Rick Santorum's Billionaire Benefactor

This year a whole bunch of new names have come to the fore-- billionaires seeking to buy the government with their criminally undertaxed wealth. Trump-- who claims to be backing Romney (let's wait and see how this tragedy plays itself out over a normal 9 month gestation period-- is probably not a billionaire but Romney has most of them rounded up to pay for the brutal carpet-bombing of his opponents. He's got 42 pouring money into his shady SuperPAC, including sleazy hedge-fund scumbags Paul Singer and John Paulson, Redskins owner Dan Snyder, secretive real estate developers Donald Bren, Bob Perry and Sam Zell, Russian industrialist Len Blavatnik, Robert Mercer of Renaissance Technologies, Julian Robertson of Tiger Management, a whole slew of shady million dollar Mormon donors from Utah (as well as lots of Mormon Marriotts), Wall Street criminals Edward Conrad, Chris Shumway, Louis Moore Bacon, Steven Webster (Avista), Paul Edgerly (Bain), and Paul Tudor Jones II. And then there's James Davis of New Balance Athletic Shoes. And, of course, some Kochs. One company that kept showing up in Romney's SuperPAC's reports, contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars over and over again from its various subsidiaries was Frank Vandersloot's Idaho-based Melaleuca-- Melaleuca of Asia Ltd Co ($250,000), Melaleuca of Southeast Asia, Inc ($250,000), Melaleuca of Japan, Inc ($250,000), Melaleuca, Inc ($250,000). That's a lot of herbal remedies Vandersloot is throwing around. And, of course, Jim Walton and Alice Walton, a couple of the Bentonville, Arkansas billionaires who inherited WalMart.

And we all have come to know cuddly Las Vegas/Macao gambling mobster Sheldon Adelson and his moll, Miriam, who routinely "comp" wayward congressmen-- serious gambling addict Buck McKeon (R-CA) is a perfect example of someone ensnared by the Adelsons-- and who have given at least $17 million towards Gingrich's presidential run and promise to be as generous to Romney if, for some reason, Newt doesn't go all the way. (The latest reports have him cutting Newt off now.)

Fewer people were aware that even Pennsylvania degenerate Rick Santorum has a SuperPAC with two right-wing billionaires. Santorum's billionaires are Foster Friess and John Templeton, so far the only six-figure donors to Santorum's effort to bring the Inquisition back.

Friess is a long time sugar daddy for fringy right-wing causes and fascist-leaning candidates. He's helped bankroll the Tea Party, the Daily Caller, various extremist PACs and has given generously to right-wing fanatics, from Ron Johnson (R-WI), Ben Quayle (R-AZ), Roy Blunt (R-MO), and George Allen (R-VA) to Sharron Angle (R-NV) and Lugar's far right challenger Richard Mourdock (R-IN) and to the official Republican Party campaign committees, the NRSC, the NRCC and the RNC-- to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. He's poured millions of dollars into right-wing politics and has had an affinity with Santorum for many years. In 2000 he gave him $20,000, although he's been pouring thousands of dollars into Santorum's extremist career since 1993.

Born in Wisconsin, the 72 year old Friess lives in Wyoming these days. He got involved in stock picking in the 1960's and launched his own Wall Street firm in 1974. His most famous fund was Brandywine and he's been widely touted as one of the members of the Koch Brothers million dollar club, plutocrats and oligarchs pooling immense sums of money to undermine democracy in this country. Yesterday the NY Times tried to shed a little light on Santorum's elusive billionaire.

Few people played a more pivotal role in Tuesday’s turn of events than Mr. Friess. An investor who made millions in mutual funds and now lives in Wyoming, he is the chief backer of a “super PAC” that has helped keep Mr. Santorum’s candidacy alive by running television advertisements on his behalf.

His role as outside funder-- one that Mr. Friess indicated he would continue to play in the contests ahead-- escalates the battle among a few dozen wealthy Republicans to influence their party’s choice of a presidential nominee.

They are exploiting changes to campaign laws and regulations that have allowed wealthy individuals and businesses to pool unlimited contributions into super PACs that in turn have inundated the airwaves with negative advertisements.

Mr. Friess’s chosen outlet, called the Red, White and Blue Fund, provided critical support for Mr. Santorum as he successfully sought to resuscitate his campaign with victories in Tuesday’s contests. At a time when Mr. Santorum could not afford to pay for a single commercial of his own, the Red, White and Blue Fund focused in particular on Minnesota, where the super PAC supporting Mr. Romney, Restore Our Future, broadcast a last-minute blitz of advertising against him, according to an analysis from Kantar Media/CMAG.

But Mr. Friess’s help could prove even more vital in the weeks ahead, as Mr. Santorum tries to capitalize on his upset victories on Tuesday to mount a more assertive challenge to Mr. Romney and to Newt Gingrich, who has an even more deep-pocketed supporter in the billionaire casino executive Sheldon Adelson, one of the richest men in country.

Michael Biundo, Mr. Santorum’s campaign manager, said the Red, White and Blue Fund had been helpful not just with television commercials but also with a phone bank operation that helped drive Santorum-friendly voters to the polls in Denver. While he said the campaign was receiving an influx of new donations after Tuesday’s victories, “anytime anybody wants to help us, we’ll take it.”

Mr. Friess’s personal Web site calls him “The Man Atop the Horse”; his father was a horse and cattle trader. He is relatively rare among the major backers of super PACs for his close association with the religious conservative movement. His Web site quotes Scripture, and he often says that God is “the chairman of my board.”

Friess rounded up a super-secret donor to give another cool million dollars-- presumably a Koch brother-- but he won't divulge the name. The other billionaire not hiding in the closet who's backing Santorum is crackpot right-wing ideologue and anti-gay sociopath, John Templeton, who inherited his wealth.

Templeton gave $250,000 to the pro-Santorum super PAC. He also gave $200,000 to Raising Red, a fund started by a former College Republican National Committee president and New York City Tea Party co-founder with the mission of attracting young people to defeating Obama. He is a long-time donor to Republican political groups and candidates.

Good video, but what a shame it cut off just when this Romney-plant asked the million dollar question: