Monthly Archives: August 2013

AlterNet: 6 Filthy Facts About the Rich

The filthiest fact is that Congress wants to cut the food benefit to hungry Americans, almost half of them children, so that money can keep flowing to the top.

-By Paul Buchheit

August 25, 2013- First of all, who are they? Mostly the 1%. But the top 2-5% have also done quite well, increasing their inflation-adjusted  wealth by 75 percent from 1983 to 2009 while average wealth went down for 80 percent of American households. The rest of the top 20% have been prosperous, realizing a 32 percent gain in inflation-adjusted wealth since 1983. The facts to follow are primarily about the richest 1%, with occasional dips into the groups scrambling to make it to the top.

1. Accumulating almost all the wealth

Mike Papantonio: Cash Hoarders Devastate Economy

Is Charles Koch the Scariest Man in the World?

Blogged by Paul Buchheit for Buzzflash, August 19, 2013- 

Scary because he claims "We don't have the power to coerce anybody" while providing massive funding to organizations that attack public education, social programs, worker salaries, business regulations, and the environment.

Scary because he refers to himself with words like 'integrity' and 'principles' while saying "I want my fair share - and that's all of it."

Scary because he declares, "I want my legacy to be…a better way of life for…all Americans." Here is some of the legacy of Charles Koch:

1. Environment

PR Watch: ALECexposed: List of Corporations and Special Interests that Underwrote ALEC’s 40th Anniversary Meeting

-by Lisa Graves

August 15, 2013- This year's annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) had fewer corporations listed as sponsoring that meeting for a seemingly smaller total amount of revenue.

Based on the sponsorship rates ALEC promoted earlier this year, the organization took in approximately $910,000 from firms specifically designated as "President" to "Trustee" level sponsors for its 40th Anniversary meeting compared with estimated revenue of approximately $1.2 million for the same level of sponsorships at last year's meeting in Salt Lake City.

Huffington Post: ‘Citizen Koch’ Rescued By Small Donors As Documentary Outraises Funds Pulled By PBS

-By Nick Wing

August 8, 2013- "Citizen Koch," a highly regarded documentary about the billionaire Koch brothers and the growing influence of money in politics after the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, suffered a major setback earlier this year when PBS pulled the film and the $150,000 in funding that had been promised. Scrambling to find a way to distribute their film, Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin turned to Kickstarter in a highly successful move that recently surpassed the funds they had previously expected to receive from public television.

Politico: Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan headlined Koch summit

-By Kenneth P. Vogel and Jake Sherman

August 7, 2013- Rep. Paul Ryan, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez secretly spoke to wealthy donors at the Koch brothers’ recently concluded summer gathering on the outskirts of Albuquerque.

The 2012 vice presidential candidate and No. 2 House Republican are return participants to the twice-annual seminar, which also drew wealthy donors and conservative nonprofit leaders including American Enterprise Institute President Arthur Brooks.

The meeting featured some discussion of the unfolding GOP Senate primary challenges to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, but no consensus opinion emerged, a source who attended the event told POLITICO. The source said that Cantor and Ryan both delivered presentations that were well-received by donors, as was Brooks’s speech on work as a source of happiness.

A spokesman for Cantor’s office declined to comment, while Ryan’s office did not immediately respond to questions.