The Rightwing Koch Brothers fund the DLC -- article from '06

[CrossChris]

I saw this posted elsewhere recently, and thought this was very interesting to revisit:

http://www.democrats.com/node/7789

The Rightwing Koch Brothers fund the DLC

Do deep-pocketed "philanthropists" necessarily control the organizations they fund? That has certainly been the contention of those who truck in conspiracy theories about the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations funding liberal and neo-liberal organizations. As for the rightwing, journalists such as Joe Conason and Gene Lyons uncovered that the "vast right wing conspiracy" -- or the New Right network of think tanks, media outlets and pressure groups -- was marshalled under rightwing billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife for his Get-Clinton campaign. Prior to the work of Conason and Lyons, Russ Bellant extensively documented in "The Coors Connection" how the Coors Family, Scaife and other wealthy rightwingers have funded the New Right movement since the early '70's. Among these rightwing benefactors are the Koch brothers. But the Kochs have been working both sides of the fence. As Bill Berkowitz writes, the Koch brothers have also been funding the Democratic Leadership Council.

According to SourceWatch, a project of the Center for Media & Democracy, the brothers are "leading contributors to the Koch family foundations, which supports a network of Conservative organizations and think tanks, including Citizens for a Sound Economy, the Manhattan Institute the Heartland Institute, and the Democratic Leadership Council."

Charles Koch co-founded the Cato Institute in 1977, while David helped launch Citizens for a Sound Economy in 1986.

This is no less stunning than if Scaife or the Coors family were funding the DLC. So do the Kochs just throw money at the DLC -- as long as the Council supports a free-market" (i.e. unrestricted/unregulated corporate power) agenda that the Kochs generally agree with. Or is it more than just that -- does this really buttress what Greens and other disaffected liberals contend -- that the DNC has just become a party of "Republicrats", thanks especially to the DLC? They would say that corporate backers like the rightwing/libertarian Kochs have co-opted the Democratic establishment -- a hostile takeover of (what was once) the opposition. (continued)

[Boswell]

1. just out of curiosity...

were any of the DLC members at the meeting where Walker and other repthuglican't Govenors plotted how to destroy their respective states?

[RandomKoolzip]

2. But didn't the DLC throw some support toward the Wisconsin unions recently?

[Bardley]

3. this is perhaps the key political issue of our time

not the koch angle, but the DLC sourcing

they're totally for sale - to the highest bidder (hint, that isnt you, traditional democratic voter)

i would volunteer to clean out bill gates horse barn on weekends before i'd support the dlc, because it's the same thing, only i'd get more fresh air

[Bardley]

4. .....

[Hutzpa]

5. Thank God DLC is no longer around.

:puke:

[HereSince1628]

10. Yeah, praise god they changed their name

I'm afraid the members are still around.

For me a person who was a DLCer is forever tainted.

It's sort of the same way I feel about former members of the KKK.
May God have mercy on the late Sen. Byrd, cuz on that issue I don't.

[Bardley]

12. things like that NEVER go away, they only change their names

the DLC ended the democratic party, for all practical purposes

both parties are 2 wings of the same bird

[Citizen Worker]

28. Don't delude yourself. The DLC is still around and busy dismantling what little remains of the

democratic party. The DLC has morphed into the Third Way, and No Labels.

[Hutzpa]

32. I know the DLC have not gone

all they've done is circumvent into something else.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

34. We wish.

Mission accomplished for them.

[bvar22]

38. ?...The DLC did NOT just go away.

The DLC WON Big Time in 2008!


The DLC New Team

(Screen Capped from the DLC Website)

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=254886&kaid=86&subid=85

Like all cold blooded reptiles, they have merely shed their skin and will emerge BIGGER & STRONGER.
The "DLC is over" meme is merely re-branding for better marketing.

"The greatest accomplishment of the devil was convincing the World he didn't exist."---Verbal Kent, The Usual Suspects



"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone


"By their works you will know them."

[mod mom]

6. Thanks, and here is Fresh Air's interview w Jane Mayer on the Koch Bros:

August 26, 2010
Chances are you've never heard of Charles and David Koch. The brothers own Koch Industries, a Kansas-based conglomerate that operates oil refineries in several states and is the company behind brands including Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups, Georgia-Pacific lumber, Lycra fibers and Stainmaster carpet. Forbes ranks Koch Industries as the second-largest privately held company in the U.S. — and the Koch brothers themselves? They're worth billions.

And in the past 30 years, they've funneled more than $100 million into dozens of political organizations, many of which are trying to steer the country in a more libertarian direction. Among the organizations they've backed are the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank that has recently raised questions about climate change, and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia — which one Democratic strategist called "ground zero for deregulation policy in Washington."
-snip

David Koch founded the group Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which has been linked to the Tea Party — training hundreds of activists in Texas and hosting talking points for Tea Party activists on its website.

Jane Mayer, a staff writer at The New Yorker, profiles the brothers and their political connections in the Aug. 30 issue of the magazine. Her article "Covert Operations" describes how the brothers' political interests "dovetail with corporate interests."

-snip
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129425186&sc=tumblr&cc=freshair

[sabrina 1]

7. Just confirms the fact that the DLC was nothing but a rightwing

element, pro-war, pro-Wall St. infiltrating the Democratic Party so that Big Business had complete control over the entire system.

You could not have been following their agenda and not realize that their ideology in no way matched the Democratic Party's platform. They used the 'big tent' meme to dismiss any opposition their agenda within the party. A big tent to my knowledge never included Republicans and their ideas.

The Party definiitely has to be rescued from the rightwing influences that have made progressive ideals and its own platform unacceptable within the leadership.

[Bardley]

11. Supporting the DLC isnt like bidding on EBAY because

on EBAY, you only pay if you get what you were bidding on

[HereSince1628]

13. Well said.

[Cleita]

19. So I guess you could compare the DLC to

the Trojan Horse that infiltrated our Party and pretty much conquered it. We saw the symptoms with the founding of the Green Party, who were once the base of the Democratic Party the liberal, socialistic democrats and union members. Maybe we need to sneak back in and take it over again.

[Bardley]

23. you dont have to sneak in, you just have to outbid it

just accumulate more money than the corporate interests, then outbid them

the DLC and party are yours, once again

simple as that

[Cleita]

24. "you just have to outbid it"

Therein lies the problem. Our side doesn't have the deep pockets their side has. The only real money clout we have is the unions and if they are destroyed, we basically have nothing but our wits to regain our rights.

[sabrina 1]

27. Yes, I think when you read their agenda, there was very little

that was democratic about it so I never understood why they were so accepted as part of the 'big tent'. Republicans have their own party after all.

'Sneak back in and take it over again'. I like that idea! :-)

[Blue Meany]

8. They may have been trying to divide the Democrats, a classic

republican strategy

[Bandit]

9. I would like to know how funding the DLC is playing both sides.

IMO DLC is about as Conservative as you can get..Glad they closed their doors..With friends like them we don't need any enemies.

[OHdem10]

14. The DLC is the Pro Pro Business Wing of the Party so Big

Business of any stripe is going to buy them.

How about them Blue Dogs??? Where do Blue Dogs stand
on Collective Bargaining and Unions????

[disillusioned73]

15. Like we said a couple of weeks ago when the DLC "closed" shop..

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

This is just more evidence to the damage that these corporatists have relesed upon us... we serioulsy need to take our party back before we can take our country back.

[Bardley]

17. LOL - they didnt 'close shop' they just went underground

you really think they're writing 'return to sender' on the corporate checks?

[Bardley]

18. yup - no more corporate money going into THIS party

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

[disillusioned73]

26. What do you think.. mission accomplished means,

the party(DNC) has been fully co-opted by the Koch Bros. DLC mindset... it took some time, but their investment is paying off well.

[Bardley]

16. The DLC brought back indentured servitude via their support of 'guest worker' programs

with 'friends' like them, you sure dont need enemies

[NashVegas]

20. "Club For Growth" Lead the Anti-Dean Drive

http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x75343

At this moment I'm proud to have been a Dean supporter, and proud to have seen through all the bullshit from those who propagandized against his candidacy.

[kenny blankenship]

21. The original Teabaggers. Makes sense.

[Rex]

22. So when did the guys from Trading Places become real live evil

monopolists? Do we have many of these super-terrorist, brother sets in America?

[MisterP]

25. the DLC relentlessly pushes "Republican" policies

any exceptions are strictly so people keep voting for them, on the grounds that they're "a little bit better" or "a first step"--even if that never comes to pass. They tell us to "work within the party" if we object, but that's only given us 23 years of the DLC and conservative Democrats who continue selling the country to the rich, turning over elections and media to the rich, walk-on-water personality cults substituting for good policy, and the Nazi-inspired National Security Doctrine that the masses are the enemy and that Amerika is the only force preventing Soviet/Caliphate global destruction.
To mask this, they support abortion (not so much nowadays), fighting global warming, humanitarian rather than resource intervention, gay marriage--solely so we keep continuing to vote for them. The gains are real, but so are the losses. Alternatively, they just howl that something's a "losing issue" (even if the polls say otherwise), or simply demand our worship.
As Democrats and as liberals on one issue, they can also count on far less opposition than they would as Republicans: had McCain passed "McCaincare," we would never call it McCaincare, and relentlessly point out that it's a giveaway to the insurers, and repeatedly pointed out that few are taking advantage of "the good bits," and that it was written by insurers, and that it's blatantly unconstitutional; we'd have sent Vinson $500 in flowers and praised him as one of the few "good Reagan appointees" who saw through the "it's a tax break" BS and saw that it was nothing at all like Social Security. But if Obama passed it, ohhhh, then it HAS to be liberal because he's a liberal (regardless of any evidence) and we all believed in '08 and '09 that he'd fight the corporations (look how he treated BP and Goldman Sachs!), so it HAS to be constitutional, and it gives everyone healthcare, and then people drag out 1790s bills (though the Alien and Sedition Acts are never cited as precedent in the blogosphere for some reason).
tl;dr: they screech whenever someone says they're like the GOP, and point to their few differences to rebut the strawman "there's no difference"--but their stated goal is to adopt GOP policies...

[hedgehog]

29. I am sick to death televison and radio interviewers giving a platform

for experts from various institutes without stating clearly who is paying the salaries of the so-called experts!

[cyberpj]

30. Not surprised. The DLC sold out long ago and has been Republican-lite ever since. n/t

[CrossChris]

31. I wonder if any Democratic politicians ever had the same type of convo that Walker did

It's not too hard to imagine.

[Kurovski]

33. I'm amazed at how many people think the DLC is "gone"

or do they?

SOS same old shit.

[mmonk]

35. Bookmarking

[Wilms]

36. k&r

[metapunditedgy]

37. Anyone getting paid to infiltrate the Democratic Party and move it rightward is a disgusting

little creep. The Koch payroll is to working Americans as Rumsfeld is to Iraq.

[fascisthunter]

39. I concur

[Poboy]

40. Do we neeed ANY more proof as to what is going on????

[Poboy]

41. .