Peter Schweizer on How Warren Buffett Uses Politics to Make Money

Warren Buffett is often seen as a grandfatherly figure above the rough-and-tumble of politics. He lives in Omaha, Nebraska, in a house he purchased in 1958 for $31,000. He made a fortune for himself and his investors through the humble-sounding approach of value-based investing. He uses folksy expressions. He frequently takes to the nation's op-ed pages with populist-sounding arguments, such as his August 2010 plea in The New York Times for the government to stop "coddling" the "super-rich" and start raising their taxes.

But as Peter Schweizer observes, this grandfatherly image does not always reflect reality. Warren Buffett is very much a political entrepreneur; his best investments are often in political relationships. In recent years, Buffett has used taxpayer money as a vehicle to even greater profit and wealth. Indeed, the success of some of his biggest bets and the profitability of some of his largest investments rely on government largesse and "coddling" with taxpayer money.