Politics Random, Random

[ti-amie]

Interesting

[ponchi101]

I hope he gave it to them in Crypto.

[ti-amie]

FTX Turmoil Raises Risk That Two Huge Political Donors Will Fade
Sam Bankman-Fried and Ryan Salame spent more than almost anyone else on the US midterms. On the day of the vote, Binance moved to buy FTX amid a liquidity crunch.

By Laura Davison and Sonali Basak
November 8, 2022, 6:11 PM UTC

The end of crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX.com exchange may also wipe out two major US political donors.
Bankman-Fried, known as SBF, threw more money at Democrats this cycle than anyone but George Soros, according to OpenSecrets data. One of his top lieutenants, Ryan Salame, has been bankrolling Republicans at almost the same pace as Steve Schwarzman and Peter Thiel

The two men spent a combined $61.3 million in this election cycle. But on Election Day, when they might’ve been watching to see how their investments in the political process were playing out, FTX found itself caught in a firestorm of speculation and outflows. That culminated in a bombshell announcement from Bankman-Fried: FTX was being bought by rival crypto exchange Binance.

The latest earthquake to rock the crypto world raises fresh concerns about whether the industry’s newly minted ultra-rich will follow through on their plans to give large sums in the 2024 elections. Bankman-Fried, who had been likened to Warren Buffett, already backtracked last month on a statement that he would spend up to $1 billion in the next presidential election.

It’s a sharp departure from earlier in this midterm election cycle, when it looked as if the crypto bros were growing their political influence. Despite the collapse in the price of Bitcoin, boldface names in the world of digital assets — Mike Novogratz, Barry Silbert and the Winklevoss twins — opened their (physical) wallets to Washington with their industry at a crossroads and regulations looming large.

“Sam’s political engagement sort of triggered in my mind that there must be some value here, where previously I might have been under the assumption that you couldn't have as much impact with spending on the political side,” Salame, co-chief executive officer of FTX Digital Markets, said in an interview last week.

He declined to comment Tuesday on the events surrounding FTX.

As Salame tells it, crypto has yet to become deeply partisan. The decentralized technology naturally appeals to those with a libertarian streak, but left-leaning adopters also tout its ability to expand finance to those shut out from traditional banking. It’s new enough that few voters consider it a political issue, resulting in joint efforts in Congress by Democrats and Republicans to write crypto legislation.
That’s borne out when looking at the giving of others in the crypto industry.

Digital Currency Group Chairman Silbert has directed about two-thirds of his political giving to Republicans and one-third to Democrats. Galaxy Digital’s Novogratz gives exclusively to Democrats. Gemini crypto exchange co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss give mostly to GOP causes, but occasionally donate to crypto-friendly Democrats including senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Kyrsten Sinema.
“We are avoiding a full-fledged polarized debate on crypto, which is great,” Salame said.

Yet there’s almost zero overlap between how Salame and Bankman-Fried have directed their money.

Salame has allocated $15 million, or 63% of his $23.6 million spending this cycle, to his political action committee, American Dream Federal Action, which has produced at least a dozen ads in support of Republicans including Alabama Senate candidate Katie Britt and Florida House hopeful Aaron Bean. Those commercials cite the candidates strong ties to former President Donald Trump, as well as anti-abortion and pro-Second Amendment stances.

The remainder has gone directly to other candidates and groups, including Republican Senate candidates Blake Masters and Lisa Murkowski and the non-partisan GMI PAC, which advocates for the crypto industry.

Bankman-Fried, for his part, has directed $27 million of his almost $40 million in political spending to the Protect Our Future PAC. He’s the primary donor to the political action committee, which endorsed candidates including New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez and Peter Welch, a Democrat running for Senate from Vermont. (Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates gun-safety measures and is backed by Michael Bloomberg, the majority owner of Bloomberg LP, has also contributed to Bankman-Fried’s PAC.)

That money has already been spent. Whether the two will continue to rank among the top US political donors come 2024 will remain a pressing question — for both parties.


https://archive.ph/KBRKj#selection-4367.0-4375.168

[ti-amie]

I hope he gave it to them in Crypto.

[JazzNU]

We spent $533 on groceries last week. And we didn't buy anything extravagant. Just the usual stuff. Everything is crazy expensive. And everything is far cheaper here than you would find in major metropolitan areas. Honestly, I don't know how folks on limited or fixed incomes are managing.

$85 at Trader Joes gets me 2 brown bags of groceries which consists of mostly frozen vegetables, salmon, chicken, root vegetables, dairy, eggs, some microwavable TJ products and a few assorted snacks. $85 at my local grocery store gets me maybe 3/4 of a brown bag of groceries.

Agreed. Also, I'm not quite sure that living in or near a big city is bad when it comes to this (NYC prices not included - we've been over this, you don't want to get me started on the outrageous prices and what I had to pay for a small box of Better Cheddars at the damn supermarket on the Upper East Side a million years ago - I remain bitter). We have competition in a way that a rural market doesn't. I can't easily go to one single store and expect to walk out paying the same as I did 20 years ago, but it's been that way for several years, not just the last year when inflation has gotten bad.

I mix regular local grocery chain (earn gas rewards), independent grocery store with great produce section, Wegman's, Trader Joe's and Target (earn cash back and gift cards) on the regular with some trips to Costco mixed in. And actually got a discounted BJs membership recently too because something I got regularly at Costco was costing $10 over what it used to, and was still the lower price at BJs and the membership cost would be paid for easily in the difference.

There are savings to be had when there are more options. But you have to work for it a little more.


As for those on limited or fixed incomes - in this area, many lean on food pantries for help - but again, food insecurity has been a growing problem for several years, not remotely a new thing because of recent inflation. It's why there's a decent number of cupboards and pantries already up and running.

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[ponchi101]

These people are so unhinged that maybe they did not vote for HIS candidates. But I still say they will vote for him.

[Owendonovan]

He also wrongly thinks it'll give him some pie in the sky immunity for all the crimes he's about to charged with.

[ti-amie]

[Owendonovan]

That's funny.

[Owendonovan]

There's something cruel to his candidacy. It's a little like messing with someone who has mental challenges. It's never sat well politically or humanely.

[Owendonovan]

There's something cruel to his candidacy. It's a little like messing with someone who has mental challenges. It's never sat well politically or humanely.

[ponchi101]

...

There's something cruel to his candidacy. It's a little like messing with someone who has mental challenges. It's never sat well politically or humanely.

Do you think he has some mental handicaps? By that I mean some syndrome or something along that line.
He certainly is a man of great ignorance, to say the least. But I am not sure this is what you refer to.