Look- battles have more than one front. Floridians should absolutely vote in a new state government that will honor the will of the people and re-enfranchise paroled felons. In the meantime, the imperfect efforts of Bloomberg et al will increase voter participation at a critical time. Don’t call it a victory if that offends you, call it an outcome. It’s one I can live with.
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If you believe that Democrats are buying votes here, then it’s Republicans that put them up for sale in the first place.
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Achille Lauro the Neapolitan shipowner of an Italian fleet, that was a fascist de jure to getting votes give away packs of pasta in the poor areas of Naples to the people that come to hear him at the political speeches. Republicans could do the same.
The goal posts have moved since then.
Florida Legislature: “Fines must be paid before the ex felons can vote.”
Michael Bloomberg: “What is the total amount for all outstanding fines? Who should I make the check to?”
Florida Legislature: “OBJECTION, YOU CAN’T DO THAT. YOU ARE TRYING TO BUY VOTERS.”
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I’ll just leave this in here:
Say what you will about Mr Tyson, he’s f’ing voting.
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Good! He’ll intimidate the hell out of any Trumpsters trying to interfere with the voting process.
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I suspect that in some cases the amount can be quantified, has been, and those are the people who got their fines paid off. Those who it was more ambiguous for may be currently out of luck. Just a theory, mind.
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You must have missed the part where this number of voters is greater than the difference in the last two statewide elections. While the de facto poll tax law still needs to be fought in the courts, that process won’t help in November. Getting that critical number of additional voters eligible in the next month is what matters, and can be considered a win. It should also be noted that this is not mutually exclusive with the legal efforts to restore voting rights for ALL the Floridians who are being denied their rights by the law.
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It is a poll tax, and I think patently so. It’s great that Bloomberg et al. are helping the folks currently affected, but it does need to be struck down as soon as that can be done.
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See comment 27.
Read before commenting, folks! Sheesh.
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Apologies! I’m at work right now and couldn’t devote full attention to the entire comment thread, so I missed that.
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Assuming you are asking this in good faith, this is not buying votes, because no money is going to the people involved. It all goes to the state of Florida, to cover fines and other fees poll tax, allowing them to exercise their voting rights.
They can freely choose who to vote for, or not to vote at all. If they’re not going to vote for the party that’s
doing its damnedest to keep them disenfranchised (and generally screwing them), well, that’s their choice.
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You were not the first one to skip most of the thread, but I appreciate the confession! 
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Now that is a much better use of Bloomberg’s money for political purposes than ad spending.
Trump doesn’t rely on political ads. He relies on the 24 Hour news cycle for publicity.
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PASTA or COVID - different door prizes for a different time
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Right-wingers, horrified at the prospect of more lower-income Black and Hispanic citizens voting in Florida, claim that it’s bribery.
… while Trump’s “promised” multi-billion dollar aid to US farmers and Puerto Rico NOW are not examples of bribery. I see.
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Right-wingers, horrified at the prospect of more lower-income Black and Hispanic citizens voting in Florida, claim that it’s bribery.
The second-order effect will be Gaetz calling for audits of all the people who received the gifts, because they are liable for income tax on the gift. Getting a five-figure windfull could easily push you into a higher tax bracket. Perhaps they make it such a hassle that the word gets out to not take the bailout.
The counter-counter-punch by the wealthy donors is to give them money to pay off the prison debt and the tax liability.
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I came looking for the crowd-sourcing option for those of us who don’t have $16M to drop on a splashy charitable contribution. It wasn’t clear to me that the ActBlue contribution form was directing contributions to FFRC general fund or specifically to paying fines and fees. Visiting the FRRC site I see the ActBlue link is to support the organisation and there is a different link to contribute directly to the Fines and Fees Fund.
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The New York Times has a helpful article:
an estimated 774,000 Floridians who have already served their time in jail or prison are not eligible to vote in the 2020 election until they pay the fines and fees associated with their sentences
So the paying of the poll tax of 32K people represents a diminution of the effect of the Republicans’ maneuver by one twenty-fourth. That petard sure blew up in their faces all right.
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