“I think they [very wealthy people- the 1%] actually have an insufficient influence. Those who have enjoyed the benefits of our system more than ever now owe a duty to protect the system that has created the greatest nation on this planet. And so I hope that other individuals who have really enjoyed growing up in a country that believes in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- and economic freedom is part of the pursuit of happiness -- (I hope they realize) they have a duty now to step up and protect that.”
- One of Mitt Romney’s financial supporters, billionaire investor & hedge fund manager, Ken Griffin, as quoted by the Chicago Tribune. Griffin was asked “What do you think in general about the influence of people with your means on the political process? You said shame on the politicians for listening to the CEOs. Do you think the ultrawealthy have an inordinate or inappropriate amount of influence on the political process?”.
Right. It’s good for “the greatest nation on this planet” to become an oligarchy, where the greedy 1% decimates our jobs and investments in their struggle to keep more and more for themselves.
UPDATE: From National Confidential:
Griffin has donated $150,000 to Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney Super PAC. He has also donated $560,000 to the Republican Governor’s Association, and in the past has donated thousands to Karl Rove’s American Crossroads, a pro-Republican group that has regularly been caught creating grossly inaccurate advertising.
The Tribune also reports that Griffin has donated $1.5 million to Americans For Prosperity, the shadowy front group operated by billionaires Charles and David Koch. Americans for Prosperity has funded much of the “tea party” movement.
In 2005, Griffin was a backer of credit derivatives — the complex financial instruments that helped to cause much of the economic crisis in 2008. He described derivatives as “an entirely new and vital way of spreading risk.” Billionaire investor Warren Buffet described these same tools as “financial weapons of mass destruction.”
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