Koch Brothers Web of Influence

[PA Democrat]

[AzDar]

1. K & R &

:puke:

[mzteris]

2. nooooooooo

not ABT!!

[Frustratedlady]

3. Reminds me of a quote I learned as a child...

Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive! Sir Walter Scott

[PA Democrat]

4. The Fund for American Studies

The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) seeks to create a brighter, more prosperous future by preparing young people for leadership by teaching them the ideas of freedom and a free-market economy. Our approach is to recruit young people likely to pursue careers in public policy, journalism, international affairs, business, government and related fields, and to educate them in the ideas most conducive to human achievement - individual liberty and personal responsibility.

http://www.tfas.org/

[gtar100]

8. Fascinating - "freedom", "free-market", "individual liberty", "personal responsibility"

What a joke that they use these buzz words so much. Tell me of a liberal or progressive who is not for freedom, liberty and personal responsibility. There are none.

The difference is that we also add "community responsibility" to the list and that changes everything. I believe in a free market but not if that "free" part allows and condones hurting others or destroying our shared environment.

Without responsibility for community, the conservatives' kingpin words are just hollow cries of selfishness and greed.

[PA Democrat]

11. Libertarians to the max.

They also do not like people criticizing their unrestrained pursuit of more and more wealth . Check out the Association of Private Enterprise Education info below. They don't want to pay taxes and don't want any criticism of the growing concentration of wealth at the very top.

[blm]

17. They know how to tap the religious voters to gain support for their fascist agenda.

RW voters swayed by social issues and ideology are easy marks for fascists.

[PA Democrat]

5. The Phillips Foundation

Is a non-profit organization founded in 1990 to advance constitutional principles, a democratic society and a vibrant free enterprise system. In 1994, The Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship Program was launched to award grants to working print and online journalists supportive of American culture and a free society. In 1999, The Foundation launched its Ronald Reagan College Leaders Scholarship Program to provide renewable cash awards to college undergraduates who demonstrate leadership on behalf of the cause of freedom, American values and constitutional principles.


http://www.thephillipsfoundation.org/

[PA Democrat]

6. This one is a gem: The Association of Private Enterprise Education

"It is easier to blame profits, corporations, or business people for social problems than to understand their functions in an increasingly complex, international economy. It is easier to support a politician's promised quick fix than to suffer the natural workings of dynamic market systems righting themselves.

The danger is very real that demagogues, while reviling "the rich," will loot the private wealth that is society's seed corn. The defense against demagogues is understanding and commitment to the principles of private enterprise. These are abstract principles and are not readily obvious.

APEE is committed to helping individuals understand the value of private enterprise. We are making the invisible hand apparent."


http://www.apee.org/

Wow. Please stop saying mean things about the people who are destroying the economy!

[gtar100]

24. Oh these principles are readily obvious. Unfettered, private enterprise leads to monopolies.

Monopolies rely on systems and procedures that protect their standing and inevitably stifle the "free market" and private enterprise they hold so dear. History bears this out time and time again.

If free-market, private enterprise was such a panacea, the world would have found perfection long ago. After all, what were the pharaohs and kings of so long ago other than those who most successfully exploited the raw freedoms available to them. These corporatists who want it all for themselves are nothing more than an alternate form of emperors and kings seeking to expand their reach. As they say, nothing new under the sun. Which is why it's imperative we fight back and not let them win.

[PA Democrat]

7. Watch out Colorado public employees- the Koch Brothers have set their sights on you.

"Because the pursuit of happiness and the enjoyment of life and liberty are matters of individual choice, the Institute addresses a broad variety of public policy issues from a free-market, pro-freedom perspective.

Through the Institute's Policy Centers, areas of critical importance are addressed with a dedicated focus. The centers allow the public and media access to a concentrated source of expertise on education, the environment, transportation, personal freedom, government reform, local government, and criminal justice.

Unlike other organizations which see government intervention as the only solution, the Independence Institute seeks to explore all alternatives, emphasizing private-sector and community-based solutions. The Independence Institute is recognized by friend and foe alike as one of the most effective organizations at setting a freedom agenda for Colorado and the United States."

http://www.i2i.org/about.php

IOW, privatize everything!

[PA Democrat]

9. Climate Change denial, anyone? The Environmental Literacy Council

From such a benevolent-sounding organization which purports to provide resources for teacher and students,

"For more than a decade, the Environmental Literacy Council has been dedicated to helping teachers, students, policymakers, and the public find cross-disciplinary resources on the environment. An independent, 501(c)3 organization, the Council offers free background information on common environmental science concepts; vetted resources to broaden understanding; and curricular materials that don't tell teachers how to teach, but give them the tools to augment their own backgrounds - no matter what their current knowledge."

But here is what they say about climate change:


"Despite the evidence that scientists have uncovered related to changes in climate, there continues to be uncertainty around the chief causes of climate change and their potential impacts. These uncertainties stem from the science itself, as well as from human behavior, especially as it relates to the amount of natural climatic variability and greenhouse gas emissions. Many of these factors will continue to depend on human behavior, influenced by effects on health and the quality of life, technological advances, and policy changes."

http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/1146.html

[jotsy]

10. Sing it with me now...

...I'd like to buy the Koch a world, for widespread poverty.

build false economies from stolen energies with the help of crooked cronies.

[PA Democrat]

12. And of course the Cato Institute: "free markets", "limited government" blah, blah ,blah...

We hate taxes!

http://www.cato.org/about.php

[DJ13]

13. K&R

[OnyxCollie]

14. K&R. nt

[PA Democrat]

15. The crown jewel: Americans for Prosperity (of the very few)

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is an astroturf front group started by oil billioniare David Koch and Richard Fink (a member of the board of directors of Koch Industries). AFP works together with the Koch family’s other conservative foundations and think tanks to disrupt Barack Obama's presidency. Accordingly, AFP has opposed health care reform, stimulus spending, and cap-and-trade legislation, which is aimed at making industries pay for the air pollution that they create. AFP was also involved in the attacks on Obama’s "green jobs" czar, Van Jones, and has crusaded against international climate talks. According to an article in the August 30, 2010 issue of The New Yorker, the Kochs are known for "creating slippery organizations with generic-sounding names," that "make it difficult to ascertain the extent of their influence in Washington."

Much more at:

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity

[PA Democrat]

16. Action Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty

Calvinism on steroids. Who would Jesus tax? Apparently, not the wealthy in order to pay for a social safety net.

A progressive tax is immoral according to the "good" people at the Action Institute:

http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2011/02/23/leveling-justice-tax-code-moral-code

And their take on wealth:

Creation of Wealth - Material impoverishment undermines the conditions that allow humans to flourish. The best means of reducing poverty is to protect private property rights through the rule of law. This allows people to enter into voluntary exchange circles in which to express their creative nature. Wealth is created when human beings creatively transform matter into resources. Because human beings can create wealth, economic exchange need not be a zero-sum game.

http://www.acton.org/about/acton-institute-core-principles

[PA Democrat]

18. Privatizing Medicaid in Texas is one of the main goals

of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.



http://www.texaspolicy.com/

[PA Democrat]

19. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy portrays public union employees like this:

Beside unions, they also hate environmental regulation and government in general.

http://www.mackinac.org/

[1776Forever]

20. Privatization, Outsourcing and Insourcing Trends in Federal Government

Wow does that say it all - Reason Foundation - Whose reasoning? More money for the rich and to hell with our way of life in this country! They want a 3rd World USA. Damn them!

[Jack Rabbit]

21. K/R

!!

[bluestate10]

22. Information on Koch Industries, product offerings and subsidiaries.

The company website address is "http://www.kochind.com/"

Factoids:
Koch carries a lot of public debt via it's acquisition of Georgia-Pacific. Since the debt is public, the bonds can be purchased by unfriendly hands, forcing the Kochs' to spend company funds to get control of the bonds.

The two problem Koch brothers are at war with one brother in particular, Bill Koch. Bill is trying to get Charles incriminated for stealing oil from Indian tribes and the government. Call your representatives to help Bill out. A brother Freddie sides with Bill, but is not as actively involved in the fight.

Please boycott products by the following Koch affiliated companies:

Invista - Makes Lycra and Stainmaster Carpets and other former Dupont company fabrics.

Georgia-Pacific - Makes a range of consumer paper products. This is one company where an effective boycott can deal a damaging blow to the Kochs. GP is heavily in debt AND, GP has a goal to downgrade non-consumer product lines and focus more of it's sales on consumer products - fuck that goal up for GP.

Flint-Hill Resources

Koch Pipeline

Koch Petroleum Group

Koch Fertilizer

Koch Engineering

Koch Minerals

Matador Ranching Company - find out if your grocer or favorite restaurant does business with Matador. If they do, ask them to find other sources, if they refuse, put their information on the web with details of their refusal.

[MaeScott]

23. K and R. nt

[underpants]

25. "Reason Foundation" wow someone really put no thought into that one

I have to admit that I had never heard of "Rockefeller University"

http://www.rockefeller.edu/about/history

[PA Democrat]

26. The Mercatus Center at George Mason University

is a think tank created by the Kochs to produce "studies" that reach conclusions to support specific deregulation desired by the Kochs.

[MelissaB]

27. K&R

[Kablooie]

28. Looks like Charles is the real jerk. He's running most of the political orgs.

[PA Democrat]

29. Yes, and he likes to keep a really low profile.

Both need to be exposed at every opportunity for their efforts to destroy democracy. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

[PA Democrat]

30. Koch bastards even make a "donation" to the National Museum of Natural History political.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer?currentPage=10


The David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins, at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, is a multimedia exploration of the theory that mankind evolved in response to climate change. At the main entrance, viewers are confronted with a giant graph charting the Earth’s temperature over the past ten million years, which notes that it is far cooler now than it was ten thousand years ago. Overhead, the text reads, “HUMANS EVOLVED IN RESPONSE TO A CHANGING WORLD.” The message, as amplified by the exhibit’s Web site, is that “key human adaptations evolved in response to environmental instability.” Only at the end of the exhibit, under the headline “OUR SURVIVAL CHALLENGE,” is it noted that levels of carbon dioxide are higher now than they have ever been, and that they are projected to increase dramatically in the next century. No cause is given for this development; no mention is made of any possible role played by fossil fuels. The exhibit makes it seem part of a natural continuum. The accompanying text says, “During the period in which humans evolved, Earth’s temperature and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere fluctuated together.” An interactive game in the exhibit suggests that humans will continue to adapt to climate change in the future. People may build “underground cities,” developing “short, compact bodies” or “curved spines,” so that “moving around in tight spaces will be no problem.”

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer#ixzz1FApFJGdg

[malaise]

31. K & R

for truth