Bad Deeds for 3-2-2011

 

The Koch Brothers Latest Acquisition: Wisconsin – Does Wisconsin have a short-term budget deficit? Yes, but only because of the $141 million in special-interest tax breaks that Governor Scott Walker pushed through in January. Does Wisconsin have a long-term problem? Yes, because of a projected shortfall in public employee pension obligations. But state employees, who willingly worked 14 furlough days last year to help the state balance the budget, have already agreed to the financial sacrifices demanded by the governor: contributing more toward their health and retirement coverage — which translates into a 7 percent pay cut.

If workers have already agreed to his budget demands, why is Governor Walker stubbornly insisting on breaking the backs of the unions? Because that’s what the Koch brothers told him to do. And, in Wisconsin, as well as many other states, what the Koch brothers want, the Koch brothers get. And they’re willing to pay handsomely for it.

By day, the Koch brothers are major polluters, heads of the energy and consumer products conglomerate Koch Brothers, based in Wichita, Kansas. By night, they are one of the most powerful and secretive forces in American politics — whose stated goal is to get rid of all government regulation. The Koch boys operate with many tentacles, their principal one a faux-grassroots, corporate-funded organization called Americans for Prosperity. In 2009 and 2010, AFP provided most of the funding for tea party rallies nationwide. They bused people to Washington to protest President Obama’s health care reform and global warming legislation. They paid for buses to Glenn Beck’s rally at the Lincoln Memorial. They put up the money for Proposition 23, an unsuccessful effort to overturn California’s strict climate change laws. And, all the while, they fueled a relentless series of vicious, personal attacks on President Obama.

They were also active at the state level, supporting Republican candidates for governor who would embrace their anti-government agenda. And they found their poster boy in Scott Walker, always willing to dance to the Koch brothers’ tune — and take their call, even when it’s fake. Buried deep inside the governor’s so-called “budget repair” bill is a totally unrelated provision allowing no-bid sales of state-owned heating, cooling, and power plants. And, in Wisconsin, guess who’s the leading customer for buying power plants? Koch Industries.

Follow the money. In Wisconsin, it leads to Charles and David Koch.

 

The Average CEO Now Gets 185 Times the Average Worker’s Pay

 

Is Donald Rumsfeld Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? – Ever wonder what the Bush Administration’s most brilliant thinking on foreign policy looked like? Now we know, thanks to this 2003 document from former Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld.

 

Nebraska Republican Wants to Legalize Murder – Nebraska Republican state Sen. Mark Christensen has introduced bill LB 232, which will allow anyone to commit “justifiable homicide” in defense of a fetus.

Regards,

Jim