hollywood billionaire

Chapter 181 Super Committee

"OK, Yi, next we will operate like this..."

On the I-75 highway from downtown Miami to Southwest Farms, Jordan Bromley, who is at the wheel, is explaining the process of political donations to his employer in the passenger seat.

"First of all, we definitely don't want your name to appear on any donation list, so donating in the name of an individual can be excluded from the options... You know, not only because of privacy, but also because the FEC has strict limits on the amount of political donations in the name of an individual. From individuals to specific election committees, there is only a limit of 3300 US dollars. Individual donations to constituency-level or state-level party committees are only limited to 10000 US dollars. Even at the level of the Democratic National Committee, the amount exceeds 41300 $[-] is also illegal."

Miami is originally a slow-paced seaside resort city, and these small satellite towns that spread out along the coastline in both north and south directions are even more so. On both sides of the I-75 highway, you can see evergreen palm trees all year round and Spanish-style holiday villas.A considerable part of the residents living here are retirees from all over the United States, and the remaining young people who have not retired have gradually lost their fighting spirit and vigor in the atmosphere of this urban nursing home.

No one will choose to go out to do errands unless it is a last resort on weekends.

Even if you go out, there are usually only three destinations-beach, restaurant, and shopping mall.

At 85:[-] in the afternoon, the sky in Miami was just [-] degrees Fahrenheit. Although it was not cloudless, the few white and soft clouds floating in the sky like cotton candy just added a bit of oil painting interest to this clear summer scene.

Jordan Bromley, who doesn't need to battle wits like driving on I-405, looks quite relaxed at the moment.He rested his left arm on the car door, and his fingers leisurely followed the rhythm of the music, beating on the edge of the car window.In the twelve-channel car stereo, Alan Jackson's country classic "Livin' on Love" trickled out as clear and pure as the water of Doral Woodland Lake they were speeding past.

"Two penniless young men,
Fly away for a few vows.

Shy in pocket but want to start a family and start a business,

Just for love..."

It's not his favorite song, but it's definitely the one that suits the temperament of this leisurely afternoon.

In Alan Jackson's low, magnetic singing, even Jordan Bromley, who usually speaks faster than a cannonball, subconsciously eased his voice and tone.

"Among the plans on the surface, the most suitable for your current situation is to donate to a political action committee, and then the political action committee donates the money to Keehoon. The FEC also has a limit on the amount of donations for ordinary PACs. It is 5000 US dollars to the election committee directly, and 15000 US dollars to the Democratic National Campaign Committee."

"In addition, we can contribute $45000 to the accounts established by the Democratic National Headquarters for other programs, including the following three accounts: the special account for the presidential nomination election, the special account for election recount and other legal processes, and the special account for the maintenance and repair of the Democratic National Headquarters building."

"Although each special account must disclose the donor and the amount of the donation, after that, there is actually a lot of room for manipulation as to where the money will flow. For example, at 430 South Capitol Hill Street...the water supply system of a toilet on the second floor is broken, and it just needs 45000 US dollars to repair.

"However, these small donations are just superficial. The vast majority of the $30 we promised Keehoon will not be channeled to him through this channel that can be monitored by the election committee, but through super political action committees.

In the second half of this sentence, Jordan Bromley draws his tone, which sounds full of irony.

Because the reason why American politics and American society have become so divided in the 21st century is that these two hidden political donation groups have contributed a lot.

In July 2010, the federal court made its final decision in the famous SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission case.The facts of the case are extremely complicated, but in one sentence, the non-profit unincorporated association called SpeechNow believes that the Federal Election Commission should not limit the amount of donations they can receive from individuals.Because SpeechNow does not donate the funds they raise to a political candidate, what they do is completely independent political propaganda.

In other words, SpeechNow believes that as long as the money is not donated to specific politicians, but is used for broad policy preaching and idea promotion, then their activities should be protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution and should not be regulated by the Federal Election Commission.

In the end, SpeechNow's idea won the support of the federal court. From the effective date of the judgment, independent spending committees will be able to raise unlimited amounts of funds from companies, unions, associations and individuals, and then spend unlimited amounts of funds publicly supporting or opposing a candidate-as long as these committees do not directly send money to the candidate's account.

This is where super political action committees, or Super PACs, come in.

The reason for Super is that they can override existing FEC restrictions.

The emergence of Super PACs can also predict the structural impact on the US political situation with toes.Candidates can raise unlimited campaign funds for themselves through various super political action committees, as long as these committees have nothing to do with them on the surface.

In other words, the competition at all levels in the United States has changed from the WBO boxing match with strict rules to the UFC fight with almost no rules.

By the end of 2010, there were a total of 83 Super PACs registered in the United States, raising funds of 8918 million US dollars.By the time of the 2012 presidential election, the number of organizations had jumped to 1310, and the total funding pool had exploded to $8.28 million.

The presidential election has begun to develop in the direction most expected by the top class - whoever has more money has a greater chance of winning.

In 2012, the Obama and Romney camps spent a total of US$11.2 billion on election campaigns. In 2016, according to the Washington Post’s forecast, before the curtain falls on November 11, Trump and Clinton, two gold-eating behemoths that rely on US dollars to operate, will eat US$8 billion in political donations.The simultaneous general elections of the Senate and the House of Representatives will cost another $24 billion.

The more funds that can be allocated, the greater the momentum of political propaganda, and the more various kinds of confrontational advertisements that ordinary citizens can see on the street, the more tense and divided the atmosphere of the entire American society will be.

All of this can be traced back to the legalization of super political action committees.

"In order to better hide our tracks, I have selected large Super PACs that have raised more funds and have more sources. Even if they receive six-figure donations at a time, they will not attract attention. Well...the first one, LCV Victory Fund, was established on July 2010, 7. It is a very old blood of the Democratic Party. They have supported 30 Democratic candidates this year, so no one will find it strange to add Ruben Keehoon."

"The second option is Women Vote, a Super PAC that advocates the rights of women voters. It was established as early as January 2010 and was later transformed into an independent expenditure committee. There is no doubt that it is more inclined to the Democratic party. Although the total funds raised are not as large as LCV, Women Vote has a wider range of support. So far, it has supported 1 Democratic candidates, which will distract the attention of the outside world. If you put another layer of camouflage on yourself, the probability of being discovered will be even smaller.”

"The third optional donation goal, called the NEA Advocacy Fund, was established on October 2010, 10. It aims to increase political influence for the largest teachers' union in the United States, the National Education Association. Unlike the first two Super PACs, the NEA Advocacy Fund mainly does not support Democratic candidates. Make selective announcements."

"So, now is the time to choose, Yi, how do we plan to allocate the donation amount of more than 20 US dollars?"

"no problem."

"did not ask……"

Hearing Han Yi's answer, Jordan Bromley, who had spoken a long article, was stunned for a while. He turned his head slightly and found that his employer was staring at the screen of the mobile phone with frowning eyes. Obviously, he didn't listen to his narration.

"Yi, what I'm asking is, which Super PAC should we choose?"

Jordan sighed softly, slowed down and asked again.

"Oh, sorry, Jordan, I was just..."

After showing an apologetic smile at Jordan, Han Yi's gaze returned to the brightly lit screen.

A new message from Xiaoru.

[GraceHsu: I'm done with the exam, it's so difficult...]
It has been nearly a month since they met each other, but the communication between Xu Yiru and Han Yi has never stopped.Han Yi shared interesting stories about her trip to Europe with Xiao Ru, and Xiao Ru also let Han Yi know the trivial details of her summer school life, whether happy or troublesome.

In the beginning, the talkative Han Yi obviously chatted much more frequently than Xu Yiru, but after the... Barbara Pavon incident, he had mixed feelings in his heart, and the time to open the chat box gradually decreased. In the end, it was Xiaoru who initiated the topic more often.

Send a photo of the lunch she scribbled for herself, and care about Han Yi's diet by the way.Or let the camera record her wearing bear headbands to tie her hair up, wearing black-rimmed glasses that can cover half of her face, and wearing pink pajamas, frowning in front of the computer.

Although he was not around, the familiar Xiao Ru never left.

The more warmth and reassurance that the soft and glutinous Baodao accent brought him, the stronger the torment and entanglement lingering in Han Yi's heart.

It's not because of Xiaoru's more active care.

But...

We stayed together almost every day, and even in the first few months of our graduation trip, the hustle and bustle of companionship and the ambiguity of intimacy always made people lose their keen perception of the changes around them and the turbulence of their emotions.In Carmel by the sea, Han Yi has no time or energy to think about what it means to dance together like an old couple in the silent and dark night.

In the month of not being able to see each other, thousands of miles of physical distance have opened up between the two.The reality of being separated in two places and a foreign country with new characters is like a black hole that can only accommodate him alone, allowing Han Yi to be separated from the noisy new life, giving him the opportunity to examine this relationship that ended abruptly in 2023 and continued from the second February 2016, 2 from the perspective of a bystander.

The result of the review?
Putting those annoying distracting factors aside, there was only one thing Han Yi could really confirm.

He really likes Xu Yiru.

It is a strong emotion that cannot be disputed, questioned, or explained in any other way.

The closer he was to Los Angeles, the more certain Han Yi was in his judgment.

Logically, the less he knew how to face her.

"I was checking my email just now, but I didn't hear clearly."

Han Yi buckled the phone upside down and put it on his lap, feeling the heat from the fuselage.

Wait for him to figure out what method, attitude and role to use to reply... and then reply.

"So, our options now are, LCV, women voters and..."

"NEA."

"And NEA, okay." Han Yi took a deep breath and forced himself to switch his mind to another track, "If I remember correctly, the first two don't need to disclose the donor information, but NEA must, right?"

"Yes."

"Then...my opinion is that, in addition to the money that can be directly remitted to the account of Keehoon's campaign committee, the rest of the cash should be donated to LCV and female voters in a half-and-half ratio. At this stage, I still value confidentiality more. Besides, in Nevada's fourth congressional district, we should no longer need to buy attack ads for Mr. Hardy. He himself is his best attack advertisement."

Han Yi's argument is by no means unfounded. As a Republican, Clayson Hardy's biggest political opinion is to "oppose everything Obama supports."Not only did he openly oppose the Iran nuclear deal that Obama pushed, but he also lashed out at the African-American president's health insurance plan. Coupled with his "original sin" as an Anglo-Saxon white man and a staunch conservative, Clayson-Hardy wants to take the lead in Clark County, where ethnic minorities live together and the folk customs are open. It is no exaggeration to describe it as a fantasy.

If Crison Hardy had been more determined, he could have taken a more radical route, completely abandoning the urban voters in Clark County, strongly supporting Trump's faction, and striving to win the other six counties out of the seven counties in the fourth congressional district of Nevada by a large margin.

But Hardy is clearly not a staunch Republican fundamentalist. Fearing that the votes he won in the six suburban counties will not be enough for him to overcome his backwardness in the populous Clark County, Clayson-Hardy's political stance, especially at this stage of the campaign, has shown obvious signs of back and forth.

Condemned Obama, but as a member of the current House of Representatives, voted against a resolution that "defunds President Obama's DACA program."Not only that, Hardy also spent most of his energy in the later stages of the campaign on pleasing minorities—the African-American nursing home in North Las Vegas, the Asian Cultural Alliance Summit in Nevada, recruiting local campaign teams dominated by Africans, Latinos, and Asians...every one of them is a futile attempt by a conservative middle-aged white man in the Republican Party to win over minorities, and it also makes him drift away from his core voter group.

As long as Clayson Hardy's campaign ideas don't change drastically in a short period of time, judging by the current poll trend, Ruben Keehoon can defeat him with only the votes in Clark County and become a member of Congress in Nevada's fourth district.

And this is why Han Yi is willing to bet heavily on Ruben Keehoon at this stage. The $30 he donated is not so much to help Keehoon win the 2016 election, but to provide ammunition for the Mexican immigrant’s follow-up political activities on Capitol Hill.

"OK, no problem, LCV Victory Fund 50%, Women Vote 50%. I wrote it down."

Jordan Bromley nodded, pressed the iPhone's host button, and used Siri to write down the text message in the memo.

"Then... what about 501(c)(4)? Don't we need to use this layer of organization now?" After hesitating for a moment, Han Yi still decided to throw out the doubts in his heart.In the field of European and American music, he is an expert comparable to Jordan Bromley, but in terms of campaign politics, Han Yi still has to act as a humble student, earnestly and diligently absorbing knowledge that he has never had access to in his previous life and has no opportunity to access it.

“Nevada is too small. In the congressional campaign here, competitors on both sides of a constituency can’t raise $500 million. There is no need for 501(c)(4) to intervene and increase the chances of causing voters’ disgust.”

"Because they're called 'dark money groups.'"

"Yes, because they're called 'Dark Money Organizations.'"

Jordan Bromley glanced at Han Yi and explained patiently.

"501(c)(4), or social welfare organizations, have a much longer history as a channel for anonymous donations than Super PACs. After Buckley v. Valeo in 1976, the court lifted the limits on the amount of candidates' campaign expenditures and the restrictions on independent expenditures-this provided a prerequisite for the birth of future Super PACs-at the same time, it also lifted the regulatory restrictions on 501(c)(4) organizations. )(501) to accept and spend money without restriction.”

"Eight sets of magic words?"

"'Vote for XX', 'Elected', 'Support', 'Vote for', 'Elected XX', 'Vote against', 'Defeat', 'Reject'... As long as these eight groups of words are not included in the slogan, then this organization is not carrying out 'campaign activities', but 'issue advocacy'."

"What a pose."

“Politics is the art of posturing,” Jordan Bromley continued, shrugging. “501(c)(4)s don’t need to be registered with the Federal Election Commission, and they don’t have to disclose their donor lists. So, before 2010, many really large donations were made through 501(c)(4). The public doesn’t know who the donors are, neither does the government and the FEC, only the candidates themselves know…This completely legal operation makes the exchange of benefits seem legal.”

"How?" Han Yi raised his eyebrows and asked curiously.

"A private transaction between two people is called mutual benefit and reciprocity, and it is called a power-for-money transaction only after it is made public. Since the identity and demands of the donors are unknown, anything done by the congressmen after they are elected is of course not suspected of breaking the law. Only dark and ignorant countries can breed corruption...Dark and smart countries have already legalized everything."

"Very cynical point of view, Mr. Bromley." Han Yi responded softly with a smile.

Americans can speak some words, and foreigners can also speak them, but it is not so easy for foreigners who developed in the United States to speak.

"You can say whatever you want. I live in Hollywood, not DC. What's more, I don't have an Ivy League diploma to keep." Jordan responded rather humorously.From this perspective, Jordan Bromley is indeed a wild way different from ordinary people.

In a legal world full of Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, and Chicago Universities, and finally getting a JD in Cornell or Georgetown, Jordan Bromley, who graduated from Brooklyn Law School, is no different from not having a diploma.

"All in all, no matter what you or I think of 501(c)(4), the political donations it represents are 'black money' in the eyes of mainstream American society. If we have grander plans on Capitol Hill in the future, then it is perfectly fine to use one or two 501(c)(4), but there is no need for this kind of organization to intervene in a campaign of this level for the Nevada House of Representatives. If it is discovered by the opponents, it may have counterproductive effects. Local residents don’t care about the source of your funds. Or what the purpose is, as long as it is marked as black money, it will definitely lose a large part of the votes."

"understood."

Hearing Jordan Bromley's analysis, Han Yi pondered for a while before issuing instructions to his legal counsel.

"Next, continue to copy in this way. Whether it is meeting with members of the House of Representatives or the Senate, I will not show up, Jordan. As long as there are no special circumstances, you can handle it yourself. Don't worry about funding issues, I will solve them."

"Okay, Yi." Jordan Bromley, who drove out of the I-148 highway from Southwest 75th Avenue, poked his head out to observe the route carefully, and pressed his left hand on his chest, thanking Han Yi, "Thank you very much for your support for the Music Modernization Act. This will be a good law that will benefit every participant in the industry."

"I'm sure it is."

Han Yi rolled down the car window, looked at this small town in the north of Miami, which seemed so empty and quiet that the distance between the street and the houses could be built another football field, and replied casually.

Han Yi doesn't care whether the Music Modernization Act is a good law...more precisely, he knows it is a good law, and he doesn't worry about whether it can be passed in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

In the 2010s, the protection of music, art, and intellectual property has become one of the few common programs of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

In the previous life, the "Music Modernization Act" was unanimously passed by the House of Representatives 415-0. After the bill was submitted to the Senate, it quickly received unanimous support from the senators.

The reason why Han Yi had to spend his energy on this kind of bill that was definitely passed was that Han Yi had and only had three goals.

First, if you want to become one of the four major music groups, it is impossible not to leave your mark on reform bills related to the entire industry.

Second, the final draft of the "Music Modernization Act" is 67 pages long. It seems to contain a lot of irrelevant nonsense, but in fact, only a few changes of three or four words can give Han Music Group a sufficient latecomer advantage in the competition with the three major companies.

Third... pass Jordan Bromley and the "Music Modernization Act", which is an ordinary bill that is harmless to humans and animals, and get in touch with as many powerful figures in both parties as possible. This is the most direct, effective and safest way for Han Yi to expand his political influence in the United States during the non-election period.In this process, Jordan Bromley can not only gain the reputation of "Chief Legal Counsel" of the "Music Modernization Act", but also tie him more tightly to Han Yi's career chariot.

Why not kill three birds with one stone?

"Just go ahead and do it, Jordan. To shape this act to your heart's content, and as a result of our discussions, to become the 1976 Copyright Act of our time, I believe you can do that."

"I have missed many things in my life, but there is one thing I have never missed...that is the client's entrustment."

Turning into a slender gravel driveway, Jordan Bromley pointed to the Spanish seaside resort mansion with brick red eaves and milky white exterior walls at the end of the road, and the two figures who had been waiting at the door for an unknown amount of time, and said with a smile.

"Music, MPs, movies, professional wrestling..."

"Yi, I can provide any resources you need immediately."

"Say hello to Dwayne Johnson... Don't get me wrong, it's the bigger one on the right."

(End of this chapter)