If you’re not familiar with Art Robinson, read my article Republican Art Robinson Makes O’Donnell Seem Almost Sane. The man makes extreme appear mild. Here in Oregon, Peter DeFazio is well respected, but he has been pummeled with attack ads from Concerned Taxpayers of America. It turns out that this secretive shadow group is just two men and exists to attack two candidates. In the process of putting this article together, I learned something else that completely blew me away!

First the main subject:

At least Peter DeFazio knows now who’s gunning for him. The nemesis of the Fourth District congressman is a low-profile hedge fund manager and model train enthusiast named Robert Mercer of Stony Brook, N.Y. Federal records show he poured at least $200,000 into advertisements that attack DeFazio, who is running for re-election against a marginal Republican candidate named Art Robinson. Mercer is one of two listed contributors to an obliquely named super political action committee called Concerned Taxpayers of America. The other contributor is a concrete company called Daniel G. Schuster Inc. of Owings Mills, Md., which has spent $300,000 to attack Frank Kratovil Jr., a first-term Democratic congressman who represents Maryland… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Oregonian>

DeFazio led the charge to close the myriad of tax loopholes in the financial sector, especially the one that allows hedge fund managers to be taxed at the lower capital gains rate. Mercer does not want main street leaders in Congress. Rachel Maddow and Frank Rich provide coverage.

When I heard that closing segment, my jaw bounced off my chest.

Reports that two Supreme Court Justices have attended seminars sponsored by the energy giant and conservative bankroller Koch Industries has sparked a mild debate over judicial ethics. On Tuesday evening, the New York Times reported that an upcoming meeting in Palm Springs of “a secretive network of Republican donors” that was being organized by Koch Industries, “the longtime underwriter of libertarian causes.” Buried in the third to last graph was a note that previous guests at such meetings included Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, two of the more conservative members of the bench… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Huffington Post>

That’s right. SS Scalia and Teabag Thomas were hunkering down with uber-rich Republican donors in a closed-door strategy meeting, after which they helped in crafting the Citizens United decision, designed to assist Republican donors to buy the upcoming elections. Does this scream conflict of interest to you too?

Republicans govern exclusively for the benefit of criminal corporations and the richest 1%!