Month: September 2016
Trump Raised $90 Million in August
$90 million
Amount Donald Trump and his joint committees raised in August, a substantial haul for a candidate late to fundraising but one that still significantly trails Hillary Clinton’s enormous summer totals,” CNN reports. “A Trump campaign official said Wednesday the campaign had collected the $90 million despite its paltry fundraising operation. That total is expected to come largely from small-dollar donors, who have flocked to the Republican nominee thanks to his costly investment in digital fundraising tools.”
Trump an Old Hand at Pay-to-Play Politics in New York
In the 1980s, Mr. Trump was compelled to testify under oath before New York State officials after he directed tens of thousands of dollars to the president of the New York City Council through myriad subsidiary companies to evade contribution limits. In the 1990s, the Federal Election Commission fined Mr. Trump for exceeding the annual limit on campaign contributions by $47,050, the largest violation in a single year. And in 2000, the New York State lobbying commission imposed a $250,000 fine for Mr. Trump’s failing to disclose the full extent of his lobbying of state legislators.
— New York Times
Trump Already Is a Right-Wing Media Personality
Trump’s greatest trick has been to realize that right-wing media stars have a built-in audience that Republican politicians don’t. To that audience, Jeb Bush talks like Washington talks. Ted Cruz talks like conservative ideologues talk. Marco Rubio talks like the last consultant he spoke with talks. But Trump talks like a true talk radio fan?—?longtime listener, first-time caller. He comes off like the winner of a reality TV show in which one lucky Fox viewer gets picked to run for president of the United States.
— Jon Favreau
What’s the Opposite of Endorse? Dallas Morning News
We have no interest in a Republican nominee for whom all principles are negotiable, nor in a Republican Party that is willing to trade away principle for pursuit of electoral victory. Trump doesn’t reflect Republican ideals of the past; we are certain he shouldn’t reflect the GOP of the future. Donald Trump is not qualified to serve as president and does not deserve your vote.
— The Dallas Morning News
U.S. Needs 200,000 More Construction Workers
200,000
Number of construction jobs that are currently unfilled across the United States, Reuters reports. Eight years after the housing bust drove an estimated 30 percent of construction workers into new fields, homebuilders across the country are struggling to find workers at all levels of experience, according to the National Association of Homebuilders. The association estimates that there are approximately 200,000 unfilled construction jobs in the U.S. – a jump of 81 percent in the last two years.
Clinton Way in Lead with Latino Vote
70%
A new Latino Decisions poll finds Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 70% to 19% among Latino voters. Clinton has a 68% to 29% (net +39) favorability rating while Trump has a 21% to 74% (net -53) favorability rating.
Did Trump Bribe Florida, Texas GOP Attorneys General in Trump University Scam?
Donald Trump has made it clear that he views campaign donations as bribes.
“As a businessman and a very substantial donor to very important people, when you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do,” Trump said in July 2015. “As a businessman, I need that.”
At a rally in Iowa in January, he put it even more plainly. “When I want something I get it,” Trump said. “When I call, they kiss my ass. It’s true.”
Now it is becoming clearer every day that Trump has given donations to at least two Republican state attorneys generals — Greg Abbott, who is now governor of Texas, and Pam Bondi of Florida — who then decided not to pursue fraud investigations into his Trump University get-rich scheme.
This scandal in which the Republican presidential nominee appears to have bribed state officials has largely been ignored by the Beltway media, who are instead fixated on Hillary Clinton’s ineptitude as a webmaster when she served as secretary of state.
But with new reports that Trump paid a $2,500 fine related to one of the donations, it appears unlikely that the “liberal media” can continue to ignore what could well be the biggest scandal of the 2016 campaign.
