Harry Reid battles the Romney-Adelson ticket

By Brent Budowsky - 08/07/12 09:33 AM ET

Three cheers for Harry Reid's roundhouse punch against Mitt Romney's efforts to hide his legal tax avoidance that was enabled by those in the 1 percent who bought tax laws enacted by their lobbyists between fundraisers for politicians who voted for them. And now we know Mitt Romney's real vice president, Sheldon Adelson, whose power is a gift to privilege that is the legacy of Chief Justice Roberts and Citizens United. Romney seems to believe he can buy the presidency. Adelson seems to believe he can buy president. Mitt Romney is the candidate now on sale.

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote that the rich are different from you and me. This was only partially true. Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett stand for the rich who earned it, and gave it back through products or services that helped their customers. Mitt Romney stands for something else. Romney is the noblesse without the oblige, winning a portion of his wealth by destroying jobs for Americans, outsourcing the prosperity of America and avoiding paying his fair taxes to America. The great debate about Romney is not about whether he did these things, but how much he did them.

I will not enter the discussion about various investigations now under way about Adelson. I do not have any facts. I will say Adelson has been looking for a president to buy. He bought Gingrich futures; now he buys Romney futures. The question for whomever Adelson purchases (in this case Romney, who fawns over Adelson) is what Romney is selling to get the money and what Adelson is buying by spending the money.

Enter Harry Reid. Reid is not only a former boxer, he is a closet populist in a town run by big money. When Reid criticized Alan Greenspan, the former Fed chairman then sainted and canonized in salons from Washington to Wall Street, it was called a gaffe. In those days Reid and yours truly were virtually alone warning about Greenspan. Greenspan was wrong; Reid was right. Greenspan has significantly recanted certain aspects of his Ayn Rand monetarism that later destroyed the economy, yet media elites still call Reid's wise warning a gaffe!

Does Harry Reid fight by the Marquess of Queensberry rules? No way. Thank God. Harry Reid is the great equalizer.

Mitt Romney is a Fitzgerald caricature of a certain kind of rich. Anyone can be a bully when five buddies hold the victim down. Harry Reid is far more Hemingway, the rough-edged boxer who is the salt of the earth.

Everyone who reads my columns knows I am partial to Hemingway. I would bet on Harry as Hemingway before Mitt as Fitzgerald eight days of the week.

In the meantime, make no mistake. Mitt Romney's true running mate is Sheldon Adelson. The big question is how much of Romney is Romney is selling, to give Adelson what Adelson is buying?