Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 23 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H2'ed 1/17/12

Billionaire Funds Santorum Run; Call Koch Brothers A "National Treasure"

By       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   1 comment
Message Daily Kos

Billionaire Funds Santorum Run; Call Koch Brothers A "National Treasure"

By Steve D. For Daily Kos Dairies
 

I for one am delighted to have our elections decided by people with ungodly amounts of wealth.  That way I don't have to worry about which candidates are successful and which are not.  For example, now I know Rick Santorum, the man who once claimed homosexuality would lead to man on dog sex   is a serious contender for the GOP nomination because the   big money   says he is.

 

A billionaire Wyoming investor has pledged to give up to a half-million dollars in matching money to an outside spending group that supports Rick Santorum for the GOP presidential nomination.

Foster Friess put up a good chunk of the $537,000 that the Santorum "super" PAC, the Red White and Blue Fund, spent on ads to help the candidate come in a close second to Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucuses earlier this month.

Now the 71-year-old Friess says he's sent a note to 5,000 "sportsmen" pledging to match whatever they donate to the super PAC, up to $500,000, which could be crucial to Santorum's chances of halting Romney's march to his party's presidential nomination. [...]

Friess made his fortune running mutual funds and is a keen stock picker. He's a veteran supporter of conservative causes, a born-again Christian and an ally of the much-richer Koch brothers, wealthy industrialists who bankroll many conservative causes.

Read more here:   http://www.mcclatchydc.com/...

 

Now to you or me, tossing $1 MILLION dollars at a politician whose career was recently deemed beyond salvageable by veteran politicos in his own party, might seem a tad Quixotic.  But that is just because we don't understand the new dynamics of the   pay to win the electoral game  like Mr. Friess does.  Besides, what is $1 Million of negative attack ads to someone whose net worth exceeds that of the average American by a factor of at least 10,000.  Why to Mr. Friess, Wall Street speculator extraodinaire, its no more than .01% of his stash.  Less than chump change.

 

Besides Mr. Friess has   lots of friends   who think spending loads of money on presidential campaigns is a worthy use of their money.  After all, as the   AP reported   no other factor this year has correlated better with primary success to date than spending by Superpacs.  In both Iowa and New Hampshire, the more money that was spent on a candidate's behalf, the better that candidate did at the polls.

 

No wonder Mr. Friess calls the Koch Brothers "a national treasure." The Kochs have have spent millions on Republican, business and conservative causes, as well as convincing their fellow members of the Billionaire Boys' and Girls' Club to pony up the big bucks as well.  Indeed,  Mother Jones   reports that the Koch brothers plan to spend $200 MILLION of their own money this year on elections across the country.

Too bad I have a conscience, otherwise I'd be more than happy to organize a Super Pac to spend money however people in the wealthy stratosphere like Mr. Friess and the Kochs would prefer.  For a reasonable amount of compensation, of course.  

Rate It | View Ratings

Daily Kos Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

articles reprinted from Dailykos.com

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Just Read FBI Deputy Director McCabe's Statement Regarding His Firing By Trump... Just Read It.

Rush Limbaugh's Sponsor List

Comcast favors Fox News, charges $204 more for MSNBC package. ACTION NEEDED

A Christmas Present From Hucky Boo Boo Sanders, She's Leaving WH The End Of The Year

Ron Paul takes lead In Iowa, Newt Gingrich falls off cliff

Republican Bill Bans Non-Church Marriages

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend