Here are Poseidon’s 2020 Campaign Donations (Up to 10/31)

By
Greg Diamond
– November 2, 2020Posted in: "The OC", Fresh Juice

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Why let people see that a donation comes from Poseidon when it can come from “Good People for Wealth and Happiness”?

Poseidon has given a direct donation directly to only one candidate this year: that was Tyler Diep in the AD-74 Assembly primary.  The rest has gone to a set of four secretive PACs.

Laundering most donations through “Parents for Safe Communities,” “Taxpayers for Ethical Government,” “Californians for Fiscal Responsibility” and “Californians for a Better Future” makes being ripped off seem MUCH more palatable!  Right?

Let’s start with the earliest contribution: $48,000 to “Californians for a Better Future.”  It gave almost nothing directly, but plenty in independent expenditures!  (Some empty columns eliminated for better visibility.)

I gasped when I saw that this PAC was donating primarily to John Moorlach! But it’s OK: Poseidon’s contribution almost exactly (minus fees) matches almost exactly what was spent on Debbie Neev and Melissa Melendez for  State Senate.  (Not our table!)  The independent expenditure for Moorlach’s of $[amount to come] came from  [source to come; Cal Access is down!].

Do not vote for Debbie Neev!  Vote for Megan Yoo Scheider instead!

That $25,000 contribution to “Californians for Fiscal Responsibility”!  didn’t go to independent expenditures; it went to [recipient to come].

Skipping ahead to the $20,500 to “Parents for Safe Communities” — that all went towards independent expenditures aimed at knocking off Janet Nguyen in her race against Tyler Diep in the primary.  (They must be so pissed!)  But, DO NOT VOTE FOR TYLER DIEP FOR ANYTHING, JUST IN CASE!

Finally, how about that $35,000 for “Taxpayers for Ethical Government”?  A minuscule $4,621 independent expenditure to oppose Janet Nguyen for Assembly — they’re apparently still pissed at her displacing their darling Tyler Diep in the primary!

The big recipient from donations through what I’ll call “The Ethicals” was Stacy Lynn Taylor, whom we already know is a bad egg.

Do not vote for Stacy Lynn Taylor; vote for Karl Seckel, as John Earl has already advised!

And that’s pretty much it!  No on Diep, Neev, and Taylor.  It doesn’t seem like Poseidon has been spending so much this cycle, now that their darling Tyler Diep was knocked out of his Assembly seat.   If there are any other bad actors besides the ones we identify above, they don’t seem to be getting Poseidon money.

Researching Poseidon’s contributions, though, led me to a long dive into what was going on with The “Ethicals” — and that will be the topic of a separate post tomorrow!  And yes, we’ll rely on Irvine Watchdog’s campaign finance reporting!

About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that. Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too. He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.) His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)