Pulled- Ron Paul's Presidential Campaign Now Accepts Bitcoins through Tradehill!

[DrYe5]

Thought some may be interested. This is their initial response to my inquiry:

Hello T.

 

We do not accept bitcoins.  As it’s fairly new and as much as anything, it would probably confuse the FEC and how we reported these donations!

 

Thanks for your support.

 

John

>>
To Whom It May Concern,

    How can I donate bitcoins to Ron Paul's presidential campaign?

-T

Edit: Tradehill informs you can now donate to Ron Paul through their site!

Donated 2 BTC.

Disclaimer: I'm a left-leaning Independent who has voted "D" my whole life. Getting politicians to accept bitcoins, even circuitously, would be a huge step forward for the currency. Ron Paul is the most obvious in-point because of his policy positions.

Edit 2: Tradehill reconsiders, pulls donation option and returns funds

[Serge]

no surprise

[elggawf]

How much paint you gotta huff to think that a presidential candidate would accept a  semi-anonymous crypto-currency for their presidential campaign?

[Serith]

This information is actually on his website

http://www.ronpaul2012.com/acceptable-donation-methods/

(last line)

Bitcoins, e-gold, and/or other electronic or other types of currencies are not accepted by the campaign.

The good news is that Bitcoin is first on that list

[elggawf]

Ron Paul's presidential campaign now accepts Bitcoins.

If you wish to donate simply follow this link https://www.tradehill.com/WithdrawOverview/BTC

We will take your BTC and send Ron Paul a check. He's taking our Bitcoins if he wants to or not!


Jered

What's the FEC have to say about this?

[iamzill]

Remember to include your occupation and employer if your donation or aggregate donation(s) totals more than $200 per FEC rules.

Interestingly enough, if I donate more than $200 in USD Big Brother gets another little tidbit of information on me, but if I sent $200 in BTC and proxy it through Tradehill it's anonymous.

Cool.

[DrYe5]

Ron Paul's presidential campaign now accepts Bitcoins.

If you wish to donate simply follow this link https://www.tradehill.com/WithdrawOverview/BTC

We will take your BTC and send Ron Paul a check. He's taking our Bitcoins if he wants to or not!


Jered

Is this just starting today? If so, I'll bug other campaigns. Might get some more CNN spots out of it.

[joulesbeef]

Interestingly enough, if I donate more than $200 in USD Big Brother gets another little tidbit of information on me, but if I sent $200 in BTC and proxy it through Tradehill it's anonymous.

But then people find out, they launch an FEC investigation and he ends up giving your coins to charity and bitcoins get in the news "new crypto currency used to subvert our elections laws,  time to ban bitcoin?" and then bitcoin plummets to zero and self destructs and a bunch of angry miners are seen in teh streets looking for some guy named iamzill.


Not really a future I want to see.

[casascius]

Ron Paul's presidential campaign now accepts Bitcoins.

If you wish to donate simply follow this link https://www.tradehill.com/WithdrawOverview/BTC

We will take your BTC and send Ron Paul a check. He's taking our Bitcoins if he wants to or not!


Jered

Lightning rod in a storm!

Isn't this blatantly against the rules?  You're not allowed to contribute on behalf of others.  It's probably no different than, say, selling your vote to the highest bidder on eBay.  You could probably expect the same kind of exposure as this: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/09/politics/uwire/main4005093.shtml

Very bad idea if you want to be viewed as a legal bitcoin exchange!

[Sukrim]

Ron Paul's presidential campaign now accepts Bitcoins.

If you wish to donate simply follow this link https://www.tradehill.com/WithdrawOverview/BTC

We will take your BTC and send Ron Paul a check. He's taking our Bitcoins if he wants to or not!


Jered

I do STRONGLY object to this! Firstly it seems to be against regulations ("3. I am making this contribution with my own personal funds, and I will not be reimbursed by anyone for this contribution."), secondly the description is misleading (you do NOT donate BTC, you donate USD which you convert somehow before - there is NO mention at which exchange rate you plan to do this for example) and thirdly I have a personal problem with companies potentially supporting any political party in some weird oversea country. It is my belief that if you want to support someone, you should vote - not "donate"!

[DrYe5]

You could probably expect the same kind of exposure as this: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/09/politics/uwire/main4005093.shtml

Very bad idea if you want to be viewed as a legal bitcoin exchange!

This is totally unrelated. That story involves selling votes. In this case Tradehill is acting as a sort-of bundler which is how a significant plurality of campaign funds are obtained.

I assume Tradehill simply sells the bitcoins at market value and sends that value, but I'd like that in writing. Transferring my BTC to Tradehill to donate now.

[just_someguy]

Jered, you've made the mistake of assuming all your customer's share a similar set of political beliefs.

I just withdrew the last of my dwolla and btc from your site and will not be returning.

Oddly enough I was willing to put up with the growing pains you had when dealing with bank transfers but this kind of thing is too much.

[DrYe5]

Jered, you've made the mistake of assuming all your customer's share a similar set of political beliefs.

I just withdrew the last of my dwolla and btc from your site and will not be returning.

Oddly enough I was willing to put up with the growing pains you had when dealing with bank transfers but this kind of thing is too much.

Whatever. Bitcoins to politicians is an important step for bitcoin.

[casascius]

You could probably expect the same kind of exposure as this: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/09/politics/uwire/main4005093.shtml

Very bad idea if you want to be viewed as a legal bitcoin exchange!

This is totally unrelated. That story involves selling votes. In this case Tradehill is acting as a sort-of bundler which is how a significant plurality of campaign funds are obtained.

I assume Tradehill simply sells the bitcoins at market value and sends that value, but I'd like that in writing. Transferring my BTC to Tradehill to donate now.

Please describe the difference between a "sort-of bundler" and a straw donor.

A straw donor is a person who illegally uses another person's money to make a political contribution in their own name.[1] In the United States, making a political contribution in another person's name is illegal, as is agreeing to be the named donor with someone else's money.[2] For example, a straw donor may contribute to a political campaign before being reimbursed by another, who is using that person as a conduit to exceed the limits on campaign contributions under the laws of a jurisdiction.
 
In federal elections in the United States, straw donor schemes are illegal under 2 U.S.C. § 441f, which states:
 

No person shall make a contribution in the name of another person or knowingly permit his name to be used to effect such a contribution, and no person shall knowingly accept a contribution made by one person in the name of another person.[3]
 
This section was enacted as part of the Federal Election Campaign Act in 1971

[Meatpile]

Funny how these ridiculous laws only fuck the people wanting to do something new and interesting, and don't at all stop the mass corruption of government by lobbyists and corporations

[Sukrim]

All in all:
You can NOT donate BTC directly to this guy!

Just do an instant-sell with your BTC and donate USD, like Tradehill would most likely do anyways (or not, they could also just donate 1 USD per BTC donated... or just keep the BTC, as direct BTC donations are NOT possible at all, which can easily be verified on that guy's website) if you feel the need to.

I find it VERY strange and disturbing to see donations to a foreign politician on a bitcoin exchange site, especially right next to a non-political humanitarian organization like the red cross!

[DrYe5]

Please describe the difference between a "sort-of bundler" and a straw donor.

A straw donor is a person who illegally ...

Oddly enough, Wikipedia has multiple entries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_finance_in_the_United_States#Bundling

[DrYe5]

All in all:
You can NOT donate BTC directly to this guy!

Just do an instant-sell with your BTC and donate USD, like Tradehill would most likely do anyways (or not, they could also just donate 1 USD per BTC donated... or just keep the BTC, as direct BTC donations are NOT possible at all, which can easily be verified on that guy's website) if you feel the need to.

I find it VERY strange and disturbing to see donations to a foreign politician on a bitcoin exchange site, especially right next to a non-political humanitarian organization like the red cross!

Considering Ron Paul's views on the US dollar and related institutions, it is not at all strange or disturbing.

[spruce]

We will take your BTC and send Ron Paul a check. He's taking our Bitcoins if he wants to or not!

Jered

But will he cash the check? I don't see how he can. Surely an opponent would just *love* to catch him breaking campaign finance regulations.

This is Trade Hill being irresponsible, not a good idea for TH and not a good idea for bitcoin. Why not put an ad for Silk Road on your site at the same time?

[Sukrim]

Why not put an ad for Silk Road on your site at the same time?

They already link to several Ponzi sites anyways (a lot of broken links though), silkroad would be a nice addition...!

https://www.tradehill.com/Support/Bitcoin
at the bottom at
Do you have any links to other Bitcoin sites?

Seriously, I don't know or care about any political views of Tradehill operators or anyone else for that matter. Keep your US presidential election stuff out of my money sphere and donate privately if you feel the need to.

I personally accept BTC donations by the way, feel free to put me up on that donation page instead!

Edit:
The EFF also for quite some time does no longer accept BTC donations - where exactly does this money go?