One of the most incredible ads so far this election season was produced and paid for not by a candidate, Super PAC, or party, but instead by a private citizen. Thomas Peterffy, a Hungarian-born businessman who made his fortune in online trading, has begun airing a 60-second ad that will be broadcast on major networks (CNN, CNBC and Bloomberg) in the swing states of Ohio, Wisconsin and possibly Florida, he told the Washington Examiner. Petterffy, who has a net-worth of over $4.6 billion according to Forbes, intends to spend between $5-10 million on the ads.
Peterffy’s ad is powerful in its simplicity. He speaks directly to the camera and recounts the story of his childhood in socialist Hungary, using images of himself and the poverty-stricken European nation. Peterffy, a member of the Forbes 400 list and Forbes’s list of billionaires, describes the importance of hard work and the value of respecting success. Interspersed with messages about the dangers of socialism are recent photos of the Occupy Wall Street movement’s protests. While the ad never addresses Obama’s early supportive statements regarding OWS, Americans need to look no further than statements made during the last two debates to understand that the Obama White House values “fairness” over success. Peterffy concludes his ad by stating, “That is why I am voting Republican and putting this ad on television.”
A quick glance at Peterffy’s FEC contributions doesn’t seem to indicate his status as a conservative version of George Soros. In May 2009 he donated $2,400 to Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Roger Pearson (D-CT) respectively. According to the Seattle PI, Peterffy doesn’t have a political affiliated listed according to a public records search. While the majority of his other donations are to Republican and right-wing causes, almost all until this past election cycle are for local candidates in Connecticut, Peterffy’s home state. This election, it seems, has sparked an interest in national politics that was previously unrealized.
Peterffy’s decision to spend the majority of his ad-buy in Ohio isn’t just about electoral politics. Three of the six largest Hungarian populations in the U.S. are found in the state, after New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. In an election where such a large population comprises the vote of one of the most crucial swing states in the country, Peterffy’s ad could actually impact the presidential race. If nothing else, it gives voice to many in his generation who have seen the American Dream scorned through the Occupy protests and the class warfare rhetoric of the current administration.
That is a great ad!!! Hope many see it. If they do, it's difficult to imagine that it wouldn't help to persuade an undecided.
I think it's much more difficult to imagine how Thomas Peterffy convinced himself we have a socialist system here in the U.S.
Peterffy didn't "convince himself" of anything. He's been around the block a few times and seen more than most, and simply sees the way your Obamistas are using the old trick of enticing the young, the poor, the lazy and the stupid to sell their birthright for a bowl of pottage from the government soup kitchen.
Please elaborate. Be specific, and explain how we're on the verge of transforming into 1960's Hungarian-style socialism if we re-elect Obama. I'm curious.
Elaborate? Be specific? I did. I was. Get your dad to interpret for you and to explain "ancient history." And who said anything about a "1960's Hungarian-style socialism"? Good Heavens, you Democrats are bigger numpties then advertised.
Please elaborate? Be specific? I did. I was. Who said anything about 60s Hungarian-style anything. You reason like Vice President Snickerdoodle.
Did you watch the ad? Peterffy makes a very far-fetched comparison between his Hungarian childhood in the '50s and '60s and the apparent onset of socialism in the U.S. So once again, how is this accurate? And how are people in the U.S. "[selling] their birthright for a bowl of pottage from the government soup kitchen?" I'm all ears.
As I detail in my book Never Allow A Crisis To Go To Waste, socialism is the government directing the economy to redistribute wealth. The different means socialists use to achieve these ends account for the variations in socialism. n nClassical socialism is the government owning a business to direct the economy and redistribute wealth. Barack Obama used classical socialism in his nationalization of GM and Chrysler, which was an almost identical replay of the British Labour government nationalizing British Leyland in 1975. n nGerman Zwangswirtshaft socialism is when the government permits nominal private ownership of business, but uses its regulatory, taxing and spending powers to direct the economy and redistribute wealth. This alternative became popular on the left in America, including among community organizers, during the 60s and 70s. Barack Obama imposed Zwangswirtshaft in his "clean energy economy" and Obamacare programs.
fully agree with around! this is a fantastic ad- they should expand it in other states!
I like the contrasting imagery of the tired workers lined up at the factory kitchen and the pampered, dangerous-looking wastrels in masks threatening "class war."
Bloomberg cable channel is running the Peterffy ad here in Massachusetts – I assumed it was a national buy. nVERY powerful. nThe GOP gets a lot of votes from legal immigrants/refugees from formerly Communist nations. nI had to spend 14 years on Manhattan's Upper West Side to get the same education
It should be made a swing and non-swing state issue. Romney & Ryan should ask the crowds at their campaign stops whether they want this to be a socialist country where there are only two classes, the ruling class and the rest of us who will live in equal misery and mediocraty. I would venture to say the answer would be a resounding no.
The point is absolutely ridiculous. You call what we have free enterprise?? Petterffy is one of the few exceptions and uses his own experience to try to predicate a national outcome. As for a level playing field…people like Mr. Petterfy CONTROL the economy. They buy out businesses to reduce competiton…stretch patents to the limit with lawsuits to limit consumer choice and competition…and do their best to limit any wages and benefits…Not really a free society if only a few go up
He is a creep. Period A horrible human being. Buffoons compare democrats to socialists. He is a broker who made his money gambling on the stock market. He won. He is no capitalist like Henry Ford.