Soros (not Koch Bros) spends $80 million to legalize pot

[russ1945]

George Soros’ real crusade: Legalizing marijuana in the U.S.

By Kelly Riddell
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The Washington Times
Wednesday, April 2, 2014

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Billionaire philanthropist George Soros hopes the U.S. goes to pot, and he is using his money to drive it there.
With a cadre of like-minded, wealthy donors, Mr. Soros is dominating the pro-legalization side of the marijuana debate by funding grass-roots initiatives that begin in New York City and end up affecting local politics elsewhere.

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Through a network of nonprofit groups, Mr. Soros has spent at least $80 million on the legalization effort since 1994, when he diverted a portion of his foundation’s funds to organizations exploring alternative drug policies, according to tax filings.
His spending has been supplemented by Peter B. Lewis, the late chairman of Progressive Insurance Co. and an unabashed pot smoker who channeled more than $40 million to influence local debates, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The two billionaires’ funding has been unmatched by anyone on the other side of the debate.
Mr. Soros makes his donations through the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit he funds with roughly $4 million in annual contributions from his Foundation to Promote an Open Society.
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Mr. Soros also donates annually to the American Civil Liberties Union, which in turn funds marijuana legalization efforts, and he has given periodically to the Marijuana Policy Project, which funds state ballot measures.
Lewis, who died in November, donated to legalization efforts in his name and through the ACLU and the Marijuana Policy Project, on which he served as the chairman of the board. Lewis‘ estate declined to comment for this article.
“The pro-legalization movement hasn’t come from a groundswell of the people. A great deal of its funding and fraud has been perpetrated by George Soros and then promoted by celebrities,” said John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy under George W. Bush. “The truth is under attack, and it’s an absolutely dangerous direction for this country to be going in.”

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Mr. Soros‘ Open Society Foundations have annual assets of more than $3.5 billion, a pool from which he can dole out grants to pet projects, according to 2011 tax returns, the most recent on file for his charitable organizations.
David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers who often are cited for their conservative influence, had $308 million tied up in their foundation and institute in 2011.
Mr. Soros did not respond to a request to be interviewed.




Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...oros-turns-cash-into-legalized/#ixzz2xvSPu7uL
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter​

 

[russ1945]

[h=2]Soros’ Very Bad Day[/h]

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
March 28, 2012 10:18 am
Liberal billionaire George Soros lost out on two legal bids on Tuesday, which may cost him millions.
One of the cases came out of a Manhattan civil court where Soros, along with Indian corporate magnate Purnendu Chatterjee, lost a bid to have a $40 million law suit thrown out. A small aviation company based in North Carolina blames Soros and Chatterjee of looting the company.

In their combined complaints, plaintiffs Coreolis and its wholly-owned subsidiary TradeWinds said Soros and Chatterjee entered the aviation financing business in 1994, and put in place a complex, multi-tiered corporate structure designed to conceal Soros’ 50 percent ownership in C-S Aviation and ensure that the aircraft management company owned no aircraft and was otherwise judgment proof.
“The entire business structure was designed as an elaborate shell game intended to defraud and perpetrate injustices,” the complaint said.
Ultimately, Coreolis claimed that Soros and Chatterjee grossly undercapitalized C-S Aviation for the purpose of defrauding creditors. Coreolis accused the pair of abandoning C-S Aviation to creditors and claimed they “hastily stripped” the company of its officers, directors, employees, contracts and assets, which they then used in a supposedly new company on Soros’ property.
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Soros also lost an appeal before the European Court of Human Rights relating to his 2002 insider trading fine.

In the French case, Soros was ordered to repay 2.2 million euros ($2.93 million) he’d made from the share purchase and subsequent sale after judges found he’d acted with the knowledge that the bank might be a takeover target. The fine was reduced after a 2007 decision by France’s supreme court to about 940,000 euros.
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Soros’s legal woes are far from over. The octogenarian liberal sweetheart faces a $50 million lawsuit stemming from allegations that he choked and threw a lamp at his 28-year-old ex.
This entry was posted in Issues and tagged George Soros, Lawsuit, Progressive Movement. Bookmark the permalink.

 

[lt56]

legalizing pot is bad. alcohol is legal. cigarettes are legal. pot is harmless and the other 2 are responsible for 10's of millions of deaths.
that is why your party is irrelevant in a time when the country is in the shitter. your stances are out of touch. people laugh at your party for not having a single idea that isn't based on ignorance.

 

[russ1945]

legalizing pot is bad. alcohol is legal. cigarettes are legal. pot is harmless and the other 2 are responsible for 10's of millions of deaths.
that is why your party is irrelevant in a time when the country is in the shitter. your stances are out of touch. people laugh at your party for not having a single idea that isn't based on ignorance.

I am not a Republican which goes to show you don't have a clue. A kool aid drinker like you would never even question why Soros (the money bags of your party) would sink so much money into legalizing pot. That is the issue and like most Dem's on here you just don't get it and you never will. I was not addressing any of the sidebars you brought up, simply the fact that Soros spent that much money on legalizing pot. There do you get it now. Your arguement is what was irrelevant. Tards abound.

 

[The Guesser]

I am not a Republican which goes to show you don't have a clue. A kool aid drinker like you would never even question why Soros (the money bags of your party) would sink so much money into legalizing pot. That is the issue and like most Dem's on here you just don't get it and you never will. I was not addressing any of the sidebars you brought up, simply the fact that Soros spent that much money on legalizing pot. There do you get it now. Your arguement is what was irrelevant. Tards abound.

Hows your dot connecting coming on the Koch Brothers, and Sheldon Adelson, You "independent" Hypocrite? Good job It56.:aktion033

 

[BleedingPurple]

I am not a Republican which goes to show you don't have a clue. A kool aid drinker like you would never even question why Soros (the money bags of your party) would sink so much money into legalizing pot. That is the issue and like most Dem's on here you just don't get it and you never will. I was not addressing any of the sidebars you brought up, simply the fact that Soros spent that much money on legalizing pot. There do you get it now. Your arguement is what was irrelevant. Tards abound.

You come across as a strict Republican.

 

[JudgeWapner]

It should be legalized on the Federal level. Maybe in my lifetime.

 

[rolltide]

I've never heard a single good reason why weed shouldn't be legalized with the worst of them being a "gateway drug". glad Soros is finally spending money on something that makes sense

russ isn't a republican? someone's in need of a little introspection

 

[rolltide]

legalizing pot is bad. alcohol is legal. cigarettes are legal. pot is harmless .

legalizing something that is harmless is bad...

fucking Scrappy Doo makes more sense than this

 

[scottcarter]

legalizing pot is bad. alcohol is legal. cigarettes are legal. pot is harmless and the other 2 are responsible for 10's of millions of deaths.
that is why your party is irrelevant in a time when the country is in the shitter. your stances are out of touch. people laugh at your party for not having a single idea that isn't based on ignorance.

who made you God? I don't smoke pot but why should I care if anyone else does? If you crush, ferment a few grapes and drink wine I don't care either. Smoke cigs, smoke cigars, drink, smoke weed, snort coke if all I care. It's your life and you can do whatever you want as long as you don't risk the lives of others. It's your fucking life and before you know it, you might be 60 or 70 and then soon after you might die.

You can't ban sugar or stop people fropm over eating. You can spend money to educate and it will help some people but never everyone. Humans will never stop doing these things that you think they shouldn't do. If you don't like whatever, then my suggestion is ... don't do it. Its not a conservative or liberal issue.

 

[Coldweather]

I think that, that there pot, should be legal for the people to use caz it makes the
the people be happy and feel good!
:smoking:

 

[deadbeatking]

time to buy weed stocks then!

 

[russ1945]

[h=2]Reid Attacks Koch for Offenses Committed by Reid Donors[/h]Senate Dem leader received tens of thousands of dollars from companies that did business in Iran





AP

BY: Lachlan Markay
April 4, 2014 5:00 am
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) on Wednesday criticized a Koch Industries subsidiary for allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran even though Reid has accepted tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from companies that have done exactly that.
Reid also claimed that the Kochs support the recently introduced House Republican budget proposal. Neither the company nor its owners has taken a position on the legislation.
Reid’s claims were part of an ongoing offensive against libertarian philanthropists Charles and David Koch. Reid has accused them of being “un-American” for donating to groups that oppose the Democratic Party’s agenda.
A page on Reid’s Senate website is devoted entirely to attacking the Kochs. It initially cited former White House economist Austan Goolsbee, who falsely claimed in 2010 that Koch Industries does not pay any corporate taxes.
That claim remains on the website, with its text crossed out. Below is an “update” that claims the Kochs “have supported the Ryan budget, which provides tax cuts for the wealthy and protects taxpayer subsidies for big businesses and oil companies.”
The page links to a website from a left-wing nonprofit on the budget introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) this week, on which the Kochs have not taken a position.
Reid’s website goes on to quote from a heavily criticized Bloomberg article that accused Koch Industries of “sidestep[ping]” economic sanctions against Iran.
“The Kochs made improper payments to win contracts in Africa, India and the Middle East,” Reid claims. “And they sold millions of dollars of equipment to Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism.”
After evidence of the said improper payments came to light, Koch Industries commissioned an internal investigation and fired the responsible employees, according to Bloomberg.
Reid has accepted campaign contributions from companies that engage in even more widespread corruption abroad.
According to the Washington Examiner, Reid has accepted more than half a million dollars in contributions since 2009 from employees and political action committees of companies under investigation for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Reid has also taken tens of thousands of dollars from companies that, like Koch, have done business in Iran through foreign subsidiaries, including General Electric ($25,500 in PAC contributions), Hewlett-Packard ($14,500 in PAC contributions), and Sony ($14,500 in PAC contributions).
Reid has also taken $26,000 from Boeing’s PAC. The company is currently trying to reestablish its presence in Iran even though the country remains on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.
This entry was posted in Politics and tagged Harry Reid, Iran, Koch Brothers, Koch Industries. Bookmark the permalink.