Publisher's Synopsis
Investigative journalist Peter Stone gives us an inside look into the elite world of superrich conservative patrons. The Billionaires' Club explores how a handful of powerful men, some well-known and others hidden from public view, became crucial financiers of the GOP shadow party, facilitated the rise of the Tea Party, and responded to the 2012 election with a reinvigorated plan to continue their crusade to slash government regulations and taxes.Stone combines in-depth investigative reporting with history and biography to tell the inside story of how an elite group of billionaires--men with big personalities and even bigger wallets--have helped shape the modern Right and influenced the GOP. Centered on larger-than-life figures--such as casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, industrialists Charles and David Koch, Texas home builder Bob Perry, and hedge fund CEO Paul Singer, to name a few--The Billionaires' Club reveals their significant influence in Republican policy-making circles and their close ties to powerful GOP figures like Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, Eric Cantor, and Paul Ryan.The Billionaires' Club breaks new ground and exposes the ways in which the Right's financial godfathers have opened their wallets wide to create a "shadow GOP" of super PACs and dark money outfits that spent hundreds of millions in the last two elections and have spearheaded drives against Obamacare and for looser Wall Street and environmental regulations. Stone offers a deep analysis of how campaign finance regulation from the McCain-Feingold Act to the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling has collectively made it easier--not more difficult--for billionaires to give limitless sums, both publicly and secretly, to outside groups backing GOP candidates who champion policies that often dovetail with their business interests.With President Obama in the White House and the Senate potentially up for grabs in 2014, it is unlikely that the recent surge of funds from the Right's leading billionaires will slow down anytime soon. The conservative crusade to drastically reduce government by slashing regulations and taxes is going to be with us for some time to come, posing a real threat to those who care about improving the quality of the environment, health care, and financial stability in this country. Regardless of what happens in the next elections, the shadow GOP has charted a course to build permanent lobbying and electoral machines that will be potent players for years to come in Washington and in the states.
