Koch Industries has “become a financial kingpin of climate science denial and clean energy opposition,” spending over $48.5 million since 1997 to fund the climate denial machine, according to an extensive report today by Greenpeace.  The Greenpeace report reveals how Koch Industries and the foundations under its control spent far more than even ExxonMobil in recent years to fund industry front groups opposed to clean energy and climate policies.  Koch spent over half the total amount -nearly $25 million - funding climate denier groups from 2005 to 2008, a period in which Exxon only spent $8.9 million. Greenpeace’s attempt to lift the veil of secrecy inherent to a private company like Koch Industries is no easy task.  Because it remains privately owned, Koch faces few of the disclosure requirements designed to increase transparency among publicly-traded companies. That intentional secrecy allows Koch Industries, the second-largest privately-held company in … [Read more...]

March 29, 2010 Pres. Obama: What Should be Next? Posted: 08:10 AM ET President Obama’s top domestic priority, health care reform, is a done deal. So, what does he turn his attention to now? A. Jobs and the economy B. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan C. Immigration D. Financial industry reform Egberto Willies March 29th, 2010 10:18 am ET Actually I think the President needs to tackle all of the above now. Too much was neglected over the last 30 years and he needs to prove that government matters, can solve real problems, and is necessary. A. Jobs and the economy, B. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, C. Immigration, & D. Financial industry reform must be handled concurrently. In many was they are interelated. CONTINUED … [Read more...]

  Though Republican lawmakers now vilify the individual mandate for health insurance coverage as unconstitutional, the provision has long roots in conservative health care philosophy and has been supported by such GOP presidents as Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush. Republican administrations were among the first to embrace the concept of forcing individuals to buy coverage. Nixon -- hoping to stave off the single-payer ethos of many congressional Democrats -- explored the idea in the 1970s, though Republicans now dismiss those discussions as the byproduct of a moderate president searching for a domestic policy victory. Less than two decades later, in what remains an unexplored chapter of health care history, a surprising supporter of the individual mandate was George H.W. Bush. According to contemporaneous reporting, Bush used "the tax system to 'encourage and empower' individuals to buy health insurance and would enact insurance market reforms that make it possible for everyone … [Read more...]

  Owned Sorry Republicans. Your cost-control ideas belong to Democrats now. Neera Tanden March 29, 2010 | 1:00 am   On the day of the historic House vote on the Senate bill and reconciliation package, conservative pundit David Frum wrote a piece titled "Waterloo," in which he stated that “conservatives and Republicans today suffered their most crushing legislative defeat since the 1960s.” Frum argued that, by opposing the entire legislative effort as a means to cripple the Obama presidency and refusing to negotiate in good faith, the Republicans ensured they would have no part in shaping the most significant domestic policy of the last 40 years. “Barack Obama badly wanted Republican votes for his plan," Frum explained. "Could we have leveraged his desire to align the plan more closely with conservative views?” The answer is clearly yes. And the consequences will be large. By unilaterally ceding control over the contents of the health bill, … [Read more...]