"They Have Found The Enemy, And It Is Koch"

Weigel is on the ground in Wisconsin. He contrasts the anti-Koch mood of the protesters with the Kochs' political donations:

How can we judge how deep the Kochs' influence runs? That New York Times story points out that all Koch-affiliated companies and employees gave about $1.84 million to Republicans, nationwide, in the 2010 election cycle. Americans for Prosperity, the nonprofit Tea Party-organizing group co-founded by David Kochhe's still on the boardhad a $40 million budget in 2010. (On Tuesday AFP announced a $342,000 ad buy supporting Walker.) Nationally, the labor movement spent far, far more than this. To take one example, AFSCME, whose green-shirted members have made their presence known in Madison, spent $87.5 million on the election.

 So why do they attract such animosity?

Partly because [the Kochs] do have some influence, and partly, as the Assembly Democrats kept goading Republicans, because they are shadowy "New York billionaires."