NEW: Mega rich keep pouring money into Senate GOP super PAC.
Charles Schwab and Paul Singer each gave SLF $3 million in October.
Stephen Schwarzman, Walter Buckley, and Warren Stephens each gave $2 million.
American Petroleum Institute, Ken Langone gave $1 million.
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) October 27, 2022
Billionaire Warren Stephens, heir to and CEO of the Little Rock-based Stephens Inc. financial empire, turns up regularly on the lists of megadonors to Republican candidates and issues. He also tossed $75,000 in chump change to a local prosecutor candidate opposing a George Soros-backed suspected judicial reformer. So what’s a few more million here or there?
I bring it up because the Little Rock City Board has already budgeted $500,000 to pay an architect to design a parking deck that would amount to taxpayer-subsidized parking for employees of the billionaire. If approved (and it looks pre-cooked), he’ll get his money back for property he razed of occupied commercial buildings he’d purchased at 2nd and Louisiana. Then he’ll get all the parking he needs at a city-subsidized monthly rate. Money from the city’s general revenue pot — including privilege licenses, parking meter revenue and parking ticket fines — will keep the price down for Stephens Inc. employees. The city will pay tens of millions to repay the bonds necessary to build the deck.
If Stephens can spend $2 million on Republican Senate candidates, is it too much to ask of the city of Little Rock to have him pay for his own parking lot?
