Kansas City Star: Texas becomes battlefield in Keystone XL pipeline fight
-By Dave Montgomery
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
February 22, 2012- AUSTIN — The politically volatile Keystone XL pipeline is becoming embroiled in a widening controversy in Texas as supporters tout the promise of jobs and other economic benefits while increasingly vocal opponents say the project would trample property rights and endanger water supplies in East Texas.
Although President Barack Obama rejected the application by TransCanada, the pipeline company says it plans to resubmit its proposal to transport heavy crude oil from Canada to refineries in Texas. The project holds $2 billion of economic potential for Texas, more than for any other state, according to a survey commissioned by TransCanada.
Its high-profile supporters include Gov. Rick Perry and Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, all Republicans. Perry made the pipeline an element of his failed presidential bid by blasting Obama's rejection of the application, accusing the president of squandering the chance to create jobs.
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie guts greenhouse gas fund targeted by Koch Bros.' Americans for Prosperity
-Posted by Meteor Blades on the Daily Kos
February 25, 2012- As one of its many objectives, the Koch Bros.-founded and -financed Americans for Prosperity has been out to defund the seven-year-old Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. It seems to have succeeded in New Jersey. Republican Gov. Chris Christie has just scooped up the $473,000 left in the RGGI coffers and plunked them into the general fund along with $210 million from the state's clean energy fund.
Huffington Post: Koch Brothers Fire Back At Obama For Campaign Attack
-By Paige Lavender
February 25, 2012- Charles and David Koch fired back at Obama after his campaign attacked them in an email earlier this week.
Philip Ellender, president of government and public affairs for Koch industries, posted an open letter to Obama campaign manager Jim Messina online Friday. The letter was a response to an attempt by the Obama campaign to tie Republican rival Mitt Romney to the Koch brothers.
Ellender called the Obama email "iresponsible and misleading" and said it was "surprising and disappointing that the President would allow" such behavior:
Talking Points Memo: Wisconsin Dems File Complaint With State Against David Koch
-By Eric Kleefeld
February 23, 2012- The Wisconsin Democrats are taking aim at one of their biggest opponents in the state’s recall elections. No, not just Republican Gov. Scott Walker — but conservative financier David Koch, and his organization Americans For Prosperity. But whether they will actually succeed in the latest front is another question.
Specifically, the Dems announced on a conference call with reporters Thursday that they were filing a complaint with the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections in the state, and also forwarding a copy to the Internal Revenue Service at the federal level. The complaint involves statements that Koch made to a newspaper — and his organization’s official non-profit, non-partisan status.
KTRK News (ABC Houston): Liberty Co. resident battles over proposed Keystone Pipeline land grab
-By Ted Oburg
February 24, 2012- HOUSTON (KTRK) -- One Liberty County resident is crying foul over what he calls bad business in the name of a pipeline that may never be built.
Think Progress: Blame Oil Speculators, Not Obama, For Rising Oil Prices
-By Alex Seitz-Wald
February 22, 2012- As the improving economy has robbed conservatives of their chief talking point against President Obama, they’ve turned to rising gas prices as the next problem to pin on the president.
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) “instructed fellow Republicans to embrace the gas-pump anger,” while Rick Santorum conspiratorially claimed Obama is intentionally pushing up prices to cut carbon emissions. Not to be outdone, Newt Gingrich released a 30-minute video today about how “the Obama administration is so anti‑oil” that they’ve forced the price of gas to go up.
Politico: David Koch: 'No stopping union power' if labor wins Walker recall
-By Maggie Haberman
February 19, 2012- The Palm Beach Post has a good read on David Koch, the billionaire who, along with his brother, have helped "channel" the tea party movement, as the piece puts it, and is involved in funding the pro-Scott Walker side of the recall effort in Wisconsin:
"What Scott Walker is doing with the public unions in Wisconsin is critically important. He's an impressive guy and he's very courageous," Koch says after a benefit dinner of salmon and white wine. "If the unions win the recall, there will be no stopping union power."
Asked about union comments, Koch's spokeswoman is quick to moderate them.
RAW Story: Wisconsin Democrats tell David Koch: Get out and take Gov. Walker too
-By Eric W. Dolan
February 20, 2012- The Democratic Party of Wisconsin blasted oil billionaire David Koch on Monday for supporting Republican Gov. Scott Walker in his fight against public unions.
“I think I speak for most Wisconsinites when I say to David Koch, ‘Get out of Wisconsin and take Scott Walker’s dangerous agenda with you,’” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said.
In a rare interview with the Palm Beach Post, Koch described Walker as “impressive” and “courageous.” He said his conservative group Americans for Prosperity was hard at work in Wisconsin.
“We’ve spent a lot of money in Wisconsin,” Koch said. “We’re going to spend more.”
Walker and Republican lawmakers pushed to curb the collective-bargaining rights of public employees earlier this year, eventually passing the highly controversial legislation using a parliamentary maneuver.
Palm Beach Post: David Koch intends to cure cancer in his lifetime and remake American politics
-By Stacey Singer
Febraury 20, 2012- PALM BEACH — David Koch has become the face of conservative America's obsession with weakening organized labor, and for that, he believes, there have been death threats - 100 credible threats last year alone, he says.
Journalists tend to describe the lanky MIT-trained chemical engineer and his brother Charles with the phrase "secretive oil billionaires."
They describe a clandestinely built political machine that disdains government regulation and taxes, obfuscates the science on global warming, and now pulls the strings of decision-makers at every level, from Florida Tea Party members to Wisconsin state senators - even U.S. Supreme Court justices.
"They make me sound like a bully," David Koch says when asked about journalists, looking a little baffled. "Do I look like a bully?"
On this night, Koch wants to talk about the battle against cancer, not unions.
Wichita Eagle: Climate peaceful at 'Occupy Koch Town' protest
-By Hurst Laviana
February 18, 2012- About 150 protesters marched through downtown Wichita on Saturday afternoon as activists from across the country gathered for the weekend “Occupy Koch Town” rally.
Although the block-long line of protesters temporarily blocked several major intersections, the march was peaceful, and police made no arrests and issued no citations.
The rally, which was organized by the Sierra Clubs of Kansas and Missouri and area Occupy movements, began about 2 p.m. at the Grand Chapel, 828 N. Broadway. Throughout the day, speakers addressed a variety of issues dealing with energy, environmental, climate policies and the controversial Keystone pipeline.
Among those attending was Nick Brothers of St. Joseph, Mo., who said he had attended several other Occupy rallies, all of them peaceful.
“It’s well known that Koch brothers are deeply imbedded in right-wing politics, and that’s their right,” he said, “But they’re using their money to destroy the environment.”
Isthmus: Gov. Scott Walker's corruption scandal brings shame to Wisconsin
-By Brian Austin
February 15, 2012- A government that has lost the trust of its citizens is not long for power. Under Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin has gone in one year from being a state renowned for open and clean government to one that is shabby and nefarious.
Actually, we need to start before Walker was elected governor -- specifically 1987, when Walker ran for student body president at Marquette University. During that campaign, he was found to be in violation of the school's campaign rules, including engaging in door-to-door campaigning, which was strictly prohibited. Walker was ultimately described to be "unfit for presidency" by the Marquette Tribune. When the Tribune endorsed Walker's opponent, Walker's supporters destroyed as many copies of the newspaper as they could find. This provides a window into our governor's character. Unfortunately, this incident received only cursory media attention during Walker's bid for governor.
