These guys are truly shameless, crying victim when the entire world economy just nearly went into cardiac arrest directly because of such corrupting libertarian policies. Not to mention that after three decades of compounding corporate welfare:
One out of every 34 Americans who earned wages in 2008 earned absolutely nothing -- not one cent -- in 2009.
It's not just every 34th earner whose financial situation has been upended by the financial crisis. Average wages, median wages, and total wages have all declined -- except at the very top, where they leaped dramatically, increasing five-fold....
...those that remained at the top increased their income from an average of $91.2 million in 2008 to almost $519 million.
The wealth is astounding, says Johnston. "That's nearly $10 million in weekly pay!... These 74 people made as much as the 19 million lowest-paid people in America, who constitute one in every eight workers."
Johston sees the depressing figures as a result of government tax policies maintained by politicians with an eye on re-election, not good government:
"Promoting prosperity" for themselves, at your expense, multibillionaire astroturf style, AmericansForProsperity, FreedomWorks, AmericanCrossRoads, AmericansForJobSecurity....these cynical efforts are so effective in part because there is no strong Democratic counterbalance. As the netroots have been proving for the last several years or even longer, it is past time for the Democrats to stop fighting their Progressive base and running to the corporate center. After "Citizens United" corrupt Blue Dog Democrats are becoming obsolete. The criminally rich can get their grimy hands on power through Republicans, and real Democrats will never win against such cynicism by playing at it only half the time.
Crucial light is finally being shed on these particular two dishonest and profoundly anti-democratic right-wing extremist "philanthropists" (having been known to throw what amounts to chump change for them around in places they are fond of)...compiled here in case you missed the story so far of the real David and Charles Koch:
• Tea Party, Inc.
• The New Yorker: Covert Operations: The Billionaire Koch Brothers are Waging a War Against Obama
• GreenPeace: Koch Industries: Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine
• Astroturfwars.com: Direct Link Between Tea Party and Koch Brothers
• Truthout: Two Multibillionaire Brothers Are Remaking America For Their Own Benefit
• The New York Times: Secretive Republican Donors are Planning Ahead
• The New York Times: The Billionaires Bankrolling the Tea Party
(And just for "balance" here is the idle and extraneous defense, replete with self-interest, at The Volokh Conspiracy. Thank dear God for someone commenting named "MAM"):
MAM says:
The Kochs have every right to use their money how they wish. However, that they have sponsored, many secretly, some right and far right organizations for decades, however, can reasonably be subject to the criticism that such influence is not healthy for a democracy and should be brought to light. This was a report by a reporter. One might take issue with her conclusions but, as I read the piece, I thought it made a strong argument that the Koch’s, behind the scenes, funded a movement from whole cloth, by writing checks. And they, through affiliated organizations, were wildly successful in a campaign of disinformation and lies from health care to who knows. The story also showed that they began a campaign to discredit the President and his policies before he was even inaugurated. That a massive corporate interest by some of the wealthiest Americans was orchestrated before even one decision was made, is quite newsworthy. Mayer’s piece is actually quite tame.
Mayer has done a service by bringing the backers of these “grassroots organizations” to light. Overall, her piece was very good in that regard.
Let the sunlight shine on these organizations that have played such a role in our politics.
I didn’t read her article to say that their self-interest was wrong or that something should be done about it. What I gathered from it was that their network of right wing and far right wing sponsorship was vast and that what was portrayed as grassroots movement was largely orchestrated by two billionaires.
Sorry guys but that’s good reporting.
August 31, 2010, 4:51 pm
I mean, just check out the integrity and honesty of this "movement":
As long as this man works for President Obama, consider me an Obama Democrat. The clever Koch brothers think they own this country (they certainly have big plans). They are profoundly mistaken.
And they ought to be deeply ashamed of the monster they have deliberately unleashed.
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