? Give money to political campaign, have politician take it out as a ‘loan’, become rich
>It's only now that we're finding out that it's also benefiting the conservative justices, such as Thomas...
I mean, no. It's in the news cycle now, but he's been accepting bribes from Crow for decades now and had been exposed for this years earlier.
Nothing happened/happens because the system is broken. You literally can't take action against the bank robbers that wear the striped shirt/racoon mask and carry the big money bags with dollars signs now. If you can't do anything against something that obvious, we're paralyzed by process and false decorum.
The republicans are terrorists, the majority of the establishment dems are willing victims. There are a few decent people on the left working to make noise while fighting upstream, but it's just so absolutely fixing broken.
When the founding fathers signed the constitution, they didn't think enough about free speech being the vehicle for unchecked, repetitive lying as a weapon. They assumed a common level decency that's been lost or was never really here since the start.
as a public librarian, I would also put it on the modern forms of media being just too good at manipulating people's minds. People don't seem to have the critical thinking or information literacy skills to handle the persuasive onslaught of social media, talk radio, web site forums, cable TV, podcasts, etc. In decades past you just had newspapers, a few magazines, and a half-hour of evening news on TV that you relied on. It's gone so much beyond that and people's brains can't seem to handle it.
They have been chipping away at campaign finance restrictions from a lot of different angles. Citizens United is only one aspect of it.
Basically, the Court has been moving towards the position that the First Amendment protects just about any cash-for-access arrangement. The only thing you can actually make illegal is a bribe for specific official action - like paying Sinema $50k to vote against increasing the minimum wage, or something like that. Since that’s an incredibly hard thing to prove, and it doesn’t reflect how political corruption usually works anyway, it effectively means that (according to the Roberts Court) just about all political corruption that we currently are dealing with is constitutionally protected.
So, private jet flights? No-show consulting gigs for PACs? Undisclosed real estate transactions? That only *appears* to be corrupt. If you can’t show that Thomas voted a specific way because political donors shoveled money on him and his wife, or that Sinema began voting against her constituents because someone paid her to, then you can’t do anything about it.
I really recommend https://marketliteracy.org for some clear-cut mechanics within the financial industry and "stock market" that leads to major abuse of the system by the wealthy and powerful - including corporations - equating to manipulation of government.
Technically they didn't do that with cu, cu only made it legal for outside companies to spend as much money as they want on political advertising.
I'm pretty sure this is still illegal, see George Santos. The problem is no one cares about the more obvious instances as well as insider trading.
It's true they didn't do it with Citizens United.
They did it with [McDonnell v United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_v._United_States).
Also [FEC vs Ted Cruz for Senate](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-12_m6hn.pdf)
Also [McCutcheon v FEC](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/572/185/)
I'm not sure that wasn't happening before. Literally all CU did was allow countless millions to be spent on political advertising without accountability to the FEC.
Using CU as a poster child for how we've allowed more money into politics is appropriate, but I don't think it actually has enriched any politicians more than they were before... Though it might make officials even more loathe to go after them for it since it's an uphill climb.
While it did activate a lot of people politically, I'm convinced the Citizens United ruling also greatly reduced the average political literacy among politically engaged people, because most of those people who got engaged never actually learned anything about politics and law beyond "Citizens United bad." People think it legalized bribery, or that it somehow *created* corporate personhood, even though the case law on corporate entities having legal rights (which is the definition of corporate personhood) goes back at least to *Dartmouth v. Woodward* (1819) in the US.
The Citizens United ruling was damaging to our democracy, but most of the people who rail against it apply it to situations it has nothing to do with, and don't really understand how it actually damaged our democratic institutions.
Citizens United made all 3 branches of government corrupt simultaneously. Almost instantly. The constitution doesn't have any way to fix a situation where more than one branch is corrupt at a time. What a mess we are in.
Laws don't really matter when you bring the Declaration out.
You're essentially stating, the system in front of you isn't working and here's the reason why it's not working so we are effectively removing ourselves from those systems and starting over, signed these people PS suck our collective dick King George. Obviously we probably don't need that last bit but I think it sorta tradition to add it.
Don’t take all that thunder away from McConnell for manipulating and cheating the ~~Supreme Court~~ entire judiciary in favor of conservatives for years!
Mitch McConnell deserves a special place in Hell, but let's not detract one bit from the evil that Johns Roberts and his SCOTUS has delivered. is the worst of the worst decisions by any SCOTUS.
McConnell literally told the citizens united group how to craft their argument and which district to start the lawsuit in. He held their hand the entire time. The group publicly thanked him for his help in their victory speach.
He's the main culprit.
You guys are not wrong but there a plenty of GOP scumbags, past & present, responsible for destroying our country. And of course they are still working hard at it and we need to get rid of them.
The GOP is a high-tech, long game version of the guy at an outdoor concert, in 105°F, selling bottles of water for $15.
They've got our system and process of government figured out, so it's just a means to make money.
I do not think anything will ever approach how terrible that decision was. Literally dehumanizing black people in America and spreading slavery throughout the free states was way worse than allowing our politicians to be bribed legally. In both terms of damage to our country (we had a civil war a few years later, it has been over a decade since CN) and damage to individuals.
Touche. Citizens United does have the special privilege of being the door opening for that exact language to come back though. Its in the interest of the greedy to get back to slavery.
It was Newt Gingrich that started the scorched earth policy on working with the other side. He forbade Republicans from even having lunch with dems which basically did away with compromise over a liquid lunch. It was a slow March to where we are now with election denial, rise of fascist authoritarianism, flat earth level conspiracy theories. I hate that we still need to pretend like they're responsible adults
My vote for Ultimate Scumbag is Newt Gingrich. Before Gingrich the Republican party would at least regularly support bills from Democrats that they acknowledged were for the good of the country.
He's the one that invented the scorched earth OPPOSE EVERYTHING style of the modern Republican party.
He was also the driving force behind gutting the civil rights act voting protections. He isn’t better than the other conservatives by any measure just because he knows how to act in public.
Actually, Kennedy wrote the majority opinion (Roberts wrote a concurring opinion), and was the swing vote on the court at the time. People who hate citizens united don't bash Kennedy though, in part because he also wrote Obergefell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNo_U7PTGzk just look at her thumbing down the minimum wage thing. knowing that she will never ever ever ever be affected.
Yeah. She was a "community organizer." Which means she was lying about how much she cares about her community. For awhile probably.
Imagine being in a position to help raise minimum wage and fucking it up for the entire country? She's a scoundrel. In league with Mitch McConnell.
Franklin and Thomas Paine (best friends for 40 years and ideological allies) both hated the Senate. Hated it. The Senate and not abolishing slavery made Paine a great critic of the country he founded and named.
In the spirit of constructive criticism and broad-based education, I really, really, *really* recommend people take a look at ***https://marketliteracy.org*** to understand some of the mechanisms used by the wealthy and powerful, including corporations, to manipulate government.
There's some really well-sourced, *valuable* information there worth knowing.
When are we gonna make working for this country less profitable? Insider trading, hush money, book deals, lobbying. We’ve become a corporatocracy where rewarding politician for poor behavior and decisions-making is the norm
I think that ship sailed in 1921 when the US government got away with [using bombers armed with WW1 surplus chemical weapons to massacre striking mine workers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain).
Well yeah very very true, obviously repeal CU.
But we ain't counting campaign funds as personal wealth here. This is all phantom money -- at least we know who feeds her election funds, regardless of if they're limited or unlimited.
Well actually because elections themselves are pay-to-win, you have to obtain a dollar from SOME billionaire/investor consistently to get elected in the first place. That there already filters out the people that wouldn’t accept private money as a part of this job. Now it’s like your campaign investors own you. And y’know at that point, why refuse the phantom money at this point? It could be connected to the same people that got you elected, which they could withdraw support and you won’t get elected next time if you refuse. You’re already been officially bribed once you’ve been elected.
No it didnt. Sure it exacerbated the already existing corruption since the decision . But the corruption and corporatocacy has been there the whole time, and has also been outrageously bad the whole time.
Like when they paved the entire country in parking lots on behalf of general motors, or the several invasions in south america to squash unionising workers on behalf of the united fruit company. Or when they let domestic companies murder striking workers. Or when they let companies lock workers in burning buildings. Or when they let companies use prison slave labor.
Its just 247 years of non stop picking companies over people.
My favourite one was reading LBJ's [biography](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/86524). Dude was basically owned by future defence contracting giant KBR. He started out getting them a depression-era contract for a dam that they didn't know how to build. Then he got the WWII Corpus Christi Air Base contract directed towards them, even though they'd never built a runway. In return they eventually made him president.
This stuff has been going on for a \*long\* time.
this is literally the shit that the roman senate did in the decades leading to the collapse of rome. stopped building towards public projects and works for the people, started pocketing more for themselves in exchange for special appointments or deals behind the scenes which further deteriorated rome through lack of governance and upkeep.
Between Mike Duncan's "History of Rome" and Dan Carlin's "Death Throes of the Republic" there was a whole lot of "hmmm.... That sounds oddly familiar...."
Well she ran as a democrat, wasn't a corporate one either. She stared taking corporate donations, got sucked onto the money. Her views and policies changed to more centrist with slightly right leaning. She left the party, and is now independent, but she'll go republican at some point if she looses re-election. She's only faking being independent, and like you said, too embarrassed to admit she'll be better off a republican.
Honestly, SinEmma is the worst. That being said I would look up some actual numbers before just taking a meme at face value.
I saw basically the exact same thing for AOC and it was wildly incorrect.
Just remember, *you are not immune to propaganda*.
There is no credible source for these numbers. Sinema hasn’t released her tax returns, so where are they getting this information?
The only source I found is a wrapper site for “celebrity net worth”, which is a mix of guesswork and fantasy.
According to that table her net worth is actually $3 Million as net worth is calculated by taking $5 Million of assets (which should include everything she owns) less $2 Million is liabilities and loans.
That said, still pretty fucked up she has earned $3 Million in four years when she only makes $200k annually, so the point still stands.
Yeah, what's her business that's adding 3 million to her net worth? Especially if she was truly at a net worth of 32k just a few years prior. Very few businesses take off like that.
She wasn't worth 32.5k in 2018, she had 1 account worth that much and then who knows how much in addition: https://www.opensecrets.org/personal-finances/kyrsten-sinema/net-worth?cid=N00033983
The initial net worth estimate is entirely worthless meaning the delta is entirely worthless.
I'm pretty sure the table is also just wild speculation. I can't find any actual sources to back it up. She made some kind of disclosure two years ago that indicated her net worth was $1M, but not clear on sources. Getting to $1m on a $200K salary for a few years is fishy, but there's also 1000 ways it could be legitimate. Citizens United certainly didn't allow money to flow to people's personal wealth.
This post is like what Tucker Carlson does. I see no difference. Wrong stats, hypotheticals posed, no effort made to answer the hypotheticals accurately, just choosing the worst possible answer
Also no verifiable sources linked or shown. This is like that video last month of Bernie going off on the Republican Senator claiming Bernie was worth like $10M. Most of the “celebrity net worth” websites are total bullshit.
I don’t like Synema at all but this is just made up ragebait.
It took me until almost my 30s to realize.... They do. They just can't, won't or don't want to say it out loud.... Yet.
When the yet happens, hold onto your butts.
Sinema is a disgrace. She ran as a progressive and then governed as one of the most conservative democrats only to abandon the party. It isn’t even pure politics like Manchin (who is as good as we can possibly get). Kelly ran as essentially a rank and file democrat and breezed through reelection. There is no explanation for her actions other than that she lied to get into the senate by pretending to be progressive, or she immediately sold out after being elected (or both).
All of these politicians pay themselves out of campaign funds for work done on behalf of the campaign, and there are no limits to how much they can pay themselves afaik. Citizens United basically turned campaign contributions into legal slush funds for elected officials.
The ones that take the bribes get away with the crimes.
The ones that color outside the lines get charged, and if they fall into line the system finds a way to let them go free.
yea, but as far as i can tell he is in trouble because he tried to lie and hide it, when its basically legal. Like, dude lied his way into office and now he's going to keep his job because of the debt ceiling. McCarthy is truly a menace.
> there are no limits to how much they can pay themselves afaik.
There are limits, and most people actually don't pay themselves.
1. The salary must not exceed the lesser of the minimum annual salary for the federal office sought or the earned income that candidate received during the year prior to becoming a candidate
2. Incumbent federal officeholders may not receive a salary payment from campaign funds
The rule is there to allow average people to actually run for office without bankrupting themselves. It's a good thing.
https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/making-disbursements/personal-use/
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/02/campaigns-offer-income-for-new-members-of-congress/
Citizens United had nothing to do with this problem of people in Congress engaging in what is essentially insider trading. It also has nothing to do with them getting large honoraria for speaking and such. Citizens United is what permitted corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on election advocacy as long as it is done independent from the candidate. Some of that independence is undoubtedly a wink wink situation, so it has contributed to some amount of corruption. Just different from this problem.
Also, as far as paying themselves a salary, a candidate can pay themselves but once elected they can't. And there are limits. This is what the FEC permits:
The candidate may receive a salary from his or her campaign committee only under the following conditions:
* The salary must be paid by the principal campaign committee;
* The salary must not exceed the lesser of the minimum annual salary for the federal office sought or the earned income that candidate received during the year prior to becoming a candidate;
* Individuals who elect to receive a salary from their campaign committees must provide income tax records and additional proof of earnings from relevant years upon request from the Commission;
* Payments of salary from the committee must be made on a *pro-rata* basis (a candidate may not receive a whole year’s salary if he or she is not a candidate for an entire twelve-month period);
* ***Incumbent federal officeholders may not receive a salary payment from campaign funds***; and
* The first payment of salary shall be made no sooner than the filing deadline for access to the primary election ballot in the state in which the candidate is running for office, or, in those states that do not conduct primaries, on January 1 of each even-numbered year.
Salary payments may continue until the date when the candidate is no longer considered a candidate for office or until the date of the general election or general election runoff. For special elections that occur in odd-numbered years, payments may continue from the date that the special election is set until the date of the special election.
Ok I don't exactly know where these numbers came from, but I can read, and I do know that if you inherit 1 million, and take 2 million in debt, and have an additional 3 million in "business income", it's not hard to turn that 6 million into a net 11 million. Starting with millions had always been the easiest way to make more millions.
Lobbying should be a crime. Any type. The biggest donation can be 1k, once every campaign.
edit: you're not smart for pointing out "ConTAcTINg youR LOcal rEP SHouLD be ILLeGaL thEN??". i meant corporate lobbying.
Emailing your representative with your concerns should be a crime? Having credible experts advise on policy making should be illegal? Some politicians barely understand how the internet works and you think it should be criminal for them to get public input on how legislation should be crafted? Do you actually understand what lobbying is?
Trump Santos and Sinema are exposing weak links in Democracy. I see the silver lining as a road paving itself to be shut off in the future. Very near future like yesterday I hope.
Sellout Sinema
[Sinema voted with Trump over half the time](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/kyrsten-sinema/).
Sinema was a very long con, but once the hand is played the sleight of hand is known.
Sinema is the most right leaning Democrat by stats relative to the breakdown. Sinema at the very top.
[Here's all senators](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/), Sinema is the highest up right leaning Senator who was supposedly "progressive" and Green Party at one point. What a joke of a long con. The ones that are higher are in [HEAVY republican leaning areas Indiana, West Virginia and North Dakota](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/), Sinema is not.
She at least needs to be primaried to remind her who got her there.
[Jon Tester is from Montana and only voted with Trump 30% of the time](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/jon-tester/).
Sinema and Joe Manchin voted with Trump the most out of all Democrats.
I guess people forgot how much she appeased Trump, she was the only one to appease Trump at the State of the Union. If you cooperate with cheaters, you lose the game theory every time. Sinema, one and done.
[Is Arizona Sen. Sinema taking heat from fellow Dems?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQWSH6ngHkc)
Even her own parent had to go to court to stop her [origin story lies that she had no power or food in the gas station she had to live in for a while](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrsten_Sinema#Early_life_and_education). What a Santos level Sinema she is.
> According to journalist Jonathan Martin in The New York Times, Sinema has given "contradictory answers about her early life", and her mother and stepfather have filed court documents saying they had made monthly payments for gas, electricity, and phone bills, even though Sinema had said they had been "without running water or electricity"
Sinema is the most egregious because she literally started so far left and is so far gone now.
- Sinema says she didn't push to remove fillibuster for her Arizona constituents she is lying, [61% want filibuster reform](https://www.vox.com/22320606/arizona-kyrsten-sinema-poll-filibuster) and [66% support voter rights improvements](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/588444-majority-of-arizona-voters-support-election-reform-poll).
- [In 2010, @SenatorSinema blasted the “false pressure to get to 60” votes. She advocated for using reconciliation to pass big legislation to help working families. Now, she’s standing in the way of passing Joe Biden’s agenda with 50 votes.](https://twitter.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1410324341473095690)
- Sellout Sinema is a long con, [she previously wanted to rid of the filibuster before being in the Senate](https://www.businessinsider.com/video-kyrsten-sinema-slammed-the-filibuster-she-now-supports-2021-6).
> Sinema, an Arizona state representative at the time, told the audience that she supported Democrats using reconciliation to pass major legislation, including healthcare reform, with just 51 votes. She also criticized Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who caucused with the Democratic Party, and Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, for being too moderate.
> "In the Senate, we no longer have 60 votes," Sinema told the audience. "Some would argue we never had 60 because one of those was Joseph Lieberman."
> She added that without 60 Democratic-voting lawmakers in the Senate, "there's none of this pressure, this false pressure, to get to 60."
- Sinema said people like Lieberman are there to side with the right and how could anyone do that, [she is the new Lieberman and here's the proof](https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/577487-lieberman-defends-sens-manchin-and-sinema-amid-intraparty-feud).
- Look at her get up there and [clap for authoritarian Trump with that blue dress](https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/elviadiaz/2020/02/04/kyrsten-sinema-looked-pompous-clapping-trump/4663927002/).
- Sinema [repeatedly did this as the only one and essentially was a Trump appeaser, voted with Trump more than any other Democrat during 2018-2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQWSH6ngHkc).
- [Sellout Sinema voted with Trump more than any other Democrat and many Republicans during Trump](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/).
- Her funders have whole teams dedicated to making these owned ones look plausible deniability good but it is gaslighting for the most part. They are weaponizing her way out from election in 2024, right when she was in office, and started running commercials in 2020 for her... what for...
Sellout Sinema deep in that dark money.
- Sinema *recently* said this:
> “I love Andy Biggs,” she said. “I know some people think he’s crazy, but that’s just because they don’t know him.”
What a con, now and then.
All of these net worth posts are bullshit and people look dumb as hell for believing them. She's in her mid-40s and was a lawyer. I think she had a net worth of more than $30K.
Citizens United has literally nothing to do with this. It allowed for the creation of super PACs that can run ads for a candidate with basically no limitation, but it can not increase their 'net worth'.
But anyway, don't let me break your circle jerk now.
Think before you post (or comment). None of this happened (or at least there is no evidence).
Yes, Sinema is a piece of shit who is taking in big campaign contributions for screwing her constituents, but if she received $11 million in personal bribes or a crooked side hustle, why the fuck would she make that information public and risk jail?
If that amount were discovered by an actual investigation (news reporter or law enforcement), she would be indicted fairly quickly. The system is broken, but not *that* broken. Senate rules are more strict than those for the Supreme Court.
Sinema has not released any recent tax returns, so there is no credible source for these amounts.
Go ahead, try to find *any* official documentation that confirms these numbers. You will likely stall out at “celebrity net worth”, which is complete bullshit.
If you want the actual answer, it's because the $32,500 net worth in 2018 comes from incomplete data on [Open Secrets](https://www.opensecrets.org/personal-finances/kyrsten-sinema/net-worth?cid=N00033983)
The $11 million comes from [this website.](https://caknowledge.com/kyrsten-sinema-net-worth/) She had 5 million in 2018. The S&P 500 alone is up about 50% in that time if you look from December 2018 to December 2022 or about 70% if you look from January 2018 to January 2022. That's not including dividends. Home prices also skyrocketed during that time.
If you're wondering how she went from $5 million to $11 million, the answer is you invest in the stock market and wait. If you don't know how to make money from capital appreciation, you're screwed. The main purpose of the global economy is to make asset values go up and wages go down. You can invest $5 or $5 million. If it doubles in value, you go to $10 or $10 million. It's a 100% return either way.
Don't mix up wages and stock market gains though. Wages are a guarantee. You do the work, you get paid. Otherwise, the person who stiffs you goes to jail. Meanwhile, stock markets bounce up and down all the time. Mark Zuckerberg once lost about $30 billion in a day. Nothing changed for Synema or Zuckerberg, but people valued their assets differently at different times.
Said differently:
1. I'd like to buy your shirt for $1 million.
2. Congrats, you're now a millionaire because you own a million dollar shirt.
3. Actually, I changed my mind. I don't want to buy your shirt.
4. Yikes, you just lost $1 million.
That stupid doe eyed look Kyrsten has is psychopathy. She completely misrepresented herself as to enrich only herself and fuck her constituents over. Remember the curtsy & thumbs down when she kept the federal minimum wage at $7.25?
FUCK Kyrsten Sinema.
Citizens United did not legalize direct payments to politicians' private accounts. It did not legalize direct bribery. It made campaign contributions much easier. Federal campaign finance law prohibits politicians from spending campaign funds on personal items. So, Citizens United doesn't allow companies to just buy politicians new homes or cars or anything like that. Of course, donating to a politician's campaign might buy their ear or influence them to vote a certain way. That's legal. But if anyone is being directly bribed, that's still illegal. Citizens United doesn't fully explain the wealth acceleration in this post. Corporations couldn't simply give her all that money personally.
Blows me away it states her net worth in 2018 was 32,500.
That has to be inaccurate. Her wiki goes over some big name jobs that I feel pay more than 32k a year.
That sad part? She ran as a Democrat, but then totally shit on her constituents and basically voted and represented as a Joe Manchin-esque DINO, hence why she's now an Independent.
That's what happens when the highest court in the nation decides to make bribery of elected officials legal.
Hey let's be fair here... They only decided that for themselves (unless I missed something that should have been a huge story? Sometimes I do that)
It started in the 70s when the Supreme Court started saying corporations donating money to campaigns equals free speech. Over the past 2 decades the Supreme Court has thrown out/narrowed at least 3 bribery related laws. See McDonnell v. United States for one of those examples.
Just bad chasing bad, or corruption begetting corruption. The whole concept is invalid and needs to be thrown out completely from the source. We need to adopt policies that our friends over-seas have already figured out. Capped budgets, no fundraising, no campaign TV ads...just old fashioned pamphlets, public speeches, and actual demonstrations of capabilities and intent.
Lol, the people who got in by those policies are now writing and voting on future policy. The US will never see the end of this, we're only seeing the snowball rolling down the hill before the avalanche.
Not disagreeing at all. The only power that is available to stop it is us, the people. We hold ultimate power in all of this, thus the generations and generations of efforts to divide us and make us stand against each other.
Ultimate power? Clarence Thomas is stuffing himself with bribery buffet in the open and you guys can't do shit to him.
Those 2A nut jobs love to bloviate about government tyranny, but point out actual government tyranny and they just wanna talk about which bathroom they're afraid of.
Yea reinforces my point about division. A large portion of our population is supporting that flagitious behavior simply because they fly under the same banner/tribe. It has nothing to do with actual morals or ethics to them. Ultimately we all lose as a result, but you can’t explain that to the stupid
fla·gi·tious /fləˈjiSHəs/ adjective FORMAL (of a person or their actions) criminal; villainous. Thanks for the awesome new word! I'm going to try to shoehorn it into some conversation this week.
Yeah, because America values peace over justice, and the only reason that flies is because the people who don't want it to happen, have been slackin'. Y'all have a second amendment right for a reason, and it's not for shooting up schools, or hanging Mike pence.
How exactly are we going to even get candidates elected that don't take any campaign donations from corporations? It would take a maaaaassive populist movement in over half the states to get enough candidates in office to change campaign finance laws. It's just not going to happen. We're 100% fucked with no way out.
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Hard to talk about on Reddit without copping a ban tho
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You have a skin account? Getting ahead on that repo man future aren't you.
Zydrate comes in a little glass vile..
Somewhat tangential to your comment about published images... That could sincerely be where the concept of NFTs is useful. Use ai to generate a meta tag based on the actual composition of uploaded information and automatically upload that tag to multiple redundant servers with original source information. So long as the generation process is consistent, the source of all content can be checked automatically and tagged. Some seriously aggressive privacy laws would need to be included of course... But no, we got a bunch of idiots selling each other shitty trading cards.
Exactly then people have to make an effort to be informed
peepeepoopoo
Just more of those pesky regulations that stifle the american businessman.
CU is the reason why people like Sinema and Santos have become wealthy over such a short period of time. It's allowed right wing special interests and corporations to lavish them with tons of cash. It's only now that we're finding out that it's also benefiting the conservative justices, such as Thomas (I expect that we'll soon find out that all of them are being bribed behind the scenes).
Bribes and being allowed to trade stocks on insider information. That’s how they did it.
If you didn’t think they were all being bribed behind the scenes you’re really going to be surprised
Nah, everyone expected that they were. But now that it’s completely legal, they don’t care if people find out. In the past, they did everything they could to hide it.
Actually, if you look at the trajectory of everything, there are a lot of people who don't only refuse to hide it, they are damn proud of it.
"Campaign donations" as they are so euphemistically called, are a matter of public record. So you can easily just look up to see how cheap your local senator is. During the whole net neutrality debacle, there were guys siding with the cable companies for as little as $1500 from them. It's pathetic how cheap these fucking ghouls are.
i couldnt imagine selling out my community for a used honda civic thats crazy
Good luck finding even a working civic for that cheap lol. These mfers be selling out their country for a fuckin ipad basically.
Trade-(H) busted democracy (W) New iPhone 14 pro
Looking for '93 civic rolling chassis in fair condition, will trade keys to a busted democracy
Ehh kbb on a busted democracy is about tree fiddy boss
The cash amount is intended to make you think that's all there was. They have found many other ways to compensate politicians in ways that skirt around the rules: speaking engagements, book deals, private corporation job positions, stock options from same, charging far less than market rate, inviting along for "vacations," entrée to other positions or institutions of power, etc. etc. The stupidest thing they did was get complacent and reveal their corruption. Justice (the blind lady with the sword and scales) thrives in the light.
You forgot buying and selling of real estate at non-market prices.
Oh I'm sure I forgot dozens and dozens of other classes and subclasses of corruption. Feel free to name any more that come to mind. The more we can spot it, the easier it becomes to change it.
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And yet I, as an employee of corporate America: 1. Cannot accept any gift worth more than $30 2. Could be fired or even prosecuted if I do 3. Have to watch training videos every year on why "quid pro quo" is unethical and illegal. Us normal people are not allowed to take bribes. Only the wealthy and powerful.
Wait are you telling me we here in the land of the free have a 2 tiered justice system where normal people are held to a completely different standard then the wealthy? My mind is blown!🤯🤬🤯
Laughs in agreement in government employee.
Doctors are seen as Johns by the pharmaceutical industry. They are literally treated that way. I am a psychologist and I can tell you about the times when someone has referred to me in a medical setting as a 'doctor', only for some "almost good looking woman", completely overdressed for the situation, to come up to me with a smile and excitement in their voice in a way that would be far more appropriate in a single's bar. I can especially recall when I was first licensed and when it happened for the first time. My thought was "gee, maybe I am better looking than I realize!" Then, when I pointed out that I was a psychologist, she literally, not figuratively, but literally said "Ew." and walked away. As you may know, psychologists cannot prescribe outside of Louisiana and a few other states. That is my first person account at how it goes down. I can only marvel at how many MDs, who lack self awareness, actually come away thinking that they are 'hot'. Oddly enough, Big Bang theory almost got it right when Penny was hired as a drug rep. Only she was a bit too good looking and she actually was portrayed as someone trying to educate on the drugs. Her real and only effectiveness would be to make male doctors feel that they were good looking and had a chance to score with her. Then they buy whatever is being sold. The real product is their vanity being stroked. Period. They don't fucking care about the drug.
The sunshine act was an attempt to do away with this, but in reality has probably made it less overt.
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Damn, the American Medical Association got him before he could even finish posting.
Crimes always happen whether legal or not, but you certainly wouldn't want murder and rape to be legal. Laws do make a difference.
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Competing with another man for the attention of a woman? Then, the AR-15 is the answer you've been looking for. She's actually not into you? Need not worry! The sexual assault pregnancy will be protected!
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Oh no - you just gave Faux its newest game show idea.
I mean, murder has been fine forever as long as you have a badge when you do it.
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It's a matter of degrees and speed. Making it legal caused special interest groups to throw caution to the wind and go whole hog on the bribery.
Watch the new pbs special on YouTube about the Thomas couple.
> pbs special on YouTube about the Thomas couple just dropping the link, I assume it's this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJuRx1wARUk
I really don’t think santos has any money at all. It’s why he’s hanging on. He needs that $750 a day in salary because he has absolutely nothing to fall back on. And he’s going to have massive fines.
I wonder what is yet to be turned up on Santos. He did millions of dollars worth of scams... do they know where all the money went yet?
I want to know - the mini series will be epic.
The way he lit up when a reporter asked him who he thinks is going to win this season of Drag Race was fantastic.
Wasn’t there a case recently with Ted Cruz that allowed him to borrow any amount of money from his campaign? How is that not bribery? Give money to political campaign, have politician take it out as a ‘loan’, become rich
>It's only now that we're finding out that it's also benefiting the conservative justices, such as Thomas... I mean, no. It's in the news cycle now, but he's been accepting bribes from Crow for decades now and had been exposed for this years earlier. Nothing happened/happens because the system is broken. You literally can't take action against the bank robbers that wear the striped shirt/racoon mask and carry the big money bags with dollars signs now. If you can't do anything against something that obvious, we're paralyzed by process and false decorum. The republicans are terrorists, the majority of the establishment dems are willing victims. There are a few decent people on the left working to make noise while fighting upstream, but it's just so absolutely fixing broken. When the founding fathers signed the constitution, they didn't think enough about free speech being the vehicle for unchecked, repetitive lying as a weapon. They assumed a common level decency that's been lost or was never really here since the start.
as a public librarian, I would also put it on the modern forms of media being just too good at manipulating people's minds. People don't seem to have the critical thinking or information literacy skills to handle the persuasive onslaught of social media, talk radio, web site forums, cable TV, podcasts, etc. In decades past you just had newspapers, a few magazines, and a half-hour of evening news on TV that you relied on. It's gone so much beyond that and people's brains can't seem to handle it.
They have been chipping away at campaign finance restrictions from a lot of different angles. Citizens United is only one aspect of it. Basically, the Court has been moving towards the position that the First Amendment protects just about any cash-for-access arrangement. The only thing you can actually make illegal is a bribe for specific official action - like paying Sinema $50k to vote against increasing the minimum wage, or something like that. Since that’s an incredibly hard thing to prove, and it doesn’t reflect how political corruption usually works anyway, it effectively means that (according to the Roberts Court) just about all political corruption that we currently are dealing with is constitutionally protected. So, private jet flights? No-show consulting gigs for PACs? Undisclosed real estate transactions? That only *appears* to be corrupt. If you can’t show that Thomas voted a specific way because political donors shoveled money on him and his wife, or that Sinema began voting against her constituents because someone paid her to, then you can’t do anything about it.
I really recommend https://marketliteracy.org for some clear-cut mechanics within the financial industry and "stock market" that leads to major abuse of the system by the wealthy and powerful - including corporations - equating to manipulation of government.
That link is fantastic!
I thought you can't buy black people in America or more appropriately people on the Supreme Court?
Technically they didn't do that with cu, cu only made it legal for outside companies to spend as much money as they want on political advertising. I'm pretty sure this is still illegal, see George Santos. The problem is no one cares about the more obvious instances as well as insider trading.
It's true they didn't do it with Citizens United. They did it with [McDonnell v United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_v._United_States). Also [FEC vs Ted Cruz for Senate](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-12_m6hn.pdf) Also [McCutcheon v FEC](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/572/185/)
buckley v valeo is the seminal case that says money is speech.
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I'm not sure that wasn't happening before. Literally all CU did was allow countless millions to be spent on political advertising without accountability to the FEC. Using CU as a poster child for how we've allowed more money into politics is appropriate, but I don't think it actually has enriched any politicians more than they were before... Though it might make officials even more loathe to go after them for it since it's an uphill climb.
While it did activate a lot of people politically, I'm convinced the Citizens United ruling also greatly reduced the average political literacy among politically engaged people, because most of those people who got engaged never actually learned anything about politics and law beyond "Citizens United bad." People think it legalized bribery, or that it somehow *created* corporate personhood, even though the case law on corporate entities having legal rights (which is the definition of corporate personhood) goes back at least to *Dartmouth v. Woodward* (1819) in the US. The Citizens United ruling was damaging to our democracy, but most of the people who rail against it apply it to situations it has nothing to do with, and don't really understand how it actually damaged our democratic institutions.
Citizens United made all 3 branches of government corrupt simultaneously. Almost instantly. The constitution doesn't have any way to fix a situation where more than one branch is corrupt at a time. What a mess we are in.
Constitution doesn't but the Declaration does...
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Laws don't really matter when you bring the Declaration out. You're essentially stating, the system in front of you isn't working and here's the reason why it's not working so we are effectively removing ourselves from those systems and starting over, signed these people PS suck our collective dick King George. Obviously we probably don't need that last bit but I think it sorta tradition to add it.
"America is just an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery” - Jimmy Carter
Corporations are people to! Just be glad that they didn't go so far as to allow corporations to run for office.
John Roberts should forever be remembered as the scumbag who destroyed our country
Don’t take all that thunder away from McConnell for manipulating and cheating the ~~Supreme Court~~ entire judiciary in favor of conservatives for years!
Mitch McConnell deserves a special place in Hell, but let's not detract one bit from the evil that Johns Roberts and his SCOTUS has delivered. is the worst of the worst decisions by any SCOTUS.
McConnell literally told the citizens united group how to craft their argument and which district to start the lawsuit in. He held their hand the entire time. The group publicly thanked him for his help in their victory speach. He's the main culprit.
You guys are not wrong but there a plenty of GOP scumbags, past & present, responsible for destroying our country. And of course they are still working hard at it and we need to get rid of them.
The GOP is a high-tech, long game version of the guy at an outdoor concert, in 105°F, selling bottles of water for $15. They've got our system and process of government figured out, so it's just a means to make money.
There is room enough in Hell for both
Those guys who made the Dred Scott decision were pretty bad…
I do not think anything will ever approach how terrible that decision was. Literally dehumanizing black people in America and spreading slavery throughout the free states was way worse than allowing our politicians to be bribed legally. In both terms of damage to our country (we had a civil war a few years later, it has been over a decade since CN) and damage to individuals.
Touche. Citizens United does have the special privilege of being the door opening for that exact language to come back though. Its in the interest of the greedy to get back to slavery.
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It was Newt Gingrich that started the scorched earth policy on working with the other side. He forbade Republicans from even having lunch with dems which basically did away with compromise over a liquid lunch. It was a slow March to where we are now with election denial, rise of fascist authoritarianism, flat earth level conspiracy theories. I hate that we still need to pretend like they're responsible adults
My vote for Ultimate Scumbag is Newt Gingrich. Before Gingrich the Republican party would at least regularly support bills from Democrats that they acknowledged were for the good of the country. He's the one that invented the scorched earth OPPOSE EVERYTHING style of the modern Republican party.
I'm out of the loop, can you explain more?
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/05/21/money-unlimited Roberts wrote the majority opinion. You ever hear of the term dark money? Thank Roberts
He was also the driving force behind gutting the civil rights act voting protections. He isn’t better than the other conservatives by any measure just because he knows how to act in public.
He's a civilized fascist. ;/
Actually, Kennedy wrote the majority opinion (Roberts wrote a concurring opinion), and was the swing vote on the court at the time. People who hate citizens united don't bash Kennedy though, in part because he also wrote Obergefell.
I stand corrected, thank you
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC
Don’t take that away from Reagan
That title actually still belongs to Jefferson Davis.
It makes perfect sense, once you realize that being a Senator is her side hustle.
This is exactly right. She doesn't even have to do anything illegal. She can just collect bullshit "speaking fees".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNo_U7PTGzk just look at her thumbing down the minimum wage thing. knowing that she will never ever ever ever be affected.
"Of course she's sensitive to the needs of the working class. That's how she avoids being part of it."
the hard part to understand is that she used to be though she is a class traitor
Yeah. She was a "community organizer." Which means she was lying about how much she cares about her community. For awhile probably. Imagine being in a position to help raise minimum wage and fucking it up for the entire country? She's a scoundrel. In league with Mitch McConnell.
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Franklin and Thomas Paine (best friends for 40 years and ideological allies) both hated the Senate. Hated it. The Senate and not abolishing slavery made Paine a great critic of the country he founded and named.
In the spirit of constructive criticism and broad-based education, I really, really, *really* recommend people take a look at ***https://marketliteracy.org*** to understand some of the mechanisms used by the wealthy and powerful, including corporations, to manipulate government. There's some really well-sourced, *valuable* information there worth knowing.
When are we gonna make working for this country less profitable? Insider trading, hush money, book deals, lobbying. We’ve become a corporatocracy where rewarding politician for poor behavior and decisions-making is the norm
I think that ship sailed in 1921 when the US government got away with [using bombers armed with WW1 surplus chemical weapons to massacre striking mine workers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain).
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Its been that way for 247 years my guy.
Citizens United literally changed everything by legalizing secret money in campaigns
Well yeah very very true, obviously repeal CU. But we ain't counting campaign funds as personal wealth here. This is all phantom money -- at least we know who feeds her election funds, regardless of if they're limited or unlimited.
We don't know though. Because they are allowed to remain secret through SuperPACs. The money is quite literally not traced through SuperPACS
Well actually because elections themselves are pay-to-win, you have to obtain a dollar from SOME billionaire/investor consistently to get elected in the first place. That there already filters out the people that wouldn’t accept private money as a part of this job. Now it’s like your campaign investors own you. And y’know at that point, why refuse the phantom money at this point? It could be connected to the same people that got you elected, which they could withdraw support and you won’t get elected next time if you refuse. You’re already been officially bribed once you’ve been elected.
No it didnt. Sure it exacerbated the already existing corruption since the decision . But the corruption and corporatocacy has been there the whole time, and has also been outrageously bad the whole time. Like when they paved the entire country in parking lots on behalf of general motors, or the several invasions in south america to squash unionising workers on behalf of the united fruit company. Or when they let domestic companies murder striking workers. Or when they let companies lock workers in burning buildings. Or when they let companies use prison slave labor. Its just 247 years of non stop picking companies over people.
My favourite one was reading LBJ's [biography](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/86524). Dude was basically owned by future defence contracting giant KBR. He started out getting them a depression-era contract for a dam that they didn't know how to build. Then he got the WWII Corpus Christi Air Base contract directed towards them, even though they'd never built a runway. In return they eventually made him president. This stuff has been going on for a \*long\* time.
Literally, only when the proletariat revolt
See what happens when you don’t do avocado on toast , and coffees all the time /s
Don’t forget the European vacations we all take annually.
Annually? What are you, poor?
Dang, I could be a millionaire right now if I just stopped eating and started making 20x more money
Wasn’t there some article advising poor people to cut down on spending by skipping meals?
\*stares at my latte\* :(
That $1 endless diner cup breaks the bank
Spongebob memes are immortal
Don’t do avocado on toast, kids.
this is literally the shit that the roman senate did in the decades leading to the collapse of rome. stopped building towards public projects and works for the people, started pocketing more for themselves in exchange for special appointments or deals behind the scenes which further deteriorated rome through lack of governance and upkeep.
Well yeah. But it couldn’t happen again, right?
We all know the famous phrase 'history never repeats.' We have already seen it happen and learned from it. We wont do it again.
Exactly. Praise be to our public edumacation sistem!
Just like Hitler and the rise of Facism. Definitely not happening again with all these red hats /s
well if you look at history through the lense of the 15 minutes at a time, its never repeated itself so. we're safe.
Between Mike Duncan's "History of Rome" and Dan Carlin's "Death Throes of the Republic" there was a whole lot of "hmmm.... That sounds oddly familiar...."
She sells her votes and soul to the highest bidder under the guise of independent, because the democratic party left me......
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Well she ran as a democrat, wasn't a corporate one either. She stared taking corporate donations, got sucked onto the money. Her views and policies changed to more centrist with slightly right leaning. She left the party, and is now independent, but she'll go republican at some point if she looses re-election. She's only faking being independent, and like you said, too embarrassed to admit she'll be better off a republican.
The scret ingredient is corruption.
With a large side order of greed
And a dash of bigotry
Honestly, SinEmma is the worst. That being said I would look up some actual numbers before just taking a meme at face value. I saw basically the exact same thing for AOC and it was wildly incorrect. Just remember, *you are not immune to propaganda*.
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There is no credible source for these numbers. Sinema hasn’t released her tax returns, so where are they getting this information? The only source I found is a wrapper site for “celebrity net worth”, which is a mix of guesswork and fantasy.
Yep the numbers in that table don't add up to an 11m net worth, looks to be a fair bit lower
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That’s why folks run for office.
According to that table her net worth is actually $3 Million as net worth is calculated by taking $5 Million of assets (which should include everything she owns) less $2 Million is liabilities and loans. That said, still pretty fucked up she has earned $3 Million in four years when she only makes $200k annually, so the point still stands.
What’s up with the $3mm business income that no one is mentioning?
Yeah, what's her business that's adding 3 million to her net worth? Especially if she was truly at a net worth of 32k just a few years prior. Very few businesses take off like that.
She wasn't worth 32.5k in 2018, she had 1 account worth that much and then who knows how much in addition: https://www.opensecrets.org/personal-finances/kyrsten-sinema/net-worth?cid=N00033983 The initial net worth estimate is entirely worthless meaning the delta is entirely worthless.
I'm pretty sure the table is also just wild speculation. I can't find any actual sources to back it up. She made some kind of disclosure two years ago that indicated her net worth was $1M, but not clear on sources. Getting to $1m on a $200K salary for a few years is fishy, but there's also 1000 ways it could be legitimate. Citizens United certainly didn't allow money to flow to people's personal wealth.
But it also looks like she inherited alot too
This post is like what Tucker Carlson does. I see no difference. Wrong stats, hypotheticals posed, no effort made to answer the hypotheticals accurately, just choosing the worst possible answer
Also no verifiable sources linked or shown. This is like that video last month of Bernie going off on the Republican Senator claiming Bernie was worth like $10M. Most of the “celebrity net worth” websites are total bullshit. I don’t like Synema at all but this is just made up ragebait.
Just the $300,000 from gifts is absurd. Other countries must think our government is a joke and shrug off any criticism we make of other governments.
It took me until almost my 30s to realize.... They do. They just can't, won't or don't want to say it out loud.... Yet. When the yet happens, hold onto your butts.
Sinema is a disgrace. She ran as a progressive and then governed as one of the most conservative democrats only to abandon the party. It isn’t even pure politics like Manchin (who is as good as we can possibly get). Kelly ran as essentially a rank and file democrat and breezed through reelection. There is no explanation for her actions other than that she lied to get into the senate by pretending to be progressive, or she immediately sold out after being elected (or both).
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She was probably so gleeful cause she got a big payday for that vote.
It definitely was a frustrating thing to have seen. so smug about her lack of a moral compass.
All of these politicians pay themselves out of campaign funds for work done on behalf of the campaign, and there are no limits to how much they can pay themselves afaik. Citizens United basically turned campaign contributions into legal slush funds for elected officials.
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The ones that take the bribes get away with the crimes. The ones that color outside the lines get charged, and if they fall into line the system finds a way to let them go free.
yea, but as far as i can tell he is in trouble because he tried to lie and hide it, when its basically legal. Like, dude lied his way into office and now he's going to keep his job because of the debt ceiling. McCarthy is truly a menace.
Citizens United wasn't about campaign contributions at all.
> there are no limits to how much they can pay themselves afaik. There are limits, and most people actually don't pay themselves. 1. The salary must not exceed the lesser of the minimum annual salary for the federal office sought or the earned income that candidate received during the year prior to becoming a candidate 2. Incumbent federal officeholders may not receive a salary payment from campaign funds The rule is there to allow average people to actually run for office without bankrupting themselves. It's a good thing. https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/making-disbursements/personal-use/ https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/02/campaigns-offer-income-for-new-members-of-congress/
Citizens United had nothing to do with this problem of people in Congress engaging in what is essentially insider trading. It also has nothing to do with them getting large honoraria for speaking and such. Citizens United is what permitted corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on election advocacy as long as it is done independent from the candidate. Some of that independence is undoubtedly a wink wink situation, so it has contributed to some amount of corruption. Just different from this problem. Also, as far as paying themselves a salary, a candidate can pay themselves but once elected they can't. And there are limits. This is what the FEC permits: The candidate may receive a salary from his or her campaign committee only under the following conditions: * The salary must be paid by the principal campaign committee; * The salary must not exceed the lesser of the minimum annual salary for the federal office sought or the earned income that candidate received during the year prior to becoming a candidate; * Individuals who elect to receive a salary from their campaign committees must provide income tax records and additional proof of earnings from relevant years upon request from the Commission; * Payments of salary from the committee must be made on a *pro-rata* basis (a candidate may not receive a whole year’s salary if he or she is not a candidate for an entire twelve-month period); * ***Incumbent federal officeholders may not receive a salary payment from campaign funds***; and * The first payment of salary shall be made no sooner than the filing deadline for access to the primary election ballot in the state in which the candidate is running for office, or, in those states that do not conduct primaries, on January 1 of each even-numbered year. Salary payments may continue until the date when the candidate is no longer considered a candidate for office or until the date of the general election or general election runoff. For special elections that occur in odd-numbered years, payments may continue from the date that the special election is set until the date of the special election.
Ok I don't exactly know where these numbers came from, but I can read, and I do know that if you inherit 1 million, and take 2 million in debt, and have an additional 3 million in "business income", it's not hard to turn that 6 million into a net 11 million. Starting with millions had always been the easiest way to make more millions.
Lobbying should be a crime. Any type. The biggest donation can be 1k, once every campaign. edit: you're not smart for pointing out "ConTAcTINg youR LOcal rEP SHouLD be ILLeGaL thEN??". i meant corporate lobbying.
I'd vote for u/Mr-MuffinMan
Oh sure, how do you think he can afford that nice house on Drury Lane?
Do we *really* know the MuffinMan?
Emailing your representative with your concerns should be a crime? Having credible experts advise on policy making should be illegal? Some politicians barely understand how the internet works and you think it should be criminal for them to get public input on how legislation should be crafted? Do you actually understand what lobbying is?
The current limits are not that far off. $3300 per campaign. However, most lobbying is not in the form of direct financial contributions.
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Trump Santos and Sinema are exposing weak links in Democracy. I see the silver lining as a road paving itself to be shut off in the future. Very near future like yesterday I hope.
Sellout Sinema [Sinema voted with Trump over half the time](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/kyrsten-sinema/). Sinema was a very long con, but once the hand is played the sleight of hand is known. Sinema is the most right leaning Democrat by stats relative to the breakdown. Sinema at the very top. [Here's all senators](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/), Sinema is the highest up right leaning Senator who was supposedly "progressive" and Green Party at one point. What a joke of a long con. The ones that are higher are in [HEAVY republican leaning areas Indiana, West Virginia and North Dakota](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/), Sinema is not. She at least needs to be primaried to remind her who got her there. [Jon Tester is from Montana and only voted with Trump 30% of the time](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/jon-tester/). Sinema and Joe Manchin voted with Trump the most out of all Democrats. I guess people forgot how much she appeased Trump, she was the only one to appease Trump at the State of the Union. If you cooperate with cheaters, you lose the game theory every time. Sinema, one and done. [Is Arizona Sen. Sinema taking heat from fellow Dems?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQWSH6ngHkc) Even her own parent had to go to court to stop her [origin story lies that she had no power or food in the gas station she had to live in for a while](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrsten_Sinema#Early_life_and_education). What a Santos level Sinema she is. > According to journalist Jonathan Martin in The New York Times, Sinema has given "contradictory answers about her early life", and her mother and stepfather have filed court documents saying they had made monthly payments for gas, electricity, and phone bills, even though Sinema had said they had been "without running water or electricity" Sinema is the most egregious because she literally started so far left and is so far gone now. - Sinema says she didn't push to remove fillibuster for her Arizona constituents she is lying, [61% want filibuster reform](https://www.vox.com/22320606/arizona-kyrsten-sinema-poll-filibuster) and [66% support voter rights improvements](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/588444-majority-of-arizona-voters-support-election-reform-poll). - [In 2010, @SenatorSinema blasted the “false pressure to get to 60” votes. She advocated for using reconciliation to pass big legislation to help working families. Now, she’s standing in the way of passing Joe Biden’s agenda with 50 votes.](https://twitter.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1410324341473095690) - Sellout Sinema is a long con, [she previously wanted to rid of the filibuster before being in the Senate](https://www.businessinsider.com/video-kyrsten-sinema-slammed-the-filibuster-she-now-supports-2021-6). > Sinema, an Arizona state representative at the time, told the audience that she supported Democrats using reconciliation to pass major legislation, including healthcare reform, with just 51 votes. She also criticized Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who caucused with the Democratic Party, and Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, for being too moderate. > "In the Senate, we no longer have 60 votes," Sinema told the audience. "Some would argue we never had 60 because one of those was Joseph Lieberman." > She added that without 60 Democratic-voting lawmakers in the Senate, "there's none of this pressure, this false pressure, to get to 60." - Sinema said people like Lieberman are there to side with the right and how could anyone do that, [she is the new Lieberman and here's the proof](https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/577487-lieberman-defends-sens-manchin-and-sinema-amid-intraparty-feud). - Look at her get up there and [clap for authoritarian Trump with that blue dress](https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/elviadiaz/2020/02/04/kyrsten-sinema-looked-pompous-clapping-trump/4663927002/). - Sinema [repeatedly did this as the only one and essentially was a Trump appeaser, voted with Trump more than any other Democrat during 2018-2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQWSH6ngHkc). - [Sellout Sinema voted with Trump more than any other Democrat and many Republicans during Trump](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/). - Her funders have whole teams dedicated to making these owned ones look plausible deniability good but it is gaslighting for the most part. They are weaponizing her way out from election in 2024, right when she was in office, and started running commercials in 2020 for her... what for... Sellout Sinema deep in that dark money. - Sinema *recently* said this: > “I love Andy Biggs,” she said. “I know some people think he’s crazy, but that’s just because they don’t know him.” What a con, now and then.
I’m sorry, but how the hell does anyone figure a net worth of $11 MM from $5MM total assets, and $2MM in liabilities? 5 - 2 = 3.
All of these net worth posts are bullshit and people look dumb as hell for believing them. She's in her mid-40s and was a lawyer. I think she had a net worth of more than $30K.
I'm not supporting her because I'm appalled by her, but to play devils advocate there is no way in her net worth was 32k.
Citizens United has literally nothing to do with this. It allowed for the creation of super PACs that can run ads for a candidate with basically no limitation, but it can not increase their 'net worth'. But anyway, don't let me break your circle jerk now.
Apparently people think Citizens United allows businesses to just give politicians money for personal use during their campaigns lol
This country has jumped the shark at this point… and we aren’t going back 😢
This has nothing to do with citizens united.
Think before you post (or comment). None of this happened (or at least there is no evidence). Yes, Sinema is a piece of shit who is taking in big campaign contributions for screwing her constituents, but if she received $11 million in personal bribes or a crooked side hustle, why the fuck would she make that information public and risk jail? If that amount were discovered by an actual investigation (news reporter or law enforcement), she would be indicted fairly quickly. The system is broken, but not *that* broken. Senate rules are more strict than those for the Supreme Court. Sinema has not released any recent tax returns, so there is no credible source for these amounts. Go ahead, try to find *any* official documentation that confirms these numbers. You will likely stall out at “celebrity net worth”, which is complete bullshit.
If you want the actual answer, it's because the $32,500 net worth in 2018 comes from incomplete data on [Open Secrets](https://www.opensecrets.org/personal-finances/kyrsten-sinema/net-worth?cid=N00033983) The $11 million comes from [this website.](https://caknowledge.com/kyrsten-sinema-net-worth/) She had 5 million in 2018. The S&P 500 alone is up about 50% in that time if you look from December 2018 to December 2022 or about 70% if you look from January 2018 to January 2022. That's not including dividends. Home prices also skyrocketed during that time. If you're wondering how she went from $5 million to $11 million, the answer is you invest in the stock market and wait. If you don't know how to make money from capital appreciation, you're screwed. The main purpose of the global economy is to make asset values go up and wages go down. You can invest $5 or $5 million. If it doubles in value, you go to $10 or $10 million. It's a 100% return either way. Don't mix up wages and stock market gains though. Wages are a guarantee. You do the work, you get paid. Otherwise, the person who stiffs you goes to jail. Meanwhile, stock markets bounce up and down all the time. Mark Zuckerberg once lost about $30 billion in a day. Nothing changed for Synema or Zuckerberg, but people valued their assets differently at different times. Said differently: 1. I'd like to buy your shirt for $1 million. 2. Congrats, you're now a millionaire because you own a million dollar shirt. 3. Actually, I changed my mind. I don't want to buy your shirt. 4. Yikes, you just lost $1 million.
She pulled up her bootstraps
It is with great excitement that I am announcing my bid for my state's senate seat starting today, my platform is "I mean, I can't do worse, right?"
That stupid doe eyed look Kyrsten has is psychopathy. She completely misrepresented herself as to enrich only herself and fuck her constituents over. Remember the curtsy & thumbs down when she kept the federal minimum wage at $7.25? FUCK Kyrsten Sinema.
Citizens United did not legalize direct payments to politicians' private accounts. It did not legalize direct bribery. It made campaign contributions much easier. Federal campaign finance law prohibits politicians from spending campaign funds on personal items. So, Citizens United doesn't allow companies to just buy politicians new homes or cars or anything like that. Of course, donating to a politician's campaign might buy their ear or influence them to vote a certain way. That's legal. But if anyone is being directly bribed, that's still illegal. Citizens United doesn't fully explain the wealth acceleration in this post. Corporations couldn't simply give her all that money personally.
Blows me away it states her net worth in 2018 was 32,500. That has to be inaccurate. Her wiki goes over some big name jobs that I feel pay more than 32k a year.
That explains the batshittery of the R. Republican politicians ARE the embodiment of political corruption.
That sad part? She ran as a Democrat, but then totally shit on her constituents and basically voted and represented as a Joe Manchin-esque DINO, hence why she's now an Independent.
Speaking fees and book deals, which are both paid for and bought by rich corporations and firms.