海角大神

I keep hearing that the billionaires and big corporations that poured all that money into the 2012 election learned their lesson. They lost their shirts and won鈥檛 do it again.

Don鈥檛 believe that for an instant.

It鈥檚 true their political investments didn鈥檛 exactly pay off this time around.

鈥淩ight now there is stunned disbelief that Republicans fared so poorly after all the money they invested,鈥� said Brent Bozell, president of For America, an Alexandria-based nonprofit that advocates for 海角大神 values in politics.

鈥淐ongrats to @KarlRove on blowing $400 million this cycle,鈥� Donald Trump tweeted. 鈥淓very race @CrossroadsGPS ran ads in, the Republicans lost. What a waste of money.鈥澛�

Rove鈥檚 two giant political funds 鈥� American Crossroads (a Super PAC) and Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (a so-called nonprofit 鈥渟ocial welfare organization鈥� that doesn鈥檛 have to report its donors) 鈥� backed Mitt Romney with $127 million spent on more than 82,000 television spots. Rove鈥檚 groups spent another $51 million on House and Senate races. Ten of the 12 Senate candidates they supported lost.

The return on investment for American Crossroads donors turned out to be just 1 percent, according to any analysis by the, a Washington-based group that advocates for open government.

Among Rove鈥檚 investors was Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire who owns the Las Vegas Sands Corporation.

Adelson invested more than $100 million in the election, mostly on Republicans who lost 鈥� including聽$20 million that went to Romney鈥檚 super PAC 鈥淩estore Our Future,鈥� $15 million to another super PAC that almost single-handedly kept Newt Gingrich鈥檚 Republican primary campaign going, and about $50 million to nonprofit Republican fronts such as Rove鈥檚 Crossroads GPS.

Adelson wasn鈥檛 alone, of course. Texas industrialist Harold Simmons invested $26.9 million; Chicago Cubs owner Joe Ricketts invested close to $13 million; a network organized by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch invested $400 million.

But if you think these losses mean the end of high-stakes political investing, you don鈥檛 know how these people work.

You see, if and when they eventually win, these billionaires will clean up. Their taxes will plummet, many of laws constraining their profits (such environmental laws preventing the Koch brothers from more depredations, and the anti-bribery Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that Adelson is being investigated for violating) will disappear, and what鈥檚 left of labor unions will no longer intrude on their bottom lines.

And they have enough dough to keep betting until they eventually win. That鈥檚 what it means to be a billionaire political investor: You鈥檙e able to keep playing the odds until you get the golden ring.

Looking ahead, Adelson tells the聽聽he鈥檚 ready to double his 2012 investment next time around.聽鈥淚 happen to be in a unique business where winning and losing is the basis of the entire business,鈥� he says, 鈥渟o I don鈥檛 cry when I lose. There鈥檚 always a new hand coming up.鈥� He isn鈥檛 looking back at his losses. 鈥淚 know in the long run we鈥檙e going to win.鈥�

Exactly. Adelson, Simmons, the Koch brothers, and other billionaires will keep pouring in as much money as it takes to eventually win 鈥� unless they鈥檙e stopped. And procurers like Karl Rove will make sure they鈥檙e at the gaming table.

Relative to their net worth, the billionaire investors have been playing for a pittance.听贵辞谤产别蝉聽magazine estimates Adelson鈥檚 net worth at $21.5 billion. His Las Vegas Sands Corporation just approved a special dividend paying him about $1.2 billion this year, ahead of any possible tax increases that might emerge from congressional budget negotiations.

In the meantime, he and other billionaire political investors are profiting from their reputations as high-stakes players.

Adelson says he has many friends in Washington, 鈥渂ut the reasons aren鈥檛 my good looks and charm. It鈥檚 my pocket personality,鈥� referring to his political investments.聽And his determination to keep playing the odds ensures his Washington friends will continue to pay attention.

POLITICO reports Adelson聽听迟丑谤别别 GOP governors said to be eying the 2016 presidential race.

This聽week he聽met separately with House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (the Adelsons invested $聽in super PACs聽聽and Cantor),possibly to discuss changes to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

As income and wealth become ever more concentrated in America, the nation鈥檚 billionaire political investors will invest even more.

A record聽聽was spent on the 2012 campaign, and outside groups poured $1.3 billion into political races, according to data from the聽聽and the Center for Responsive Politics.

That鈥檚 why聽Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commissionhas to be reversed 鈥� either by a Supreme Court that becomes aware of the poison it鈥檚 unleashed into our democracy, or by constitutional amendment.

It鈥檚 also why we need full disclosure of who contributes what to whom.

And public financing that matches public money to contributions from small donors.

Most fundamentally, it鈥檚 why America鈥檚 widening inequality must be reversed.