Follow the Money!

[Six &Twenty]

So, now the narrative has evolved, and it is now a 'fact' parroted by the MSM that the NRA 'buys' politicians? It is also a 'fact' that the NRA should be considered a terrorist organization?

Please, grow the hell up!

Some easily verifiable numbers one should be aware of prior to proving you are ill-informed. (Links follow)

The NRA ranks 491th of 19,110 organizations in terms of political contributions to candidates. In 2016 the NRA contributed only $1,085,200 to individual campaigns.

The top contributing organization in 2016 was Fahr LLC, which contributed $90,585,670, ALL of this sum proffered to Democratic candidates.

The NRA is politically 'effective' not by purchasing political hacks, but rather because it represents and motivates it's membership and like-minded individuals to VOTE, The NRA does invest heavily in 'outside spending' in the form of advertising, advocacy and other activities. In 2016, $54,398,558 was invested. This places the NRA ninth on the list of organizations investing in political 'outside spending'.

The NRA ILA invested $33,341,336 defending the Second Amendment in the 2016 election cycle, placing it at 11th on the list. Who was first? Priorities USA Action, a liberal organ that spent $133,407,972. Of this sum $126,952,679 was spent on opposition to Republican candidates and only 5% ($6,455,293) was spent in support of Democratic candidates.

So the question remains, who is 'bought and paid for' in Washington??

All of the numbers stated in this post and a mass of other data is available on-line at OpenSecrets.Org

Knowledge is your friend, don't be a drone!

The TOP organizations historically are documented HERE:
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/

The NRA is conspicuous by its absence.

[Omega]

Facts?  How dare you introduce facts into this touchy-feely debate??

[mikegideon]

Democrats ain't real good at math.

[A.J. Holst]

Lobbying is a multi BILLION dollar industry.

Paying people with expense accounts to influence elected officials.

Is this what they mean by, "the business of government?"

Edited May 21, 2018 by Gotthegoods

[Chucktshoes]

19 minutes ago, mikegideon said:

Democrats ain't real good at math.

According to the national debt counter, I don’t think anyone in Washington knows how to maths. 

[mikegideon]

23 minutes ago, Chucktshoes said:

According to the national debt counter, I don’t think anyone in Washington knows how to maths. 

Probably correct. But, the "politicians in the NRA's pockets" narrative (this thread) is 100% Democrat. So is the "movement" to repeal the second amendment.

Edited May 21, 2018 by mikegideon

[Chucktshoes]

3 minutes ago, mikegideon said:

Probably correct. But, the politicians in the NRA's pockets (this thread) is 100% Democrat. So is the "movement" to repeal the second amendment.

 For the most part yes. That said, I am 100% certain that if they thought the public would support it,  a good chunk of those A rated NRA Republicans would jump on the repeal the Second Amendment bandwagon. 

 

There is a reason that I maintain that rights are not up for debate or a vote and I don’t give a damn what laws they pass.  By their very nature, politicians are neither principled nor trustworthy.  If they were, they wouldn’t be politicians. 

[mikegideon]

4 minutes ago, Chucktshoes said:

 For the most part yes. That said, I am 100% certain that if they thought the public would support it,  a good chunk of those A rated NRA Republicans would jump on the repeal the Second Amendment bandwagon. 

 

There is a reason that I maintain that rights are not up for debate or a vote and I don’t give a damn what laws they pass.  By their very nature, politicians are neither principled nor trustworthy.  If they were, they wouldn’t be politicians. 

Could be. Ain't nothing lower than a Politician, no matter who they are lying to for votes. The base of voters keep them acting right. That is the essence of our (you and I) long standing argument. The party platform pushes these slimeballs to support what the base wants. Gun rights gets Republicans votes.

When it comes to rights being up for debate, I'm with you 100%. 

[Garufa]

16 minutes ago, Chucktshoes said:

 For the most part yes. That said, I am 100% certain that if they thought the public would support it,  a good chunk of those A rated NRA Republicans would jump on the repeal the Second Amendment bandwagon. 

 

There is a reason that I maintain that rights are not up for debate or a vote and I don’t give a damn what laws they pass.  By their very nature, politicians are neither principled nor trustworthy.  If they were, they wouldn’t be politicians. 

I imagine many are watching Rick Scott’s senate campaign very closely to see what they can get away with.

[Chucktshoes]

1 minute ago, Garufa said:

I imagine many are watching Rick Scott’s senate campaign very closely to see what they can get away with.

Guaranteed.

[n0rlf]

According to the family and friends I have in Florida Scott is only getting voted for one reason, Bill Nelson. 

Scott irritated all with those gun votes. So if he wins it will only be because people cannot stand Bill Nelson. 

[Garufa]

16 minutes ago, n0rlf said:

According to the family and friends I have in Florida Scott is only getting voted for one reason, Bill Nelson. 

Scott irritated all with those gun votes. So if he wins it will only be because people cannot stand Bill Nelson. 

And if he wins it will embolden republicans across the country that regardless of their NRA rating, they can do whatever they want.

[Chucktshoes]

 I believe the applicable term for a Scott victory is ‘pyrrhic’. 

[Garufa]

51 minutes ago, Chucktshoes said:

 I believe the applicable term for a Scott victory is ‘pyrrhic’. 

All too common in today’s politics.

[n0rlf]

Yep career politicians are never an answer. But people keep getting distracted by the look what he or she did have. And they keep voting for the same people. Sad. 

[SWCUMBERLAND]

Back on point...

It seems that the NRA isn't spending the MOST money... but more rather is spending it BETTER.

Not perfect... I leave perfection to Eternal beings. But liberal lobbyists just flinging money versus  the NRA, who has a whole mindset about good targeting, gets things done better with less.

[mikegideon]

9 minutes ago, SWCUMBERLAND said:

Back on point...

It seems that the NRA isn't spending the MOST money... but more rather is spending it BETTER.

Not perfect... I leave perfection to Eternal beings. But liberal lobbyists just flinging money versus  the NRA, who has a whole mindset about good targeting, gets things done better with less.

The NRA gets more mileage out of the threat of costing votes. Yeah, they're efficient and pretty effective more times than not. It's why they get more money from me than the Repubs.

[Erik88]

19 hours ago, Garufa said:

I imagine many are watching Rick Scott’s senate campaign very closely to see what they can get away with.

Gun owners will line up to vote for ole Rickie simply because they view the alternative as worse. 

[mikegideon]

12 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

Gun owners will line up to vote for ole Rickie simply because they view the alternative as worse. 

Worse is a reality. No matter how much you hate Trump, or a Taurus pistol, it could be worse.

[Erik88]

12 minutes ago, mikegideon said:

Worse is a reality. No matter how much you hate Trump, or a Taurus pistol, it could be worse.

 

 

[mikegideon]

7 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

 

 

Watch you go out of context. You want some Hillary quotes on guns? I am smart enough to know what Trump meant, that he was doing his normal unfiltered spew, and that the MSNBC version of this is AS WRONG as everything MSNBC has ever said about him. 

Anyway. Yes. Hillary is worse in my feeble opinion.