So if the Kennedy Center pays a certain "artist" to perform, say $100K, and that artist makes a nice donation to the DNC...and the National Art Gallery purchases a painting for $150K, and that painter just happens to favor certain Dem Congressional candidates...
An art dealer buys ten works from an artist for, like, ten grand total.
They sell one to another art dealer for 100k, then buy it back for 100k: 100k profit, 100k loss, 0 tax on both sides. But now it has been sold multiple times at that price, so clearly, that is fair market value. Then, they donate all 10 art pieces to a charitable organization, like ActBlue. They claim 1 Million in donations. ActBlue then sells the painting to a museum for 2.5 Mil, because it was a "charity" drive so it was mildly overvalued. But as a charity, they pay no taxes on this gain. ActBlue, of course, then funnels the money to the DNC, as per their charitable organization mandate.
The Museum curator then claims administrative expenses for handling this 2.5Mil painting pile, the money sourced from the government.
There's your cash flow list. The artist gets near nothing, the middlemen get massive tax deductions, and the money all funnels back into Power's hands.
Art is an easy way to move money as its value is subjective.
So if the Kennedy Center pays a certain "artist" to perform, say $100K, and that artist makes a nice donation to the DNC...and the National Art Gallery purchases a painting for $150K, and that painter just happens to favor certain Dem Congressional candidates...
You're missing like four layers of tax evasion.
An art dealer buys ten works from an artist for, like, ten grand total.
They sell one to another art dealer for 100k, then buy it back for 100k: 100k profit, 100k loss, 0 tax on both sides. But now it has been sold multiple times at that price, so clearly, that is fair market value. Then, they donate all 10 art pieces to a charitable organization, like ActBlue. They claim 1 Million in donations. ActBlue then sells the painting to a museum for 2.5 Mil, because it was a "charity" drive so it was mildly overvalued. But as a charity, they pay no taxes on this gain. ActBlue, of course, then funnels the money to the DNC, as per their charitable organization mandate.
The Museum curator then claims administrative expenses for handling this 2.5Mil painting pile, the money sourced from the government.
There's your cash flow list. The artist gets near nothing, the middlemen get massive tax deductions, and the money all funnels back into Power's hands.
Excellent! I learned a lot. Artists need to organize, this is a ripoff! :)