this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
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Israel has voted against a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling to reaffirm Ukraine’s territorial integrity, rejecting a strongly worded condemnation of Russia’s invasion of its neighbor on the third anniversary of the war.

Eighteen countries voted against the resolution, 93 voted in favor, and 65 abstained.

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[–] deadtom@lemmy.world 13 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

"We'll continue to take money from the Good Billionaires" - New DNC head

Both parties are owned by the wealthy, which is why you don't see Corporate democrats fighting against this shit. Their job is to make sure that if things don't go red, at least they won't go too blue. A good chunk (and the controlling collective) of the democratic party are more than happy to play the controlled opposition as they rake in your money to ensure you can't use it to meaningfully make change.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world -5 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (3 children)

It's the strings that are the issue...

I've seen a couple people repeating the "good billionaires" bit, but not a single on that links a source when referring to it...

“There are a lot of good billionaires out there that have been with Democrats, who share our values, and we will take their money,” Ken Martin, a leading candidate for Chair of the Democratic Party, said at a forum on Sunday. “But we’re not taking money from those bad billionaires.”

https://jacobin.com/2025/01/billionaires-tech-oligarchy-biden-trump

But I encourage people to Google it themselves, if only to see 99.9% of the results are from rightwing bullshit like Daily Caller.

Like, how do you think Martin should have responded?

We won't take any donations from someone with more than $999,999,999.99 in wealth.

If we run a candidate who's values authentically align with what Dem voters want, why turn down donations?

If the platform isn't changing because of a donation, why not take the donation in the general?

I think you might have the same misunderstanding as Jacobin:

Ken Martin wants us to believe that there is some definite cohort of “good billionaires” who can be relied upon to fight for political progress, but the tech-industrial complex is showing us exactly why this isn’t the case.

He didn't say that they could be relied on.

He said he'd take their fucking money.

Why do you think that's an unpragmatic strategy?

[–] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 6 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

"But I encourage people to Google it "

Your insisting other people "Google it" when I'm the one that Googled it for you upon your own request, citing you 5 sources at least 3 of which were left of center on the American political spectrum.

[–] deadtom@lemmy.world 11 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

I remember when Elon Musk was a "good billionaire" friend. In my opinion there are no good billionaires because the pursuit of money to that extent requires exploitation and abuse on a grand scale.

So yeah I don't give a fuck if he has all the money in the world, I don't think money should be the deciding factor in elections. I don't think that any string a billionaire offers is worth it.

If we run a candidate who's values authentically align with what Dem voters want, why turn down donations?

Because they can tell you all day that they align with your values and then suddenly they don't. Remember Elon Musk? Tech billionaire, "real life tony stark", whose electric vehicles were going to usher in a new era of renewable transportation... People lie.

He didn't say that they could be relied on. He said he'd take their fucking money. Why do you think that's an unpragmatic strategy?

Because I understand how the world works? That concessions are made in back room deals and that the money doesn't change hands until the buyer feels confident they are getting what they want? We know how this goes.

I would forego all billionaire donations to ensure the party wasn't being controlled by back room interests, you know the deals made to get the contribution? They aren't adhering to campaign finance limits they are drowning out normal Americans with their outside influence.

“Billionaire campaign spending on this scale drowns out the voices and concerns of ordinary Americans. It is one of the most obvious and disturbing consequences of the growth of billionaire fortunes, as well as being a prime indicator that the system regulating campaign finance has collapsed,” said David Kass, ATF’s executive director.

https://americansfortaxfairness.org/billionaire-clans-spend-nearly-2-billion-2024-elections/

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world -5 points 19 hours ago

I remember when Elon Musk was a “good billionaire” friend

That's like saying you remember when Santa was real...

You don't, you remember when you thought Santa was real.

I'm not saying leave milk and cookies out, I'm saying if you're parent want to get you an extra gift, don't throw it away because the tag says "from Santa".

Because I understand how the world works? That concessions are made in back room deals and that the money doesn’t change hands until the buyer feels confident they are getting what they want? We know how this goes.

Went.

We knew how it went.

Martin is saying that is no longer the case, but he's not turning down checks.

I would forego all billionaire donations to ensure the party wasn’t being controlled by back room interests, you know the deals made to get the contribution? They aren’t adhering to campaign finance limits they are drowning out normal Americans with their outside influence.

That's all reasons to keep outside money out of the primary which I am 100% on board with.

Like, it all comes down to your opinion is that if someone takes the check they have to owe a favor. The people writing the check almost certainly expect it....

But it's not like they can sue and say their donation was a bribe and they didn't get what they want.

You realize that right?

A "back room deal" even if exists isn't legally binding, that's where the term comes from.

Candidates take donations from average voters and then don't try to do what the donors wanted, why not do it with billionaires?