More pocket change from the Kochs
by David Atkins
The Koch Brothers checked their pants pockets at the end of the day and found some spare cash, which they’ve decided to toss into corrupting democracy because why not:
The Koch brothers’ main political arm intends to spend more than $125 million this year on an aggressive ground, air and data operation benefiting conservatives, according to a memo distributed to major donors and sources familiar with the group.
The projected budget for Americans for Prosperity would be unprecedented for a private political group in a midterm, and would likely rival even the spending of the Republican and Democratic parties’ congressional campaign arms.The group already has spent more than $35 million on ads attacking vulnerable Democrats in key Senate and House races, according to sources, including Sens. Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Mark Pryor of Arkansas. The $125 million projection comes from a memo obtained by POLITICO, labeled as a “Confidential Investor Update” provided to major donors in March, but a source familiar with AFP called the figure a “very conservative estimate. We’re on track for more than that.”
Keep in mind that these guys are “worth” over $100 billion.
Think about that. I’m sure many readers of this blog routinely give well over 3% of their net worth every year to help win elections. For Charles and David Koch, that would mean over $3 billion dollars. $125 million is just a little over 1/1000th of their total net worth. Think about what 1/1000th of your net worth is. The Kochs could pretty much buy every significantly contested election in the United States, every election cycle, for decades. All while barely noticing it.
It’s a wonder they don’t do it. Maybe they should. Maybe that’s just the sort of hubris that it would take to wake the country up to what’s happening, and just how much of the money our productivity and demand has produced that the economic overlords have legally stolen.
Maybe that’s why they don’t do it, after all. They corrupt the system just enough, without actually pushing it totally over the edge. Yet.
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