February 22nd, 2017 continued. It's been 467-467 days since the Nov 8, 2016, election of some rich asshole, no. 45, and 395-395 days since the Jan 20th inauguration.
POLITICSThe rich asshole Administration Wants Your Help Getting People Off Food Stamps
Conservative Republicans in Congress are itching for a food stamp fight this year.
WASHINGTON ― A week after President some rich asshole proposed replacing food stamp benefits with boxes of canned goods, the rich asshole administration is now crowdsourcing ideas on how to shrink enrollment in the program.
Roughly 43 million Americans received monthly benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in 2016, of whom 3.8 million were able-bodied adults without children. The administration thinks those people should get less help unless they find part-time jobs.
In a rare callout for ideas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking suggestions from the public on how to reduce the able-bodied caseload. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced Thursday that the agency’s goal is “to move individuals and families from SNAP back to the workforce as the best long-term solution to poverty.”
The request for input is the latest signal the rich asshole administration wants more stringent food stamp rules as part of a “welfare reform” initiative for 2018. the rich asshole-allied conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives are also itching for a food stamp fight, though it’s not clear if party leaders want to play up the issue in an election year.
Federal law imposes a three-month limit on food stamp benefits for able-bodied adults who don’t have children and don’t work at least 20 hours per week, but states with high unemployment have been allowed to waive the limit, which is billed as a “work requirement.”
It’s more thorough in asking how the procedures work but does not seem to pay as much attention to what are the harmful impacts.Ellen Vollinger of the Food Research and Action Center
In the wake of the Great Recession, the USDA waived the limit for every state. As the national unemployment rate has fallen, the waivers have begun to expire; though 28 states can still disregard the time limit in selected areas, and five can waive it statewide.
“Too many states have asked to waive work requirements, abdicating their responsibility to move participants to self-sufficiency,” Perdue said.
As part of a symbolic budget proposal, last week the rich asshole administration suggested cutting costs 25 percent by replacing benefits with boxes of shelf-stable foods and also by making it more difficult for states to waive work requirements. The budget would also apply the time limit to people as old as 62; currently it applies to SNAP recipients younger than 50.
The USDA said Thursday that its request for ideas would help fulfill the goals in the budget proposal. Among other questions, the call for ideas asks how states should go about applying for waivers from the time limit and how they should determine whether someone is fit to work. The public comment period will be open for 45 days.
“It’s more thorough in asking how the procedures work but does not seem to pay as much attention to what are the harmful impacts,” Ellen Vollinger of the Food Research and Action Center said in an interview, commenting on the announcement.
Vollinger said that people who lose benefits because of the time limit can wind up hungry, since federal law doesn’t require states to make allowances for people who can’t find suitable work. Someone unable to get to a job due to lack of transportation, for example, would see their food budget disappear.
Food stamps are supposed to be reauthorized this year as part of what’s known as a farm bill, legislation that pairs nutrition assistance with things like crop subsidies. House Agriculture Committee chairman Mike Conaway (R-Texas) has said he’s open to tougher time limits.
As states have reimposed work requirements and the economy has improved, the number of SNAP recipients has declined since hitting a peak of 47 million in 2013. The percentage of SNAP recipients who are nondisabled adults without children has declined from 10.5 percent that year to 8.8 percent in 2016, according to the most recent data.
HuffPost readers: Have you had to meet SNAP work requirements? Tell us about it ― email arthur@huffpost.com. Please include your phone number if you’re willing to be interviewed.
‘The level of violence on video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts’
President the rich asshole, weighing in on the ongoing conversation about gun violence in America, suggested laying the blame partly at the feet of pop culture today, citing violent movies and video games as possible causes of the problem.
“We have to do something about maybe what they’re seeing and how they’re seeing it, and also, video games,” said the rich asshole, speaking during a discussion on school safety at the White House. “I’m hearing more and more people say the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts.”
The president is not the only politician, especially on the Republican side, to bring out this old chestnut following last week’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in which 14 students and three staff members were killed. Within two days of the shooting, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin had given multiple interviews in which he pointed to violent video games as a factor in such events.
“There are video games, that yes, are listed for mature audiences, but kids play them and everybody knows it and there’s nothing to prevent the child from playing them, that celebrate the slaughtering of people,” Gov. Bevin said in a radio interview.
At meeting on school safety, President Trump says violence in video games and movies is responsible for shaping young people’s thoughts: “We have to do something about maybe what they’re seeing” cnn.it/2FkNGVe pic.twitter.com/vbt2t0dhtm
Florida shooting survivor on Trump’s comment about video games: “That’s just a really pathetic excuse… I grew up playing video games… first-person shooter games and I would never, ever dream of taking the lives of any of my peers so it’s just pathetic” cnn.it/2FkNGVe pic.twitter.com/rBmbqf6dQS
Young people have counteracted this narrative, as they have every time it is stated. The survivors of the Stoneman Douglas shooting have taken to activism, gaining a national profile as they advocate for gun control legislation. Following the rich asshole’s comments today, CNN interviewed a student at the school who did not hold back in his response.
“That’s just a really pathetic excuse on behalf of the president,” said Chris Grady, 19, a senior. “I grew up playing video games — you know, Call of Duty, all those kind of first-person shooter games — and I would never, ever dream of taking the lives of any of my peers. So it’s just, it’s pathetic.”
In addition to calling out violence in movies and video games, the rich asshole said that the Parkland shooting had led his administration to consider taking action on policy measuresto directly address access to guns.
“Everybody in this room, I can tell you,” said the rich asshole, referencing the federal, state and local officials present at the meeting, “they’re into doing background checks that they wouldn’t be thinking about maybe two weeks ago.”
The president also said he would “work on getting the age up to 21 instead of 18,” a comment referring to proposals that would raise the minimum age for buying certain types of weapons. In addition, the rich asshole pointed out that he directed the Department of Justice to suggest banning bump stocks earlier this week, and said his administration would be “focusing very strongly on mental health.”
the rich asshole reserved harsher comments for films, saying that the current movie rating system, which is administered by the Motion Picture Association of America, may be insufficient in appropriately characterizing and categorizing on-screen violence.
“You see these movies, they’re so violent, and yet, a kid is able to see the movie if sex isn’t involved,” said the rich asshole. “But killing is involved. And maybe they have to put a rating system for that.”
The MPAA has taken plenty of flak over the years for its rating system. Kirby Dick’s 2006 documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated pointed out discrepancies between the way the organization handles, for instance, sexual content versus violent content. A 2013 study published in the journal Pediatrics found that gun violence in films rated PG-13 had more than tripled since 1985, the first full year that rating was in effect, and that in 2012, weapons were more prevalent in PG-13 movies than in R-rated films. The authors of another study published in the same journal later in 2013 focused on how often violence appears in movies alongside sex, drugs and alcohol, and said that their findings “raise serious concerns about the effectiveness of the MPAA rating system.”
Three major car rental companies dump the NRA
The backlash is growing.
A major car rental conglomerate which operates three prominent national brands is ending its corporate relationship with the National Rifle Association, as backlash grows in the wake of the Parkland mass shooting.
Until Thursday, Enterprise Holdings, which operates Enterprise, Alamo, and National, had a partnership with the NRA to provide discounts to members of the gun lobby. The discounts were available to NRA members once they paid the $40 annual fee, and the companies were among the 22 corporations offering discounts and “five star savings” to the gun lobby’s members.
On Thursday, however, all three brands announced that they would be ending the program on March 26.
@Hertz @AVIS @Budget @Enterprise @alamo @NationalPro
This is what the #NRA stands for. Are you going to continue sponsoring their efforts to stall legislation that could save children's lives?peacock-panache.com/2018/02/nra-me…
Thanks for contacting us. We ended the program – effective March 26. twitter.com/messages/compo…
@Hertz @AVIS @Budget @Enterprise @alamo @NationalPro
This is what the #NRA stands for. Are you going to continue sponsoring their efforts to stall legislation that could save children's lives?peacock-panache.com/2018/02/nra-me…
Thanks for contacting us. We ended the program – effective March 26. twitter.com/messages/compo…
@Hertz @AVIS @Budget @Enterprise @alamo @NationalPro
This is what the #NRA stands for. Are you going to continue sponsoring their efforts to stall legislation that could save children's lives?peacock-panache.com/2018/02/nra-me…
Thanks for contacting us. We ended the program – effective March 26. twitter.com/messages/compo…
The announcement follows close on the heels of First National Bank of Omaha’s decision to end its relationship with the NRA. For more than a decade the bank has offered NRA members specially branded Visa credit cards, but in a tweet Thursday the bank said that “customer feedback has caused us to review our relationship with the NRA.” The bank did not respond to multiple inquiries by ThinkProgress asking for a more detailed explanation of its decision.
On Tuesday, ThinkProgress detailed how 22 corporations were making membership to America’s premier gun lobbying group more enticing by offering a range of discounts. A few car rental companies still offer discounts to members, including Hertz and Avis Budget Group, which offer NRA members “up to 25 percent off everyday base rates at participating locations.”
Enterprise Holdings’ decision follows a wave of public pressure that has descended on the NRA in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 14 students and 3 teachers dead on February 14. At a CNN townhall Wednesday night, student Cameron Kasky was greeted with raucous cheers after he asked Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to promise not to accept a single donation from the NRA in the future.
The NRA, however, accused “opportunists” of exploiting the shooting last week. At the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said that the solution to stopping mass shootings was having more armed personnel in schools, an opinion echoed by President the rich asshole.
POLITICS
U.S. Special Counsel Files New Charges Against the rich asshole Former Campaign Aides
The latest indictment includes allegations of wrongdoing as recently as January 2017.
WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed a new set of criminal charges on Thursday against President some rich asshole’s former campaign aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates that include bank and tax fraud, escalating a legal battle that started last year.
The charges were contained in a 32-count indictment against the two men that was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria.
Manafort and Gates are already facing criminal charges by Mueller’s office in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that include conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to defraud the United States and failure to register as foreign agents for political work they did for a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party.
They were among the first to be charged, as part of Mueller’s ongoing investigation into whether the rich asshole presidential campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election. the rich asshole has denied any collusion took place.
The latest indictment includes allegations of wrongdoing as recently as January 2017 and said Manafort and Gates were desperate for cash when their lobbying business dried up.
The indictment charged they were able to secure more than $20 million in loans by falsely inflating the income of Manafort and his lobbying firm and failing to disclose existing debt.
A spokesman for Manafort did not immediately comment on the new charges, and a lawyer for Gates could not be immediately reached.
Colbert crushes Marco Rubio for after bombing at CNN town hall: He ‘just received his cash from the NRA’
Stephen Colbert
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“Late Show” host Stephen Colbert couldn’t help but mock Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) for his disastrous appearance at the CNN town hall Wednesday night.
“The real star of the show was Florida senator and man who just received his cash from the NRA Marco Rubio,” Colbert joked in his opening monologue Thursday. “Now, the crowd wasn’t exactly with Marco Rubio last night. And you know what they say: If they’re not with you, you’re Marco Rubio.”
The only way Rubio managed to score a standing ovation was when he said in order to ban a military-style weapon like an AR-15, “you would literally have to ban every semi-automatic rifle that’s sold in America.”
“That is a guy who cannot read the room,” Colbert explained. “Look, we’d have to get rid of guns and that’s a slippery slope to fewer dead people. Oh you’d like that? Fair enough.”
Many have been calling Rubio brave for going into the “lion’s den” to begin with. One student in particular, saluted him on stage Wednesday, saying the only way we’ll find solutions is to bring everyone together. Colbert, however, isn’t buying it.
“Here’s the thing, just showing up isn’t that impressive. He works for those people. If your boss calls you into their office, you can’t say, ‘Yes, I hit a customer, yes, I turned the break room into a sex dungeon and yes I’m currently very high. But I showed up even though I knew you’d be mad. I should get some credit for that,’” Colbert closed.
Watch the monologue below:
‘Look me in the eyes’: Furious Stoneman Douglas High students demand answers from Florida politicians
Emma Gonzalez, shown at a rally for gun control on February 17, 2018 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is among students calling for a march on Washington to demand reform on gun laws AFP / RHONA WISE
February 21, 2018
Mary Ellen Klas and Elizabeth Koh
The Miami Herald
Posted with permission from Tribune Content Agency
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School got a real-life lesson in the perils of high expectations Wednesday as they met with state legislators to discuss their promise of stricter gun laws and left disappointed that the progress that appeared likely would only be incremental.
"We have been to many meetings, spoken to only a few legislators," said senior Delaney Tarr at a noon press conference. "And the most we've gotten out of them is, 'We'll keep you in our thoughts. You're so strong. You are so powerful.'
"We've heard enough of that," she said. "We know what we want. We want common-sense guns laws. We want stronger mental health and background checks to work in conjunction. We want a better age limit. We want privatized selling so you can't just walk into a building with $130 and walk out with an AR-15. We want change, and we know how to get this change."
Angry and passionate, the more than 100 students and parents from Douglas High traveled to Tallahassee to spend the day meeting with dozens of legislators, Gov. Rick Scott and Cabinet officials.
They came prepared to put legislators on the spot.
"Look me in the eyes and tell me right now that because of guns, I can't walk into an airport because I'm scared of being shot," said Tyra Hemans, 19, a senior, at a meeting with state Senate President Joe Negron and his top deputies. "I can't walk my hallway because I am always reminded of the AR-15 military rifle assault weapon shooting my classmates."
The group, organized primarily by Democratic state Sen. Lauren Book of Plantation, traveled in a three-bus caravan to the state capital demanding more gun restrictions, better school safety and more focus on mental health after the deadly shooting that left 17 classmates and staff members dead.
Their energy, which has spawned the student-led #NeverAgain movement, also attracted more than 5,000 gun control advocates who held a massive rally on the steps of the old Capitol as many of the students met with lawmakers inside.
Another group of Parkland students, organized primarily by Democratic state Sen. Gary Farmer of Fort Lauderdale, took a more militantly activist tone, wearing blue T-shirts that read: "We call B.S." and participated in the outdoor rally.
The students came prepared with questions, and demanded answers: Why, since the tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, are assault weapons still sold in the U.S.? What is the need for military assault rifles to be available to the civilian population? Why was the shooter, who had a history of mental illness, allowed to purchase such a weapon?
"Do you have kids?" 17-year-old senior Sammy Feuerman asked Negron in a Senate committee room packed with reporters.
The Stuart Republican answered that he did. "You love them, right?" Feuerman insisted. Negron didn't answer and instead said, "Go ahead."
Feuerman described how his best friend was shot three times and is alive, but "we didn't know that for a really long time."
He urged them "to do something to make sure this never happens again" and finished: "Thank you for your time."
Negron and House Speaker Richard Corcoran devoted much of the morning to listening to the students, opening their meetings to the media, as reporters from across the globe chronicled their unease.
"You have to be very careful of what authority you give the government," said Corcoran, a Land O'Lakes Republican, to the students and their parents gathered in the House Chamber. "I'll be honest with you — me personally, I don't believe (banning assault weapons) is the solution."
It was an answer many students were not happy to hear.
"I'm extremely, extremely angry and sad," said Alfonso Calderon, 16, a junior, after spending the morning meeting with House and Senate leaders. "I don't know if I'm going to be traumatized because of this. I don't know if I'm going to have faith in my state and local government anymore because what I saw today was discouraging."
"We aren't being taken seriously enough," he said. "Although we are just kids, we understand. We are old enough to understand why a senator cares about re-election or not. We are old enough to understand why someone might want to discredit us for political purposes."
Lewis Mizen, 17, a senior, urged the lawmakers to dismiss attempts by activists on both sides of the debate to discredit the students as "pawns" for someone else's agenda.
"I just want to clarify, we aren't a radical, left-wing agenda being pushed by gun-hating liberals to take away everyone's Second Amendment rights," he said. "We want a bipartisan agreement, and we want to be able to go to school and know we will come home at the end of the day. I don't want this to get political. The minute it does, everything we've come here to do will get lost."
Negron agreed. "You're right — this issue should never be partisan," he said.
Republican state Sen. Bill Galvano of Bradenton told the students, "We owe it to you to take meaningful action."
GOP state Sen. Rob Bradley of Fleming Island said they reminded him of his two children, one in college and the other in high school. "This is an American issue," he said. "This is not a Republican or Democrat issue."
But Bradley also noted that the "speed at which we are moving things" toward addressing mental health, school safety and the gun access issues "is unusual."
"We are moving as quickly as the system allows with the urgency that is deserving of the emotion and the concern you have," he said.
The students later moved to the House, where they were invited to sit in the chamber as they met with Corcoran and three of his deputies.
Sophomore Daniel Bishop, 16, was blunt: "I want to make sure I can trust you," he said, sitting next to his older sister Julia. "How are you going to react when gun control is on the table?"
Corcoran replied that he expects the Legislature will raise the limit on buying assault weapons to 21, matching the limit for purchasing handguns. He later told Bishop he appreciated the question and offered his personal cellphone number to the group.
Although Corcoran ruled out an outright ban when Alondra Gittelson, 16, asked why such weapons were easily accessible to the public at all, he acknowledged the tragedy had made a difference.
"There's one thing that's not acceptable and that is to not do something," he said.
Ryan Deitsch, 18, however, was not satisfied.
"You promised that you will not fail us, and that you will take every action that you can, but I still have to ask: What if you do?" he asked. "Do you expect to keep your jobs?"
GOP state Rep. Jeanette Nunez responded: "Failure for us is not an option," she said, to applause. "We will not leave here without passing some meaningful reform."
As the Senate began its morning floor session, Negron called for a moment of silence to honor those who were killed and reflected on attending the funeral of student Peter Wang, 15, on Tuesday.
Wang had opened the door on the third floor of Building 12, to allow others to flee the shooter's bullets, but he was targeted by the gunman and riddled with bullets.
"From the time I went onto the campus of Stoneman Douglas, I've been wondering (about the) young man who had a perfectly acceptable moral decision to protect his own life and to escape the shooter," Negron said. "Why he would make the decision to instead hold the door open and allow others to escape first?"
He said he asked Wang's mother, who told Negron that the family had "raised him since he was a child to care for others."
The Senate then dimmed its lights to play a slideshow of the 17 victims, including Alex Schachter, 14, in his red marching band uniform; JROTC cadets Alaina Petty, Martin Duque and Peter Wang in their uniforms; and geography teacher Scott Beigel smiling faintly in a selfie.
When the lights came back on, junior Antonina Messina, seated in the public gallery, wiped at her eyes and hugged junior Jackie Corin next to her, who was near tears.
Negron called an informal recess for 10 minutes.
Late in the afternoon, the students split into groups to meet with the governor between 5 and 7 p.m.
Diego Pfeiffer said he was optimistic about their conversation with Scott, calling it a "birthing pod" for ideas.
"We weren't convincing him, we were talking to him, that's all," he said, adding that Scott was in listening mode.
By the end of the day, many students said their first trip to the Capitol had been instructive.
"Most of them, all of them agreed with mental health (reforms)," said Anthony Lopez, who is considering majoring in political science in college. "When it came to gun reform, some I could agree with a lot, and a lot of them either avoided the topic or had a totally different viewpoint."
Many also left with a message to lawmakers that they'll be back.
"We didn't fail," said Tarr. "The people around us failed us and if they continue to fail us, they will no longer be in office because we have the ability to vote and we will vote them out. They must do right by us or lose their jobs."
The House and Senate are expected to unveil their legislation late Thursday and move them quickly next week in committee. The comprehensive package of reforms includes raising the minimum age to obtain and purchase an assault rifle from 18 to 21, providing more school security officers and mental health counselors, and enacting a waiting period for semiautomatic rifles.
CNN nails the rich asshole and Fox News to the wall for pushing right-wing theory that they scripted Parkland town hall
President some rich asshole during a White House meeting. Image via screengrab.
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President some rich asshole on Thursday night accused CNN of forcing a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting last week to provide “scripted” answers to questions during yesterday’s South Florida town hall. The network, in response, shot him down.
the rich asshole appears to have gotten the story from Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who interviewed the student who alleged the network fed him scripted answers earlier in the night.
In the interview, Stoneman Douglas student Colton Haab told Carlson that a producer did not allow him to speak when he submitted his question, instead giving him answers they prepared for him. CNN denied the claim in a statement prior to tweeted at the president.
“Just like so much of CNN, Fake News,” the rich asshole tweeted. “That’s why their ratings are so bad!”
“MSNBC may be worse,” he added.
The theory appears to have originated with Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich, who tweeted last night that Haab was not allowed to speak at the town hall due to his pro-gun rights stance.
CNN did not let Colton Haab ask a question at tonight #StudentsStandUp because he was pro-gun rights.
This is who CNN censored. abcnews.go.com/US/jrotc-enlis…
Soon after, right-wing vlogger Mark Dice, who last week was blasted by Stoneman Douglas student after he suggested they should have called the police instead of film the chaos during the shooting, also promoted the theory.
Thank you @WPLGLocal10 for interviewing Colton Haab and showing CNN's bias and their refusing to 'approve' of his question for #StudentsStandUp CNN Town Hall. realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/02/…
CNN responded directly to the president’s tweet by tagging him and Carlson and rebutting “there is absolutely no truth to this story — and we can prove that.”
“CNN did not provide or script questions for anyone in last night’s town hall, nor have we ever,” they tweeted. “Those are the facts.”
“School shooting survivor says he quit @CNN Town Hall after refusing scripted question.” @TuckerCarlson. Just like so much of CNN, Fake News. That’s why their ratings are so bad! MSNBC may be worse.
There is absolutely no truth to this story -- and we can prove that. CNN did not provide or script questions for anyone in last night's town hall, nor have we ever. Those are the facts. #FactsFirst
February 21, 2018
David Smiley and Alex Daugherty
The Miami Herald
Posted with permission from Tribune Content Agency
MIAMI — To help fund a national gun control movement, a small group of South Florida students who survived the worst high school shooting in U.S. history set up a modest website Sunday and created a GoFundMe account to pursue an ambitious goal: raise $1 million.
They received more than three times that amount. In four days.
In a sign of just how much momentum they have, the students who survived the Valentine's Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland have amassed donations from more than 18,000 people backing the #NeverEnough movement and the March For Our Lives, an anti-gun-violence protest they're planning on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The money has poured in from all over the country, escalating to seven figures before the young organizers could even set up a foundation to fund.
By Tuesday, the pot was nearing $1.5 million. And then Hollywood celebrities Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and George Clooney committed a half-million dollars. Each.
With $3.5 million suddenly at their disposal, this core group of roughly 20 teenagers — still grieving the loss of 17 classmates and school mentors — has enough money to fund a national march and a revolution. They're now beginning to consider the long game: a lasting movement to keep the pressure on pro-gun politicians and the National Rifle Association.
"Donations will be used to pay the expenses associated with the (March 24) March For Our Lives gathering in Washington, D.C., and to provide resources for young people organizing similar marches across the country," a spokeswoman for March for Our Lives told the Miami Herald. "Any leftover funds will go towards supporting a continuing, long-term effort by and for young people to end the epidemic of mass shootings that has turned our classrooms into crime scenes."
With the emergence of celebrity benefactors, the march has suddenly developed Hollywood ties. But despite conspiracy theories fostered by far-right blogs and pundits that liberal gun control groups are using Parkland survivors as pawns for their cause, the #NeverEnough movement has so far been an organic, loosely organized phenomenon.
Teenagers like Cameron Kasky, Emma Gonzalez, Alex Wind and David Hogg — all of whom have received enormous media attention since the shooting — seized a moment when the country was mesmerized in horror and called for action. Prepared by years of theater, journalism and debate classes, the students began leveraging media interviews and social media to solicit donations before they had even set up a fund to accept the money, and without any expertise on how to organize a national rally.
At first, they weren't even planning on seeking donations, said Kasky's father, Jeff Kasky. But then they decided to pursue the national rally, and things steamrolled after their announcement. Kasky said his son sought out to raise $1 million only after he and his friends did some basic research on the costs of organizing a rally in Washington, D.C.
"That's where the money is going," Jeff Kasky said. "They're being directed by people with knowledge of how to responsibly spend this money and it's going to be very transparent. Every penny is going to be accounted for."
With Clooney's help, Kasky said the group has brought in some attorneys, some administrative help and a public relations firm, 42 West. This week, they expect to establish the March For Our Lives Foundation in order to deposit all donations to the cause.
Kasky said Clooney spoke to the students' parents Tuesday, during which the actor helped allay some concerns about "whether there would be an adult in the room." But he stressed that while Clooney is helping, he isn't running the show.
"These people putting their money in — not a single one of them has said anything along the lines of 'I'll donate but you have to listen to what I say.' Nobody is pulling the strings for these kids," Kasky said. "I have to make clear: (Clooney) is not directing them, nor is anybody. I don't know if they've even spoken. But at least some pressure is off them."
In order to help organize the rally in Washington, which requires applying for permits with the federal government, the city, and probably with the state of Virginia or Maryland depending on the exact route of the march, the students have brought in Deena Katz, co-executive producer of "Dancing With the Stars." Katz is the co-executive director of the Women's March Los Angeles Foundation, but is not involved on behalf of the organization.
A permit application for the National Mall filed Monday by Katz shows organizers are expecting 500,000 people to arrive by 20 buses and public transportation. They plan to erect 14 Jumbotrons, and 20 tents. The event will feature student speakers, musical performers, guest speakers and video tributes.
Emma Collum, a South Florida attorney who ran point on transportation and logistics for the Women's March in 2016, said the endeavor will be complicated and vast for the upcoming gun-control rally. She said the regulations about where buses have to park, how marching routes are formulated and changed, and even how portable toilets are paid for and shipped in can be exhausting and costly: "At a minimum half-a-million" dollars, she estimated.
Collum, who said she's assisting in the organization of a March 24 event in Parkland, helped the Women's March gather more than 1 million people in D.C. But despite initial crowd estimates by organizers, she thinks the upcoming gun control event will be even bigger.
"I truly do think the numbers are going to be above 1 million" people, she said.
The donations to the march fund are only part of the picture. A GoFundMe page for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting victims has also raised at least $1.8 million, with donors from all 50 states and over 50 countries.
The page is run by the Broward Education Foundation, a registered arm of the School Board of Broward County that raises funds to enrich education throughout the district.
"This is nothing that any of us were prepared for, however we are surrounded with the best possible resources, we're working with the senior team from GoFundMe, they are helping to guide and instruct us every step of the way because this is not your ordinary fundraising effort," said Broward Education Foundation director of marketing Peejay Ryan.
The Broward Education Foundation has experience with managing millions of dollars. In fiscal year 2015, the foundation raised $1.1 million in contributions, gifts and grants while doling out $2.5 million in "program services," according to financial documents. The foundation has a silver rating from Guidestar, a service that evaluates the finances of registered nonprofits, meaning the Broward Education Fund has a high level of transparency.
Ryan said donations to their page will go to short-term and long-term needs for the victims, and not for political activities like advocating for new gun laws. She also said it's hard to gauge how much money will be needed for victims after the more immediate expenses like paying for funerals and medical treatment.
"The first thing that comes to mind is an individual who is a college student and has PTSD three years down the road," Ryan said. "We can't anticipate what those needs are."
A total of 22 pages that are raising money for Parkland victims have been verified by GoFundMe. The money donated as of Wednesday on the pages ranges from $3,000 to $1.8 million.
"We've got all we can handle right now," Ryan said. "The offers of support coming through are mind-blowing and we've got a Herculean task on our hands, but we're well-supplied with the best possible resources."
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