Brian’s Friends

From Hanabusa Campaign, Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Throughout his campaign, Brian Schatz has touted his progressive roots while name-dropping every “friend” he’s made in Washington, D.C.

However, Schatz has shown he’s willing to say anything to raise money, even if it means abandoning his progressive ideals.

While Colleen has raised more money from small-dollar donors (donors who give less than $200) than she has from PACs, Schatz has raised almost one million dollars from Political Action Committees.

Why do these “friends” support Schatz? Because they know he’s an easy vote and will say anything to get elected. Look below:

• While Schatz claims to be a fighter for the Middle Class and for Veterans, he took a $5,000 contribution from Cash America, one of the largest payday loan predators in the country. In fact, he accepted this check just weeks after the company was fined millions of dollars by the US government for “gouging military members” and their families in violation of the Military Lending Act. [1]

• Schatz accepted a large donation from Goldman Sachs, a Wall Street giant known for lying to Congress and making millions of dollars defrauding their investors while Americans were suffering through the financial meltdown. [2]

• While it was politically popular, Schatz claimed to support raising the minimum wage, yet he gladly accepted thousands of dollars raised at an event featuring Mike Bloomberg who has stated “I’ve always thought that this impetus to raise the minimum wage is one of the most misguided things we can do”. [3]

• Schatz has taken multiple checks from Walmart, a company whose building practices Sierra Club states “threaten our landscape, our communities and the environment.” The company is also well known for its anti-labor positions. [4]

• Schatz has also accepted thousands of dollars from outspoken opponents of Native Hawaiians like Thurston Twigg-Smith, the founder of Aloha 4 All, an organization that openly opposes The Akaka Bill, Kamehameha Schools, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Hawaiian Homes Commission. [5]

The irony here is that in the Hawaii Legislature Brian Schatz spearheaded multiple attempts to pass legislation calling for voluntary full public financing, or clean elections.

On December 13, 2002, he told the Associated Press that “outside money” was corrupting our Hawaii politics. “People in Hawaii should control Hawaii’s destiny,” said Schatz. [6]

In a March 6, 2005 Star-Bulletin editorial, he touted his plan in an essay titled “Now is the time to change the way campaigns are financed.” [7]

He warned the way we pay for campaigns is stoking a growing cynicism that “threatens the basic foundation of our democracy.” He argued his bill would take special interest influence off the table and and “improve public confidence in the system, and ensure politicians make decisions based on what is best for their constituents. [8]

By proving he’ll say anything to get elected, Brian Schatz has shown he’s just another politician.

What a difference a U.S. Senate appointment makes.

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[1] Link to Article; $5000 Contribution to Schatz for Senate, 12/02/13, Pg. 277
[2] Link to Article; $1000 Contribution to Schatz for Senate, 05/20/14, Pg. 350
[3] Link to Article; Link to Article; $5200 Contribution to Schatz for Senate, 03/27/14, Pg. 138
[4] Link to Article; Link to Article; Link to Article; Link to Article; $1000 Contribution to Schatz for Senate, 12/12/13; $2500 Contribution to Schatz for Senate, 05/15/14, Pg. 346
[5] Link to Article, $5000 Contribution to Schatz for Senate, 01/22/13, Pg. 58; $5000 Contribution to Schatz for Senate, 01/22/2013, Pg. 15
[6] Link to Article
[7] Link to Article
[8] Ibid.

For information on fundraising totals, refer to page 3 of the most recent FEC reports for Hanabusa for Hawaii and Schatz for Senate. All links and facts current as of 7/29/2014.

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Need Balance?  Meet Colleen's Friends: www.TheRealHanabusa.com