Thursday, June 26, 2014

New Koch ads defend their political record—but don’t fool opponents



Lately I’ve been watching the new ad the Koch Brothers, Charles and David, have produced to make them-selves look better. That is no doubt an effort to counter all the bad publicity and vilification they get from environmentalists groups and those opposed to their efforts to control the political system for their own benefits. All this is not really surprising. Anyone who wants to take over our country and trash our environment needs to have enough money to buy ads and do “good works” to make them look good. A lot of people have seen through the smoke and mirrors of the Koch Brother’s efforts and now they need to look better
On top of all the money they spend it is highly a likely-hood that the Kochs have shills that write all those letters to the editor of the Wichita Eagle, extolling the virtues of having the Koch Brothers in this community. Recently they contributed $25 million to the United Negro College fund. It is easy to tell they are here in Wichita. Their name is one a good number of buildings all across Wichita, including Koch Arena that used to be Henry Levitt Arena.
Representative Scott Schwab, Republican-Olathe, did not receive an endorsement for the Aug. 5 primary election from the Kansas Chamber PAC last week despite consistently voting with the chamber on almost all major issues. It didn’t take him long to realize he was getting the cold shoulder from the Koch Brothers, who influence the PAC. He did not stack up to their standards despite him bragging about the times he voted their way.
An e-mail sent from Schwab’s campaign address with his name on it asserted the snub has to do with his breaking with the chamber by voting against a bill to repeal the state’s renewable energy standards and questioning the policy’s rationale.
So it is with this e-mail that we see the overwhelming power of the Koch Brothers. Unlike the rest of us, who can barely get access to ANY of our state representatives, the Kochs get immediate attention due to their $ billionaire status and their positions as major political pawn brokers.
Just last month, activist from Kansas and Oklahoma came to address a crowd of about 75 people in Wichita, all denouncing the Koch Brothers as the most dangerous men in the US today.
Besides all the $ billions they pay to promote their “no real climate change” message, which many Americans don’t buy and consider dangerous, theKochs also have to deal with the back lash against their meddling in US and Kansas politics. Many people see them as a threat to democracy and attempts so set themselves up as virtual dictators. They have the ability to make or break an election campaign while the rest of us have no control over them at all. It makes a mockery of our votes.
So the Kochs have to spend money to convince the gullible that they are a great innovative company that our communities really need. But they aren’t fooling a lot of people. Those who are painfully aware of what they have done to our politics will not be satisfied with a few phony service messages. We want them OUT of our politics all together.

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