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| Friday, February 14, 2014 |
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Charles and David Koch are the two most evil people
in American politics, right? We know that because Jane Mayer proved it
with her landmark "Covert Operations" tour de liberal force in 2010.
Well, it turns out that Mayer's aim was off just a little, by like 58
slots on the all-time biggest donors in American politics list, as
compiled by OpenSecrets.org.
OpenSecrets.org tallied the top donors in federal elections between
1989 and 2014. Koch Industries -- privately owned by the Evil Koch Bros
-- is on the list, to be sure, but doesn't appear until the 59th slot,
with $18 million in donations, 90 percent of which went to Republicans.
Unions, unions, unions
So who occupies the 58 spots ahead of the Evil Koch Bros? Six of the
top 10 are ... wait for it ... unions. They gave more than $278 million,
with most of it going to Democrats.
These are familiar names: AFSCME ($60.6 million), NEA ($53.5
million), IBEW ($44.4 million), UAW ($41.6 million), Carpenters &
Joiners ($39.2 million) and SEIU ($38.3 million).
In other words, the six biggest union donors in American politics
gave 15 times more to mostly Democrats than the Evil Koch Bros.
Wall Street and Act Blue, too
Three of the remaining four slots in the top 10 were taken by
AT&T ($56.4 million), American Association of Realtors ($51.2
million) and Goldman Sachs ($44.8 million).
So, if money is the measure of evil in American politics and the Evil
Koch Bros only come in 59th, who is really the most evil donor ever?
Turns out its Act Blue, which has given just short of $100 million in
its lifetime, which only started contributing in 2004, 15 years less
than the Evil Koch Bros.
Any bets on when Mayer's "Covert Operations II: Act Blue" will appear in the New Yorker?
On today's washingtonexaminer.com
Editorial: Americans want Obama to work with Congress, drop the "pen and phone."
Watchdog/Richard Pollock: Inspector General to probe soaring costs of CFPB building renovation.
Watchdog/Michal Conger: Strange spending raises questions about North Dakota Republican super PAC.
Watchdog/Kelly Cohen: Government needs clearer guidelines on who gets security checks.
Columnist/Ron Arnold: Putting an end to EPA's "secret science."
Columnist/Veronique de Rugy: IRS scandal merely the tip of the tax agency's problems.
Columnist/Byron York: GOP should remember who Ted Cruz represents.
Columnist/Philip Klein: Tea Party still needed to prevent GOP lurch toward Big Government.
Beltway Confidential/Chuck Hoskinson: Obama's personality cult has turned U.S. into nation of enablers.
Legal Newsline/Jessica Karmasek: White Castle veep says patent trolls "have made us really gun-shy."
In other news
CBS News: $36 billion worth of Valentine's Day love.
The Washington Post: Federal judge strikes down Virginia gay marriage ban.
The New York Times: Brownback leads sharp right turn in Kansas.
New York Post: Snowden stole password from NSA employee.
The Los Angeles Times: Court tosses California's concealed-carry rules.
USA Today: China says "terrorists" killed in Xinjiang.
Righty Playbook
National Review: The Clintons are America's grotesques.
The Weekly Standard: An Obamacare report card.
The American Conservative: Crony agriculture.
Bonus must-read
The Federalist: How the West was won -- but "Western Civ" lost.
Lefty Playbook
The Huffington Post: Five ways the Comcast-TWC deal could ruin TV and the Internet.
The Progressive: How ALEC helps Big Telecom change the rules.
Utne Reader: The other TPP.
Bonus must-read
The Nation: From and friends.
Blog Right
Gateway Pundit: "Evil Koch Bros" rank 59th on all-time biggest donors list.
Jammie Wearing Fools: Senate Dems want IRS to step up the pressure on conservative groups.
Yid With Lid: Perhaps it's time for Ted Cruz to grow up.
Blog Left
Talking Points Memo: House GOPers say Cruz killed immigration reform.
Wonkette: Explains despot humor.
Kevin Drum: Why shouldn't Scotland have its own currency?
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