GOP Primaries/Caucuses Discussions, Jokes and Predictions

[Seth]

The Drumpf Campaign Raised Less Money in May Than the Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter

Allow that to sink in.

And yet despite such penury he's on the cusp of becoming President of the United States. Ask yourself why he was able to drive every other Republican contender out of the race and teeter on the brink of total victory without massive fundraising. Perhaps because he's incredibly popular with the voters, who didn't need to be bludgeoned over the head with lies and propaganda to support him.

Allow that to sink in.

[piscator]

I have now provided infinitely more evidence than you have. I await your rebuttal.

Your "infinitely more evidence" consists of one source.

As piscator noted, that source would only qualify as reputable in a right wing echo chamber.

It wasn't a right wing echo chamber, and it cited stats and the primary source in the article. I have not seen serious disputation of the numbers. If CIS has produced information which is unreliable, and has been refuted, then surely there are other numbers that are more reliable. I'm definitely open to reviewing them.

Speaking of right wing, the Cato Institute, a well known right wing/libertarian think tank, took a look at the report used by The Washington Examiner as the basis for its story. They found numerous problems.

"Center for Immigration Studies Report Exaggerates Immigrant Welfare Use"

"Center for Immigration Studies Report Exaggerates Immigrant Welfare Use, Part 2"

Previously they had issued a report that contradicts assertions made by the Center for Immigration Studies: "Poor Immigrants Use Public Benefits at a Lower Rate than Poor Native-Born Citizens"

I will review those in detail, and respond. I am more than willing to look at contrary evidence, and I recognize that CIS is a nonprofit with the goal of reducing immigration. So, I must remain open to contrary evidence even moreso. So, I will look at the info you presented seriously. It's more than I've had time to look at, as of yet.

[

Low-income immigrants use public benefits like Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) at a lower rate than low-income native-born citizens.1

Note - "immigrants" =/= "illegal immigrants." So, a stat concerning immigrant use of benefits is not relevant to the argument I was making. Illegal immigrants do, improperly, use public benefits, and we are discussing to which they do so. It's not a straightforward statistic, because much of what we are dealing with is by its nature fraudulent.

[

Many immigrants are ineligible for public benefits because of their immigration status.

Indeed, but being ineligible does not mean "not receiving," and many illegal immigrants also are able to game the system. I am certainly open to any information on the rate they do this. I know "some" of them do -- I know that from direct experience -- I know some illegal immigrants, and they've told me how it is accomplished. I am a child of immigrants, and the spouse of an immigrant (legal), and I am very much in favor of immigration. I am very much, however, of the view that there is a serious problem with "illegal" immigration, and I think people fail to recognize the degree of problem, and I think people often conflate illegal immigration with immigration in general.

[
Nonetheless, some claim that immigrants use more public benefits than the native born, creating a serious and unfair burden for citizens.2 This analysis provides updated analysis of immigrant and native-born utilization of Medicaid, SNAP, cash assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and similar programs), and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program based on the most recent data from the Census Bureau’s March 2012 Current Population Survey (CPS).

Again, immigrants using public benefits is different than illegal immigrants doing so.

Low-income (family income below 200% of poverty line) non-citizen children and adults utilize Medicaid, SNAP, cash assistance, and SSI at a generally lower rate than comparable low-income native-born citizen children and adults, and the average value of public benefits received per person is generally lower for non-citizens than for natives. Because of the lower benefit utilization rates and the lower average benefit value for low-income non-citizen immigrants, the cost of public benefits to non citizens is substantially less than the cost of equivalent benefits to the native-born.

Though you made an assertion that no social security number is required to receive these benefits, unsurprisingly you provided no support, once again.

No social security number is required because people are not "required" to even have a social security number. It's not legally required, and you can't be barred from benefits just because you never applied for a social security number. You CAN be required to disclose the number, however, if you have one. Since most people have one, it's seen as a de facto requirement. However, if a woman shows up to a government office and applies for SNAP and says she doesn't have a social security number to give them, because they live off the grid or something, then they can't require it. I admit, I haven't provided you with the authority for that, but it's kind of a basic legal issue.

Although many companies, such as banks
and credit companies, may ask for your Social
Security number, you generally aren’t required
to provide one if you don’t have one.

Lawfully admitted noncitizens can get
many benefits and services without a Social
Security number. You don’t need a number to
get a driver’s license, register for school, get
private health insurance, apply for school lunch
programs or subsidized housing.

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10096.pdf

Must my child have a Social Security number?: No. Getting a Social Security number for your newborn is voluntary. But, it is a good idea to get a number when your child is born. You can apply for a Social Security number for your baby when you apply for your baby’s birth certificate. The state agency that issues birth certificates will share your child’s information with us and we will mail the Social Security card to you.

[/quote] https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10023.pdf[/quote]


I'm just saving this post to see if Forty Two ever "Reviews" it.
My bet is he will continue to claim that illegal immigrants consume much more welfare than they do, and smugly dust off the Washington Examiner untruths to buttress his flawed points henceforth. Forty Two does not strike me as the kind of guy who will let something as trivial complete refutation alter his ideological set.

[piscator]

The Drumpf Campaign Raised Less Money in May Than the Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter

Allow that to sink in.

And yet despite such penury he's on the cusp of becoming President of the United States. Ask yourself why he was able to drive every other Republican contender out of the race and teeter on the brink of total victory without massive fundraising. Perhaps because he's incredibly popular with the voters, who didn't need to be bludgeoned over the head with lies and propaganda to support him.

Allow that to sink in.

A hundo says you're utterly wrong, and that the American electorate will hand Mr Drumpf his ass on Election Day, and by the largest margin in your lifetime.
Of course, this assumes you'll even be around come November 9th...

[piscator]

The Drumpf Campaign Raised Less Money in May Than the Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter

Allow that to sink in.

And yet despite such penury he's on the cusp of becoming President of the United States. Ask yourself why he was able to drive every other Republican contender out of the race and teeter on the brink of total victory without massive fundraising. Perhaps because he's incredibly popular with the voters, who didn't need to be bludgeoned over the head with lies and propaganda to support him.

Well, Mussolini got a lot of free publicity from the press too...

The degenerate gambler: Trump runs his campaign like he ran his casinos — right into the ground

It should surprise no one that Trump's campaign is in shambles — he's destroyed every business he's ever touched

Monday’s bombshell that Trump had finally fired his incompetent campaign manager Corey Lewandowski hit the news networks like a lightning bolt. It had been clear for months the man was in over his head but Trump was loyal to him apparently under the assumption that he’d ushered him through the primaries and therefore knew what he was doing. According to news reports it took the Trump heirs gathering Lewandowski and The Donald in a room together to confront the campaign manager with the campaign’s lack of organization.

Trump apparently didn’t have a clue about any of it, and quickly dispatched his loyal servant when he was informed, which suggests that his only reading these days is old clippings of his once promising poll numbers. (Either that or he signed off on Lewandowski’s plans and pretended otherwise in front of the offspring which is more likely.) Whatever the case, he’s decided to make a change, presumably to put his dark despot wrangler Paul Manafort fully in charge.

And that’s not the even the biggest Trump news. Last night it was revealed that the Trump campaign only has $1.3 million on hand. That is less than many incumbent congressional campaigns. This comports with other reporting revealing that Trump is having a lot of trouble wooing donors raising the ultimate question as to why he doesn’t simply write himself a check. He claims to be worth $10 billion dollars. If that were true he could finance this campaign entirely with a small dent in his fortune. For “some reason” he won’t do that, insisting that the campaign can be run on the cheap.

None of this should be surprising. Trump has a long history of financial malfeasance. We’ve heard all about Trump University and ACN and various other low-rent branding schemes. But if the horror of Orlando had not intervened, the most significant part of his business history is probably all we would have been talking about over the past week. The morning of the massacre, the New York Times published an exposé of Trump’s 25 years of running gambling enterprises in Atlantic City and it was devastating. For obvious reasons most people did not pay attention to it in the wake of such an unspeakable tragedy. But it’s time to take a closer look.

The article was entitled “How Donald Trump Bankrupted His Atlantic City Casinos, but Still Earned Millions.” Let’s just say Trump always managed to take care of himself first. Everybody else got burned — “bigly.”

...

http://www.salon.com/2016/06/21/the_deg ... he_ground/


I guess The Donald will just have to "Loan himself" another couple million to fill out his Campaign Dream Team after he had Corey Lewandowski frog-marched out of his office by Trump security yesterday? #stayclassybabe

If wishes were horses, then dreamers would still be losers, only with a bunch of horses they can't sell. Stop dreaming Seth. And while you're at it, stop dry-humping pillows like a dog.

[pErvinalia]

The Drumpf Campaign Raised Less Money in May Than the Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter

Allow that to sink in.

And yet despite such penury he's on the cusp of becoming President of the United States. Ask yourself why he was able to drive every other Republican contender out of the race and teeter on the brink of total victory without massive fundraising. Perhaps because he's incredibly popular with the voters, who didn't need to be bludgeoned over the head with lies and propaganda to support him.

It's because he's a one man circus. The media gives him free coverage for the shadenfreude.

[Seth]

The Drumpf Campaign Raised Less Money in May Than the Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter

Allow that to sink in.

And yet despite such penury he's on the cusp of becoming President of the United States. Ask yourself why he was able to drive every other Republican contender out of the race and teeter on the brink of total victory without massive fundraising. Perhaps because he's incredibly popular with the voters, who didn't need to be bludgeoned over the head with lies and propaganda to support him.

Allow that to sink in.

A hundo says you're utterly wrong, and that the American electorate will hand Mr Drumpf his ass on Election Day, and by the largest margin in your lifetime.
Of course, this assumes you'll even be around come November 9th...

Could be, but that's beside the point. He triumphed over what, thirteen other candidates to clinch the nomination without the billion dollars that Obama spent to get elected. Whether he wins or not doesn't change the fact that his rise to the top of the Republican heap is both unprecedented and a stark repudiation of business as usual for the Republican party, which is exactly what it needed.

[Seth]

The Drumpf Campaign Raised Less Money in May Than the Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter

Allow that to sink in.

And yet despite such penury he's on the cusp of becoming President of the United States. Ask yourself why he was able to drive every other Republican contender out of the race and teeter on the brink of total victory without massive fundraising. Perhaps because he's incredibly popular with the voters, who didn't need to be bludgeoned over the head with lies and propaganda to support him.

It's because he's a one man circus. The media gives him free coverage for the shadenfreude.

Indeed, and he's really, really, really good at getting the media to do so, even the media that hates and loathes him with ever fiber of their being. That's hardly a trivial skill. I should know, I'm just as good in my particular sphere of operation.

[piscator]

The Drumpf Campaign Raised Less Money in May Than the Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter

Allow that to sink in.

And yet despite such penury he's on the cusp of becoming President of the United States. Ask yourself why he was able to drive every other Republican contender out of the race and teeter on the brink of total victory without massive fundraising. Perhaps because he's incredibly popular with the voters, who didn't need to be bludgeoned over the head with lies and propaganda to support him.

Allow that to sink in.

A hundo says you're utterly wrong, and that the American electorate will hand Mr Drumpf his ass on Election Day, and by the largest margin in your lifetime.
Of course, this assumes you'll even be around come November 9th...

Could be, but that's beside the point. He triumphed over what, thirteen Republican retards to clinch the nomination without the billion dollars that Obama spent to get elected. Whether he wins or not doesn't change the fact that his rise to the top of the Republican heap is both unprecedented and a stark repudiation of business as usual for the Republican party, which is exactly what it needed.

No, the point is the legal tender you're not willing to put behind your words. Weak.


And you have to understand who put those retards up there in office and positions of prominence in the Republican Party - Republican voters voting for chaos, God, and guns and against Democrats, quite often at the behest of talk radio.
They'd vote for anyone who promised all that, even a guy who laughs at them for doing it. This ideology is evidently flawed. You got what you got because your voters chose them over others. Now you're still looking for anybody but yourselves to blame for the results of your votes?
Trump is no different, except he's not only going to lose, he's going to pull down the entire bully pulpit of the GOP. So y'all will have to start from scratch to get Guns & God back into Washington, and you can give up blocking the Democrats in Congress until you can get your shit together. Bad judgement is bad.

[pErvinalia]

More smackdown from Hillary+!

[piscator]

[piscator]

Looks like The Donald adheres to the sage advise of financial advisors, and pays himself first...


Donald Trump’s Self-Funding Includes Payments to Family and His Companies

Donald J. Trump regularly boasts that he is self-funding his presidential bid, but new campaign finance filings show that he is also shifting plenty of money back to himself in the process.

According to documents submitted to the Federal Election Commission, Mr. Trump, whose campaign has just $1.3 million cash on hand, paid at least $1.1 million to his businesses and family members in May for expenses associated with events and travel costs. The total represents nearly a fifth of the $6 million that his campaign spent in the month.

The spending raised eyebrows among campaign finance experts and some of Mr. Trump’s critics who have questioned whether the presumptive Republican nominee, who points to his business acumen as a case for his candidacy, is trying to do what he has suggested he would in 2000 when he mulled making an independent run: “It’s very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it.”

“He could end up turning a profit if he repaid himself for the campaign loans,” said Paul S. Ryan, a campaign finance expert with the Campaign Legal Center. “He could get all his money back plus the profit margin for what his campaign has paid himself for goods and services.”

While most candidates list an array of vendors providing goods and services on their filings, Mr. Trump’s is packed with payments to his various clubs and buildings, his fleet of planes and his family. The self-proclaimed billionaire is required by law to account for his spending this way to prevent his companies from making illegal corporate donations to his campaign. In 2015, about $2.7 million was paid to at least seven companies Mr. Trump owns or to people who work for his real estate and branding empire, repaying them for services provided to his campaign.

In May, the biggest-ticket item was Mr. Trump’s use of the Mar-a-Lago Club, his Florida resort, which was paid $423,000. The campaign paid $350,000 to TAG Air for his private airplanes, $125,000 to Trump Restaurants and more than $170,000 to Trump Tower, the Manhattan skyscraper that houses the campaign’s headquarters.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/22/us/po ... itics&_r=0



That ought to attract the big donors..."I need $22,000 for new towels and matching bathrobes in the Trump Suite at my whorehouse resort in Palm Beach, so I'm calling on you."

[Animavore]

He's a fucking wreck.

[Scot Dutchy]

A wreck can be useful.

[Tyrannical]

Saudi Arabia claimed that they were controbuting 20% of the money for Clinton's election campaign. Let that sink in.

[piscator]

LOL Most of the world's passing the hat to keep Trump out of office about now...