Don’t Mess With Texas, Mr. Simmons! — Billionaire Propagandist Gives A Dump In West Texas

DALLAS, Texas He messed with Sen. John Kerry in 2004 and won. He messed with then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2008 but lost. Now, he is messing with Texas again! But will Harold Simmons win this time round? Well, it looks like the Dallas billionaire is well on his way.

Simmons is specifically taking advantage of a law passed by the Texas Legislature he successfully lobbied in 2003 that gives the green light for private corporations to move and store radioactive waste in Texas. His Waste Control Specialists LLC is estimated to generate billions of dollars in profit dumping low-level nuclear waste from across the United States on a 1,338-acre site in the rural West Texas county of Andrews. Over the next 30 years, Simmons could dump enough waste to half the volume of the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington.

Taking dumps isn’t anything new for the 77-year-old from Golden, Texas. He developed his fortune by selling off his chain of 100 pharmacy stores to the Eckerd Corporation for $50 million. From 1973 onward, he acquired companies by controlling interest in their equity and then borrowing money from banks to purchase the business. His skill at applying this “leveraged buyout” concept earned him the nickname “The Ice Man” in the 1980s and the repuation as one of the fathers of modern predatory capitalism.

Simmons is also a major Republican donor. He came with cash to the legal defense President Ronald Reagan’s aides involved in the Iran-Contra Scandal, Oliver North and John Poindexter. Currently, he is said to be Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s third largest campaign contributor. He has contributed also to Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and Attorney General Greg Abbott. He does have a few Democrats in his pocket, such as Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Waco) whom House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recommended as then-presidential candidate Obama’s pick for a vice president running mate.

Simmons is more recently infamous for financing to the tune of $4 million the Swift Boat propaganda campaign against Sen. Kerry during the 2004 presidential run. His $3 million spent to derail Sen. Obama’s presidential bid last fall were ultimately wasted; Simmons’ presidential pony Sen. John McCain lost.

“Even Fox [News] has refused to show his ads (sort of),” noted the Down With Tyranny blog last summer. “When Jesus talked about camels getting through the eyes of a needle he had Harold Simmons in mind. In South Africa Satan gave them Mark Scott-Crossley; in Texas, the Angel of Darkness cursed us with Harold Clark Simmons.”

And it’s not like Simmons has no money to burn. Actually, half of his money ($3 billion) has burned during this latest financial crisis, according to Forbes. In 2007, Simmons was Dallas’ “new leader in the battle of the billionaires,” The Dallas Morning News reported. His net worth $7.4 billion exceeded Electronic Data Systems Corp. founder H. Ross Perot ($4.4 billion) and owner of the Omni Hotels chain Robert Rowling ($6.4 billion) that year. Now, all the billionaires in Dallas are hurting. Simmons now has a $3.9 billion purse, though this still makes him one of the 50 richest men in America.

“That’s accurate,” Simmons told The News. “I’m just amazed it’s sunk so low. The market’s not really regarding values anymore, it’s more in a panic situation.”

Simmons is optimistic about his businesses returning to normal in the coming year. Yet, as his empire becomes healthier, it becomes more hazardous to our health. For example,