If you’re the son or daughter of a billionaire, now is the time to act. Convince your parents to donate millions of dollars to one of the Super PAC’s trying to get Mitt Romney elected.
Here’s the sell: Mom, Dad, Mitt is going to give you millions in tax breaks over his four years in office, according to a new study by the non-partisan Brookings Institute. But don’t just think of yourself. Think of me. I could get billions! Mitt wants to completely eliminate the Estate Tax, which is only paid by one out of 1000 Americans. This would effectively make me as much of a billionaire as you are without me doing anything except being born to the best parents in the world.
Of course, the benefits Mitt is offering to his billionaire donors aren’t limited to billions in tax breaks to them and their kids. There’s also rampant deregulation, potential wars and possibly even a shoe contract.
Meet five of the thirty-two billionaires who are spending big to put Mitt in the White House and who accordingly want big things in return.
William Koch
The only known picture of Billy the Kid, purchased by William Koch in June of 2012.
William Koch is the brother of the billionaire brothers behind the “grassroots” movement sometimes called the Tea Party. William separated from his siblings in the 80s at the beginning of a long, fierce legal battle. But he has billions of his own. His Oxbow corporation prospers from the mining and sale of coal, natural gas and oil. He opposes that President virulently and has donated millions to the Romney-supporting “Restore Out Future” PAC. Koch would also probably like help stopping wind turbines from being built off Cape Cod, where Mr. Koch summers. (PROTIP: If you “summer,” you’re probably a Mitt Romney supporter.)
Jim Davis
The billionaire owner of New Balance shoes has given $1 million to Romney. What’s his special cause? Tim Dickinson of Rolling Stone thinks Davis is after an extremely lucrative defense contract to put our soldiers in New Balance shoes.
Image by Sling@Flickr.
John Paulson
Paulson got rich selling subprime mortgages and then got richer by shorting the housing market. So far, he’s given Mitt-supporting Super PACs a million dollars. What would he like from Mitt? He hates the Dodd-Frank reforms that are supposed to prevent the kind of boom and bust that made Paulson super rich. Guess what? So does Mitt.
Image by Alex E. Proimos via Flickr.
Joe Ricketts
You remember billionaire Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts. He’s the guy who was furious that the President got through the 2008 election as a “metrosexual, black Abe Lincoln.” So he gave tentative approval to spend millions on dream Super PAC attack on the President that would summon all the attacks that didn’t work in 2008—Reverend Wright, William Ayers, etc. But when the plan came to light, the billionaire disowned it. The magnate has donated directly to Mitt Romney and has his own Super PAC focused on ending government spending. What does he want? Ironically, Ricketts hates government largess but won’t turn down a nice government subsidy such as the $150 million from taxpayers his family sought to renovate Wrigley Field.
Sheldon Adelson
He used to be Newt’s main benefactor and spent millions to label Mitt the “King of Bain.” Now he’s traveling to Israel to hear Mitt declare that he’s ready to bomb Tehran. What does Adelson want—besides tax breaks, of course—some say war with Iran. Some say he’d like help with a investigation by the country of Macua into his casinos. Whatever it is, he claims he’s ready given $10 million dollars to “Restore Our Future” to help Mitt give it to him.
