Blogs

Posted on the Provocation, October 10, 2011-

THE NEWS: Bloomberg News recently published a scathing indictment of the Koch brothers, two modern-day tycoons who have used their considerable financial clout to finance tea party activities and corporate lobbying campaigns, while engaging in business practices that can best be described as questionable.

THE PROVOCATION: The following is a compendium of pertinent facts about the Koch (pronounced "coke") brothers, who have fought against efforts to curb global warming while promoting corporate interests, undermining labor unions and funding ultra-conservative groups. The material gathered here is condensed from information provided in the Bloomberg piece, as well as in articles by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, ThinkProgress and other sources.

Calls New Jersey Democrats “Stupid” And Brags About Crushing Unions And Public Employees

KochWatch.org Calls For Ethics Investigation And Legislative Hearings

09.07.2011– Washington, DC—Brad Friedman, writing for Mother Jones, reports today that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie secretly gave the keynote speech at the Koch brothers’ Vail, Colorado Summer Seminar on June 26th. Governor Christie kept the event off of his daily calendar and kept it hidden until today.

David Koch introduced Governor Christie as “my kind of guy” and disclosed that he had met privately with him for two hours at the Koch New York offices.

Governors Rick Perry, Rick Scott And Bob McDonnell in Attendance, along with Hundreds of Corporate Titans

09.07.2011–
Washington, DC— The billionaire ultra-conservative activist Charles Koch was exposed today alluding to President Obama as “Saddam Hussein” to his supporters and inadvertently reeling off the names of donors who have given at least a million dollars to the otherwise secretive political foundation he runs with his brother. http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/exclusive-audio-koch-brothers-seminar-tapes

The revelations, published in Mother Jones, were based on an unprecedented audio recording made at a recent Koch Foundation retreat in Vail, Colorado.

The article, authored by Brad Friedman, features Koch describing the 2012 Presidential election as ‘the mother of all wars.’

Originally posted on the Democratic Party of Wisconsin website

August 1, 2011- Call on Six Republican Recall Senators to Denounce Tactic

MADISON-The Democratic Party of Wisconsin on Tuesday will file a complaint seeking the immediate end to a Koch Brothers-funded scheme to suppress Democratic votes in upcoming recall elections and called on six recall Republican senators to denounce the tactic.

The corporate front group Americans For Prosperity has in at least two recall districts reportedly been distributing absentee ballots with return instructions that would render the votes ineligible.

See attached complaint here.

Blogged by Teamster Power on Teamster Nation

July 23, 2011- Brazen power grab. That's the only way to describe Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker's latest attack on working families in Wisconsin.

Progressivetoo reports,

The Wisconsin legislature is finalizing a bill to close ten Department of Motor Vehicle centers located in Democratic districts within the state. The money saved will be used to extend operating hours at DMV centers in Republican districts. These cuts come on the heels of new voter ID laws that require voters to present a state-issued photo identification card at the poll booths.

The law is so restrictive that student IDs, even if they have a picture on them, can't be used to vote.

The Associated Press reports at least one Democratic lawmaker was angered by the move.

-Blogged by Jillian Barclay on Winning Progressive

In the 1800s, the Brothers Grimm wrote a series of fairy tales, such as Hansel and Gretel and Snow White, that were far more gruesome, creepy, and twisted than the sanitized versions of those stories that Disney has now created. Today, the role of the Brothers Grimm is being filled by the Koch Brothers. Unfortunately, the fairy tales they are writing are threatening to create a gruesome, creepy, and twisted future for our society.

You have heard of David and Charles Grimm-Koch. But do you really know who they are? What they stand for? How they are writing a new fairy tale for America? These two are multi-billionaire brothers who are both in their 70′s. They are purchasing the United States, and they seek control of all policy making in the United States. Their philosphy: Why run for one political office when you can buy many political offices? Their efforts are designed to gain as much influence as possible at every level of government: federal, state and local, leaving no stone unturned.

Source: Right Wing Watch

Introduction
When state legislators across the nation introduce similar or identical bills designed to boost corporate power and profits, reduce workers rights, limit corporate accountability for pollution, or restrict voting by minorities, odds are good that the legislation was not written by a state lawmaker but by corporate lobbyists working through the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC is a one-stop shop for corporations looking to identify friendly state legislators and work with them to get special-interest legislation introduced. It’s win-win for corporations, their lobbyists, and right-wing legislators. But the big losers are citizens whose rights and interests are sold off to the highest bidder.

Why are major corporations risking their reputation by cozying up behind closed doors with the Koch Brothers and Big Tobacco to manipulate state laws throughout the country? The Center for Media and Democracy has uncovered that smoke-filled back room where Fortune 500 firms and right-wing politicians craft the bills that undermine our wages, our legal rights, our voting rights, and our democracy – and it is called ALEC.

We are sending letters to the corporate leadership of the American Legislative Exchange Council (Bayer, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Wal-Mart, Kraft, Coca-Cola, State Farm, Johnson and Johnson, AT&T, Koch, Altria/Phillip Morris USA, Reynolds Tobacco, Centerpoint 360, American Bail Coalition, Diageo, Energy Future Holdings, Exxon Mobile, Intuit, Peabody Energy, PhRMA, Reed Elsevier, Salt River Project, UPS) to demand that they withdraw their membership from ALEC and do what’s right for our democracy.

By clicking the link below, you’ll be able to send your own letters to companies. Don’t forget each firm also has Facebook pages and Twitter feeds where this message can become viral!

-Madison.Com Letter to the Editor:

Dear Editor: The Republican leader of the Wisconsin Senate, Scott Fitzgerald, stated he supports having Republicans run as Democrats in recall elections in order to force a primary. He said that running so-called protest candidates is a “tool” available to help Republican candidates have more time to campaign.

What is the difference regarding the “tool” the Fab 14 (Democratic state senators) used when they left Wisconsin to give the people more time to read and study the budget repair bill?

There’s only one difference I see here. The Fab 14 didn’t cost taxpayers a dime while the fake candidates who will force a primary will cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

-Originally blogged by Knute Rife on The Business Law Spot

May 18, 2011- I'm brewing up a series of entries over the next few days, but I'll start with this:

Late last year, a group of merry pranksters issued a fake press release satirizing Koch Industries' environmental policies, using Koch's trademarks and name to make the release look like it was actually from Koch. FYI, Koch Industries is the Koch Bros., the billionaires who are funding the Tea Party and about every anti-Middle-Class piece of legislation in the country. Nobody was actually fooled into thinking the press release came from Koch, but Koch did have to spend some staff time responding to inquiries. Well, things like this aren't supposed to happen to People Who Matter, like the Koch Bros., so they decided to get to the bottom of it. They sued Bluehost and Fast Domain, the internet service providers (ISPs) the pranksters used for disseminating the release, here in Utah to get the names of the pranksters (Bluehost is based here.), alleging the pranksters had committed IP fraud and infringement.

 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has the ability to stop Koch Industries, Inc. from profiting off a pipeline that would carry the dirtiest oil on Earth through six states, one of America's most important aquifers and almost 2,000 miles of American homes and farmland. Help us reach our goal of 50,000 individuals telling Secretary Clinton to say No to the Kochs and Yes to protecting Americans at http://kochbrothersexposed.com/tellclintonno