The Queen is Coming!!

[ginat]

[quote="Luke252]Andrew spent nearly £130,000...that's over $256,700, to our american friends... on a charter flight so he could go shopping on the way back from Singapore...and funny how all his 'public' engagements seem to coincide with major golf touraments....and the list goes on!!.. it's a joke.

Don't get me wrong it's not just a question of finance, but that does makes me sick.

What would people think about our elected politicians if they were to use our money in this way????[/quote]

Wow, and all they had to do was shoot through the royal birth canal and they get to do all that cool stuff for free! (Sorry, I may get my Southern gal card pulled for that one!)

John Edwards gets really expensive $400 haircuts and charges them to his election campaign for US president. Does that count as outrageous? Then again, a guy has to look good...[quote][/quote]

[Luke]

Wow, and all they had to do was shoot through the royal birth canal and they get to do all that cool stuff for free! (Sorry, I may get my Southern gal card pulled for that one!)

John Edwards gets really expensive $400 haircuts and charges them to his election campaign for US president. Does that count as outrageous? Then again, a guy has to look good...

It's not free...we pay for it!!!... Sorry, i know your being facetious.

I didn't think US election campaigns publicly funded??....still a piss take i know, but at least it aint public money.

[ginat]

no offense taken. yeah, just kidding around about yur side of the pond!

And, yeah, to some degree our presidential candidates do receive public funds. The hubby and I both agreed we're not EXACTLY clear on how or why they do be we both know they do. On our tax returns we file every year there is a box you can tick off to have $3 go to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. We look every year for an option like "heck no" rather than just a "Yes" or "No"!

Oh, just looked it up. If you are interested in our public campaign fund: http://www.fec.gov/info/checkoff.htm#anchor1387639[/url]

[ginat]

Okay, way off topic I guess but I found this website that outlines funding for candidates. If you click on the individual candidates you can see where their money so far has come from. If you click on a candidate and then click on the methodology part of the pie chart, it says: "Public funding provided 31.5% of all presidential campaign money." http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/

Kinda interesting. And, if you want to see a man with a pretty haircut, click on Edwards!
[/url]

[ginat]

Alright, insomnia is making me crazy about this! I just found an explanation of the Bush/Kerry contest and where their money came from on that website.

"As is typical for major presidential candidates, Bush collected a miniscule proportion of his total funds from political action committees. So did Kerry. Although both candidates rejected public matching funds during the primaries, they accepted general election public funds, which totaled $74.6 million. By accepting the government grant for the general election, they agreed to stop raising money directly for their campaigns after their party conventions."

So there you have it I guess. I never really stopped to think about just how/when they get the monies. I knew they rejected them at times and accepted them at others but not real clear on the exact amounts. I was a little surprised to find out that they accept so little from PACs as each side makes the other side sound like shameless panderers in that respect. Hope others find it interesting. I must find a way to sleep now!!

[Luke]

Thank you for such a comprehensive reply.

It is interesting...well i find it so.... there is much debate at the moment about whether UK political parties should be publicly funded - and whether there should be a cap of individual donations.

[ginat]

Thank you for such a comprehensive reply.

It is interesting...well i find it so.... there is much debate at the moment about whether UK political parties should be publicly funded - and whether there should be a cap of individual donations.

Okay, insomnia does whacky things to me brain and once I got started I couldn't stop myself. I think I started this expedition around 3:30 a.m.?

Everything in my body and mind says caps would be a good thing. It's crazy how much money they spend here. Never gonna happen though because too much is at stake for each side and they will never come to terms on how to do it.

[Luke]

The issue in the UK is that the tories are saying that an individual limit should apply to labour party donations from the unions...which are effectively lots of very small donations from working people, and are the main source of finance for labour.

I know there are questions surrounding union bloc voting, but in terms of finance, there is a world of difference between union support from many people, and an individual multi-millionaire supporting a party, which the tories rely on.

[drowningbitbybit]

an individual multi-millionaire supporting a party, which the tories rely on.

Er, and Labour doesnt?
Not that Im pro-tory (I am anti-Blair, but thats not the same thing), but Labour has been just as corrupt with regards to individual's donations, hence all the talk of Tony's Cronies - "Here's a million, where's my peerage?".

[ginat]

The issue in the UK is that the tories are saying that an individual limit should apply to labour party donations from the unions...which are effectively lots of very small donations from working people, and are the main source of finance for labour.

I know there are questions surrounding union bloc voting, but in terms of finance, there is a world of difference between union support from many people, and an individual multi-millionaire supporting a party, which the tories rely on.

Ah, equally interesting. That could pose a problem on both sides I guess. We do kinda have that worked out to some degree in that their are individual limits and they are limited in the categories they may give to in any one of the races. In other words, Joe Blow Millionaire can give so much to an individual, so much to the national party, and so much to the state/local party or a PAC, in one race.

I submit to you a detailed explanation of this
http://www.opensecrets.org/basics/law/index.asp

Some complain here that people spend more time raising money than they do working when they know they will be running for a second term. I don't know about that but I do believe they spend a terrible amount of time doing $x a plate dinners to meet and greet.

[Luke]

an individual multi-millionaire supporting a party, which the tories rely on.

Er, and Labour doesnt?
Not that Im pro-tory (I am anti-Blair, but thats not the same thing), but Labour has been just as corrupt with regards to individual's donations, hence all the talk of Tony's Cronies - "Here's a million, where's my peerage?".

Yeah totally...i know Tony's got a load of rich mates too, but the point is unions are not individuals, so the talk of capping union support to the level of individuals is ridiculous.

...and peerages!! ....jesus man, that's another kettle of fish too!! mr tony 'we'll be whiter than white' blair

Robin Cook was the best PM we never had.