It is scary to think that one company can have this type of influence on our body politics. From the documented actions of the Koch brothers, it seem to be malpractice that the main stream media, the protector of our democracy is no where to be found to enlighten Americans of their machinations.
That blogs are required to put this data out to get some sort of traction will harm our country in the short term. As more and more Americans discover that they’ve been had and start looking for the reasons they were mostly unaware of their demise, the main stream media will be a victim of their own willful incompetence.
The Koch led GOP is like a dormant cancer. It is patient. It waits until the immune system is vulnerable to grow and multiply with a vengeance.
This is where we are at. The plutocrats and oligarch see the economic catastrophe they created as a blank canvas. They paint that canvas with an illusion of what actually caused the catastrophe. They then spend an inordinate amount of money giving that illusion to whoever is willing to take it.
In today’s world, if you have the money, you can sell any desired reality. It is incumbent upon the informed to ensure that real reality is maintained. Absent that, plutocrats and oligarchs like the Koch brothers will make 98% of Americans indentured servants.
My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom
Book’s Webpage: http://bit.ly/aB9Zkz – Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies
In an opinion piece published this week, Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch promised to continue to finance anti-government, right-wing front groups. Koch writes that the “purpose of business is to efficiently convert resources into products and services that make people’s lives better.” But when it comes to Koch’s carcinogenic pollution and carbon emissions, the purpose of Koch’s political giving is to avoid any financial responsibility — no matter who gets hurt. Koch Industries has cornered the market in monetizing some of the most dirty industrial businesses. Koch imports oil from the Middle East, refines high-carbon Canadian crude, maintains coal-burning plants, owns one of the largest oil pipeline networks in America, runs environmentally hazardous lumber mills, produces toxic chemicals, and manufacturers fertilizer. The University of Masschusetts Amherst has scored Koch as among the top ten worst air polluters for its carcinogenic chemicals.
Much of the entire Koch political machine is geared towards ensuring that Koch Industries never has to compensate the people and ecosystems damaged by Koch Industries pollution. Koch front groups — from Tea Party groups to think tanks — have diligently promoted Koch Industries’ bottom line by denying global warming, fighting regulations on Koch’s cancer-causing chemicals, and snuffing out investigations into Koch’s environmental crimes:
– In 1990, as both Republicans and Democrats proposed a cap and trade system to address acid rain, Koch financed a front group called “Concerned Citizens for the Environment” to battle proposed regulations. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the group “has no citizen membership of its own,” but produced studies arguing that acid rain was a myth and that deregulation would benefit the environment. Koch refineries and factories, top emitters of acid rain-causing toxins, were impacted by the successful cap and trade system. A front group founded by David Koch, Citizens for a Sound Economy (which later changed its name to Americans for Prosperity), also battled regulations designed to combat acid rain, labeling the problem a “myth.”
How Koch Industries makes billions corrupting government and polluting for free « Climate Progress