Does this man now “own” the Republican Party?
Did billionaire David Koch bribe the Romney campaign to put Paul Ryan on the ticket?
If this allegation is true – and if it is, it is presumably illegal – will anyone do anything?
If this is illegal – and the story has been very widely covered – will it be investigated?
Will charges be laid?
And ultimately, what does this do for Romney and the Republican Party’s credibility?
Watch the story here. It is a story ALL Americans, indeed all who believe in freedom and democracy, wherever they may live, should watch and make up their own minds.
If you can’t see the video, here’s the story in essence.
On Friday night’s edition of “The Young Turks,” host Cenk Uygur highlighted a report by controversial Republican political operative Roger Stone. The report alleges that vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) arrived at his place on the ticket through the machinations of David Koch, half of the powerful billionaire Koch brothers.
Stone claims to have heard from sources inside the presidential campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney that the governor was approached at a fundraiser in the Hamptons (the notorious “We are V.I.P.!” bash) by David Koch and his wife.
Koch, who has worked cheek by jowl with the Wisconsin Republican cabal that launched the career of Gov. Scott Walker and famously stalled out that state’s government for months in 2011, reportedly offered Romney an additional $100 million in campaign donations to C-4 and super PAC organizations dedicated to Romney’s election on the condition that Romney take Ryan as his running mate.
“In other words,” said Uygur, “a flat-out bribe. Now, I give you a $100 million for your campaign, and you give me the VP selection that I want. Now this is not a Democrat or a reporter reporting this, it’s a Republican, and that’s fascinating. If it’s true, by the way, 100 percent illegal.”
Uygur specifically points to one key piece of Ryan’s platform as a possible motivation for the billionaire conservative’s investment in his own vice president. Ryan wants to lower the capital gains tax — already low at 15 percent — to zero, which would bring David Koch personally an estimated $187.5 million per year. ($750 million over a four year term.)
“That’s why they bribe the politicians,” Uygur said. “What’s outrageous is that we allow them to do it.”
Well, This Is What I Think 
Z-Z-Z-z-z-z. Where could these stories possibly be leaked from? And who publicises them? Why, the same people who ignore the gaff-laden mutterings of Joe Biden. Now, if you REALLY believe in democracy, that is what you should be asking.
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I can only find one controversial statement from Biden in months, which was where he has been criticised for telling people that the banks want people in chains … implying, (unfairly in my opinion), that he was playing a race card, implicitly referencing memories of slavery. As your opinion of big banks is equally poor, I would have thought you would have supported him.
If you can find other examples, then by all means list them.
Anyway, if you had even read the story, you would have noted that they are quoting a leading REPUBLICAN as the story’s source. And nothing any Democrat has said or done – frankly, anything I have heard of anywhere in the West – would come anything close to buying the post of the man generally considered “a heartbeat from the Presidency”.
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The Koch’s own the party, no news here. Illegal? No, not under the current Citizen United ruling. Immoral? Certainly but no one is going to do a damned thing about it. Until we get campaign reform there won’t be any change.
Quick comment on Joe Biden and his presumed gaffe. No gaffe, mixed audience. Chains do not equate to a single standard of American enslavement of the Africans. Republicans try to create a controversy where there is none. It is the English Language, get over it.
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It hasn’t been widely covered in the U.S. Let’s see what we can do to change that, shall we?
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Thanks so much for helping!
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I’m shocked, shocked I tell you, to hear that wealthy, powerful people are trying to influence an election anywhere in the world, least of all in the good ol’ US of A.
Seriously, though, if Ryan were someone with no or very little qualification (or at least, believability) to be vice president, then the choice of him would be suspect and damaging. However, he was on the extremely well-vetted short list based on his positions, his track record, what augmenting power he could bring to the ticket, etc.
All things considered, would “powerful supporters” weigh into the decision? Probably, as they always do. Would that be the deciding factor? I doubt it. Does anyone think that even an as-yet mythical $100 million donation would have gotten Huntsman the nod, producing an all-Mormon ticket? And though he was, according to The New York Times article on 7/17, “the favorite of many donors who have recommended him,” Rubio didn’t make the cut either.
Quadrennial assertions of smoky back-room deals are a feature of our elections (and probably everyone else’s). Some are undoubtedly true. There may even be a grain of truth in this assertion (BTW, by a Libertarian who was formerly a Republican operative who now seems to have an ax to grind). But an outright bribe offer, or even a thinly veiled one? Doubtful.
No matter what one thinks of Romney, and my personal jury is still out, based on everything that forms the consensus of him as a person, my judgement is that he wouldn’t be positively influenced by something that he would view as clearly unethical. He may be a business guy, but I think he’s one who plays by the visible rules.
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