the NRA is ticking me off

[WhipperSnapper 88]

The NRA-ILA, their lobbying arm, only spends $3 million per year. The NRA's overall budget is north of $250 million. $33 million of that is salary for their over 700 employees. About the same amount goes in to their direct mail campaign.

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000082

What about NRA-PVF? What's their expenditures? That's the PAC that spends money on ads and influencing elections. The true amount spent on elections by NRA is somewhere closer to 20-30 million annually.

 

[James Riley]

It's almost as if you guys don't realize that Heller and McDonald are 1 Liberal supreme court justice appointee away from being over-turned......

The part of my quote you deleted: "[T]hen ask if the NRA started those cases or if they came in later as amicus or johnny-come-latelies, claiming victory after some other poor sap or group did the heavy lifting. Real men fight on the law, they don't bully or suck political d**k. If we could only get the ACLU to defend our primary civil liberty. At least they know how to fight on the law. They just happen to be wrong on guns. The NRA should step up. But no, they play golf with the incumbent idiots we keep sending back to the Hill."

As you say in your second post above, they spend 20 to 30 million annually on elections. That's part of the problem. Maybe they should float some Second Amendment candidates that don't have all the baggage of a right wing conservative land-raping religious zealot who turns the stomach of half of America. They won't because they themselves carry that baggage and can't keep their eye on the 2nd Amendment ball.

 

[noharleyyet]

James Riley, is Bloomberg a 'real' man?

 

[James Riley]

James Riley, is Bloomberg a 'real' man?

I don't know anything about him. Seriously. I've heard the name and I think he's from New York but that's about it. Does he buy politicians?

Edited to add: I googled him and read part of his wiki write up. Not my cup of tea (gun control), but I didn't glean his stance on campaign finance/lobbying and/or litigation so I still don't know much about him vice my posts in this thread.

 

[JWP58]

What are they going to do if a Republican wins the White House?

The same thing EVERY other lobby group will do....keep bribing, keep begging for money...you know the usual D.C. dog and pony "lobby" show. I would love to see "lobbying" made a federal offense, since it is nothing more than bribery. I think a minimum 10yrs in the clink would be a good start. The only people elected representatives should be listening to are the folks that elected them, not to the people with the deepest pockets or the nicest private jet, beach condo, so on and so forth...

 

[Dave N]

the same thing every other lobby group will do....keep bribing, keep begging for money...you know the usual d.c. Dog and pony "lobby" show. I would love to see "lobbying" made a federal offense, since it is nothing more than bribery. I think a minimum 10yrs in the clink would be a good start. The only people elected representatives should be listening to are the folks that elected them, not to the people with the deepest pockets or the nicest private jet, beach condo, so on and so forth...

amen!

 

[Big Foot]

As you say in your second post above, they spend 20 to 30 million annually on elections. That's part of the problem. Maybe they should float some Second Amendment candidates that don't have all the baggage of a right wing conservative land-raping religious zealot who turns the stomach of half of America. They won't because they themselves carry that baggage and can't keep their eye on the 2nd Amendment ball.

Could not have said it better.

 

[James Riley]

The same thing EVERY other lobby group will do....keep bribing, keep begging for money...you know the usual D.C. dog and pony "lobby" show. I would love to see "lobbying" made a federal offense, since it is nothing more than bribery. I think a minimum 10yrs in the clink would be a good start. The only people elected representatives should be listening to are the folks that elected them, not to the people with the deepest pockets or the nicest private jet, beach condo, so on and so forth...

This ^^^^.

 

[Hunting Wife]

The only people elected representatives should be listening to are the folks that elected them, not to the people with the deepest pockets or the nicest private jet, beach condo, so on and so forth...

Amen! Now if there was only a candidate that believed the same...Oh wait.

In the year 2016, with a political campaign finance system that is corrupt and increasingly controlled by billionaires and special interests, I fear very much that, in fact, government of the people, by the people, and for the people is beginning to perish in the United States of America.

https://berniesanders.com/issues/money-in-politics/

Couldn't resist the irony...

 

[shootbrownelk]

I'd like to thank RMEF for all the fire starter I get from them... especially those envelopes that they have to fold 3x to fit inside my PO box...

Same here Zach, I get tons of junk from RMEF. I have enough address stickers to last several lifetimes. I don't understand why folk get so upset with the NRA. RMEF is way worse with their donation mailings and phone calls. Yet I don't hear anyone bitching about them.

 

[Big Fin]

Same here Zach, I get tons of junk from RMEF. I have enough address stickers to last several lifetimes. I don't understand why folk get so upset with the NRA. RMEF is way worse with their donation mailings and phone calls. Yet I don't hear anyone bitching about them.

Mailings, yes. Phone calls ..... if you are getting phone calls from RMEF, I want to know about it. You might get a call for your local big game banquet, but if you have someone soliciting you for donations via phone, please send me a PM with details.

As for mailings, I agree, I have enough mailing labels for a lifetime. Flip side of that is the response rate you get from this mail campaign is off the charts. If this was not increasing net cash for mission, RMEF would not be doing it. Our staff and the service contractor we use, has it down to a fine science. I cannot disclose what the net-net is on that, but I can assure you that it is enough to help us conserve/improve over 100,000 acres of habitat per year.

So, I hope you will continue to pardon us for that imposition on your mail box and you will use the mailing labels whenever you can to provide more exposure of RMEF. As much as it might seem to be a waste, it is actually helping conserve wildlife habitat.

Thanks for the support of RMEF. For 2015, RMEF had another amazing year. Our staff was given a goal of membership increase of 3%, which they exceeded by almost double that. They were given a financial goal of increasing net activity for mission investment by 5%. They increased net for mission investment by 40%. That is a big percentage and a really big dollar amount that means more conserved acres and more access acquired.

The staff at RMEF are some very qualified professionals, at all levels. Every year since I have been on the Board of Directors has been a new record for net income for mission investment and for membership. Honestly, I am expecting that sooner or later the growth curve will flatten or drop slightly, but every year I predict that, the results prove me wrong. Shows what I know.

Now, back to those phone calls. If any of you are receiving phone calls for purposes other than invitations to your local big game banquet, please send me a PM.

 

[Dave N]

No phone calls, and we just dumped our landline, so won't be getting any! I wish our RMEF guy would hurry up and get the tickets up for sale. I've been looking every day and still nothing. I've been bidder number 1 the past 2 years and would like to keep it that way!

 

[Topgun 30-06]

No phone calls to me either Randy!

 

[Ben Lamb]

The same thing EVERY other lobby group will do....keep bribing, keep begging for money...you know the usual D.C. dog and pony "lobby" show. I would love to see "lobbying" made a federal offense, since it is nothing more than bribery. I think a minimum 10yrs in the clink would be a good start. The only people elected representatives should be listening to are the folks that elected them, not to the people with the deepest pockets or the nicest private jet, beach condo, so on and so forth...

That's a little short sighted, IMO. Lobbying is an activity that every American should partake in. All it means is that you are trying to influence the way an elected official votes. Any time you write a letter to an elected official, you are lobbying. Organizations such as the NRA & RMEF have every right to pursue their interests in congress, and at the state level. It's called participatory democracy, and it's important to retain the voice of the people as individuals, and as collections of individuals.

Parity is a problem, as is influence peddling/spending. Lobbyists should be regulated heavily with strict reporting requirements and limits on how much they can spend to influence votes. That's been a struggle, especially with the current majority, who has been resistant to increasing regulation on lobbyists. In fact, the majority party in Congress is making it easier to purchase electeds rather than bring in more transparency.

 

[Ben Lamb]

What about NRA-PVF? What's their expenditures? That's the PAC that spends money on ads and influencing elections. The true amount spent on elections by NRA is somewhere closer to 20-30 million annually.

PAC's have limits to contributions, but the NRA-PVC spends roughly 20-30 million in cycle on Independent Expenditures (those ads, glossy mailers, etc) to influence elections.

So combined, the NRA spends about 25% of it's total revenue on lobbying/elections if you include salaries.

 

[shootbrownelk]

Mailings, yes. Phone calls ..... if you are getting phone calls from RMEF, I want to know about it. You might get a call for your local big game banquet, but if you have someone soliciting you for donations via phone, please send me a PM with details.

As for mailings, I agree, I have enough mailing labels for a lifetime. Flip side of that is the response rate you get from this mail campaign is off the charts. If this was not increasing net cash for mission, RMEF would not be doing it. Our staff and the service contractor we use, has it down to a fine science. I cannot disclose what the net-net is on that, but I can assure you that it is enough to help us conserve/improve over 100,000 acres of habitat per year.

So, I hope you will continue to pardon us for that imposition on your mail box and you will use the mailing labels whenever you can to provide more exposure of RMEF. As much as it might seem to be a waste, it is actually helping conserve wildlife habitat.

Thanks for the support of RMEF. For 2015, RMEF had another amazing year. Our staff was given a goal of membership increase of 3%, which they exceeded by almost double that. They were given a financial goal of increasing net activity for mission investment by 5%. They increased net for mission investment by 40%. That is a big percentage and a really big dollar amount that means more conserved acres and more access acquired.

The staff at RMEF are some very qualified professionals, at all levels. Every year since I have been on the Board of Directors has been a new record for net income for mission investment and for membership. Honestly, I am expecting that sooner or later the growth curve will flatten or drop slightly, but every year I predict that, the results prove me wrong. Shows what I know.

Now, back to those phone calls. If any of you are receiving phone calls for purposes other than invitations to your local big game banquet, please send me a PM.

Correct Finn, the calls are for the RMEF banquets. The NRA doesn't call me.

 

[James Riley]

That's a little short sighted, IMO. Lobbying is an activity that every American should partake in. All it means is that you are trying to influence the way an elected official votes. Any time you write a letter to an elected official, you are lobbying. Organizations such as the NRA & RMEF have every right to pursue their interests in congress, and at the state level. It's called participatory democracy, and it's important to retain the voice of the people as individuals, and as collections of individuals.

Parity is a problem, as is influence peddling/spending. Lobbyists should be regulated heavily with strict reporting requirements and limits on how much they can spend to influence votes. That's been a struggle, especially with the current majority, who has been resistant to increasing regulation on lobbyists. In fact, the majority party in Congress is making it easier to purchase electeds rather than bring in more transparency.

The Supreme Court has pretty much said money equals speech under the First Amendment, so there is that. I think they fail to understand that speech is free. You can stand on a stump and yell in the town square, for free, until you lose your voice. Rather, money equals being heard. There is a world of difference. But then I'm not on the Supreme Court.

 

[noharleyyet]

In fact, the majority party in Congress is making it easier to purchase electeds rather than bring in more transparency

So it's only wink and nod bipartisanship on dough til the war chest gulf widens?

 

[Big Foot]

So it's only wink and nod bipartisanship on dough til the war chest gulf widens?

Why has there not been a federal amendment passed yet?

 

[WhipperSnapper 88]

As you say in your second post above, they spend 20 to 30 million annually on elections. That's part of the problem. Maybe they should float some Second Amendment candidates that don't have all the baggage of a right wing conservative land-raping religious zealot who turns the stomach of half of America. They won't because they themselves carry that baggage and can't keep their eye on the 2nd Amendment ball.

Do candidates like that exist? lol