Ron Paul Blimp Questions??? I have answers.

[RickNHouston]

+1

Now ... see what alll your damned bickerin and fightin did? Ya'll woke up Johnny Wrath! Now I know it's time for me to go to bed...! Iain't puttin up with another minute of his shit...

Bye!

 

[OferNave]

He is FISCALLY RESPONSABLE!!!! That is the point to hire all these people when some of the positions can be volunteer is crazy and not repsonsible. Ron Paul would not have half of those emplyees if he was running ther operation...

Not by your standards. Take the office manager of each office for example. I'll stay in the office all day and greet visitors for free. So would others. But they chose to pay. By your standards, that makes them fiscally irresponsible.

By my standards, that makes them professional, and the office manager accountable.

Are we still arguing this? Everyone else is happy, and ad time is getting purchased continuously...

 

[OferNave]

I have already donated once for the blimp.[/I]

Awesome!

 

[twdahm]

Not by your standards. Take the office manager of each office for example. I'll stay in the office all day and greet visitors for free. So would others. But they chose to pay. By your standards, that makes them fiscally irresponsible.

By my standards, that makes them professional, and the office manager accountable.

Are we still arguing this? Everyone else is happy, and ad time is getting purchased continuously...

hmm I remember saying "SOME" of these positions are excentric not ALL. Can you read? I have no problem with some people being paid but many of the positions could very well be volunteer....

 

[RickNHouston]

Where can I go to contribute to the blimp project that you're organizing, that will be staffed entirely by volunteers?

Tell me ... I wanna sign up too!

 

[OferNave]

Has anyone seen The Frisco Kid, with Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford? Remember at the end, when Wilder said "Can somebody show this poor schlemiel the way out of town?"

Yeah. I'll be dreaming of that tonight.

 

[Mckarnin]

"Originally Posted by expatinireland
The site states: "No limits for U.S. individuals."

The implication of this statement is that non US individuals may contribute with limits.

First of all what is a US individual?

I am an American living overseas. Am I a US individual and will the site allow me to contribute?

Can foreign nationals contribute with limits?

The site could be a bit clearer about this.

There are over 100,000 Americans living in Ireland alone so I hope you, unlike the official campaign website, facilitates donations from Americans living overseas."



I second this question. It has been implied that foreigners cannot sponser the blimp. I thought the whole point of becoming a LLC was to avoid such limitations. How can a privately owned LLC fall under the jurisdiction of the FEC?
Are you saying that someone from say Ireland could not buy a billboard in the US?
I am confused as to why there are limitations on foreign support when this is now a private business and doesn't even say "president" or "election" or really anything political on the blimp.

Thanks.

Working on clarifying that wording.

 

[RickNHouston]

I hesitate to jump in because

OferNave already emailed me calling me names and such, but,

I did ask a question a long time ago and it was overlooked.


twdahm did say that he would handle the project at no cost.

Sounds like a perfect solution to me.

Is Trevor cool with that? (again)

Hey Mark ... I have an idea ... why don't you, with your empty bank account and ole Dk put ur head and his wallet togetherand come up with ur own idea and get back to us. U never knoiw .... one of these crazy somebitches in here might take you up on it....

 

[Mckarnin]

first off, thanks for volunteering for this project.

I was wondering about the new price for the blimp banners. originally the cost of $350K included the banners and a 10 person ground crew for the blimp. in the new budget, there is a price of $25K on top of the $350K for the blimp. can you explain why this is?

Also, imo, the project does not need 2 full time videographers. I've worked in tv for ten years, and personally think that one videographer is enough. Ron Paul himself has 1 videographer... and he seems to be doing just fine that way.

I really want to donate to this blimp. But I'm worried about all of the changes that have taken place and the price increases.

thank you

Still working on the videographer question.

The price of the banners increased because they ran out of banner material and due to our deadline being so close we opted for decals which are more expensive but were immediately available. We are still getting a great deal on this!

 

[Mckarnin]

Who can purchase ad time and why/why not? Foreign Nationals? Private Corporations? The official Paul campaign?

Airspace? Where is it allowed to go?

Damn! I swear there was a third I had in my head before I started writing this. Oh well.

I am looking into the question of foreign nationals and will post it in an answers only thread that I will start soon.

We will be using our 1st Amendment lawyer to fight for the right to fly in restricted airspace.

 

[RickNHouston]

Wow. I did think he could get by on less than $1000 every week for now. Seems fair. Now let's get the blimp in Boston by the 16th!!

OK ya'll ... we're gonna save 250.00 bucks a week now, thnx to Elijah cutting his 500.00 wk salary in half and Mark, whos already stated that he has "no" money to invest in the project himself, has given his blessing and permission to proceed,,, the world truly is now a better place !!! Thanx Mark!

 

[Mckarnin]

Can we have a real time accounting of funds? Since it's completely crowd powered, I'd like to see exactly what we're powering.

If you check out the Transparency document on the main site (http://www.ronpaulblimp.com/Transparency.php) and scroll to the bottom you'll see this:

Audit Committee

We invite grassroots supporters of Ron Paul who wish to assure the financial integrity of the Ron Paul Blimp project to form into committees. We will give the committee with the largest number of CPA's unlimited access to all our records.

 

[LibertyEagle]

It is absolutely absurd to question the motivations of those running the blimp project.

The consistent complaint here is based on ignorance of campaign finance law. I have years of experience with PACs. Anyone can check the facts I'll recite below at fec.gov

The ignorance of those who seek to belittle the Liberty Advertising people simply is stunning. A PAC CANNOT donate more than 5,000.00 to the Ron Paul campaign. A PAC CANNOT accept more than 2,300.00 per donor, AND, depending on which kind of PAC was formed, the money given could COUNT AGAINST money which otherwise could be donated to Ron Paul's campaign.

The reason(s) for the change in media messages, the logos on the blimp, also is caused by federal campaign law. Law dictates that one CANNOT list Ron Paul's campaign website and say it is not an ad for the campaign. It IS. The law sees it that way.

What those involved with Liberty Advertising have done, what they are offering, is a brilliant solution to a problem all of us have. They've got a kick-ass team over there. Bringing Brad Smith on board is simply the BEST way to proceed.

All those questioning motives because Liberty Advertising is a for profit company ought to ask themselves a basic question. If people wanted to fleece supporters, couldn't they do so by posing as a non profit?

OF COURSE THEY COULD. PACs pay money too...salaries, bonuses, etc, anything is allowed, as long as it is reported.

Those who have criticized the blimp project should read something, learn something before they speak.

American campaign finance laws make it very difficult for people to get together and throw the bums out. That is the whole point of campaign finance law, to protect those in power.

I sleep better each night knowing that people like Trevor et al exist, that they have the desire, imagination, spark, ambition and the pure ability to attempt something like this.

More power to them.

The decision to create a new company in order to put the blimp in the air, to put it in real simple terms, is brilliant.

Welcome to the forums with your second post. One question though.... are you associated with Liberty Advertising, in any way?

 

[twdahm]

Tell me ... I wanna sign up too!

You should be a professional politician cause your great at spinning.... I NEVER SAID ALL VOLUNTEER CAN YOU PEOPLE NOT READ? I SAID ALOT OF THE POSITION COULD BE VOLUNTEER for instance the website management team I have two different companies that would do all the work for nothing... hmm that just saved 52k!

 

[Mark]

Hey Mark ... I have an idea ... why don't you, with your empty bank account and ole Dk put ur head and his wallet togetherand come up with ur own idea and get back to us. U never knoiw .... one of these crazy somebitches in here might take you up on it....

Yawn. Another brand new poster attacking me. Yawn.

 

[Mark]

OK ya'll ... we're gonna save 250.00 bucks a week now, thnx to Elijah cutting his 500.00 wk salary in half and Mark, whos already stated that he has "no" money to invest in the project himself, has given his blessing and permission to proceed,,, the world truly is now a better place !!! Thanx Mark!

Yawn.

 

[Mark]

You should be a professional politician cause your great at spinning.... I NEVER SAID ALL VOLUNTEER CAN YOU PEOPLE NOT READ? I SAID ALOT OF THE POSITION COULD BE VOLUNTEER for instance the website management team I have two different companies that would do all the work for nothing... hmm that just saved 52k!

Don't sweat it twdahm, I've been attacked by about 50 brand new posters continuously.

They keep trying, emailing insults, PMing insults, all on my case in threads.

Getting me banned. It feels like I'm Ron Paul and they're the MSM. Sad. For them.

 

[Mark]

OK ya'll ... we're gonna save 250.00 bucks a week now, thnx to Elijah cutting his 500.00 wk salary in half and Mark, whos already stated that he has "no" money to invest in the project himself, has given his blessing and permission to proceed,,, the world truly is now a better place !!! Thanx Mark!

oh, and he cut a $1000 / week salary in half to $500. Saving $500 / week.

 

[Mckarnin]

So the Ron Paul Blimp idea and media attention will be used as a launching pad for a new business venture that specializes in this kind of advertising.

I guess there is nothing wrong with the organizers using their expertise gained from this venture after it is over. But how much are we the people going to pay just for building the organization and its fixed assets, that could also be achieved by volunteer work and equipment?

• Are all the current staff positions really necessary just to get the Ron Paul Blimp in the air and fly around, or is part of it building and training the organization for future operations?
• Is Liberty Political Advertising going to publish a list of all fixed assets that are bought for the company?

Ps. I have already donated once for the blimp.

Right now this 1 month of Ron Paul Blimp time is THE priority. I was just suggesting that there is potential that Liberty Political Advertising could revolutionize political advertizing and carry advertizing for more projects that match our "brand image" in the future.

Once the blimp is in air we can continue to get more information out to anyone who is interested. The grassroots Auditing Committee outlined at the bottom of the Transparency (http://www.ronpaulblimp.com/Transparency.php) section should help with that as well.



Thank you for your sponsorship of the Ron Paul Blip Tour!

 

[KewlRonduderules]

I applaud Trevor and Elijah for working and struggling with the many complications and conflicts that have arisen here in the grassroots. I think it is incredibly telling that they would cut their salaries to accommodate the grassroots. It suggests a lot.

***thumbs up to them***