Koch brothers now at heart of GOP power

[kpete]

Source: Los Angeles Times

By Tom Hamburger, Kathleen Hennessey and Neela Banerjee, Los Angeles Times

February 6, 2011

Reporting from Washington —
The billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch no longer sit outside Washington's political establishment, isolated by their uncompromising conservatism. Instead, they are now at the center of Republican power, a change most evident in the new makeup of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Wichita-based Koch Industries and its employees formed the largest single oil and gas donor to members of the panel, ahead of giants like Exxon Mobil, contributing $279,500 to 22 of the committee's 31 Republicans, and $32,000 to five Democrats.

Nine of the 12 new Republicans on the panel signed a pledge distributed by a Koch-founded advocacy group — Americans for Prosperity — to oppose the Obama administration's proposal to regulate greenhouse gases. Of the six GOP freshman lawmakers on the panel, five benefited from the group's separate advertising and grass-roots activity during the 2010 campaign.

Claiming an electoral mandate, Republicans on the committee have launched an agenda of the sort long backed by the Koch brothers. A top early goal: restricting the reach of the Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the Kochs' core energy businesses.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-koch-brothers-20110206,0,1681069.story

[opihimoimoi]

1. Evil assholes fall sooner or later...hard falls come from great heights

[RaRa]

2. true

but often they cause great harm before they fall...

[sinkingfeeling]

3. I can't tell you how sad and depressed news like this makes me. I cry for my country, yet know

it will not recover.

[KansDem]

4. This sucks to High-Hell

Nine of the 12 new Republicans on the panel signed a pledge distributed by a Koch-founded advocacy group — Americans for Prosperity — to oppose the Obama administration's proposal to regulate greenhouse gases.

Why? They oppose the regulation of greenhouse gases on what grounds? Do they personally oppose such legislation or only because the Koch Brothers oppose it.

So the Koch Brothers are deciding on what legislation to pursue or not pursue?

[nxylas]

13. I'm sure the fact that Koch Industries is forever being fined by the EPA had nothing to do with it

Ummm...freedom! Liberty! Founding Fathers! Constitution! That'll cover it.

[Bobbysox22]

5. Republicans got $10K, Dems got $5k.

You can buy a Member of Congress for these prices? Cheap whores.

[nyc 4 Biden]

7. Its true. Best ROI in business is buying a politician. n/t

[DBoon]

11. "There's a little plastic congress"

"There's a nation you can buy"

"There's a man who runs the country
There's a man who tried to think
And they're all made out of plastic
(When they melt, they start to stink)"

- Frank Zappa, "Uncle Bernie's Farm"

[AndyTiedye]

6. Their Dad Founded the John Birch Society

[JHB]

12. ...after making his fortune on government contracts...for Stalin's Soviet Union

...which obviously made him an expert on communist infiltration of our society.

:puke:

[blackspade]

8. Assholes.

These Koch brothers are total tools.

[Crowman1979]

9. There's also those dumbass Libertarians who support these crooks also.

[samsingh]

10. stop drinking coors - i did

[defendandprotect]

14. What that says is ...

fascism has now completely overtaken GOP --

and I'd suspect, it's not only the oil industry/Koch Bros --

but the CIA which began financing the rise of right wing politicans decades ago --

using money they took from any source -- Nazis, KKK -- Sen. Strom Thurmond was

one of the beneficiaries, Rep. Gerald Ford another --

Pat Buchanan has also gotten money from CIA.

And do we think that our MIC is on the left? They and the CIA have been targeting

Congressional members who were for peace/diplomacy and anti-war -- and supporting

war hawks!

[Crowman1979]

15. You're surprised by fascism overtaking the GOP?

They've been in bed with fascism for over a century now.