ACTBLUE collects money for candidates and PACs. But very little in the way of vetting these PACs apparently takes place.
I contacted ACTBLUE about this weird PAC that sends me SPAM, threatening me to get donations. It is a tiny PAC, spending about $50K this year on candidates. But we have no way of telling how much they took in versus how much they paid out. If they took in $50K and spent it on election ads, that's great. On the other hand, if they took in $500K, spent $50K on elections and pocketed the difference, then I have a problem with that.
Actually, within about 60 seconds of searching, I did find the data on the FEC site. Turns out my "guess" was spot-on. They took in $500K and spent $50K on actual candidates. Over $400K was spent on "operating expenditures" which means a ratio of overhead to actual spending, of 10:1! "Frasier LLC" seems to get a lot of $7500 checks for "fundraising consulting" and a few for ten grand as well. Who is Frasier, anyway?
If this was a charity, taking in a half-mil and spending only $50K on charity, there would be an outcry. I suspect maybe even a criminal investigation. But with Political PACs, all bets are off.
Note that there are regular expenditures to ACTBLUE itself, so you can see why ACTBLUE doesn't do much to "vet" these PACs - they make money from them! I am disgusted. It leaves a pit in my stomach.
Before you throw money at a PAC, think carefully as to where it is going. For the small (individual) donor, a direct contribution to a campaign are a better idea.
Anyway, I sent an e-mail to ACTBLUE which included all of my previous posting. Today, I received this non-answer to my inquiry:
Hi Robert,Thanks for reaching out!I can confirm that our team vets all candidates and organizations that use ActBlue to confirm their legal registration and commitment to our mission.We do not endorse any specific campaigns or organizations that use our platform, and we do not choose who receives the money raised through our site. We simply process donations and send them to each donor’s chosen recipient. If you have any concerns about a particular organization’s fundraising strategies, I encourage you to reach out to them directly to share them.Please let me know if you have any other questions!Best,Jayne
I deleted my ACTBLUE account and I doubt I will be making any other political contributions from now on. It isn't just that they really don't "vet" these PACs very well (other than to confirm they are registered and of the correct political persuasion) but that ACTBLUE itself comes across as scammy. They are a clearinghouse for political donations and connect your dollars to political campaigns. Think of them as the PayPal of politics - and that's not a compliment! They make it easier for you to donate with nearly a one-click operation.
But click carefully. Just as Amazon tries to get you to sign up for "Prime" by couching it as "free shipping" (when free shipping is also available without Prime) ACTBLUE tries to get you to make a "recurring" monthly donation. With the election being over in a month, I am not sure what the point of that is. Usually, the default is "one-time donation" but I believe one candidate had the default the other way, which is scummy and I noped out of donating to him. When Amazon does this shit, it sucks. When ACTBLUE does it, it sucks even more.
What's next? Gold sneakers and watches? I guess it ain't just Republicans grifting their supporters.
But it gets better. On the next page, after you click, they ask for a "TIP" - I kid you not. I guess this is to cover their overhead or something. It just comes across as crass and gross, however.
Of course, one has to wonder how they got my e-mail address in the first place. Yup - some candidate or ACTBLUE itself must have sold it to a mailing list. Because a one-time donation to the Biden campaign quickly morphed into an e-mail inbox blasted with pleas from all over the country, as well as this PAC. And every day, text messages telling me how dire things are in Arkansas or some other State, what with the GOP outspending Democrats 2:1.
One just gets exhausted by it all. Donation fatigue sets in. And when I overturn this rock and see all the creepy-crawlies underneath, my stomach turns.
Politics is like sausage-making. You don't want to look too closely "behind the scenes."
