TPMtv: Golden Fleece Award: BMW Direct

[BrittPhillips]

Times are tough for many. If you need to make some money right now here's how you can do it fast...

GuaranteedWayToMakeMoney [dot] com

[Rigbyband]

Keep up the good work! :)

[mrbleedo]

Wow another liberal millionare funded "news" website with another Micheal Moore wannabe tool doing the "reporting."

[Hyosei]

Attack the message, not the messenger

[SerpentScribe7]

Even if she knows she'll lose and is in on the scam, you'd think she'd have to demand such a big secret cut after it's all said and done that it wouldn't be as worth BMW's while as it orinally seems...

[Snowman1227]

hi

fggggfffggfd

[Y2ANJ]

I would also think that Honeycut would be in on the scheme.

[crosshillchris]

Great piece - doesn't matter what your political affiliation is, these BMW Direct guys stink. Funny how they hold up their conservative values as a shield...They just STINK!

[pwg357]

Yeah i bet mrs. honeycut knows damn well she is not going to win and her campaign is only receiving 1% of the raised money.

SHE'S IN ON IT... DUH!

i bet after she loses she'll get a nice sized kickback check from BMW.

Oh no but that can't be true right? cuz that would be a BIG CONSPIRACY (gasp!) and we all know that calling something a conspiracy automatically means that only a lunatic would believe it.

(Fill in your own tin foil hat joke/cliche here.)

[seans10]

This guy is a fruit, right?

[RUlegaleagle]

oh oh, do i smell fraud charges...

[ColeLite]

With the trillions of dollars of waste of taxpayer money in D.C. by our worthless government employees, this Sissyman is exposing campaign money freely and independently donated. Gee, I wonder why!

[MarkG45]

try harder troll

[dman71215]

ILLEGAL...No, I thought so at 1st. But, found out it's only illegal IF the candidate, their relatives or businesses owned by them KEEP the money that was left over from a CAMPAIGN race for a public OFFICE

.......Since BMW isn't Related to their CLIENTS they can KEEP...I mean Charge any amount for their SERVICES (schemes)....

[ Now, Hotforwords the word of the day is LEGAL LOOPHOLE ]

[me213516]

Wow, they kept 99 percent of the money raised? I could understand them charging a fee, but that's a little ridiculous. The politicians that they are conning have to be as dumb as bricks.

[dmanway]

Not really if those politicians are also cashing out at the end of the day.

I'd say the dumb bricks are those who donate to them through BMW.

[bfayer]

great video

[Tomtuber1988]

Is this legal?

[sac2ase1]

NiCe OnE..

[patsagainstrats]

If the Honeycutt folks are out there, you might was to search the House archives for a transcript of Scott's speech, where he declares that the Sunnis and Shias have been killing each for "hundreds of thousands of years." I believe I heard it a little over a year ago, and I haven't stopped laughing since.

[Danielspamjam]

Josh, you're the one that needs a show on Air America. I mean, the Young Turks are OK, but you, Sir, are on the ball like few out there. Keep up the good fight for those of us trying to avoid IQ point-erasing media.

[DillonX]

It sounds like a political dirty trick, but I'm not sure exactly how it works.

I guess maybe they're getting around the campaign contribution limits.

I guess if a donor has already contributed to max to one candidate then they can get them to donate to another (even if the person has no chance of winning) then that person can turn the money back over to BMW which allow them to charge less for direct mail for McCain or another GOPer in a tight race.

Is that how the scam works?

[makeyanoticeme]

Great, direct to the point reporting. Thank you!!!

[JasonWho13]

BMW is like the Don King of political candidates.

[armando3210]

BRAVO! Great Journalism!

[TauralsTravels]

excellent reporting. another reason why I'm glad I subscribed :-)

[FeelFreeToArgue]

Anything that discredits direct mail can only help the country.

Good legwork, TPM. Nice to see some people doing actual investigative journalism.

[GrownupPhan]

Seems like there should be some sort of fraud statute covering this. Then again, I donated to Kerry late in his campaign when his telemarketeres swore the money was going to go to lawyers monitoring elections fraud. Nothing happened in Ohio, and meanwhile he ended up with $11 million in the bank.

[paulsamuel1]

i don't get it. why not just let bmw direct keep fleecing republican voters and candidates? it works out very well for democrats.

[oldtownkid]

Republican Debra Honeycut, go figure !

[annarboriter]

All I can say is that it couldn't be happening to a better party for bogus fundraising and campaigning for the sake of moneymaking. Kickbacks are just part of the businessmodel. Doesn't it remind you of the Catholic church? How much money has the god candidacy ever received for all their campaign fundraisers?

[henryvane]

absolutely hilarious. Of course, there should probably be a law against it.

[Archaneus]

I wouldn't be surprised if there is some kind of law against, just one with no teeth, or one they are skirting around by some loophole in the way the money is being funneled.  Either way, this kind of corruption should at least be hampered by shining a spotlight on it.

[ogjimkenobi]

Holy crap what a great idea! I need to start up a similar racket of my own and get in on that good political fund raising cash. What fun!

No seriously, this shit is deplorable.

[koren1124]

Hey grats on some good original newscasting TPM. :D Lot more than what most bloggers do heh.

[PreetSG]

Wow. That is going to suck when people find out. This BMW Direct company should be charged....

[WadeBlazingame34]

If Dr. Honeycutt is such a shady person in the political realm, then I'd LOVE to see her tax returns and medical office files!? I wonder if she's one of those Doctors that prescribes pills just to get big pharma payola.... Hmmmmmm....

[MooseOfReason]

Olbermann's watching you guys. Hahaha.

[fistnbone]

The fucked up thing is that, unless there's a crime and prosecution coming out of this, those folks getting fleeced will likely continue to send in the checks.

[Mel1334]

I'll never get a BMW. Just as I'll never wear anything niky.

Freaking Michael Jordan gets paid more than all the workers in niky's factories combined. believe that shit? where are people's conscience, man? damn. Plus, I'm on this whole 'only buy things made in america' trip. IT IS FUCKING HARD TO DO THAT BTW!

[oolong2]

Wow what a racket... 

Makes you think to yourself "Wait... this CAN'T be legal...right?"

[blair227]

Probably another scam engineered by the biggest scumbag in DC,Grover Norquist.He'd shoot his parents for a dollar.

[theBigTakeover]

Whistle! Thy hath been blown.

[khaledhamdan1985]

They know how to rape people with beautiful amiles and fake promises of change.... Would Obama do such a thing?

[Casiowerk]

i love TPM too much

[Munkiefan]

what ever happened to the idea of a new background?

[modernactivist]

awesome story. how do you do it veracifier? you are the only news vlogger worth watching. bravo!!

[EricJaffa]

Are the candidates getting personal money (the ones who don't mind BMW Direct keeping most of the campaign money)?

[devikkyrn]

I would guess that they are probably getting repaid some of the money by BMW Direct under the table, in return for their "service."

[btigtime2]

good reporting... sorry ass low life politians... Welfare's finest

[KagarBeardtooth]

Thieves!

[zmgriffith]

1st. Mitt Romney is a cultist.