Sweet Jawja Special Elections

[The Dog 42744]

39 minutes ago, lemonlime said:

I'm not sure what combination this is of stupidity or that Republicans are now perpetual whiny victims, and they just don't give a fuck whether their grievances are based in fact and they know their base will never appreciate that they're lying and stupid.

DAAYUMM

Raffensperger is out of fucks to give. 

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

16 hours ago, Underdog said:

I've been to Atlanta, practically feel like a Georgia resident, I also voted. 

 

16 hours ago, BradInATX said:

Me too, and I live in Texas.

Did y'all take some dead grandparents with you?

[Aqua Buddha 13897]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

Good good 

 

Black voters in GA have finally realized they're the king makers there.  It was a lot to ask for them to stand in line for 8 hours to vote in a hopeless election.  (Fuck Brian Kemp.)  Now that they know they can win GA going forward, they're a lot more willing to vote.

[Gil Bang 25507]

In my motherfucking veins

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/15/new-poll-provides-warning-sign-gop-georgia/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

 

 

Ever since President Trump launched his baseless voter fraud campaign, Republican strategists have fretted about it potentially hurting GOP turnout in the all-important Georgia Senate runoffs. If Republicans have no confidence that their votes will be counted accurately, the logic goes, might they just stay home? Adding to their concern: two lawyers pushing Trump’s claims, L. Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, have urged Republicans to withhold their votes if Georgia’s GOP leaders don’t act to overturn the state’s results for Trump.

 

To this point, this has been a largely theoretical exercise. But a new poll suggests there might indeed be some peril in this whole exercise for Republicans.

The Fox News poll asked people whether “this presidential election has made you more or less likely to vote in the next presidential election.” Overall, 75 percent say it has made them more likely, while just 11 percent say it has made them less likely.

 

But there is a partisan split. While 84 percent of Democrats say this election has made them more likely to vote in the next one, just 69 percent of Republicans say the same. Only 6 percent of Democrats say they’re less likely to vote, while 16 percent of Republicans say the same.

What’s more, the group with the highest “less likely” number? Trump voters. Fully 19 percent — about 1 in 5 — say they are less likely to vote in the next presidential election, vs. just 5 percent of Biden voters. No other group broken out in the poll says it is as turned off as Trump voters; the next highest numbers come from voters under 45 years old, Whites without college degrees and rural voters, with the latter two groups overlapping significantly with Trump’s base.

You could look at those numbers and explain it away as voters just being dejected about their candidate losing. But the same question in 2016 showed no such partisan difference after Trump’s win. At the time, 80 percent of both Republicans and Democrats said they were more likely to vote thanks to the election.

The Trump-fueled peril for the GOP in Georgia

Ditto the 2000 election. Despite ongoing litigation over the George W. Bush-Al Gore race, a Fox poll at the time showed identical numbers -- 80 percent -- of both parties said they were more likely to vote next time. Gore voters were sightly less likely to say so, but the gap was small (81-76), and that was before the race was officially over.

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There are two questions that follow from there.

One is why people say this. Just because there is a partisan difference doesn’t necessarily mean it’s because of the voter fraud crusade. Perhaps Republicans are responding to their candidate’s loss in a different way than Democrats did in 2016 — either because they expected to win or because they are frustrated.

The second is what it means, practically speaking. Just because people say they are less likely to vote doesn’t mean they won’t turn out. Perhaps this is a momentary expression of frustration rather than a true expression of intent. And four years is a long time for that frustration to subside — or be turned into something more productive for the GOP, like determination to gain a different result.

 

But that longer-term calculus isn’t much help right now in Georgia, where early voting began Monday in the state’s Jan. 5 Senate runoffs. Democrats could gain control of both chambers of Congress and the presidency if they win both races. Republicans entered those races as slight favorites, despite the state going narrowly for President-elect Joe Biden last month.

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But Trump’s baseless and failing voter fraud crusade is certainly presenting some perhaps unhelpful variables. It has led the vast majority of Republicans to believe the race was indeed stolen, and it appears it won’t stop even though the electoral college made Biden’s win official Monday.

Another thing to emphasize about the poll question is that it wasn’t about voting more generally, but rather about the next presidential election. If you asked the same question specifically about Republicans and Trump voters in Georgia about the runoffs, you might get a different result — especially given the stakes involved for their party. Republicans have rebuked Wood and Powell for their boycott campaign, and Trump himself has emphasized the importance of voting in the runoffs (even as he’s offered some decidedly mixed signals at other times).

In other words, we’ll have to see whether this difference means anything practically in Georgia. But the poll does put some meat on the bone when it comes to the GOP’s concerns about depressing its own turnout.

Edited December 15, 2020 by Gil Bang

[shakahorn 1600]

On 12/11/2020 at 2:17 PM, Mrs Whiggins said:

I was a little taken aback by the Carter criticism. I know people's opinion of him is usually nuanced, but I would especially expect a little circumspection with respect to him given where they are. Or am I giving too much credit to the average Trump voter in Georgia?

I agree.  If there was an ex-President from my state, of the opposing party, who pretty much failed as president but rehabilitated his image afterwards, I sure as heck wouldn't want some jackass from Texas coming in and denigrating him.  I gotta figure that's gonna backfire on some of the olds in GA.  But no one ever claimed Gohmert planned any remarks in advance.

[Wulaw Horn 18917]

So, this was always the nightmare for the GOP. Trump goes, and takes enough of his voters with him that the GOP can’t win. 
we shall see but this wouldn’t be a surprising result particularly if Dems win GA. I have zero sense of how it will actually play out. Literally nothing would surprise me. 

[Gatorubet 29391]

Just voted in Georgia. Felt great!

Me too! If “Georgia” meant “your mom” and “voted” meant....ya know.

[Gatorubet 29391]

Why is Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger working so hard to add drop boxes and take other steps to make it harder for Republicans to win. Is he really that intimidated by Stacey Abrams?

It’s almost like it’s his job to make voting accessible to everyone in the state. Weird.

[Francisco 2.0 31567]

Timely reporting:

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/value-of-sen-kelly-loefflers-georgia-mansion-dropped-dollar6m-overnightand-nobody-can-explain-why?ref=home

 

Quote

When Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, bought a 15,000-square-foot Atlanta mansion known as “Descante” for $10.5 million in 2009, it was the most expensive private home purchase in the city’s history.

The value of the estate, as appraised by Fulton County government officials for the purpose of calculating annual property tax dues, remained the same, $10.5 million, for the next seven years. Then, in 2016, the appraised value suddenly plunged to $4.15 million—a whopping 60 percent decline.

The result was a dramatic cut to the couple’s property tax bill.

 

Quote

Originally, they were paying $200,000 annually to the city and county governments. In 2016, after their home’s value dropped, they paid $90,000.

Since then, the appraised value of the home has risen to roughly $5 million, but they are still paying about $80,000 less a year than they did when they first bought. In 2018, the home was valued at $5.5 million, and the couple paid $115,000 in property taxes for that year. In 2020, the home was valued at $5 million, with a tax bill of $112,000.

 

Quote

The devaluation of the Loeffler-Sprecher estate, and lower tax bill, came after the couple invested significantly in improvements to the property. In 2015, they spent nearly $90,000 to renovate the kitchen, $150,000 to construct a new greenhouse, and $125,000 on various outdoor improvements, records filed with the city show.

And it’s especially striking given that Atlanta was undergoing a real estate boom at that time. Home prices in the metro area surged by 81 percent from 2012 to 2020, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

 

Spoiler

Seven of Loeffler and Sprecher’s eight closest neighbors saw their own property values increase as Descante’s fell, according to records maintained by Fulton County. The couple’s immediate next door neighbors did see their home’s appraisal shrink—a far more modest decline from $4,152,800 to $3,269,100—but only after they filed an appeal with the county challenging the valuation.

“You know something's wrong there, if there was just a singular discount,” R.J. Morris, a former member of the Fulton County Board of Assessors and a longtime tax activist, told The Daily Beast after examining tax documents with the names redacted.

What was behind the precipitous decline is not apparent in city and county records reviewed by The Daily Beast. In a statement, a spokesperson for Fulton County was unable to offer an explanation, either.

“The employees responsible for these changes, including the appraiser, the Residential Property Manager, the Deputy Chief Appraiser and the Chief Appraiser, are no longer within Fulton County and there is no documentation suggesting the cause of these changes,” said the spokesperson.

There is no indication that Loeffler or her husband acted improperly, or worked to have the value of their estate, and thus their tax bill, lowered through non-public means. The Georgia senator’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

But the unusual circumstances around the drop in the property’s worth, and the lack of an explanation for it from county authorities, raise questions about how the process of valuing one of Atlanta’s most expensive homes unfolded.

Loeffler and Sprecher, a fabulously wealthy couple cemented in the ranks of Atlanta’s elite, snapped up Descante at the bottom of a recession that crashed the housing market. They got it for $7 million less than the original owners, the soap opera moguls behind General Hospital and As the World Turns, were asking.

At the time, Loeffler and Sprecher were executives at the company he grew from a local energy-trading marketplace to a Fortune 500 behemoth that now owns the New York Stock Exchange. The seven-bedroom home in Tuxedo Park, an exclusive subsection of the tony Buckhead neighborhood, features lush, spacious grounds, a garage portico imported from Spain, several Renaissance-era European frescoes, and no fewer than nine antique fireplaces.

At the time their home’s value dropped, Loeffler and her husband were fixtures in Atlanta’s business, philanthropy, and society circles, and were also active in fundraising and giving for political candidates. But neither held public office of any kind. Loeffler was floated as a possible Senate candidate in 2014, but it was not until December 2019 that Republican Gov. Brian Kemp announced he would appoint her to the seat being vacated by former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA).

Several Georgia-based property tax and real estate experts, speaking on background, told The Daily Beast that the decline in Descante’s value was very unusual. One reason is the sheer magnitude of it, often seen only when a property sustains serious damage. “Did they demolish the house?” quipped one Atlanta property tax guru, after the appraisal pattern at Descante was described to them by The Daily Beast.

Some longtime observers of Fulton County’s government speculated that the value drop may have been the result of some deliberate readjustment of the home’s value—or simply an error on the part of the assessor’s office. Either way, the move cost the county a significant amount of money.

A tax professional who deals with Fulton County regularly told The Daily Beast that seemingly inexplicable errors and changes in valuation—even those as dramatic as the one seen at Descante—are not uncommon among Fulton County’s hundreds of thousands of residential properties. “It’s a trainwreck,” the professional said of the county Board of Assessors, speaking anonymously to offer candid insights about its functioning. “They’re wrong a lot.”

In Georgia, where residential properties are appraised for tax purposes on an annual basis, a property owner can appeal the county’s decision if they believe their home’s value was inflated or miscalculated in any way. But there is no record that Loeffler and Sprecher appealed the county’s valuation of their home at any point. The tax professional speaking to The Daily Beast doubted that Loeffler or her husband took any moves to lower their property’s value.

The math behind the change, shown in annual county filings breaking down value calculations, centers on two things. One is a line item titled “gross improvements.” From 2009 to 2015, that line item accounted for $5 million of the home’s value. The next year, it was reduced to $0.

Another is a line item called “cost/design factor,” which professionals say is simply a reflection of how high-end the property’s amenities and architectural features are. In 2015, Descante’s value for that line item was 94 percent—an incredibly high figure. In 2016, that line item dropped to 24 percent; the reasons for the shift are unclear.

Beyond the messy accounting of Descante’s value was a messy political situation at the Board of Appraisers. The office was in the middle of a tumultuous period when it reduced the property’s value by $6 million. The chief appraiser in 2016, David Fitzgibbon, was fired in September that year amid complaints over his management of the assessment system and his use of public resources. He did not respond to calls for comment.

Morris, the former Board of Assessors member, characterized the appraiser’s office during Fitzgibbon’s tenure as “squirrelly,” incompetent, and plagued with rumors of malfeasance. The Daily Beast shared property tax documents for Loeffler’s home with Morris, while redacting identifying information about the address and its owners.

Knowing only that the owner was an elected official, Morris said it was unlikely any politician would attempt to meddle with their tax bill.

"I would be shocked. You're smart enough to have a building in Tuxedo Park, which tells me you're pretty smart, unless you inherited it," he told The Daily Beast. "And you're so stupid you turned around and got some government officials to lower your property value when it's a public document?”

Morris noted that Georgia tax law includes a principle known as “uniformity,” which encourages counties to assess substantially similar properties in the same area at around the same level. Fulton County has consistently appraised the Loeffler-Sprecher residence at a higher value than its neighbors, even after its price plunged in 2016 and its peers continued to trend upward. At the same time that the couple’s home saw its assessment plunge, a new house wrapped work on a separate but adjacent lot also belonging to the pair, and received a first-ever appraisal of $1,192,900.

Since this home is in the same neighborhood as Loeffler and Sprecher’s regular abode, its lower value could act as a drag on the former’s assessment, Morris said. But it should have had a similar effect on all the other homes in the area. It did not.

 

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

I am shocked. Shocked that someone who would knowingly trade stocks after receiving privileged intelligence regarding a pandemic in order to profit and someone who created a tax shelter in the Cayman Islands would be involved in such a thing. The Loefflers are good people. Christian people. Kelly comes from a farming family and is an athlete. There must be some mistake.

 

Did I do that right?

Edited December 16, 2020 by Mrs Whiggins
Kelly doesn't have the extra 'e' but she seems like someone who would so I keep mistakenly adding it.

[Neonmoon 38126]

I bet it gets reevaluated and assessed at over 10 million when they sell it 

[RDCanecutter 25767]

2 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

Timely reporting:

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/value-of-sen-kelly-loefflers-georgia-mansion-dropped-dollar6m-overnightand-nobody-can-explain-why?ref=home

 

 

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Seven of Loeffler and Sprecher’s eight closest neighbors saw their own property values increase as Descante’s fell, according to records maintained by Fulton County. The couple’s immediate next door neighbors did see their home’s appraisal shrink—a far more modest decline from $4,152,800 to $3,269,100—but only after they filed an appeal with the county challenging the valuation.

“You know something's wrong there, if there was just a singular discount,” R.J. Morris, a former member of the Fulton County Board of Assessors and a longtime tax activist, told The Daily Beast after examining tax documents with the names redacted.

What was behind the precipitous decline is not apparent in city and county records reviewed by The Daily Beast. In a statement, a spokesperson for Fulton County was unable to offer an explanation, either.

“The employees responsible for these changes, including the appraiser, the Residential Property Manager, the Deputy Chief Appraiser and the Chief Appraiser, are no longer within Fulton County and there is no documentation suggesting the cause of these changes,” said the spokesperson.

There is no indication that Loeffler or her husband acted improperly, or worked to have the value of their estate, and thus their tax bill, lowered through non-public means. The Georgia senator’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

But the unusual circumstances around the drop in the property’s worth, and the lack of an explanation for it from county authorities, raise questions about how the process of valuing one of Atlanta’s most expensive homes unfolded.

Loeffler and Sprecher, a fabulously wealthy couple cemented in the ranks of Atlanta’s elite, snapped up Descante at the bottom of a recession that crashed the housing market. They got it for $7 million less than the original owners, the soap opera moguls behind General Hospital and As the World Turns, were asking.

At the time, Loeffler and Sprecher were executives at the company he grew from a local energy-trading marketplace to a Fortune 500 behemoth that now owns the New York Stock Exchange. The seven-bedroom home in Tuxedo Park, an exclusive subsection of the tony Buckhead neighborhood, features lush, spacious grounds, a garage portico imported from Spain, several Renaissance-era European frescoes, and no fewer than nine antique fireplaces.

At the time their home’s value dropped, Loeffler and her husband were fixtures in Atlanta’s business, philanthropy, and society circles, and were also active in fundraising and giving for political candidates. But neither held public office of any kind. Loeffler was floated as a possible Senate candidate in 2014, but it was not until December 2019 that Republican Gov. Brian Kemp announced he would appoint her to the seat being vacated by former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA).

Several Georgia-based property tax and real estate experts, speaking on background, told The Daily Beast that the decline in Descante’s value was very unusual. One reason is the sheer magnitude of it, often seen only when a property sustains serious damage. “Did they demolish the house?” quipped one Atlanta property tax guru, after the appraisal pattern at Descante was described to them by The Daily Beast.

Some longtime observers of Fulton County’s government speculated that the value drop may have been the result of some deliberate readjustment of the home’s value—or simply an error on the part of the assessor’s office. Either way, the move cost the county a significant amount of money.

A tax professional who deals with Fulton County regularly told The Daily Beast that seemingly inexplicable errors and changes in valuation—even those as dramatic as the one seen at Descante—are not uncommon among Fulton County’s hundreds of thousands of residential properties. “It’s a trainwreck,” the professional said of the county Board of Assessors, speaking anonymously to offer candid insights about its functioning. “They’re wrong a lot.”

In Georgia, where residential properties are appraised for tax purposes on an annual basis, a property owner can appeal the county’s decision if they believe their home’s value was inflated or miscalculated in any way. But there is no record that Loeffler and Sprecher appealed the county’s valuation of their home at any point. The tax professional speaking to The Daily Beast doubted that Loeffler or her husband took any moves to lower their property’s value.

The math behind the change, shown in annual county filings breaking down value calculations, centers on two things. One is a line item titled “gross improvements.” From 2009 to 2015, that line item accounted for $5 million of the home’s value. The next year, it was reduced to $0.

Another is a line item called “cost/design factor,” which professionals say is simply a reflection of how high-end the property’s amenities and architectural features are. In 2015, Descante’s value for that line item was 94 percent—an incredibly high figure. In 2016, that line item dropped to 24 percent; the reasons for the shift are unclear.

Beyond the messy accounting of Descante’s value was a messy political situation at the Board of Appraisers. The office was in the middle of a tumultuous period when it reduced the property’s value by $6 million. The chief appraiser in 2016, David Fitzgibbon, was fired in September that year amid complaints over his management of the assessment system and his use of public resources. He did not respond to calls for comment.

Morris, the former Board of Assessors member, characterized the appraiser’s office during Fitzgibbon’s tenure as “squirrelly,” incompetent, and plagued with rumors of malfeasance. The Daily Beast shared property tax documents for Loeffler’s home with Morris, while redacting identifying information about the address and its owners.

Knowing only that the owner was an elected official, Morris said it was unlikely any politician would attempt to meddle with their tax bill.

"I would be shocked. You're smart enough to have a building in Tuxedo Park, which tells me you're pretty smart, unless you inherited it," he told The Daily Beast. "And you're so stupid you turned around and got some government officials to lower your property value when it's a public document?”

Morris noted that Georgia tax law includes a principle known as “uniformity,” which encourages counties to assess substantially similar properties in the same area at around the same level. Fulton County has consistently appraised the Loeffler-Sprecher residence at a higher value than its neighbors, even after its price plunged in 2016 and its peers continued to trend upward. At the same time that the couple’s home saw its assessment plunge, a new house wrapped work on a separate but adjacent lot also belonging to the pair, and received a first-ever appraisal of $1,192,900.

Since this home is in the same neighborhood as Loeffler and Sprecher’s regular abode, its lower value could act as a drag on the former’s assessment, Morris said. But it should have had a similar effect on all the other homes in the area. It did not.

 

No biggie. We did the same with our mansion in 2009.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11486]

23 hours ago, JimmyJames said:

My fellow Trump loyalists, 

Mitch McConnell today betrayed president trump. Now today and in the future, it is time to betray him. Either boycott the rigged Georgia Senate election, or write in Donald J. Trump’s name on the ballet no matter how you have to do it. Insist on it. 
 

Support Trump! Stop the steal! 

Q-drop informed us Ossoff stands for Officer Security Services of Forty Fifth!  He is running as a Dem to be undercover promoting the agenda of the 45th president!  WWG1WGA! Follow the Rabbit! 

[JimmyJames 12267]

10 minutes ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

Q-drop informed us Ossoff stands for Officer Security Services of Forty Fifth!  He is running as a Dem to be undercover promoting the agenda of the 45th president!  WWG1WGA! Follow the Rabbit! 

Someone smarter than me should invent and program a Q Anon based video game. It would make hundreds of millions from these fools, plus give these idiots something else to do.

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

 

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

In addition, this below is the shittiest thing ever. I mean it's so brazenly out in the open and true, and it is emblematic of the GOP voter bloc's conflicting hallucinations of 1) that's going to be me someday-rich and powerful- and I don't want to jeopardize that and 2) socialism isn't socialism when the rich do it for each other, it's just good business, not like these welfare cheats. The Democratic party has been pushing for relief for months, although it electorally could have advantaged some votes to the GOP (had it been passed prior to Nov. 3)

 

[hookemATL 11496]

Been awhile since I lived in GA, but I implore all the MAGAheads there to write in this guy instead of voting for Loeffler/Perdue:

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

On 12/16/2020 at 9:13 AM, Neonmoon said:

I bet it gets reevaluated and assessed at over 10 million when they sell it 

If in the neighbors I'm contesting my valuation based upon their valuation.  

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

 

 

 

The tweet above is a group of Ohioans who drove down to distribute pamphlets and door knock.

[Neonmoon 38126]

Good news

 

[Bama Chick 28595]

Great ad. I really like Ossoff.

[Frank Erwin 203]

Kelly Loeffler is auditioning to be Trump's next wife.  She is tall, athletic, arguably hot, and determined to symbolically lick his nether regions in public.  Most of the GOP check the last box but don't qualify on the first three criteria.

[BradInATX 9208]

What's the lowest amount of money you'd take to attend that Loeffler/Cruz/Travis Tritt thing?

It's only two hours. I'd probably do it for a grand. Five if I have to be sober.

[thepop 4383]

I’m not following these races but I hope they’re hammering the corruption angle. That’s a winning strategy.

[Wax Beer Cup 377]

Haven’t gone through this whole thread (had to take a politics break for a few weeks), but is GA going to actually count the mail votes for this election early or is this going to drag on for a week too?  

[Bama Chick 28595]

Kelly Loeffler is auditioning to be Trump's next wife.  She is tall, athletic, arguably hot, and determined to symbolically lick his nether regions in public.  Most of the GOP check the last box but don't qualify on the first three criteria.

“Arguably hot”?

I mean, I don’t have a penis but she looks like a horse to me. Or an Ann Coulter lookalike.

[Mole 4265]

4 hours ago, thepop said:

I’m not following these races but I hope they’re hammering the corruption angle. That’s a winning strategy.

It’s all corruption vs. communism/Jeremiah Wright/Anti-military preachers right now.

[DigglerontheHoof 20449]

6 hours ago, Frank Erwin said:

Kelly Loeffler is auditioning to be Trump's next wife.  She is tall, athletic, arguably hot, and determined to symbolically lick his nether regions in public.  Most of the GOP check the last box but don't qualify on the first three criteria.

If horse-man-face is your thing....sure. 

[hookemATL 11496]

1 hour ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

If horse-man-face is your thing....sure. 

[Walden Ponderer 12638]

8 hours ago, Frank Erwin said:

Kelly Loeffler is auditioning to be Trump's next wife.  She is tall, athletic, arguably hot, and determined to symbolically lick his nether regions in public.  Most of the GOP check the last box but don't qualify on the first three criteria.

She's also actually rich, and he's not. No, she's auditioning to be Satan's executive assistant.

[washparkhorn 9894]

Leave it to good old Wall Street for all the amoral (immoral?) guidance anyone might ever need . . . 

Billionaire Republicans on Wall Street have been opening their wallets to try and protect David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler’s Senate seats in January 5’s high-stakes runoff in Georgia against two Democrat challengers.

Two super Pacs are planning to spend about $80m on ads and other efforts backing the Republicans.

Among donors are top finance CEOs Stephen Schwarzman, of Blackstone Group, and Kenneth Griffin, of Citadel LLC, who have donated millions to the Senate Leadership Fund super Pac which is supporting Perdue, according to campaign finance records.

Last month, Schwarzman, who briefly was the chair of Donald Trump’s strategic and policy forum, contributed $15m and Griffin donated $10m to the Pac; while earlier in the year, the Pac received $20m from Schwarzman and $25m from Griffin.

Separately, a fundraising committee backing both Republican senators that launched last month has surpassed its goal of raising $35m to oppose Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. This committee is also being helped by fundraising on Wall Street including Schwarzman, Griffin and others, say two GOP sources.

The Georgia runoff will determine which party controls the Senate – and consequently how much political power Joe Biden’s administration will have to push its agenda.

Spoiler

 

If Ossoff and Warnock win, the Senate would be split 50-50, giving Democrats control since Vice-President elect Kamala Harris would have a tie breaking vote.

With the stakes so high, reports show that over $400m on ads has been spent or booked so far in Georgia by the candidates’ campaigns, their parties and outside backers.

Republican Senator David Perdue of Georgia arrives for Vice-President Mike Pence’s defend the majority rally on 10 December in Augusta. Photograph: Curtis Compton/AP

As fundraising and spending on ads in Georgia has increased, it looks as though the two senators and their supporters are on track to have a distinct edge over their Democratic challengers.

Analysis from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) shows that securities firms, insurance and real estate companies have historically been the top donors to Perdue and Loeffler.

Elected in 2014, Perdue has raked in about $4.4m from securities, investment and real estate companies from 2015-2020, making the sector his leading campaign funder, CRP data shows.

Loeffler, who was appointed in late 2019 to fill the seat of a retiring senator with health problems, has this cycle pulled in over $1.1m from these firms, or more than other sectors donated, says CRP.

“Perdue and Loeffler’s money from Wall Street and real estate towers over every other sector that supports them in the 2020 cycle,” said Sheila Krumholz, the executive director of CRP. “On top of money to the candidates, conservative outside groups are also raking in cash from major financial interests for the Georgia Senate runoffs in an attempt to keep these seats – and the Senate – for the GOP.”

Perdue’s top 10 donors, meanwhile, have included executives from insurer AFLAC and Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs which, respectively, gave him $92,000 and $88,000, according to CRP.

Loeffler’s 10 leading donors have included $114,650 from Intercontinental Exchange, a company her husband Jeffrey Sprecher runs; $29,450 from AFLAC; and $22,500 from Blackstone Group.

The Senate Leadership Fund, which boasts close ties to Senate majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has drawn its largest financial industry checks from Schwarzman and Griffin.

Other finance sector mega donors to the super Pac include the CEOs of Charles Schwab Corp which gave $6.3m, plus Elliott Management and Stephens Inc, both of which chipped in $4m.

Overall, CRP data revealed that donations from finance, insurance and real estate sectors totaled close to $126m to the super PAC which raised close to $400m in the election cycle.

Democrats

Democratic Senate candidate Raphael Warnock speaks at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on the first day of early voting on 14 December. Photograph: Nathan Posner/REX/Shutterstock

Democrats on Wall Street, meanwhile, have been supporting a big Pac backing Ossoff and Warnock, though have so far been outmatched in donations.

The pro-Democrat Senate Majority Pac, which is expected to spend millions of dollars in the runoffs, before 3 November raked in big money from two financial giants, receiving $10.2m Renaissance Technologies, and $5m from Paloma Partners, according to CRP.

Overall, however, as of 23 November, the Senate Majority Pac had just $2.1m left to spend, while the Senate Leadership Fund had $60.8m, according to CRP.

Perdue and Loeffler’s strong support from financial industry leaders seems partly attributable to their industry ties. An ex-CEO of Dollar General whose net worth was estimated last year at $16m, Perdue used to be on the board of Cardlytics, a financial tech company.

Loeffler’s husband Sprecher, chairs the New York Stock Exchange and leads global exchange operator ICE. The couple’s net worth has been pegged by Forbes at $800m.

Both senators, though, have been dogged by ethical issues involving significant stock trading during the pandemic’s early stages which sparked federal inquiries into potential illegal insider trading.

Perdue, who is the most prolific stock trader in the Senate, drew scrutiny from the justice department due to his well timed and profitable stock trading in Cardlytics: Perdue sold about $1m worth of his Cardlytics stock in January. Investigators looked at a personal email he received before the stock sale and whether he had learned early of a major management shift, the New York Times reported.

DoJ reportedly opted not to charge Perdue with any illegal trading, but the issue has roiled his runoff campaign and may have influenced his decision not to appear at a debate with Ossoff earlier this month.

Loeffler too was embroiled in an inquiry into possible insider trading during the pandemic: she dumped millions of dollars in stocks soon after she received a private briefing from health officials on the new threat in January.

DoJ investigated her trades and those of some other members, but told Loeffler in March it was not pursuing charges.

Still, the stock trading issue has surfaced in the runoffs: when the moderator at her debate with Warnock last Sunday pressed Loeffler about whether Senators should be allowed to trade stocks she avoided answering, calling the controversy about her trading a “conspiracy” and “left wing media lie”.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/dec/15/georgia-senate-race-wall-street-donates-millions-back-republicans

 

Edited December 18, 2020 by washparkhorn

[JimmyJames 12267]

21 minutes ago, washparkhorn said:

Leave it to good old Wall Street for all the amoral (immoral?) guidance anyone might ever need . . . 

Billionaire Republicans on Wall Street have been opening their wallets to try and protect David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler’s Senate seats in January 5’s high-stakes runoff in Georgia against two Democrat challengers.

Two super Pacs are planning to spend about $80m on ads and other efforts backing the Republicans.

Among donors are top finance CEOs Stephen Schwarzman, of Blackstone Group, and Kenneth Griffin, of Citadel LLC, who have donated millions to the Senate Leadership Fund super Pac which is supporting Perdue, according to campaign finance records.

Last month, Schwarzman, who briefly was the chair of Donald Trump’s strategic and policy forum, contributed $15m and Griffin donated $10m to the Pac; while earlier in the year, the Pac received $20m from Schwarzman and $25m from Griffin.

Separately, a fundraising committee backing both Republican senators that launched last month has surpassed its goal of raising $35m to oppose Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. This committee is also being helped by fundraising on Wall Street including Schwarzman, Griffin and others, say two GOP sources.

The Georgia runoff will determine which party controls the Senate – and consequently how much political power Joe Biden’s administration will have to push its agenda.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

If Ossoff and Warnock win, the Senate would be split 50-50, giving Democrats control since Vice-President elect Kamala Harris would have a tie breaking vote.

With the stakes so high, reports show that over $400m on ads has been spent or booked so far in Georgia by the candidates’ campaigns, their parties and outside backers.

Republican Senator David Perdue of Georgia arrives for Vice-President Mike Pence’s defend the majority rally on 10 December in Augusta. Photograph: Curtis Compton/AP

As fundraising and spending on ads in Georgia has increased, it looks as though the two senators and their supporters are on track to have a distinct edge over their Democratic challengers.

Analysis from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) shows that securities firms, insurance and real estate companies have historically been the top donors to Perdue and Loeffler.

Elected in 2014, Perdue has raked in about $4.4m from securities, investment and real estate companies from 2015-2020, making the sector his leading campaign funder, CRP data shows.

Loeffler, who was appointed in late 2019 to fill the seat of a retiring senator with health problems, has this cycle pulled in over $1.1m from these firms, or more than other sectors donated, says CRP.

“Perdue and Loeffler’s money from Wall Street and real estate towers over every other sector that supports them in the 2020 cycle,” said Sheila Krumholz, the executive director of CRP. “On top of money to the candidates, conservative outside groups are also raking in cash from major financial interests for the Georgia Senate runoffs in an attempt to keep these seats – and the Senate – for the GOP.”

Perdue’s top 10 donors, meanwhile, have included executives from insurer AFLAC and Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs which, respectively, gave him $92,000 and $88,000, according to CRP.

Loeffler’s 10 leading donors have included $114,650 from Intercontinental Exchange, a company her husband Jeffrey Sprecher runs; $29,450 from AFLAC; and $22,500 from Blackstone Group.

The Senate Leadership Fund, which boasts close ties to Senate majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has drawn its largest financial industry checks from Schwarzman and Griffin.

Other finance sector mega donors to the super Pac include the CEOs of Charles Schwab Corp which gave $6.3m, plus Elliott Management and Stephens Inc, both of which chipped in $4m.

Overall, CRP data revealed that donations from finance, insurance and real estate sectors totaled close to $126m to the super PAC which raised close to $400m in the election cycle.

Democrats

Democratic Senate candidate Raphael Warnock speaks at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on the first day of early voting on 14 December. Photograph: Nathan Posner/REX/Shutterstock

Democrats on Wall Street, meanwhile, have been supporting a big Pac backing Ossoff and Warnock, though have so far been outmatched in donations.

The pro-Democrat Senate Majority Pac, which is expected to spend millions of dollars in the runoffs, before 3 November raked in big money from two financial giants, receiving $10.2m Renaissance Technologies, and $5m from Paloma Partners, according to CRP.

Overall, however, as of 23 November, the Senate Majority Pac had just $2.1m left to spend, while the Senate Leadership Fund had $60.8m, according to CRP.

Perdue and Loeffler’s strong support from financial industry leaders seems partly attributable to their industry ties. An ex-CEO of Dollar General whose net worth was estimated last year at $16m, Perdue used to be on the board of Cardlytics, a financial tech company.

Loeffler’s husband Sprecher, chairs the New York Stock Exchange and leads global exchange operator ICE. The couple’s net worth has been pegged by Forbes at $800m.

Both senators, though, have been dogged by ethical issues involving significant stock trading during the pandemic’s early stages which sparked federal inquiries into potential illegal insider trading.

Perdue, who is the most prolific stock trader in the Senate, drew scrutiny from the justice department due to his well timed and profitable stock trading in Cardlytics: Perdue sold about $1m worth of his Cardlytics stock in January. Investigators looked at a personal email he received before the stock sale and whether he had learned early of a major management shift, the New York Times reported.

DoJ reportedly opted not to charge Perdue with any illegal trading, but the issue has roiled his runoff campaign and may have influenced his decision not to appear at a debate with Ossoff earlier this month.

Loeffler too was embroiled in an inquiry into possible insider trading during the pandemic: she dumped millions of dollars in stocks soon after she received a private briefing from health officials on the new threat in January.

DoJ investigated her trades and those of some other members, but told Loeffler in March it was not pursuing charges.

Still, the stock trading issue has surfaced in the runoffs: when the moderator at her debate with Warnock last Sunday pressed Loeffler about whether Senators should be allowed to trade stocks she avoided answering, calling the controversy about her trading a “conspiracy” and “left wing media lie”.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/dec/15/georgia-senate-race-wall-street-donates-millions-back-republicans

 

Not sure why Wall Street is even bothering. The election is clearly rigged in favor of the dems so no republicans should participate and if you do, you MUST write in Trump. 
 

Spread the word! Stop the steal!!!

[RDCanecutter 25767]

14 hours ago, Frank Erwin said:

Kelly Loeffler is auditioning to be Trump's next wife.  She is tall, athletic, arguably hot, and determined to symbolically lick his nether regions in public.  Most of the GOP check the last box but don't qualify on the first three criteria.

Well, now that you've put it that way, maybe me and Kelly could have a little hate/love sumthinsumthin on the side.

[washparkhorn 9894]

1 hour ago, RDCanecutter said:

Well, now that you've put it that way, maybe me and Kelly could have a little hate/love sumthinsumthin on the side.

 

 

[Gatorubet 29391]

“Arguably hot”?

I mean, I don’t have a penis but she looks like a horse to me. Or an Ann Coulter lookalike.

The penis instincts are strong with this one....and correct they are.

[Michael Knight 12663]

 

[Fastbreak 3886]

Loeffler makes my physically sick when I look at her. It must be the pure evil that comes from her soul radiating out of her pores. 

[ChiTownDoc 20839]

1 hour ago, Fastbreak said:

Loeffler makes my physically sick when I look at her. It must be the pure evil that comes from her soul radiating out of her pores. 

And the fact she looks like a horse.  It’s both.  #science 

 

Hope she gets her ass handed to her.  Wall Street is scared shitless.  Good.  

[pacman 7212]

1 hour ago, Fastbreak said:

Loeffler makes my physically sick when I look at her. It must be the pure evil that comes from her soul radiating out of her pores. 

It's the derangement in her eyes.

[henrygandorf 28610]

2 hours ago, pacman said:

It's the derangement in her eyes.

or lack of anything in her eyes. a shark’s eyes.  a doll’s eyes. she’s like if a robot child from a 1980’s sitcom grew up.

no me gusta. 

[Gatorubet 29391]

or lack of anything in her eyes. a shark’s eyes.  a doll’s eyes. she’s like if a robot child from a 1980’s sitcom grew up.

Even Countess Elizabeth Báthory had kinder eyes.

[Bozo_Casanova 25499]

On 12/17/2020 at 10:35 PM, BradInATX said:

What's the lowest amount of money you'd take to attend that Loeffler/Cruz/Travis Tritt thing?

It's only two hours. I'd probably do it for a grand. Five if I have to be sober.

 I’ll always associate Travis Tritt with driving around Dallas in the summer of 1992 with a beautiful girl and nothing serious at stake.

 

[Dnaguy 11538]

10 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

 I’ll always associate Travis Tritt with driving around Dallas in the summer of 1992 with a beautiful girl and nothing serious at stake.

 

Here’s a quarter.

Call somebody who cares.

[Nivek 16643]

or lack of anything in her eyes. a shark’s eyes.  a doll’s eyes. she’s like if a robot child from a 1980’s sitcom grew up.
no me gusta. 

She looks nothing like D.A.R.Y.L.

[Serak The Preparer 3408]

6 hours ago, Nivek said:

She looks nothing like D.A.R.Y.L.

[Nivek 16643]

22 hours ago, Serak The Preparer said:

That's Not Quite Human.

[G650 13063]

On 12/20/2020 at 8:36 AM, Dnaguy said:

Here’s a quarter.

Call somebody who cares.

Well, we are all in T R O U B L E

[The Hot Dog Buffet 1254]

On 12/18/2020 at 5:22 AM, DigglerontheHoof said:

If horse-man-face is your thing....sure. 

She actually looks pretty damned good on the rare occasions that she's masked up.

[Dnaguy 11538]

1 hour ago, G650 said:

Well, we are all in T R O U B L E

Double Trouble

[tantric superman 4667]

I nominate Equus as our official shaggy play.