So, I got curious about what all the excitement was about and Googled Kaiser. It would appear that he does indeed own a 35% share in the failed company. Kaiser is also like one of the 400 richest people in the country. His views seem to be fairly liberal despite this fact (take THAT, Merc!). Kaiser has indeed been a big supporter of both Obama and the Democratic Party. I have to say that this looks suspicious to me. Just one more example of a billionaire buying himself some influence.
However, according to Forbes, Kaiser’s heart seems to be in the right place:
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Kaiser’s focus remains on early intervention in the cycle of poverty. Giving through his Tulsa-based foundation provides services that include early childhood education, pre-natal health care, public health, in-home parenting, and secondary education, as well as more generalized safety net services that deal with the symptoms of poverty. More recent initiatives have focused on women's incarceration, secondary schools, and reserving land to create an arts and entertainment district in Tulsa. The biggest payout may be yet to come: Kaiser has said he plans to increase his gifts "until I die with one dollar left, assuming I can get the timing just right."
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Then I did some more research and discovered that the Walton family of Wal-Mart fame had invested 10%. Not as much as Kaiser, but still… Wal-Mart has traditionally been a big contributor to the Conservative cause, including the Tea Party. In the last election, Wal-Mart sent contributions the Democrat’s way. However the majority of their largess still went to right wing candidates.
So maybe Obama was playing a little game of “Gotcha!” with Wal-Mart. I imagine that if I had the patience to do the research, I could make as good a case for this as the one for Obama paying off Kaiser with a federal plum.
Here’s what Wal Mart Watch.org had to say about the Walton family and their company. I have no idea how valid their statements are, but it certainly does add some spice to the mix. Reminds me of the old “Spy vs. Spy” in Mad Magazine:
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Other big backers included Madrone Partners, a venture capital firm affiliated with the Walton family of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., with an 11 percent stake, and U.S. Venture Partners at 10.19 percent, CNN Money reported.
The Wal Mart PAC and Walton family spent nearly twice as much on Republican candidates and leadership PACs in the Senate compared to those of Democrats. In the Senate races, 35% of contributions went to Democrats and 63% went to Republicans…
While the company may have convinced some in recent years that its political contributions are nonpartisan, the Wal Mart PAC and Walton family have clearly continued to support conservative candidates whose ideologies and votes on key issues are not on the side of Wal Mart’s core customers (or associates) at all.
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http://walmartwatch.org/files/2011/0...iving_0602.pdf
The more of this stuff I read, the more cynical I become. When are Americans going to wake up to the fact that we are a democracy in name only? The governance of this country would be better described as a plutocracy.