By Vincent L. Hall
Jasmine Crockett is probably a good person. She has a resume that proves as much before securing the 100TH District seat in the Texas Legislature (Southern Dallas). She obviously wants to give back. However, there is a problem.
Ms. Crockett could be your soror, church member, social media friend, or the like. She appears to be friends with every Black face that ever appeared on MSNBC. However, that does not mitigate the fact that she looks like a pawn of cryptocurrency super PACs.
We cannot allow lobbyists and grifters to control our only seat in Congress. We cannot afford to let outsiders buy this rare and pre-dominately Black seat. Give them an inch, and they will take a mile!
Please don’t take my word. Read what the press reports say about it.
Texas Tribune 2-11-22
“Cryptocurrency traders’ super PACS give $2 million to boost to state Rep Jasmine Crockett’s congressional run.”
A pair of super PACs backed by cryptocurrency financiers is making a $2 million push to elect state Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, in the homestretch of her crowded congressional primary.
It’s a major amount of money to commit to the race with less than three weeks left, and it shows how a fledgling network of political action committees with ties to the cryptocurrency world is mobilizing in one of the state’s most closely watched March 1 primaries.
Protect Our Future PAC announced Thursday that it is investing $1 million on Crockett’s behalf, while a second super PAC, Web3 Forward, shared first with The Texas Tribune on Friday that it was injecting an addi- tional $1 million to the race. The latter said it would put its money toward TV ads — they were already up on the Dallas airwaves as of Thursday — and direct mail for Crockett.”
Just for the record, chief among the backers of Protect Our Future is Sam Bankman Fried, the 29-year-old billionaire CEO and founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Politico 1/28/22
“The cryptocurrency industry is gearing up to invest big in the midterms. A group of crypto financiers said Friday it’s launching a super PAC that aims to spend more than $20 million to support congressional candidates ahead of the November elections.
The backers include a top executive at the digital currency trading platform FTX, as well as SkyBridge Capital, the hedge fund led by former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who is trying to start a Bitcoin investment fund.”
The message to “Bitcoin Barbie,” aka “Crypto Crockett,” is that Dallas County and U.S. District 30 is not for sale. Watching nearly $3 million in TV blitzes and mailers should cause us concern. The super PAC’s contribution to Ms. Crockett more than doubled eight of her opponents all put together. Think about that!
The Honorable former Mayor of Dallas and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk barely raised 9 million dollars in a statewide race in 2010, and he had been well-known throughout the state for years before that.
If you don’t believe that $3 million is a lot of money, file through Eddie Bernice Johnson’s years of donations and see how many campaigns it would take to make up $3 million. These folks believe that our votes can be bought. They tried to pimp us and almost did!
Bitcoin Barbie garnered 48% of the vote in a 9-way race. But God is good. He gave this community and district another chance to get it right. We can’t afford the aura and insult of allowing some greedy billionaires to use our vote and destroy us in the process.
Take a long look at the whole crypto-currency foolishness. Most of us are skeptical at best of America’s latest Ponzi scheme. The Biden Administration is scrutinizing the industry as we speak.
We still have the poor, minori- ties, and the elderly, as well as active and retired military veterans stuck in payday and car title loans. We cannot chance the few greenbacks or our hard-earned savings for a well-organized pyramid system. Crypto Crockett says she has Senator Liz Warren’s support, but the former presidential candidate has always fought against financial institutions that prey on ordinary folk.
Bitcoin Barbie might have been a valuable asset to this community. Instead, she has become a part of a billionaire’s doll collection. My three daughters have had every Black Barbie ever created. But I ain’t buying this one. No matter who’s selling her!
Vincent L. Hall is an author, activist, and an award-winning columnist.
