Thread: Trump donor to cut off GOP contributions over DACA

Trump donor to cut off GOP contributions over DACA

By NATASHA KORECKI
05/24/2018 06:39 PM EDT

CHICAGO — A Chicago-area businessman who has donated more than $1 million to President Donald Trump is threatening to deny contributions to Republican candidates unless they act on an immigration bill before Congress.

David MacNeil, who employs more than 1,100 people through his Bolingbrook-based WeatherTech automotive company, told POLITICO in an interview that the issue has grown deeply personal, given that a top employee in his company could face deportation if a deal isn’t reached for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

MacNeil is the second prominent Chicago-area businessman and GOP donor in a week to cut off or threaten to withhold campaign contributions over the immigration debate.

On Wednesday, former Exelon CEO John Rowe told POLITICO he would cut off resources to Republicans who refuse to sign onto a discharge petition that would force a vote on legislation related to so-called “Dreamers,” while rewarding those who did with contributions and fundraising events.

“I’m saying this as a political donor who’s donated seven figures in the last couple of years: I will not donate any more money to anyone who doesn’t support DACA, period,” MacNeil said in a phone call while traveling in Italy. “I’m putting my money where my mouth is.”

MacNeil is among the CEOs who backed Trump before the 2016 election, inspired by the campaign’s “Make America Great Again,” mantra. A Canadian emigrant who is now a U.S. citizen, MacNeil has long touted that his own products are made in America.

He underwrote a Trump fundraiser in Bolingbrook just before the 2016 election, then gave $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee.

MacNeil said that a top-performing employee who has been with him since he started his company will represent the WeatherTech at the Governor’s Export Awards reception Thursday night, in which the company is a finalist. The employee was brought to the country as a toddler.

“She is a critically important employee and it would be a disaster if I were not able to legally employ her,” MacNeil said. “They should not be playing political football, political blackmail with people’s lives. If you think about how people feel: they wake up at 3 in the morning, wondering: am I going to be deported?”

On Thursday, MacNeil said he sent emails to multiple staff members in GOP Rep. Peter Roskam’s office, urging him to sign onto a discharge petition before Congress. Roskam, who is locked in a competitive reelection race, represents the largest number of Dreamers of any Illinois congressional district. The state of Illinois has the fourth largest DACA population in the country.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...acneili-607973

Prominent donor threatens GOP over DACA

We do not need or want your money!

63 million deplorable and growing will win without it!

THE TOP 10 THINGS EVERY VOTER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MONEY-IN-POLITICS



Every politician loves to talk about all the "small" donations they've received, But the money that really pays for elections comes from big donors, not little ones.

If you've never given money to a politician in your life, join the club. Polls have shown that less than 10% of Americans have ever given a contribution to candidates for any office, at any level. And if you look at contributions big enough to be reported to the Federal Election Commission -- those exceeding $200 -- the number of Americans contributing in a typical election year is infinitesimal. Even in the presidential election year of 2008, which saw more people giving than ever before, barely more than one-half of one percent gave more than $200 to a federal candidate, political action committee or party.

So where do candidates turn when they're trying to raise the money to run? Four main sources: political action committees (PACs), large individual donors, small donors, and the candidate's personal fortune. The mix between these sources varies with the office. This chart shows the breakdown for congressional candidates from the 2010 elections.



Large contributions from individuals

Individual donors account for about two-thirds of the money going to Senate candidates and about half the money going to House candidates. Contribution limits are indexed to inflation. The limit for 2012 is $2,500 per person per candidate for each election (or $5,000 for the entire election cycle, covering both the primary and general elections).

Under federal law, all contributions of more than $200 to federal candidates, PACs, or parties must be itemized and disclosed to the Federal Election Commission.

Donors must report their name, address, employer and occupation, and these records are publicly available from the FEC and several other websites.

PACs

Political action committees, or PACs, account for roughly one-third of the campaign cash collected by candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, and about 16% of the money raised by Senate candidates.

There are today about 4,000 PACs giving actively in federal elections. Most are sponsored by corporations, trade associations and other business and professional groups like the American Medical Association. The money comes not from the sponsoring organization, but from its employees or members. (That's how they get around the 100-year-old ban on corporate and union contributions to federal candidates.)

They're also the primary means that labor unions use to raise money for their political allies, which is why Democrats rely more heavily on PAC money than Republicans. (Historically, more than 90% of labor PAC contributions have gone to Democrats.)

To politicians trying to raise funds for their next elections, PACs have one big advantage over individual donors -- their contribution limits are higher. PACs can contribute up to $5,000 per election to federal candidates. (And since the primary election and general election each count separately under federal rules, a PAC can actually give a maximum of $10,000 to one candidate in a typical election year.)

Ideological PACs, including "leadership PACs" operated by members of Congress, are the ones most likely to give to political newcomers, as opposed to incumbents.

But even they give slightly more than half their dollars to politicians already in office. Labor PACs give about two-thirds of their money to incumbents. Business PACs give current officeholders more than 90% of their dollars.

Small individual donors

Donations from individuals giving $200 or less make up a fairly small wedge in the fundraising pie: a little over 10 percent of the money collected by House members and about 15 percent for senators.

These donations need not be itemized, but only reported in lump sum to the FEC.

Candidate cash

Because of the ever-rising cost of political campaigns, many newcomers are forced to dig deeply into their own pockets for money to run their first campaign for Congress. There are no limits to what a candidate can give to his or her own race, as long as it's his or her own money. Once in office, however, most candidates never have to spend another dime of their personal fortune. In fact, many who've loaned money to their first campaign pay themselves back with contributions collected after they've won office.

Rules of the game: contribution limits

2010 Contribution Limits
See current contribution limits

https://www.opensecrets.org/resource...rocracy/04.php

Koch network to spend $400 million during 2018 midterm election cycle
thehill.com/.../371069-koch-network-to-spend-400-million-during-2018-midterm-ele...
Jan 27, 2018 - INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – The network of groups affiliated with billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch will spend more than $400 million on conservative causes and candidates in the 2018 midterm election cycle...

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