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Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama

Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,400
7,785
Hat tip to Fool for posting the article a day or two ago.

New Yorker, Aug 30, 2010: Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama. By Jane Meyer.

I highly recommend everyone read this article. Very long but chock-full of info on how right-wing politics are controlled and manipulated by the many tentacles of the Koch oil dynasty.

The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry—especially environmental regulation. These views dovetail with the brothers’ corporate interests. In a study released this spring, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute named Koch Industries one of the top ten air polluters in the United States. And Greenpeace issued a report identifying the company as a “kingpin of climate science denial.” The report showed that, from 2005 to 2008, the Kochs vastly outdid ExxonMobil in giving money to organizations fighting legislation related to climate change, underwriting a huge network of foundations, think tanks, and political front groups. Indeed, the brothers have funded opposition campaigns against so many Obama Administration policies—from health-care reform to the economic-stimulus program—that, in political circles, their ideological network is known as the Kochtopus.
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Fool

Fool

The Thing cannot be described
Sep 10, 2001
2,785
1,499
Brooklyn
X3pilot said:
While I understand your context, pretty safe to say you could apply that to all politics...
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This is addressed in the article, but what makes the Koch bros stand out is the way in which they form shell companies and organizations with ordinary sounding names to make it seem it's a grassroots-level effort pushing the agenda. And it's hundreds of millions of dollars spread out across dozens of operations.

It's a very worthwhile read. Print it and bang it out on a few throne sessions.
 
KavuRider

KavuRider

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2006
2,565
4
CT
It is frightening that they can wield that much power without the general public knowing. I didn't realize just how far their reach extended.
 
Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,375
16,856
Riding the baggage carousel.
Not to long after the local tea bagger rally here in town a bunch of fliers went up for another rally to be held a couple weeks later, and one of them made it to the cork board at work. I forget the exact title for said rally but it was under the guise of being an environmental movement where the organizers drove "environmentally friendly" Smart Cars preaching to the masses about the dangers of the EPA. In the corner of the flier was this little image:

So since I was at work and had nothing to do I googled "Americans for Prosperity". This was the first I heard of the Cocks Kochs. It would seem that AFP was not only preaching deregulation of the oil industry (keep in mind this was before the BP fiasco) but it is HEAVILY funded by the Cocks Kochs and their "foundation" and has been headed by such luminaries as friends of Jack Abramoff and the Cocks Kochs chief lobbyist. These two dudes are slimier than snot covered sh*t.

Source watch article on AFP.
 
dan-o

dan-o

Turbo Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
6,499
2,805
Did anyone think this crap WASN'T happening? What d-bags are pushing the Dem agenda, you know they're out there.
 
dan-o

dan-o

Turbo Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
6,499
2,805
kidwoo said:
What's the dem agenda?

It's pretty easy to see the other one: maximum profit for already wealthy entities


But seriously.....what's the dem one then?
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As someone who votes primarily Dem, I can honestly say I have no f'ing idea. Is 'ineffective leadership' an agenda?

My point is that only the naive (and I know toshi isn't naive) don't realize that this type of shadow lobbying exists. It's not limited to the Republicans and it will always exist, imo. Oil companies trying to influence energy policy? Unpossible!
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,400
7,785
dan-o said:
As someone who votes primarily Dem, I can honestly say I have no f'ing idea. Is 'ineffective leadership' an agenda?

My point is that only the naive (and I know toshi isn't naive) don't realize that this type of shadow lobbying exists. It's not limited to the Republicans and it will always exist, imo. Oil companies trying to influence energy policy? Unpossible!
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I knew this existed to some degree, but the influence detailed in the lengthy article is far beyond my expectations.
 
C

Coopsy

Chimp
Apr 28, 2008
6
0
Some interesting timing... On Monday night 4 Corners, which is one of the better news/current affairs programs, if not the best, down here in Kangarooland ran a show about the GFC that basically blamed over regulation for the shakey health of the world's financial system (and gave a serve to Obama, while kinda being kind to Bush for doing what seemed to be the same thing)....

(For some context, this show is on our national broadcaster (ABC), the BBC equivelent)

Then today, this article turns up on the ABC opinion pages: http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2995034.htm

The film maker is heavily backed by the Koch Brothers, and matches the rhetoric in the article posted by Toshi....
 
Silver

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
Coopsy said:
Some interesting timing... On Monday night 4 Corners, which is one of the better news/current affairs programs, if not the best, down here in Kangarooland ran a show about the GFC that basically blamed over regulation for the shakey health of the world's financial system (and gave a serve to Obama, while kinda being kind to Bush for doing what seemed to be the same thing)....

(For some context, this show is on our national broadcaster (ABC), the BBC equivelent)

Then today, this article turns up on the ABC opinion pages: http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2995034.htm

The film maker is heavily backed by the Koch Brothers, and matches the rhetoric in the article posted by Toshi....
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That is, of course, why Canada's regulated banking system (certainly in comparison to the US) underwent the most catastrophic financial crisis in history.

Or not...depends on how much your jerk off to Ayn Rand rape scenarios, I guess.

Also, anyone notice how every fvcking libertarian retard from a functioning country seems to end up at a Washington DC think tank? Wonder how that happens...

edit: I should make clear I'm not mocking you, Coopsy, but the subject of your post.
 
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DaveW

DaveW

Space Monkey
Jul 2, 2001
11,233
2,765
The bunker at parliament
Total side point to the main thrust* of the thread I know but has anyone else noticed how that the main economies to be least effected by the US financial/sub prime ****up are the most heavily regulated? Looking at you Germany, Scandinavia and China.......




*heh Mmm Thrust!!!
 
C

Coopsy

Chimp
Apr 28, 2008
6
0
Silver said:
That is, of course, why Canada's regulated banking system (certainly in comparison to the US) underwent the most catastrophic financial crisis in history.

Or not...depends on how much your jerk off to Ayn Rand rape scenarios, I guess.

Also, anyone notice how every fvcking libertarian retard from a functioning country seems to end up at a Washington DC think tank? Wonder how that happens...

edit: I should make clear I'm not mocking you, Coopsy, but the subject of your post.
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Didn't read it that way Silver...

I thought the part of the doco that I actually watched was a bit illogical and didn't even try to hide it's agenda, but no doubt there will be a wave of people that take it as gospel.
 
Inclag

Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,752
442
MA
Toshi said:
Hat tip to Fool for posting the article a day or two ago.

New Yorker, Aug 30, 2010: Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama. By Jane Meyer.

I highly recommend everyone read this article. Very long but chock-full of info on how right-wing politics are controlled and manipulated by the many tentacles of the Koch oil dynasty.
Click to expand...
This was on NPR yesterday as well. Very interesting stuff.

Pretty ironic that the family made their fortunes from Stalin
 
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Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,375
16,856
Riding the baggage carousel.
Am I the only one who facepalms every time one of these right wing loonies launches into a frothing spasm about "over regulation" being the cause of a problem? BP oil spill, obviously the oil industry is too heavily regulated. West VA mine blows up, obviously the mining industry is over regulated. US economy rides unsustainable speculative bubble then implodes, obviously over regulated. Puh-lease, in what deluded fantasy world does that make any fvcking sense? :banghead:
 
Secret Squirrel

Secret Squirrel

There is no Justice!
Dec 21, 2004
8,150
1
Up sh*t creek, without a paddle
Pesqueeb said:
Am I the only one who facepalms every time one of these right wing loonies launches into a frothing spasm about "over regulation" being the cause of a problem? BP oil spill, obviously the oil industry is too heavily regulated. West VA mine blows up, obviously the mining industry is over regulated. US economy rides unsustainable speculative bubble then implodes, obviously over regulated. Puh-lease, in what deluded fantasy world does that make any fvcking sense? :banghead:
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Because if said industry wasn't over-regulated, then they wouldn't have to bend so many rules to make obscene profits. Duh.


[/sarcasm]
 
syadasti

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
More from those Koch suckers:

NY Times said:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/opinion/21tue1.html?emc=eta1

Editorial
The Brothers Koch and AB 32
Published: September 20, 2010

Four years ago, bipartisan majorities in the California Legislature approved a landmark clean energy bill that many hoped would serve as a template for a national effort to reduce dependence on foreign oil and mitigate the threat of climate change.

Now a well-financed coalition of right-wing ideologues, out-of-state oil and gas companies and climate-change skeptics is seeking to effectively kill that law with an initiative on the November state ballot. The money men include Charles and David Koch, the Kansas oil and gas billionaires who have played a prominent role in financing the Tea Party movement.

The 2006 law, known as AB 32, is aimed at reducing California’s emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020 and by 80 percent at midcentury. To reach these targets, state agencies are drawing up regulations that would affect businesses and consumers across the board — requiring even cleaner cars, more energy-efficient buildings and appliances, and power plants that use alternative energy sources like wind instead of older fossil fuels.

The prospect that these rules could reduce gasoline consumption strikes terror into some energy companies. A large chunk of the $8.2 million raised in support of the ballot proposition has come from just two Texas-based oil and gas companies, Valero and Tesoro, which have extensive operations in California. The Koch brothers have contributed about $1 million, partly because they worry about damage to the bottom line at Koch Industries, and also because they believe that climate change is a left-wing hoax.

They have argued that the law will lead to higher energy costs and job losses, arguments that resonate with many voters in a state with a 12.4 percent unemployment rate. But this overlooks the enormous increase in investments in clean energy technologies — and the jobs associated with them — since the law was passed.

Overturning AB 32 would be another setback in the effort to fight climate change. The United States Senate has already scuttled President Obama’s goal of putting a price on carbon. The Environmental Protection Agency, while important, can only do so much. This leaves state and regional efforts as crucially important drivers — and if California pulls back, other states like New York that are trying to reduce emissions may do so as well.

The Kochs and their allies are disastrously wrong about the science, which shows that man-made emissions are largely responsible for global warming, and wrong about the economics. AB 32’s many friends — led by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California — have therefore mounted a spirited counterattack in defense of the law.

Another respected Republican, George Shultz — a cabinet member in both the Nixon and Reagan administrations — has signed on as a co-chairman of this effort. Mr. Shultz credits AB 32 for an unprecedented “outburst” of technological creativity and investment.

Who wins if this law is repudiated? The Koch brothers, maybe, but the biggest winners will be the Chinese, who are already moving briskly ahead in the clean technology race. And the losers? The people of California, surely. But the biggest loser will be the planet.

A version of this editorial appeared in print on September 21, 2010, on page A30 of the New York edition.
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Inclag

Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,752
442
MA
syadasti said:
More from those Koch suckers:
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God forbid that these asses (and most lazy Americans in general) would obtain educations and the technical skills necessary to progress alternate technologies and energy resources thereby creating viable and economically stimulating industries.

At this point I'm praying to FSM for another meteorite-like event to occur that will eradicate these dinosaurs which are squeezing out every drop of water from these rag industries and stunting progression.


BTW, anyone here watch Futurama?

Whenever I read about things like this, it reminds of this one episode where Prof. Farnsworth is experimenting with a monkey, named Gunter, in which the professor created an "intelligence hat" for him. Unfortunately the hat gets damaged....


Farnsworth: "But, what about your super-intelligence?"
Gunther: "When I had that there was too much pressure to use it. All I want out of life is to be a monkey of moderate intelligence who wears a suit. That's why I've decided to transfer to business school!"
Farnsworth: "Noooooooooo!"

 
-BB-

-BB-

I broke all the rules, but somehow still became mo
Sep 6, 2001
4,254
28
Livin it up in the O.C.
ok... so step #1, time to start a boycott of:
Dixie cups, Brawny paper towels and Quilted Northern bath tissue.

That Lycra one is gonna be tough since there are few alternatives.
 
JohnE

JohnE

filthy rascist
May 13, 2005
13,452
1,980
Front Range, dude...
I wonder if the old "Trade with the enemy" prohibition still stands...just another example of greedy ****ers being greedy, awash in the blood of the proletariat...
 
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