Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) contributed to Guliani ?! Two questions.

[garybeck]

In all the reporting about the Hollywood actors and actresses who have thus far sent contributions to this or that candidate, I noticed that Alex Rodriguez, baseball's highest paid player and probably the MVP of this season, has contributed to the Guliani campaign.

This is sort of a new twist, I don't recall being informed about atheletes and who they contribute to. It makes me wonder....

My first question is, what is your opinion -- do you think people should be able to make personal contributions to candidates without having that information revealed to the public through the media? Is this a price to pay for stardom? Is it important for this type of disclosure to be made public so that people can know where the money is coming from? what if they started publishing a list of ALL donors, so even if you or I send just $25 to Dennis Kucinich, our name ends up in a public database or even worse, on a website? Where do you draw the line between privacy and the public's right to know, when it comes to campaign contributions?

My second question is - are there any Yankee fans or baseball fans out there who are disturbed by the fact that a player you like is contributing to a Republican candidate? Does this change how you feel about him as a person or a player?

[SaveElmer]

1. The threshold is $250 I believe...

So just sending $25 to Kucinich would not trigger the disclosure requirements...unless your total contributions added up to that much...

I think transparency in this area is a good thing...

[MonkeyFunk]

3. I think the

anonymous limit is $50

http://www.vote-smart.org/resource_govt101_07.php

[ronnykmarshall]

9. The link is broken.

:wtf:

[MonkeyFunk]

11. whoops...

I pasted in the middle of my comment. fixed now.

And don't WTF me, missy!

[garybeck]

14. "No candidate can accept an anonymous contribution that is more than $50. "

that doesn't mean that all contributions over $50 are publicly disclosed, does it?

[MonkeyFunk]

19. yes it does

[garybeck]

27. so you're saying

information about all contributors above $50 is public? So I could call up some government agency and ask for a list of everyone who contributed more than $50 to Bush in 2004 and find out who in my neighborhood contributed, etc?

[MonkeyFunk]

29. Yes

You can search here:

http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/index.asp

[garybeck]

30. That's f-ed up and I'm surprised that information hasn't been

exploited. It's not very far from disclosing who people voted for.

[MonkeyFunk]

31. it's been that way for many years

political contributions aren't secrets, nor should they be.

[rinsd]

2. I cheer Alex on the field. Though disappointing his contributions polticially mean little to me (nt)

[SaveElmer]

4. Another reason to hate the Yankees...

As if I needed one!!!


GO TWINS!

[soleft]

5. Whenever I hear of a professional athletes donating dem I'm shocked

If we only cheered sports figures who support democrats there'd be very little cheering. Especially baseball and football.

[SaveElmer]

6. Ironically alot of baseball owners are Dems...as is Bud Selig...

Almost no golfers are Dems... John Daly and David Duval are the only ones I know of...

Not too many Football players...though there are some...

More baseball players are Dems...

and I think Dems would be dominant among basketball players...

[Hawaii Hiker]

15. I would think MOST athletes would be social liberals bordering social libertarians

but perhaps fiscal conservatives....

I mean, most athletes have multiple girlfriends, patronize strip clubs, patronize escort services, gamble, drink & engage in recreational drugs, etc.....Some act all holier than thou, but very, very few athletes would be social conservatives....Now of course, they may act socially conservative, but at the end of the day, their every bit as much hypocrites as the right wing politicians....

[garybeck]

7. why do you think that is?

just because they are rich and want lower taxes for the rich?

[Doctor_J]

12. Yes

they're all extremely rich, and there's also alot of phony machismo in pro sports. These guys wouldn't be caught dead defending their country, but they like to pretend they're he-men. I am sure most of them identifies with Smirk prancing on the aircraft carrier.

Read David zirin's new book. Sports are run with an iron fist by ultra-right-wing repukes. Carlos Delgado, when he arrived in NY, announced that he would not stand for God Bless America because the war is illegal. The Mets ordered him to apologize and commence standing, and he complied.

[garybeck]

16. yeah for Carlos.

too bad he's having a bad year. I remember when he did that. Personally I don't think the mets squelched him because his statements were left or right or any particular persuasion. I think any strong political statement would have been condemned. I believe it was the Mets who wouldn't let Bill Orielly into their clubhouse. that was sweet.

[soleft]

17. I think a lot of it has to do with religion and conservative values

How many times do you see a player kiss his cross, or blow kisses to God after making a great play.

[Doctor_J]

8. Almost all pro athletes are wingers

and I have one more question - why isn't A-rod in Iraq in uniform?

[AX10]

18. It's the money. It's alot of money.

Even if you are a mediocre player such as "A-Rod", you get alot of money.
Those tax cuts are quite nice for them.

[DeeDeeNY]

10. Yes this disturbs me

It also disturbed me to find out that David Wright said he admired * and wanted to meet him and I'm not even a Mets fan.
I can't stop being a Yankees fan, but when I heard about this, it did upset me. It's possible that he likes Giuliani on a personal level -- Giuliani is always there, trying to make friends with all the Yankees.
Okay, maybe this is a rationalization. But it's all I've got!

[Doctor_J]

13. A-Rod and Wright should both IMMEDIATELY be given rifles and fatigues

and sent to Baghdad. They can even keep their $15,000,000/year. Neither of them would last a month.

[SoxFan]

20. Just one thing to say about this...

[rockymountaindem]

21. Uh oh

The Yankees fanatics will turn this thread into a mess now :hide:

[SoxFan]

22. Oh, I know

But be gentle. It's hard when your team is ten games out!

:evilgrin:

[MrSlayer]

23. He, and many other players, are extremely rich.

And they tend to vote their wallet. I remember Barry Bonds saying he was voting for Dole in 1996 because Republicans are for the rich.

[HootieMcBoob]

24. Anybody who contributes does so publicly

On another note...this just proves that baseball players are dumb as stumps. I love baseball (not the yankees). I love to watch the games and the players. But, there's just no doubt about it - most baseball players are just plain dumb.

[TSIAS]

25. A-Rod is a loser

And his buddy Giuliani will be one soon.

[ProudDad]

26. The rich ones give to republicans

They're protecting their own interests...They don't give a shit about the People...

The wannabe-rich ones give to republicans 'cause they think they may GET rich and they're surrounded by rich republican fucks...a lot of whom just suck up to them...

[garybeck]

28. I don't know about that

many baseball players grew up poor and I like to believe the remember their roots.

[ProudDad]

33. By the time the minority of them

are making the BIG, BIG money -- they've gotten lots of bad advice...

[rufus dog]

32. maybe he likes the way rudy responded to 911

Seeing A-Rod has a history of choking under pressure.