Mitt, Son of Citizens United --- by Robert Reich

[kpete]

Mitt, Son of Citizens United

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More than anyone else running for president, Mitt Romney personifies the top 1 percent in America -- actually, the top one-tenth of one percent. It's not just his four homes and estimated $200 million fortune, not just his wheeling and dealing in leveraged-buyouts and private equity, not even the jobless refugees of his financial maneuvers that makes him the Gordon Gekko of presidential aspirants.

It's his connections to the epicenters of big money in America -- especially to top executives and financiers in the habit of investing for handsome returns. And there are almost no better returns than those found in tax benefits, government subsidies, loan guarantees, bailouts, regulatory exemptions, federal contracts, and trade deals generating hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars a year.

Romney, in other words, is the candidate Citizens United created, the creature given life by Scalia, Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito all playing Dr. Frankenstein.

Given what the Court has wrought, my conscience is less burdened. Had I whipped Romney's ass ten years ago I might only have delayed his awakening. But I fear for the country.

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MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/mitt-romney-restore-our-future-citizens-united_b_1189024.html

[CitizenK9]

1. "Mister 1 percent"

When someone has a good guess of his net worth, we can target the exact sub-percent. But the above is more memorable, if less precise.

[Scuba]

2. I would have chosen "spawn" but otherwise spot on.