When Simon nodded slightly, Girl A continued: "There is also a report on campaign funds. It is expected that each senator candidate's campaign funds will reach 4 million US dollars this year, and the average campaign funds for members of the House of Representatives are about 500,000 to 500,000. 600,000 US dollars, which has doubled compared to 1992, which is very beneficial to us."
Simon has also been carefully sorting out the information about the 1994 midterm elections in his mind these days.
The 1994 midterm elections in my memory were one of the most severe defeats for the Democratic Party in decades. The other most important thing was that it highlighted the role of money in political campaigns.
Among them, two California Senate candidates, veteran Democratic politician Dianne Feinstein and energy tycoon Michael Huffington, invested a total of US$41 million in campaign funds to compete for a Senate seat, which is equivalent to the average of each candidate this year. Ten times the Senate candidate’s $4 million in campaign funds. And just this 4 million US dollars is equivalent to more than double the average campaign funds of less than 2 million US dollars in the 1992 Senate election.
In 1994, the amount of campaign funds for each member of the House of Representatives was US$600,000, which also doubled.
It was from 1994 that American political elections re-entered an era where money was king. In order to obtain more campaign funds, lawmakers from both parties have begun to speed up legislation to relax restrictions on political campaign fundraising.
This trend is obviously beneficial to Simon. What he lacks most now is money.
Seeing that Simon had no objection, Girl A continued: "There is another thing. Three of the seven Democratic candidates on our sniper list are also targets of the National Rifle Association. Of the 16 Republican candidates, one is a member of the National Rifle Association. Among the targets, there are similar 3 people among their Democratic opponents. To put it simply, there are 4 people we have common targets with the Rifle Association, and 3 people we target against each other. The Rifle Association did this mainly because those people voted last year Supported the Brady bill."
The Brady Bill is a gun control bill that sets a waiting period to mandate criminal background checks for gun buyers.
Both parties in the United States have been trying to push similar bills for decades, but they were finally passed last year.
The passage of the Brady Act and another assault weapons ban introduced in the second half of this year in Simon's memory completely angered the powerful National Rifle Association. The Democratic Party's defeat in the 1994 midterm elections, the Rifle Association played a role that cannot be ignored. .
After 1994, the National Rifle Association's political influence reached its peak, and neither the White House nor Congress shunned it. As a result, no politician dared to enact gun laws for many years. Not only that, the ban on assault weapons expired ten years later. Even though public opinion fiercely demanded that the ban be extended indefinitely, both parties in the United States chose to ignore it. As a result, a variety of high-power assault weapons re-entered the market, and the frequency of shootings in the United States increased. Then it increased significantly.
Simon's 'sniper plan' is actually imitating the operations of the National Rifle Association.
Although the National Rifle Association has a profound foundation accumulated over hundreds of years, its economic strength is far inferior to the current Westeros system.
Therefore, through this 'sniper plan', Simon hopes to achieve a similar deterrent effect to that remembered by the National Rifle Association after the 1994 midterm elections.
Thinking about this, Simon immediately remembered another thing.
The parliamentarians that the Westeros system has cultivated may also be among the targets of the National Rifle Association this year. In any case, this part of the Westeros system's 'basic base' is even more important than the current 'sniper plan' , so it must be ensured.
Simon raised his head and was about to say something to Girl A. Then he thought about it and said, "Help me pick up Joseph."
When Larry Ellison just left, it was already off work time on the West Coast. It was eight o'clock in the evening on the East Coast, but Simon couldn't care much.
Girl A felt Simon's tone, nodded, turned around and walked out.
A few minutes later, Joseph Schlapp received a call from Simon's office landline. After greeting him, he learned that the other party was at a cocktail party at the home of a senator in Washington. The other party was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, West. One of the core members of the Luo system's political 'basic'.
After a brief chat, Simon and Schlapp talked about what they had just thought of.
Joseph Schlapp was actually aware of this problem and originally wanted to communicate with Simon in the past few days. Now that Simon mentioned it at this time, the two of them roughly discussed countermeasures on the phone.
To pass a bill in Congress, it needs the votes of more than half of the members.
It is impossible for the National Rifle Association to target all members of Congress who voted for the Brady Bill and other gun control laws. Instead, it selects typical examples like the Westeros system. This leaves a lot of room for maneuver.
Joseph Schlapp said that it is not difficult to remove most of the 'basic base' of the Westeros system from the National Rifle Association's target list. Of course, this process will certainly inevitably involve some games and exchanges. Even if they can't be picked out in the end, both sides will show their talents in the election.
Since Schlapp still had social activities, Simon didn't chat much with him. It was agreed that Schlapp would fly to the West Coast on Sunday to discuss various recent matters. Simon stopped by to say hello to a certain senator, and the two parties hung up the phone.
Continuing to browse through the pile of documents in front of him, Simon jotted down some matters that needed attention and forwarded them to Alison in the outside by email for processing. He didn't get off work until six o'clock.
Returning to Dume Point Manor, as soon as she entered the Shell Villa, Janet greeted her with a little baby in her arms, claiming that another child in the family would call her mother.
Veronica, who had just returned from the East Coast today, followed with Melbourne holding hands and Jennifer holding little Nick in her arms, with surprise and surprise on their expressions.
Simon was still a little confused, but Janet had already raised a certain little girl with a pair of special eyes in front of him and encouraged: "Syl, call mom."
Seattle was held up by Janet and looked at Simon. He blinked his beautiful blue eyes, seemed to hesitate for a moment, then opened his mouth and called out one word to Simon in a very soft voice: "Mom."
Simon: “…”
Janet obviously didn't feel anything was wrong. She was even more excited than a certain little guy's biological mother and said, "Look, I've known it for a long time. Sil is a genius, even better than those little vases Simon raised."
Veronica next to her saw Simon's depressed look, and a smile appeared on her lips.
The female assistant handed Nick to the girl D next to her. She smiled and stepped forward to take the child from Janet's hand. She said to Simon: "Sil rarely cries on weekdays and is always very quiet. I have always been worried that she will not be able to speak well." It was very late. I tried it casually in the afternoon and the baby shouted out." He looked at the daughter in his arms, pointed at Simon and said: "Syl, this is daddy, call daddy."
For children who are just learning to speak, the word 'Daddy' is actually more difficult to pronounce than 'Mom'.
However, the female assistant only taught him once. The little girl looked at Simon for a moment and then shouted softly. The pronunciation was obviously not standard enough, but several adults present could clearly tell that this was 'Daddy'.
At this time, Janet also took over her second son from Girl D, and said in the same manner: "Baby, call me mom... Well, you can call me dad, but hurry up, you won't be allowed to eat at night... You are really not allowed to eat." "
It's a pity that a certain little guy just looked at his mother with a blank expression. He probably felt Janet's vicious 'threat', and soon burst into tears.
When Melbourne, who had always been obediently holding her little hand and standing beside Veronica, saw this situation, her little body couldn't help but hide away, worried that her mother wouldn't let her eat.
Simon took off his coat and handed it to Aaliyah. He took little Nick from the arms of Janet who looked disappointed and coaxed him softly. The family walked towards the glass curtain wall of Shell Villa while teaching Janet: "Nick is still young. Just don’t torment him.”
Janet followed Simon and said dissatisfiedly: "Sil is very young too."
The two little guys were born only three days apart, one on November 3 and the other on November 6. They are not even five months old yet.
Seattle is special.
Everyone discovered this shortly after the little girl was born. The little child, who should be innocent and ignorant, always likes to look at everything around him curiously with a pair of beautiful eyes, and is very quiet most of the time. The female assistant suspected that the child had hearing problems, so she specially checked for this.
The little guy is certainly healthy.
The pediatrician responsible for examining the child determined at that time that Seattle would be very smart in the future.
I just didn’t expect that my daughter would call mom and dad when she was just over four months old.
As a father of three children and with many life experiences, Simon knows very well that it takes about eight months for most children, even the smarter ones, to be able to pronounce simple words. They usually start to formally learn words after they are one year old. .
Judging from her daughter's reaction just now, the little girl was not only able to call out mom and dad, she even knew the meaning. Otherwise, she would not have hesitated before being encouraged by Janet to call Simon 'mom', which was even more rare. After all, even if most children learn some simple languages before they are one year old, it is more of a conditioned reflex after a long period of guidance from their parents, and tends to be instinctive rather than autonomous.
At a certain moment just now, Simon even had the idea that his daughter might be like him, but after thinking about it carefully, he rejected this idea. Firstly, there can be no such coincidence in this world. Secondly, in Simon's opinion, the little one's daily gaze is more of a baby's pure curiosity about the world, and does not have the insight of an adult.
Having lived in two lifetimes, Simon is certain of this.
Everyone came to sit on the sofa next to the curtain wall, and the family enjoyed family time against the backdrop of the burning clouds that covered the sky and sea in the evening.
After repeatedly teaching Nick to learn how to speak, Janet once again discussed with the female assistant about changing the child, and she was very suspicious that Seattle was her daughter. After all, she was so smart, and Simon was so smart, so the child should be very smart too. , why are both Melbourne and Nick Jr. so stupid, but the female assistant gave birth to a smart daughter.
This is unreasonable!
Simon actually thinks so too.
Both sons are healthy, so, according to some theories, they must be very smart indeed. In fact, Melbourne is also very smart. The little guy is less than two and a half years old now. Under the patient guidance of Veronica and the female assistant, he has already learned a lot of words and speaks very fluently. He is very observant in front of his "moody" mother. The small appearance is even more unique.
It's a pity that compared with his sister, he immediately pales in comparison.
Regarding Janet's argument, the female assistant smiled and retorted that she was also very smart, and it might be that the genes were more in line with the child's father, which resulted in the birth of a little genius.
Hey, the eldest girl in the house has rebelled, how dare she be so rebellious.
This is simply provocative.
So the two women, who were both mothers, laughed and threw themselves into a ball. They were not separated until Simon personally 'stopped the fight'. As a mediator, the female assistant threatened to sign an unequal treaty, promising not to go to San Francisco on business this weekend and to stay home with the children.
The lanterns are on.
Lady D came over to remind them that dinner was ready, and the family got up and went to the restaurant.
After dinner, the female assistant did not go to the villa next door as usual. Since something happened last week, everyone lived in the Shell Villa, and Veronica also did not go to her apartment on the east side.
The three children were accompanied by Veronica, and Simon and the three of them cuddled up on the sofa in the villa's living room, watching TV, and occasionally chatting about some topics in detail.
At ten o'clock, after seeing the children, the three of them went up to the master bedroom on the third floor to rest.
Janet didn't care much about the three of them together, and always liked to take advantage of the female assistant. On the contrary, Jennifer was not used to it at first, but soon got used to it. Recently, she also developed a habit similar to Janet's, and likes to sleep in her sleep. Zhong hugged the man beside him tightly.
It seemed as if Simon would suddenly disappear.
The assassination a few days ago, which did not pose any threat to the Westeros family, was not an incident after all.
I originally planned to go to San Francisco over the weekend, but since I agreed to the female assistant yesterday, I didn’t make the trip. I just discussed various matters with several executives in Silicon Valley through video conference.
The main one is the negotiation of cooperation between Igret Company and the Salzberg family behind the New York Times Group.
Last month, Simon conveyed his intention to reconcile through Joseph Schlapp. Simon had a meeting with Arthur Salzberg Jr., the current head of the Salzberg family. The two parties were quite happy, but Simon did not immediately commit. What, it’s just a sign of letting the New York Times Group executives and the Eagle Reiter team negotiate cooperation on their own.
Initially, the progress was going smoothly. Since the London girl incident broke out at the beginning of the month, coupled with another turmoil caused by Simon's personal net worth exceeding 200 billion US dollars, probably because he felt that his importance had increased, the New York Times Group negotiation team once again started to take measures.
Simon's reply to Bezos was that he would never want to do it, and it was even more harsh.
After acquiring the Boston Globe last year, the New York Times Group now owns 32 newspapers, 39 magazines, 5 local television stations, two radio stations and various other media subsidiaries across North America, including even two of the most important Hollywood One of the media, "The Hollywood Reporter" and the New York Times Group, both hold 33% of the shares.
If we were still in the pre-Internet era, no one would dare to provoke such a super media empire that could incite a war like the Hearst Group, and Simon would definitely try to make good friends with it.
But things are different now.
Although Yigrit Company has never claimed to be a media company, anyone with a discerning eye understands that the public influence of this Internet platform is no less than that of traditional established media.
Even if the users of all 32 newspapers of the New York Times Group are added together, the scale cannot be compared with the Igret Portal, which almost monopolizes the Internet access of 85 million Internet users in North America.
Yes, in the first quarter of 1994, the total number of Internet users in the United States increased by 10 million again compared with the 75 million at the end of 1993. It is expected that the total number of Internet users in North America will exceed 100 million by the end of 1994.
In comparison, the total number of subscribers for all 32 newspapers of the New York Times Group is only about 9 million. Except for the million-subscribers such as The New York Times and The Boston Globe, most of the other regional newspapers have less than 1 million subscribers. The quantity is only a few hundred thousand levels.