Take Charles and David Koch, two multi-billionaire brothers whose life of privilege and bloated sense of entitlement have turned them into such spoiled brats that they cant even take a joke. Last December, the Kochs oil operations became the object of a spoof by a merry band of tricksters called Youth for Climate Truth.

For me, the most significant statistic coming out of this year's Super Bowl was not the 31-25 score in the Green Bay Packers' hard-fought victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nor was it the $1.3 billion cost of the new, monstrously huge football palace built by the Dallas Cowboys, where the game was played.

Back when DeLay was the GOP's corrupt majority leader, he got caught hustling campaign funds from an energy corporation whose legislation he then helped pass.

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journal last year, and in short order he has turned it into a tongue-clucking sympathizer with and proselytizer for the biggest of big businesses not only on its editorial pages, but also in its news stories.

Take the Combat Meth Act of 2004. It prompted various states to set up electronic systems for limiting and tracking sales of pseudoephedrine, the widely used cold medicine.

Chances are that an art museum, symphony hall, university building or other public edifice in your area is emblazoned with the name of some prominent rich man. His name is up there in shiny brass, we're told, because he's a model citizen for all to emulate.

The former spinmeister for Bill Clinton left the White House to become a high-dollar influence peddler for corporations. Recently, however, Davis' client list has gone from merely corporate to as one of his adversaries calls it almost unseemly tawdry.

AT&T, which sponsored the luncheon where the guv held forth, has beaucoup business before the Texas state government and is a half-million-dollar donor to Perry's gubernatorial campaigns. They're tight. So tight that the corporation shelled out $13,000 to buy 700 copies of the governor's book, giving them to every attendee.

Good! The phrase suggests great quality, strong environmental stewardship and a commitment to keeping our food dollars in the local economy. If you support the local-economies movement, as I do, no doubt youll be thrilled to hear that a new, local food store is coming soon to your neighborhood.

No, no, the most insistent demand for attention is coming from way above the poor and the middle class. Believe it or not, its the CEOs of Americas biggest corporations and the top bankers of Wall Street whore stamping their little Gucci-clad feet, bawling that they should be getting more love and support from the president.