Apollo Global Management bankrupt two of Maine’s largest paper mills, selling them for scraps and wiping out more than 1,000 jobs. Now the CEO is cutting checks to keep Susan Collins in office.
Excellent report on the shenanigans of private equity firms -- and their stooges, like Susan Collins.
One other takeaway from the billionaire funders of the "Pine Tree Results" SuperPAC: Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Elliott Management CEO Paul Singer, Palantir CEO Alex Karp, and others -- these are the corporate pro-Israel billionaires who work in the shadows, especially Palantir.
As anti-Israel sentiment grows among most Americans, AIPAC is funneling money to campaigns under pseuodnyms because the AIPAC name is radioactive. So now we can expect other outfits like Pine Tree to pop up in different states, doing the work that AIPAC does, i.e., shilling for Israel.
I hope Drop Site and others can out these corporate handmaidens of Israel trying to run our country.
Private equity didn’t just “fail” Maine’s mill towns — it strip‑mined them. Apollo extracted hundreds of millions, left two communities in ruins, and now its CEO is pouring money into a super PAC to preserve the political conditions that made the extraction possible. This isn’t an accident or a tragedy. It’s a business model, and Maine was one of its most profitable test sites.
SEN Collins I quote "Reports state AIPAC collected contributions from hundreds of donors for her, in addition to direct donations, highlighting strong financial support." That is enough for a thumbs down from me. (She's pro genocide)
Great expose of corporate trashing of Maine. Ralph Nader describes Private Equity as Corporate Raiders. He spent his recent radio hour with Megan Greenwell author of BAD COMPANY:."private equity and death of American Dream". The vultures shut down the busy Sears store in the center of town where I live, the toy store, the fabric store but not yet the hospital because it is faithful nonprofit . I wonder what the Raiders hope their AI data investments will provide for other than more theft and some robo nut suckers for entertainment? F them
History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes. The Palco story in Humboldt County Ca is exactly the same kind of scam; in 20 years the woods were raped, and a thriving company and town were gutted and sold for parts, basically, while the corporate raiders laughed all the way to the bank. This particular Murder was a Charles Hurwitz/Michael Milken scam.
Remember when Susan Collins said of Trump, “I think he’s learned his lesson.” Well, both he and she learned the lessons that anything goes in the pursuit of self serving corruption.
Thank you, Nathan Bernard! This is a great piece, even getting pictures of the shutdown from 2014! It feels like most of our media just tries to distract us from the big picture instead of keying us into who is benefiting over the long term. Private equity should be illegal. This entire process, from 2006 to the present, did not create any wealth for Americans. Instead, private equity was legally allowed to gut and extract wealth from a business that was supporting thousands of regular peoples' lives. In terms of moral language, this is evil. Pure and simple. And Susan Collins is a cold-blooded scammer. It's disgusting that she is willing to profit off the suffering of her own people so blatantly.
Excellent report on the shenanigans of private equity firms -- and their stooges, like Susan Collins.
One other takeaway from the billionaire funders of the "Pine Tree Results" SuperPAC: Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Elliott Management CEO Paul Singer, Palantir CEO Alex Karp, and others -- these are the corporate pro-Israel billionaires who work in the shadows, especially Palantir.
As anti-Israel sentiment grows among most Americans, AIPAC is funneling money to campaigns under pseuodnyms because the AIPAC name is radioactive. So now we can expect other outfits like Pine Tree to pop up in different states, doing the work that AIPAC does, i.e., shilling for Israel.
I hope Drop Site and others can out these corporate handmaidens of Israel trying to run our country.
Go Platner!
Private equity didn’t just “fail” Maine’s mill towns — it strip‑mined them. Apollo extracted hundreds of millions, left two communities in ruins, and now its CEO is pouring money into a super PAC to preserve the political conditions that made the extraction possible. This isn’t an accident or a tragedy. It’s a business model, and Maine was one of its most profitable test sites.
SEN Collins I quote "Reports state AIPAC collected contributions from hundreds of donors for her, in addition to direct donations, highlighting strong financial support." That is enough for a thumbs down from me. (She's pro genocide)
Great expose of corporate trashing of Maine. Ralph Nader describes Private Equity as Corporate Raiders. He spent his recent radio hour with Megan Greenwell author of BAD COMPANY:."private equity and death of American Dream". The vultures shut down the busy Sears store in the center of town where I live, the toy store, the fabric store but not yet the hospital because it is faithful nonprofit . I wonder what the Raiders hope their AI data investments will provide for other than more theft and some robo nut suckers for entertainment? F them
Thank you!
History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes. The Palco story in Humboldt County Ca is exactly the same kind of scam; in 20 years the woods were raped, and a thriving company and town were gutted and sold for parts, basically, while the corporate raiders laughed all the way to the bank. This particular Murder was a Charles Hurwitz/Michael Milken scam.
I really hope the country can wake up in time to prevent a permanent disaster. We have to stop these people.
Keep up the great work,DropSite! And LFG, Plattner!
Remember when Susan Collins said of Trump, “I think he’s learned his lesson.” Well, both he and she learned the lessons that anything goes in the pursuit of self serving corruption.
Thank you, Nathan Bernard! This is a great piece, even getting pictures of the shutdown from 2014! It feels like most of our media just tries to distract us from the big picture instead of keying us into who is benefiting over the long term. Private equity should be illegal. This entire process, from 2006 to the present, did not create any wealth for Americans. Instead, private equity was legally allowed to gut and extract wealth from a business that was supporting thousands of regular peoples' lives. In terms of moral language, this is evil. Pure and simple. And Susan Collins is a cold-blooded scammer. It's disgusting that she is willing to profit off the suffering of her own people so blatantly.
Thanks, Ritter! I agree with everything you said.
Are all the rogue financiers Jewish or does it just seem that way?
Gotta say...I like Platner.
Same thing going on in California - checks probably going to Becerra
https://commonsense401kproject.com/2026/04/26/calpers-esg-failure/
Dynamite report on the abuses committed by private equity firms--& the politicians that protect them.
Keep up the muck-raking!
Thank you for reporting on the scourge of our time - rampant capitalism