A New Political Force

BOOK REVIEW

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, by Jane Mayer

An overused term these days in publishing is “Hidden History.” but in this case, I believe, it is quite justified. While the Koch brothers have received a good deal of mention in the press, much less attention has been given to the enormous size and power of their network of associated foundations. The great appeal of their organization is that the Kochs are willing to accept the public attention while the other foundations are shielded from view, thus “dark”, by the provisions of the tax code that the Democrats first discovered and the Kochs have exploited. The result of this dark appeal is that the group’s funds have grown enormously since 2008. It is acknowledged by them that they would spend $889,000,000 nationally in 2016. This makes them, in effect, an independent political party, and it is causing seismic shifts under the American political landscape. We see this daily in the news.

This deeply researche