I am a Ron Paul supporter, but I would like to point out that I am EXTREMELY skeptical of the Ron Paul Blimp project.
First off, why is it a FOR-PROFIT LLC? Non-profit LLC's can be created just as easily, and a non-profit still would have allowed for the airship to be rented, advertising displayed, and all the people involved with running the company to be paid, and for the same ad-buying amounts to be used.
Second, why are only US citizens allowed to donate? This company creates a situation where they are apparently outside the jurisdiction of US election law. It is an advertising firm, and therefore people and companies in foreign countries should be allowed to buy ad time just as much as US citizens are. And seeing how much support there is for Ron Paul from around the world, there is no reason people from outside the US should not be able to.
And that raises another question, is this ACTUALLY LEGAL? Are there any experts on campaign finance and/or political advertising law that can prove this new company can legally operate? It seems strange to me, given all the sneaky maneuvers both Republicans and Democrats have used to bypass campaign finance restrictions in the past, that there would not have been cases in the past where an ad agency like this was setup to allow for unrestricted funding for a company whose sole purpose is to promote a political candidate. If this is a legitimate loophole in campaign finance reform, then I would expect it to have been used already, so I should hope that someone should be able to research this and find cases where this has been done before, seeing that I have not. If there aren't cases of this found, I would be highly suspicious that this is a legal loophole, because it would probably be the largest loophole in campaign finance reforms found to date.
I would not place blind trust in the people running this site and assume they have all the answers, even if it is supposedly backed by Trevor Lyman. He was the originator of this idea, but the site doesn't outright say that he is involved with them in any way, from what I have viewed of the website. Note how there is hardly any description of the project on the site any more. The specifics are VERY vague, and no explanation is given on the legality of this LLC, or why they stopped going the government approved, more legitimate route of establishing a Political Action Committee to get the job done.
If this is legal, fine, but someone should definitively prove this.
Maybe this has already been discussed and proven to be legit, I don't know, but all I do know is I was a lot more supportive of the project and ready to donate when they were going to form a PAC and said they had government approval for the project. Now none of that government approval is mentioned on the site. The fact that your purchase is also NON-REFUNDABLE is a red flag for me. They don't explain what happens if they don't raise enough money for this thing to happen. Though I doubt they will be unable to raise enough money, that lack of explanation is suspect, and the fact that they state these ad purchases are non-refundable suggests that if this thing doesn't get off the ground, YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK.
They have provided no legal documents on their website for the founding of the LLC, or for documents signifying there is a DEFINITE agreement between Airship Management Services and their company for the 350k rate they spoke of in earlier forms of the website. It's all HEARSAY, and you're just trusting that these people are handling your money appropriately.
I am not suggesting not to buy ad time. If you trust these people, go right ahead. The idea is a great one, and if this is legit it will be one of the greatest campaign stunts in HISTORY, but all I ask you is to be VERY WARY. I personally WILL NOT DONATE to this website until I see the blimp up in the air at a future Ron Paul rally, or at least until they have a more comprehensive website that lays out their plan, point by point, the legal justification for all of this, and proof that this LLC has actually been founded legitimately.
First off, why is it a FOR-PROFIT LLC? Non-profit LLC's can be created just as easily, and a non-profit still would have allowed for the airship to be rented, advertising displayed, and all the people involved with running the company to be paid, and for the same ad-buying amounts to be used.
Second, why are only US citizens allowed to donate? This company creates a situation where they are apparently outside the jurisdiction of US election law. It is an advertising firm, and therefore people and companies in foreign countries should be allowed to buy ad time just as much as US citizens are. And seeing how much support there is for Ron Paul from around the world, there is no reason people from outside the US should not be able to.
And that raises another question, is this ACTUALLY LEGAL? Are there any experts on campaign finance and/or political advertising law that can prove this new company can legally operate? It seems strange to me, given all the sneaky maneuvers both Republicans and Democrats have used to bypass campaign finance restrictions in the past, that there would not have been cases in the past where an ad agency like this was setup to allow for unrestricted funding for a company whose sole purpose is to promote a political candidate. If this is a legitimate loophole in campaign finance reform, then I would expect it to have been used already, so I should hope that someone should be able to research this and find cases where this has been done before, seeing that I have not. If there aren't cases of this found, I would be highly suspicious that this is a legal loophole, because it would probably be the largest loophole in campaign finance reforms found to date.
I would not place blind trust in the people running this site and assume they have all the answers, even if it is supposedly backed by Trevor Lyman. He was the originator of this idea, but the site doesn't outright say that he is involved with them in any way, from what I have viewed of the website. Note how there is hardly any description of the project on the site any more. The specifics are VERY vague, and no explanation is given on the legality of this LLC, or why they stopped going the government approved, more legitimate route of establishing a Political Action Committee to get the job done.
If this is legal, fine, but someone should definitively prove this.
Maybe this has already been discussed and proven to be legit, I don't know, but all I do know is I was a lot more supportive of the project and ready to donate when they were going to form a PAC and said they had government approval for the project. Now none of that government approval is mentioned on the site. The fact that your purchase is also NON-REFUNDABLE is a red flag for me. They don't explain what happens if they don't raise enough money for this thing to happen. Though I doubt they will be unable to raise enough money, that lack of explanation is suspect, and the fact that they state these ad purchases are non-refundable suggests that if this thing doesn't get off the ground, YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK.
They have provided no legal documents on their website for the founding of the LLC, or for documents signifying there is a DEFINITE agreement between Airship Management Services and their company for the 350k rate they spoke of in earlier forms of the website. It's all HEARSAY, and you're just trusting that these people are handling your money appropriately.
I am not suggesting not to buy ad time. If you trust these people, go right ahead. The idea is a great one, and if this is legit it will be one of the greatest campaign stunts in HISTORY, but all I ask you is to be VERY WARY. I personally WILL NOT DONATE to this website until I see the blimp up in the air at a future Ron Paul rally, or at least until they have a more comprehensive website that lays out their plan, point by point, the legal justification for all of this, and proof that this LLC has actually been founded legitimately.
