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Beto O’Rourke Returned $1M Check from FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried

48 points by DocFeind 4y ago

MrMan 4y ago
as a candidate Beto is a joker but that is a class move
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- quink 4y ago
  > joker Which part? Support for anti-trust legislation, ending for-profit prisons, ending the war on drugs, increasing teacher salaries, increasing public school funding, combating global warming, confronting Ted Cruz over guns, pointing out that past US policy in Central America was bad, supporting gun buybacks, removing tax-exempt status from churches which are politically active, immigration reform, expanding Medicaid, legalizing Marijuana... Those are some of his main things he's been doing or is advocating for. You've put it out there so I may as well ask... which specific ones of these make him a joker?
  - dahdum 4y ago
    I won’t say he’s a joker, but he does seem intent on losing elections at this point. Instead of focusing on winning in Texas he’s acted as if he’s running a national Presidential campaign. DeSantis did the same but was an incumbent with strong support. I like Beto but I just don’t see Texas going with an increasingly uncompromising progressive who failed his senate, Presidential, and governor campaigns.
    - quink 4y ago
      He got more votes than any Democrat before him in Texas. And he got Texas from the lowest turnout in the country in the 2014 midterms to the middle of the pack, and the closest vote in 40 years. And in the governor race he had the best Democratic showing since 1994. Sure, he's losing, but by narrower margins than anyone before him, and in a solidly red state. > DeSantis did the same but was an incumbent with strong support. Beto got 4% more votes (44% vs 40%) in the 2022 governor election in Texas than the Democratic candidate in Florida, despite Texas traditionally being more red than Florida.
      - dahdum 4y ago
        He's been on the decline since the failed presidential bid in my opinion. He's pushing farther left and becoming more uncompromising in his rhetoric, driving his base but alienating independents and moderates. He focused his campaign on abortion, gun confiscation, and the power grid when Texas voters cared more about border security and economy. He gambled by playing to national progressives for presidential primary support and donations, but now he's left with no office to seek and a record of losing. He's a "superstar loser" as The Atlantic put it. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out, but I'm not too hopeful he'll accomplish much beyond celebrity fundraising. I'd be happy to be wrong on this though.
gitfan86 4y ago
If SBF has his way he will take all the returned money and keep it for himself and give customers some new coin he mints.
- gnarbarian 4y ago
  reminds me of the federal reserve. I'm joking of course but it would do everyone well to read about the bank war.
  - throwoutway 4y ago
    Which bank war?
viggity 4y ago
I'm no beto fan, but props to him. Lets see if the other $40 million in donations to a particular party/cause get returned as well.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- cuteboy19 4y ago
  I will try to explain why it is that that SBFs donations skew democrat. Crypto becoming a partisan issue is a very scary concept for these people. Because that would mean that the other half of people would stay away from crypto, reducing the available suckers by half. But it's already skewed towards conservatives. So to balance it out he donated more to Democrats
- belltaco 4y ago
  FTX gave more to Republicans than Dems. > More consequentially, Emmer was the head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm for House Republicans, this year. The NRCC’s associated super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, received $2.75 million from FTX in the 2022 cycle; $2 million from Salame in late September, and $750,000 from the company’s political action committee. > That money helped House Republicans win the majority in 2022. Though FTX has been portrayed as a Democratic firm, thanks to the high profile of former co-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the company sprinkled around campaign donations fairly evenly, with a shade over 50 percent going directly to congressional Republicans and a shade under 50 percent to Democrats this cycle. https://prospect.org/power/congressmembers-tried-to-stop-secs-inquiry-into-ftx/ https://prospect.org/power/congressmembers-tried-to-stop-sec...
  - adventured 4y ago
    Bankman-Fried gave drastically more to Democrats than to Republicans. The article is about a $1m check from Sam Bankman-Fried, not one from FTX.
    - belltaco 4y ago
digianarchist 4y ago
Probably for the best, money thrown at Beto was set alight anyway. As was money thrown at Stacy Abrams.
- Waterluvian 4y ago
  I’m not necessarily disagreeing but I think often people evaluate the value on immediate results without considering the longer term effects of creating and growing a base.
  - digianarchist 4y ago
    Impossible to know beforehand if that is going to yield results. What I do know is both candidates had been roundly rejected by the electorate before yet they still were selected to run again.
    - Waterluvian 4y ago
      True. I think that’s one of many symptoms of a two-party system. They don’t really have to care as much because most people are going to vote for a specific tribe. (appreciating that in some jurisdictions you see multiple candidates from each party)
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
starik36 4y ago
What is the mechanism to donate such a large amount? According to link below, the max individual contribution to ALL campaigns is $109k per year. https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/candidate-taking-receipts/contribution-limits/ https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/candidate...
- foxyv 4y ago
  You use a PAC/SuperPAC. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/super-pacs/2022 https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs...

48 points by DocFeind 4y ago

MrMan 4y ago

as a candidate Beto is a joker but that is a class move

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
quink 4y ago
> joker Which part? Support for anti-trust legislation, ending for-profit prisons, ending the war on drugs, increasing teacher salaries, increasing public school funding, combating global warming, confronting Ted Cruz over guns, pointing out that past US policy in Central America was bad, supporting gun buybacks, removing tax-exempt status from churches which are politically active, immigration reform, expanding Medicaid, legalizing Marijuana... Those are some of his main things he's been doing or is advocating for. You've put it out there so I may as well ask... which specific ones of these make him a joker?
- dahdum 4y ago
  I won’t say he’s a joker, but he does seem intent on losing elections at this point. Instead of focusing on winning in Texas he’s acted as if he’s running a national Presidential campaign. DeSantis did the same but was an incumbent with strong support. I like Beto but I just don’t see Texas going with an increasingly uncompromising progressive who failed his senate, Presidential, and governor campaigns.
  - quink 4y ago
    He got more votes than any Democrat before him in Texas. And he got Texas from the lowest turnout in the country in the 2014 midterms to the middle of the pack, and the closest vote in 40 years. And in the governor race he had the best Democratic showing since 1994. Sure, he's losing, but by narrower margins than anyone before him, and in a solidly red state. > DeSantis did the same but was an incumbent with strong support. Beto got 4% more votes (44% vs 40%) in the 2022 governor election in Texas than the Democratic candidate in Florida, despite Texas traditionally being more red than Florida.
    - dahdum 4y ago
      He's been on the decline since the failed presidential bid in my opinion. He's pushing farther left and becoming more uncompromising in his rhetoric, driving his base but alienating independents and moderates. He focused his campaign on abortion, gun confiscation, and the power grid when Texas voters cared more about border security and economy. He gambled by playing to national progressives for presidential primary support and donations, but now he's left with no office to seek and a record of losing. He's a "superstar loser" as The Atlantic put it. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out, but I'm not too hopeful he'll accomplish much beyond celebrity fundraising. I'd be happy to be wrong on this though.

gitfan86 4y ago

If SBF has his way he will take all the returned money and keep it for himself and give customers some new coin he mints.

gnarbarian 4y ago
reminds me of the federal reserve. I'm joking of course but it would do everyone well to read about the bank war.
- throwoutway 4y ago
  Which bank war?

viggity 4y ago

I'm no beto fan, but props to him. Lets see if the other $40 million in donations to a particular party/cause get returned as well.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
cuteboy19 4y ago
I will try to explain why it is that that SBFs donations skew democrat. Crypto becoming a partisan issue is a very scary concept for these people. Because that would mean that the other half of people would stay away from crypto, reducing the available suckers by half. But it's already skewed towards conservatives. So to balance it out he donated more to Democrats
belltaco 4y ago
FTX gave more to Republicans than Dems. > More consequentially, Emmer was the head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm for House Republicans, this year. The NRCC’s associated super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, received $2.75 million from FTX in the 2022 cycle; $2 million from Salame in late September, and $750,000 from the company’s political action committee. > That money helped House Republicans win the majority in 2022. Though FTX has been portrayed as a Democratic firm, thanks to the high profile of former co-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the company sprinkled around campaign donations fairly evenly, with a shade over 50 percent going directly to congressional Republicans and a shade under 50 percent to Democrats this cycle. https://prospect.org/power/congressmembers-tried-to-stop-secs-inquiry-into-ftx/ https://prospect.org/power/congressmembers-tried-to-stop-sec...
- adventured 4y ago
  Bankman-Fried gave drastically more to Democrats than to Republicans. The article is about a $1m check from Sam Bankman-Fried, not one from FTX.
  - belltaco 4y ago

digianarchist 4y ago

Probably for the best, money thrown at Beto was set alight anyway. As was money thrown at Stacy Abrams.

Waterluvian 4y ago
I’m not necessarily disagreeing but I think often people evaluate the value on immediate results without considering the longer term effects of creating and growing a base.
- digianarchist 4y ago
  Impossible to know beforehand if that is going to yield results. What I do know is both candidates had been roundly rejected by the electorate before yet they still were selected to run again.
  - Waterluvian 4y ago
    True. I think that’s one of many symptoms of a two-party system. They don’t really have to care as much because most people are going to vote for a specific tribe. (appreciating that in some jurisdictions you see multiple candidates from each party)
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

starik36 4y ago

What is the mechanism to donate such a large amount? According to link below, the max individual contribution to ALL campaigns is $109k per year. https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/candidate-taking-receipts/contribution-limits/ https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/candidate...

foxyv 4y ago
You use a PAC/SuperPAC. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/super-pacs/2022 https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs...