Americans for Prosperity, the right-wing advocacy tool of the infamous Koch Brothers, is hosting a national conference Friday and Saturday cynically called, "Defending the American Dream." Featured speakers include Herman Cain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. They've got workshops on topics like killing collective bargaining and repealing health care reform.
Health Care for America Now and the advocacy group The Other 98%, along with several other organizations, are sponsoring a counter-protest Friday night to expose the corrosive role of corporate money in politics and the dangerous agenda of organizations like Americans for Prosperity (AFP) that want to keep the richest people and corporations from paying their fair share in taxes and to eliminate important programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. (Click here and here for event information).
Charles and David Koch are the biggest players in extremist Republican politics. They've personally contributed more than $85 million to right-wing causes over the last 15 years. They convene regular meetings of super-rich people and organize them to contribute large sums to their campaign to destroy the American Dream, shrink the middle class, increase America's growing income inequality, preserve tax breaks for special interests like Big Oil, and strip workers of their rights. They'll do anything, no matter how harmful it may be to our country, to advance the interests of big corporations and the 1%.
In August of 2009 the drive for health care reform was almost derailed as the tea party disrupted one congressional town hall after another, dominating the news with anti-government Obama-haters spouting falsehoods about death panels. Most of the "grassroots activity" was astroturfing, powered by right-wing groups in Washington, D.C. and funded by the Kochs, who were dubbed the "financial engine of the tea party" by none other than Mitt Romney.
For those of us fighting for health care reform, the forces against us in those town halls almost stopped our campaign in its tracks. But something even more dramatic was taking shape. The so-called tea party movement was gaining steam, and it was getting help, direction and amplification from a variety of organizations that represent and are funded by corporate lobbyists, not real people. It was a movement conceived and driven by a Republican issue advocacy machine, and the Kochs' fingerprints were all over it. Then things got even worse in 2010 thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court's destructive Citizens United decision, which gave a major boost to the Kochs' rapidly expanding political empire.
AFP is the Koch Brothers front group at the center of all this. Along with FreedomWorks and other organizations backed by the Kochs and their allies, AFP is dedicated to stopping progressive change everywhere they can and rolling back the clock on every important social and economic justice achievement in our country.
The Kochs and their front groups are trying to steal our democracy. They and their cronies have purchased the Republican Party to serve their agenda of destroying America's middle class, including crushing workers and their unions.
Back in February, Americans for Prosperity sent busloads of people to Madison, Wisconsin, to support Gov. Scott Walker's attempt to decimate Wisconsin's public service unions and the middle class they helped build, while more than 100,000 people rallied for their rights.
Right now in Ohio, the Kochs, AFP, Republicans like Karl Rove and a host of fanatical right-wing organizations are doing everything they can to block an effort by the 99% to repeal the new state law that strips public employees of the right to bargain for stronger and safer communities and a better life for their families.
All across the country people are raising their voices in protest because they're fed up with a system stacked in favor of the richest 1%.
Progressives are on offense right now. Let's keep that going.
For more information about Occupy the Kochs, click here. Follow news about the event on Twitter at #OccupytheKochs.
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Kevin Grandia: OWS Versus the Tea Party Is Comparing Apples to Koch
And they are scared of the OWS movement. They are reconnoitering to refine their strategy.
Do not be fooled by the wiles of the rich & powerful!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1639142
And please be as civil as you can when dealing with folks who've been fooled by corporatate interests that are controlling corporate media... there is really so much hate expressed on fox comments, read what they say about the Texas judge beating his daughter, (*they think this is normal??) and wanting to "bust heads" or whatever because they believe the OWS protests are just "socialist hippies" or what not. there's a lot of dangerous misconceptions. Just generally try to help *yes help* people SEE through propaganda and to dissect information to see what's the deal... the brainwashing is really concentrating into hatred now, and it's so bad, and so divisive, and people just need to do what they can to get others past their hate don't you think? What's the alternative?
fascism
[fash-iz-uhm] Origin
1.
(sometimes initial capital letter) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
Since the GOP (and the Dems, actually, which is why both parties suck) supported the Patriot Act, torture, etc. during the term of W. While we haven't regressed to an absolute Dictatorship, Fascism requires a marriage between industry and government over the people. Think about business today; is there any entity less democratic than a corporation? Thus, if your financial health is dictated (no pun intended) by you losing all rights to privacy, having no say in how your company is run, and having to take orders from a corporate dictator, how free can you really be? Since the GOP is doing everything it can to end collective bargaining, leading us even further down the road of corporate fascism.
You really have to be in awe of how they can sell this shite. The branding using names than really have nothing to do with what they want to accomplish is unbelievable.
TURN THEM IN.........
It would take a total over throw of our Government to get the Corporation's influence out now. Congress will not vote to take money out of Government elections, which is what would have to happen to block some of the influence of Koch and the secretive PAC's. Flagrantly handing money to Cain and not even bothering to hide it is symptomatic of their arrogance and supreme confidence in their hold on America.
Why are they not protesting Freddie and Fannie giving out $12.8 billion in bonuses to executives, even though they have not paid back the $170 BILLION they received in tax money?
Did you expect the opponents to follow a different standard?
Then why bother with elections at all, just let the GOP buy the outcome in advance....
Pretty hard to think Obama supports the Occupy movement while on the same days he's taking $30k per plate for dinners with the very Wall Street bankers and corporate execs that are responsible for the problems the movement is protesting against.
Both parties are equally guilty of being used and unduly influenced by power brokers that are only interested in maintaining the status quo, and keeps all politicians in D.C. in their pockets. The problems are systemic and not political, and need systemic solutions.
I'm a Dem and Occupy supporter. I don't want the movement sold out to anyone, regardless of party.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/11/01/republican-senator-calls-on-obama-to-cancel-fannie-mae-freddie-mac-bonuses/