Dark Money

Why is America living in an age of profound economic inequality Why, despite the desperate need to address climate change, have even modest environmental efforts been defeated again and again Why have protections for employees been decimated Why do hedge fund billionaires pay a far lower tax rate than middle class workers The conventional answer is that a popular uprising against big government led to the ascendancy of a broad based conservative movement But as Jane Mayer shows in this powerful, meticulously reported history, a network of exceedingly wealthy people with extreme libertarian views bankrolled a systematic, step by step plan to fundamentally alter the American political system.The network has brought together some of the richest people on the planet Their core beliefs that taxes are a form of tyranny that government oversight of business is an assault on freedom are sincerely held But these beliefs also advance their personal and corporate interests Many of their companies have run afoul of federal pollution, worker safety, securities, and tax laws.The chief figures in the network are Charles and David Koch, whose father made his fortune in part by building oil refineries in Stalin s Russia and Hitler s Germany The patriarch later was a founding member of the John Birch Society, whose politics were so radical it believed Dwight Eisenhower was a communist The brothers were schooled in a political philosophy that asserted the only role of government is to provide security and to enforce property rights.When libertarian ideas proved decidedly unpopular with voters, the Koch brothers and their allies chose another path If they pooled their vast resources, they could fund an interlocking array of organizations that could work in tandem to influence and ultimately control academic institutions, think tanks, the courts, statehouses, Congress, and, they hoped, the presidency Richard Mellon Scaife, the mercurial heir to banking and oil fortunes, had the brilliant insight that most of their political activities could be written off as tax deductible philanthropy These organizations were given innocuous names such as Americans for Prosperity Funding sources were hidden whenever possible This process reached its apotheosis with the allegedly populist Tea Party movement, abetted mightily by the Citizens United decision a case conceived of by legal advocates funded by the network.The political operatives the network employs are disciplined, smart, and at times ruthless Mayer documents instances in which people affiliated with these groups hired private detectives to impugn whistle blowers, journalists, and even government investigators And their efforts have been remarkably successful Libertarian views on taxes and regulation, once far outside the mainstream and still rejected by most Americans, are ascendant in the majority of state governments, the Supreme Court, and Congress Meaningful environmental, labor, finance, and tax reforms have been stymied.Jane Mayer spent five years conducting hundreds of interviews including with several sources within the network and scoured public records, private papers, and court proceedings in reporting this book In a taut and utterly convincing narrative, she traces the byzantine trail of the billions of dollars spent by the network and provides vivid portraits of the colorful figures behind the new American oligarchy Dark Money is a book that must be read by anyone who cares about the future of American democracy. Download Dark Money By Jane Mayer – kino-fada.fr We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can t have both Louis D BrandeisIt has been a consistent element of modern life in the USA that the public polls asprogressive than our elected officials Given that in a democracy one would expect representatives toor ...I just want my fair share which is all of itCharles Koch, quoted in Jane Mayer, Dark MoneyI m not sure reading this right after Trump got elected was the right decision As I write this Betsy DeVos sister of Eric Prince, daughter of billionaire Edgar Prince, daughter in law to Amway founder Richard DeVos just got picked to be Trump s Secretary of Education Let it sink in for a minute We just had a billionaire nominate another billionaire for a seat at the political table It is reallyI just want my fair share which is all of itCharles Koch, quoted in Jane Mayer, Dark MoneyI m not sure reading this right after Trump got elected was the right decision As I write this Betsy DeVos sister of Eric Prince, daughter of billionaire Edgar Prince, daughter in law to Amway founder Richard DeVos just got picked to be Trump s Secretary of Education Let it sink in for a minute We just had a billionaire nominate another billionaire for a seat at the ...I m not American, but my reaction to Dark Money is that everyone in the US and elsewhere for that matter who has any interest in politics must read it For reasons related to my busy life and not the quality of the book, I listened to the audio of Dark Money sporadically over several weeks But each time I picked it up I was mesmerized And I suspect that Dark Money has made me a conversational bore because in so many conversations over the past few weeks, I have found a way to relate the I m not American, but my reaction to Dark Money is that everyone in the US...We re all fucked Everything is fucked Mitch McConnell, I hope you and the rest of you soul selling goons really do believe in hell, because I m sadistically delighted by the idea of you guys having to drink yourselves to sleep every night expecting that you re going to burn there for allll eternity No worries, though, eventually the whole planet will be a ball of fire thanks to your collective flipflopping on global warming for Kochtopus money, so it looks like we ll all be burning with you i We re all fucked Everything is fucked Mitch McConnell, I hope you and the rest of you soul selling goons really do believe in hell, because I m sadistically delighted by the idea of you guys having to drink yourselves to sleep every night expecting that you re going to burn there for allll eternity No worries, though, eventually the whole planet will be a ball of fire thanks to your collective flipflopping on global warming for Kochtopus money, so it looks like we ll all be burning with you if we haven t already starved to death Thanks for that, by the way Fuck you Fuck the lot of you Satan s going to eat your hideous souls, and he s going to love every delicious minute of it Drink that down David Koch makes a dick joke It all started when I was a little boy One day, my father gave me an apple I soon sold it for five dollars and bought two apples and sold them for ten Then I bought four apples and sold them for twenty Well, this went on day after day, week after week,...It will not be surprise to anyone who has been paying attention that for the past twenty years our political system has been awash in special interest money Mayer tells us it is forty years What Mayer does in this detailed accounting is to elucidate the sources of that money and the routes it takes to influence votes What may besurprising to readers is how often that money has failed in its mission Probably the best reason for reading this book is to see how Jane Mayer allows these ind It will not be surprise to anyone who has been paying attention that for the past twenty years our political system has been awash in special interest money Mayer tells us it is forty years What Mayer does in this detailed accounting is to elucidate the sources of that money and the routes it takes to influence votes What may besurprising to readers is how often that money has failed in its mission Probably the best reason for reading this book is to see how Jane Mayer allows these individuals and groups to speak for themselves She quotes from statements spoken by fund raisers at their own gatherings, from the literature distributed under their aegis, and from interviews with associates Mayer also traces the many shell companies through which the money flows to hide its origins She documents why the groups f...Urge you to read this book.Leave your political beliefs aside and read this book How commercials, news media reports are influencing us how to vote country, state and every two years All the dark money behind all those 501 c billionaires and millionaires We don t have one person one vote any, our cabinet members already made of billionaires and millionaires Even universit...I haven t finished the book yet, but the thrust is clear The Koch brothers and their billionaire friends are implementing a plan to take over American government at every level Their objectives are purely personal greed no taxes, no regulation especially environmental , minimal government for all people and programs except defense and whatever benefits the very wealthy The problem is they re succeeding They can t win the Presidency yet, but at every other level Congress, Senate, state le I haven t finished the book yet, but the thrust is cl...What an important book I m planning to read it slowly and will note some key quotes and information from each section We must make our choice We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can t have both Louis BrandeisINTRODUCTION We are on the road not just to a highly unequal society, but to a society of an oligarchy A society of inherited wealth When you have a few people who ...This book shines a light on dark money It s called dark money because it is of unknown origin i.e secret , unlimited in its amount, intended for political purposes, and in the United States it s legal and often tax deductible This book based on thorough research turns the darkness into a bit lighter shade of dark.The conservati...Dark Money The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer is a 2016 Doubleday publication I can read supernatural horror novels, the grittiest crime thrillers, true crime and a host of other material that sends shivers down my spine, but nothing paralyzes me with fearthan hidden forces influencing government in barely detectable ways, influencing the quality of life for millions of people in the process After this election, it has become clear, Dark Money The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer is a 2016 Doubleday publication I can read supernatural horror novels, the grittiest crime thrillers, true crime and a host of other material that sends shivers down my spine, but nothing paralyzes me with fearthan hidden forces influencing government in barely detectable ways, influencing the quality of life for millions of people in the process After this election, it has become clear, this radical right wing movement has been brewing for a good while Billionaires basically buying America, using their m...

• English
• 23 August 2017
Jane Mayer
• ebook
• 464 pages
• 0385535600
• Jane Mayer
• Dark Money