'They're trying to buy a presidency - and they expect a big payoff on their investment.'

[seafan]

Right-Wing Billionaires Behind Mitt Romney

By Tim Dickinson

May 24, 2012
Rolling Stone, June 7, 2012 issue

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The undisputed master of Super PAC money is Mitt Romney. In the primary season alone, Romney's rich friends invested $52 million in his Super PAC, Restore Our Future – a number that's expected to more than double in the coming months. This unprecedented infusion of money from America's monied elites underscores the radical transformation of the Republican Party, which has made defending the interests of 0.0001 percent the basis of its entire platform. "Money buys power," the Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman observed recently, "and the increasing wealth of a tiny minority has effectively bought the allegiance of one of our two major political parties." In short, the political polarization and gridlock in Washington are a direct result of the GOP's capitulation to Big Money.

That capitulation is evident in Romney's campaign. Most of the megadonors backing his candidacy are elderly billionaires: Their median age is 66, and their median wealth is $1 billion. Each is looking for a payoff that will benefit his business interests, and they will all profit from Romney's pledge to eliminate inheritance taxes, extend the Bush tax cuts for the superwealthy – and then slash the top tax rate by another 20 percent. Romney has firmly joined the ranks of the economic nutcases who spout the lie of trickle-down economics. "Support from billionaires has always been the main thing keeping those charlatans and cranks in business," Krugman noted. "And now the same people effectively own a whole political party."

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Here are the right-wing billionaire mega-donors to Mitt Romney:

THE COKE DEALER: William Koch

Position The "other" Koch brother, Bill sold his stake in Koch Industries to brothers David and Charles in the 1980s. He now runs Oxbow Carbon, a global dealer in petroleum coke, a cement-manufacturing fuel that's high in climate-warming carbon dioxide.
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What He Wants To pollute for free. Koch's fortune is tied up in some of the nation's dirtiest industries. He blasts the EPA, which has been trying to crack down on carbon pollution, as "hyper­aggressive."
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THE WASTE BARON: Harold Simmons

Position Traffics in toxic chemicals and hazardous waste as head of Contran; owns one of the world's largest producers of titanium. A former corporate raider nicknamed "Ice Man," he pioneered the leveraged-buyout tactics that decimated American industry.
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What He Wants Plans to store radioactive waste from 36 states in an underground dump in Texas; has been sued repeatedly by the Justice Department for failing to clean up contaminated Superfund sites. Calls Obama "the most dangerous American alive, because he would eliminate free enterprise in this country."
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THE McMANSIONEER: Bob Perry

Position Owner of Perry Homes, a megabuilder of high-end sprawl in Texas.
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What He Wants Perry's top issue is "tort reform," which would limit the size of jury awards against homebuilders who do shoddy work. He knows political favors can be bought: He was a big donor to every justice on the Texas Supreme Court – known derisively as "the Perry Court" – which vacated an $800,000 judgment against Perry for crappy construction. A jury in the same case later hit Perry with $58 million in damages.
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MR. FAIR AND NEWBALANCED: Jim Davis
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THE HOTEL TYCOONS: Richard Marriott and Bill Marriott Jr
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THE BAIN BUDDY: Edward Conard
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THE PYRAMID SCHEMER: Frank VanderSloot
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THE OLYMPIC PARTNER: Steven Lund
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THE TAX DODGER: Julian Robertson Jr.
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GOLDMAN'S SUGAR DADDY: John Paulson
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THE VULTURE CAPITALIST: Paul Singer
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THE QUANT MASTER: Robert Mercer
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THE KING OF CHICAGO: Kenneth Griffin
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THE AMBASSADOR: L. Francis Rooney III
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DR. DRILL: Steven Webster
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Above absolutely all, the right-wing billionaires want to protect and expand their fiefdoms; as long as that desire goes unchallenged, the ability of the people to elect leaders of their own choosing will be extinguished. This is not good for peace and stability.


How do we the people reverse the widespread decline in America's health and survival as a nation?


To start:

Step 1: Reverse and deep-six the 2010 Citizens United ruling.
Step 2: Make all campaigns publicly financed.
Step 3: Mandate free media coverage in equal amounts to all candidates.



Getting BIG MONEY out of politics is at the core of it.