Big Money: 2.5 Billion Dollars, One Suspicious Vehicle, and a Pimp-on the Trail of the Ultra-Rich Hijacking American Politics

by Kenneth P. Vogel

Mark Hanna -- the turn-of-the-century iron-and-coal-magnate-turned-operative who leveraged massive contributions from the robber barons -- was famously quoted as "There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can't remember what the second one is." To an extent that would have made Hanna blush, a series of developments capped by the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision effectively crowned a bunch of billionaires and their operatives the new kings of politics.

Big Money is a rollicking tour of a new political world dramatically reordered by ever-larger flows of cash. Ken Vogel has breezed into secret gatherings of big-spending Republicans and Democrats alike -- from California poolsides to DC hotel bars -- to brilliantly expose the way the mega-money men (and rather fewer women) are dominating the new political landscape.

Great wealth seems to attach itself to outsize characters. From the casino magnate Sheldon Adelson to the bubbling nouveau cowboy Foster Friess; from the Texas trial lawyer couple, Amber and Steve Mostyn, to the micromanaging Hollywood executive Jeffrey Katzenberg -- the multimillionaires and billionaires are swaggering up to the tables for the hottest new game in politics. The prize is American democracy, and the players' checks keep getting bigger.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 3, 2014

Reviews

[Smiley III · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must: no-one else would take you backstage like this (and, at that, even Vogel himself gets kicked out a lot, which he details) behind the meet-and-greets for the Players whose checks just happen to have six more zeros on them than your average friends' and neighbors'. What's interesting in a post-Citizens United world is how these sorts of "new rules" require upkeep by the participants, themselves, to the extent they can even keep a handle on them: witness Karl Rove's re-emerging from ashes just to cry like a spited baby when Romney loses ("bad form" was never really in his vocabulary — Vogel's own encounter with him coming out of a limo being a case in point, and entirely in keeping with everything else one's heard about The Spitemeister). Buy this, or borrow it from a friend: at last, the vertiginous heights are becoming visible! For all the good it does us poor sheep. (*ahem*)

[Donald Plugge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, there is big money in politics. Kenneth Vogel highlights a number of anecdotal stories, as well as empirical evidence to this point. The book gives you a sense of some of the players and the high of their pile of cash. Not sure what it all means. It would appear to be easier to stop the flow of water into a river, than to block the money funnel into politics. My sense is that most efforts to stem the tide are ineffective at best and damaging in the worst cases.

Being that the money will flow in, the best course of action comes down to transparency. Who is doing what!

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[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coyly intruding into big money donor events, the author does a good job at balancing the smear of Republican and Democratic candidate moneygrubbing in a post Citizens United and Koch brothers world. This is thorough and well-researched. Unfortunately for me, I grow weary from the exposes I have read of dismal state or today's politicking...

[Mary]

Too depressing to read the book. Read the Epilogue which just reinforced the messages from the book Dark Money which was about the Koch brothers vile and nefarious systematic efforts to take control of State houses and senates by Republicans as well as their judiciaries. Too much during pandemic .

[Bill Clarkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very scary assuming it is close to the truth. Regardless of which side of the aisle, big money controlling our future is frightening

[Uwe Hook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent and original book that does a wonderful job of explaining where national politics currently are and where they are heading.

Ken Vogel harkens back to the reporters of yesteryear who didn't just repeat PR spin and regurgitate press releases, but who actually hit the bricks and dove into stories. Vogel immersed himself in the world of Big Money politics and literally showed up at various events, fundraisers, etc (often being asked to leave) and really learned exactly what is going on behind the scenes.

The result is an eye opening look at just how rampant Big Money has become in national politics. The stories are rich in detail and quite entertaining. The world Vogel writes about is without question the 'new normal' and if you want to get educated about how the 2016 election is going to be decided, read this book. Highly recommend.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two quotations explain this book:

"Two things are important in politics: The first is money,... and I can’t remember the second." (Mark Hanna)

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"If god had intended campaign finance reform, he wouldn't have made it so boring." (Can't find source).

Somewhat interesting story about the mechanics of big money politics. The most interesting question is really the impact on the community of such spending (super pacs and other more complex private funding mechanisms), but that question is not addressed. The author suggests, persuasively, that the private funders have taken control over from political parties, resulting in a lack of command by people like Boehner, and gridlock is the result.

[Adam Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vogel, who writes for Politico, traces the origins of the increasing big money politics since the advent of Citizens United. It was good, in a personal account sort of way. He's a journalist, not a scholar, and so his book is largely about him trying to sneak into various Koch brothers events. He also documents the rise of big money on the left, which was refreshing as not as much work seems to have been done in this area, and his work shows why this is the case: there isn't nearly as much money on the left as on the right.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's description is a bit misleading. It says the author, Ken Vogel, "breezed into secret gatherings of big-spending Republicans and Democrats alike." Really, he just got kicked out of a lot of top donor events. And he didn't really uncover anything super-groundbreaking - someone who's pays above average attention to current events will know a lot of what Vogel reports. A good book, but overhyped and underwhelming.

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for naming names, amounts and paid for candidates and issues. Mandatory perspective on elections since 2010. A little unpolished and chaotic in the writing along the lines of Fear and Loathing but not as far out there or entertaining.

[Russ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ken Vogel nailed the inside story of outside money better than anyone else in Washington. Fascinating and full of revelations even for someone who covers this subject every day.