Koch's oppose GOP Tax Break Extensions...that might benefit competitors.

This was a shocker:

"Kochs Lobby Against Tax Breaks for Koch Industries"

But there's a method to their madness. Below, you'll find out the tax breaks don't just help the Koch's, but it also helps those young, up and coming challengers to Koch's Industries. The Koch's are wealthy enough to ditch the tax cuts and keep newer companies, large and small, from getting even a little of their action with government help:

FreeBeacan: The company owned by billionaire philanthropists Charles and David Koch, as well as groups frequently associated with the fraternal libertarians, are pushing Congress to let 55 tax breaks expire, including several that provide billions in tax relief for corporations such as Koch Industries. “We oppose ALL subsidies, whether existing or proposed, including programs that benefit us, which are principally those that are embedded in our economy, such as mandates,” wrote Philip Ellender, president Koch’s government affairs division, in a Wednesday letter to members of Congress. The company sees federal tax preferences in general as economically harmful.

Here's the key reason why:

“They are wasteful and market distorting, and allow other firms to run businesses that aren’t making money any other way.”

Like Koch Industries, American for Prosperity said, “we oppose corporate cronyism of all forms.” AFP is encouraging lawmakers to vote against the full package of tax extenders.  

"Together, we are Koch!!!"

Replacing the "I am AFP" slogan, that made conservatives look like Borg extensions of their billionaire puppeteers, didn't turn out so well this time around either:

"I Am Borg?"

WSJ: The brothers, together reportedly worth about $80 billion, are looking to soften their brand by running a national ad campaign that focuses not on their politics, but on the inherent goodness of their mega-congomlerate Koch Industries, which last year raked in $115 billion in revenue. The ads have recently begun airing in the Madison market.

"One of our nation's largest private companies is proudly built on American values and skill," gushes a dulcet female voiceover. "Koch Industries started in the heartland and has expanded to nearly every state." A story about the ad campaign recently ran in Advertising Age.

The ad ends with the moony statement, "Together, we are Koch."

Stunningly disconnected from reality:

David and Charles Koch not the rugged free market individuals they say they are? Inherited Wealth makes for Big Talkers.

The free spending Koch brothers are like every other self righteous conservative who thinks they're entitled to a few extra benefits in life than everyone else. Inheriting wealth is one hell of a way to get a jump on everyone else. 

But do the Koch's walk-the-walk, and live by the same ideological political agenda pushed by their front groups like Americans for Prosperity? Even that names comes across like a sneering inside joke on seniors and low information voters.

The National Memo pointed out the Koch hypocrisy below with a list of 4 handouts they have no problem accepting:

1. In the midst of campaigning against the Affordable Care Act, the Koch brothers still managed to reap benefits from the new health care law. Koch Industries of having received subsidies under the Affordable Care Act’s temporary Early Retiree Reinsurance Program … the Associated Press confirmed … Koch Industries received $1.4 million in early retiree subsidies, which are meant to compensate employers who have to provide insurance for employees who retire before becoming eligible for Medicare.

2. Though the Koch brothers … outspoken critics of welfare programs that tend to help the poor and disabled … have aggressively lobbied for taxpayer handouts for Koch Industries refineries — the primary form of corporate welfare. Additionally, according to a ThinkProgress report, a failing Koch Industries oil refinery based in Fairbanks, Alaska once asked then-governor Sarah Palin’s administration for the type of taxpayer-funded bailout that libertarians routinely decry.

3. Despite advocating for a laissez-faire economic system, the Koch brothers obtained massive government contracts that allowed Koch Industries to buy millions of barrels of crude oil from the Middle East – specifically from Iraq, during the U.S. occupation. Koch Industries has also benefited from billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies in the form of federal government contracts and awards – billions of dollars Koch Industries never declined to accept.

4. The Kochs have also benefited from an existing provision of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program, which conservatives over the years have condemned as socialist. A Koch Industries subsidiary and cattle ranching company, Matador Cattle Company, actually uses one of the New Deal’s existing provisions — the Land Utilization Program —  to “profit off of federal land for free.”

The Koch's + Keystone XL Pipeline = $100 Billion.

The purpose of the Keystone XL Pipeline is to export oil out of the U.S.. Reports have already confirmed Midwest pump prices will go up once the pipeline is functional.  

Still the tea party is desperately fighting to make the nation a little less energy independent and big oil a lot richer, like oil moguls David and Charles Koch. Coincidence?  

Now tea party freeloaders are all defensive over this “shocking” discovery:

Building Keystone XL Pipeline Could Mean Roughly $100 Billion in Profits for the Koch Brothers, New Report Reveals.

It wasn't long before tea party dunderheads repeated this familiar old refrain in the comments section:

Jake5577: Ah yes, those bad straw men the Koch brothers. They’re behind everything. No need to debate issues, or costs and benefits, or compare options. Just isolate and demonize your opponents. It’s lazy and dishonest, as well as destructive for everybody, but apparently it works.

I highlighted the section that is pure projection, and a perfected right wing tactic used against unions and teachers. Of course conservatives never mention bogyman George Soros, right?

But that’s a distraction that works for low information voters, who will miss the details behind the headline:

“The Kochs have repeatedly claimed that they have no interest in the Keystone XL Pipeline, this report shows that is false.” Said Nathalie Lowenthal-Savy , a researcher with IFG. “We noticed Koch Funded Tea Party members and think tanks pushing for the pipeline. We dug deeper and found $100 billion in potential profit, $50 million sent to organizations supporting the pipeline, and perhaps 2 million acres of land. That sounds like an interest to me.” Nathalie continued, “We all know they will use that money to fund and expand their influence network, subvert democracy, crush unions like in Wisconsin, and get more extremists elected to congress.

Other Findings in the report include:

The Kochs could earn 1 million times more than the average worker of the pipeline.

Evidence suggests The Kochs alone will be responsible for over 19 billion metric tons of carbon emissions in their tar sands holdings.

Think tanks funded by the Kochs have released nearly 1000 pro-KXL reports or statements.

I think those straw men Koch brothers also claimed they had no interest in Scott Walker. 

Did you hear the one about United Sportsmen....can you believe this stuff?

Not only is the following $500,000 Republican payout to right wing activists an in-your-face giveaway to donors, but can you imagine what kind of deals are being made behind the scenes to even bigger players favored by our red state legislators. If they don't care about how this looks, with no blowback, skies the limit for the Walker Authority from here on in. 

This is just so wildly out there, with no plausible excuses given, I'm still on the amazed side:

jsonline: United Sportsmen of Wisconsin Foundation Inc., a group that claimed federal nonprofit status in winning a controversial $500,000 grant to promote hunting and fishing hasn't actually received that status yet ... showing it had misrepresented its tax status during the process of receiving a grant to promote hunting and fishing in the state. The DNR requested the letters from United Sportsmen, apparently following a Friday report by the Journal Sentinel that the group wasn't listed in federal and state registries of 501(c)(3) nonprofits.

United Sportsmen, a group with close ties to Republican politicians and other conservative organizations but a scant track record, applied for federal nonprofit designation on March 1 but has not yet received it. And the group has been denied a hardship request to speed up that process ... 

So could this group lie in it's application, a firing offense anywhere else, and still keep its job and credibility with our straight arrow Republicans?

Despite the misrepresentation, the DNR officially notified United Sportsmen in a letter Tuesday that it would be receiving the grant anyway, with $50,000 of it as an advance before receipts are filed. Rep. Al Ott (R-Forest Junction), chairman of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, was displeased the group had not been forthright with lawmakers and potential donors. "They misled and I'm disappointed about that," Ott said. 

As is typical with all Republicans, no response is necessary.

DNR spokesman Bill Cosh has not commented on whether the DNR has concerns about any possible misrepresentation by United Sportsmen about having received the federal designation. 

But wouldn't donors be surprised when they find out about their lack of tax exempt status:

Without the federal recognition, the group won't be tax-exempt, and its donors won't be able to deduct their contributions to United Sportsmen on their tax returns.

According to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin:

Suder’s resignation comes as questions are swirling about his motivations in an award process that resulted in a $500,000 state grant made in perpetuity to a shadowy Tea Party organization with ties to the National Rifle Association … group calling itself United Sportsmen of Wisconsin, headed by Suder’s former chief of staff, Luke Hilgemann … During the 2011 senate recalls, United Sportsmen faced backlash for their involvement in a series of misleading “Absentee Ballot Application” mailers and in 2012 they endorsed Scott Walkerin the recall election, stating that, “The second amendment took on a new meaning in Wisconsin under Governor Scott Walker.” 

Ryan attends Koch Secret Meeting! Why the Secrecy, what are they hiding?

No matter how bad secrecy sounds, Republicans aren't shy about cloaking themselves in it.

What are they hiding? Secrecy hides things.

Politico: Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan headline Koch summit: Rep. Paul Ryan, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor secretly spoke to wealthy donors at the Koch brothers’ recently concluded summer gathering on the outskirts of Albuquerque. (Ryan is a) return participant to the twice-annual seminar, which also drew wealthy donors and conservative non-profit leaders.

Secretly meeting with the Koch’s? Why? What secret plan is Ryan a part of? Check out this list of power brokers, politicians, pundits and Justices who have secretly huddled with one of the largest conservative free market contributors ever, and what are they getting in return for such secrecy?

Ryan has developed deep ties to Koch World, having appeared at multiple events for Americans for Prosperity, and delivering a major speech at the Kochs’ summer 2008 donor summit on his “fiscal ‘Roadmap for America’s future,’” Other past attendees include Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, media stars Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the late Andrew Breitbart, Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Bob McDonnell of Virginia and Rick Perry of Texas, and Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who has since resigned to head the Heritage Foundation, which has received funding from the Koch donor network.

Money does corrupt, and Ryan is secretly meeting with and taking that corruption. 

John Birch Society's Fred Koch made Millions helping Stalin build Power Plants!!!

The other day on WPR's Joy Cardin show, Claire Conner, author of Wrapped In the Flag: A Personal History of the Radical Right, filled us in on the John Birch Society and its current incarnation, the tea party.

Before there was the TEA Party, there was the John Birch Society. Joy Cardin's guest this hour can speak personally to the inner workings of the Society. Her parents were founding members. Learn about the similarities she sees between the John Birch Society of the 1950s and the TEA Party of today. 

Here's a shortened 7 minute clip from the hour long program that gets to the heart of the tea party movement and the ugly origin of the Koch family money. What's that about George Soros guys?

Walker, Kleefisch, Johnson, Duffy, Sensenbrenner, Darling, Grothman, Lazich, Kooyenga, Ott, Kramer, Pridemore, Ribble take Koch Brothers Pledge on Energy. Real Leaders?

What “rugged individual” exercising their liberty and freedom would want to run around making pledges to every right wing crazy group that comes along? Kinda blows their cover, doesn’t it?

Here’s part of a great article by Cap Times reporter Steve Elbow:

You’ve no doubt heard about Grover Norquist’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge.” Well, there’s a new pledge in town, and several Wisconsin conservatives have signed on.

This pledge is called the “No Climate Tax Pledge,” but it might as well be called the “Koch Brothers Protection Pledge” … Signers of the pledge, now numbering 411, promise to "oppose any legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue” — in other words, no legislation on climate change without an equivalent amount of tax cuts. They include one U.S. senator from Wisconsin, three House members, four members of the state Senate, and four members of the Assembly — as well as Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch.

The Koch brothers and their oil industry bretheren have been avid Walker backers and supporters of Wisconsin tea party candidates, both for ideological reasons and because of the state's wealth of frac sand. 

The little-known pledge was highlighted Monday with the release of a two-year study by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, which documents Charles and David Koch's extensive influencing of politicians, news media, elections and academia through think tanks, lobbyists, non-profits, and oodles of cash.  (Here's a good story from The New Yorker on the report.)

Wisconsin signers of the pledge, all Republicans, are U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, U.S. Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner, Sean Duffy and Reid Ribble, state Sens. Leah Vukmir, Alberta Darling, Glenn Grothman and Mary Lazich, and state Reps. Dale Kooyenga, Don Pridemore, Jim Ott and Bill Kramer.

How bad and embarrassing is our partisan “Red” state now?

Since we're all fond of comparing Wisconsin with Minnesota, a demographically similar state that outperforms Wisconsin on several economic fronts, it merits noting that the only politicians from that state to sign the pledge are retiring U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann and Minnesota state Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen.

More Employee threats to vote Republican, from Koch Industries this time.

The employee threats continue to pour out of corporate America’s one big chance to swoop in and own us lock stock and barrel. The human commodity.

I would link to all the other stories, but what the heck, this movement isn’t about to slow down anytime soon.

Cap Times-Mike Ivey: In These Times reported that Koch Industries has sent a “voter information packet” to some 45,000 employees at its Georgia Pacific division, which includes the former Fort Howard paper plant in Green Bay.

Included in the packet is a letter from Koch Industries President Dave Robertson cautioning that “many of our more than 50,000 U.S. employees and contractors may suffer the consequences” of voting for "candidates who want to spend hundreds of billions in borrowed money on costly new subsidies for a few favored cronies, put unprecedented regulatory burdens on businesses, prevent or delay important new construction projects, and excessively hinder free trade ..."

Of course Koch Industries didn’t really mean to send out a veiled threat of retaliation to their employees, but the letter had absolutely nothing to do with politics, right?

Koch Industries has denied any political angle to the voter information, noting in a statement issued Sunday that both Koch companies and Koch PAC, described as an "employee political action committee," support candidates “based on their support for market-based policies and economic freedom” and not party affiliation. “We support both Republicans and Democrats who support market-based policies and solutions,” the statement says.

Oddly, only Republicans have that extreme free market ideological belief. Coincidence?  

But as Forbes notes in this story, Koch money has gone almost exclusively to Republicans, especially in more recent elections.

 Check out the story link here, for an amazing inside look at Charles Koch from his wife's perspective.

Employee intimidation extends beyond the work place too:

Investorvillage: Their fear comes not only from the mailing, but also from a new Georgia Pacific social media policy implemented earlier this year that warns, “Even if your social media conduct is outside of the workplace and/or non-work related, it must not reflect negatively on GP’s reputation, its products, or its brands.” Given the policy, the workers were scared to appear next to a candidate the Kochs do not support with the plant in the background.

David and Charles Koch, Private Citizens and Victims, for using Americans for Prosperity illegally to Campaign for Candidates.

It seems the White House may have noticed David Koch's comments about helping Scott Walker get re-elected through his non profit "grassroots" organization Americans for Prosperity. The Obama campaign simply accused the Koch's using their power, influence and organizations to roll back environmental protections and block clean energy. But that's really a misdirection play.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has challenged the Koch brothers in way that got their back sup, and they're striking back, with the help of Rupert Murdock's Fox News Network. In an outrageous moment of raw unbridled power, Fox News and Koch Industries got 7 minutes of time to mislead, lie and play the victim.

But unmentioned in the long list of accusations denied by the Koch spokesperson, is the current media admission by David that he was using  his non-profit group Americans for Prosperity illegally to help reelect Scott Walker. That's surprising, since the whole purpose of the interview with Megyn Kelly was to set up a straw man narrative that Obama is orchestrating an attack on the everyday corporate billionaires. But it's really about David's comments in the Palm Beach Post that he's gaming the system.

Pathological liar Nancy Pfotenhauer, a Koch spokesperson now, whines the White House is picking on the Koch's, using the weight of the government to silence them. But we know the real reason:

According to Philip Ellender, Public Affairs President of Koch Co in a letter to the Obama Campaign:

...it is inappropriate and beneath the office of the president to denounce an American company like our that employs 50,000 people here in the United States, malign its owners with repeated misstatements and distortions, and harass our effort to speak out just because you disagree with our consistent support for the principles of a free society. 

Koch Brothers Client Buys Partisan Run Railroad in Wisconsin.

The Koch bothers are starting to grab control, via clients they support in their business. What else can explain this obvious coincidence:

CapTimes: The Kansas-based new owners of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. want to make one thing perfectly clear: Their purchase is a railroad deal, pure and simple. "We're poised to help the economy of Wisconsin take off," says Ed McKechnie, spokesman for Watco Transportation Services.

But given the political activity of WSOR founder Bill Gardner — who has admitted to $70,000 in illegal and excessive campaign contributions to Gov. Scott Walker and others and was sentenced to two years' probation — some wondered if there was more to the story. And a quick Google search reveals a link between Watco and Koch Industries, the Wichita-based natural resources conglomerate: Koch is the largest customer of Watco and the Koch brothers have been big Walker supporters.

Koch Brother Nation....our new American Flag.

Americans for Prosperity use Fake Wisconsinites in ad showing how happy we are with Walker.

Whew, after all those protests and civil unrest over Gov. Scott Walker's extremist agenda, I thought the sky would have fallen...

That's the message in the out-of-state Koch brothers ad that further meddles in Wisconsin's business with a fake happy family relieved Walker was right. Are the Koch's really this grotesque? Rachel Maddow:

Koch Industries Killing People? New Short Film Makes the Case.

Check out this gut wrenching look at a community touched by the Koch brothers, one of which should know better. From Brave New Films:

BNF's most recent work, Exposed: Koch Industries and Cancer Risk, (which you can watch below) is a chilling demonstration of just how horrific a price people are forced to pay. The film is set in the town of Crossett, Arkansas and focuses on a community of residents on Penn Road. Among 15 families, there have been at least 11 deaths from cancer, and many more people are ill. The source of their anguish seems to be coming from a foul smelling canal of water, steaming with toxic pollutants, that runs through the woods near their homes.

Charles Koch: Barack "Saddam" Hussein Obama! What more can you say?

The Colorado retreat in June with the Koch brothers is so appallingly revealing, that anyone who has received their support, should seriously think twice the Koch's end game and repent. With the Republican Tea Party is on the same page as the Koch's, and our corporate "job creators" controlling the purse strings, it's hard to imagine where we'll end up next.

Although the media refuses to denounce Charles Koch for calling Obama "Saddam Hussein," and accepting a transparently silly explanation, this proves creeping fascism is here. The "mother of all wars" against the Obama administration and Democratic Senate is a scary analogy to make by anyone, but when it comes from the powerful billionaire brothers? Hell, they've already won, what's really left to take from the American public?

Here's Ed Schultz with Brad Friedman and Mike Papantonio on the outrageous details:

Citizens United opened the door for Koch Industries to try and influence employees.

Anyone still think the "left wing" is a politically motivated chicken little whining endlessly about corporate money influencing our elections? Check this out from the Nation/Think Progress:

Writing today in the Nation, Mark Ames and Mike Elk reveal that Koch Industries mailed a letters to 50,000 employees instructing them on who to vote for in the 2010 midterm elections. The Koch packet given to employees included candidate names, a letter from a Koch lobbyist, and a right-wing screed from the company and the Washington Examiner, an outlet owned by Phil Anschutz, a billionaire. (View a copy of the packet here.) 

The Nation spoke to several law experts who noted that “Citizens United frees Koch Industries and other corporations to propagandize their employees with their political preferences.” Before the decision, businesses were prohibited from instructing their employees to vote a certain way. Karl Crow is a Koch operative who had penned a memo calling for corporations to exploit Citizens United and aggressively use “employees, vendors, and customers” as tools for advancing business interests in the political sphere.

Below is part of the Koch packet given to employees:

Here's Ed Schultz with a breakdown, and his off the cuff "gut" take:

Who Should We Blame for Government Shutdown, pt 2? There will be a quiz.

The tea party costume contest pickup up steam again, this time in D.C., where only around 100 to 300 movement members were able to catch a free bus ticket in. Let's face it, they're an electoral tool and nothing more. They don't really show up for controversial issues anywhere in the country, do they, but they're right there in Washington in an embarrassingly small number. And half the crowd turned out to be press.

Here's Lawrence O'Donnell and Slate's Dave Weigel on the "crowd size":

They Would Love to Change the World...or was that Buy the World? The Koch Brothers song.

Anonymous goes after Koch's Americans for Prosperity for undermining Wisconsin's Political Process.

Anonymous attacked the Koch brothers web site, Americans for Prosperity, shutting it down. AnonOps is the group within a the group. RT's Alyona Show has the story:

The Koch Brothers? Like Rupert Murdock, these billionaires have influenced Politics way more than villain George Soros.

Corporate American is about to win again, thanks to a well funded campaign and a ballot initiative that would effectively kill California's clean energy law. This law has been the target of Republicans and big energy interests for years, but with the help of the Supreme Court decision that disputed the influence of money, free market capitalism now owns our elections.

NY Times: Four years ago, bipartisan majorities in the California Legislature
approved a landmark clean energy bill that many hoped would serve as a template for a national effort to reduce dependence on foreign oil and mitigate the threat of climate change. Now a well-financed coalition of right-wing ideologues, out-of-state oil and gas companies and climate-change skeptics is seeking to effectively kill that law with an initiative on the November state ballot.

The money men include Charles and David Koch, the Kansas oil and gas billionaires who have played a prominent role in financing the Tea Party movement. The prospect that these rules could reduce gasoline consumption strikes terror into some energy companies. The Koch brothers have contributed about $1 million, partly because they worry about damage to the bottom line at Koch Industries, and also because they believe that climate change is a left-wing hoax.

This horrifically blatant pro-oil industry ad is so arrogantly silly, it's almost laughable.

They have argued that the law will lead to higher energy costs and job losses, arguments that resonate with many voters in a state with a 12.4 percent unemployment rate.

But this overlooks the enormous increase in investments in clean energy technologies — and the jobs associated with them — since the law was passed. AB 32’s many friends — led by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California — have therefore mounted a spirited counterattack in defense of the law. Another respected Republican, George Shultz — a cabinet member in both the Nixon and Reagan administrations — has signed on as a co-chairman of this effort. Mr. Shultz credits AB 32 for an unprecedented “outburst” of technological creativity and investment.

Who wins if this law is repudiated? The Koch brothers, maybe, but the biggest winners will be the Chinese, who are already moving briskly ahead in the clean technology race.

Here's more on the Koch brothers and their Rally for Jobs, or "Help our Bottom Line," from Rachel Maddow: