Dark Money, Dark Souls (UPDATED)

Jane Mayer's new book, "Dark Money," looks at the sinister influence that right-wing billionaire money has had on the American political system for decades, and contains one very illuminating story about the secretive Koch family: their father, Fred, helped the Nazis build one of their largest refineries. The notorious Fred Koch was well-known for his extreme right-wing positions -- indeed, he was one of the founders of the extremist John Birch Society -- and his ideology was passed on to his sons.  Other rogues in the dark money gallery include the late Richard Mellon Scaife, heir to the Mellon banking loot and funder of anti-Clinton witch hunts, and the Bradley brothers, Harry and Lynde, who have poured millions into right-wing think tanks and causes like destroying public unions and education. Mayer writes:

"Philanthropists and political donors who poured hundreds of millions of dollars into think tanks, political organizations and scholarships, [the billionaires] helped win acceptance for anti-government and anti-tax policies that would protect their businesses and personal fortunes, she writes, all under the guise of promoting the public interest. (snip)

Many of the families owned businesses that clashed with environmental or workplace regulators, come under federal or state investigation, or waged battles over their tax bills with the Internal Revenue Service, Ms. Mayer reports. The Kochs’ vast political network, a major force in Republican politics today, was 'originally designed as a means of off-loading the costs of the Koch Industries environmental and regulatory fights onto others' by persuading other rich business owners to contribute to Koch-controlled political groups, Ms. Mayer writes, citing an associate of the two brothers."

The most infamous of those Koch-controlled political front groups is the so-called "Americans for Prosperity," an "astroturf" organization which provided financial and logistical resources to the Tea Party movement, which blocked meaningful tax reform that would have impacted the Kochs and their billionaire brethren, along with attempts to kill the Affordable Care Act and any other domestic proposal put forward by President Obama.

UPDATE:  This explains a lot (hehheh):
 

Oh my, Charles Koch was literally toilet-trained by a Nazi. (via @lhfang) https://t.co/61ZEpruezy pic.twitter.com/sEQRcvGQsL

— Bae Talese (@elongreen) January 12, 2016