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Sen. Manchin asks CEOs: Why don't you plainly bribe us? Why don't you spell out the quid pro quo? [1]
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Date: 2022-11-03
The Hill reports that Sen. Manchin recently attended some CEO conference and told them to stop all this giving money to politicians and political parties. Hmm . What did he say?
Manchin, who appeared Thursday before a room full of CEOs via video link, urged the audience to stop making political donations to members of Congress without getting solid commitments to improve the nation’s governance in return. "Quit writing checks to everybody,” he said. He argued that successful CEOs build good companies because they expect return on their investment, yet too often, they write checks to lawmakers in Washington without expecting anything of real substance in return. The investments you’ve made in politics from the Democrat side and the Republican side by asking nothing in return is a foolish investment,” he said. “Why don’t you do this? Tell a politician when they come to you, say, ‘Listen, I’m sorry I don’t give checks, I don’t give a donation or contribution to any politician, but I’m willing to make an investment. What should I expect from you? What are you going to do?’” Manchin advised.
On a recorded video link, this world class jack-ass told the CEOs that they should bribe Senators and all politicians. Damn it, he asks, “why don’t you do this?” Does he need to explain to them the (criminal) concept of quid pro quo?
The Supreme Court held — to its dishonor — that corporate cash is political speech. But Manchin cuts to the chase: corporate cash is obviously not speech, it is an “investment” and you CEOs should get a return on your investment (“ROI” in Wall Street speak). Of course, it is more absurd that Manchin pretends not to know what his corporate donors want in return.
Manchin’s oil ties are well known. But — more fundamentally and expansively — he is telling CEOs to commit crimes. He is, on video, counseling CEO political donors to extract a “commitment” in exchange for their donations. He is imploring large donors to say “I will only give you money if you commit to do X.”
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/3/2133468/-Sen-Manchin-asks-CEOs-Why-don-t-you-plainly-bribe-us-Why-don-t-you-spell-out-the-quid-pro-quo
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