Bain Still Uses The Romney Model To Loot And Wreck Companies

There's been a lot of talk about how Romney's experience in the private sector has made him especially unfit for any kind of government service. Certainly the Bain experience at Warner Bros. Records proved that to everyone at the company as they slashed and burned, dropped heritage artists, drained the company of capital, destroyed the concept of artist development, and left the whole institution a smoldering wreck. This week Jerry Del Colliano, editor of the Inside Music Media trade publication posted on how Bain continues to rob Clear Channel blind.

There is increasing evidence that Bain Capital in cahoots with Lee Capital Partners continues to pillage what was once a great radio company driving it deep into debt as it collects huge fees and makes unbelievable profits even as employees get sacrificed.

We’ve all known something is fishy but the details I am about to share are staggering.

The situation is getting worse even as I write this which means that you will be shocked and perhaps amazed at how deeply Clear Channel will have to further reduce its work force to keep paying its investment banks.

Bain is not creating jobs. 

It is robbing Clear Channel blind.

And ready to layoff large numbers of people, as you will soon read.

Here’s how bad things are and how Clear Channel employees are going to have to pay the price again-- soon.

...Let me tell you what questions will be answered:

1.  What Clear Channel will lose this year-- a whopping number and nowhere near the $1 billion it used to make.

2.  What owner/investment banks Lee and Bain make in fees every year. Go ahead and guess. You’re too low! I’ve not only got the accurate number but how much they made in fees in the first three months of 2012. Plus, when this sweet arrangement ends. (This is why you’re being laid off at Clear Channel!)

3.  How Lee and Bain came up with the money to do the original Clear Channel acquisition and how they plan on paying for it.

4.  The number of layoffs at Clear Channel since Lee & Bain took over – I’ve been looking for an accurate number and I’ve got it for you.

5.  Why Clear Channel is on the default list-- that’s right, default is expected and only 10% of the money they borrowed is likely to be recovered-- if that. This is incredible!

6.  Why shell-shocked employees don’t want to believe the massive layoffs that are yet to come.  As the Boy Scouts say “be prepared.”

The answers begin here.

And the rest is behind a paywall. But the billionaire sociopaths behind Romney know exactly what's behind that paywall... which is why they're going all out to finance his bid to take over the White House. Rolling Stones names 16 dangerous predators who are looking the use Romney to buy the U.S. government: William "the other brother" Koch ($4 billion), Harold Simmons ($9.8 billion), Bob Perry ($600 million), Jim Davis ($1.8 billion; stop buying New Balanced Shoes), Bill Marriott, Jr. ($1.7 billion), Edward Conrad (over a billion), Frank VanderSloot ($1 billion), Steven Lund ($31.9 million), Julian Robertson, Jr. ($2.5 billion), John Paulson ($12.5 billion), Paul Singer ($1 billion), Robert Mercer (secretive and dangerous predator who made $125 million in 2011 but has managed to hide his net worth), Kenneth Griffin ($3 billion), Francis Rooney III ($1.8 billion), and Steven Webster (billionaire).

Presidential politics has always been a rich man's game. But now, thanks to the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United that upended decades of limits on campaign donations, financing a presidential race is the exclusive domain of the kind of megadonor whose portfolios make Mitt Romney look middle-class. "I have lots of money, and can give it legally now," Texas billionaire and top GOP moneyman Harold Simmons recently bragged to the Wall Street Journal. "Just never to Democrats."

In past elections, big donors like Simmons gave millions for advocacy groups like Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. By law, such groups were only allowed to run issue ads-- but instead they directly targeted John Kerry, drawing big fines from the Federal Elections Commission. Now, with the blessing of the Supreme Court, the wealthy can legally hand out unlimited sums to groups that openly campaign for a candidate, knowing that their "dark money" donations will be kept entirely secret. The billionaire Koch brothers, for instance, have reportedly pledged $60 million to defeat President Obama this year-- but their off-the-book contributions don't appear in any FEC filings.

Even more money from megadonors is flowing into newly created Super PACs, which, unlike advocacy groups, can spend every cent they raise on direct attacks on an opponent. Under the new rules, the richest men in America are plying candidates with donations far beyond what Congress intended. "They can still give the maximum $2,500 directly to the campaign-- and then turn around and give $25 million to the Super PAC," says Trevor Potter, general counsel of the Campaign Legal Center. A single patron can now prop up an entire candidacy, as casino magnate Sheldon Adelson did with a $20 million donation to the Super PAC backing Newt Gingrich.

The undisputed master of Super PAC money is Mitt Romney. In the primary season alone, Romney's rich friends invested $52 million in his Super PAC, Restore Our Future-- a number that's expected to more than double in the coming months. This unprecedented infusion of money from America's monied elites underscores the radical transformation of the Republican Party, which has made defending the interests of 0.0001 percent the basis of its entire platform. "Money buys power," the Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman observed recently, "and the increasing wealth of a tiny minority has effectively bought the allegiance of one of our two major political parties." In short, the political polarization and gridlock in Washington are a direct result of the GOP's capitulation to Big Money.

That capitulation is evident in Romney's campaign. Most of the megadonors backing his candidacy are elderly billionaires: Their median age is 66, and their median wealth is $1 billion. Each is looking for a payoff that will benefit his business interests, and they will all profit from Romney's pledge to eliminate inheritance taxes, extend the Bush tax cuts for the superwealthy-- and then slash the top tax rate by another 20 percent. Romney has firmly joined the ranks of the economic nutcases who spout the lie of trickle-down economics. "Support from billionaires has always been the main thing keeping those charlatans and cranks in business," Krugman noted. "And now the same people effectively own a whole political party."

And as Glenn Greenwald put it on Twitter early this morning, "In a nation of whiny, self-pitying billionaires, the chronic bully Frank VanderSloot may be the most petulant of all." Ken Vogel has a fuller story at Politico on how the billionaires who are trying to buy the White House don't like being criticized for their perfidy. They claim they're being abused for their generosity. And if you use Melaleuca products, you are funding this dangerous anti-democracy predator.

VanderSloot is one of the loudest of the aggrieved mega-donors, announcing that his family’s privacy has been invaded and his health and home products company, Melaleuca, had lost hundreds of customers, and asserting the Obama campaign list and liberal websites have misrepresented his company and political activism.

He’s waged an aggressive response, making a series of appearances on the Fox News Channel in which he called for donations to Romney in protest of the list. He also spoke at a Heritage Foundation event in Washington this week. And he told Politico he intended to make additional donations to the pro-Romney super PAC each time something untruthful was published about him-- a plan he said his wife predicted could yield “several hundred thousand dollars” more in contributions.

The top lawyer for VanderSloot’s company has demanded corrections from media outlets writing about VanderSloot’s political activity. When one blogger emailed back, “I do not appreciate thinly veiled threats,” the lawyer responded, “We have been neither thin nor veiled. … Melaleuca is more than capable and willing to protect its reputation from false and defamatory statements as it sees fit.”

Plus, VanderSloot launched a website where he defends himself against what he calls attacks from “extreme, far left blog sites.”

Billionaires Should Get Fair Trials... Fair Is Always An Important Part Of Justice

What does it take to accumulate a billion dollars? I mean psychologically. What kind of people have the drive to devote themselves to that onerous task and what kind of people come out of inheriting it? Last year we looked at Johnson & Johnson heir Jamie Johnson's examination into the lives and psychologies of those born into great wealth. But yesterday I somehow wound up grappling with the inherited wealth of dangerous predators and sociopaths like Sheldon Adelson and Frank VanderSloot and the Koch brothers, who both inherited great wealth and then went on to increase it to levels where it has become a great danger to society and an existential threat to democracy. That's what these arrogant billionaires all have in common, in fact: their threat to society and democracy.

Yesterday Forbes was teasing a March profile on Adelson-- a criminal gambling magnate who should have been locked up long ago-- by reporting that he claims he might give Gingrich $100 million to help him buy the presidency. He whines to the interviewer that he's treated unfairly by his critics. “Those people are either jealous or professional critics. They like to trash other people. It’s unfair that I’ve been treated unfair-- but it doesn’t stop me. I might give $10 million or $100 million to Gingrich.”

Adelson, 78,  certainly can afford to: With a net worth of roughly $25 billion, that $11 million, which jolted Gingrich’s flatlining presidential bid back to life, equates to 0.044% of his fortune. For someone with a $1 million net worth, the equivalent would be $440, or a two-night stay at Adelson’s Venetian casino. Adelson could personally fund an entire presidential campaign-- say, $1 billion or so-- and not even notice.

That's a very dangerous flaw in how we govern ourselves. No individuals, especially not sociopaths, as almost all billionaires are by the nature of their billionaireness-- should be in a position to endanger society because they have gamed the system so they are basically untaxed. Eisenhower had it about right when his administration taxed people with this kind of wealth something like 90%. Anything less leaves society vulnerable to their whims and deprecations. Even Adelson realizes something is wrong with the very wealthy being able to buy out democracy and not even notice the expenditure. “I’m against very wealthy people attempting to or influencing elections. But as long as it’s doable I’m going to do it."

Glenn Greewald's courageous portrait of another crooked billionaire, Romney's finance bigwig Frank VanderSloot, paints a picture even more threatening to society. A pyramid scheme health supplements magnate from Idaho (Melaleuca) and rabid homophobe, VanderSloot is determined to seize the White House for his Mormon Church and Romney is the vehicle. He and his wife contributed immense amounts of money towards Prop 8 in California, denying equality to gay couples. And now he and his companies have given at least a million dollars to Romney's campaign. And, as Greenwald emphasizes in his story, VanderSloot has a predilection of threatening to sue anyone and everyone-- from Forbes to small time local bloggers-- who attempts to expose his shady practices in any way. He concludes that "Anyone who is the national finance co-chair of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign deserves probing, substantial scrutiny. That’s equally true of someone who continues to use their vast wealth to influence the outcome of our elections and our most inflammatory political debates. And it’s certainly true of someone who has made it a regular practice of threatening journalists, bloggers and activists who shine light on his political and business practices." One of the most legitimate functions of government is to protect society and individuals from powerful predators like VanderSloot. (Rachel Maddow reported on Vandersloot Monday night and it's embedded below.)

And that brings us to the Kochs, longtime right-wing financiers who have been thrust into the public eye more and more in the last couple of years as they've made a blatant power grab for neo-fascist, anti-democratic forces in America on a level not seen here since the attempted military coup against FDR by right-wing elites. Monday, Wisconsin's Democratic Party chairman, Mike Tate, exasperated with the Koch's meddling in his state, responded to Koch's threats against Wisconsin like this:

"I think I speak for most Wisconsinites when I say to David Koch, 'Get out of Wisconsin and take Scott Walker's dangerous agenda with you.' This disturbing interview shows a man in David Koch who believes that because of his wealth, he should be able to dictate what happens in a place he hopes to convert into a plantation state for his low-wage, low-benefits, no-rights companies. Wisconsin cannot let David Koch or Scott Walker buy Wisconsin and break our middle class."

This is what David Koch had to say about his efforts to basically purchase Wisconsin:

"What Scott Walker is doing with the public unions in Wisconsin is critically important. He's an impressive guy and he's very courageous," Koch says after a benefit dinner of salmon and white wine. "If the unions win the recall, there will be no stopping union power."

Asked about union comments, Koch's spokeswoman is quick to moderate them.

"Koch companies support voluntary associations, and where they so choose, we recognize employees' rights to be represented and bargain collectively," Nicholas says in emailed remarks.

"We think the best workplace relationships are fostered when the employer works directly with its employees. It is a mischaracterization of our principles to say this means we oppose unions or want to dismantle all unions."

Our Political Elites Shouldn't Be Poisoning Us So Private Companies Can Make Fatter Profits

Long before he ever reared his head as a politician, DWT came across dirty FBI agent/crime figure, "Mikey Suits" as part of our investigation into organized crime figure "Gus" Kontogiannis and Duke Cunningham. Today "Mikey Suits" is the Republican/Tea party freshman congressman from Staten Island, famous for financing his campaign almost entirely with illegal foreign contributions-- and for urging Boehner to allow Members of Congress to pack heat. But it wasn't until yesterday's general exposé of Grimm in the NY Times as a mobster-related businessman that I found out this one-man crime wave has also been involved in... health food.

Twelve years later, Mr. Grimm was back in business in New York, where he formed a company called Granny Sayz, L.L.C., which operated Healthalicious, a restaurant on Second Avenue near 83rd Street in Manhattan. The company was affiliated with a company now connected to Mr. Biton, the Grimm fund-raiser who is under investigation.

The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board last month ordered Healthalicious to pay $88,000 for not carrying workers’ compensation insurance. And in 2011, two former deliverymen retained a lawyer, Dan Knauth, asserting that the restaurant had paid them less than minimum wage, did not pay for work beyond 40 hours per week and paid cash to evade scrutiny.

Mr. Knauth said he contacted Mr. Grimm’s office about the complaints. Shortly afterward, Mr. Grimm filed papers with the state to dissolve his company, Granny Sayz.

On Dec. 1, the deliverymen sued the restaurant, Mr. Grimm and others.

The defendants have not responded in court. But the restaurant has engaged in maneuvers that make it more difficult to sue.

The restaurant’s legal name originally contained the word Healthalicious, with a C. Then in 2010, it was changed to Healthalitious NYC (with a T).

Finally, right after the lawsuit was filed, the restaurant changed its legal name again, to Healthalicious Upper East Side-- with a C.

It freaks me out that right-wing crooks like Grimm (and Romney national finance co-chair Frank VanderSloot, the billionaire crook behind Melaleuca) gravitate to selling bogus health products to an unsuspecting public. Is it any wonder their opposition to regulations goes beyond hysteria? Glenn Greenwald exposed VanderSloot at Salon this morning. Grimm's restaurant, long on the verge of bankruptcy has almost nothing to do with "health" other than the hype and, in fact, earned at least 30 healthcode violations. It isn't uncommon for criminal minds to sell conventionally grown food as "organic" and, knowing Grimm's shay dealings and crooked past, there's no question that I would fast before eating anything that came out of Healthalicious. But crooks like Michael Grimm-- whether part of organized crime of the petty-ante stuff-- isn't the biggest threat to the organic food movement at the moment.

Willie Nelson, President of Farm Aid, warns that “Corporate control of our food system has led to the loss of millions of family farmers, destruction of our soil…” and he's calling for the national Occupy movement to declare an “Occupy  the Food System” action.

Hundreds of citizens, (even including NYC chefs in their white chef hats) joined Occupy the Food System groups, ie Food Democracy Now, gathered outside the Federal Courts in Manhattan on  January 31st, to support organic family farmers in their landmark lawsuit against Big Agribusiness giant Monsanto. (Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association v. Monsanto) Oral arguments were heard that day concerning the lawsuit by 83 plaintiffs representing over 300,000 organic farmers, organic seed growers, and organic seed businesses.

The lawsuit addresses the bizarre and shocking issue of Monsanto harassing and threatening organic farmers with lawsuits of “patent infringement” if any organic farmer ends up with any trace amount of GM seeds on their organic farmland.

Judge Naomi Buckwald heard the oral arguments on Monsanto’s Motion to Dismiss, and the legal team from Public Patent Foundation represented the rights of American organic farmers against Monsanto, maker of GM seeds, [and additionally, Agent Orange, dioxin, etc.]

After hearing the arguments, Judge Buckwald stated that on March 31st she will hand down her decision on whether the lawsuit will move forward to trial.

Not only does this lawsuit debate the issue of Monsanto potentially ruining the organic farmers’ pure seeds and crops with the introduction of Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) seeds anywhere near the organic farms, but additionally any nearby GM fields can withstand Monsanto’s Roundup herbicides, thus possibly further contaminating the organic farms nearby if Roundup is used.


Of course, the organic farmers don’t want anything to do with that ole contaminated GM seed in the first place. In fact, that is why they are certified organic farmers.  Hello?  But now they have to worry about getting sued by the very monster they abhor,  and even have to spend extra money and land (for buffers which only sometimes deter the contaminated seed from being swept by the wind into their crop land). At this point, they are even having to resort to not growing at all the following organic plants: soybeans, corn, cotton, sugar beets, and canola, …just to protect themselves from having any (unwanted) plant that Monsanto could possibly sue them over.

The farmers are suffering the threat of possible loss of Right Livelihood. They are creating good jobs for Americans, and supplying our purest foods. These organic farmers are bringing Americans healthy food so we can be a healthy Nation, instead of the undernourished and obese kids and adults that President Obama worries so much about us becoming.

So what was President Obama doing when he appointed Michael Taylor, a former VP of Monsanto, as Sr. Advisor to the Commissioner at the FDA? The FDA is responsible for “label requirements” and recently ruled under Michael Taylor’s time as FDA Food Czar that GMO products did not need to be labeled as such, even though national consumer groups loudly professed the public’s right to know what is genetically modified in the food system. Sadly to remember: President Obama promised in campaign speeches that he would “let folks know what foods are genetically modified.” These are the conflict of interests that lead to the 99% movement standing up for the family farmers.

...Jim Gerritsen, President of the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association, has pointed out that there are 5th and 6th generation family farmers being pushed off their farms today, and because of a “climate of fear” (from possible lawsuits from Monsanto), they can’t grow some of the food they want to grow.

These farmers are the ones who have been able to survive the changes over the past twenty years by choosing to go into the budding niche of organic farming.  Now look at what they have to deal with while trying to grow successful businesses: Monsanto’s threats.

Even organic dairy farmers have had to suffer lawsuits ( from Monsanto) when they labeled their organic milk “non-BGH” referring to Monsanto’s bovine growth hormone used by conventional dairies.

Consumers want organic food, and they want America’s pure food source to stay protected in America.  Made in America, organically, is the way of the future, and family farmers and seed businesses should be free to maintain their high standards for organic foods.  They deserve protection from Big Agribusiness’ dangerous seeds trespassing on their croplands, not to mention the use of pesticides and herbicides on GM crops.  The organic industry has an “organic seal” which is also important to the success of family businesses, and even that stamp of quality is threatened by the spread of Monsanto’s GM seed contaminating their pure seed banks.

...It was so inspiring years ago when Michelle Obama planted an organic garden at the White House. It was a great precedent for the future, but what happened? It was ruined when they discovered sewer sludge from previous Administrations had contaminated their beautiful soil where the organic vegetables were planted. Just one small upset but it was remedied for future plantings. What about our whole country’s organic food supply being contaminated by previous Adminstrations’ bad choices? Why did they ever allow Monsanto to introduce genetically engineered seeds into our pure, organic, and heirloom stockpiles across America in the first place?

Recently, the Obama Administration, in an effort to boost food exports, signed joint agreements with agricultural biotechnology industry giants, including Monsanto, to remove the last barriers for the spread of more genetically modified crops.

But in this recent lawsuit filed by the Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association, it was argued that a previous contamination of a “genetically engineered variety of rice,” named Liberty Link 601, in 2006, before it was approved for human consumption, “extensively contaminated the commercial rice supply, resulting in multiple countries banning the import of U.S. rice.” The worldwide economic loss was “upward to $1.285 billion dollars” due to the presence of GMOs…

What are everyday Americans going to do to turn it around, to get rid of Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds and its dangerous threat to America’s heirloom and organic seed caches?

There is high rate of cancer in America, and eating healthier, especially organic foods, has been shown to have great benefits in beating cancer and other diseases.  When we have Agribusiness threatening independent family farmers, which leads to the farmers feeling so scared that they don’t even plant their organic crops that Americans need, then perhaps we can all see what the 99% Occupy Movement is trying to say about their conflict of interest and seemingly abuse of powers.

Willie Nelson just released a new poem on You Tube: “We stand with Humanity, against the Insanity, We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for… We’re the Seeds and we’re the Core,  We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for; We’re the ones with the 99%.”

Monsanto’s practices are a clear example of the wrong direction that the 99% want our country to go in. How about shining some light on Monsanto, and before it is too late, realize the dangers of genetically modified seeds which are contaminating the world’s food supply.

“Crazy, crazy for feeling so…  99%.

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: