Bernie and the billionaires.

• Author: Hightower, Jim
• Position: Bernie Sanders, campaign finance - Vox Populist

I have some statistics for you. Wait ... don't run away! Where are you going? Come back here and sit still while I drill these stats into your head! It'll be fun, and you'll learn something.

I realize that numbers can numb the brain, but this is a good story, and I promise that these statistics are easy to absorb. It's a story of political intrigue and corruption involving some of America's wealthiest families and corporations, and it starts with the number 400.

That's the number of ultra-rich right-wingers that the conniving Koch brothers bring together twice-yearly to plot strategies and pledge money for electing politicos who'll support their dream of corporate rule in America.

For the 2016 elections, the Kochs have already committed nearly a billion dollars to impose their vision of plutocracy on our democratic ideals-double the combined amount that the Republican and Democratic parties will spend. I wonder what they think they're getting for that price?

Keep that 400 number in mind when I offer my sincerest congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class America, since they are all the rage in this presidential contest. Jeb, Hillary, and all the rest--even The Donald--say their campaigns are about the hurting middle class that hasn't yet recovered from the Great Recession. But after they all promise to do the most for the Great Mass of the Middle Class, they scurry off to schmooze with the exclusive club of multimillionaires and billionaires who are shoveling big bucks into their campaigns.

Super PACs are racking up tens of millions of dollars to back the various presidential candidates. Fewer than 400 families--each writing checks for hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars--have put up nearly half of the money raised in the campaign so far.

Jeb Bush got a million dollars each from twenty-six of his Super PAC backers; Hillary Clinton took a million each from nine funders; of the...