GAME OVER: Kochs Throw GOP Under The Bus

[kpete]

When you've lost the Koch brothers, you've lost the game.

Republicans intent on smashing through the debt ceiling in order to wring some spending concessions out of President Obama are finding themselves awfully lonely these days, but they've kept soldiering on. The latest ally to abandon them may be the toughest to ignore, though. The president of the group Americans For Prosperity, bankrolled by Charles G. and David H. Koch of Koch Industries, yesterday said the group wants spending cuts, but warned Republicans that screwing around with the debt ceiling "makes the messaging more difficult," the Financial Times writes. The AFP president also warned Republicans not to be seen as "hostage takers." That's a marked change from the summer of 2011, when AFP objected to a debt-ceiling deal because it didn't cut spending enough, the FT notes.

This is way, way beyond former House Speaker Newt Gingrich telling House Republicans to give up on its debt-ceiling threat, like he did again yesterday. Newt's always rattling on about moon bases and zoos and stuff, so nobody listens to him. And certainly the House GOP doesn't care that Sen. Susan Collins (RINO-Maine) warned them to bow to the inevitable and raise the debt ceiling, as she did yesterday. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-DebtPanicStan) are a little tougher to take, but the cognitive dissonance arising from their debt-ceiling warnings is still manageable.

But the deep-pocketed Kochs are harder to ignore. Similar warnings recently from Tom Donohue of the Chamber of Commerce, along with the Financial Services Roundtable, the Business Roundtable and other job creators, also can't be ignored. These people have all of the money. And if the economy goes off the cliff, as a new survey of economists strongly suggests it would in a ceiling-breach, then these people will have less money available for campaign contributions. Game over.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/koch-brothers-debt-ceiling_n_2486191.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics

[Vietnameravet]

1. Thanks for posting

I have been wondering if something like this would happen....The business wing of the Repubs recognizes the Crazies will hurt them more than they hurt the Democrats..

[gateley]

7. "The crazies" Yeah, that's We The People in their minds.

[antigop]

2. They want to keep stock prices up. nt

[Xolodno]

3. Guess the last game of chicken...

...hurt their pocket book.

[oldandhappy]

4. yep

Have been waiting for this!!

[Chorophyll]

5. Make it so. nt

[appleannie1]

6. They only care about money.

[stultusporcos]

8. A big part of me wants the GOP to shut the gov down and wreck the nations credit rating

and see the 1% suffer as a result but I have not decided if it is worth it yet.

[randome]

9. What would Superman do?

The best thing for the greatest number of people. Obama is no Superman but I think that's his thinking on this and most other issues.

[stultusporcos]

10. what would be the impact to me and those with less then me

is all I care about.

[mountain grammy]

16. I hear that, especially since the kochs weighed in. BUT they lose a billion and bitch

about it.. no change in lifestyle whatsoever! The rest of us are crushed... So we must save the kochs their billion so the rest of us can eat. We really have to turn this around.

[Follow The Money]

11. Koch brothers are very worried because their prosperity is under attack

[FailureToCommunicate]

13. Wow. Wish my Y axis looked like that

even if thousands, not BILLIONS...

Welcome to DU, btw!

[Kip Humphrey]

12. The Kochs have to play nice since they lost their presidential gamble... they are now faced with

having to beg for their continued existence of their business empire from the Obama Administration. Why? The Clean Air and Clean Water acts' grandfather clauses expire in 2015 and, surprise, surprise, the Kochs built their empire by acquiring dirty, grandfathered plants no one wanted because they would prove too expensive to bring into EPA regulatory requirements. So, the Kochs face business annihilation without the cooperation of the Obama Administration.

[renate]

14. well now, that is SUPER interesting

I thought they were just behaving the way they do because they're asswipes, but they have an actual reason for being so Koch-brother-y. Intriguing. It could be fun to see what happens in 2015.

[tex-wyo-dem]

18. Yep, always follow the money...

And you will find the true motivation of these asswipes.

[freshwest]

28. Yes, and the Bush taxe cut sunset in 2010 is why the TP was created.

All those issues they ran on and revved up the hateful lemmings about meant nothing but that. I told people at the time, but you know about shiny or sexy things. People think that's what the game is and it is never what it is.

[greymattermom]

15. interesting

That is really interesting and explains a lot. They thought buying the presidency would get them out of that problem, so all the spending was worth it to them. Now, they'll have to think of a different solution, new federal spending to renovate old power plants and build new ones, maybe.

[2naSalit]

17. And it's not just petroleum products industry

They also own probably half the paper industry, a percentage of the chemical industry and cosmetics and other daily items many of us use. It would be interesting if they started losing their privileges as far as exemption from our environmental laws, specifically, they could shut down a large portion f our production and product availability. If they did, nationalizing a number of these assets might be in order... You never can tell, "public option" is coming up for another round all of a sudden..? One can only hope, and keep the pressure up on our "representative".

[think]

20. Appreciate this information. TY /nt

[Jackpine Radical]

22. Interesting indeed.

Can you provide some sources for this? I'd love to use it.

[cascadiance]

23. I wonder if they'll try to restore their old stealth DLC pipeline to the blue dog Democrats

... or create a newer one that they can hide better.

[Uncle Joe]

27. Fascinating,

do you have a link to this information?

If true Obama has them by the short hairs and that would be a most logical explanation for the Koch's "enlightenment."

[Turbineguy]

19. The Koch brothers want

our investements and pensions to become worthless, not their own.

[madrchsod]

21. they`ll be back next year....

[Caeser67]

24. Randolph and Mortimer Duke

AKA the Koch Brothers, will sell you out for a dollar.

[Moostache]

25. This is why we are fighting the Koch's and right wing in the wrong way...

Going mano-y-mano with them in political ads and elections is futile. They have resources and friends in media that make it easy for them to not only out spend Progressives but also to out shout them all day long. The ONLY thing that affects their thinking is hurting them in the wallet. A massive boycott of Koch industries products would be 100X more effective than political ads, debates or elections combined!

Want to bring Charles and David Koch back to reality? Damage their stock prices and watch them sing a new tune REAL fast...

[okaawhatever]

34. I've checked it out. Problem is most is industrial like gas, minerals but you can

boycott some of their paper products. I don't have a link. I think sparkle paper towels. I remember I didn't use any of them anyway. We can get to their friends though.

[xxqqqzme]

26. The Hoarders are concerned

they won't get every last quarter............................................. of a million.

[freshwest]

29. They'll simply go back tot their original party, the Libertarian Party. That's working for them.

[Bill USA]

30. recommended!

[DonCoquixote]

31. danger

The danger will come if the Koches meet up with cranks like Bloomberg or Lynn Evelyn de Rothschild, both of whom hate the left, both of whom hate the GOP, and all of whom have said they would bankroll a third party.

[grantcart]

32. This time it wasn't the fat lady singing but the fat guy explaining it quite clearly

Shutting down the government would be a massive loss for the Republicans.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

33. No more Koch for you Repubs

The Koch brothers created this monster.

[flamingdem]

37. True, this is Frankensteinian to the max! n/t

[Cha]

35. rofl The Kochs are telling the house teabaggers(that they wrought, btw)..

to STFU.

Not to mention.. Tom Chamber of Commerce Donohue sayin' the same..

[flamingdem]

36. Ha ha ha ha ha LOVE THIS

All awone and no debt ceiling to call my own..

[Quantess]

38. Interesting.

[LWolf]

39. I'd rather lose the game than have the Kochs.

Having them is more dangerous than not.

So, if the Republicans have lost them, who "has" them?