Why Not Just Take Out A Loan?

[mport1]

This whole situation seems like an easy fix to me. We can all probably agree that the sooner the money can be spent the better but the bigger the money bomb the better for both publicity and encouraging donations. Why does the campaign not just take out a few million dollar loan and then pay it back with the proceeds of the Tea Party? We are pretty much guaranteed to match the November 5th total on the 16th so they could take out a $3-4 million dollar loan to use on advertisements in the early primary states.

This seems like a win-win situation to me if feasible, everything goes as planned with the 16th and it is a MASSIVE success AND Ron Paul gets a lot of money earlier to be used more effectively.

[ronpaulyourmom]

mport1, it's not even necessary, they probably have about 8 million on-hand.

It was a prudent email that attempted to shake things up a bit and get any double-donors (now and later) out of the closet, and also to motivate all of those Ron Paul supporters operating outside of the web who don't know about December 16th. I think they knew that the Tea Party wasn't going to be threatened in the grand scheme of it.

[mport1]

I tend to believe that if they say they need money then they actually need it. I'm sure they have a lot of money on hand but the point is that $10 million will raise on the 16th could be put to much better use if gotten sooner.

[ronpaulyourmom]

I tend to believe that if they say they need money then they actually need it. I'm sure they have a lot of money on hand but the point is that $10 million will raise on the 16th could be put to much better use if gotten sooner.

No doubt, my only point was that they dont really have a cash-flow problem, so a loan isn't necessary for them to make purchases if they want to.

I think the real reason behind it is what I mentioned above, and also regarding your concerns, is that the sooner they know how much they'll raise, the sooner they can plan accordingly. Right now it's a big uncertainty for them, and so they're holding back a bit maybe.

[Ozwest]

I tend to believe that if they say they need money then they actually need it. I'm sure they have a lot of money on hand but the point is that $10 million will raise on the 16th could be put to much better use if gotten sooner.

We're all dissapointed, but Ron Paul isn't going to borrow money. Going off on tangents isn't going to help right now.

[McDermit]

Meh. Same can be said to everyone here who has not yet maxed out. At some point, you'll be able to give $2300. Even if it's in $30 increments over a few years... especially once you no longer pay income taxes. Why not take a loan? Or float it on a 0% APR credit card for a year and pay it off when you get your tax refund or win the lotto.

It goes against what RP stands for, but hey, why not?

[mport1]

Meh. Same can be said to everyone here who has not yet maxed out. At some point, you'll be able to give $2300. Even if it's in $30 increments over a few years... especially once you no longer pay income taxes. Why not take a loan? Or float it on a 0% APR credit card for a year and pay it off when you get your tax refund or win the lotto.

It goes against what RP stands for, but hey, why not?

The difference is that RP has an extremely high probability of being able to pay off a few million dollar loan just a few weeks after it is taken out.

I understand the sentiment about this going against his beliefs but I think that this one small deviation from his beliefs would be alright if it means he has a much higher chance of winning the primaries. I just don't want to be looking back after the primaries if RP doesn't win saying "what if."

[McDermit]

Where the campaign is concerned, I don't think there's any need for the hysteria. Bydlak's just a dumbass top-down numbers guy who was trying to make it look like he was doing his job.

And HQ has more than they wanted at this point. We've already surpassed the monthly goals. According to their goals, we're already a week into December. Dec 16th put us exactly on target for what HQ wanted back in October. They already have what they wanted for now. And they'll nearly double it if they leave Dec 16th alone and let us get back on track.

[267]

As far as the campaign is concerned, it should be given normal trade terms by now, which would customarily be a discount for payment in ten days, and full amount due in 30 days.

As far as supporters are concerned, credit cards are usually willing to extend the $2300 credit per person. Most people can justify it by the various benefits resulting from the zero income tax. It can be an intelligent investment decision to achieve lower prices for all your purchases in addition to a higher income for all in your house.

[rfbz]

I was also wondering about the loan option. It's a good way to spend money that's pretty much guaranteed in the future, right now. But I'm not an expert by any means in finance so maybe there's a reason they're not doing this.

[TheConstitutionLives]

That would go against everything Paul has preached about regarding economics.

[someguy200]

Where do people keep getting the idea that it's against Dr. Paul's beliefs to use any type of loans ? I know he's against government subsidized loans, and against financial irresponsibility, but I seriously doubt he's opposed to using all types of loans, when they make sense financially. Does everybody think he bought his house all up front? or is it more likely that he took out a mortgage, which is a type of loan. I don't know enough about the campaigns finances to know if they should take out a loan until the 16th or not, but my plan is just to ignore their e-mail and save my money for when I think it will have the most impact.

[TheConstitutionLives]

They've been debt free this entire campaign. They are one of the few who can say that. I doubt they're gonna take out a multi-million dollar loan when something could happen and get stuck with the debt. It's not his style. You never know, Paul could get sick or something and have to drop out then suddenly he's stuck with a bill for 5 million dollars. I see yall's point but they're not gonna do it.

[brianbb98]

If anyone should take a loan... I think its us. Go borrow $2,300.... :) :)

[McDermit]

As far as the campaign is concerned, it should be given normal trade terms by now, which would customarily be a discount for payment in ten days, and full amount due in 30 days.

As far as supporters are concerned, credit cards are usually willing to extend the $2300 credit per person. Most people can justify it by the various benefits resulting from the zero income tax. It can be an intelligent investment decision to achieve lower prices for all your purchases in addition to a higher income for all in your house.

Perhaps it's different with national campaigns, but generally, political campaigns have to pay in full in advance for any promo products or advertising.

[1town]

Where the campaign is concerned, I don't think there's any need for the hysteria. Bydlak's just a dumbass top-down numbers guy who was trying to make it look like he was doing his job.

And HQ has more than they wanted at this point. We've already surpassed the monthly goals. According to their goals, we're already a week into December. Dec 16th put us exactly on target for what HQ wanted back in October. They already have what they wanted for now. And they'll nearly double it if they leave Dec 16th alone and let us get back on track.

It's not a matter of a certain amount needed. It's basically a game of "the more the better", and the argument lies in whether spending money campaigning for the first primaries is more important than a moneybomb. Which I think is true.

[AdoubleR]

How about personal loans? The dollar is quickly devaluing... Invest some money in a stronger currency in the meanwhile, give donations in US dollars, and then repay the loan a few months down when the dollar steeps to an even bigger low. Like after OPEC announces it will no longer trade in US dollars...

[mport1]

I'll throw in some good points some people on Facebook made.

"There is a complete difference between the violence of Government and their deficit spending, which affects us all, and Ron Paul taking risks for future reward, LIKE AN ENTREPRENEUR OR BUSINESSMAN DOES.

Debt isn't bad, bad debt is bad. Debt that you can pay off and that delivers a positive benefit is good debt."

"I'm not even sure it's really a deviation from his beliefs if he doesn't exceed the number of pledges at teaparty07.com * $100. These donations have essentially already been made; people are just holding on to it until the 16th for strategic reasons. Of course, an easier way to do the same thing without fouling up his flawless debt statistic would be to schedule the payments for after the 16th. From what I understand, when you buy airtime, you don't have to pay up front. You're supposedly able to just say, "alright, I'll pay for this at the beginning of January".

It seems like there has got to be some way to get this done. An extra few million dollars to spend right now in the primary states would be great.

[foofighter20x]

I think it may have been a subtle way of prompting us all into proving that we have more support than the Huckster, since we raised more than him on the 20th or whenever the Huck's bomb was...

Crafty, HQ... :p

[mport1]

And this is a really good point:

"It's not deficit spending, it's a loan. And Trent's and your logic doesn't make any sense. It's like saying:

I'm not going to get a mortgage, because that goes against Ron's philosophy. I'm gonna save for 20 years then buy a house.

I'm not taking out a car loan. That would be deficit spending. I'll have to pay for cabs until I can afford a car all in one payment.

I can't take out a loan for college, because that would be debt. I'll have to save up and go to college when I'm 50.

Honestly, many people donate the money with credit cards anyway, and if not, I don't have any real money to give to the campaign, so they can figure it out. It's just shifting the 2 weeks on interest from the high interest credit cards of individuals to the campaign through a low interest loan.

How ridiculous does this sound: "Well we lost the primaries, but at least we didn't pay any interest along the way!"

[mport1]

I think it may have been a subtle way of prompting us all into proving that we have more support than the Huckster, since we raised more than him on the 20th or whenever the Huck's bomb was...

Crafty, HQ... :p

I doubt that was their motive.

[Matthew Zak]

mport1, it's not even necessary, they probably have about 8 million on-hand.

It was a prudent email that attempted to shake things up a bit and get any double-donors (now and later) out of the closet, and also to motivate all of those Ron Paul supporters operating outside of the web who don't know about December 16th. I think they knew that the Tea Party wasn't going to be threatened in the grand scheme of it.



Unfortunately, some people are trying to put out the fire of teaparty07. I don't know if you've been looking around but on almost every one of those tea party videos people have been leaving comments to disregard it and to donate right now.

We need to override that spam with a message that we need to carry out our mission on the 16th.