Ryan Has Kept Close Ties to Wealthy Donors on the Right

Source: NY Times

This month, as a handful of Republicans auditioned at town halls and on bus tours to be Mitt Romney’s running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan joined a private conference call. For 20 minutes, he walked through his plan to cut government spending and bashed President Obama for weakening welfare work requirements.

His audience: Several hundred field organizers for Americans for Prosperity, the Tea Party-inspired group founded by the billionaire conservative philanthropists Charles and David Koch.

When Mr. Romney announced that Mr. Ryan would be his running mate, his campaign emphasized the congressman’s detailed knowledge of the federal budget and his chemistry with Mr. Romney. Less well-known are Mr. Ryan’s close ties to the donors and activists who have channeled Tea Party anger into a $400 million political machine, financed by a network of conservative and libertarian donors that now rivals, and occasionally challenges, the Republican establishment behind Mr. Romney.

Mr. Ryan is one of a very few elected officials who have attended the Kochs’ biannual conferences, where wealthy donors sit in on seminars on runaway government spending and the myths of climate change.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/us/politics/paul-ryan-has-kept-close-ties-to-conservative-and-libertarian-donors.html?pagewanted=all

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I think it is amazing the degree to which a relatively small number of right wing billionaires are controlling the Republican race and agenda. This is not George Soros with random $1 to 2 million in contributions, which are spread out among various liberal causes. For example, in this election, Soros is contibuting about $1 to 2 million, which is once again spread out among diverse causes. Instead, you have Koch and Adelson actively spending well over $100 million to control the federal government.