Billionaire Money in the 2022 Election
New analysis finds that 465 billionaires had pumped $881,000,000 into the 2022 federal midterm elections by October.
A new analysis by Americans for Tax Fairness finds that 465 billionaires had pumped $881,000,000 into the 2022 federal midterm elections by October. That's 27x more than they contributed before Citizens United was decided.
By the time this cycle is over, their donations could climb to $1 billion.
3/4 of that $881 million is coming from just 20 billionaire households. And 59% of it is going to Republican PACs and candidates.
Top donors include Richard & Elizabeth Uihlein, Ken Griffin, Jeffrey Yass, Peter Thiel, and George Soros.
Billionaires represent 0.000002% of the American population, but they're responsible for 7.4% of all political donations so far this cycle. These contributions aren't just drowning out voters' voices—billionaires are betting they're going to make great returns on investment.
Just look at the Uihlein family and Diane Hendricks. These billionaires spent $20 million to get Ron Johnson reelected in 2016. Their influence was rewarded with a special tax break secured by Johnson that saved them $80 million in taxes in 2018 alone.
The Uihleins have donated $67 million to Republican PACs and candidates so far this election cycle. Diane Hendricks has donated $22.6 million. (A lot of that is going to help reelect Johnson.)
The richest man in Pennsylvania, Jeffrey Yass, has managed to avoid $1 billion in taxes in recent years. Is it any wonder he puts his millions toward electing those who are committed to cutting taxes for billionaires and stopping the IRS from auditing the rich?
Yass has donated over $47 million to Republican PACs and candidates so far this election cycle.
Take a look at Ken Griffin. He spent $50 million to defeat a ballot initiative in Illinois that would have made the wealthy pay more of their fair share in taxes. The tax could have cost him $51 million a year. It's all about return on investment.
Griffin has donated over $66 million to Republican PACs and candidates so far this election cycle.
All of this is just another example of why we need a billionaires income tax. Billionaires are getting richer and richer at the expense of the rest of us. Many are paying a low federal income tax rate and using their untaxed millions to install officials who will do their bidding.
There is something seriously dangerous going on when billionaires are buying social media platforms, news outlets, and politicians. These same billionaires got $2 trillion richer in the first two years of the pandemic. Tax. Them.