Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Major Gay Donor Cuts off Democrats Over Immigration Bill Betrayal

In 2009 it seemed that Barack Obama and the Congressional Democrats went out of their way to piss off members of the Democrat base and to give the impression that nothing was being accomplished legislatively.  The consequence here in Virginia was that the Democrat base stayed home on election day in November, 2009 and Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell and Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli were swept into office.  Fast forward to 2013 and we are again witnessing Obama and national level Democrats doing a reprise of what they did in 2009.  Except here in Virginia the GOP statewide slate is even more insane than the one in 2009.  Will Obama and the Congressional Democrats give the Virginia governorship to a far right Republican yet again?

Some in the LGBT community are over this batshitery and indifference from Obama and his Democrat cohorts in Congress.  And they are showing their displeasure where it most elicits national Democrats' attention: they are cutting off donations.  After the Democrat betrayal of the LGBT community in the U. S. Senate, I have already stated on this blog that Congressional Democrats will not get a penny from me in donations and I have begun asking that my name be removed from donor lists.   That's not to say I won't be supporting state level candidates, but Congressional Democrats can kiss my ass.  I'm not the only one pissed off and, in fact, I am in good company.  Today, gay Democratic Party donor Jonathan Lewis (pictured above) - he's the son of the founder of Progressive Insurance - announced that he is cutting off the money spigot to the Democrats.  Hopefully, other big donors will join suit and a clear message will be sent and hopefully understood.  Namely, Democrats take us for granted at their own risk.  Terry McAuliffe needs to call Obama and some of his U. S. Senate friends and ask them "WTF are you doing?"  The Washington Blade looks at Lewis' action and the rumblings coming from other donors.  Here are highlights:

Prominent gay Democratic Party donor Jonathan Lewis is pledging to cut off funds to the party over his disappointment that bi-national same-sex couples were excluded from the immigration reform bill.

In a statement provided to the Washington Blade on Tuesday, the Miami-based philanthropist said he’s turning off the tap for Democrats and urging others to do the same over the immigration issue and President Obama’s reluctance to issue an executive order barring LGBT workplace discrimination.

“During the immigration reform debate Senate Democrats had the opportunity to reverse some of the harm caused by DOMA and they buckled under pressure, essentially taking LGBT families for granted,” Lewis said. “With the president failing to deliver on his promised federal contractor executive order and with Senate Democrats caving to Republican threats, now is the time to stop investing in Democratic cowardice and stand proud by withholding donations until we see our friends’ actions and deeds align with their rhetoric — I will be withholding my donation and asking all of my friends and family members to do the same until such time

Lewis, who provided money to fund LGBT groups such as Freedom to Work and GetEQUAL, provided the maximum amount of $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee and the maximum amount of $2,500 to President Obama’s re-election campaign in the last election cycle. His fortune comes from his family, founders of Progressive Insurance.

Neither the White House nor the DNC responded to a request for comment on Lewis’ statement.

[O]ne LGBT advocacy group that worked to include UAFA is saying Lewis’ sentiment is shared by others who’ve supported the Democratic Party.

Steve Ralls, a spokesperson for Immigration Equality, said he’s heard from Democratic donors that they’re “rethinking the political contributions and priorities” following the exclusion of the amendment for gay couples from immigration reform, although he wasn’t immediately able to provide names.

“I can assure you that in private conversations, significant Democratic donors have had with our executive director and with other people working on this said they were very disappointed in what happened last week, and they’re looking at where they invest their donations moving forward,” Ralls said.

“There is palpable anger among the LGBT community in social media, in conversations that we’ve had with supporters,” Ralls said. “I do think there will be a political price for senators to pay.”

As an aside, Lewis provided a significant part of the funding for the December 2008 LGBT Blogger Summit I attended in Washington, D.C., and for that I want to say "Thank you!"

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