Lay aside the endless punditry about Donald’s belligerence or Hillary’s ambition Mayer is telling the epic story of America in our time. They may be the most important unelected political figures in American history.Īs a result, Jane Mayer’s Dark Money-a detailed accounting of their rise and rise-is absolutely necessary reading for anyone who wants to make sense of our politics. It has at least 1,200 full-time staffers in 107 offices nationwide, or three and a half times as many as the Republican National Committee. According to a recent analysis in Politico, their privatized political network is backed by a group of several hundred extremely rich fellow donors who often meet at off-the-record conclaves organized by the Kochs at desert resorts. In this election cycle, for instance, the Kochs have publicly stated that they and their compatriots will spend $889 million, more than either the Republican or Democratic parties spent last time around. Jane Mayer’s remarkable new book makes it abundantly clear that the Kochs, and the closely connected group of billionaires they’ve helped assemble, have spent thousands of times that much over the past few decades, and that in the process they’ve distorted American politics in devastating ways, impairing the chances that we’ll effectively respond to climate change, reducing voting rights in many states, paralyzing Congress, and radically ratcheting up inequality. Walker was understating the case by at least three orders of magnitude. We’re, uh, we’re doing the just and right thing for the right reasons, and it’s all about getting our freedoms back.” “Thanks, thanks for all the support and helping us move the cause forward, and we appreciate it. “That would be outstanding,” the governor responds. “I tell you what, Scott: once you crush these bastards I’ll fly you out to Cali and really show you a good time,” “Koch” says.

“I have one in my office you’d be happy with that,” Walker says.

Dark money by jane mayer