Covert Operations:The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama.

[supernova]

Source: The New Yorker

The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry—especially environmental regulation. These views dovetail with the brothers’ corporate interests. In a study released this spring, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute named Koch Industries one of the top ten air polluters in the United States. And Greenpeace issued a report identifying the company as a “kingpin of climate science denial.” The report showed that, from 2005 to 2008, the Kochs vastly outdid ExxonMobil in giving money to organizations fighting legislation related to climate change, underwriting a huge network of foundations, think tanks, and political front groups. Indeed, the brothers have funded opposition campaigns against so many Obama Administration policies—from health-care reform to the economic-stimulus program—that, in political circles, their ideological network is known as the Kochtopus.

....

The anti-government fervor infusing the 2010 elections represents a political triumph for the Kochs. By giving money to “educate,” fund, and organize Tea Party protesters, they have helped turn their private agenda into a mass movement. Bruce Bartlett, a conservative economist and a historian, who once worked at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a Dallas-based think tank that the Kochs fund, said, “The problem with the whole libertarian movement is that it’s been all chiefs and no Indians. There haven’t been any actual people, like voters, who give a crap about it. So the problem for the Kochs has been trying to create a movement.” With the emergence of the Tea Party, he said, “everyone suddenly sees that for the first time there are Indians out there—people who can provide real ideological power.” The Kochs, he said, are “trying to shape and control and channel the populist uprising into their own policies.”

A Republican campaign consultant who has done research on behalf of Charles and David Koch said of the Tea Party, “The Koch brothers gave the money that founded it. It’s like they put the seeds in the ground. Then the rainstorm comes, and the frogs come out of the mud—and they’re our candidates!”

....

Oddly enough, the fiercely capitalist Koch family owes part of its fortune to Joseph Stalin. Fred Koch was the son of a Dutch printer who settled in Texas and ran a weekly newspaper. Fred attended M.I.T., where he earned a degree in chemical engineering. In 1927, he invented a more efficient process for converting oil into gasoline, but, according to family lore, America’s major oil companies regarded him as a threat and shut him out of the industry. Unable to succeed at home, Koch found work in the Soviet Union...

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer?currentPage=all

---

Hardcopy edition for August 30.

It's always good to know who's pulling the conservative strings. Do we even have anything like these two on our side?

edit: Even though the article says "war against Obama" their war is really with all of us on the left side of the political spectrum and all we wish to accomplish with government and affecting our lives through policy for the better.

[flamingdem]

1. Very important story, please recommend nt

[oldhippydude]

13. I remember

Rachael Maddow, talking about these folks during the health care debate... have often wondered why they have remained "under the radar"

[HillbillyBob]

38. I have been reading about these guys for years

off and on.
RECed and facebooked

[femrap]

73. I remember the feud

with the other brothers. Too bad they didn't win.

[BetterThanNoSN]

44. Do you really wonder...

..how they fly under the radar? The 'librul' media ceratinly knows the names and supposed deeds of George Soros, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Moveon, etc., but they don't ever mention the Koch(pronounced COKE)brothers, Mellon-Scaife, Andrew Breitbart(until he stepped in it), American Enterprise Inst, Heritage Found, and all the rest who support but fly under the radar spewing their garbage.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

102. DIRTY MONEY CAN BUY MANY THINGS

[dotymed]

109. My 14 y.o. son

recently read a book,SOLE SURVIVOR, written by a Navy Seal, about a mission in Afghanistan.
Now, he believes that the "librul media" exists and hamstrings our government. Up until this year he has been a nice Progressive kid whom I've always encouraged to think for himself.
I hope this is just a phase.....

[Turborama]

2. Rec'd & coming back to comment later. Suffice it to say, it's good to see the curtain is still

being pulled on these nefarious bastards.

[supernova]

3. Yep, the last thread

I could find about them was from last December.

Time for a refresher.

[donquijoterocket]

14. selective

I've always been amused by the selective memory and cognition of the right who can remember George Soros' name but not these guys or other wingnut big money men like Adelson, Scaife, or Peterson.They need a powerful light shined on them.These guys also underwrite a large chunk of the global warming denialist business.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

43. Some tea party defender to day on another board said....

"I've been to rallies and never heard of thse people. Nice try". Of course, he thinks every Democrat knows who Soros is.

[Turborama]

103. I know this all may fit together, but it's giving me a headache trying work out how...

I'm not a tinffoiler by any stretch but after witnessing what's been going on since the election and doing some research, it's clear there are some darker forces trying to jeopardize the current administration's achievements than the obvious ones like Beck, Limbaugh, Bachmann, Palin et al which your OP reconfirms - thanks a lot for the update, btw.

But this seems to be on a bigger more global scale than just in the US.

Those are the same Koch brothers I talked about here in my DK diary back in Sept last year: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/9/779019/-Big-Oil-Lobbyist-Was-Behind-the-Van-Jones-Witch-Hunt">"Big Oil" Lobbyist Was Behind the Van Jones Witch Hunt

And a DU OP I posted at the same time: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8632338">OK, I've found out that it was a "big oil" lobbyist behind the Van Jones smear campaign

And now there's this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8993276">"Is FOX News a Terrorist Command Center?" (Daily Show Video & Related Articles)

&

http://mediamatters.org/research/201008130015">Media Matters REPORT: Fox provides megaphone to NYC mosque opponents

&

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8992753">Rupert Murdoch and Fox News are in business with "Terror Mosque" Imam's Principal Patrons

And finally there's this, which shows that out of all the countries in the world Faux has focused its intent on broadcasting to, Pakistan is the country they have put the most work into (check out post #21 to see the conclusion I'm starting to come to):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8976871">Faux Is Very Dangerous! Their Propaganda War On Islam Is Broadcast Unfiltered ALL OVER THE WORLD




Just a little something extra to add to the mix...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8998375&mesg_id=9004449">The Reichwing media aren't called that for nothing

[Name removed]

86. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[L. Coyote]

98. Goodbye spammer

[izquierdista]

4. I'm waiting for life to imitate art (movies)

In this case, "Trading Places". When are Louis and Billy J. going to come forward and put the Koch brothers in the poorhouse?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gekaEzqj5g

[supernova]

9. Ha!

Thanks for the clip. I had almost forgotten about that movie.

:-)

[Red1]

5. And Wichita Ks

Is damn pround of these guys too :puke: :puke: :puke:

[supernova]

10. Completely understand

NC has had our shameful people too trying to do the wrong public thing.

[RoBear]

32. Not me!

nor my friends either.

Furthermore, I point out their venality whenever I get the chance, which sadly is almost never...

[PJPhreak]

36. Not all of us Kansas folk like or support these Schmucks,

The reason they get so much support is that Koch Industries provides a shitload of good paying jobs in Wichita...Which is a fairly poor city.

[Red1]

120. Aircraft

and all the support industrys keep wichita anything but a "poor city"

[PJPhreak]

134. I used to live just off Broadway 4 blocks south of Kellogg...

and yes in comparison to lots of other citys in the US Wichita is poor.

Most of the folk who hold those good paying Aircraft Jobs live in Derby,Newton or Andover.

No its not Flint Mi. or Gary In,but there is no way that anyone who lives in Wichita would or could call it a "Thriving Metropolis". There were LOTS of aircraft jobs back in the 70's,now not so much. Not many Learjets or Gulfstreams selling right now.

One of Wichita's largest employers (Coleman) hardly makes anything in Ks. anymore...You can guess where those jobs went.

[mistertrickster]

82. Not everybody of course. I'm from Wichita. nt

[madmom]

6. to read later...

[superconnected]

7. rec'd Thanks for posting this!

[supernova]

11. You're welcome

[blondeatlast]

8. Satan's own private reality show--libertarianism.

There has to be a special little place in Hell for the libertarians where they can all actually live the life they think would be Utopia. Everyone makes as much dough as they can, everyone has all kinds of ammunition, and there's no compassion whatsoever--just pure, unadulterated greed.

k/r

[supernova]

12. I would love for them

to experience their policies from the wrong end. But I have no idea how that would ever happen. :-(

[unpossibles]

51. I often encourage them to go purchase their own nation somewhere

where they can have their perfect anarchic society without laws and taxes and other things stopping them from their dream of untold wealth. Ironically, I've yet to meet a Libertarian who did not start out with a solid middle-class background (or better) and even know some who were able to go to college, etc because their parents were in the military or other public service.

[snort]

92. I often encourage them to go purchase their own nation somewhere

They are. It's called the United States of America.

[newspeak]

122. I'm with you!!!!

They can eat their own tainted food and breath foul air and drink poison water. Oh wait, that will be for the "little people" that will believe in their shite and follow them to the ends of the earth. I like how they have a concept that corporations can police themselves and if they sell bad products then they'll just go out of business. Of course, their victims will already be dead while they can reorganize under a different name.

[unpossibles]

128. right. I had a friend of mine seriously suggest that America was awesome

back in pre-1913.

<banging head on desk>

I suppose romanticizing cholera and polio and a 6-day/72 hour work week, and not having any rights is the new rage....

[liberation]

58. I heard Somalia is lovely this time of the year...

... and yet I fail to see a mass exodus of these ever so brave libertarians.

Whenever any of these idiots says that crap about "an armed society being a polite society" I have to ask them what is so "polite" exactly about a civil war, which is as "armed" as a society can get.

[Raksha]

59. That would make a great bumpersticker!

"Libertarianism: Satan's own private reality show."

[femrap]

74. +1 nt

[SylviaD]

66. Wait a minute...

My brother is a Libertarian. I don't know much about the movement itself, but my brother railed against Bush alogside me for eight years. He is fiercely anti-Repug. What's going on here?

[proud2BlibKansan]

68. Talk to him about taxes, health care, education and any social programs

and get back to us.

[drm604]

84. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend.

You do realize that, don't you?

[HughBeaumont]

104. Depends.

There's nothing wrong with the pursuit of liberty, just so long as it's not a zero-sum game. I'm against domestic spying and National IDs as much as the next guy. I'm opposed to the gutting of the Constitution that Bewsh II did wholesale, as I'm sure many Libertarians were opposed to as well.

There's nothing wrong with questioning how the government spends tax dollars. Granted, this current one, and the several before it, largely appropriate insane amounts of dollars to unneccessary wars and pork.

Where we divide is largely based on economic reasons. Nearly every single Libertarian I've ever met is a Milton Friedman-loving, corporate apologist "Trickle Downer". They, like their Republican counterparts, want to continue with this "FREE MARKETZ" horsepile even though it's painfully obvious by now that it doesn't work for anyone except a select privileged few.

The other thing that does not work is letting the wealthy off on taxes, which has been happening by and large since Reagan. It's quite silly to believe that supremely selfish moat builders like the current crop of robber barons polluting the economic waters are in this to build a legacy of philanthropy and jobs, and also to think that these individuals will always act for the greater good.

[SylviaD]

108. Thank you.

Thank you for the explanation. I will do some reading, starting now.

[unpossibles]

113. well stated. I always ask the Trickle Downers:

if trickle down/supply side economics works so well, why are we experiencing such bad unemployment at a period of such low taxes? Where are the jobs which the tax breaks created?


(answer: not in America)

[JohnnyBoots]

121. Give the US ten years if things don't change and it will be that...

[krabigirl]

131. There are lots of different kinds of libertarians..no need to lump them all in with the rw bunch.

Civil liberties, for example, are a wonderful thing....
The rw libertarian economic policies, though, i agree are scary.

[mrdmk]

15. Everytime you see on PBS, "Thank you to the Koch Foundation"

Just think, why?

[librechik]

61. because PBS stopped getting government funding decades ago

and now has to beg for funding from anyone who has any money. Thanks, Congress! Now we know why PBS politics coverage is so right wing.

[Duval]

71. You are right. I stopped donating! n/t

[bobburgster]

110. PBS stopped getting government funding...wasn't that Reagan?

[unpossibles]

115. and yet it's so sad and hilarious that the right consider PBS to be on the Left

then again, they think the same of most of the media, despite the obvious evidence otherwise.

[RaleighNCDUer]

123. Yep. Public Broadcasting is about as much 'public' today as is

Fox News. The only thing 'public' about it is the airwaves they utilize - otherwise it is purely the 'Corporate Broadcasting System' - All the news we think you're fit to see.

[Mrs. Ted Nancy]

90. The Big Energy Gamble

Exxon and David Koch were two of the sponsors of NOVA's "The Big Energy Gamble- Can California's ambitious plan to cut greenhouse gases actually succeed?"


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/energy/

[kenfrequed]

16. I hate these scum!

Greedy, self righteous, nasty, rich bastards with entitlement issues.

[Spazito]

17. Excellent OP!

Recommended.

[ooglymoogly]

18. Just one of the faces of the real axis of evil. kr nt

[rucognizant]

106. Isn't .....

george bush's sister doro married to a koch?

[ooglymoogly]

132. Dorothy Bush Koch is the sister of Georg W Bush;

David P Koch I believe is her second husband. If memory serves; They were married at Camp David.

[mike r]

19. “The colored man looms large in the Communist plan to take over America”

Long overdue expose, finally.

[paparush]

20. Kick & rec. nt

[Owl]

21. K&R

[Kingofalldems]

22. The VRWC?

Seems so.

[Puppyjive]

23. failed business model hurts society

The Kochs don't realize that their business model causes social services to expand. They keep more for the rich, leaving the poor to struggle to survive. It doesn't take a nuclear scientists to figure this out.

[unpossibles]

114. oh, I think they do realize it quite well

and don't care. The people who don't realize it are the millions who repeat their nonsense because Limbaugh, Beck, Lutz, etc told them to.

[RaleighNCDUer]

124. A hungry populace is a compliant populace -

so long as you don't let them get 'too' hungry.

You think it's mere coincidence that millions of workers are taking wage freezes and cuts, because they can't risk losing their healthcare? We will see the retirement age rise, because that will be the 'compromise' that will 'save' Social Security. It is all about the real powers making us more dependent and fearful, and then exploiting that fear for their own gain.

One day, however, they will go just a little too far. They always do. And the result will be the Russian Revolution - the Reign of Terror - Ceausescu and his wife - Mussolini and his mistress.

You can't fool all the people all the time, but while you can, loot the poor bastards for all they got.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. These assholes are from Kansas. Anyone wonder why the wingnuts have such a hold here?

Been keeping track of the Kochs for years. I despise this family. They fund every wingnut cause they can find. :mad:

[mike r]

27. But, but, he's "one of the best donors we’ve had"

Beware of large donations from the super rich. They're buying something.

The Kochs are a truly destructive and selfish bunch, and I'm glad to see them in the New Yorker.

[RoBear]

33. Their name comes up often

at morning coffee. They're universally detested in my group of friends, but I'm retired and thus get to chose whom I associate with.

[DirkGently]

25. This would be a nice addition to Mr. Koch's flattering Wikipedia

entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_G._Koch

[mike r]

28. Only if his paid minions allow it

[florida08]

26. thanks for this

these guys have a long history of preventing progress for average americans.

Clean energy, health insurance and finance reform.

Back in 1994, Americans for Prosperity, then known as Citizens for a Sound Economy, worked closely with then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich to bring mobs of angry men to health reform rallies with then-First Lady Hillary Clinton

According to the EPA, Koch Industries is responsible for over 300 oil spills in the U.S. and has leaked three million gallons of crude oil into fisheries and drinking waters

The Koch-funded group "No Stimulus" launched television and radio ads deriding the recovery package as simply "pork" spending

The Cato Institute -- founded by Charles -- as well as other Koch-funded think tanks like the Heritage Foundation, produced a blizzard of reports distorting the stimulus and calling for a return to Bush-style tax cuts to combat the recession

http://pr.thinkprogress.org/2009/12/pr20091208

[bulloney]

29. The Kochs preach libertarianism, yet the industry from which they made their fortune

gets billions in tax breaks and is supported by other taxpayer-funded programs (military probably being the most prominent of them).

The Kochs are an example of why laissez-faire capitalism, as advocated by the Cato Institute and Heritage Foundation (financially supported by the Kochs)cannot work. As markets become more concentrated, the stakeholders in the markets use their money and power to manipulate policy to their benefit, often to the detriment of competitors and consumers. Then, markets are no longer an arena where competition and efficiency help create the best product at the best price. Instead, it's a forum on who can grab the most money and power. Consumers and society be damned.

[NewJeffCT]

39. Tax breaks are ok only for Republicans

didn't you know that?

[unpossibles]

117. you can't expect their 20+ million in lobbying to just go to waste, can you?

I mean, nothing is free, even favorable legislation and tax breaks...

[hfojvt]

30. I wish there was some other way to write that

They keep saying "the Kochs" and there are other people who think of themselves and their family as "the Kochs". People like me http://www.koch2congress.com/ and my brother, my dad, my grandfather (now deceased), my uncles, cousins and more distant relations, which do not, btw, include Chuck and Dave, nor Ed, nor Albert Einstein's mother (Pauline Koch), nor Bobby, nor Frau Elsa.

[grahampuba]

31. 100 octane scumbags

loathe this company/family..
living in Minneapolis i have to drive by one of their refineries on route to my parents place.
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/eae2020401d0bf098525689d00713ea5!OpenDocument
^^^ intentionally increasing waste output into the Mississippi river during times when monitoring was inactive, overall 600,000 gallons of high ammonia airplane fuel.

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=516
another list of pollution and neglect

so basically they would like to set up shop, pollute the hell out of every site they operate on, pay no fines and leave it fucked for future generations.

what was Brad Pitt's quote today???

[liberal N proud]

34. No one or two people should have this much influence in the system

Bad people do bad things.

[katty]

35. Greg Palast has much 411 on Kochs

[defendandprotect]

37. K&R

[OnyxCollie]

40. K&R. nt

[tomm2thumbs]

41. Koch sounds like the typical brain dead tea bagger, only with inherited money

Koch’s corporate and political roles, however, may pose conflicts of interest. For example, at the same time that David Koch has been casting himself as a champion in the fight against cancer, Koch Industries has been lobbying to prevent the E.P.A. from classifying formaldehyde, which the company produces in great quantities, as a “known carcinogen” in humans.

[DesertFlower]

42. K&R. nt

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

45. These are the same wastes of pig DNA who waged war against Clinton. nt

[24601]

87. "...before you where [sic] born." ? how about "were"? n/t

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

91. I didn't write it. It's still funny though. nt

[Yeahyeah]

46. Obama should stop preventing The Koks from making a living so they'll leave him alone.

[awoke_in_2003]

85. How is the weather on your planet? Nt

[unpossibles]

118. I hope that is clever sarcasm.... nt

[RandomThoughts]

47. Interesting comment.

“trying to shape and control and channel the populist uprising into their own policies.”

He uses the Indian in a Indian chief metaphor.

The Indians are usually thought of as people not conforming to the system and subject to attempts at being kept 'on the reservation'

Note that the war paint on the cheeks is used in many many movies, some thought that was an inside joke by some of the intel agencies, I wondered about that. Not sure if it was intentional. There is also the metaphor for vamps, with neck wounds, or blood on lips in many movies also. But I degrees.


They like libertarian so that what they have is regarded as what is powerful. Although I doubt what they have has anything to do with their actions or worth, rarely does what a person has define their worth.

They have the same worth as anyone else.



I wonder what side he is on?

Equilibrium - Fight scenes music video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QQXOvRLkls

I always loved the 'clean your weapons before battle' metaphor in that clip.

I think feeling is a good thing. And people should not give up feeling with passion and thinking.

[DeSwiss]

48. K&R

I'm sorry, but while I'm definitely K&Ring this post, I'd have to disagree with the singular idea that "it's good to know who's pulling the conservative strings." Good to know, yes.


;) - But that knowledge alone is not enough, unless it leads to the cutting of those strings.....

[Uncle Joe]

49. I would add not just Obama and the left side, but even the dumb asses; on the right too ignorant

or too sociopathic to know what's being done to themselves.

They're waging war against the poor, middle income class and the upper income class, ultimately even the wealthy will be damaged by these short sighted nonsensical, damn the world, greed is God, policies as supported by the Koch Brothers.

edit: Even though the article says "war against Obama" their war is really with all of us on the left side of the political spectrum and all we wish to accomplish with government and affecting our lives through policy for the better.

The anti-government fervor infusing the 2010 elections represents a political triumph for the Kochs. By giving money to “educate,” fund, and organize Tea Party protesters, they have helped turn their private agenda into a mass movement. Bruce Bartlett, a conservative economist and a historian, who once worked at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a Dallas-based think tank that the Kochs fund, said, “The problem with the whole libertarian movement is that it’s been all chiefs and no Indians. There haven’t been any actual people, like voters, who give a crap about it. So the problem for the Kochs has been trying to create a movement.” With the emergence of the Tea Party, he said, “everyone suddenly sees that for the first time there are Indians out there—people who can provide real ideological power.” The Kochs, he said, are “trying to shape and control and channel the populist uprising into their own policies.”

Perhaps the Libertarians had too many chiefs and not enough Indians because such insane policies; at best, could only benefit the chiefs.

Thanks for the thread, supernova.

[Greyhound]

50. Oh c'mon, they're just smarter than you and you're jealous.

:sarcasm:(But seen on DU as a serious statement)

[Turbineguy]

52. A lot of their stuff

is making its way over here.

The number of threads touting economic collapse?

[femrap]

76. It's families

like the Kochs that are responsible for the declining economy.

Many left-leaning economists see a bad economy....guess you have a high-paying job, huh?

[bjobotts]

93. The Kocks feel their wealth makes them above the law and will protect them even in a Worldy collapse

[bjobotts]

94. Top soil gone, ozone going, climate change scorching the earth.Drinking water going,Oceans dying

[bjobotts]

95. Atmoshpere destroyed, but Kochs can buy caves and filter air etc.It's us or them

[bjobotts]

96. They are buying every part of society and government for sale yet we still act like they have rights

[BrklynLiberal]

53. The name Koch has been linked to RW agenda for quite a while now.

Obama is their latest target.

They are right up there with the other RWingnut millionaires who live their comfortable lives assuming the world owes them everything.
Their relgion is basically "I got mine. Screw you!"

The saddest part is that they have been able to get so many of those whom they victimize to join in their battles..if not actually fight the battles while they stand back and watch the carnage.

http://markmaynard.com/?p=7501

The best part of the article is the contribution by Thomas Frank, the author of What’s the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America. Here’s a highlight:

….Right-wing politics has become a vehicle for channelling this popular anger against intellectual snobs. The result is that many of America’s poorest citizens have a deep emotional attachment to a party that serves the interests of its richest.

Thomas Frank says that whatever disadvantaged Americans think they are voting for, they get something quite different:

“You vote to strike a blow against elitism and you receive a social order in which wealth is more concentrated than ever before in our life times, workers have been stripped of power, and CEOs are rewarded in a manner that is beyond imagining… It’s like a French Revolution in reverse in which the workers come pouring down the street screaming more power to the aristocracy.”

As Mr Frank sees it, authenticity has replaced economics as the driving force of modern politics. The authentic politicians are the ones who sound like they are speaking from the gut, not the cerebral cortex. Of course, they might be faking it, but it is no joke to say that in contemporary politics, if you can fake sincerity, you have got it made.

And here, according to the author of the article, is the big takeaway message from all of this… “If people vote against their own interests, it is not because they do not understand what is in their interest or have not yet had it properly explained to them. They do it because they resent having their interests decided for them by politicians who think they know best. There is nothing voters hate more than having things explained to them as though they were idiots. As the saying goes, in politics, when you are explaining, you are losing. And that makes anything as complex or as messy as healthcare reform a very hard sell.”

[Blue_Tires]

135. the name 'Phil Anchutz' is another

They are peas in a pod....

[Lugnut]

54. K&R n/t

[LuckyTheDog]

55. 'War against all non-billionaires' is more like it (nt)

[diane in sf]

56. they're waging war on the environment and the middle class--they like small

government--they should go live in Somalia.

[Hubert Flottz]

57. K&R

Deport them...

[robertpaulsen]

60. Hell yes, I'm recommending! Wrote about these fuckers on my blog 4 months ago.

Stalin Is The Root Of Teabagger Funds?! Say It Ain't So, Joe!

http://americanjudas.blogspot.com/2010/04/stalin-is-root-of-teabagger-funds-say.html

[SILVER__FOX52]

62. This has been going on for years.

[supernova]

63. Thanks everybody for putting this post at the top of the home page!

:D

:yourock:

I'm pretty sure the work a day teapartiers have no idea who is funding them or what their real agenda is.

[matt819]

64. I hate to sound hysterical

Edited to add the Grayson video link.

But this has all the earmarks of a coup in the making. This kind of financial support goes far beyond simple participation in the political process.

Apropos of this sentiment, it was interesting to see Alan Grayson in this video: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x497982. He's right.

[Major Hogwash]

65. They're both traitors and should be treated as such.

How people living in this country can get away with such an obvious agenda to thwart our government is beyond me, when it is so overt.

[AlbertCat]

67. can get away with such an obvious agenda to thwart our government

Now, the Supremes have given them the right to buy the government outright.

[ezmerelda39]

69. I wonder

how many Tea Party members actually understand where their 'grassroots' funding comes from or don't they really care as long as it's a free lunch? The Great Grassroots Gig is a Gigantic Gimmick, a Gastric Gagger...

[unpossibles]

119. after reading some of these links, many will refuse to understand

or are simply too ignorant perhaps, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and just say they're idiots instead of complete morons.

But seriously, on this page:
http://exiledonline.com/exposing-the-familiar-rightwing-pr-machine-is-cnbcs-rick-santelli-sucking-koch/2/

the comments section is hilariously awful. Many are talking about how awful Obama's presidency is, despite the fact that the date on those comments is from February 2009! And many more ignore the loads of information to discuss how "despite the backing and staged news, it's still a grassroots movement!1!"

It is to laugh, except that it makes me weep to see so many people fooled so easily into doing the work of a small handful of people. Even more ironic is that these same people will rail about George Soros and the elite....

[babylonsister]

70. Company Owned By David Koch Lobbied Against Designation of Formaldehyde as Carcinogen

Company Owned By Cancer Research Donor Lobbied Against Designation of Formaldehyde as Carcinogen

by Marian Wang
ProPublica, 57 minutes ago



A prominent philanthropist, cancer survivor, and American businessman, David Koch, has given millions <1> to the cause of cancer research, while his company—Koch Industries—has lobbied against formal recognition of formaldehyde as a carcinogen, The New Yorker reported in a piece published today.

Koch sits on the advisory board of the National Cancer Institute—a position he was appointed to in 2004 <1> by President Bush, reported The New Yorker.

The National Cancer Institute published a study in 2009 concluding that formaldehyde causes cancer in humans. Here’s The New Yorker, describing that study’s findings:

The study tracked twenty-five thousand patients for an average of forty years; subjects exposed to higher amounts of formaldehyde had significantly higher rates of leukemia. These results helped lead an expert panel within the National Institutes of Health to conclude that formaldehyde should be categorized as a known carcinogen, and be strictly controlled by the government.

As we’ve noted <2>, prior to the May 2009 study, the National Cancer Institute had also performed a preliminary study that linked formaldehyde to leukemia, but members of Congress including Sens. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and David Vitter, R-La., managed to delay <2> the EPA from officially designating the chemical as a “known carcinogen.” (The EPA in June, however, released a draft assessment <3> of formaldehyde that supports that designation, but it’s not yet official.)

In 2005, Koch Industries bought Georgia-Pacific, one of the world’s largest plywood manufacturers and a major formaldehyde producer. The company has donated to both Vitter and Inhofe <2>.

In a letter to federal health authorities sent last December, the company’s vice-president of environmental affairs wrote that “the company ‘strongly disagrees’ with the N.I.H. panel’s conclusion that formaldehyde should be treated as a known human carcinogen,” reported The New Yorker.

more...

http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/company-owned-by-cancer-research-donor-lobbied-against-designation-of-forma

[femrap]

72. Wow! That was

a great article. Too bad David was the only survival in that plane crash.

[Octafish]

75. DU's been on the Koch family for a long time.

Anyone have info on Bush and the Koch brothers or Koch Industries?

John Birchers? Hah! They're BFEE.

[Lars77]

77. David Koch, Ayn Rand have something in common

"In the nineteen-thirties, his company trained Bolshevik engineers and helped Stalin’s regime set up fifteen modern oil refineries. Over time, however, Stalin brutally purged several of Koch’s Soviet colleagues. Koch was deeply affected by the experience, and regretted his collaboration. He returned to the U.S. In the headquarters of his company, Rock Island Oil & Refining, in Wichita, he kept photographs aimed at proving that some of those Soviet refineries had been destroyed in the Second World War. Gus diZerega, a former friend of Charles Koch, recalled, “As the Soviets became a stronger military power, Fred felt a certain amount of guilt at having helped build them up. I think it bothered him a lot."


I guess this is a typical human reaction. When you see the ugly totaliarism of Stalin, you turn 180 degrees and go wingnut.
It's really sad that these loons have such a huge influence on our lives today, and in my mind this is a great example of how libertarians are extremists.

[demigoddess]

78. rich people think they got that way through hard work and

talent. That is usually why they lean republican or libertarian. And you will never convince them differently. then they use their money to make other people do the same.

[Martin Eden]

79. Pure. Unadulterated. Greed.

Screw the working poor.
Screw the environment.
Rig the game to benefit the rich even more.

And find a bunch of useful idiots to help create your oligarchy.

[108]

80. When I sent this to my conservative friends, they sent back "George Soros"

Does Soros actually compare to the Koch Brothers...I know they both fund think tanks and campaigns, but how does Soros actually gain financially by pushing liberal ideology?

Thanks

[JHB]

107. Soros is the world's 35th richest person. Koch Bros. are #24

http://theworldsrichest.com/

Soros' fortune is listed as 14 billion, Koch Bros. as 17.5 billion.

At a minimum, Soros' philanthropy for liberal causes buys good will to cover for financial wheeling and dealing. A little more directly, I think he recognizes that a lot of the deregualtory changes stand to wreck the system that made him so much money.

But the Koch Bros.'s funding is more pervasive and strategic than Soros'. Soros is an easy target because he's a foreigner and he's outspoken, and generally not on the side of the conservative noise machine. So he gets singled out while the Koch Bros., Scaife, Coors, and others get a pass.

[deacon]

81. Finally. MUST kick. k+r

[Still Waters]

83. Koch? or Kook?

Too bad we couldn't give them a good ol' heaping helping of their Tea Party America. Let's start with breakfast. Coffee riddled with roach parts and rat droppings, water chased with fecal bacteria, yummy salmonella scrambled eggs, and mad cow sausage. Does it taste good, Kooks? The rest of us might prefer to have the government act to protect our food and water supply, but you don't believe in oversight or paying taxes. Wonder how they'd like to fly on an airplane where the company took maintenance short cuts, or in crowded airspace where the ATC have been reduced in force. Sure hope none of the grandkids like to play with matches--you can't very well expect the socialized fire department to risk their lives for your libertarian manse. Oh, and that medicine you need to stay alive--guess what, with no oversight of the drug companies, what you thought might keep you alive might just kill you!

Yep, yep, there is your libertarian paradise!!

[OnyxCollie]

88. Foundations & Propaganda

I did some research on corporations, foundations, and the propaganda they produce.

Corporations, like the totalitarian governments to which they are drawn, wield great
influence over belief systems in society (Friedmann, 1957). The large corporation is “the
institution which sets the standard for the way of life and the mode of living of our citizens;
which leads, molds and directs; which determines our perspective on our own society; around
which crystallize our social problems and to which we look for their solution" (Drucker, 1946, p.
6, 7 as quoted in Friedmann, 1957, p. 170.) Despite such great power, corporations have avoided
restraint due in part to the “charitable trust” where corporate earnings and corporate strategy can
remain undisclosed (Friedmann, 1957).

Maitland (1936, as quoted in Friedmann, 1957, p. 156) distinguishes the differences
between English and German concepts of trust and advocates for personal accountability:

any reformers of our "charities" have deliberately preferred that "charitable trusts" should be
confided, not to corporations, but to "natural persons." It is said-and appeal is made to long
experience-that men are more conscientious when they are doing acts in their own names than
when they are using the name of a corporation (p. 182, 183).

But apparently there is a widespread, though not very definite belief, that by placing itself under
an incorporating Gesetz, however liberal and elastic that Gesetz may be, a Verein would forfeit
some of its liberty, some of its autonomy, and would not be so completely the mistress of its own
destiny as it is when it has asked nothing and obtained nothing from the State (p. 207).
Friedmann (1957) distills Maitland’s thesis to its essence; there is “the social and political
danger of the assumption that an association, corporate or unincorporated, merely by being in
form private rather than public, should still enjoy the far-reaching immunity from judicial or
other official control which the courts have accorded it” (p. 157).

Spawned from the concept of the charitable trust, the foundation is what Friedmann
(1957) characterizes as “the most important modern institution in the field of group power” (p.
157). A chiefly American invention, the foundation is a permanent charitable institution that
provides a tax shelter to donors, primarily heads of corporate empires (Friedmann, 1957). The
foundation accomplishes this in multiple ways: through gifts exempt from gift taxes, which are
then allowed to be deducted from income; through bequests deductible from estate taxes; and
through the exemption of the foundation itself from income tax, property tax, and other taxes
(Friedmann, 1957). The foundation allows for large sums of wealth to be diverted from tax
collection, while simultaneously awarding control, credibility, and a perception of social
responsibility (Friedmann, 1957).

The ability of foundations to influence educational policy, research, and foreign affairs
has led to the development of what Adolf Berle has described as a “corporate
conscience” (Friedmann, 1957). As a conscience is dependent on the belief system that supports
it, it is not surprising that the endeavors of some foundations appear questionable (Friedmann,
1957). Friedmann (1957) cites the linkage of educational policy to the “political propaganda” (p.
162) of free market principles.

Foundations capitalize on the mass media to further their interests (Herman and
Chomsky, 1988, as cited in Goodwin, 1994; Joseph, 1982). Mass media has a dependence on
“experts” and foundations provide content, in effect subsidizing the media (Herman & Chomsky,
1988, as cited in Goodwin, 1994). The self-serving interests of the foundation creates a bias in
news (Herman & Chomsky, 1988, as cited in Goodwin, 1994). This is one of the five “filters” in
Herman and Chomsky’s propaganda model that “filter out the news fit to print, marginalize
dissent, and allow the government and dominant private interests to get their messages across to
the public” (Herman & Chomsky, 1988, p. 2, as cited in Goodwin, 1994, p. 104). Taken as a
whole, these filters signify what Herman (1994) refers to as “power laws”- a “power law of
access” and an “inverse power law of truthfulness”:

The first law says that the greater your economic and political clout, the easier access to the your
mass media; the less your power, the more difficult the access. ... The second law says that the
greater your economic and political power-hence, access-the greater your freedom to lie; the
smaller your power, the less your freedom to prevaricate (p. 14, as quoted in Goodwin, 1994, p.
107).

”The second law, follows in part from the first, as those who would be most eager to refute the
lies of the powerful are weak and have limited access, further reduced by their discordant
messages” (Herman, 1994, p. 14, as quoted in Goodwin, 1994, p. 107).

Friedmann (1957) states, “the most powerful, wealthy, and highly organized group may
succeed in identifying the ‘public interest’ with its own interests” (p. 167). Key (1942, as quoted
in Joseph, 1982, p. 247) declares “"The great political triumph of large-scale enterprise has been
the manipulation of public attitudes so as to create a public opinion favorably disposed toward,
or at least tolerant of, gigantic corporations” (p. 102, 103). In a pluralistic society there are
countervailing forces, however their ability to heard may be limited (Friedmann, 1957; Joseph,
1982). C. Wright Mills (1956, as cited in Joseph, 1982) proposed a three-level pluralistic theory
of power: at the top was the executive branch of government, along with corporations and the
defense industry; the middle level was composed of interest groups where the pluralistic model
of competition actually occurred; and the bottom level held the general public. Seeking to
differentiate his theory from Marxism, which stated that the economic sector held all the power,
Mills saw power as being equal among the three groups in the top level (Mills, 1956, as cited in
Joseph, 1982). “Mills maintained that political, military, and economic elites all exercised a
considerable degree of autonomy, that they were often in conflict, and that they acted in concert
only on certain occasions” (Mills, 1956, as cited in Joseph, 1982, p. 250).

[myrna minx]

89. K&R n/t

[Juche]

97. We (liberals) have the Democracy Alliance to counteract the Koch and Coors groups

Read up on them, they are a decent group. A liberal foundation consisting of millionaires, billionaires and activist groups (unions, trial lawyers, etc) who get together and try to push states to the left on all levels of political influence.

http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/23426

http://facethestate.com/articles/16122-2009-brings-changes-colorados-liberal-political-infrastructure

http://www.amazon.com/Blueprint-Democrats-Colorado-Republicans-Everywhere/dp/1936218003

They used Colorado as a test case to try out their methods of pushing liberal politics. I believe before the DA got involved they had 2 GOP senators, several GOP house members and a GOP governor. Now they are all dem or lean dem. Supposedly from 2004-2008 the DA managed to convert the Colorado state house and senate to democratic, elect a dem governor, 2 dem senators and a majority of the house members. Plus the state which went for Bush in 2004 went or Obama in 2008. On almost every level Colorado went from red to blue from 2004 to 2008.

The DA supposedly works heavily on the local level in state wide elections, because national politicians get farmed out of state politics. Obama was a state senator before going federal. So was Clinton (state governor).

And they are exporting their tools to places like Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota and a few other states.

[Stellar]

99. K&R

Thanks for sharing! :thumbsup:

[Anakin Skywalker]

100. Insane Cock Brothers? Isn't There a Website Called That?

[certainot]

101. and their most important tool is 1000 coordinated ignored radio stations

to create the misinformed pro-corporate constituency known as teabaggers- aka limbaugh/hannity dittoheads

[LarryNM]

105. Another Reason Why There Has To Be A Ceiling On What People Own

If not they will eventually own everything and everyone.

[Ninga]

111. Olbermann and Maddow would be hard pressed to touch this story...

Because of the magnitude of philanthropic dollars that comes from the Koch Bros.

All of the organizations at the receiving end of the cash would howl and defend them.

[pleah]

112. K&R

[dotymed]

116. Why doesn't Obama

take the ammunition away from these people?
If President Obama really had the desire to help "the poor, the downtrodden", majority of Americans, he would do his FDR impersonation and promote legislation that would improve the lives of ordinary (suffering) Americans.
If President Obama would do this,his popularity would totally nullify his opponents sway over anyone except the wealthy and corporations.
They are nowhere near the majority.
He could say a public "fuck you" to all of them and if he had the peoples backs, they'd have his.
Many of us thought we had elected that person.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

125. Huge K&R

Jane Mayer is a phenomenal journalist! While driving around the past week or so, I've heard snippets from Randi on these greedy bastards. Thanks for posting - certainly a must-read.

[ensho]

126. The Brothers should be on our (DU's) 'to get' list

for us to shine the light, do the digging, do the nagging.

[texastoast]

127. These are evil men

And powerful. "Satan's valets."

[Douglas Carpenter]

129. kick - too late to recommend!!

[boycottfaux]

130. David Koch grosses me out

All I remember about the Koch Brothers is that one brother,
David, was hell bent on purchasing Jackie Kennedy's apartment
on Park Avenue and paid alot more than the market value (even
considering the notoriety of the former owner) . .

Lord knows why.  It needed alotta renovation and updating and
he was rich enough to purchase a 'move right in' apartment in
New York City!!

[eyeball roll]

[ooglymoogly]

133. Jackie understood and respected the patina of history and the elegance of a past era.

She was as close to an aristocrat as this country had. She had it all. Koch is or has none of those qualities, is a dolt trying to buy it, then like the clod; Destroying priceless history he does not understand.

But you are right on one note...he would have been far more at home in the blandness of a modern, move in apt. where character is not an option.

It is a sad thing to contemplate that this money grubbing dolt occupies a space that is historically priceless; The home of one of our greatest; A space that has no equal. A space that should be protected by the national register of historic places.

Compared to Jackie, this man is trailer park trash.