Inside the Koch Brothers' Expensive Echo Chamber

[babsbunny]

http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=c1789eb9-a685-4dd2-acd4-f0c15496ea25

By Robert Greenwald

June 23, 2011

Documents and interviews unearthed in recent months by Brave New Foundation researchers illustrate a $28.4 million Koch business that has manufactured 297 commentaries, 200 reports, 56 studies and six books distorting Social Security's effectiveness and purpose.

Together, the publications reveal a vast cottage industry comprised of Koch brothers' spokespeople, front groups, think tanks, academics and elected officials, which have built a self-sustaining echo chamber to transform fringe ideas into popular mainstream public policy arguments.

The Koch brothers' echo chamber has successfully written the messaging for the AARP, a traditional defender of Social Security for all generations, which recently opened the door to cutting benefits.

[SpiralHawk]

1. Wow - Republicon Black-ops occult mindf*ckery propaganda

As usual.

Republicon billionaires are sooo into anti-American scuzzbucketry.

[Kurovski]

2. A paid bullshitter. My dream job.

Fuckers. K&R

[gratuitous]

3. They spent at least $28.4 million

And tax rates for the wealthy are too high, according to some people. Uh huh.

The other part of this is that you know darn good and well that the Kochs and their wealthy compatriots aren't spending all this money just to "win" some ideological debate. No, they're getting a very good return on their investment. Otherwise, they'd take their money and . . . you know, invest it. All this money being spread around means more money in their own overstuffed pockets.

Which leads to the inevitable question: How much money is enough for the likes of David and Charles Koch? Can they ever have enough money to suit themselves? They have persuaded enough people in our country that it's preferable to have people starving in the streets than for them to help pay for the societal structure that's been so beneficial to them all their pampered lives.

Enough, says I.