What 60 Billionaires is Bernie talking about?

[whttevrr]

Has anyone fact checked this statement that Biden was being supported by 60 Billionaires?

And if he was, why was he so out of cash?

[BusyBeingBest]

1. Mayor Mike is a 60-Billionaire. Maybe that's what he's referring to.

[whttevrr]

8. Ok, maybe that's it... but...

Was Mike supporting him before he dropped out?

[BusyBeingBest]

12. LOL, no--but if I were Bernie I'd use it against Biden.

Can't blame him, anti-billionaire is part of his platform.

[Cha]

30. Yeah.. I can blame him for not getting it correct.

[George II]

2. He keeps throwing out that number, it's ludicrous. That would be about 11% of ALL...

....the billionaires in the country, republican and Democratic.

[we can do it]

3. It's in the BS never ending loop. No one knows.

[Jersey Devil]

4. and if one of those billionaires should happen to fall there'd be 59 billionaires on the wall

Maybe it's Bernies version of Bottles of Beer on the Wall?

[tishaLA]

6. LOL! Bravo.

[True Blue American]

13. :)

[PatSeg]

21. Hah!

[NurseJackie]

5. Is he accusing the Biden campaign of accepting illegal donations?

Is the maximum allowed donation from a billionaire more valuable than the same maximum allowed donation from me? If so, how so?

These type of outrageous LIES make me question his character and integrity. We need a president who can demonstrate character and integrity.

[whttevrr]

7. Oh, ha ha. I did not even consider that.

One person, one donation limit, regardless of their net worth.

[Blue_true]

29. I hear you. nt

[frazzled]

9. If it's like the charges against Pete

which was 40 billionaires, it means that among his individual donors 60 people who are billionaires gave him the legal limit of $2,800 each.

It’s a scare tactic, or calumny, at best. The 400 (or is it 600 billionaires) in the country are also citizens and voters who are allowed to make donations. The suggestion is that this is “dirty” money. And/or that they gave millions each, which they couldn’t.

[FreeState]

22. This

Its shameful and takes advantage of the uniformed. Sanders should be ashamed.

[Blue_true]

32. He isn't. He has done that before. Make a claim to his supporters that

his opponent is being controlled by an invisible hand whose objective is to destroy poor and middleclass people. It is a lie and utter nonsense.

[whttevrr]

10. Am I right in thinking this is a shady number?

It kind of seems like he is lying. Right?

[Blue_true]

33. Doesn't matter.

Among his supporters, there are people that despise every rich person except Bernie. They core belief seems to be that NO other person other than Sanders can be honest and get rich at the same time. It is a gullible view of life that Sanders mine over and over.

[dubyadiprecession]

11. Maybe he's really talking about Bloomberg.

He is just 1 billionaire worth 60 billion.

[Frustratedlady]

26. But, Bernie instantly turned down any help from Bloomberg.

So, I'd say he can't bitch about Biden accepting.

He's been saying 60 billionaires for a while, so I think it might be something else. Sounds like a broken record.

[samnsara]

14. and really who the fuck cares? LORDY.....bs needs to get a life cuz that argument is ..

...SO 2016...

[whttevrr]

15. I mean yeah.

Each billionaire can only give personally the established limit. I kinda think he is trying to imply that Biden is taking lots of 'dirty' 'billionaire' money.

[Act_of_Reparation]

17. You ever go to one of these fundraiser dinners?

Drop a couple thousand on a plate and get to hang out with the candidate? Because not many people have the income at their disposal to do that kind of thing.

It isn't about the quantity of the money, it's that the money buys access. And that access influences the candidates and their sympathies whether they realize it or not.

[Blue_true]

35. If what you claim is accurate, why was Biden's

campaign essentially broke before the South Carolina primary? The implication being made by Sanders is pure horseshit and only people that want to believe it and are willing to come up with imagined quid pro quo will accept it as remotely honest, or remotely ethical.

[Act_of_Reparation]

46. Why do you think?

Low investor confidence and crowded marketplace.

[W_HAMILTON]

47. If Sanders's insinuation was true -- which it's not -- that wouldn't matter.

Because it would only take one billionaire to easily fund a campaign with more cash than Sanders himself has raised.

Of course, in reality, there are individual contribution limits ($2,800), which is why """60 billionaires""" cannot fund a candidate's campaign, unless they are funding their own (since there are no limits to funding your own campaign).

[Act_of_Reparation]

48. I don't give a shit about Sanders.

The question is how being a billionaire matters if there is an individual contribution limit. I answered that question.

Never mind "individual contribution limits" mean fuck-all when there are PAC's to pick up the slack.

[W_HAMILTON]

49. It's clear you need to educate yourself.

PACs are also limited on how much they can directly donate to candidates; furthermore, Biden's campaign has been funded almost entirely through individual campaign contributions -- ~69.7m of ~69.8m, to be exact -- which means billionaires are only able to give the maximum of $2,800 to his campaign because Biden has not been taking much money at all from other sources (i.e., he's only taken in ~0.1m from non-individual campaign contributors). This is all public knowledge, at least for those of us who care more about getting things right rather than promoting disingenuous attacks on fellow Democrats:

https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/P80000722/

[Act_of_Reparation]

50. Yes, I am very stupid.

[Green Line]

16. I can't figure this one out

Why was Biden's campaign running on fumes?

[el_bryanto]

18. I believe it's based on this article from Forbes

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelatindera/2020/02/18/here-are-the-billionaires-funding-the-democratic-presidential-candidates/#6010ca1e33f7

That said- claiming 60 distinct billionaires does not seem conclusive from this article, but one can see why he would pull that figure away from this.

Bryant

[whttevrr]

19. Ahhh, that explains the 'technicality' of it.

Thank you for the information.

FORBES:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelatindera/2020/02/18/here-are-the-billionaires-funding-the-democratic-presidential-candidates/#6010ca1e33f7
Here Are The Billionaires Funding The Democratic Presidential Candidates, As Of December 2019

This article reflects Federal Election Commission filings as of Dec. 31, 2019. Go here to see the latest billionaire donor count.

As Democratic candidates drop out of the race, more billionaires are jumping in. By the end of 2019, about 20% of American billionaires had donated—either directly or through their spouse—to at least one Democratic candidate running for president, according to a review of the latest Federal Election Commission filings. At least 100 billionaires donated in their own names. And at least 25 did not give any money directly, but are married to people who did.

Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg lead the pack of beneficiaries. Forbes found that Biden had received support from 60 billionaires or their spouses by the end of 2019. Buttigieg had 56 such backers. The two billionaire candidates, Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg, outspent both Biden and Buttigieg with their own resources. By the end of the year, Steyer and Bloomberg had each shelled out over $200 million on their campaigns.

Sixteen new donors supported Biden in the last three months of 2019, according to a Forbes analysis. Biden’s largest donor appears to be real estate billionaire George Marcus, who gave $1 million to a super PAC supporting the former vice president in December. Marcus also hosted a fundraiser for Biden in the fall. His wife, Judy, pitched in another $2,800 to Biden, her first contribution to a presidential candidate this cycle, in October.

[Alex4Martinez]

20. Thank you and el_bryanto for the source. Seems legit. (nt)

[BidenBacker]

34. LMAO

So according to the article Biden's BIGGEST donor gave $1 million to a super PAC and his wife chipped in another 2800 bucks.

If this is all it took to whoop Sanders on Super Tuesday then Bernie's in BIG trouble.

[itsrobert]

23. There is 7.6 Billion people in the world. 60 Billionaires can give each person $7.8 Billion

with money left over. World's problems are solved. Thank you Brian Williams for helping out with the math.

[Celerity]

24. Lololol

[frazzled]

25. 60 billionaires can give them exactly a maximum of $168,000, total for all together

$2,800 x 60 = $168,000

[Blue_true]

37. Once my eyebrows came back down from the sky, I saw your slight of hand. nt

[beachbumbob]

27. and so what freaking what? Billionaires don;t want trump destroying america either

[Blue_true]

38. I believe it is an attempt to put out the image that Biden

is running a campaign that will sell out any one that vote for him. The tactic has been used before in a slightly different way.

[Blue_true]

28. Even a billionaire can only give Biden $2800 directly.

But having said that, Sanders statement is par for the course, say something about a democratic opponent underhandedly that attempts to leave the impression that his opponent is somehow corrupt and is being supported by people that want to harm average Americans.

[BidenBacker]

31. 60 billionaires each gave Biden $1 billion

but he lost it in Vegas before the Nevada caucus.

OK, so Joe is a really shitty blackjack player. But it turned out he didn't need to spend any money to beat Bernie.

[Blue_true]

39. Well, that is as good as the claim Sanders is making. nt

[BidenBacker]

40. Just you watch

at Bernie's next rally he'll be saying..."Don't vote for Biden...he hits on 18!"

[Blue_true]

42. Yep. The big issue that I have with the Sanders campaign is it's incessant

claim that anyone that doesn't believe in it are somewhat bankrupt morally. The feeling that I get from being treated like that is no different than if they had spat in my face.

[BidenBacker]

43. Everybody is just angry

Moderates and liberals are just as pissed off at the way things are as progressives are. But a certain fraction of the latter are militant anarchists...hopefully not as many as it sometimes seems. A relatively small number of loud-mouthed extremists at a Sanders rally can make it appear like a much bigger group than it really is.

Guess we'll find out over the next two Tuesdays. I think almost 60% the country will have voted by then.

[Blue_true]

44. Good points. nt

[Demsrule86]

36. I don't know...as Biden didn't even have enough money to go to or even have ads on Super Tuesday...

There was a pac running ads for him...but Sanders has a pac...and he won't reveal the donors.

[Blue_true]

41. I coincidentally donated to him the day before the SC primary.

I thought nothing of it. The next morning I got a text from the campaign saying thanks for not backing down. I thought the text was sort of strange and a bit over the top for a donation. I have only heard in the last few days that Biden's campaign was close to broke before South Carolina, so I guess my money and money from other people who donated that day came in handy. As things stand, I am glad that I made the donation when I did.

[comradebillyboy]

45. It's something he just made up.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

51. There are about 600 billionaires in the United States.

All of them are evil but apparently 10% of them are lavishing money on Biden. 60 x $2800 = $168,000, which Bernie must think is enough to fund a successful political campaign.

[RoadRunner]

52. After the market plunge

BS may be griping about Biden's thousandaires

[CentralMass]

53. I'm not sure but there are 540 billionaires in the U.S.

[matt819]

54. As someone commented the other day

Billionaires are subject to the same campaign contributions as millionaires, thousandaires, hundredaiires and whatever comes after that.

So the fact that a billionaire contributed is sort of irrelevant. Billionaires are entitled to contribute to whoever they want. That doesn't make the recipient a problem.

Now, granted, PACs are something else entirely. I don't mean to sound or be naive, but candidates don't have control over what anyone contributes to a PAC, thanks for Citizens United. They may learn of such contributions, they may even appreciate such contributions, but they have no control over them. I don't know if Bernie has commented on whether he is somehow stopping donors supporting him from contributing to a PAC supporting him. If he has, well, that's okay, but he should have no control over those donations.

Giben Bloomberg's ads, I'm sort of okay with Citizens United right now. And as long as every obeys campaign finance laws and regulations, have at it. Next time around, though, I hope they will have corrected that monstrous decision with better legislation.