Billionaire Koch Brothers: Tea Party Puppetmasters

[Lonestar_logic]

The New Yorker's Jane Mayer has investigated the political funding networks of Charles and David Koch, two of the wealthiest people in America and generous donors to conservative political causes. In her 6,000-word story, Mayer makes a case that the billionaire brothers have funded and fostered the Tea Party movement as a well-disguised means to pursue their private political agenda.

The Kochs promote global warming skepticism
During the 1980s and 1990s, the brothers spent more than $100 million creating the "Kochtopus" — a term coined by critics to describe their "network" of ideologically motived organizations. In 2008, Mayer reveals, the three main Koch family foundations gave money to 34 political and policy organizations, many of which promote a skeptical view of global warming. The Kochs, for instance, funded the launch of the libertarian Cato Institute, which has been a fierce opponent of environmental reform. They also have given large sums to the Heritage Foundation and the Independent Women's Foundation, both doubters on the question of manmade climate change.

They are 'waging a war against Obama'
In 2004, David Koch helped found conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, which Mayer says has been "instrumental in disrupting the Obama Presidency." The Kochs' involvement, she writes, has been "intense"; one source even says it is "micromanaged" by the brothers — a charge they deny. "By giving money to 'educate,' fund and organize Tea Party protesters, [the Kochs] have helped turn their private agenda into a mass movement," says Mayer. FrumForum's Tim Mak is another conservative to treat this with skepticism. "Try telling a [Tea Party] activist that they're an agent of the Koch family!" he says. "The Tea Party just can't be seriously controlled, only educated."

The billionaire Koch brothers: Tea Party puppetmasters? - The Week

So?

 

[teapartysamurai]

Global Warming skeptics, give money to the Tea Party!!!!!!!!!!

Waging a war against Obama, aka GEORGE SOROS AGAINST BUSH??????????

IT'S A CONSPIRACY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Egad liberals are such hypocrites!

 

[Mr. H.]

Koch are hardly "big oil". Nice try.

 

[Barb]

We knew it was really astro-turf.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Gunny, they're onto us. Should you tell them or should I that Koch pays me $14.95/ per post?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

From the unread article, because Progressives never bother to read the articles and I'm convinced they harldy ever read their own posts

"They funded a proto-Tea Party movement
The brothers' first step into the political arena came in 1980, when they were the key backers of libertarian candidate Ed Clark's run for president against Ronald Reagan..."

What? I thought the Tea Party movement start because Obama's a ******?! What the fucking fuck? Why am I only finding this out now? They ran against Reagan! OMG! They're Commies too!

 

[Chris]

The oil money flows to the "conservative movements" so they can keep polluting without regulation.

The Republican base is being manipulated like puppets on a string, and they don't even know it.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

The oil money flows to the "conservative movements" so they can keep polluting without regulation.

The Republican base is being manipulated like puppets on a string, and they don't even know it.

Just read my post about Marxists body snatching the Dems, didya?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOKK8mAkiUI]YouTube - Wizard of Oz-- If I Only Had A Brain[/ame]

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Er, the Koch Brothers pay all the Conservatives here $14.95/per post, right? I'm not the only one getting daily PayPal payments from "KochFundingTeaParty" am I?

 

[California Girl]

The tea party is not just made up of republicans, but it is mostly made up of republicans. I would say that 80% of teapartiers voted for bush in 2000 and 2004.

I would say 80% of rdeans posts make sense. Wouldn't make it true.

 

[Truthmatters]

And yet.... it is absolutely fine for Soros to be the puppetmaster behind the POTUS.

Personally, I find that far more important - and far less likely to be acknowledged by the lefties.

heres your problem , where is your proof of what you claim.

No you cant jsut say my daddy told me so.

 

[Barb]

The tea party is not just made up of republicans, but it is mostly made up of republicans. I would say that 80% of teapartiers voted for bush in 2000 and 2004.

I would say 80% of rdeans posts make sense. Wouldn't make it true.

You're right, it would more likely be 95%.

 

[California Girl]

The Tea Party claims to be grassroots. It's not.

You wish it wasn't.

Stop taking your opinions from the borg and learn to research, analyze and think critically.

 

[California Girl]

And yet.... it is absolutely fine for Soros to be the puppetmaster behind the POTUS.

Personally, I find that far more important - and far less likely to be acknowledged by the lefties.

heres your problem , where is your proof of what you claim.

No you cant jsut say my daddy told me so.

As I have said, many times, I research, analyze and THINK for myself. I expect others to do likewise. Your version of 'proof' is to link to some media where you got your 'facts' and 'opinions' from... half the time, you don't recognize the difference between a fact and an opinion.

I learned - from my father... and certainly from my University professors (both in the US and in the UK) to develop the skill of critical thinking. It is by far the most valuable skill I have. Pity you cannot say likewise. Idiot.

 

[Mr. H.]

The oil money flows to the "conservative movements" so they can keep polluting without regulation.

The Republican base is being manipulated like puppets on a string, and they don't even know it.

That's rediculous. Oil and gas operations are one of the most heavily regulated industries in this country. It's one of the reasons that major ("big oil") companies have very few onshore operations in the lower 48. You can keep pretending to be knowledgable on such issues or you can make regular visits to sites like these:

RIGZONE - Your Gateway to the Oil & Gas Industry

World Oil: News for Oil and Gas Energy Companies, Industry, Drilling, Production

Oil & Gas Journal Online: News for Oil and Gas Industry. Oil drilling; oil exploration and oil production

 

[midcan5]

Whiners and losers of the world unite, you only need a few billionaires to pull your strings.

Grassroots, yea sure! LMAO - corporate power LOL


"Koch’s detractors also like to point out the irony of the so-called grassroots tea-party movement’s being funded by a billionaire. Koch’s real motives, they say, are self-serving. In April, Fang posted a dossier on Koch that attributes to his groups a decades-long pattern of “Astroturfing”—funding movements designed to look grassroots, but which in fact represent corporate interests. Richard Fink insists that Koch’s political activity is about principles, not money. “I view David as a courageous American who has a set of beliefs that he’s willing to support consistently over time despite all the flak he gets,” Fink says. “Very few people would do that.”" How Oil Heir and New York Arts Patron David Koch Became the Tea Party's Wallet -- New York Magazine

 

[uscitizen]

Yeah Koch bros is several billion into Formaldahyde manufacturing and trying to get a seat on the National Cancer Society with contributions.

 

[Chris]

Charles Lewis, the founder of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog group, said, “The Kochs are on a whole different level. There’s no one else who has spent this much money. The sheer dimension of it is what sets them apart. They have a pattern of lawbreaking, political manipulation, and obfuscation. I’ve been in Washington since Watergate, and I’ve never seen anything like it. They are the Standard Oil of our times.”

The billionaire Koch brothers : The New Yorker

 

[uscitizen]

Now they are buying the tea Party

 

[loosecannon]

The billionaire Koch brothers’ war against Obama : The New Yorker

The article is too long and detailed to capture it's message in a few short soundbytes.

But suffice it to say that these guys manufactured the political opinions of half the folks on this board.

A must read if you can read.