Slappy Statist Candidates for US President 2016

[Chef Ramsay]

Visualizing The Gop's 2016 Bracket

Cool interactive at link based on the recent Quinnipiac poll.

Read the chart from top to bottom, then left to right. For example, 77 percent of respondents who like Ted Cruz also like Ben Carson.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/twenty-sixteen/visualizing-the-gop-s-2016-bracket-20150305

[Chef Ramsay]

Herman Cain: Santorum announces doomed presidential bid in interview with pretend journalist

Ugh.

I may give Bernie Sanders a lot of flak for being unelectable, but I don't want anyone to think Democrats have the market cornered when it comes to candidates with no chance of winning. Though he hasn't announced, we assume Jeb Bush is going to seek the Republican nomination, and the party already has Mike Huckabee in the race. Now, it will have to deal with a doomed Rick Santorum candidacy as well.

Santorum made his announcement in a televised interview with pretend journalist George Stephanopoulos, and you can watch the clip below. To quickly sum it up, he's angling to re-fight the values-and-morality campaign that failed him in 2012, and will have even less traction this time around.

....And that's about it.

Does he bring anything to the table that hasn't already been rejected? Nope.

http://www.caintv.com/rick-santorum-announces-presid

[Chef Ramsay]

Show me the money: Corporate media set to win election cycle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jMejvSdUNY

As the 2016 election cycle gets underway, many in the mainstream media are preparing for the barrage of (and money for) political advertisements thanks to SuperPACs and similar institutions. “Lionel” of LionelMedia joins Anya Parampil and takes a look at how the mainstream media takes advantage of the political season.

[Chef Ramsay]

O'MALLEY SAYS HE'S READY TO CAMPAIGN HARD IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- A day after jumping into the presidential race, Democrat Martin O'Malley vowed Sunday to fight hard in New Hampshire, home of the first presidential primary and a stronghold for Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"I'm used to tough fights, I've always been drawn to them," O'Malley told reporters after greeting voters at a diner.

O'Malley kicked off his presidential bid Saturday and is making trips to the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. He is the third Democrat to enter the race, behind Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and still remains unknown by many voters. He has campaigned alongside New Hampshire candidates frequently in the last several elections, but is struggling to gain traction in a state where the Clintons have long been popular.

...

"I did support her in 2008, I thought she was one of the best candidates for those times - but times change," O'Malley said. "One of the big challenges that we have yet to address in this country is reining in reckless behavior on Wall Street, and I believe we need new leadership to do that."

More...http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DEM_2016_OMALLEY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-30-08-53-45

[Chef Ramsay]

Democrats Seek a Richer Roster to Match G.O.P.

WASHINGTON — Over the last few months, Harold M. Ickes, a longtime ally of Hillary Rodham Clinton, has helped organize private meetings around the country with union leaders, Clinton backers and Democratic strategists. The pressing topic: Who will step up to be the Democrats’ megadonors in the 2016 presidential race?

Republican contenders have already secured hundreds of millions of dollars in commitments from a stable of billionaires, including a Wall Street hedge fund executive, a Las Vegas casino magnate, a Florida auto dealer, a Wyoming investor and, of course, the Kansas-born billionaires David H. and Charles G. Koch. But none of the biggest Democratic donors from past elections — for example, the Chicago investor Fred Eychaner, the climate-change activist Tom Steyer and the entertainment mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg — have committed to supporting Mrs. Clinton on nearly the same scale.

“No one has stepped forward as the savior,” said Matt Bennett, a longtime Democratic consultant in Washington.

More...http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/us/politics/democrats-seek-a-richer-roster-to-match-gop-in-2016-election.html?_r=0

[Chef Ramsay]

Scott Walker Has Early Lead in Iowa Poll as Jeb Bush Faces Challenges

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has expanded his early lead in Iowa, while former Florida Governor Jeb Bush continues to face headwinds and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida shows upside potential in the state that hosts the first 2016 presidential nomination balloting.

A new Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll shows more than a third of likely Republican caucus participants say they would never vote for Bush—one factor in a new index to assess candidate strength in such a crowded field. Forty-three percent view him favorably, compared to 45 percent who view him unfavorably.

Walker is backed by 17 percent as the state enters a busy summer of candidate visits, a planned straw poll, and campaigning at the Iowa State Fair. Tied for second are Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 10 percent, with Bush and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee next at 9 percent each.

They're followed at 6 percent by Rubio and 2012 Iowa caucuses winner Rick Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania. With eight months to go before the 2016 caucuses, there's plenty of time for movement.

More...http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-30/scott-walker-has-early-lead-in-iowa-poll-as-jeb-bush-faces-challenges

[Chef Ramsay]

Lindsey Graham's Got a Simple Platform: War!

Just when the US presidential contest needed a real macho man candidate, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) today threw his camouflaged hat in the ring. The Senator is staking it all on the proposition that after 14 years of fighting a global war on terror that has produced nothing but more terror, what Americans really want is eight more years of turbocharged world war under Comandante Graham.

"Radical Islam is running wild," said Graham today, but "I'm afraid some Americans have grown tired of fighting them."

Graham is disgusted that the American people are going weak-kneed about war, and he won't give an inch. Forget that the US war on Iraq was the reason that "radical Islam is running wild." Graham is holding firm to the idea that attacking Iraq was a very good thing.

It was a defensive war, he claimed last month. After all, Saddam was firing on US planes as they bombed Iraq! He first made that claim before the war, in response to then-Rep. Ron Paul's claim that Iraq had not attacked us. To Graham, it is aggression if you shoot back at an American plane that has flown thousands of miles to bomb you.

Saddam was "denying UN weapons inspectors access to sites where we thought there would be weapons of mass destruction," he also told Wolf Blitzer in the same interview. But we have known for years that this is untrue, a lie often used at the time by President Bush to justify the war. The inspectors were in Iraq and working right up until President Bush told them to leave because he was going to start bombing.

The mess in Iraq is all Obama's fault, says Graham. If we had never left, Iraq would be well on the road to being the democratic nirvana that the neocons promised before the attack.

What is to be done now? Graham wants to re-invade Iraq and to invade Syria:
We're going to have to send some of our troops back over there, to partner with Iraqis and Arab armies to make sure these radical islamists don't hit us here at home. There is no easy way forward. There no way to win the war without some of us being over there doing the fighting so they don't hit us here at home.
How many troops?

"About 10,000. I think about 10,000."

More...http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/neocon-watch/2015/june/01/lindsey-grahams-got-a-simple-platform-war/

[Chef Ramsay]

Graham's entry into race could help Rubio, hurt Paul

Graham’s bid is designed to push the muscular foreign policy approach that he and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), his close ally, have advocated for years.

“That’s a tried-and-true, time-tested method of getting your pet issue into the conversation. If Lindsey were from Kansas, I don’t think many people would care, but because he’s from South Carolina, and that will alter the dominoes in the early primary, people have to pay attention to him,” said Rich Galen, a GOP strategist.

He is running as an antagonist to fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who criticizes hawks in his own party for the rise of ISIS and wants to shut down the National Security Agency’s bulk telephone data collection program.

Graham has called for 10,000 American “boots on the ground” to stop the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, demanded that Iran renounce terrorism as part of any final nuclear deal, and pronounced himself “glad” that the NSA is collecting phone records.

“It contrasts two longstanding trends that have been with the Republican Party a hundred years. The Republican Party has always been a leader on national security, foreign policy and defense. On the other hand, there’s always been a libertarian streak to it, and even at one point an isolationist streak,” said former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean, who was chairman of the 9/11 Commission.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Paul’s rival, could wind up as the biggest beneficiary of Graham’s candidacy. His national security and immigration positions mirror Graham’s and he is focusing his resources on South Carolina, viewing it as a springboard to Florida, a pivotal winner-take-all primary state.

Graham jumps into the contest at a time when GOP voters are increasingly concerned about national security and the growing strength of Iran and ISIS.

More...http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/243511-grahams-entry-into-race-could-help-rubio-hurt-paul

[Chef Ramsay]

Ted Cruz knocks Scott Walker's immigration position

LAS VEGAS — Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday took a shot at rival presidential contender Scott Walker for comments the Wisconsin governor has made regarding immigration policy.

Cruz opposes comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for the estimated 11-12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. But the Texan is a big proponent of legal immigration and making adjustments to U.S. law that would facilitate more legal immigration. He criticized Walker for suggesting that he supported limiting legal immigration if it has a negative impact on the wages of American workers.

"There is considerable bipartisan agreement outside of Washington that we need to improve and streamline legal immigration so that we can remain a nation that welcomes and celebrates legal immigrants," Cruz said in an interview with the Washington Examiner during a brief campaign swing through Las Vegas.

"I think it is a mistake for any politician to on the one hand embrace amnesty, embrace a pathway to citizenship for those who are here illegally, and on the other hand seek to restrict or punish legal immigrants," Cruz continued. "I am the son of an immigrant who came legally from Cuba. [President Ronald] Reagan referred to legal immigrants as Americans by choice and there is no stronger advocate of legal immigration in the U.S. Senate than I am."

"I think the right approach is to secure the border, follow the rule of law and embrace and improve legal immigration," Cruz said.

Walker has conceded a change of heart on immigration policy as he gears up to launch a 2016 presidential bid. The governor, 47, previously supported a pathway to legal status for illegal immigrants. Now he is opposed. Supporting a pathway to legalization or citizenship could be problematic for a Republican candidate seeking his party's White House nomination.

But in a recent interview with conservative talk show host Glenn Beck, Walker appeared to move farther to the right on immigration than even amnesty hawks like Cruz. Here's what Walker said, as reported by Breitbart.

"In terms of legal immigration, how we need to approach that going forward is saying — the next president and the next congress need to make decisions about a legal immigration system that's based on, first and foremost, on protecting American workers and American wages, because the more I've talked to folks, I've talked to Sen. [Jeff] Sessions [R-Ala.] and others out there — but it is a fundamentally lost issue by many in elected positions today — is what is this doing for American workers looking for jobs, what is this doing to wages, and we need to have that be at the forefront of our discussion going forward."
...

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ted-cruz-knocks-scott-walkers-immigration-position/article/2563591

[Chef Ramsay]

Bernie Sanders Explains Why "Socialist" Isn't a Dirty Word - Late Night with Seth Meyers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFAq-4Vv5c0

[Chef Ramsay]

BOMBSHELL! HILLARY CLINTON CONFESSES: ‘I’M AN ALCOHOLIC!’

Presidential contender Hillary Clinton is hiding a devastating health issue from voters – she’s an alcoholic and secretly went to detox before announcing her run for the White House. Get more about Hillary’s shocking confession, her medical issues -- and SEE a shocking photo showing why she’s not fit to run America.

http://www.globemagazine.com/content/bombshell-hillary-clinton-confesses-%E2%80%98i%E2%80%99m-alcoholic%E2%80%99

[Chef Ramsay]

Chris Christie steps up criticism of The Fed's 'easy money' policy

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Tuesday sharpened his criticism of the U.S. Federal Reserve, suggesting the central bank's "easy money" policies could fuel broader destabilization of the global economy.

While the Fed's crisis-era slashing of U.S. interest rates to near zero was justified for awhile, Christie said, that policy will cause "real problems as we move forward."

Christie, a Republican and potential contender in the November 2016 presidential election, has released a number of policy proposals as he has struggled to gain momentum in a crowded field.

The blunt-spoken governor has advocated a flatter tax code and a scaling back down of regulation that he says would spur economic growth. He first laid out his critique of the Fed in a speech in New Hampshire in mid-May in which he linked low interest rates to a rise in income inequality. He said cheap money had lifted stock prices, boosting the wealth of people who were already rich.

http://news.yahoo.com/christie-steps-criticism-feds-easy-money-policy-222341508--business.html

You can tell he's really hurting for attention if he has to take on the Fed and steal an issue from Rand.

[Chef Ramsay]

Lindsey Graham Thinks U.S. Forces Should Stay in the Middle East Forever

Since officially announcing his 2016 presidential campaign yesterday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has made it clear that he disagrees with the wing of the Republican Party — namely, Rand Paul — that favors a slightly more isolationist approach for foreign policy. Now, in a new interview with Meet the Press host Chuck Todd, Graham has confirmed that he does not believe the U.S. should ever give up its presence in the Middle East.

After Graham said that as president he would arm the Ukrainians, leave troops in Afghanistan, add more troops in Iraq and recruit allies to start a new war in Syria, Todd asked him, “How do you get out?”

“You don’t get out,” Graham replied. Like Japan and Germany after World War II, the senator said he would keep troops in the region indefinitely. “I think you have to be involved in the Mideast militarily, politically, economically,” he said. “If you’re not, you’re making a huge mistake.”

Video and more...http://www.mediaite.com/tv/lindsey-graham-thinks-u-s-forces-should-stay-in-the-middle-east-forever/

[Chef Ramsay]

Scott Walker: ‘I hope in the future we’ll re-establish the Patriot Act’

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Wednesday called for a full reauthorization of the Patriot Act, a day after the U.S. Senate voted to rewrite the post-9/11 law and overhaul the NSA’s bulk data collection program.

Mr. Walker, a potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate, said on “Fox and Friends” that he thinks “we would be much better off” with a full reauthorization.

More...http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/3/scott-walker-i-hope-future-well-re-establish-patri/

[Chef Ramsay]

Rick Santorum's crucial message for the Right

Rick Santorum is running for president, and every conservative and Republican should listen to him.

I can see readers' eyes rolling now. Many conservatives, libertarians and moderate Republicans dislike Santorum. They may think he's a horrible messenger. They may find him terribly wrong on some issues. They may think he has no chance of winning the nomination, or that he would be a disaster in the general election.

These conclusions flow from some combination of reality, petty identity politics, disappointing experiences from the rudderless Bush era of the GOP, and clear-eyed political analysis. But Santorum haters and Santorum dismissers should be able to set aside their personal feelings about the man, and to listen for a moment to his message.

His most important message for the GOP, for libertarians, and for conservatives: We need to care about the working class, about people who are struggling, and about the poor. Republicans need to listen to these people — even if they occupy the 47 percent Mitt Romney so easily discarded — and talk to them, too.

The Santorum-Romney contrast became clear the night they tied for first place in the Iowa caucuses. Both men spoke about the problems with federal welfare programs. Romney castigated welfare recipients as the takers in an "entitlement society," which is at odds with a "merit society." This view plagues the American Right — that those who aren't successful are necessarily that way through some personal perfidy.

Santorum, that same night in Iowa, also took aim at the welfare state. But instead of casting the poor as the bad guys, he made it clear that the poor are the victims of government programs that "increas[e] dependency."

Rather than blame and write off the working class and the poor, Santorum's message is to court them, to show them you are on their side, and that you are fighting for them.

More...http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/rick-santorums-crucial-message-for-the-right/article/2565177

[Chef Ramsay]

5 Lindsey Graham Votes That Should Concern You

1. Graham voted for the nomination of Loretta Lynch as the new Attorney General

Graham voted in favor of the nomination of Loretta Lynch to be the new Attorney General. In case you have not heard, Lynch isn't a good person. Aside from her support of Civil Asset Forfeiture, where the police can basically take your stuff "for an investigation", she also has some other issues. She believes that the President's Executive Amnesty is legal, while a court recent declared otherwise. Voting for an AG who doesn't have a clear distinction of even the limits of the Executive, and Graham's support for her is definitely worrying to anyone who loves freedom (or limited government).

2. Graham voted to fully fund the DHS, including the President's Executive Amnesty.

Graham voted earlier in the year to fully fund the DHS, and actually criticized his fellow colleagues in the Senate for voicing opposition to the spending bill. Hmm, okaying Executive Amnesty? If I remember right, a lot of people were really ticked off with this, and it became a big promise among the GOP to put an end to it. Guess Lindsey didn't get the memo.


3. Graham voted for the CROmnibus spending bill.
Graham voted in favor of the CROmnibus spending bill that got a lot of flack from conservatives and liberals all around. Graham also went to task in calling out Senator Elizabeth Warren on some of her comments on the bill too. This bill showed us all that the current way of Continuing Resolutions isn't sustainable, and is only promoting bigger government and more cronyism, which Graham wants.

4. Graham missed the vote on the USA FREEDOM Act.

Not relevant? Think again. This is the bill to legalize what recently expired in the PATRIOT Act. We can assume Graham was in full support, based upon his eyeroll during Rand Paul's speech in the Senate while debating the PATRIOT Act extension, and his other comments. Why bring it up since he missed it? It helps highlight how many votes he's missed in recent times, or specifically, in 2015 alone (which currently is climbing to 22%).


5. Graham voted to extend the key provisions of the PATRIOT Act that allow the Government to spy on you.

Really, nothing needs to be said here. We get it; Graham isn't that big of a freedom guy. At least we know in advance what his possible Presidency will look like.

https://libertyshield.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/5-lindsey-graham-votes-that-should-concern-you/

[Chef Ramsay]

Graham: 'Don't vote for me' if you're 'worn out by war'

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Americans on Thursday not to vote for him in the 2016 presidential election if they are worn out by war.

The 2016 GOP presidential candidate appeared on Fox News’s "Fox & Friends," where co-host Steve Doocy questioned his past war hawk rhetoric.

“It’s a tough message,” he told Graham. “A lot of people are just worn out by war.”

"Well, don’t vote for me," the Republican senator responded. "Don't vote for me, because I’m telling you what’s coming: Barack Obama’s policies leading from behind are going to allow another 9/11."

"[ISIS] is large, rich and entrenched,” he added, referring to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. “If I’m president they will be poor, small and on the run.”

Graham also said that U.S. ground forces were necessary for defeating ISIS before they could reach targets on American soil.

“I’m trying to tell the American people and the Republican primary voter — the only way I know to defend this country is to send some of us back to Iraq and eventually to Syria to dig these guys out of the ground, destroy the Caliphate, kill as many of them as you can, hold territory and help people over there help themselves,” he said.

Graham further tied President Obama’s counterterrorism strategy to Hillary Clinton, his former secretary of State and the Democratic presidential front-runner.

“I think it’s the lack of confidence in her ability to distinguish herself from Barack Obama,” he said when asked about Clinton’s lack of media availability on the campaign trail.

“Her biggest nightmare is for someone to ask her, ‘Hey, do you think the war on terror is going well? Do you agree with Barack Obama’s foreign policy?’” he said. “’If you don’t, tell us why.’ ”

Graham added that Clinton’s perceived secrecy would likely cost her voters next year.

“Well, it’s easier to talk to the North Korean guy than it is her,” he quipped, comparing Clinton to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “At the end of the day, when 57 percent of people don’t trust you, you’ve got a problem,”

Graham officially launched his 2016 presidential campaign on Monday from his hometown of Central, S.C.

He has already made a muscular foreign policy a key theme of his bid. “I want to be president to defeat the enemies trying to kill us, not just penalize them or criticize them or contain them, but defeat them,” he said on Monday.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/244022-graham-dont-vote-for-me-if-youre-anti-war

[Chef Ramsay]

Perry joins presidential pack with emphasis on military service, leadership

ADDISON – Rick Perry launched his second presidential campaign on Wednesday, standing before the type of plane he flew as an Air Force captain and surrounded by Navy SEALs.

Speaking of the dangers in the world, Perry reinforced a key distinction he has among the pack of GOP candidates – his military service – and underscored that as Texas governor, he was tested by crisis, including Hurricane Katrina, a porous border and the Ebola outbreak.

“Now is the time for clear-sighted leadership,” he said, adding that the nation has suffered under a president elevated for his rhetoric and not his record.

This is the election where voters will ask, “ ‘Where have you led?’ It’s not a speech on the Senate floor. It’s not what you’ve said; it’s what you have done,” Perry said, a poke at such contenders as first-term senators Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

More...http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2015/06/perry-poised-to-join-presidential-pack.html/

Apparently, the writer didn't realize or simply forgot that Rand just led massively on the privacy issue recently or just plain thought he was a villain for it.

[Chef Ramsay]

Chris Christie at the bat: New Jersey Gov. shows gutsy moves at all-star NYPD fundraiser, earns MVP

It was Christie at the bat.

He’s no Bambino, but New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie didn't look too out of place Wednesday night while swinging for the fences at Yankee Stadium.

Even if his uniform was stretched to its physical limits, Christie looked smooth in the field at the "True Blue" celebrity softball game to honor Wenjian Liu, Brian Moore and Rafael Ramos, NYPD officers killed in the line of duty.

Christie wore No. 41, played third base and batted sixth, behind the not-so murderers row of Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan and radio hosts Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton, who organized the event.

Christie made a gutsy play in the field for an out in the first and, despite a smattering of boos, gave the ball a ride in his first at-bat -- a fly out to left field.

More and you gotta see the pics of this guy...http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/chris-christie-bat-gutsy-moves-nypd-fundraiser-article-1.2245998

[Chef Ramsay]

Jeb Bush’s Super PAC Donors: Titans, Tycoons and Lobbyists

Former Gov. Jeb Bush has spent much of the year raising money for his Super PAC, called Right to Rise, without disclosing his donors.

He doesn’t have to — Bush’s Super PAC and traditional PAC are on a semi-annual reporting timeline, meaning they have until mid-July to file public campaign finance reports. Clues from a variety of sources, however, provide a preview of his donors, who include major leaders in technology, business and lobbying.

Agents for foreign governments fall under special transparency rules, meaning several have already had to disclose their donations in filings with the Justice Department. Ignacio Sanchez, a former trade official for President George W. Bush, is a lobbyist for Saudi Arabia. Sanchez gave $5,000 to Right to Rise on February 17, the same day that George Salem, another lobbyist retained by the Saudi government to influence American policy, gave the group $10,000. A day later, former Sen. Don Nickles, R-Ok., now a lobbyist for Wal-Mart, ExxonMobil, Taiwan and the Republic of Korea, among other clients, gave $5,000 to Right to Rise.

Glenn Youngkin, managing director of the Carlyle Group, the investment firm that owns Booz Allen Hamilton, gave $10,000, according to a disclosure statement posted on the company’s website. Because Carlyle manages pension fund money, the company faces special campaign finance requirements.

Although Bush has not named the donors giving to his PACs, certain donors, including state-level PACs, are obligated to disclose on a different schedule. These disclosures show that Florida politicians have dipped into their own campaign funds to support Right to Rise. The Florida Conservative Leadership Fund, associated with state Rep. Dana Young, R-Tampa, gave $5,000 to Bush’s Super PAC in February. Among other Florida PACs, Growing Florida’s Future chipped in $25,000, Liberty Florida gave $5,000, and the Treasure Coast PAC gave $1,000.

Right to Rise donors also include longtime Republican moneymen in Florida like Mel Sembler, a real estate tycoon who fundraised for Jeb’s father and brother, and is also known for bankrolling anti-marijuana advocacy.
...
Filings from the Federal Election Commission already point to an aggressive attempt by Bush to share the wealth with influential Republican politicians, some of whom are likely being courted for campaign endorsements. FEC disclosures show that the Right to Rise PAC has given at least $5,000 each to PACs supporting Reps. David Young, R-Iowa, Frank Guinta, R-N.H., Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y, , John Katko, R-N.Y., Martha McSally, R-Ariz., Barbara Comstock, R-Va., Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., Crescent Hardy, R-Nev., and Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. In February, Politico reported that Right to Rise also gave $120,000 to various GOP state committees, including state party funds for early primary states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada and Florida.

When the full data is released in July, some expect the entire haul to rise to as much as $100 million. But Bush, who will reportedly announce his candidacy on June 15, also maintains a 501(c)(4) campaign entity also known as Right to Rise. This vehicle allows sensitive donors to give unlimited amounts to Bush’s campaign without ever being disclosed.
...

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/06/05/early-window-jeb-bushs-superpac-donors-saudi-lobbyists-carlyle-group-florida-republicans/