Gavin Aronsen

Reporter

Gavin is a Mother Jones reporter in the DC bureau.

Full Bio | Get my RSS | Follow @garonsen

Gavin is an Iowa native, and covered the 2008 first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses for the Ames Tribune. He has also contributed to the Agence France-Presse, Daily Beast, Iowa Independent, Manhattan Media, and Village Voice.

My Tussle With Breitbart, the Genius of Agitprop

—By Gavin Aronsen

| Fri Mar. 2, 2012 4:00 AM PST

Andrew Breitbart

I'm hardly the person to properly eulogize Andrew Breitbart, the right-wing provocateur who died unexpectedly yesterday at the age of 43. My only contact with him was brief, but revealing. Like so many others who found themselves in Breitbart's crosshairs, my interaction with him was through Twitter, where he hounded me to admit that the media had applied a double standard in its coverage of the tea party and the budding Occupy protest movement I'd been following in Oakland last fall. Insisting I was willfully ignoring the ugly reality of Oakland's tent camp, Breitbart sneered, "#OccupyOakland has so much promise beyond the violence, threats, misogyny & racism!"

I didn't take the bait, and our exchange turned into a light-hearted back-and-forth in which he declined my invitation to play soccer in San Francisco. "More of a baseball and football guy!" he tweeted back. "Moving. Fast. Or. Even. Slow. Not. My. Strong. Suit."

Offsides: Breitbart demurs to a invitation to a friendly soccer match. Offsides: Breitbart turns down an invitation to a friendly soccer match.Our brief correspondence angered at least one Occupier, who demanded to know why I had given Breitbart the time of day, or at least hadn't tried to savage him. Her reaction was indicative of Breitbart's simple genius, upon which his shock-jock journalism shop successfully, relentlessly trolls its political foes, who then unwittingly play into its hands. My first story on Occupy Oakland touched on this: By taking easy jabs at the left, Breitbart and his co-conspirators elicit hysterical reactions that reinforce whatever perceived hypocrisy they're assaulting.

Such a tactic isn't particularly novel, but it was the extent to which Breitbart flaunted boundaries—hijacking former Rep. Anthony Weiner's resignation press conference, screaming at Occupy CPAC protesters to "stop raping people!" (see video below)—that defied the tediousness of a Hannity or an O'Reilly. His outbursts were so outrageous that he often seemed unhinged. But he acted with purpose, reckless though it could be, and he was surprisingly effective. I wasn't the only one to suspect that the early reports of his death were another ploy until a coroner's report confirmed them.

[Read more in the MoJo blog]

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The "People" Behind the Super-PAC Explosion

No, not that kind of people. The Citizens United-approved corporate kind.

—By Gavin Aronsen and Dave Gilson

| Tue Feb. 7, 2012 4:00 AM PST

Since last January, super-PACs have raised nearly $93 million in preparation for the 2012 election. Of that, more than 35 percent was donated by corporations, unions, and nonprofits—or, as we've come to know them in the post-Citizens United era, people. Though non-people people have not dominated super-PAC giving (for now), their strong showing in the recent round of financial disclosures lends credence to campaign finance reformers' concerns that super-PACs enable cash-flush organizations to buy outsized influence over elections and candidates. The average corporate or union super-PAC donation was more than $62,000; in contrast, the average individual donation was around $23,500.

Of the $22.4 million collectively raised by the biggest 20 corporate and union super-PAC donors, 37 percent was from labor groups, which contributed to both liberal super-PACs and their own super-PACs. The rest was largely corporate donations to conservative super-PACs and groups supporting (but officially unconnected to) Republican presidential candidates. See the next page for a list of the biggest human donors to super-PACs—some of whose companies also appear on the list below.

Top 20 "People"* Giving to PACs

*As defined by Citizens United

1. Contran Corporation: A Dallas-based holding company owned by Harold Simmons. Owns Waste Control Specialists, which operates radioactive and hazardous waste disposal sites.
Donations: $3,000,000
Recipients: American Crossroads (Karl Rove's super-PAC), Make Us Great Again (pro-Perry super-PAC)

[Read the full article]

Koch Brothers Meet Again to Prep for "Mother of All Wars"

—By Gavin Aronsen

| Fri Feb. 3, 2012 4:00 PM PST

Last week, the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers held their latest get-together with wealthy conservative political donors. At these meetings, held twice a year under a veil of secrecy, Republican all-stars discuss election strategy and vet potential presidential candidates like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Last September, Mother Jones obtained exclusive audio recordings from a Koch seminar held outside Vail, Colorado, where Charles Koch had declared that the 2012 election would be "the mother of all wars" and thanked dozens of million-dollar donors who'd pledged to the cause.

According to a Huffington Post source, 250 to 300 guests attended the most recent event, which was held in Palm Springs, California. They included Citadel CEO Ken Griffin and casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who along with his wife has given a staggering $10 million to a pro-Newt Gingrich super-PAC. Guests reportedly pledged a total of $40 million to the effort to oust Obama, with Charles and David Koch promising an additional $60 million. But it wasn't all fun and games, the source said, as guests complained that recent meetings had focused more on "alpha male" anti-Obama chest-pounding than the strategy sessions for which they'd been known.

[Read more in the MoJo blog]

The Biggest Little GOP Donors in Texas

Everything's bigger in the Lone Star state—campaign contributions included.

—By Gavin Aronsen

| Mon Jan. 30, 2012 4:00 AM PST

Bob Perry, age 79
Est. net worth: $650 million
Source of wealth: Perry Homes, one of America's top homebuilders
2012 favorite: Has given $3.2 million to Rick Perry's gubernatorial bids, but sat on Mitt Romney's 2008 "Texas Leadership Team" and poured $500K into a Romney 2012 super-PAC
Dark-money potential: Extreme. In the 2004 cycle, he gave $4.45 million to Swift Boat Vets for Truth and $3 million to the Bush-aligned Progress for America Voter Fund. In 2006, he spent $5 million creating a free-market 527 group and gave $9.5 million to the Karl Rove-associated super-PAC American Crossroads.
Grab bag: He bankrolled every member of the Texas Supreme Court, which held up a couple's lawsuit claiming their Perry-built home was defective.

Harlan Crow, age 62
Est. net worth: Hundreds of millions
Source of wealth: Real estate; Crow Holdings
2012 favorite: Has given $180K to Rick Perry's gubernatorial campaigns since 2004—plus millions to state and national conservative causes. But Crow Holdings bundled $25K for long-shot GOP contender Jon Huntsman.
Dark-money potential: High. Crow, who sat on the founders' committee of the anti-tax think tank Club for Growth, gave $125K to the Swift Boat Vets circa 2004. He's also given nearly $900K to Texans for Lawsuit Reform and donated $500K to help the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas start a tea party group.
Grab bag: The gardens at Crow's $24 million estate feature statues of notorious historical figures like Mao, Stalin, and Gavrilo Princip—the assassin who sparked World War I.

Harold Simmons, age 80
Est. net worth: $9.3 billion
Source of wealth: Owns Contran Corporation (metals, chemicals, and waste management). Dubbed the "king of Superfund sites," he's lobbied Texas legislators to let him bury low-level radioactive waste despite water contamination risks.
2012 favorite: Has given $1.8 million to Rick Perry's gubernatorial bids since 2001; gave $100K to Perry's presidential PAC in 2011
Dark-money potential: Extreme. Besides doling out more than $1.9 million to Texans for Lawsuit Reform, Simmons has given $2 million to American Crossroads and $3 million to the Swift Boat Vets.
Grab bag: He was once sued by his family for allegedly involving them in illegal campaign donations.

Robert Rowling, age 57
Est. net worth: $4.7 billion
Source of wealth: Owns TRT Holdings (oil exploration, fitness, and Mexican dollar stores)
2012 favorite: Has donated to Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, and Rick Perry
Dark-money potential: Extreme. The former Bush Pioneer prefers "a pretty low profile" and has donated $5.3 million to American Crossroads. He's also given generously to state and national gopers—including $295K to the National Republican Senatorial Committee since 2007—and $362K to Rick Perry's gubernatorial bids.
Grab bag: In 2010, San Francisco franchises of Rowling's Gold's Gym denounced his donations to American Crossroads, which supports anti-gay candidates.

Sam Wyly, age 77
Est. net worth: $1 billion
Source of wealth: Tech investments starting with University Computing Company in 1963; also cofounded Maverick Capital, an $11 billion hedge fund
2012 favorite: He and his late brother, Charles, have given Rick Perry at least $440K since 2000. So far, nada to 2012 candidates.
Dark-money potential: Moderate. The brothers and their spouses have leaned mainstream GOP, giving $2.5 million to Republicans for Clean Air, $1.3 million to the RNC, $380K-plus to congressional GOP PACs, and $75K to the Republican Governors Association over 20 years. Also gave five figures to at least six Texas members of Congress.
Grab bag: Sam's fighting 2010 charges that he and Charles conducted insider trading and socked away more than $500 million in illegal offshore accounts.

One more biggie: "Black Gold for the GOP" profiles Trevor Rees-Jones, a top Texas GOP donor whom you've probably never heard of. Also check out, "How to Win Friends and Influence Elections," which charts the rarified social/charitable orbit shared by Dallas' top GOP power players.

Chart: How Texans Win Friends and Influence Elections

From charities to GOP dark-ops groups, these Texas megadonors share the same rarified circles.

—By Gavin Aronsen

| January/February 2012 Issue

For Dallas billionaire gas-driller Trevor Rees-Jones and his wife, Janice, philanthropy helped provide entry into an orbit of fabulously wealthy and politically connected Texans, where alliances are forged among givers to the same cherished causes. While riding in a golf cart with ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who serves as president of the Boy Scouts of America, Rees-Jones agreed to donate $25 million to the Scouts' Dallas chapter. He also gave $25 million to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and another $25 million to Parkland Memorial Hospital, a favorite of old-line GOP money men like Harold Simmons—a major backer of Gov. Rick Perry, Rove's American Crossroads, and the John Kerry-vanquishing Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. These details come from Josh Harkinson's "Black Gold for the GOP," which explains how Rees-Jones has emerged recently as one of the Republicans' top money men. The chart below details the ties between Rees-Jones and other conservative Texas socialites, charities, pols, and political-attack PACs. Also be sure and check out our roundup of "The Biggest Little GOP Donors in Texas."