Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

My heart sank on just the first paragraph of Blatt's story.

"Stacy Blatt was in hospice care last September listening to Rush Limbaugh’s dire warnings about how badly Donald J. Trump’s campaign needed money when he went online and chipped in everything he could: $500.

It was a big sum for a 63-year-old battling cancer and living in Kansas City on less than $1,000 per month. But that single contribution — federal records show it was his first ever — quickly multiplied. Another $500 was withdrawn the next day, then $500 the next week and every week through mid-October, without his knowledge — until Mr. Blatt’s bank account had been depleted and frozen. When his utility and rent payments bounced, he called his brother, Russell, for help.

What the Blatts soon discovered was $3,000 in withdrawals by the Trump campaign in less than 30 days. They called their bank and said they thought they were victims of fraud.

“It felt,” Russell said, “like it was a scam.”

But what the Blatts believed was duplicity was actually an intentional scheme..."

Then for the rest of the ride i could only think why the hell is it legal. Until getting to

"Mr. Brignull, the user-experience designer who also serves as an expert witness in legal cases involving misleading advertising, noted that a Consumer Rights Directive in Europe prohibits companies from deploying a defaulted opt-in tactic for recurring payments.

“It is very easy for the eye to skip over,” he said. “The only really meaningful information in that box is buried.”"

which made so much more sense.

"Another extraordinary NYT exposé!" Sure was. And now the pre-checked shit is to be common practice throughout the GOP world.

It sucks.

Your link - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/03/us/politics/trump-donations.html?referringSource=articleShare