"Soros Group Raises Stakes in Battle with US Neo-Cons"

[GreenPartyVoter]

A group of billionaire philanthropists are to donate tens of millions more dollars to develop progressive political ideas in the US in an effort to counter the conservative ascendancy.

George Soros, who made his fortune in the hedge fund industry; Herb and Marion Sandler, the California couple who own a multi-billion-dollar savings and loan business; and Peter Lewis, the chairman of an Ohio insurance company, donated more than $63m (£34m) in the 2004 election cycle to organizations seeking to defeat George W. Bush.

At a meeting in San Francisco last month, the left-leaning billionaires agreed to commit an even larger sum over a longer period to building institutions to foster progressive ideas and people.

Far from being disillusioned by the defeat of John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, the billionaires have resolved to invest further in the intellectual future of the left, one person involved said.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0112-02.htm

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Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Darkhawk32]

4. Ummm... TMI. Kthxbye. :) n/t

[moggie12]

8. Ummm, i don't know what the poster above meant..

TMI? Kthxbye?? If it meant, "yecchh, please don't use such foul language and express such vulgar thoughts in a public forum", I second it.

[blondeatlast]

20. That's exactly what it meant (I think). I saw the post, pretty vulgar. nt

[mdhunter]

14. Ok, that made me laugh for at least 10 seconds

Which probably says more about me than most of my posts.

[ewagner]

2. $$$$$ Are needed to build

infrastructure in the party....we need progressive "foundations", think-tanks, AND IMPORTANTLY Media Centers to get our message out and frame the debate in our terms.........

[blondeatlast]

6. Yep, the Radical Right has a 30 year headstart on us.

One thing we on the Left must do is begin thinking long-term, but it's very difficult to do.

[ewagner]

9. Agree 100%

We need long-term thinkers and strategies.....as well as short term.

[Lexingtonian]

27. However, our side actually has wise people

I'd say our boys can do in three what they did in thirty, easily.

[Darkhawk32]

3. How about a Progressive TV network?! :) n/t

[BattyDem]

7. THAT is exactly what we need!

I'm grateful for what these guys are doing, but I wish they would buy CNN. Come on guys ... make Time Warner an offer they can't refuse! ;-)

[marc_the_dem]

19. Air America TV

The O'Fraken Factor

[s-cubed]

5. Thank you, George Soros!

[complain jane]

10. Yay!

Seriously.

[Wapsie B]

11. Praise be to God.

Soros is one George I love. It's about damn time. Let them recuit a few more billionaires too. We need this badly.

[stray cat]

12. Thank you

[Alisa]

13. YES - THANK YOU! Let us not waste this important contribution!

George Soros, who made his fortune in the hedge fund industry; Herb and Marion Sandler, the California couple who own a multi-billion-dollar savings and loan business; and Peter Lewis, the chairman of an Ohio insurance company.

Let us not waste this important contribution.

As the Repubs have a united front - a "daily message" we must take that message and turn it on them. We must take advantage of all the corruption as it erupts and not give them a chance to "cover up" or elude it. This week, Armstrong and Gonzales, long term continue to dig up voter fraud proof. We must fight and win the Social Security initiative - this is just a bankroll for the administration to do more of what they do - if they get there hands on it - it will all be gone in a wink (or a smirk). Next expect to hear more about other terrorist locations of opportunity, nuclear solutions, domestic entitlement programs reduced (further). We may go beyond fascist onto feudal if they aren't stopped.

[wicket]

15. woo hoo!!! George Soros rocks!

[David__77]

16. Very good news... we need to be the architects of left infrastructure.

Think tanks, TV, radio, journal and newspapers. We need it all. Cultural outlets, educational institutions... the list could go on. There are numerous options and the money is needed.

[eric144]

17. Soros

This brings us back to the question; “why has Soros lambasted Bush?” The answer lies in understanding that, more than ever, within the Wall Street power elite there may be differences in tactics but seldom are there significant differences in the end goal---opening the way for the maximization of corporate profits everywhere around the world. Today, there is basically a oneness of purpose in promoting U.S. imperial dominance, and in the process, attempting to solve a deepening global economic crisis by controlling diminishing petroleum and energy resources.

How does this play out where Soros is concerned? As Clark points out, “Soros is angry not at Bush’s aims---of expanding Pax Americana and making the world safe for global capitalists like himself—but with the crass and blundering way Bush is going about it. By making U.S. ambitions so clear, the Bush gang has committed the cardinal sin of giving the game away. For years, Soros and his NGOs have gone about their work extending the boundaries of the ‘free world’ so skillfully that hardly anyone noticed. Now a Texan redneck and a gang of overzealous neo-cons have blown it”. Soros’ way is to use a few billion dollars, some NGOs and a “nod and wink from the U.S. State department” to bring down foreign governments that are “bad for business” to seize a nation’s assets, and even get thanked for your ‘benevolence,’” according to Clark. This method has worked for Soros and his cohorts.

Take the collapse of the Soviet Union, for example. Clark points out that “Soros’ role was crucial: “From 1979, he distributed $3 million a year to dissidents including Poland’s solidarity movement, Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia and Andrei Sakharov in the Soviet Union. In 1984, he founded his first Open Society Institute in Hungary and pumped millions of dollars into opposition movements and independent media. Ostensibly aimed at building up a ‘civil society”, these initiatives were designed to weaken the existing political structures and pave the way for eastern Europe’s eventual exploitation by global capital. Soros now claims with characteristic immodesty, that he was responsible for the “Americanization” of eastern Europe.”

More recently, there is the case of Yugoslavia. As Clark puts it:

“TheYugoslavs remained stubbornly resistant and repeatedly returned Slobodan Milosevic’s reformed Socialist Party to government. Soros was equal to the challenge. From 1991, his Open Society Institute channeled more than $100 million to the coffers of the anti-Milosevic opposition, funding political parties, publishing houses and “independent” media such as Radio B92, the plucky little student radio station of western mythology, which was in reality bankrolled b one of the world’s richest men on behalf of the world’s most powerful nation. With Slobo finally toppled in 2000 in a coup d’etat financed, planned and executed in Washington all that was left was to cart the ex Yugoslav leader to the Hague tribunal, co-financed by Soros along with other custodians of human rights, Time Warner Corporation and Disney. He faced charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, based in the main on the largely anecdotal evidence of (you guessed it) Human Rights Watch.”


http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/TAL307A.html

[DieboldMustDie]

18. Could you possibly be more cynical?

:eyes:

[blondeatlast]

21. That's a very dangerous question around here...

Even if I do agree with you.

[Tinoire]

22. Sometimes it's wise, very wise to look a gift horse in the mouth

Not everyone who comes throwing money at us is our friend.

Soros isn't someone I'd accept a dime from. Not even a nickel. A penny possibly after a team of attorneys had gone over all the paperwork with a fine tooth comb.

[Sopianae]

24. What B.S.!

I am from Hungary and I am immensely thankful to Soros for all he has done there.

"In 1984, he founded his first Open Society Institute in Hungary and pumped millions of dollars into opposition movements and independent media." What's wrong with that?!

"Ostensibly aimed at building up a ‘civil society”, these initiatives were designed to weaken the existing political structures and pave the way for eastern Europe’s eventual exploitation by global capital." Hello!!!! Hungary is much better off now than it was during communism. Now that Hungary is "exploited by global capital" interestingly enough people there live in a democracy, made immense progress in the last 15 years (both economically and socially), standard of living is significantly higher, and finally they joined the EU. But hell, a few businessmen got richer in the process. So, everything Soros has done must have some sinister motive. Lets forget that the man survived the Holocaust and got some taste of communism, too. I am sure his interest in Open Society has nothing to do with THAT. :shrug:

[eric144]

28. Soros is bad !

"Lets forget that the man survived the Holocaust and got some taste of communism, too. I am sure his interest in Open Society has nothing to do with THAT"

In suspicious circumstances, he survived both. He also massively damaged a large number of ecnomies worldwide with his gangster currency operations. He severely wounded Japan and Australia too. In Thailand, they actually call him the antichrist !

Russia was better off after Yeltsin was installed by Western interests. However Putin has a massive fight on his hands trying to retrieve the vast sums stolen by the representatives of international capital as he termed it (read Zionist capital - he accidentally said that word this month or maybe it wasn't an accident, who knows).

When Khodorovsky was arrested, his personal interests in Yukos went to Lord Rothschild in England, meanwhile Soros started bleating about freedom and Putin raided his offices with armed police. I suppose that's an example of a closed society :-)

Putin is leading a global fight against the British-American-Israeli hegemony. He is attempting to get China,India, Brazil (BRIC I believe it's called) and Venezuala aboard (plus Iran and Syria).

I think Bush is the most appalling politician in my lifetime, I still prefer him to Soros.

Milosovich may not be innocent, but he's less guilty than Clinton.

[Sopianae]

34. Yeah. Whatever...

:eyes:

Putin is moving Russia toward authoritarian rule. If he is a good guy in your book we don't have much to discuss.

[democracyindanger]

25. Slobodan Milosevich apologist essay?

No thanks. Peddle genocidal dictator love letters elsewhere.

[leesa]

35. I'm not sure I understand what the problem is with funding organizations

which seek to overthrow repressive regimes? Isn't that what WE want?

[Zhade]

23. Soros is just trying to save the investment.

I know it's not a popular truth here at DU, but Soros was involved with financing the "Rose Revolution", which was aided by none other than BFEE bagman James Baker.

Soros is no white knight.

[roguevalley]

26. yeah, but he's our only knight. Take the money and keep your

eye on him. Nothing is worse than bush and the bastards in Washington right now. Nothing.

[txaslftist]

29. Where can I apply...

I've got some great progressive ideas.

[spotbird]

30. It would help if he bought one of the right wing cable news channels.

CNN is always for sale. If we had a propaganda machine like Faux on out side much could be accomplished, and we would only tell the truth.

[txaslftist]

31. Okay, I meant to be happy and flip...

Then I saw all these anti-Soros posts.

I'm the first one to bash the rich, but he doesn't have this coming.

Did any of you check out his website during the campaign? I did extensively, and he answered everyone of the criticisms I've seen leveled here fairly and rationally.

You may not agree with how he's done things, and you may not agree with some of the political decisions he's made in the past, but he is very much in our corner philosophically.

I say "Thanks, George!"

[Stinky The Clown]

32. Please Good People, Pleeeeeeeeeeeeze Buy us a Network

Its the most serious need we have and **will** earn you a profit.

If we assume that the country is split and if we assume half will watch middle to RW TeeVee and half watches **honest** TV, then the existing networks will split half and an **honest** network will have half all to itself!

[Edgewater_Joe]

33. And People Were Asking What Happened To Soros

Well, I was.

Very good news!