Year: 2022

Trump’s Vaunted Fundraising Machine Is Faltering

Buck Banks

Illustration by the Daily Beast

If it were a business and not politics (I know, it’s a difference without a distinction), Donald Trump would be fired for mismanagement of his oft-touted fundraising prowess. Daily Beat’s Pay Dirt newsletter has a must-read piece on how Trump’s Save America Joint Fundraising Committee is spending a dollar to generate 10 cents of income, according to the latest Election Financing Commission report.

In fact, the spending was so steep that it ate up around 90 percent of what he raised. So while the committee took in an impressive $24 million, it spent about $22 million to get there. That means the famous dealmaker spent a dollar to make a little more than a dime.

Compare that trade-off to the previous quarter, where the same committee spent just $9.7 million but pulled in $17 million. That’s a $7 million return. Now, it’s $2 million.

Read the rest here.

There’s a Growing Shadow Abortion Network

Buck Banks

“The emerging network — fueled by the widespread availability of medication abortion — has made the illegal abortions of today simpler and safer than those of the pre-Roe era, remembered for its back alleys and coat hangers. Distinct from services that sell pills to patients on the internet, a growing army of community-based distributors is reaching pregnant women through word of mouth or social media to supply pills for free — though typically without the safeguards of medical oversight.”

— Washington Post

Dem PAC Pours $20 Million Into State Races

Buck Banks

$20 million

“With the battle for state legislatures taking on an elevated importance during this midterm cycle, a Democratic super PAC is investing more than $20 million in state legislative races, with about 70 percent of the funds going to support candidates in 25 districts across Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona,” the New York Times reports. “The investment is from Forward Majority, the super PAC, as Democrats across the country are pouring significant resources into state legislative races.”

There’s a New Rule Just for Lauren Boebert

Buck Banks

“We have a new rule in the Rules Committee. If you’re batshit crazy, you’re not getting an amendment. I’m sorry. We’re not doing this. We’re not doing this. I’m not going down that road. I’m not going to be part of any effort to legitimize people who are f**king lunatics.”

— House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA), who created a “new rule” on his committee for people like Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Insider reports. When one of her “flurry of nonsensical amendments turned out to be reasonable,” McGovern blocked it from going to the House floor and a Republican committee member wanted to know why, according to Robert Draper’s new book, “Weapons of Mass Delusion.”

MAGA Surrender Caucus Signals It Will Support Putin and Defund Ukraine When It Takes Power

Pensito Editors
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy

Yahoo News: “House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Republicans will not hand a ‘blank check’ to Ukraine if his party wins next month’s elections, apparently confirming that bipartisan congressional support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia is wavering.

“McCarthy, speaking to Punchbowl News, acknowledged the significance of the conflict, but said Americans are dealing with economic problems at home and can’t afford to prioritize helping Ukraine.

“’I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,’ McCarthy said. ‘They just won’t do it.’

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