Cenk Uygur: The rest of the media reports the fundraising per month without noting that this is basically legalized bribery. And they make it seem like, hey, you know what? This is a contest. And we are going to see who wins this contest. And this month Mitt Romney won.
President Obama raised seventy one million dollars. That’s really, really good: the best so far of his campaign. Well, not good enough because Mitt Romney raised a hundred and six million dollars in just June, okay.
So the rest of the media declares that Mitt Romney has won. But what has he won in the month of June?
He’s won the contest for who can get bribed more efficiently and more thoroughly. I don’t think that is something to celebrate. I think that shows you how broken our system is.
So now when you look at Mitt Romney, they say, wait, you have got to be fair to us. Ninety four percent of our donors are small donors under two hundred and fifty dollars or less, right? Okay ninety four percent of your donors are that way but the rest, the six percent, are where the real money comes from.
There raised only twenty two million dollars from the small donors; they raised eighty three point eight million dollars from the large donors. So in fact over eighty percent of the money comes from the large donors, the ones who expect something in return. That’s how this works and that’s why we call it bribery.
And speaking of which, Mitt Romney was in the Hamptons over the weekend. He went to three different fundraisers, including one at David Koch’s house, one at Ron Perlman’s house. And they were on average fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per plate. The Koch one was more expensive: you got suckered if you went to that one and paid seventy five thousand dollars ($75,000). You would have had the same access as the other ones which were cheaper. And he raised is about three million dollars in one day.
Now as all these people were pouring in, in their Ferraris, literally, Range Rovers, golden Mercedes—as was described in one of the articles—at these fundraisers, they also sometimes talk to the press and told us what they think of all the, you know, the money going into the system, they’re in favor of it, etc.
There were also protesters, too. So first let’s show you the protesters.
[Beginning of video] “…Protesters in the process….Romney, his secret service detail, could be seen criss-crossing the Hamptons in their fleet of suburbans, donors lined up to gain access to these closed events. They were met by protesters at several of these events. Many of whom had been bused in from New York City. Some said they were part of the Occupy Wall Street movement.” [End of video]
All right, I love the fake dog on the roof to make fun of them. But honestly they couldn’t get anywhere near the events. A couple of people were arrested trying to get onto the beach where the yachts had docked to go to some of these events. I am not kidding. Okay.
So now here’s one of the anonymous donors talking to the L.A. Times, she said:
“I don’t think the common person is getting it—my college kid, the babysitters, the nails ladies—everybody who’s got the right to vote. They don’t understand what’s going on. I just think if you’re lower income, one, you’re not as educated, two, they don’t understand how it works, they don’t understand how the systems work, they don’t understand the impact.”
Look at that disdain dripping from her mouth: “Oh, you lower class people. You obviously don’t know the same things we know. And if you knew it, you would understand why we have to bribe Mitt Rodney for our advantage. Oops, did I say our advantage? I meant your advantage. Come on nails ladies, figure it out already. I know you have a low education but you have to understand us rich people in the Hamptons have to rule this country.”
They should be sickening to all of us. One of the ladies bragged to one of the reporters, “hey do you know how generous we are?” And she said, “look, my husband, who by the way had supported Obama the last time around and he said, “oh, he bit the hand that fed him”; in other words, “How dare you not be as good to the rich as Mitt Romney. We paid for something and we wanted a return on that investment. And so they flip over to Mitt Romney and she goes to tell a reporter, “oh, tell him who’s staying on our yacht.” And I thought, what, are they going to say that they got, you know, big brother big sister program there, helping people on their yacht. No, she was bragging that there was an incredibly rich Hollywood executive from Miramax who couldn’t get a hotel in the Hamptons as they were all trying to bribe Mitt Romney, and they let him stay on the yacht with them.
But that’s not being generous. That’s incredibly rich people staying on a yacht and buying our democracy. Oh, come on, man, this is grotesque, and the band plays on as if there’s nothing wrong in our government. They are buying our government as we watch.
Alright, listen, this is obviously an epic problem.
Transcribed by:
The Barefoot Accountant
Certified Public Accountant
Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor
Accountants CPA Hartford, Connecticut, LLC
Accountants CPA Hartford, LLC