The Koch Brothers Exposed

Rolling Stone:

If the Koch brothers didn't exist, the left would have to invent them. They're the plutocrats from central casting -- oil-and-gas billionaires ready to buy any congressman, fund any lie, fight any law, bust any union, despoil any landscape, or shirk any (tax) burden to push their free-market religion and pump up their profits. 

Read the whole story at Rolling Stone

Comments

[Jimmy Gandee]

05:09 PM on 12/16/2012

Toyota North America has plans to implement a so called Next Step policy.This is buyout program for employees in less physically demanding jobs.That is if they wish to retain these types of jobs they can take a 20% pay cut or receive a buy out

[7dr361]

08:47 AM on 04/23/2012

mods post my last comment to [ BOB guy ]and I will move on

[tlcpro]

08:11 AM on 04/23/2012

Consumers create jobs through their spending power. If they have no money to spend they have no power. Consumers drive the economy, not tycoons. The way to create jobs is to put more money in the pockets of average people, so that they can spend it. If your store is full of customers, you need to hire more clerks. If your restaurant is full of hungry people, you need to hire more staff. Big corporations are not job creators; who wants to work for one?

[mudshark12]

11:45 PM on 04/22/2012

I took the liberty of cutting & pasting a small sample of this excellent Rolling Stone article by Julian Brookes about those dirty Koch brothers.

"They like to think of elected politicians as merely "actors playing out a script," and themselves as supplying "the themes and words for the scripts." Imagine Karl Rove’s strategic cunning, crossed with Ron Paul’s screw-the-poor ideology, and hooked up to Warren Buffett's checking account, and you’re halfway there.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/the-koch-brothers-exposed-20120420#ixzz1spb2YaNI

I highly recommend reading this so you can truly wrap your mind around how low one can go.
This article includes more links about the Koch's skullduggery so a person can come to grips with how greedy and corrupt these two Republicans really are.

[Nancy Patterson]

07:19 PM on 04/22/2012

So defend the Repubs and vote for 'em but they must laugh themselves sick at how ignorant their own voters are. Blame it on unions, then public workers, small business owners, what or who next? Oh yeah, the baddo senior citizens and disabled folks. Its all their fault for the economy, huh? The way the gop tells it, they're doing workers a favor lowering wages, cutting benifits, etc. while they give away the treasury for nothing..Jobs, are you kidding me? Job creators if you count the ones they moved overseas. They could care less about jobs, healthcare, the environment, the economy (that we're suffering with), or anything that affects real people. But eventually they'll run out of groups to blame for the mess they create. But by then the krochs won't need these 'leaders' anymore. Once they have everything deregulated to the point of sludge and flames from every faucett and toxic waste allowed on Amtrac trains travelling thru your town while people are killed/injured but so what. Lowers their overhead while they balance the budget on the backs of the poor. Oh yeah thats what I call fair and balanced. Sure sure. Just because they make this stuff up doesn't make it true. The truth is repubs would rather bend over for the kochs than to vote for a man of color. Bottom line.

[leftyrock]

04:26 PM on 04/22/2012

Phonetically ,the funniest headline ever!!!! for my republican friends.....phonetically means the way the word sounds

[joeg2028]

05:37 PM on 04/22/2012

Excellent observation!! Fanned.

[7dr361]

03:29 PM on 04/22/2012

Thank you mods........Just want to say to [ ranchero42 ] your post is great, I fanned you....We need to keep our voter for President Obama close........LIEs paid for by the rich don't impress me.......I know who's been at the wheel, I'll be there when my vote is needed...................

[7dr361]

03:17 PM on 04/22/2012

I posted a Comment to [ ranchero42 ] comment, where is it??

[Whats Inaname]

01:09 PM on 04/22/2012

To all the Te/RepubliCANT’s supporting the Koch brothers, I have a proposal.

I would ask, would you be willing to prove to all of “real America” that what they have done is not harmful to the people and the environment?

Here is how you can silence all of us. There are exactly 6 months, 2 weeks, 1 day until the election. Would you be willing to go and live in the little town in Arkansas for 5 to 6 months WITH your family and then return for another 5 to 6 months? If you have children you can enroll them in the nearby school.

Here are the rules:
- You have to camp as close as you can to the plant or near the drain where all the steam is coming out.
- You have to drink the water from the creek/canal you can boil it before drinking it but not bathing.
- You have to live off the land as much as possible can foods are okay but you could also pick berries, hunt for deer, etc., etc.
- You can only resort to buying groceries if you can’t find any wildlife in the area (I doubt you will unless they are carcasses).
- You can’t bring any type of clothing, masks, or gloves that would protect you from the environment.
- You can of course bring any type of camping equipment.

Any questions?

KARMA: “WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND.”

[joeg2028]

05:39 PM on 04/22/2012

Two weeks ago, we adopted a two-year-old shelter dog; his name was Karma. We didn't know it at the time, but he had hook worms, and in accordance with the adoption agreement, he had to be neutered.

He's no longer called Karma.

[mudshark12]

11:50 PM on 04/22/2012

Sorry to hear about your dog. Very reasonable name change as he didn't deserve what happened to him.

[mudshark12]

11:50 PM on 04/22/2012

Sounds fair to me.

[Whats Inaname]

12:55 AM on 04/23/2012

It's one thing to say something or say that you stand for something. However, how far you are willing to on "principle" alone to show others that what you are defending is what you will defend with actions not just words. More importantly, if you have family would you risk their health and safety to prove your point? How far are would they be willing to go to prove to others that it is safe to live next to the plant?

I haven't had any takers. Guess this is one challenge they are afraid to accept.

KARMA: "WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND."

If I had just made a comment I would have already received numerous responses but since I posted a challenge, well you see the result.

[January Day]

12:26 PM on 04/22/2012

Nothing new here. Just chapter 10,000 in the Liberal's book of "boogey men"~

[ranchero42]

01:54 PM on 04/22/2012

Well, I'm not surprised that some on the Right are annoyed that every position they hold dear can be traced back to partisan-driven avarice -- another cross for the politically compromised to bear…
=================================>>>'Kochs…Pledge $100M…Beat Obama' By Ryan Grim and Amanda Terkel for HuffPo -- WASHINGTON -- "At a private three-day retreat in CA last weekend, con billionaires Charles and David Koch and about 250 to 300 others pledged approximately $100 million to defeat BHO in 2012. A source told The Huffington Post that, specifically, Charles pledged $40 million and David pledged $20 million. The semi-annual, invitation-only meeting attracts wealthy donors, GOP politicians and con activists. This is the ninth straight year the Kochs have hosted the conference. As Politico reported last year, the meetings often adjourn "after soliciting pledges of support from the donors -- sometimes totaling as much as $50 million -- to nonprofit groups favored by the Kochs."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/48277.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/30/koch-brothers-protest-25-_n_816085.html
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20120201/NEWS01/202010306/Koch-group-quietly-met-Indian-Wells?odyssey=nav|head

[7dr361]

03:01 PM on 04/22/2012

If President Obama's supporters would hold true.......no amount of money will change anything.....WE know money buys LIES....My vote is not forsale...Obama took over a mess from the repubs......Don't let them finish off America....The crooked Koch should be in Jail.....

[ranchero42]

02:02 PM on 04/22/2012

Actually, one of the fascinating things about that conference was who attended -- that infamous casino guy, Adelson must have been annoyed about something -- either that, or he could no longer control his 'boy' Newt…
=================================>>>"How does Newt propose to deliver on his promise (of $2 -$2.50 per gallon gasoline)? Well, the first thing he promises is to increase the amount of oil the U.S. needs -- by eliminating fuel economy standards, so that Americans can once again be forced to purchase cars they cannot afford to drive. So far, Newt's proposals make us worse off. Were this to happen, however, no one would be more unhappy than TransCanada, the builder of the Keystone Pipeline. Because at $2 gallon, there is simply no market for its product -- tar sands oil is only profitable when crude oil prices are above $70 barrel. To get gasoline down to $2, crude must fall below $50 -- meaning an empty Keystone Pipeline."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-pope/gingrich-gas-prices_b_1336387.html?ref=media&ir=Media

[mudshark12]

11:52 PM on 04/22/2012

Newt was always good at pulling ideas out of his bunghole.

[canoeboundaryh20]

07:45 AM on 04/22/2012

Conservative Christans like to pretend that Soros is as evil the the kochbros.

[starchildjg24]

09:31 AM on 04/22/2012

Soros is eccentric, but not evil! He no longer is much interested in politics. The conservatives are way behind the times. Most of his time and money currently is spent on improving conditions in Africa. He donates a lot of money designed to help countries move away from communism to democracy, helped Hungary a lot with that. His foundation has also worked extensively in the Ukraine, Russia, Siberia, and Georgia.
His primary interest in politics did not happen until 2004, when determined to try and defeat GW he dumped a ton of money into the election. He hated Bush and Cheney with a passion, because of the wars. After that, he pretty much lost interest in US politics.
Lots and lots of total lies about him by the RWN's, trying to making him out to be a boogeyman. He declined donating any money to Obama's SuperPac, stating that his interests lie elsewhere.
One of the lies told by extremists is that snopes.com is funded by Soros, which has been proven to be totally ridiculous. The right wing has tried to attribute all nonpartisan factchecking sites to some "liberal boogeyman", even the one run by the Univ. of PA. Gee, I wonder why!!!!!

[January Day]

12:27 PM on 04/22/2012

Really? So his brain-child, MdiaMatters, isn't political? Riiigghhhttttt.......

[Bob Pante]

01:08 PM on 04/22/2012

Soros makes the Koch Bros look like saints.

[7dr361]

03:15 PM on 04/22/2012

for instance name it Bob Pante............................about Soros

[cclaker]

06:26 AM on 04/22/2012

There's also an excellent film, "The Billionaire's Tea Party." http://www.billionairesteaparty.com/

I bought it and will probably buy the "Koch Brothers Exposed," to pass around to the Democrats in our county. The only way we can save our democracy from these plutocrats is to make sure voters are informed. In my opinion, this coming election is a turning point for our country. It's a war--us against them. Like Jim Hightower said, democracy is a street fight. You'd better wear your old clothes and be prepared to get in the scrap, because it's going to get messy.

[steeler59]

05:43 AM on 04/22/2012

Any American company that goes to the USSR & builds nuclear power plants for Stalin are traitors & just plan greedy garbage! (Kochs father started the bussiness there because he could not get contracts in the USA)

It disgust me that traitors can shape politics as they do!

[Bob Pante]

01:11 PM on 04/22/2012

It is nearly impossible to do any kind of business in the Unites States anymore. Why do you think so many companies have relocated overseas? Weather it is taxes, bureacricy, over regulation, Unions, the list goes on and on.

[7dr361]

08:38 AM on 04/23/2012

Sonny, I'm making a couple remarks and then move on.....You are forgetting that under George Bush 55,000 factories left the USA for China.....Why don't you research a little and STOP listening to Fox noise, no news....

[steeler59]

01:43 PM on 04/25/2012

Its about the labor rates come on, I have 12 employess how many do you have. I will not pay them $1.33 per hour, you sir sound like a boot licker of the rich. I am self made man! so stow your bull. I read & live in the real bussiness world.

[rf dude]

05:02 AM on 04/22/2012

Don't even get me started with this headline...

[mudshark12]

12:00 AM on 04/23/2012

Why not? I want you to let it all hang out if you feel you have some angst you need to vent against the Kochs, this is the place to do it.

[rf dude]

12:39 AM on 04/23/2012

HA! Thanks, I needed that!!

[breakingpoint]

04:20 AM on 04/22/2012

"This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."-DDE