They arrived at Henderson Pavillion last week, dressed to the nines. A woman in a gown of pink sequins, a man in a sailor suit, carrying signs that read "No Billionaires Left Behind!" They arrived to show their support—and flaunt their wealth—as First Lady Laura Bush addressed the masses.
It's one stop of many for the members of Billionaires for Bush, who are travelling the country making appearances stumping for more tax cuts that benefit the rich, for corporations to take over more of the world and for oil—as much as their pal Dick Cheney can get them.
"Billionaires for Bush," reads their website (www.billionairesforbush.com), "is a grassroots network of corporate lobbyists, decadent heiresses, Halliburton CEOs, and other winners under George W. Bush's economic policies. Headquartered in Wall Street and with over 60 chapters nationwide, we'll give whatever it takes to ensure four more years of putting profit over people. After all, we know a good president when we buy one." It's a 527 group—much like Swiftboat Veterans for Truth—whose goal lies in denouncing the common man and promoting the upper echelon.
Their logo is a piggy bank overflowing with cash. Something that Las Vegas resident Ham Jenkins III says "is very similar to my bank account." Jenkins, who goes by Ray D. Treasury, is heading the local Billionaires for Bush contingent, which he says is five-strong, with about 20 more interested in being accepted. Jenkin's main goal, at the moment, is privatizing the Middle East. Something that, thanks to Halliburton, they've already gotten a head start on. He's so excited that he begins sweating at the prospect of building a strong network of McDonalds and Wal-Marts to bring more freedom to the Iraqi people. Of course, sweating is easy when you're sitting outside a Starbucks on a hot afternoon wearing a crisply starched dress shirt, a thick blue tie, leather shoes and a suit that appears to be a generic black one, but that Jenkins points out is actually made of spotted owl. "And, of course, this will make the environmentalists mad. But to them I say, go back to hugging trees, etcetera," he cackles.
Jenkins tosses around slogans like "Four more wars!" and "More Blood for More Oil!" He tells of a man inside the coffee shop who questioned what Billionaires for Bush was and cheered when Jenkins enlightened him. He launches into stories about the oil parties that billionaires throw, spilling the Middle-Eastern commodity throughout their gilded homes. Then he questions just who the Las Vegas Weekly is, and threatens to purchase it, and after that he admits to being laid off from his time-share job earlier that day. ("I called my stockbroker," he says, consoled. "It's OK.") Because he's on a tight schedule and time is money, our meeting ends abruptly. But only after an enlightening game of word association.
Ketchup: I don't know this ketchup you talk of. Is that some sort of medicine poor people use?"
Dick Cheney: "Innocent."
Ken Lay: "Should be left alone."
The American Dream: "Paid for by yours truly."
Universal health care: "I spend so much of my time keeping myself insured, I don't think it's necessarily prudent to give the whole universe health care, without, obviously, cutting into my bottom line."
Mother Theresa: "Not too aware. Is she a peasant? No, she makes the syrup, right? Syrup's good."
Made in China: "That's a wonderful thing."
Gold: "Beautiful. That's the color of my house."
Child-labor laws: "Insignificant."
National Parks: "Need to be mined."
John Kerry: "The poor man's president."