Two TX Megadonors Pushing State GOP Far, Far Right

Great CNN article from yesterday about two far right megadonors - Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks - are playing a statewide Koch Brothers game. Some portions of the story below, but it's worth reading the whole thing. These asswipes are truly from GileadLand.

"While the Lone Star State has long been a bastion of Republican politics, new laws and policies have taken Texas further to the right in recent years than it has been in decades. Elected officials and political observers in the state say a major factor in the transformation can be traced back to West Texas. Two billionaire oil and fracking magnates from the region, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, have quietly bankrolled some of Texas' most far-right political candidates -- helping reshape the state's Republican Party in their worldview."

Interested in hearing from TX DLer's. More below.

"The beneficiaries of the energy tycoons' combined spending include the farthest-right members of the legislature and authors of the most high-profile conservative bills passed in recent years, according to a CNN analysis of Texas Ethics Commission data. Dunn and Wilks also hold sway over the state's legislative agenda through a network of non-profits and advocacy groups that push conservative policy issues.

Critics, and even some former associates, say that Dunn and Wilks demand loyalty from the candidates they back, punishing even deeply conservative legislators who cross them by bankrolling primary challengers. Kel Seliger, a longtime Republican state senator from Amarillo who has clashed with the billionaires, said their influence has made Austin feel a little like Moscow."

"Former associates of Dunn and Wilks who spoke to CNN said the billionaires are both especially focused on education issues, and their ultimate goal is to replace public education with private, Christian schooling. Wilks is a pastor at the church his father founded, and Dunn preaches at the church his family attends. In their sermons, they paint a picture of a nation under siege from liberal ideas.

"The cornerstones of our government are crumbling and starting to come apart," Wilks declared in a 2014 sermon at his insular church, the Assembly of Yahweh 7th Day. 'And it's because of the lack of morality, the lack of belief in our heavenly Father.'"