In the era of Donald Trump, New Englands biggest GOP donor is funding Democrats

[babylonsister]

In the era of Donald Trump, New England’s biggest GOP donor is funding Democrats
The net worth of Seth Klarman, who made his fortune in hedge funds, is estimated at $1.5 billion.
By Annie Linskey Globe Staff April 15, 2018


Boston hedge fund billionaire Seth Klarman lavished more than $7 million on Republican candidates and political committees during the Obama administration, using his fortune to help underwrite a GOP takeover of the federal government.

But the rise of Donald Trump shocked and dismayed Klarman, as did the timid response from the Republican-controlled House and Senate, which have acquiesced rather than challenge the president’s erratic and divisive ways. So, in an astonishing flip, Klarman, at one point New England’s most generous donor to Republicans, is taking his money elsewhere: He’s heaping cash on Democrats.

He’s given roughly $222,000 since the 2016 election to 78 Democrats running for Congress, according to federal election data from 2017 and a preview of Klarman’s first-quarter donations provided to the Globe by a person familiar with his giving.

“The Republicans in Congress have failed to hold the president accountable and have abandoned their historic beliefs and values,” Klarman said in a prepared statement to the Globe, opening up for the first time about the reasons behind his change in political giving. “For the good of the country, the Democrats must take back one or both houses of Congress.”

Klarman said he’s financing his new political donations using his share of the $1.5 trillion tax cut Trump signed into law late last year.

“I received a tax cut I neither need nor want,” said Klarman, who Forbes estimates is worth $1.5 billion. “I’m choosing to invest it to fight the administration’s flawed policies and to elect Democrats to the Senate and House of Representatives.”

His money has been spread out to Democrats running for 56 House seats and 22 Senate contests, including checks to Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, and Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. Klarman plans to continue writing checks, according to the person familiar with his giving.

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https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2018/04/14/era-donald-trump-new-england-biggest-gop-donor-funding-democrats/QzyFs3i3Yq3o6Ae7QIkhVP/story.html?event=event25

[tblue37]

1. K&R for visibility. nt

[smirkymonkey]

2. Excellent!

It's good to know that some people can have a change of heart and mind and end up doing the right thing.

[YessirAtsaFact]

3. I pray this becomes a trend

Trump’s horrible and most sane people can see it

[Pauldg47]

5. Im going to be cautious....they have their in-built republiCON motives.

[safeinOhio]

4. Hedge fund billionaire

hedges bets.

[mountain grammy]

6. Yep.

[KPN]

7. Exactly. Otherwise it's a zero sum game,

and he's not taking that risk.

[Generic Brad]

8. But what do Republican donors want in return?

A return to normalcy? Or betting on the favorite and co-opting them to eventually do their bidding?

Whoever takes money from perennial donors to the Republican Party should proceed with caution.

[KPN]

9. At first blush, this struck me as a good thing on its

face. What struck me next is we shouldn't even be in this situation. I'm not talking about Trump. I'm talking about looking at billionaires as potential saviours.

I'm glad Klarman's doing this, but in no way am I or any of us beholden to him. It's the reverse. He owes us big time. He owes our nation and our Constitution big time. We are a nation of, for and by the people; a nation of all people being equal, with equal rights and, thereby, opportunity.
At least according to our Constitution.

Billionaires and their lackeys have screwed this very basic notion up. They have systematically corrupted our government and our culture to satisfy their greed, impose their ideology, or both. Some of them intentionally, some negligently, and others ignorantly. That's the best that can be said about any of them -- regardless of which side of the aisle they have played on in my view. As a class they have undermined government of, by and for the people.

[NNadir]

10. As the remaining decent people in what the Republican Party has become leave...

...the most indecent will remain.

We are seeing that.

As they are still in power, this is in effect, a bomb, and a political "bomb squad" needs to gingerly disarm it.

The question is, does such a "squad" exist?