Tea Party PACs Reap Money for Midterms, but Spend Little on Candidates
As we’ve pointed out here at LGF many times : keeping the right wing angry and fired up is much more than a GOTV ploy - it’s also an excellent business model. This model of fleecing the rubes has built many fortunes for populist demagogues, and here’s just the short list:
- Rush Limbaugh
- Glenn Beck
- Matt Drudge
- Breitbart
- Howard Ruff ( the Ur father of Gold Bugs)
- Hannity
- Jones
…. and that list goes on and on. However up until recently you didn’t see professed grassroots political parties behaving in this profiteering mode. Behold the modern Tea Party…
The dearth of election spending has left many favored tea party candidates exposed before a series of pivotal GOP primaries next month in North Carolina, Nebraska, Idaho and Kentucky.
Roughly half of the money — nearly $18 million — has gone to pay for fundraising and direct mail, largely provided by Washington-area firms. Meanwhile, tea party leaders and their family members have been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees, while their groups have doled out large sums for airfare, a retirement plan and even interior decorating.
The lavish spending underscores how the protest movement has gone professional, with national groups transforming themselves into multimillion-dollar organizations run by activists collecting six-figure salaries.
More: Tea Party PACs Reap Money for Midterms, but Spend Little on Candidates