Investor Bankrolls Big Romney Campaign

[TomCADem]

Source: Wall Street Journal

A billionaire investor whose family owns the Chicago Cubs is pressing ahead with a multimillion-dollar pro-Republican political campaign, bucking a political furor that emerged when the effort first become public.

Joe Ricketts, the founder of what became online brokerage TD Ameritrade Inc., plans to spend $10 million airing ads supporting GOP nominee Mitt Romney and another $2 million to help Republicans running for Congress. The ads will begin airing this week.

A billionaire investor whose family owns the Chicago Cubs is pressing ahead with a multimillion-dollar pro-Republican political campaign, bucking a political furor that emerged when the effort first become public.

Joe Ricketts, the founder of what became online brokerage TD Ameritrade Inc., plans to spend $10 million airing ads supporting GOP nominee Mitt Romney and another $2 million to help Republicans running for Congress. The ads will begin airing this week.


Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443720204578000490604078074.html

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Once again, the Billionaires will spend millions to save billions in tax breaks. Indeed, it is interesting that the WSJ criticizes Rickets for not meeting with other mega-donors who meet regularly to coordinate spending and avoid any duplication. It almost sounds like a secret society of the rich are really trying to exert control over the U.S. This is starting to resemble efforts by the wealthy to topple FDR.

[Historic NY]

1. Really he'd be better off trying to buy a World Series for the Cubs...

[LunaSea]

2. enjoy, mr ricketts.

[WCGreen]

3. Perhaps if he spent the money on developing a better farm system

He wouldn't feel obligated to mix in the publics business.

[CoffeeCat]

4. The Romney campaign is truly a

..."money pit.". At first, everything seemed fine, but then upon closer inspection, it's all just a dilapidated pike of crap. Now, you've got to sink more money into it--to repair the constant damage that pops up.

What an awful waste of money! You'd think that millionaires and billionaires would be a little brighter. It doesn't matter how much money Romney has. He sucks and so does his campaign. You can't spend the stupid away.

Romney has had so much money up until this point. A lack of cash has never held back this campaign.

More money can't fix what's wrong with this campaign, unless you want to buy a new candidate.

[defacto7]

5. Anybody ever wonder where that money actually goes?

I mean, what do you get for a Billion dollars of ads that $500,000,000 can't buy?

OK.. don't tell me twice as much because that's the point. There isn't twice as much to have. So the price goes up... but how high can it go? Supposedly then it all goes to the media who are the ones who share their vast knowledge of what's happening in poli-land.

(tamping foot) something is not quite right here....

[barnabas63]

10. +1

prostitutes maybe?

[LeftyMom]

13. Time for political ads on TV is sold at the lowest available rate.

So your assumption that demand drives up the price is wrong.

[defacto7]

16. Yeah... maybe... sure you're right...

I wasn't really assuming, just fishing for a logical answer.

but that doesn't answer where it ALL goes. That's what I'd like to know. It's a huge amount of available cash. When money gets to sizes of that magnitude, it is not that easy to follow or account for in detail.

[DallasNE]

6. Ricketts Wants Taxpayers To Cough Up $200 Million

To modernize Wrigley Field in Chicago. Big government is fine when you are on the receiving end from the taxpayers.

[mopinko]

9. good luck with that mr ricketts.

see how long it takes to get rahm to answer your phone calls now.

[Dawson Leery]

15. This is a central element of fascism.

[mojo2012]

7. Give his players a raise

If he has that much money to burn.

[nanabugg]

8. Well, Cub fans, it may be up to you to protest this...it can be done.

And spread the word that another of the 1% is trying to buy this election.

[joanbarnes]

11. If he put his money in the Chubs they wouldn't suck so much.....

[olddad56]

12. That is it, I'll never attend another Cubs game.

Come to think of it, I never have attended a cubs game.

[sofa king]

14. That guy is gonna learn the hard way:

Politics is a terrible investment.

That's the lesson I hope they all learn from Citizens United, that you can't buy an election, only invest in it. And when that investment goes belly up, the investors face the prospect of something far worse than no return.

They face retribution. Right, Cubs fans?