Headline ‘O the Day
What could go wrong?
Donors like Paul Singer, the billionaire Republican investor, have expanded their in-house political shops, building teams of loyal advisers and researchers to guide and coordinate their giving. And some of the biggest contributors to Republican outside groups in 2012 are now gravitating toward the more donor-centric political and philanthropic network overseen by Charles and David Koch, who have wooed them in part by promising more accountability over how money is spent.
“People are really drawn to the Koch model,” said Anthony Scaramucci, a New York hedge fund investor and Republican fund-raiser, who attended the Kochs’ annual donor conference near Palm Springs, Calif., in January. “It’s adaptive, data-driven, and they are the most propitious capital allocators in political activism.”
“Propitious capital allocators in political activism?” Oy. Well, we can always hope they crash the political donor networks as efficiently as they crashed the financial system I guess …
But that’s not all:
The phenomenon is not limited to the right. Super PACs blessed by Democratic congressional leaders have posted strong fund-raising over the last year, bolstered by victories in 2012. But those organizations are now being overshadowed by donors like Tom Steyer, the billionaire who is raising a $100 million political fund with other wealthy environmentalists to battle politicians deemed hostile to climate regulation.
Now, I don’t have a problem with battling politicians hostile to climate regulation. But somehow I doubt that’s going to work in favor of people who care about other things — like income inequality, for instance, or women’s rights, the kinds of issues that wealthy billionaires like to use as chips to get get people on board their personal cause.
What this story is basically saying is that both political parties are moribund and taking their place are networks sponsored by billionaires. And from what I hear among the cognoscenti, this is actually considered to be a good thing as the Very Serious Elites take back the system from the right wing crazies. (The left wing is considered laughably irrelevant under all circumstances so that’s not even part of the equation.) The villagers have concluded that the current system has been irreparably harmed by the Tea Party’s obstruction and the only hope is for the owners to put their feet down and take their country back.
“The Karl Rove thing is out,” said one donor, who asked for anonymity because he did not want to offend Mr. Rove. “The Koch thing is in.”
That’s going to work out just great.
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