Republicans & Conservatives

Jeet Heer writes in a guest column for The Globe and Mail:

As hard-core libertarians who oppose most government social policy, the brothers Koch have given tens of millions of dollars over the years to right-wing think tanks and political-action groups. Their largesse has been instrumental in turning the Tea Party movement into a force in U.S. political life. An adviser to Barack Obama has described it as “a grassroots citizens' movement brought to you by a bunch of oil billionaires.”

The idea of populist billionaires seems, on its face, absurd. The original U.S. populist movement arose in the late 19th century in opposition to big business, especially banks and railways, to argue for greater communal control of key economic decisions. This is exactly the tradition the Kochs have spent a lifetime fighting, spending a king's ransom.

The Kochs have the Tea Party on their string. It's always been amusingly ironic to me when the rightwing rank-and-file call others "sheeple." Once again, this irony is made plain as day. As Frank Rich writes in "The Billionaires Bankrolling the Tea Party" for the NY Times:

There’s just one element missing from these snapshots of America’s ostensibly spontaneous and leaderless populist uprising: the sugar daddies who are bankrolling it, and have been doing so since well before the “death panel” warm-up acts of last summer. Three heavy hitters rule. You’ve heard of one of them, Rupert Murdoch. The other two, the brothers David and Charles Koch [pronounced "Coke"], are even richer, with a combined wealth exceeded only by that of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett among Americans. But even those carrying the Kochs’ banner may not know who these brothers are.

Glenn Thrush writes for Politico:

If President Barack Obama needed any more incentive to go all out for Democrats this fall, here it is: Republicans are planning a wave of committee investigations targeting the White House and Democratic allies if they win back the majority.

Kevin Zeese writes:

In the last week Democrats were gloating about how little money the Republican Party had in its campaign coffers. The Republican National Committee has just over $5 million in the bank for the final stretch of the 2010 midterm election campaign and is carrying over $2 million in debt.

These figures have Democrats jumping for joy, but their excitement is misplaced. The combination of Michael Steele and Citizens United is creating a paradigm shift in how major Republican donors are funding elections.

Rather than giving to the Republican Party where Michael Steele controls the money, their names are made public and they are limited by regulation as to how much they can give, these big donors have abandoned the RNC and are giving to 527 and 501(c)(4) organizations, which can also take money directly from corporations.

Jane Mayer has penned an extensive piece in The New Yorker about the libertarian Koch Brothers. Like Richard Mellon Scaife, the Olin and the Coors families, the billionaire Koch brothers are major backers of the Right Wing network of think tanks, media outlets and pressure groups. As Mayer writes:

With his brother Charles, who is seventy-four, David Koch owns virtually all of Koch Industries, a conglomerate, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, whose annual revenues are estimated to be a hundred billion dollars. The company has grown spectacularly since their father, Fred, died, in 1967, and the brothers took charge. The Kochs operate oil refineries in Alaska, Texas, and Minnesota, and control some four thousand miles of pipeline. Koch Industries owns Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups, Georgia-Pacific lumber, Stainmaster carpet, and Lycra, among other products.

Josh Marshall highlights the deep divide within the GOP that has been exposed by Sonia Sotomayor's nomination:

This morning Joe Scarborough had a segment that was unconsciously amazing. He replayed a comment he made on yesterday's Meet The Press about how deeply the Republican Base hates President Obama - and how counterproductive that hatred is for the Republican Party. "You can't scare children and dogs," he said. Then he explored that topic with his Morning Jo(k)ers.

When Barack Obama won the Democratic Party nomination and the general election campaign began, there were really only two questions: (1) was Barack Obama "ready" to be President, and (2) was white America ready to elect a "black" (i.e. off-white) man.

Obama answered the first question himself through his thoughtful and "Presidential" campaign, which contrasted sharply and decisively with McCain's cheap, nasty, dishonest, and erratic campaign.

But the second question could only be answered by the American people. And the answer is in: white America is ready to elect a black man.