Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger

In light of Elaine’s excellent discussion of the radical voting record of Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential pick, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, I got to thinking just why would Romney pick such a radical Congressman to be be his Vice President? I understand that Mr. Romney would want an individual who has conservative credentials to improve his standing within his own adopted party and within the Tea Party.  But Mr. Ryan has serious baggage with his now infamous Ryan Budget that attacks the middle class and the poor, all for the purpose of retaining and enlarging tax cuts for the wealthy. Why would Mitt take on Ryan’s baggage when he is facing challenges on his lack of transparency on his tax returns?

It seems that the answer to those questions may all relate back to the Koch Brothers and the princely sum of $100 Million dollars!

According to long time Republican operative, Roger Stone, the Koch Brothers may have “purchased” the Vice Presidential choice from the Romney campaign for a promise to spend $100 Million in various Republican Super Pac funds and the so-called C-4 funds to attack the Obama campaign and support the Romney/Ryan ticket!   “Here is how Stone led his latest post, headlined “The Paul Ryan Selection, “which also delivers an amusing swipe at a certain Fox News analyst:

I’ve waited a few days to lay out my analysis of the selection of Paul Ryan for the VP slot on the Romney ticket. Unlike politicos like Dick Morris who badmouths the selection privately and shills for it publicly, I’ll tell you what I really think. My sources tell me David Koch played a key role in Ryan’s selection and that Koch’s wife Julia had been quietly lobbying for Ryan. The selection was cemented at the July 22nd fundraiser Koch held for Romney at the former’s sumptuous Hamptons estate. Koch pledged $100 million more to C-4 and Super PAC efforts for Romney [in exchange] for Ryan’s selection.”  National Memo

I understand that one has to take what Mr. Stone says with a grain of salt because he has been an insider political operative for decades, and maybe he has a grudge against Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and/or the Republican Party.  One thing that is known is that the Koch Brothers have been big supporters of Paul Ryan and his attacks on the middle class and the poor. “The vice presidential nominee’s campaign finance record is not without some minor controversy. To begin with, he has long been a favorite of the libertarian billionaires Charles and David Koch. Before entering Congress, Ryan worked with a conservative group that would eventually merge with a Koch brothers’ group to become FreedomWorks, a leading sponsor of the Tea Party movement. Their mutual interests in libertarianism could explain why the private energy corporation Koch Industries has given Ryan more than $65,000 over his career”  US News and World Report

One writer claims that the Romney choice of Ryan is not only because of the big money supporting Ryan as a Vice President choice, but also because of a long struggle against the gains made by the Left since the late 60’s and early 1970’s.  “Paul Ryan’s selection as Mitt Romney’s running mate is the present culmination of more than two centuries of war on democracy and – in modern times – on the specific gains made through political struggle during the Roosevelt administration after the devastation caused by the Great Depression and on those specific gains for civil rights codified into law during the Great Society under Lyndon Johnson.”  Truthout

The Koch Brother’s father was the founder of the John Birch Society who could be called a bigot for some of his incendiary comments against minorities.  “As the progenitor of the Koch family, the elder Koch candidly and unabashedly wrote, “the colored man looms large in the Communist plan to take over America,” and “welfare was a secret plot to attract rural blacks to cities, where they would foment a vicious race war”).”  Truthout     Do the Koch Brothers agree with their father’s statement and is their choice of Ryan related to what they believe Ryan’s legislation and budget will do to harm minorities and women?

The Koch Brothers have funneled millions into various Super Pacs and Right Wing causes, but now if Mr. Stone and the op-ed on Truthout are to be believed, they have may have actually purchased the selection of their own Vice Presidential candidate.   Is this choice a continuation of the out of control election spending that was brought on by the controversial Citizens United decision?  Or is the Ryan selection a building block in the framework to attack social programs by the same moneyed interests that will benefit by the curtailing of these programs to allow for even greater tax breaks?

What do you think?