By Joan McCarter
...Ernst (click here) defended the support she’s receiving from David and Charles Koch by saying that she has never signed any pledge and has promised the brothers nothing. Braley responded by noting that she’s signed a no-new-taxes pledge.
"You attended two secret Koch brother donor meetings in California," he said. "You called them wonderful at that meeting … The Kochs have seven different organizations attacking me right now."...
In races where the Koch Brothers are depositing extremely high amounts of campaign funding, their political agenda is mirrored by those they fund.
Thom Tillis (click here) and the billionaire, Big Oil Koch brothers are rigging the system to work against the middle class. Tillis and the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity are in lock-step when it comes to an agenda that is out-of-touch and disastrous for North Carolina.
Want to know what the Tillis-Koch agenda is all about? Take a look:...
- Thom Tillis (Republican) called raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour-- which would benefit more than 1 million North Carolina workers -- a "dangerous idea."......The Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity sides with Tillis against the workers of North Carolina...- The Koch brothers' front group Americans for Prosperity endorsed the controversial Ryan Budget Plan, authored by Congressman Paul Ryan. The plan would give massive tax cuts to millionaires while turning Medicare into a voucher program that could cost seniors more. Thom Tillis has praised the Ryan Budget Plan as a model for the agenda he would pursue as North Carolina Speaker of the House.
- When Thom Tillis was in charge of the North Carolina state House, the legislature cut nearly half a billion dollars from public education. Tillis also refused to raise teacher pay in North Carolina -- which already ranks 46th in the nation in teacher pay. The Koch brothers' front group Americans for Prosperity agrees with Tillis.
- Under Thom Tillis' leadership, the N.C. General Assembly raised taxes on 80 percent of North Carolinians by ending the state's Earned Income Tax Credit and passing a tax plan that benefited the wealthiest at the expense of middle class families. With North Carolinians skeptical about Tillis' harmful tax hike, the Koch Brothers' Americans for Prosperity poured money into TV ads promoting the state legislature's tax plan before it became law....
...Thom Tillis recklessly slashed unemployment insurance benefits in 2013, cutting off federal long-term benefits entirely for 170,000 North Carolinians. This fringe decision made North Carolina the only state in the country to be disqualified from the federal program -- and since then, Tillis has said he would vote against federal legislation that would right this wrong for jobless North Carolinians. The Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity applauded Tillis and his fellow Republicans for a "reformed" unemployment insurance system....
...Thom Tillis led efforts to block Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, which would provide critical health insurance coverage to an estimated 500,000 North Carolinians. The Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity has praised this Tillis-led, out-of-touch decision -- and has campaigned across the country for states to reject the Affordable Care Act's funding for Medicaid expansion....
...Agriculture is North Carolina's biggest industry, adding $77 billion annually to the state's economy and employing nearly one-fifth of the state's workforce. Thom Tillis said he would have voted against the bipartisan Farm Bill approved by Congress in 2014 that was supported by North Carolina farmers and agricultural groups and reduced the deficit by billions. The Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity also criticized the bill and urged lawmakers to vote against the bipartisan measure....
It is getting to be the best political joke going. Where Republicans run for office there are the Koch Brothers purchasing another piece of the legislature. It is best to identify this to the electorate for them to realize, the candidates are backed by a single company seeking profits with each vote cast. If the Republicans didn't have the Kochs, they would never be elected.
According to the Palm Beach Post, David Koch has been very active in Wisconsin politics with the group Americans for Prosperity. Americans for Prosperity reportedly spent $700,000 on ads supporting Governor Scott Walker's changes to collective bargaining.
...So enter billionaires (click here) two and three: Charles and David Koch and their Americans for Prosperity group. This is the same group that spent $120 million plus in the 2012 election cycle supporting Republicans and are currently pouring millions into the 2014 election cycle on behalf of GOP candidates.
Last week, the Koch brothers’ AFP mailed out two different sets of fliers to Iron County residents, the first attacking candidates who oppose the mine and the second praising those who support it. As AFP’s Wisconsin director David Fladeboe told The Wisconsin State Journal, these mailing were just the start of a campaign, “to educate folks in Iron County about the issue.”...
Georgia is where the intent of the Koch Brothers becomes obvious. Georgia is not a gas and oil state, so why the money?
The map (click here) to the left clearly illustrates there is absolutely no oil and gas to be found in Georgia.
The Koch Brothers want to buy power along with their oil and gas rights. Power will turn a majority in the US House and Senate hence enabling corruption for a free for all by the petroleum industry, including the Koch Brothers. Georgia is where they give away their BET on winning majorities to favor themselves.
The map (click here) to the left clearly illustrates there is absolutely no oil and gas to be found in Georgia.
The Koch Brothers want to buy power along with their oil and gas rights. Power will turn a majority in the US House and Senate hence enabling corruption for a free for all by the petroleum industry, including the Koch Brothers. Georgia is where they give away their BET on winning majorities to favor themselves.
July 7, 2014
By James Salzer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Koch brothers (click here) major fund raiser of conservative causes throughout the country, are writing some big checks in Georgia races this election year.
Their Wichita, Kansas-based oil, gas and textile conglomerate Koch Industries filed a report Monday showing it donated $65,000 on May 6 to state candidates and causes - almost all Republicans. Of that, $50,000 went to a state GOP fund.
Since late October, it has contributed about $101,000 in Georgia, include $12,600 to Gov. Nathan Deal’s re-election campaign, $5,000 to Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and $2,500 the day before the 2014 General Assembly session started to House Speaker David Ralston.
That total since late October is nearly as much as the brothers and their companies gave in Georgia between 2006 and the start of October 2013....
The Attorney Generals seat in Colorado. This may be throwing off the usual responses from Democrats in Colorado. Koch is seeking to purchase the state AG office for their own use.
The petroleum industry isn't endorsing a candidate, they are seeking control of power. Those are very different goals. Republicans are robotic in their priorities and positions. There is no variety in personality. They are mean spirited to roll over any possible opposition to DEMOCRACY. The petroleum industry wants power at the cost of American's air and water quality and land values.
July 31, 2014
By Josh Israel
The campaign (click here) for the usually little-noticed position of Colorado Attorney General has been jolted with a stunning influx of outside money — a total one candidate says is more than quadruple the largest amount ever spent by a candidate for the position....
The Attorney Generals seat in Colorado. This may be throwing off the usual responses from Democrats in Colorado. Koch is seeking to purchase the state AG office for their own use.
The petroleum industry isn't endorsing a candidate, they are seeking control of power. Those are very different goals. Republicans are robotic in their priorities and positions. There is no variety in personality. They are mean spirited to roll over any possible opposition to DEMOCRACY. The petroleum industry wants power at the cost of American's air and water quality and land values.
July 31, 2014
By Josh Israel
The campaign (click here) for the usually little-noticed position of Colorado Attorney General has been jolted with a stunning influx of outside money — a total one candidate says is more than quadruple the largest amount ever spent by a candidate for the position....
...RAGA is a Washington, DC-based “527″ political organization dedicated to helping elect and re-elect Republicans across the country to be state attorneys general and to help them in “fighting federal encroachment, protecting citizens against crime and promoting free markets.” So far this election cycle, it has disclosed about $7.4 million in contributions. The ad buy marks the group’s biggest reported expenditure to date.
Of these contributions, at least $868,400 came from Koch Industries, the American Petroleum Institute, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, and other energy sector companies and trade associations, a ThinkProgress analysis of IRS data revealed. This accounted for more than 11 percent of RAGA’s funding, as of June 30. Another $1,204,700 came from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which receives a large amount of its funding from energy companies and Koch-backed entities. The Kochs have also supported conservative political organization that contributed to RARA, including the American Future Fund ($670,000) and the Republican Governors Association ($175,000)....
I could go through every ballot this year anywhere in the USA and where there is a open seat that would serve the petroleum industry, especially the Kochs, there are huge amounts of money being dumped into the campaign of Republicans. The petroleum industry knows UP FRONT they will win profits from Republican candidates where they won't necessarily with Democrats. The petroleum industry and their candidates corrupt the process of government and democracy at the time of elections and continue that throughout a Republicans term in office.
The Kochs are corrupt. Just that simple.
I could go through every ballot this year anywhere in the USA and where there is a open seat that would serve the petroleum industry, especially the Kochs, there are huge amounts of money being dumped into the campaign of Republicans. The petroleum industry knows UP FRONT they will win profits from Republican candidates where they won't necessarily with Democrats. The petroleum industry and their candidates corrupt the process of government and democracy at the time of elections and continue that throughout a Republicans term in office.
The Kochs are corrupt. Just that simple.
