Superrich Donors Simply Don't Understand Why People Are Mean To Them

Everyone, stand at attentionright now, for the billionaires have another complaint: Why are we so mean to them when they donate millions of dollars to political causes that we may despise? It is a primitive, mob mentality, practiced by primitives. Why must outspoken donors -- because, remember, money is speech! -- even be known by the public? It hurts their personal lives, it hurts their businesses. This is what things were like in the Dark Ages, these public humiliations. No, really, one megarich megadonor actually said that.

Politico's Ken Vogel has a story about this megadonor mentality, and how they feel unfairly treated when the media and politicians single them out after they've written huge checks to partisans in highly charged debates, while everyone else starves. "This is definitely not what they had in mind," Vogel writes. "In their view, cutting a million-dollar check to try to sway the presidential race should be just another way to do their part for democracy, not a fast-track to the front page." Yeah, it's just democracy. Why is it that only hundred-millionaires and billionaires, a few of whom control the entire political debate, appreciate such democracy?

Frank VanderSloot, one of Romney's chief sugar daddies, has had enough of this:

“This idea of giving public beatings has been around for a long time,” said Frank VanderSloot, a wealthy Idaho businessman who donated $1 million in corporate cash to the super PAC supporting Mitt Romney and says he’s raised between $2 million and $5 million for the Romney campaign.

VanderSloot, who is also a national finance co-chairman for Romney, was among eight major Romney donors singled out on an Obama campaign website last month as having “less-than-reputable records,” and he thinks the purpose is clear – intimidation.

“You go back to the Dark Ages when they put these people in the stocks or whatever they did, or publicly humiliated them as a deterrent to everybody else – watch this – watch what we do to the guy who did this.”

That's a good point. Why don't we put these people in the stocks anymore? They're getting off too easily.

[ Politico ]