What would you think of an organization that did the following:<\/p>\n
\u2022<\/strong> apparently sought out lower-income individuals;<\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong> solicited funds from them via small credit-card donations, purportedly on a \u201cone-time basis\u201d;<\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong> on a recurring basis, processed multiple such \u201cone-time\u201d donations against donors vice the single donation that was authorized;<\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong> did all of the above to a number of individuals every month;<\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong> gave these individuals the \u201crun-around\u201d regarding returning unauthorized donations when they complained; and<\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong> appeared to take great pains to keep the unauthorized total received through such shady actions from any single individual below the known thresholds ($100 on a given account) at which credit card companies begin to investigate fraud?<\/p>\n Oh, and did I mention that this is reputedly precisely the method used by some shady pr0n companies to scam extra money from their customers?<\/p>\n Don\u2019t know about you, but it certainly looks to me like “an apparent pattern of ongoing and repetitive small-scale fraud.”\u00a0 And I might call the folks doing it sleazy bastards who were running a scam targeting those who can least afford the financial hit.<\/p>\n Now, what would you think about a national political campaign that did that? Hypothetically speaking, of course?<\/p>\n Well, maybe you don\u2019t have to think hypothetically. According to this article from Observer.com, apparently the Clintoon Campaign appears to have been doing exactly this<\/i><\/a> during the current election cycle.\u00a0 (FWIW:\u00a0 the publisher of Observer Media, which owns Observer.com, is related to Donald Trump by marriage.\u00a0 That fact is fully disclosed in the linked article.\u00a0 That fact is also completely irrelevant if what’s reported is true.)<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time the Clintoon Campaign has done something along these lines, either. As reported by that charter member of the \u201cvast right-wing conspiracy\u201d the New York Times<\/span> back in 2007, there\u2019s some indication that Clintoon\u2019s campaign might possibly have been doing something similar back then, too<\/i><\/a>.\u00a0 Hell, even the\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In contrast, the Trump campaign doesn\u2019t appear to be doing anything similar.\u00a0\u00a0 Per the article, Wells Fargo \u2013 whose customers have reported extensive problems along these lines from the Clintoon Campaign \u2013 has reportedly received no such complaints from Trump supporters<\/i>.<\/p>\n Sheesh. You or I would have been in jail by now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Useful Idiots<\/del>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cProgressives\u201d over at Daily KOS were raising a stink concerning the issue back then<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n