Cubs Owner Bankrolls Tea Party Senate Upset Winner in Nebraska

As if I needed another reason to hate the Cubs. I hope Rahm Emanuel takes note of this the next time the Ricketts family comes begging for taxpayer money to fix up their decrepit ballpark...
In Upset, Deb Fischer Wins Nebraska GOP Senate Nomination

Quote :

Eric Kleefeld May 15, 2012, 11:41 PM 4088

Nebraska state Sen. Deb Fischer has won the Republican nomination for Senate in a huge last-minute upset.

Fischer will face former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey in the race to replace retiring Sen. Ben Nelson (D).

In the GOP race, a statewide establishment favorite, state Attorney General Jon Bruning, went up against an ultra-conservative insurgent, former state Attorney General Don Stenberg, who was supported by the Club For Growth and Sen. Jim DeMint. In the end, Bruning and Stenberg fought so hard that they both lost.

Combined with a last-minute wave of third-party advertising against Bruning and for Fischer by businessman Joe Ricketts, the owner of the Chicago Cubs, Fischer quickly shot up in the polls — from third place to eventual winner.

It's a bit of a stretch to portray this guy as the "owner of the Chicago Cubs."

His son Tom is the one who headed the effort to purchase the team, and he is the Chairman of the Cubs. His father has nothing to do with the team. To be honest, I've never even heard of Joe Ricketts before today.

BTW - The park on the South Side was 100% financed by taxpayers. So I don't even want to hear any bullshit whining over the City kicking in a little cash to help with the renovation. Actually, you can whine all you want. It's gonna happen whether you like it or not.

happy jack wrote:

Wrigley is a ballpark.

Nah, Wrigley is an outdoor saloon with baseball diamond thrown in as an afterthought, which also happens to be the home field for a minor league baseball team.

Scorpion wrote:

It's a bit of a stretch to portray this guy as the "owner of the Chicago Cubs."

Actually, he's one of the owners.

Quote :

In October 2009, the Ricketts family acquired a 95 percent controlling interest in Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field, as well as 25 percent of Comcast Sportsnet Chicago. The Ricketts family represents the eighth ownership group in the 133-year history of the team. While Ricketts is not directly involved in the team’s operations, his son, Tom Ricketts, is Cubs chairman and his three other children (Pete, Laura and Todd) are on the board of directors. In November 2010, the Cubs announced a plan to seek $200 million in state-backed bonds for renovations to Wrigley Field.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Ricketts

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The Ricketts family bid, headed by Thomas S. Ricketts, was selected as the winning bid on January 22, 2009.The family bid includes all four siblings (Peter, Tom, Laura, and Todd) and both parents.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_S._Ricketts

Scorpion wrote:

BTW - The park on the South Side was 100% financed by taxpayers.

True,and I was 100% against that too.

Quote :

So I don't even want to hear any bullshit whining over the City kicking in a little cash to help with the renovation.

Please explain to me why taxpayers should have to pay to renovate a privately owned business when the Ricketts clearly knew that the park was in disrepair when they bought it.?

Quote :

Actually, you can whine all you want. It's gonna happen whether you like it or not.

Scorpion,Next time you attend a Cubs game just remember that every dollar you spend is going to people who are funding just about everything you're against. http://electful.com/candidate/deb-fischer/issues/

happy jack wrote:

edge540 wrote:

happy jack wrote:

Wrigley is a ballpark.

Nah, Wrigley is an outdoor saloon with baseball diamond thrown in as an afterthought, which also happens to be the home field for a minor league baseball team.

There is more tradition and character contained within one Wrigley Field urinal cake than there is in the entire Cell.

uh huh
It's a shame that a major league baseball team is not playing in it.

Thank you

Artie60438 wrote:

Scorpion,Next time you attend a Cubs game just remember that every dollar you spend is going to people who are funding just about everything you're against. http://electful.com/candidate/deb-fischer/issues/

This is interesting.
Rickets not only backs republicans but he also rails against earmarks and wasteful spending in the federal government while at the same time begging and holding his hand out to taxpayers.

Quote :

2010, Ricketts led a campaign against special-interest earmarks and wasteful spending in the federal government

edge540 wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

Scorpion,Next time you attend a Cubs game just remember that every dollar you spend is going to people who are funding just about everything you're against. http://electful.com/candidate/deb-fischer/issues/

This is interesting.
Rickets not only backs republicans but he also rails against earmarks and wasteful spending in the federal government while at the same time begging and holding his hand out to taxpayers.

Quote :

2010, Ricketts led a campaign against special-interest earmarks and wasteful spending in the federal government

His daughter,Laura Ricketts,is a lesbian,yet he supports homophobic candidates like Rick Santorum
http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=Ricketts&state=&zip=&employ=&cand=&c2012=Y&sort=N&capcode=2svyj&submit=Submit+your+Donor+Query

edge540 wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

Scorpion,Next time you attend a Cubs game just remember that every dollar you spend is going to people who are funding just about everything you're against. http://electful.com/candidate/deb-fischer/issues/

This is interesting.
Rickets not only backs republicans but he also rails against earmarks and wasteful spending in the federal government while at the same time begging and holding his hand out to taxpayers.

Quote :

2010, Ricketts led a campaign against special-interest earmarks and wasteful spending in the federal government

Like I said, Joe Ricketts has nothing at all to with the Cubs, other than being the family patriarch.

Artie60438 wrote:

His daughter,Laura Ricketts,is a lesbian,yet he supports homophobic candidates like Rick Santorum

Yeah. Well Laura is a frequent contributor to Democratic candidates... including Durbin and Obama.

See for yourself...

http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/laura-ricketts.asp?cycle=08

http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=+ricketts%2C+laura&state=IL&zip=&employ=&cand=&c2012=Y&sort=N&capcode=fwx37&submit=Submit+your+Donor+Query

Unlike her father, Laura actually sits on the Board of Directors of the Cubs. So I guess that the next time I attend a Cubs game, I'll just remember that every dollar I spend is going to people who are funding just about everything that I support, if that's OK with you.

Scorpion wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

His daughter,Laura Ricketts,is a lesbian,yet he supports homophobic candidates like Rick Santorum

Yeah. Well Laura is a frequent contributor to Democratic candidates... including Durbin and Obama.

See for yourself...

I'm aware of that.

Quote :

Unlike her father, Laura actually sits on the Board of Directors of the Cubs. So I guess that the next time I attend a Cubs game, I'll just remember that every dollar I spend is going to people who are funding just about everything that I support, if that's OK with you.

For every dollar Laura donates,more than 10 times as much is being given to candidates opposed to your issues by her fathr Joe and her 3 brothers in the family. So look at it this way....for every dollar that the Cubs profit from what you spend on them,10 cents go to candidates you support while 90 cents goes to those that oppose them. Not a pretty picture,is it?

Scorpion wrote:

Like I said, Joe Ricketts has nothing at all to with the Cubs, other than being the family patriarch.

He may not be involved in the day to day operations but he definitely owns a share of the team.
All four siblings (Pete, Tom, Laura, and Todd) and both parents share interest in the team through their family trust.

Holy_crap

Quote :

G.O.P. ‘Super PAC’ Weighs Hard-Line Attack on Obama

By JEFF ZELENY and JIM RUTENBERG


WASHINGTON — A group of high-profile Republican strategists is working with a conservative billionaire on a proposal to mount one of the most provocative campaigns of the “super PAC” era and attack President Obama in ways that Republicans have so far shied away from.

Timed to upend the Democratic National Convention in September, the plan would “do exactly what John McCain would not let us do,” the strategists wrote.

The plan, which is awaiting approval, calls for running commercials linking Mr. Obama to incendiary comments by his former spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., whose race-related sermons made him a highly charged figure in the 2008 campaign.

“The world is about to see Jeremiah Wright and understand his influence on Barack Obama for the first time in a big, attention-arresting way,” says the proposal, which was overseen by Fred Davis and commissioned by Joe Ricketts, the founder of the brokerage firm TD Ameritrade. Mr. Ricketts is increasingly putting his fortune to work in conservative politics.

The $10 million plan, one of several being studied by Mr. Ricketts, includes preparations for how to respond to the charges of race-baiting it envisions if it highlights Mr. Obama’s former ties to Mr. Wright, who espouses what is known as “black liberation theology.”

The group suggested hiring as a spokesman an “extremely literate conservative African-American” who can argue that Mr. Obama misled the nation by presenting himself as what the proposal calls a “metrosexual, black Abe Lincoln.”

A copy of a detailed advertising plan was obtained by The New York Times through a person not connected to the proposal who was alarmed by its tone. It is titled “The Defeat of Barack Hussein Obama: The Ricketts Plan to End His Spending for Good.”

The proposal was presented last week in Chicago to associates and family members of Mr. Ricketts, who is also the patriarch of the family that owns the Chicago Cubs.

Brian Baker, president and general counsel of a super PAC called the Ending Spending Action Fund, said Mr. Ricketts had studied several advertising proposals in recent months and had not signed off on a specific approach to taking on Mr. Obama.

“Joe Ricketts is prepared to spend significant resources in the 2012 election in both the presidential race and Congressional races,” Mr. Baker said in an interview Wednesday. “He is very concerned about the future direction of the country and plans to take a stand.”

The document makes clear that the effort is only in the planning stages and awaiting full approval from Mr. Ricketts. People involved in the planning said the publicity now certain to surround it could send the strategists back to the drawing board.

But it serves as a rare, detailed look at the birth of the sort of political sneak attack that has traditionally been hatched in the shadows and has become a staple of presidential politics.

It also shows how a single individual can create his own movement and spend unlimited sums to have major influence on a presidential election in a campaign finance environment in which groups operating independently of candidates are flourishing.

Should the plan proceed, it would run counter to the strategy being employed by Mitt Romney’s team, which has so far avoided such attacks. The Romney campaign has sought to focus attention on the economy, and has concluded that personal attacks on Mr. Obama, who is still well liked personally by most independent voters surveyed for polls, could backfire.

Mr. Ricketts has become an increasingly active player in Republican politics through several political action committees, including Ending Spending. He has a son, Pete, who is a member of the Republican National Committee from Nebraska and a daughter, Laura, who is a top contributor to Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign. She has not been involved in her father’s political efforts.

The 54-page proposal was professionally bound and illustrated with color photographs, indicating that it is far beyond a mere discussion. The strategists have already contacted Larry Elder, a black conservative radio host in Los Angeles, about serving as a spokesman, and the plan calls for a group of black business leaders to endorse the effort. The strategists have also registered a domain name, Character Matters.

The proposal suggests that Mr. Ricketts believes the 2008 campaign of Senator John McCain erred in not using images of Mr. Wright against Mr. Obama, who has said that the pastor helped him find Jesus but that he was never present for Mr. Wright’s politically charged sermons. Mr. Obama left the church during the campaign.

Apparently referring to a Wright ad that was produced for the McCain campaign by Mr. Davis’s firm but never used, the proposal opens with a quote from Mr. Ricketts: “If the nation had seen that ad, they’d never have elected Barack Obama.”

The planning document is emblazoned with the logo of Strategic Perception, the political advertising firm of Mr. Davis, the colorful Republican operative who last worked on the Republican presidential campaign of former Gov. Jon M. Huntsman of Utah. Included on his “Recommended Team of Pirates” are the former Huntsman pollster Whit Ayres and the McCain campaign Internet strategist Becki Donatelli.

The document, which was written by former advisers to Mr. McCain, is critical of his decision in 2008 not to aggressively pursue Mr. Obama’s relationship with Mr. Wright. In the opening paragraphs of the proposal, the Republican strategists refer to Mr. McCain as “a crusty old politician who often seemed confused, burdened with a campaign just as confused.”

“Our plan is to do exactly what John McCain would not let us do: Show the world how Barack Obama’s opinions of America and the world were formed,” the proposal says. “And why the influence of that misguided mentor and our president’s formative years among left-wing intellectuals has brought our country to its knees.”

The plan is designed for maximum impact, far beyond a typical $10 million television advertising campaign. It calls for full-page newspaper advertisements featuring a comment Mr. Wright made the Sunday after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. “America’s chickens are coming home to roost,” he said.

The plan is for the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., to be “jolted.” The advertising campaign would include television ads, outdoor advertisements and huge aerial banners flying over the convention site for four hours one afternoon.

The strategists grappled with the quandary of running against Mr. Obama that other Republicans have cited this year: “How to inflame their questions on his character and competency, while allowing themselves to still somewhat ‘like’ the man becomes the challenge.”

Lamenting that voters “still aren’t ready to hate this president,” the document concludes that the campaign should “explain how forces out of Obama’s control, that shaped the man, have made him completely the wrong choice as president in these days and times.”

Scorpion wrote:

Like I said, Joe Ricketts has nothing at all to with the Cubs, other than being the family patriarch.

Yeah well check this out:

Quote :

Name: Tom Ricketts

Relationship: Son

Lives in: Wilmette, Illinois

Occupation: Chairman of the Cubs, CEO of Incapital

Politics: Conservative

Political Money: He gave $49,450 to Republican causes in the last three election cycles, plus $15,000 to a baseball PAC.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/05/remarkable-conflicted-ricketts-family-and-their-political-money/52470/

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UPDATE: Ricketts is now dissociating himself from the plan. This statement is from Brian Baker, president of the Ending Spending Action Fund:

Quote :

Joe Ricketts is a registered independent, a fiscal conservative, and an outspoken critic of the Obama Administration, but he is neither the author nor the funder of the so-called “Ricketts Plan” to defeat Mr. Obama that The New York Times wrote about this morning. Not only was this plan merely a proposal - one of several submitted to the Ending Spending Action Fund by third-party vendors - but it reflects an approach to politics that Mr. Ricketts rejects and it was never a plan to be accepted but only a suggestion for a direction to take. Mr. Ricketts intends to work hard to help elect a President this fall who shares his commitment to economic responsibility, but his efforts are and will continue to be focused entirely on questions of fiscal policy, not attacks that seek to divide us socially or culturally.

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Cubs-Owner-Wants-To-Tie-Obama-To-Wright-151870885.html#ixzz1v9VmUNFO

Meanwhile,I was listening to the Ed Schultz show earlier today and a number of Cubs fans called in and reported they were no longer "bleeding Cubby blue" after hearing about Joe Ricketts political spending adventures.

Artie60438 wrote:

Quote :

UPDATE: Ricketts is now dissociating himself from the plan. This statement is from Brian Baker, president of the Ending Spending Action Fund:

Quote :

Joe Ricketts is a registered independent, a fiscal conservative, and an outspoken critic of the Obama Administration, but he is neither the author nor the funder of the so-called “Ricketts Plan” to defeat Mr. Obama that The New York Times wrote about this morning. Not only was this plan merely a proposal - one of several submitted to the Ending Spending Action Fund by third-party vendors - but it reflects an approach to politics that Mr. Ricketts rejects and it was never a plan to be accepted but only a suggestion for a direction to take. Mr. Ricketts intends to work hard to help elect a President this fall who shares his commitment to economic responsibility, but his efforts are and will continue to be focused entirely on questions of fiscal policy, not attacks that seek to divide us socially or culturally.

Damn! I was really, really looking forward to an ad campaign centered around Wright. IMHO, that idea was beyond stupid, and absolutely certain to backfire.

Quote :

"Joe Ricketts is a registered independent"

Yeah right, indepenent my ass.

Quote :

Name: Joe Ricketts

Relationship: Patriarch

Lives in: Little Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Occupation: Owns TDAmeritrade, DNAinfo.com, High Plains Bison. With his four kids, he bought the Chicago Cubs in 2009. He's really rich.

Politics: Conservative

Political Money: Created the Taxpayers Against Earmarks in 2010, which spent $600,000 in an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The group changed the name to Ending Spending in 2011 and spent $250,000 backing Deb Fischer, the surprise winner of Tuesday's Nebraska Republican Senate primary. The group has also spent money backing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in his recall election and on ads in Indiana against Sen. Dick Lugar, who was defeated in the Republican primary earlier this month. Joe has given $500,000 to the anti-incumbent PAC, Campaign for Primary Accountability. On Thursday, The New York Times reported that Ricketts wants to spend $10 million trying to defeat Obama with a plan titled, "The Defeat of Barack Hussein Obama: The Ricketts Plan to End His Spending for Good." It would argue that Obama can't help but be influenced by the radical leftist politics of early mentors like the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Scorpion wrote:

BTW - The park on the South Side was 100% financed by taxpayers. So I don't even want to hear any bullshit whining over the City kicking in a little cash to help with the renovation. Actually, you can whine all you want. It's gonna happen whether you like it or not.

The last time I heard the words "it's gonna happen" and the Chicago Cubs was in 2007. We all know how that turned out,don't we?
Rahm Emanuel ‘livid,’ not returning calls from Ricketts family

Quote :

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is not returning calls from the Ricketts family and is “livid” over a New York Times report that Joe Ricketts commissioned a proposal for a multimillion-dollar ad campaign linking President Obama to the president’s former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, according to an Emanuel aide.

Joe Ricketts’s children, which include Obama bundler Laura Ricketts, bought the Chicago Cubs in 2009 and have been in talks with the city about renovating the team’s 98-year-old stadium, Wrigley Field.

That appears to be on hold now.

“The Mayor was livid when he read that the Ricketts were going to launch a $10 million campaign against President Obama – with the type of racially motivated ads that are insulting to the president and the presidential campaign,” said the aide, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the situation. “He is also livid with their blatant hypocrisy.”

The aide also said Emanuel, who is Obama’s former chief of staff, has cut off communication with the family.

“The Ricketts have tried to contact the mayor, but he’s said that he does not want to talk with them today, tomorrow or anytime soon,” the aide said.

The Ricketts family is seeking taxpayer funding for the renovations. Emanuel has reportedly sought to put $100 million in tax incentives into the deal.

Artie60438 wrote:

Scorpion wrote:

BTW - The park on the South Side was 100% financed by taxpayers. So I don't even want to hear any bullshit whining over the City kicking in a little cash to help with the renovation. Actually, you can whine all you want. It's gonna happen whether you like it or not.

The last time I heard the words "it's gonna happen" and the Chicago Cubs was in 2007. We all know how that turned out,don't we?

Yeah. The Cubs went from last to first in one year, IIRC.

Pretty impressive!

Artie60438 wrote:

Rahm Emanuel ‘livid,’ not returning calls from Ricketts family

Quote :

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is not returning calls from the Ricketts family and is “livid” over a New York Times report that Joe Ricketts commissioned a proposal for a multimillion-dollar ad campaign linking President Obama to the president’s former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, according to an Emanuel aide.

I don't blame Rahm for being pissed off at all - probably feels ambushed.

Still, the deal that I've seen being discussed is a good one for the City - basically a bond issue with a guaranteed rate of return.

I guess we'll see how it all turns out.

Scorpion wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

Scorpion wrote:

BTW - The park on the South Side was 100% financed by taxpayers. So I don't even want to hear any bullshit whining over the City kicking in a little cash to help with the renovation. Actually, you can whine all you want. It's gonna happen whether you like it or not.

The last time I heard the words "it's gonna happen" and the Chicago Cubs was in 2007. We all know how that turned out,don't we?

Yeah. The Cubs went from last to first in one year, IIRC.

Pretty impressive!

Yeah,up until they met the Diamondbacks in the divisional playoffs and went 3 and out.

This thread is my dream come true.

I ask you, did that blow up real good for Mittens and his race baiting hate mongers or what?

edge540 wrote:

I ask you, did that blow up real good for Mittens and his race baiting hate mongers or what?

I love the fact that they think bringing up Rev Wright is going to help them. Meanwhile Mittens disavowed it but unfortunately for him he previously brought the subject up on Hannity a few months ago I believe. Today when asked about it he said something to the effect that he "doesn't remember but he stands by his comments.

I just found the video
Mitt Romney: I don't know what I said, but I stand by it, whatever it was

Quote :

Mitt Romney, asked this afternoon whether he stands by his use of Jeremiah Wright to attack President Obama on Sean Hannity's radio show in February:

Uh, I'm actually going to to, I'm not familiar precisely with exactly what I said, but I stand by what I said, whatever it was. And with regards to, uh, I'll go back and take at what was said there.

Yes, the the same Mitt Romney who earlier today said he "repudiates" the use of Jeremiah Wright to attack President Obama ... now says he stands by his use of Jeremiah Wright to attack President Obama. Even though he doesn't know what his attack was. Or so he says.

12:32 PM PT: As several commenters have pointed out, in Mitt Romney's defense, it can be hard keeping track of what you say when you're lying all the time.

Here's what he doesn't remember