Right-Wing Oligarchs Throw $580,000 A Couple Fundraiser For Trump

Fascist fat cats are shoveling bucks to the campaign of existential threat Donald "Impeached Forever" Trump as fast as they can:

President Trump will be the guest of honor at a Saturday fundraiser at the palatial Palm Beach estate of billionaire Nelson Peltz. Trump’s fellow guests: donors who gave $580,600 per couple to support the president’s reelection, making it the most expensive such fundraising event since Trump took office.

The dinner, taking place just a few miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, shows how enthusiastically Trump has embraced big-dollar fundraising in his bid for a second term — a dramatic about-face from 2016, when he criticized the influence of wealthy donors on the politicians who court them.

It also shows the special access enjoyed by many of Trump’s wealthiest donors, including business executives and lobbyists, who get the chance to air their grievances with the president’s tariffs or promote their pet projects, often while dining on Trump’s favorite foods.

By this point in time, if you're an informed supporter of Trump, especially a wealthy and presumably educated one, you're a fascist who cares nothing about the rule of law, the Constitution, American democracy, etc.  You care only about power and your Dear Leader's ability to wield it to advantage you and others like you.

About 30 of these fascist fat cats are expected to attend.  Let's see who some of them are:

o  Host Nelson Peltz, founding partner of investment management fund Trian Fund Management and non-executive chairman of Wendy's Company, and a director of Legg Mason, Mondelēz International and Ingersoll Rand.

o  Ike Perlmutter, chairman of Marvel Entertainment.

o  Likely invitee Dan Eberhart, CEO of oil drilling company Canary LLC, who's a frequent Trump donor and had this to say about the oligarch events in general:

Eberhart, an oil executive, said that the opportunity to speak directly to the president was just an added bonus for being a donor to the party and that he would have given money anyway.

“I want that ideology to prevail,” he said. “It’s very energizing to be in the room with the people who have momentum on the causes you believe in.”

We're not sure the precise "ideology" Dan is referring to:  Republican authoritarianism, subservience to Putin, Trump is above the law, billionaire needs more tax cuts, special favors for me, etc.   But we have no doubt whichever it is it's not in the best interests of American democracy.

Jiggery Pokery Classes Now Forming At Scalia School Of Law

No joke (it's April Fool's Day)!  George Mason University (GMU) in Virginia is fast becoming the Mecca for the institutionalizing of right- wing loons.  Already home to the Mercatus Center (a project of the ultra- right libertarian Cato Institute to see how far you can shrink government for easy bathtub drowning), the University announced yesterday that its law school will be renamed for the late Justice Antonin Scalia (again, no this is not an April Fool's joke).  The sweetener, if any was needed?  Thirty million dollars in combined gifts, the largest in GMU's history.  Twenty million dollars was from an anonymous donor, and $10 million was from (wait for it)... the Koch brothers, who incidentally have now poured $58 million into GMU since 2011.  Think of it as the Falwell- run Liberty University without the Bible thumping and chastity belts.

How unironic that the law school will be renamed in honor of Scalia, a defender of corporations as people, by right- wing fat cats ponying up $30 million.

Give us some help in the comments on possible course listings for this school named after a jurist with a mission for making America "a less fair, less tolerant, and less admirable democracy." We'll start off with "Jiggery Pokery 101."

Koch Brothers, Fat Cat Republicans Focusing On Congressional Races

With the prospect of their "presidential" nominee being neo- fascist hot air balloon Donald "Rump" Trump in November, Republican fat cats are scrambling to protect their puppets in the Senate and House.  The Koch brothers political network, in conjunction with the Karl Rove "Crossroads" operation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are planning a massive cash onslaught to shore up the fortunes of endangered right- wing cranks:

The behemoth Koch operation — which aims to spend almost $900 million before the November elections — is now considering abandoning Trump as a nominee and focusing its resources on behalf of GOP congressional candidates.  [snip]

In New Hampshire, Law’s advocacy group One Nation began a $1 million ad campaign this week praising Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) for seeking “bipartisan solutions” to fight the heroin crisis in her state. In Ohio, the Freedom Partners Action Fund, a super PAC financed by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch and other conservative donors, is running a TV spot attacking Democratic candidate and former governor Ted Strickland for tax increases during his administration.

The groups are being bolstered by some of the party’s biggest donors and fundraisers, many of whom have turned their funds toward congressional Republicans after seeing their favored candidates forced out of the White House race.

Progressives will never be able to match plutocrat money now expected to flow into the Senate and House races.  But we know the arc of history bends in our direction (!) and we're in reach of reclaiming the Senate (and thereby a progressive seat on the U.S. Supreme Court!).  If you can, it's important to please give these worthy folks some help in their Senate races:

Russ Feingold (WI)

Maggie Hassan (NH)

Tammy Duckworth (IL)

Ted Strickland (OH)

Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ) 

Jason Kander (MO) 

Thank you!

Buying Our Democracy

The New York Times is reporting that some of America's wealthiest individuals have been invited to a strategy meeting in Palm Springs next January to "outline a vision of how we can foster a renewal of American free enterprise and prosperity." The sponsors? The ultra-right wing Koch brothers, who fund extremist advocacy groups established to protect their own vast wealth and prerogatives.

Clearly, the oligarchs are rubbing their hands at the thought of reversing progressive policies of the past two years and beyond. Their infusion of cash into anti-Dem attack ads as well as their funding of right wing "think" tanks that produce bogus research on everything from climate change to outsourcing jobs is paying off. Meanwhile, the "U.S." Chamber of Commerce defends outsourcing jobs overseas while funding ads that accuse Dems of "job killing" policies, while receiving money from overseas companies. Need any further evidence that we face a serious challenge in November and beyond?

"Invisible Hands" and the Teabaggers

Our Sunday go-to guy, Frank Rich, tells us about the bankrollers of the "grassroots" tea bag/ affluent lily-white conservative "civil rights" movement and their loathsome, radical views. Not surprisingly, irony abounds.