Benjamin I Page, Jason Seawright, Matthew J Lacombe — What billionaires want: the secret influence of America’s 100 richest

A new study reveals how the wealthy engage in ‘stealth politics’: quietly advancing unpopular, inequality-exacerbating, highly conservative policies...

How can this be so? If it is true, why aren’t voters aware and angry about it?

The answer is simple: billionaires who favor unpopular, ultraconservative economic policies, and work actively to advance them (that is, most politically active billionaires) stay almost entirely silent about those issues in public. This is a deliberate choice. Billionaires have plenty of media access, but most of them choose not to say anything at all about the policy issues of the day. They deliberately pursue a strategy of what we call “stealth politics”.

We have come to this conclusion based on an exhaustive, web-based study of everything that the 100 wealthiest US billionaires have said or done, over a 10-year period, concerning several major issues of public policy.... 

Our findings help illuminate how the political network assembled by the Koch brothers could have become so powerful. The Kochs have had a fertile field of less-well-known conservative billionaires to cultivate for hundreds of millions of dollars in in secret, unreported contributions. The Kochs’ entrepreneurship and organizational skills, together with stealthy contributions by these little-known billionaires, have produced a political juggernaut.

Both as individuals and as contributors to Koch-type consortia, most US billionaires have given large amounts money – and many have engaged in intense activity – to advance unpopular, inequality-exacerbating, highly conservative economic policies. But they have done so very quietly, saying little or nothing in public about what they are doing or why. They have avoided political accountability. We believe that this sort of stealth politics is harmful to democracy....

The Guardian
What billionaires want: the secret influence of America’s 100 richest

Benjamin I. Page, Fulcher professor of decision making; Jason Seawright, professor of political science, and Matthew J Lacombe, PhD candidate in political science, all at Northwestern University and co-authors of Billionaires and Stealth Politics (forthcoming 2018, University of Chicago Press)

See also

Le Monde — Le Blog de Thomas Piketty
Le Monde » and the billionaires

Thomas Piketty

Sputnik — Former Trump Strategist Bannon Warns GOP Candidates Against Kochs' 'Toxic' Money

Turf wars.

Sputnik International
Former Trump Strategist Bannon Warns GOP Candidates Against Kochs' 'Toxic' Money

Greg Palast — 3 Dangers In The Blow-Up Over Cambridge Analytica, Trump’s Computer Gurus

First, this is not a "bad apple" story. The dark art of dynamic psychometric manipulation in politics was not pioneered by Cambridge Analytica for Trump, but by i360 Themis, the operation founded by the Koch brothers.…

The second danger is to forget that the GOP has been using computer power to wipe away voting rights of Black and Hispanic voters for years — by "caging," "Crosscheck," citizenship challenges based on last name (Garcia? Not American!?!) and more — a far more effective use of cyberpower than unconsciously manipulating your behavior through Facebook ads.

The third danger is to overplay the importance of cyberwar techniques in elections. Cambridge Analytica worked for Ted Cruz in the GOP primary AGAINST Trump — and what happened. That Hillary Clinton arrogantly defended NAFTA in Michigan, did not deign to visit Wisconsin once during the campaign, never visited or met with jobless auto workers at a closed plant in Ohio, as Trump did — this had more to do with her loss than computer geeks playing mad scientist in Britain.…

Greg Palast
3 Dangers In The Blow-Up Over Cambridge Analytica, Trump’s Computer Gurus

See also

Zero Hedge
Edward Snowden: Facebook Is A Surveillance Company Rebranded As "Social Media"

Tyler Durden 

Juan Cole — Pompeo, Big Oil and the attack on Iran Deal

All you need to know about Mike Pompeo, the four-term congressman from Kansas who is actually from California, is that most of his life he has been in business with the Koch brothers. His appointment as Secretary of State puts a seal on Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accords....

Informed Comment
Pompeo, Big Oil and the attack on Iran Deal
Juan Cole

Also

The Anti-Media
Experts Warn Pick of Mike Pompeo Increases Odds of US Attacking Iran
 Jon Queally

Also

LobeLog
Pompeo: Springtime for Irano/Islamophobes
Jim Lobe

Lee Fang — Koch Brothers’ Internal Strategy Memo on Selling Tax Cuts: Ignore The Deficit

The billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch spent much of the eight years of the Obama presidency stoking fears about the budget deficit. Their political network aired an unending cascade of campaign advertisements against Democratic politicians, sponsored several national bus tours, and paid organizers in communities across the country to mobilize public demonstrations, all focused on the dangers of increasing the deficit.

One such ad even warned that government debt would lead to a Chinese takeover of America — which, for many voters, is a concern linked to debt. Another effort, also quietly bankrolled by the Koch network, used Justin Bieber memes to try to reach millennials about too much government borrowing.

Now that Republicans control all levers of power in Washington and the Koch brothers are poised to reap a windfall of billions of dollars through tax cuts, they have a new message: Don’t worry about the deficit.

The Intercept obtained a messaging memo from the Koch brothers’ network on how to sell tax reform legislation. The memo went out to members of the network of likeminded Republican donors, which includes dozens of wealthy investors and business executives.
The talking points suggest that backers of the tax cuts feel vulnerable to the charge that the tax cuts will jack up the deficit.

“In case it is helpful to you in your own discussions with lawmakers and others,” the memo begins, “below is a list of talking points that address some of the key hurdles to passing tax reform this year.”

The memo goes on to encourage lawmakers to avoid becoming distracted by deficit concerns when passing the GOP tax reform package (emphasis added):

“Avoid getting distracted on revenue neutrality; economic growth increases revenues. Some Republican Senators have expressed concern over supporting comprehensive tax reform that adds to short-term deficits. Though we fully appreciate those concerns, the long-term economic growth that would result from the first comprehensive tax reform in a generation would help to offset short-term deficits over time. That was the result of the Kennedy and Reagan tax reforms—there’s no reason this time will be any different.”...

Hypocrites.

The Intercept
Koch Brothers’ Internal Strategy Memo on Selling Tax Cuts: Ignore The Deficit
Lee Fang

Matias Vernengo — 'Edupreneurs,' Corporate Universities and Pluralism in Economics

I posted recently on the increasing influence of corporate money in academia, specifically the new Marriner Eccles center funded by the Koch brothers at the University of Utah. The piece by David V. Johnson in the Baffler on this subject is worth reading. As he notes, the new breed of private money goes beyond what they used to do in the past, trying to directly influence what kind of research, the curriculum and what ideas should be disseminated, and, indirectly who should be hired and retained. This is all the more problematic in the context of the retreat of public funding and the rise of the the corporate university, which implies that increasingly money equals voice in academia....

Further crapification of American education.

 The two top universities globally are not in the US any longer this year. Oxford and Cambridge took the top spots. Chinese and Russian universities are moving up the list.

The corporate totalitarians are also going after high school education as well. Their vision is clearly controlling education K-through PhD.

Naked Keynesianism
'Edupreneurs,' Corporate Universities and Pluralism in Economics
Matias Vernengo | Associate Professor of Economics, Bucknell University

Pam and Russ Martens — Trump & Company Channel Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand made her mark by writing and lecturing on a philosophy called Objectivism. It’s a philosophy that flips upside down everything that most Americans hold dear. Under Objectivism, greed is good, selfishness is noble, helping one’s fellow human beings is for suckers and an outright evil. The philosophy also holds that big government is bad and obscenely rich corporate titans are the real heroes of society. (See related articles below.) The Koch brothers’ network of billionaires has been financing the proliferation of Rand’s books into high schools and colleges for decades.

Trump is the personification of the Ayn Rand creed and his elevation from reality TV host to the Oval Office is valid proof that the Kochs and their ilk have spent their money wisely....

Wall Street On Parade
Trump & Company Channel Ayn Rand
Pam Martens and Russ Martens

Lee Fang — Sphere of Influence: How American Libertarians Are Remaking Latin American Politics

The libertarian network, which has reshaped political power in country after country, has also operated as a quiet extension of U.S. foreign policy, with Atlas-associated think tanks receiving quiet funding from the State Department and the National Endowment for Democracy, a critical arm of American soft power.

Though recent investigations have shed light on the role of powerful conservative billionaires, such as the Koch brothers, in developing a business-friendly version of libertarian thought, the Atlas Network, which receives funding from Koch foundations, has recreated methods honed in the Western world for developing countries.

The network is expansive, currently boasting loose partnerships with 450 think tanks around the world. Atlas says it dispensed over $5 million to its partners in 2016 alone.
Over the years, Atlas and its affiliated charitable foundations have provided hundreds of grants to conservative and free-market think tanks in Latin America,…

Must-read. It's in-depth and therefore longish, so save it for the weekend if you don't have time to get to it now.

The Intercept
Sphere of Influence: How American Libertarians Are Remaking Latin American Politics

Lee Fang

It's is becoming pretty clear that a right-left divide is emerging in the capitalist world that will ultimately lead to irreconcilable differences that will end either in socialism or transnational corporate totalitarianism prevailing. Presently, transnational corporate totalitarianism is taking the lead and pulling ahead as the market state eclipses the welfare state. 

Mark Hensch — Trump chats with Koch brothers: report

The nineteenth hole on Saturday.

The Hill
Trump chats with Koch brothers: report

Mark Hensch

Asher Schechter — Richard Posner: “The Real Corruption is the Ownership of Congress by the Rich”

Judge Posner has some harsh words for the contemporary American political and judicial systems.

ProMarket — The blog of the Stigler Center at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Richard Posner: “The Real Corruption is the Ownership of Congress by the Rich”
Asher Schechter

Pam and Russ Martens — The Right Wing Group Behind Donald Trump’s Rise Aims to Keep Fear Alive

Citizens United and the Koch Bros.

Donald Trump played a minor role by promoting birtherism.

The pieces are starting to fit together.  "Draining the swamp"?

Wall Street On Parade
The Right Wing Group Behind Donald Trump’s Rise Aims to Keep Fear Alive
Pam Martens and Russ Martens

See also

But let’s be clear. Trump is not a Keynesian. He is taking a page straight out of Reaganomics. When Reagan came to office, he embarked on a huge tax cut. At the same time, finance was given a free hand and business was deregulated aggressively. As Reagan’s advisers argued, lower tax rates and fewer regulations would create more incentives for business to invest and consumers to spend, and therefore the federal budget deficit will not rise significantly as incomes and tax receipts grow. But while GDP grew under Reagan, unions were undermined and the minimum wage, adjusted for inflation, was mostly allowed to sink. Above all, incomes became much more unequal, the beginning of an income gap, that has continued growing, with only a couple of interruptions until recently, and that has specifically hurt the white working class. The top 1 percent now earns 18 percent of all income—double what it did when Reagan entered office.

Like Reagan, Trump says he will undertake large tax cuts for businesses and individuals. According to the Tax Policy Center, these cuts could reduce tax revenues by $7 trillion over the next ten years. Yet he has offered few plans about how he might cut the budget to reduce the flow of red ink. To the contrary, he plans to raise military spending (like Reagan did), embark on a huge infrastructure program, and—encouragingly—promises not to cut Medicare or Social Security. Instead Trump—supported by one of his main economic advisers, Peter Navarro of the University of California at Irvine—is claiming, like Reagan before him, that the tax cuts will produce a huge pop in economic growth, and therefore that tax revenues will rise rapidly.

The New York Review of Books
Trump: What the Market Is Really Saying

Jeff Madrick

Mina Hamilton — Keep Your Eyes on Pence

They're baaack! The Koch brothers, that is.

Back in July, 2016 there was a big, splashy announcement. The Koch brothers, who are famously rich (about $84 billion between the two), said they would not be supporting Donald Trump for President. Instead, they’d focus on down-the-ticket races.
Clearly, the Kochs (pronounced COKE) wanted to distance themselves from an apparently reckless and bizarre candidate. Still how much of that distance was/is real? And how much superficial damage control?

The Kochs are tied-in very closely to Trump — through the back-door. Just think Pence. Mike Pence, Vice-President-elect of the United States.

Pence has long been a favorite of the Kochs. Pence received substantial support from Koch for his run for Governor of Indiana in 2011. Before that he’d received support for his aggressive and sustained battle in the US Congress to de-fund Planned Parenthood and for his tax-slashing agenda in Indiana. In fact, Pence was so happy about the Koch support that a 2014 headline in Politico said “Pence Grateful Koch, AFP.” AFP stands for Americans for Prosperity one of the Koch brothers’ political action groups.

There’s more. According to Politico, as of January 2016, Pence was the Koch brothers’ pick for a presidential run.…

Dissident Voice
Keep Your Eyes on Pence
Mina Hamilton

James Hoover — Kochs Building their Version of America

Think US NGOs only operate abroad for regime change. Think again. The Powell memo laid out the plan and it's been implemented ever since.

The tile focuses on the Koch Bros. But it is hardly just them and this article just touches the surface. 

Conspiracy theory or conspiracy?

Dissident Voice
Kochs Building their Version of America
James Hoover

Zaid Jilani — Neocon-Bashers Headline Koch Event as Political Realignment on Foreign Policy Continues

In the latest example of how foreign policy no longer neatly aligns with party politics, the Charles Koch Institute — the think tank founded and funded by energy billionaire Charles Koch — hosted an all-day event Wednesday featuring a set of speakers you would be more likely to associate with a left-wing anti-war rally than a gathering hosted by a longtime right-wing institution.

At the event, titled “Advancing American Security: The Future of U.S. Foreign Policy,” prominent realist and liberal foreign policy scholars took turns trashing the neoconservative worldview that has dominated the foreign policy thinking of the Republican Party — which the Koch brothers have been allied with for decades.

Most of the speakers assailed the Iraq War, nation building, and regime change. During a panel event also featuring former Obama Pentagon official Kathleen Hicks, foreign policy scholar John Mearsheimer brought the crowd to applause by denouncing American military overreach.…

Still unresolved is whether the institute intends to take on neoconservative orthodoxy on a regular basis. “Part of what the Charles Koch Institute can do is to help increase the range of arguments on the table, have that marketplace of ideas, so the best ideas can win so that our country can flourish,” said William Ruger, the institute’s vice president for research and policy. Ruger told The Intercept that numerous additional foreign policy-centric events are planned.

“I certainly think we’re uneasy with the status quo. It doesn’t seem like the status quo is making us safer, especially given the cost of this to our soldiers, especially given the high expense in terms of our fiscal situation. Also in terms of some of the ways it affects our civil liberties as well as our standing in the world. We want to make sure that we’re not missing opportunities for ideas to be added to this conversation.”

Sanders and Trump have broken the ice. Now American business interests are putting their foot down, except the defense industry, of course.

Tim Cook's eight trip to China sends a similar message as does Mark Zuckerberg's constant wooing of China even though FaceBook continues to be shut out there.

"Thar's gold in them there hills."

The Intercept
Neocon-Bashers Headline Koch Event as Political Realignment on Foreign Policy Continues
Zaid Jilani

Jenny Rowland and Matt Lee-Ashley — The Koch Brothers Are Now Funding The Bundy Land Seizure Agenda

The political network of the conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch signaled last week that it is expanding its financial and organizational support for a coalition of anti-government activists and militants who are working to seize and sell America’s national forests, monuments, and other public lands.

The disclosure, made through emails sent by the American Lands Council and Koch-backed group Federalism in Action to their members, comes as the 40-day armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon is winding to an end.…

Think Progress
The Koch Brothers Are Now Funding The Bundy Land Seizure Agenda
Jenny Rowland and Matt Lee-Ashley

How the Kochs Tried (and Failed) to Discredit Reporter Jane Mayer After She Exposed Their Empire — Amy Goodman interviews Jane Mayer

And Keith Kelly, the media reporter there, started asking, "Who’s trying to smear Jane Mayer?" And he started doing a series of stories and floating the idea that the Koch brothers were behind it, because they had been unhappy with the big piece I did about them. Anyway, it took years—really, three years—but eventually I was able to connect the dots. And you’ll see the story in this book. And amazingly, the detective that they hired to do this was the former commissioner of police in New York City, Howard Safir….

AlterNet
How the Kochs Tried (and Failed) to Discredit Reporter Jane Mayer After She Exposed Their Empire

Amy Goodman interviews Jane Mayer

David F. Ruccio — “What free enterprise is all about”

Dwight B. Billings, Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky and former President of the Appalachian Studies Association, published the following letter to the editor in the Lexington Herald-Leader in the response to the university’s recent decision to accept Koch brothers’ money to establish the John H. Schnatter Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise:

Occasional Links & Commentary
“What free enterprise is all about”
David F. Ruccio | Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

Good riddance! Scott Walker, sadistic twerp lapdog of the Koch Brothers drops out of the 2016 presidential race!

Good riddance to this sadistic lap dog of the Koch Brothers. (And wannabe "Koch-ite," Anthony, "I'm a five-foot-two big shot" Scaramucci. Good call, mooch!)

Walker can go back to Wisconsin and continue his bully reign against the working class now. Jerk.

Scott Walker approves a quarter of a billion in public funds for a new basketball stadium. The team is owned by a couple of billionaire hedge fund managers from NY.

Scott Walker, the Koch Brothers' puppet who wants to be president. I guess he wants to run the country like he ran Wisconsin. This is what he did for that state: Walker cut funds for education, he fired teachers, banned collective bargaining and pay increases for public employees, cut health care spending and ignored Federal regulations on the environment.

But Walker wasn't all cuts. No, not at all. He did increase spending on prisons and of course, like all good Republican governors, he gave more money to the wealthy via tax cuts.

In keeping with this wonderfully egalitarian program he just approved a quarter of a billion in public funds for the construction of a new basketball stadium for the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team. In case you are wondering where Walker got that money, it's the exact amount he cut from the state's famed public universities.

What's even more egregious about Walker's move is the fact that two of the owners of the Milwaukee Bucks are a couple of billionaire hedge fund guys out of New York: Wesley Edens and Mark Lasry. Edens is the founder of Fortress Capital and is worth about $2.5 billion, while Lasry runs Avenue Capital and has a net worth of about $1.7 billion.

Scott Walker is a billionaire, big corporate, errand boy. He is a twerp and a sadist who takes pride in hurting regular working people and  doing the bidding of the wealthy and powerful. Thankfully he was the only Republican candidate for president who's poll rankings went down after the GOP debates. That's good because he is scum.

Scott Walker: Sadistic, twerpy little asshole who thinks he's got a shot at becoming president.

Scott Walker announced his candidacy for president today. The guy barely survived a RECALL election in his own state (Wisconsin). Ask yourself how many governors are subject to recalls?

This wannabe bully trampled all over working people's rights in his state. He and Wisconsin's Republican controlled Legislature rammed through a vote that ended collective bargaining for public employees. He's come out against the minimum wage calling it lame and calling any discussion of it, lame.

Then he rolls out the same, tired, debunked, bullshit arguments that all Conservatives (e.g. Chris Christie) spew out: that all we need to do is improve worker skills and training. Hey, morons...wage and salary gains of the most highly trained workers, like fucking software engineers, for example, have not kept pace with corporate profits so please explain to us how all we need is more training.

Please, whoever's saying this...a) stop with the bullshit already and; b) wise up.

He cut education funding. I didn't know this until recently, but Madison, Wisconsin ranks 26th in the nation as the city with the most PhD's per capita. Let's see how long that lasts. It's gonna look like Biloxi, Mississippi pretty soon.

He's sadistic as most Conservatives are. They take pleasure in harming the most vulnerable. It makes them feel superior, I guess.

Finally, Walker is a sink hole for Koch bro's money. That ought to tell you something right there.

And there's all you need to know about Scott Walker, asshole and Republican candidate for  president.