In the Kansas City television market two very similar ads have been running. These ads target Congressman Ike Skelton and Congressional candidate Stephene Moore. Skelton is the long standing Congressman from Missouri's Fourth Congressional District in West Central Missouri. Moore is running to replace her retiring husband, Dennis Moore, in Kansas' Third Congressional District representing Kansas City, Kansas (Wyandotte County) and parts of Johnson County.
The ads attempt to align Skelton and Moore with the Speaker of the House, the President, and some vague "liberal" agenda. In sum, the ad is a distortion short circuiting reality. This propaganda want to blame the Democratic Party for the economic shambles which President Obama inherited. The truth is that Republican economic policies, two wars waged off the books, and tax breaks for the richest of the rich brought our national economy to its knees. They Republicans in Congress have done naught to govern during the 111th Congress.
The obvious question screams at my mind. "Who is this group running these ads , who are the Americans for Prosperity?" Indeed, aren't all Americans for Prosperity? Americans are for healthy children, mom, apple pie, low blood pressure, a cure for cancer, and prosperity. There was the first clue.
Who is it that hides behind the divisive illusion that those who disagree with this group must be Americans for Privation! What gobbledygook! Who are the Americans for Prosperity? Here's a hint, one lump or two?
That's right, there is a great big connection between the rich rabid right wing Republican s who pretended the nation into believing there was actually a grass roots movement called the Tea Party and the alleged Americans for Prosperity. And that connection is money.
Americans for Prosperity is the ultra conservative Republican pressure group from whence the Tea Party emanated. The Kansas connection is the kooky filthy rich David H. Koch of Wichita's Koch Industries. He earlier founded a group called Citizens for a Sound Economy. Americans for Prosperity left the Citizens for a Sound Economy. The jilted group renamed themselves Freedom Works. It must have been an amicable divorce. Freedom Works is Dick Armey's little lobbying/propaganda enterprise heavily involved in the Tea Party.
David Koch and his brother Charles Koch own Koch Industries. Koch Industries is Big Oil and Gas in America's heartland. Koch Industries is America's second largest privately held company. Aqui es mucho dinero. David Koch is the second richest man in America. He is number 19 worldwide. I can only guess that he'd be number one except for the millions he has squandered on politics. But then maybe he paid for the government [deregulation] he wanted.
Don't get all confused thinking David Koch is just like you or me, that dog don't hunt. Koch is the son of petroleum industry innovator Fred Koch. He didn't go to a Kansas public school or any of our higher institutions of advanced learning. No David Koch went to the elite Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts. He graduated from M.I.T. The only good thing I can say is that he was a better than average basketball player setting a single game scoring record of 41 points in 1962/ That record was broken in 2009 by Jimmy Bartolotta. Say, my high school girlfriend married a guy named Bartolotta. Maybe she's related. But that's a different story.
Here's the skinny. David Koch gave $1,000,000 to the Tea Party. What? That's crazy, that's not a tax deductible gift. MIT's high scoring David Koch should know better. You better believe he does. The gift came from the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation. That's a 501 (c) (3) bona fide tax deductible organization started by David's brother Charles Koch to further the Science of Liberty. Well, maybe the liberty of rich people to amass obscene wealth at the expense of regular folk. So yes, David Koch just had his cake and ate it also.
Open Secrets says Koch Industries is a heavy hitter. in 2008 they gave Republicans $1.7 Million. For the 2010 cycle the figure is up to $700,000. Now that doesn't count the Americans for Prosperity.
Frankly I don't give a rat's behind if David Koch wants to throw his money around. I do care that he does it behind the scenes. When you give this kind of cash to influence politics you ought to be required to sign your name so folks can make an honest assessment of your arguments.
Believe me, the only prosperity David Koch cares about is his own, not ours!
No comments:
Post a Comment