American's Elect (
http://www.americanselect.org) is a scam. I had, in the past, recommended those with a dissatisfaction in either or both parties, to head to their website and check them out. That was than. I will state, for the record, A: that the organization I recommended is a scam that had taken me in, and B: no longer exists, as such.
You see, in its early days it was an organization that claimed to want to represent a candidate, not a party. They claimed they would get their candidate, chosen by an online process, (should have been alarm klaxons) on the ballot in all 50 states. They had some start up capital provided by some rich guys, but assured everyone that all of our interests are the same. A dissatisfaction with politics as usual.
Well there are certain rules that political parties are required to play by. One of them is that they have to disclose funding. Now I have seen, on both sides, how easily this is faked, but at least they are making the effort to fake it. When American's Elect was asked to provide the sources of their funding, as required by any 527 organization, (its a class of charities or non profits) they first balked. Then they delayed. Then the Re-filed themselves as a 501 c(4) charity, which is not required to disclose its funding sources. That alone legally precludes them from backing a political candidate. But as you will see, they don't feel the rules apply to them.
A quick search shows that they were initially funded (no such records are available for the present time, of course) by a group of hedge-fund managers. So, rich people playing at politics. I don't know if they got tired of trying to buy one side or the other, or if they just felt they could hijack an election, but theories abound.
One is that they are working for the Democrats, trying to split the conservative vote. Possible. Rich guys, power, Possible. Doubtful. Another is that they are working for the Republicans trying to split the liberal vote. Possible, youth oriented, demographics show liberal tendencies, Possible, Doubtful. Another is that they are just trying to win an election directly for the hedge fund managers so they can directly change the tax structure in their favor. Possible. More likely. Any way you slice it, it is the lowest form of rich people, claiming to be aligned with the disenfranchised poor.
Why do I say the lowest form of rich people. Industrialists build things and provide jobs. Even the green movement creates hard goods and creates jobs. Wall street, to a degree helps creation of jobs. Hedge Funds though:
"A hedge fund is a private pool of capital actively managed by an
investment adviser.
[1][2] Hedge funds are only open for investment to a limited number of
accredited or qualified investors who meet criteria set by regulators. These investors can be institutions, such as pension funds, university endowments and foundations, or high net worth individuals."
Further:
"Because hedge funds are not sold to the public or
retail investors, their advisers have historically not been subject to the same restrictions that govern other
investment fund advisers, with regard to how the fund may be structured and how strategies are employed. Hedge funds must now comply with many of the same statutory and regulatory restrictions as other institutional market participants.
[8] Regulations passed in the
United States and
Europe after the
2008 credit crisis are intended to increase government oversight of hedge funds and eliminate any regulatory gaps.
[9]"
(Ibid)
Seems we have a winner as to the motivations of this particularly sleazy group. Recent changes to the law will regulate the back-door dealings of hedge fund managers. We can't have that now can we? This is not politics as usual. This is far worse. This is people willing to do anything, to preserve a good old boy network of legalized insider dealing, at the expense of those who can least afford it. And they don't even feel it is worth falsifying donation records. We are so far beneath them as to be not even worth lying to.
