Billionaires and Stealth Politics
Page 34
other holdings of, 71; and Koch broth-
linear probability model, 165n65
ers’ fortunes, 11; reinvestment of
lobbying: disclosure or regulation of money
earnings by and rapid growth of, 71; as
in, 142; stealthy tactics in, 50; unre-
second- largest privately held company,
ported, 5– 6
71; secretiveness of, 71; tangles of with
local control, reduction of through preemp-
EPA, 72
tion bills, 107
Koch Membrane Services, 71
Los Angeles, billionaires residing in, 18
Koch network, as rivaling Republican Party,
low- wage workers abroad, investment op-
72
portunities and, 21
Kraft Heinz Company, 58
Lowe’s, 62
luck, role of in amassing large fortunes, 20,
labor, capital’s leap ahead of, 21
139
labor- intensive industries, tendency of to be
union- averse and Republican, 113
MacArthur Foundation, x
labor market, worldwide: wage pressures
MacLean, Nancy, 3
and investment opportunities from, 21
Malhotra, Neil, 96
labor unions: billionaires’ success at weak-
Malone, John, on Social Security, 163n44,
ening, 106; John Menard Jr.’s anti- union
163n45
activities, 64; Koch brothers’ efforts to
marginal product theory of wages, 23
roll back, 72; political contributions by,
marijuana legalization, Peter Lewis and
72; role of in political representation of
referendum on, 108
workers, 64; wealthy donors and state
market structure, expectations concerning
restrictions on, 106– 7
boundary control and, 112– 13
Lacombe, Matthew, ix, 163n41
Mars candies, 12; ages of heirs, 16; inherited
land ownership, and past great fortunes,
fortunes of family, 12; reclusiveness of
18– 19
family, 91
Latin America, only one immigrant billion-
Mars, Forrest, Jr., 12
aire from, 18
Mars, Jacqueline, 12
Latinos, rarity of among wealthiest billion-
Mars, John, 12
aires, 16– 17
Marxists, on “finance capital,” 21
Lauder, Leonard: advocacy of more visas
material incentives, role of in major achieve-
for young foreign students in science,
ments, 139. See also incentives
engineering, and technology, 87
Mayer, Jane, 3; research on Koch brothers
Lewis, Peter, and referendum on marijuana
by, 72
legalization, 108
McConnell, Grant, on private power and
LexisNexis, searches using, 34– 35
size of constituency, 101– 2
liberal/conservative dimension: imposition
McMahon, Linda, 1
of, 5; logical incoherence of, 171n9;
measurement errors: absence of concerning
social issues and, 77
George Soros, 122; absence of concern-
index
213
ing Harold Simmons, 120; absence of
likelihood logistic regression; keywords;
concerning Robert Rowling, 123– 24;
measurement errors; web- scraping
absence of in Icahn case, 69; absence of
techniques
in Koch case, 74; absence of in Menard
Mexico, wall to block immigration from, 94
case, 65– 66; irrelevance of in Buffet case,
Miami/Palm Beach, billionaires residing
60; no serious errors revealed by case
in, 18
studies, 74– 75, 129; possible types of in
Michigan, billionaires’ policy impact in, 107
billionaires study, 56, 117; use of case
Microsoft, role of in Bill Gates’ fortune, 10
studies to detect, 55– 57, 117
middle America, as mostly empty of bil-
media access by billionaires, 31, 83, 98 131–
lionaires, 18
32; Carl Icahn as example of, 69
middle- class Americans, economic travails
media outlets, how to deal with money
of, 137
spent on, 142
minimum tax on wealthy, Warren Buffett
Medicaid: billionaires’ success in resisting
on, 59
expansion of, 105– 6; expansion of under
minimum wage, disagreement of multimil-
Affordable Care Act, 101, 105; spending
lionaires with most Americans concern-
on, 29; states’ refusal of federal money
ing, 136
for, 105
Mnuchin, Steven, 1
Medicare: disagreement of multimillion-
Molex, 11, 71
aires with most Americans concerning,
money, spending of, as distinct from speech,
136; and payroll taxes, 161n10, 161n11;
141– 42
spending on, 29
money and political influence: argument
Menard, John, Jr.: absence of measurement
against allowing unlimited spending for,
error concerning, 65– 66; background
139. See also contributions; political
and personal life of, 62– 63; case study
contributions by billionaires; political
of, 62– 66; contributions to Republi-
influence of billionaires
cans by, 64; deliberate political silence
money and political voice, 99
of, 65; as economic conservative, 54;
money in politics, reform of, 139– 40; re-
extensive political activity by, 63– 66; at
quirements for disclosure of, 142
Koch brothers’ political conference, 63;
moral issues, 77. See also abortion; same- sex
media attention to, 65; Menards stores
marriage; social issues
as source of wealth, 62; new evidence
Moreno, Arte, 17
of unusual political actions by, 66; as
Morgan, J. P., finance- based fortune of, 21
paradigmatic example of stealth politics,
Moskovitz, Dustin: achievements of, 138;
65; reasons for case study selection of,
young age of, 16
56, 63; right- leaning policy preferences
multimethod research, advantages of, 55
of, 65; role of in right- to- work legisla-
multimillionaires: amount and frequency of
tion and public sector deunionization
political contributions by, 43; bundling
in Wisconsin, 107; scandals and, 62– 63;
and fundraisers by, 42; disagreement of
silence of concerning politics, 63
with majority of Americans on many
Menards stores, 62; anti- union employment
economic policies, 30, 39, 135– 36; SESA
contracts by, 64; ideological training
study of, xi, 30, 136– 37
of employees by, 64– 65; protection of
Munger, Charlie, 58
private property and, 64– 65
Murdoch, Rupert, 12; as immigrant success,
Mercer, Robert: support of Donald Trump
17– 18; number of statements by on
by, 2, 104; support of Steve Bannon by,
social issues, 85
104
Murphy, Bobby, achievements of, 138
>
methods used in billionaires research, 32–
Musk, Elon, as immigrant success, 17
37; 54– 57, 79– 80, 113– 14, 117– 18: See
Muslim ban in 2016 Trump campaign, 94
also case studies; coding methods; Firth
Myers, Charles, x
214
index
Nashville, thwarting of mass transit in, 107
outliers, reasons for examination of, 55
National Economic Council, Buffett rule
ownership of businesses: and fair compensa-
and, 59
tion, 23; as key to wealth accumulation, 19
National Institute on Money in Politics,
online database of, 165n62
PACs, policy- specific, billionaires’ contribu-
National Labor Relations Board, fines of
tions to, 36
Menards by for anti- union activities,
Page, Larry: as cofounder of Google, 12;
64
relative youth of, 15– 16; rise of in Forbes
National rental cars, 12
rankings, 14
naturalization rules, 80
Pampered Chef, The, 61
New York, billionaires residing in, 18
parental consent, 79
News Corp, 12
partial- birth abortion, 79
Nike, 22
party activists, ideologically extreme, reduc-
No Bonds for Billionaires, 121
ing the power of, 141
NORC, ix; Survey of Consumer Finances
party attachments of billionaires: effect of
and, 33
on use of boundary control strategy,
North Carolina: billionaires’ policy im-
115– 17, 115 t, 116 t; measure of, 114,
pact in, 107; wealthy- friendly policies
176n68
in, 100
Paulson & Co. hedge fund, 12
North Dakota, energy companies and pollu-
Paulson, John, 12
tion regulation in, 108
PayPal, 17
NV Energy, 10
payroll taxes: “cap” on income subject
to, 28– 29; cuts in, 29; disagreement of
Obama, Barack: as a “socialist,” 119; Bill
multimillionaires with most Americans
Ayers terrorism attack ad on, 119
concerning cap on, 136; exemption of
OECD countries: tax levels in, 27; tax rates
capital gains from, 161n14; invisibil-
of compared with US, 160– 61n4; tax
ity of “employers’ share,” 28– 29; for
revenues of compared with US, 161n5
Medicare, 161n10, 161n11; regressivity
Ogles, Andrew, on returns from political
of, 28– 29; structure and rates of, 28– 29;
investments at the state level, 102
Warren Buffett on, 47
Oklahoma, oil and gas donors and pollution
pensions, 29, 106– 7; disagreement of
regulation in, 108
multimillionaires with most Americans
Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insur-
concerning, 136
ance (OASDI). See Social Security
Perelman, Ronald, 12; leveraged- buyout
old men, billionaires as, 14– 16
fortune of, 22
Olin, John M., 3
Perez, Jorge, 17
Omidyar, Pierre: criticism of anti– same- sex
Perry, Bob, 120
marriage ballot proposition by, 86; as
Perry, Rick: Harold Simmons’s contribu-
immigrant success, 17
tions to, 120; Robert Rowling’s contribu-
Omni Hotels, 123– 24
tions to, 123– 24
one- dimensional politics, 4
Peterffy, Thomas, 17
one- party governments in the states, 102– 3
Peterson, Pete, 133; leadership of campaign
one- percenters: billionaires much wealthier
to cut Social Security by, 52
than, 30– 31; SESA study of, ix. See also
philanthropy: and the estate tax, 28; of
multimillionaires
Gates and Buffett, 10
OpenSecrets.org, billionaires’ reported
Piketty, Thomas, on inherited wealth, 20
contributions and, 36
Pinterest, 16
Oracle, Larry Ellison as founder of, 10– 11
“Pioneers,” 42
Organisation for Economic Co- operation
Planned Parenthood, 61
and Development. See OECD countries
plutocracy, Warren Buffett on, 60
index
215
policy impact of billionaires, 50– 52; on
policy- oriented organizations, 44; to Re-
abortion and same- sex marriage, 97– 98;
publicans or conservatives, 43– 44, 43 t, 82;
difficulty of ascertaining, 127– 28, 134–
to Republican Governors Association,
35; in Illinois, 106– 7; indications of, 51–
103; to state and local elections, 103– 5
52; in Kansas, 107; liberal immigration
political influence: argument against allow-
policies and, 96– 98; likely importance
ing unlimited spending for, 139; Martin
of consensus in, 97; in Michigan, 107; in
Gilens’ study of, 135; quantitative study
North Carolina, 107; questions concern-
of, 51. See also political influence of
ing, 50; at state and local levels, 105– 9;
billionaires
in Tennessee, 107; in Wisconsin, 107
political influence of billionaires: difficulty
policy preferences of billionaires: afflu-
of measuring, 50– 51; infeasibility of
ent Americans’ preferences as proxies
quantitative study of, 51, 135; inferences
for, 166n77, 179n4; contributions to
concerning, 3, 30– 31, 135, 137; need
policy- specific groups as indicators of,
for historical and journalistic evidence
5, 158n22; difficulty of ascertaining, 126;
on, 51; ways to curtail, 139– 40. See also
gaps between ordinary citizens’ prefer-
political influence
ences and, 132– 34; hazards of inferring
political reform proposals, 138– 43; aimed
from contributions, 4– 5; inferences
at stealth politics, 141– 43; to curtail the
concerning, 127, 136– 37; “triangulation”
power of billionaires, 139– 40
strategy for estimating, 178– 79n1
political speech of billionaires: expecta-
policy stances, unpopular, as motivating
tions concerning, 31– 32; frequency of
billionaires’ silence, 31– 32
by centrist billionaires, 38; questions
political accountability. See accountability,
concerning, 25
political
political statements by billionaires: comput-
political actions of billionaires: computing
ing counts of, 37; directionality of on
counts of, 37; consistency of with public
taxes and social security , 39– 42, 39 t, 40 t,
statements on social issues, 87– 88; con-
41 t; on immigration, abortion, and same-
servatism of on economic issues, 42– 46,
sex marriage by individual billionaires,
44 t; contributions to policy- specific
151– 54; infrequency of on social issues,
groups, 5, 36; difficulty in discovering,
83– 87, 84 t; infrequency of on taxes and<
br />
5, 126– 27; expectations concerning, 32;
Social Security, 38– 40, 39 t; predominant
liberalism of on social issues, 82– 83, 83 t;
liberalism of on abortion, same- sex
list of individuals’ actions on immigra-
marriage, and immigration, 85– 86, 85 t;
tion, abortion, and same- sex marriage,
pro- con balance of on taxes and Social
151– 54; method of studying, 36– 37; new
Security, 39– 40, 39 t; role of journalists in
information from case studies concern-
uncovering, 35; on taxes and Social Se-
ing, 75– 76; as opposed to positions of
curity by individual billionaires, 148– 50;
average citizens, 44– 45; policy- specific
thorough scrutiny of concerning taxes
actions as reliable indicators of policy
and Social Security, 33; unearthing of
preferences, 127; predictors of bundling
quotations, transcripts, and videos of, 37;
or fundraising, 46, 46 t; predictors of
web- scraping to discover, 6
ideological direction of, 45, 45 t; predic-
polluting industries, tendency of to be
tors of on same- sex marriage, 91– 92, 92 t;
Republican, 113
questions concerning, 25; on taxes and
pollution, Koch brothers’ resistance to tax-
Social Security, 42– 46, 44 t; web- scraping
ing or regulating, 72
to discover, 6
Pope, Art, 107
political contributions by billionaires:
populism: challengers within the GOP, 104–
amount and frequency of, 43– 44, 43 t,
5; economic hardships and popul ist re-
81– 82; data on, 36; to mayors, city
volts, 138; mass- elite gaps on immigration
councils, and school boards, 103– 4; to
and, 96; rarity of among billionaires, 70
216
index
posttreatment variables, “controls” for,
Rauner, Bruce: efforts by to cut public-
172n33
sector pensions; Ken Griffin campaign
poverty rate, Social Security and, 29– 30
contribution to, 102
preemption bills, 107
Reagan, Ronald, regressive tax cuts and, 27
primary elections, overcoming unrepresen-
redistributive policies, Warren Buffett as
tativeness of, 140
supporter of, 58– 59
Prince Charles, 15
referenda (state- level), socially liberal bil-
Priorities USA, 122
lionaires’ use of, 108– 9
prison reform, Charles Koch on, 74
reforms. See political reforms
Pritzker, J. B., 107
regressive tax cuts, 27
private equity managers, billion- dollar
regressive taxes, payroll taxes as, 28– 29
salaries of, 21
regulatory structure: effect of on use of