#Koch
#HeatherCoxRichardson 's
*Letters from an American*
(11/28/23)
_________________________
#GeoPolitics #USPolitics #Politics #MiddleEast #Gaza #Israel #HumanitarianAid #HumanitarianCorridor #Election2024 #January6 #Pence #Trump #LizCheney #House #MAGA #HouseOversightCommittee #Comer #HunterBiden #JamieRaskin #Koch #NikkiHaley #ProBusiness #ChristianNationalism #History #Histodons
Can almost feel their desperation. They bought and built the Republican party as we know it; now they're stuck investing their fortunes in political pyrite.
"Koch family-backed PAC endorses Nikki Haley for president"
"Americans for Prosperity Action, founded by Charles Koch and the late David Koch, announced its endorsement for Haley in a memo criticizing the Republican and Democratic parties."
#GOP #Koch #AFP Haley #Republicans #desperation
#Koch network endorses #NikkiHaley for president as it looks to stop #Trump
The powerful #political network led by #conservative #billionaire Charles Koch endorsed Nikki Haley for president on Tues,
“#AFP Action is proud to throw our full support behind Nikki Haley, who offers America the opportunity to turn the page on the current political era, to win the #Republican primary & defeat Joe Biden next November,” Emily Seidel, snr adviser of the group, wrote.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2023/11/28/koch-network-haley-president/
Influential #Koch network backs Nikki #Haley in #GOP presidential primary
Earlier this year, #AFPAction – a political arm of Koch’s network – pledged to back a single contender in the GOP presidential primary for the first time in its history. And it made clear that it would bypass former President Donald Trump in its quest to find what Emily Seidel, a top AFP official, called a president “who represents a new chapter.”
As awful as she is, she is better than #Trump
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/28/politics/koch-network-nikki-haley/index.html
Perversely, I am heartened by good old-fashioned American libertarian oligarchs putting their thumbs on the scale for a good old-fashioned terrible Republican. Things were getting so dark with the international cabal of petro-fascists putting their thumbs on the scale for Trump. This feels like green political shoots. #Haley #Koch #uspol
@GottaLaff The #Koch brothers have lost control of the #MAGA monster that they helped to create.
Now we get to sit back and watch the #GOP implode. 🍿
👀 Koch gang is endorsing Haley, plan to spend millions to defeat #Trump 🍿
“The political network founded by the #Koch brothers is endorsing #NikkiHaley in the Republican presidential primary race, giving her organizational muscle and financial heft as she battles Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida for second place in Iowa.” #2024election
Who will Charles Koch back for his very own GOP president?
Koch-backed "Americans for Prosperity Action..has plans to endorse an alternative candidate to Trump with the Jan. 15 Iowa caucus now just 50 days away.
"With an estimated $70 million on hand to pour into the effort to defeat the former president", Americans for Prosperity says "as many as 75% of Republicans just might be open to a Trump alternative if they think that that person can win".
#podcast Geschichten aus der Geschichte: Ziemlich beste Feindschaft oder Die Anfänge der #Bakteriologie
Webseite der Episode: https://www.geschichte.fm/podcast/zs23
Eine Geschichte über die Rivalität zweier #Wissenschaftler
#GeschichtenausderGeschichte #Wissenschaftsgeschichte #Geschichte
Wir springen ans Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts und werden Zeugen eines historischen Streits zweier weltberühmter Wissenschaftler, die die Grundlagen der Mikrobiologie und Bakteriologie geschaffen haben – Robert #Koch und Luis #Pasteur.
Ein großer Dank geht an Nicolas Wöhrl und Reinhard Remfort, die den sehr hörenswerten Podcast Methodisch Inkorrekt verantworten und die Rivalität der beiden Forscher für uns inszeniert haben!
Mediendatei: https://audio.podigee-cdn.net/543070-m-422e5129b0fecf06c600d0ad23306af5.mp3?source=feed
DonorsTrust Funneled $134 Million to Right-Wing Groups in 2022
To hide their identities from the public, megadonors used Koch network’s DonorsTrust to funnel $134 million...
"to groups promoting the Right’s culture wars & spreading climate misinformation, Trump’s big lie, & hate.
"The $134 million in donations in 2022 is up $11 million from 2021"
Center for Media and Democracy (CMD)
Zippert Zappt: Der ominöse Strang im Kabinett
#Ballotpedia is a website that provides information on #US #elections and candidates for voters. It started out as a community-contributed site, but is now only edited by paid staff. It has information related to both US Federal government and US state governments, with a database of information on US state executives, legislators, districts, candidates for such positions & ballot measures.
The website claims to be #neutral & accurate. Due to the nature of the site, it does sometimes show decidedly non-factual quotes from other sources (such as public figures). Despite this, the site was founded by the Citizens In Charge Foundation, a #libertarian activist organisation. The site is currently run by a remarkably well-fed nonprofit called the Lucy Burns Institute, which is substantially funded by #Koch Industries money, funnelled in via various corporate shells.
#RationalWiki #NPOV #lucyburnsinstitute #KochIndustries
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Ballotpedia
"The deliberate engineering of the #culture war panic to sow distrust in public #schools for the purpose of privatizing & #defunding the public #education system.
Christopher Rufo... propped up by Charles #Koch has publicly stated his goal is to... spread public distrust.
He had also told the NYTimes that he was “preparing a strategy of laying siege to the institutions” by promoting “school choice.”
~@josephinelee
@TexasObserver
https://www.texasobserver.org/hb-1-vouchers-omnibus-special-session/
#CapeCod residents say no to offshore #wind transmission lines under beaches
Three iconic beaches are slated to be landing spots for high-voltage cables carrying power from offshore wind. But not if these residents get their way.
Echos of the #nimby battle of #robertkennedyjr and allies #mittromney Bill #koch and others that killed the #capewind project by 2015 that would've spoiled ocean views.
Ya know...
When Koch died in Babylon 5, I was a teary mess. Heck, there were many scenes in Babylon 5 that turned me into a teary mess.
Anyway, I was a teary mess, but I was just someone who watched the show. I read JMS' comments at the time about how hard it had been for him, and how the *character* demanded this resolution.
Guess what?
I'm in JMS' seat right now. I'm seeing things from the perspective of the writer, and it ain't pretty. I've never killed a character like this.
I wouldn't say a character is asking me for death, but the narrative definitely does. I've been crying on and off all day. I'm not even currently writing the death scene. I'm just thinking about it. I'm probably several chapters away from writing it. Still, the narrative demands it.
You know what? I **really** really doubt that authors take pleasure about killing any character that has played an important role in the narrative. The Red Shirts? Okay, I'm not going to shed a tear, but those characters central to the story? I'm a complete mess.
I hope that the path leading to this death is going to prepare the reader for a nice payoff. It is my job to prepare the reader for this payoff.
#Babylon5 #Koch #death #JMS #JMichaelStraczynski #narrative #writing #writers #AutisticWriters #payoff
Still playing the system, "#Koch structured more than $5 billion in donations to exploit a loophole to allow him to avoid paying capital gains or gift #taxes. It's not surprising that Koch is familiar with the #loophole — he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying to create it." https://popular.info/p/charles-kochs-5-billion-tax-loophole?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
"The U.S. #SupremeCourt issued a #CodeOfEthics ... following months of financial scandals tied to Justices #SamuelAlito & #ClarenceThomas
The #nonbinding code of conduct...
immediately apparent is the lack of an #enforcement mechanism...
...the financial guidelines, which allow justices to fundraise for law-related nonprofits, calling it “a hall pass for the #FederalistSociety galas and #Koch Network 501c3 & 501c4 [organizations] ”
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/us-supreme-court-releases-nonbinding-code-of-ethics-after-public-pressure/
"The U.S. #SupremeCourt issued a #CodeOfEthics ... following months of financial scandals tied to Justices #SamuelAlito & #ClarenceThomas
The #nonbinding code of conduct...
immediately apparent is the lack of an #enforcement mechanism...
...the financial guidelines, which allow justices to fundraise for law-related nonprofits, calling it “a hall pass for the #FederalistSociety galas and #Koch Network 501c3 & 501c4 [organizations] ”
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/us-supreme-court-releases-nonbinding-code-of-ethics-after-public-pressure/
"The U.S. #SupremeCourt issued a #CodeOfEthics ... following months of financial scandals tied to Justices #SamuelAlito & #ClarenceThomas
The #nonbinding code of conduct...
immediately apparent is the lack of an #enforcement mechanism...
...the financial guidelines, which allow justices to fundraise for law-related nonprofits, calling it “a hall pass for the #FederalistSociety galas and #Koch Network 501c3 & 501c4 [organizations] ”
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/us-supreme-court-releases-nonbinding-code-of-ethics-after-public-pressure/
#Koch owned narcissist #JoeManchin couldn't even let Dems bask in their wins for even a day--MFr announces he's not running for Senate again--leaving it tougher for Dems there--says he'll be traveling country "talking to ppls about more of a center"....BS...he is SOOO much like Trump..w/ his flashy cars & yacht on the Potomac...fully owned by coal and the #Koch brothers & GOP dark $...he's going to run for Pres & try to put Trump back in WH. DONT fall for it😡 #ManchinSpoiler #FukManchin
Speaker Mike Johnson's (new) corporate backers #att #koch #walmart #meta #microsoft #capitalone #boeing #charter #chevron #cox #verizon
https://popular.info/p/speaker-mike-johnsons-corporate-backers
The BigOil-funded Atlas network has spread disinformation about climate science for decades.
Atlas's Australian "think tanks", incl the Centre for Independent Studies, the Institute of Public Affairs & LibertyWorks, did the same with the Voice campaign.
Atlas's funders have been shifting the Overton window... in their favour.
Interviews with Jeremy Walker:
Oct 30
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/latenightlive
Oct 3:
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-drive/atlas-network-voice-referendum-no-campaign/102930444
Walker piece: DOI https://doi.org/10.5130/ccs.v15.i2.8813
"It appears that we may have lost control of the West Antarctic ice shelf melting over the 21st century," says Kaitlin Naughten of the British Antarctic Survey and one of the authors of the study. "Our actions today likely will make a difference further down the line, in the 22nd century and beyond, but that's a time scale that probably none of us here will be around to see."
#Republicans & #Tories drove the car. #Koch fueled it. Voters still prefer tribalism to truth.
#Tatort 324 Heilig Blut #Crimetime #WDR #Düsseldorf #Flemming #Koch #Kloster #MariaSchell #Glaube
Heilig Blut – Tatort 324 #Crimetime 1149 #Tatort #Düsseldorf #Flemming #Koch #WDR #heilig #Blut
One needs to Koch the reason for Citizens United and why it exists and is not even on the radar to begone. How about prostituted government bought and sold to the highest bidders, pushing for Fascism.
David Koch and His Brother Charles Left Behind a Very Important Legacy.
They Changed the World by Setting It on Fire!
There aren’t enough words to describe how bad the Koch brothers have been for US politics over the last few decades. They have done everything they could to get rid of democracy. They gave money to political campaigns, think tanks, academic positions,...
spending more than ExxonMobil on funding climate misinformation
Footage Reveals How the Koch Network Plans to Gut Federal Agencies
"The Koch network, an arm of right-wing organizations cultivated by David and Charles #Koch have been working overtime to gut federal agencies that impact Koch Industries’ bottom line, driving a coordinated campaign to bring lawsuits targeted at deregulation to the conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court, according to an investigation by @TheGuardian"
https://newrepublic.com/post/176466/footage-reveals-koch-network-plans-gut-federal-agencies
David Koch and His Brother Charles Left Behind a Very Important Legacy.
They Changed the World by Setting It on Fire!
There aren’t enough words to describe how bad the Koch brothers have been for US politics over the last few decades. They have done everything they could to get rid of democracy. They gave money to political campaigns, think tanks, academic positions,...
spending more than ExxonMobil on funding climate misinformation
‘Get the right cases to the supreme court’: inside Charles Koch’s network | #Koch brothers | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/26/charles-koch-us-government-rightwing-supreme-court
> Billionaire’s web of #rightwing groups works to bring cases to court that could undermine core functionings of the US government
One of the most amazing/frustrating aspects of these modern times is that we’ve got all these people who are drawn to all kinds of wacky-a-do conspiracies, but ignore massive, well documented, ACTUAL conspiracies happening IN PLAIN VIEW!!!
Maybe the answer is algorithmic recommendations into people’s social media feeds:
“Concerned about the #WEF? Here’s a video about #IDU”
“Worried about a shadow government of #LizardPeople? Meet the #Koch Brothers”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/26/charles-koch-us-government-rightwing-supreme-court The rich, right-wing radicals are working hard to get richer and make you poorer.
NEVER vote for a #Republican
America’s Osage Natives want you to know their story doesn’t end with Killers of the Flower Moon
America’s Osage Natives want you to know their story doesn’t end with Killers of the Flower Moon
"Today, the Koch oil trucks are gone, but their poisons are left behind – and I’m not just talking about the economic legacy. Former Koch trucker Jack Crossen told me that Koch ordered its workers to cover up toxic sludge spilt into creeks and water supplies."
https://www.gregpalast.com/americas-osage-natives-want-you-to-know-their-story-doesnt-end-with-killers-of-the-flower-moon/ #Koch #Osage #KillersOfTheFlowerMoon
#ClarenceThomas secretly attended fundraising event for group pushing cases before the court, new report says
The #Koch network is frequently behind cases before the court, including a closely watched challenge this term that could upend decades of precedent.
by Kelsey Reichmann, Sep 22, 2023
"Thomas’ attendance at the Koch network fundraiser is coupled with his failure to disclose the trip. Ethics experts called on the Judicial Conference — the rulemaking group for federal courts — to refer Thomas’ disclosure lapses to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
"'The law is very clear,' Gabe Roth, executive director at Fix the Court, said in an email. 'The Judicial Conference must refer to the Attorney General 'any individual' for which there is 'reasonable cause to believe' that 'information required to be reported' in their disclosure has not been reported. We're far past 'reasonable cause' territory.'
"Thomas’ failure to disclose other gifts from #billionaires has already been reported to the Judicial Conference, however no action has been taken by the group.
"According to ProPublica, the Palm Springs event was just one instance the Koch brothers rubbed elbows with the conservative justice. The trio all took regular trips to an exclusive all-male retreat in California, Bohemian Grove. Thomas is said to attend the camp as Crow’s guest. Other attendees at the retreat include #Blackwater founder #ErikPrince, George H.W. Bush, and Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi."
A shadowy and controversial secret club meets in the California woods every year — and at least 5 US presidents were members
by Áine Cain
Mar 11, 2018,
"George H.W. #Bush joined the club in 1973, while chairing the Republican National Committee during the Watergate scandal.
"Domhoff writes that Bush belonged to a camp called Hill Billies, along with top executives from #BankOfAmerica, #GeneralMotors, and #ProcterAndGamble.
"Bush also brought along a future president as a guest on one trip to Bohemian Grove. He introduced his son — George W. Bush — at a lakeside talk in 1995, saying that he'd make a great president, according to Domhoff."
#BohemianGrove #Oligarchy
#Corporatocracy
#Corruption #Koch #Blackwater
Well, well, well... It seems we've come full circle, eh?
#ClarenceThomas secretly participated in #Koch network donor events
Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, helping a political network that has brought cases to #SCOTUS
By Joshua Kaplan - Justin Elliott - Alex Mierjeski
Published September 22, 2023
"Thomas' involvement in the events is part of a yearslong, personal relationship with the Koch brothers that has remained almost entirely out of public view. It developed over years of trips to the #BohemianGrove, a secretive all-men's retreat in Northern California. Thomas has been a regular at the Grove for two decades, where he stayed in a small camp with real estate billionaire #HarlanCrow and the Kochs, according to records and people who've spent time with him there.
"The Grove is an exclusive, two-week party held in the Sonoma County redwoods every July. A member or his guest can wander from the Grove's shooting range to a lecture by #Blackwater founder #ErikPrince, or from a mint julep party to a performance by the Grove's symphony orchestra. Wine, sometimes at $500 a bottle, flows freely, and late at night, members consume clam chowder and chili by the gallon. More than one attendee recalled walking outside in the morning to find a former cabinet secretary who fell asleep drunk in the grass.
"There's a saying among the Bohemians, as the club's members call themselves: The only place you should be publicly associated with the Grove is in your obituary. That privacy is paramount, members said, in part to allow the powerful to speak freely — and party — without worrying about showing up in the press. Only designated photographers are allowed to take pictures. Cellphones are strictly forbidden.
"Members typically must pay thousands of dollars to bring a guest. Several people ProPublica spoke to said that before the pandemic, they saw Thomas there just about every year. ProPublica was able to confirm six trips Thomas took to the retreat that he didn't disclose. Flight records suggest Crow has repeatedly dispatched his private jet to Virginia to pick up Thomas and ferry him to the Sonoma County airport and back, usually for a long weekend in the middle of the Grove festival."
#SCOTUS #LeonardLeo #FederalistSociety #Koch #GOP #RWNJ
In His Fifth Decade of Activism, Leonard Leo’s Influence Is Too Big to Ignore https://truthout.org/articles/in-his-fifth-decade-of-activism-leonard-leos-influence-is-too-big-to-ignore/
@Npars01 @Teri_Kanefield
Yes!
The #Koch network is very adept at warping institutions through ongoing, steady institutional co-option
It's the lessons learned in oil and gas regulatory capture applied to the courts, economics, journalism, politics, etc.
@Npars01 @Teri_Kanefield
Somewhere, about 6 years ago, a #Koch operative realised "We can just train our own journalists"
And thus the media fellowship was born.
Koch's new tax hiding lobbying "charity" 's mission is "NA" lolsob
"Exclusive: Charles Koch Has Given More Than $5 Billion Of His Stock To Two Nonprofits"
His 4.3 billion gift to Believe in People is now the largest publicly disclosed donation to a 501(c)4–a type of nonprofit with fewer restrictions on lobbying and politics than traditional charities.
by Matt Durot for @Forbes
#News #USPolitics #Koch
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2023/10/10/exclusive-charles-koch-koch-industries-has-given-more-than-5-billion-of-his-koch-industries-stock-to-two-nonprofits/?sh=6706604f7bd1
How did the Koch Brothers become the #Koch Brothers? The oil-company heirs had long held small-government, anti-regulation beliefs, but weren’t always deeply enmeshed in the political world—until 1988, when the U.S Senate began looking into allegations their company was stealing oil from Indian reservations in Oklahoma.
…
The investigation had been launched in October of 1987 by the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs after a series of articles in the Arizona Republic alleged that big oil companies were stealing oil from Native Americans who owned oil wells. When the companies picked up crude oil from wells to take it to market, they falsified receipts to make it look like had picked up less oil than they really did, or that the oil was of a lower quality than it really was. The Senate hired prosecutor Ken Ballen to lead the investigation. He quickly sent out subpoenas and started building a case that not only would go on to last years but would also transform U.S. politics.
The Senate investigation intensified during 1989. As evidence came rolling in, it pointed in one direction, Ballen recalled later during an interview. Koch, more than any other company, had falsified tickets and taken more oil than it paid for. (The company later admitted in court that it collected about $10 million in crude oil each year without paying for it.) When Ballen’s team reviewed reams of records from big oil companies, Koch Industries’ records stood out—no other company had collected so much oil without paying for it. Senate investigators believed that Koch Industries had been caught red-handed, and the other companies had not. (Ballen said that a few other instances of oil theft were discovered, but they were isolated incidents perpetrated by very small companies.) Ballen said other oil companies were so frustrated with the company that they allowed Ballen’s investigators to access their private land, setting up surveillance of Koch Oil employees as they picked up oil. FBI Special Agent Jim Elroy did just that, hiding behind herds of cattle to snap surveillance photos. Elroy caught Koch Industries employees falsifying documents to underreport how much oil they’d taken.
…
By the late 1980s, he had co-founded the #Cato Institute, supported a smaller, obscure group called Institute for Humane Studies, and was generally interested in spreading free-market philosophy.
#koch #NativeAmericanDay #Osage #climatechange #bigoil #crime
7/n Today sharing this #DeepStateRadio podcast, with host David #Rothkopf and @MichaelEMann, about #OurFragileMoment. It’s about much more than #COP28 but provides good context - in particular the role of #BadActors like #Murdoch and the #Koch brothers
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/deep-state-radio/id1245002955?i=1000630044822
It’s Not Personal: Why Clarence Thomas’ Trip to the #Koch Summit Undermines His #Ethics Defense
Even by Thomas’ own permissive interpretation, the justice’s recently revealed travel to Palm Springs and the Bohemian Grove appear to violate the disclosure law, experts explained.
It's what we're never going to find out about his partisan actions in private that should have everyone concerned. He's one of seven of the most powerful people in the world. And suffers no call to accountability.
""What are we going to find out next?"
https://www.salon.com/2023/09/22/what-are-we-going-to-find-out-next-clarence-thomas-shocking-ethics-scandal-sickens-experts/ #GOP #Koch #SCOTUS #Thoms #ethics #scandal
"Clarence Thomas' shocking ethics scandal 'sickens' experts: The latest outrage over Thomas' conduct follows a report revealing his ties to the Koch brothers' political network:
#ClarenceThomas' #Koch Party Is Latest Shocking Ethics Breach
Thomas should be forced to recuse himself from hearing cases brought by groups that he helps fundraise for and who fly him on private jets.
"[Supreme Court justice #ClarenceThomas] has attended at least two #Koch #DonorSummits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.
Thomas’ involvement in the events is part of a yearslong, personal relationship with the Koch brothers that has remained almost entirely out of public view. "
^^ No surprise here. ^^
#ClarenceThomas “never reported the 2018 flight to Palm Springs on his annual financial disclosure form, an apparent violation of federal law requiring justices to report most gifts. A #Koch network spokesperson said the network did not pay for the private jet. Since Thomas didn’t disclose it, it’s not clear who did pay.”
Via @ProPublica
“…#Koch …has invested tremendous #capital to overturn longstanding #legal #precedent known as #Chevron deference, which would handcuff #regulators & serve the interests of #corporate fat cats. As more details are revealed of Justice Thomas’s #undisclosed involvement w/the Koch #political network, there are serious questions about his #impartiality in cases squarely confronting the Chevron doctrine. For these reasons, I’m calling on Justice #Thomas to #recuse himself from… #LoperBrightVRaimondo.”
“Once again, Justice Thomas’s gaggle of fawning billionaires expands & their influence on the Court grows larger. The #Koch brothers are the architects of one of the largest, most successful #political operations in history, aimed at influencing all levels of government & the courts. Justice #Thomas hid the extent of his involvement w/the Koch political network & never reported #gifts associated w/these engagements.
Senator Dick #Durbin Calls for Justice #ClarenceThomas to #Recuse Himself from #LoperBrightVRaimondo in Upcoming #SCOTUS Term
Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the #Senate #Judiciary Cmte, issued the following stmnt regarding ProPublica’s investigative report w/new details of Justice Clarence Thomas’s secret participation in #donor summits organized by billionaires Charles & David #Koch:
Gravy Train to Oligarchy
Historian Nancy MacLean explains that Virginia’s white elite and the pro-corporate president of the University of Virginia, Colgate Darden, who had married into the DuPont family, found James Buchanan’s ideas to be spot on.
In nurturing a new intelligentsia to commit to his values, Buchanan stated that he needed a “#gravy #train,” and with backers like Charles #Koch and conservative foundations like the #Scaife Family Charitable Trusts, others hopped aboard.
Money, Buchanan knew, can be a persuasive tool in academia. His circle of influence began to widen.
MacLean observes that the #Virginia #school, as Buchanan’s brand of economic and political thinking is known, is a kind of cousin to the better-known, market-oriented Chicago and Austrian schools — proponents of all three were members of the #Mont #Pelerin #Society, an international neoliberal organization which included Milton #Friedman and Friedrich #Hayek.
But the Virginia school’s focus and career missions were distinct. In an interview with the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), MacLean described Friedman and Buchanan as yin and yang:
“Friedman was this genial, personable character who loved to be in the limelight and made a sunny case for the free market and the freedom to choose and so forth.
"Buchanan was the dark side of this: he thought, ok, fine, they can make a case for the free market, but everybody knows that free markets have externalities and other problems. So he wanted to keep people from believing that government could be the alternative to those problems.”
The Virginia school also differs from other economic schools in a marked reliance on #abstract #theory rather than mathematics or empirical evidence.
That a Nobel Prize was awarded in 1986 to an economist who so determinedly bucked the academic trends of his day was nothing short of stunning, MacLean observes. But, then, it was the peak of the #Reagan era, an administration several Buchanan students joined.
Buchanan’s school focused on #public #choice #theory, later adding constitutional economics and the new field of law and economics to its core research and advocacy.
The economist saw that his vision would never come to fruition by focusing on who rules. It was much better to focus on the rules themselves, and that required a “#constitutional #revolution.”
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/533763/democracy-in-chains-by-nancy-maclean/9781101980972/
Take the time to read in full this superb story from #ProPublica, reporting #ClarenceThomas appearances at right wing, mega-high dollar donor events sponsored by the #Koch brothers. All the details matter because the show how Thomas is embedded in travel and lodging arranged by and for the sponsors and attendees. He hasn’t disclosed most of what the story reports, suggesting that he only “corrects” his disclosures when caught. https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-koch-brothers-donor-events-scotus #LawFedi #Ethics #JudicialEthics
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events
==
Thomas has attended at least two #Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the #SupremeCourt.
#ClarenceThomas #SCOTUS #KochBrothers #BohemianGrove #Courts #News
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events - putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.
"Ever since Fred Koch started funding the John Birch Society’s 'Impeach Earl Warren' billboards in the 1950s and 1960s Republicans have used the issue of race (and its subset: immigration) as a wedge to tear Americans apart."
~ Thom Hartmann
#Koch #racism #xenophobia #CultureWars #Republicans
https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-gop-crushed-americas-historical-0c1
#5yrsago Chicago’s ‘#AlohaPoke Co’ wants Hawaiians to stop using the words ‘aloha’ and ‘poke’ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2018/07/30/a-midwestern-chain-told-hawaiians-to-stop-using-aloha-with-poke-igniting-a-heated-debate
#5yrsago #Koch thinktank inadvertently proves that America would save trillions by switching to #SocializedMedicine https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/30/koch-funded-hit-piece-backfires-shows-medicare-all-would-save-whopping-2-trillion
#5yrsago #FDA warns companies: stop selling quack “#VaginalRejuvenation,” adds, “People, please don’t do this to yourselves” https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/07/dont-try-to-rejuvenate-your-vagina-the-fda-warns-after-scolding-companies/
6/
The OK Superintendent of Schools who wanted teachers to say race was not a factor in the 1921 Tulsa Massacre came from a non-profit that advocated for charter schools. He's trying to destroy public education. #Oklahoma #RyanWalters #TulsaMassacre #Koch
Ryan Walters Steps Down From Nonprofit Role That Drew Scrutiny https://oklahomawatch.org/2023/01/08/ryan-walters-steps-down-from-nonprofit-role-that-drew-scrutiny/
Long time Federalist Society leader and former Trump Judge Whisperer Leonard Leo is now running Teneo Network which plans to “crush liberal dominance”
Teneo Network funders include hedge fund investor Paul Singer, Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, Charles Koch Foundation, Bradley Foundation and DeVos family.
Great deep dive coverage of Leo and Teneo Network
#LeonardLeo #TeneoNetwork #Koch #FederalistSociety
https://www.propublica.org/article/leonard-leo-teneo-videos-documents
@burningbird @juddlegum What’s wrong with #florida? #criminals running the state government for decades, #republicans, #russianmobsters, #drugcartels, money laundering mecca, #oligarchy #koch family, #BigSugar #BigPhosphate & finally #rondesantis.
Other churches should follow this example. Mom's For Liberty is a Koch funded hate group. #koch #MomsForLiberty
How we got here. Why we got here.
And just how different it is from a century ago.
history doesn't repeat but it does rhyme.
new upload for feb 25th. 16 min video
#uspol #economics #fascism #gop #conservatism #koch #economy #currentAffairs #history #authoritarianism
It is well known the elite the #plotocracy
hate the middle class, which #unions supported with success after #FDR's #New Deal lasting a few decades.
Then #Koch this, Right to work for less and #Reagen's #trickledown did it's job.
This is what US will become if maniacs like #Greene, #Boebert, #DeSantis and #Republicans keep attacking #democracy along with #Culture (people of difference) in order to divisivly divide the nation and the people for the #plutocracy, you know #Koch and friends, the proof is in the #Putin.
"For years, #Koch has repeatedly announced he was reorienting his political strategy away from far-right #Republicans, including Trump — with no discernible change in his actual political activity. After each media-assisted rebrand, Koch quietly resumed business as usual."
"Koch has repeatedly announced he was reorienting his political strategy away from far-right Republicans, including Trump — with no discernible change in his actual political activity. After each media-assisted rebrand, Koch quietly resumed business as usual. The reality is that few individuals have spent more money to legitimize Trump and his allies than Charles Koch." — @juddlegum
https://popular.info/p/how-koch-manipulates-the-media
#USpol #USpolitics #Koch #MediaBias #AFPAction #PopularInfo #CampaignFinanceReform
#Koch Network, Aiming to ‘Turn the Page’ on #Trump, Will Play in the G.O.P. Primaries
The move by the alliance of conservative donors could provide an enormous boost to a Republican alternative to the former president. #2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/05/us/politics/koch-donors-trump-campaign-finance.html
I’ve been writing about the right wing’s efforts for an #ArticleV convention for years. But this is the clearest description of what the #right plans to do. #Koch #libertarian #UtopianNightmare
@rbreich And now all #Murdoch and #Koch Media shouting for a #recession - because they all cannot handle it that #Bluecollar wages are RISING. For the first time since 4 decades. "We need a #Recession to get more #unemployment". That is the #Republican politics for you.
@chirping_bird it's fairly obvious he has just brought it to shut it down, it's clearly too open for certain Governments and people with vested interests in suppressing free and open speech... koch, koch...
#koch