(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . How Much Does a Country Cost? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-07-08 It never hurts to get a reminder of who the enemy is. It’s been written here before about the war of the rich against the rest of us. The rich are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to get the kind of country they want: Little or no taxes for them, little or no regulations for their industries (meaning no attempt to address climate change), and little or no help for the poor or middle class because that would take money that could be used for tax cuts. This effort includes the religious right and its anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ agenda. That’s the culture war front of their plan. The biggest stars in this cash parade have been brothers Charles and David Koch (David died in 2019). In many cases, the money is laundered through so-called “social welfare organizations” – “dark money” groups that are allowed to keep their donors’ identities secret. But no matter how the cash gets to its destination, the rich are spending ungodly amounts of money to get Republicans elected who will work to make them even richer at the expense of the poor and middle class and the environment. For today’s reminder we turn to the very good book “Shadow Network,” in which author Anne Nelson chronicles these right-wing, big-money efforts: *To build support for the GOP Tax bill in 2017, the Koch network organized more than a hundred rallies in 36 states, connected over 1.8 million activists, knocked on over 33,000 doors, and spent millions on digital broadcasting and advertising. The payoff: Americans for Tax Fairness estimated that the Kochs would save between $840 million and $1.4 billion a year in income taxes. *In an attempt to derail the Affordable Care Act, which provided healthcare coverage for millions of people, the Kochs gave a $5 million grant to Generation Opportunity, whose goals included persuading millennials from signing up for insurance under the ACA. The hope was that eliminating young, healthy members from the pool would drive up the costs for everyone else and undermine the program. *The Council for National Policy launched a campaign to help Trump win re-election, despite his deadly mishandling of the Covid virus, that included efforts like mobilizing protests against the lockdown and using physicians with dubious credentials to dismiss the dangers of Covid through a massive media blitz. *The Judicial Crisis Network – which is closely aligned with the Federalist Society -- spent more than $9 million on television ads and $4 million on digital ads, direct mail, and texting to promote the rushed appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court just one week before the 2020 election. Here are some other examples culled from past news reports: In a 2021 piece on the New Yorker website, Jane Mayer – author of the book “Dark Money” – wrote about the right’s promotion of the myth of rampant vote fraud in the 2020 election and the accompanying push for state laws that make it harder to vote. For instance: *The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a Milwaukee-based private tax-exempt organization, had spent $18 million since 2012 supporting a network of conservative groups involved in election issues. *Heritage Action, the politically active arm of the Heritage Foundation, planned to spend $24 million over two years to mobilize supporters and lobbyists to promote “election integrity,” beginning in eight battleground states. *The Honest Elections Project, which is tied to Leonard Leo, chairman of the Federalist Society, filed briefs at the Supreme Court and in numerous states opposing mail-in ballots and other reforms that have made it easier for people to vote. In 2021, the Washington Post reported that deep-pocketed megadonors like Koch were funding a disinformation campaign opposing mask mandates for school children. Other backers of this project included Dick DeVos (husband of former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos), the Walton Family Foundation (of Walmart fame), and other organizations endowed by Koch. A coalition of conservative organizations calling itself the “Save America Coalition” amassed a $10 million war chest to attack President Joe Biden’s proposed Build Back Better bill, the Washington Post reported. Their plan was to rally more than 100 conservative organizations and draw donors for advertisements and social media campaigns criticizing the Biden proposal in swing states and districts controlled by centrist Democrats. Sadly, these examples are just the tip of the iceberg. And you know what happens when you hit an iceberg. The only way to combat these well-endowed efforts is to vote. For all their money, the rich in this country are badly outnumbered by the poor and middle class. In the end, that’s the only number that should really matter. *** Thank you for reading my post. You can see more of my writing on my blog: Musings of a Nobody. Also, please check out my video blog: The 3:13 on Politics. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/8/2179944/-How-Much-Does-a-Country-Cost Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/