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(See previous email below) PLEASE CROSS-POST AS IS. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> Charles and David Koch -- The Koch brothers -- own the second largest private corporation in the U.S. with revenues of more than $100 billion. Koch Industries, Inc., a private American energy conglomerate based in Wichita, Kansas, operates in 60 countries. Its numerous subsidiaries include petroleum, chemicals, energy, asphalt, natural gas, plastics, fibers, minerals, fertilizers, ranching, pulp and paper, and finance commodities trading. To increase their influence and resulting wealth, the Koch brothers make direct contributions to candidates; investments in groups such as Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks (which do political organizing); and funding of right-wing think tanks, including the Cato Institute, of which David Koch was a founder, the Federalist Society, and the Heritage Foundation. Their father, Fred C. Koch, was a co-founder of the John Birch Society. REASONS TO BOYCOTT KOCH INDSTRIES, among many others: Their aggressive funding of the Tea Party movement and a vast right-wing network is built to destroy unions, deny climate change, and protect their polluting industries. Koch Industries is a well-documented and infamous polluter of air and water -- and the public discourse. www.alternet.org/story/150078/how_you_can_boycott_the_kochs In 2010, Koch Industries was ranked 10th on the list of top U.S. corporate air polluters Koch Industries is the major source of funds of climate denial. Greenpeace states that between 1997 and 2008 Koch Industries donated nearly $48 million to groups which doubt or oppose anthropogenic global warming. From 2005 to 2008, Koch industries spent $5.7 million on political campaigns and $37 million on direct lobbying to support fossil fuel industries. Koch Industries became among the first oil firms that lobbied against a national standard for low carbon fuel standard in 2007. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_Industries#Koch_Industries> There are powerful connections between Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting power-grab and Koch-supported institutions and politicians. The partnership between Koch and Murdoch amplifes how Fox News and the Wall Street Journal -- both owned by Murdoch's News Corporation -- collude with the Koch-funded Americans For Prosperity to spread disinformation and lies about labor unions, health-care reform, and climate change. Long-time Koch watcher Jim Hightower says of Charles and David Koch: "It's all about them, you see -- they want to be free of anti-pollution regulations, labor laws, corporate taxes, and other policies that serve the common good. The public be damned. Keep your eyes on these two. After all, the higher the monkey climbs, the more you see of its ugly side." The Koch brothers distributed a list to Koch Industries employees that instructs them for whom to vote. Most on the list are Republican to whom the Kochs heavily contribute in exchange for a pro-Koch, anti-environment, anti-worker, corporate agenda. Should a Koch employee mention a vote for someone not on the list, retribution against the employee could follow. (Reported by MSNBC's Ed Schultz.) The 2010 Koch-brothers-sponsored case Citizens United was decided 5-4 by the current highly pro-corporate Supreme Court to allow corporations vast freedom in elections and contributions that had previously been barred. Our way of life and American system of government are at stake. ~~~~~~~~~~~~BOYCOTT~~~~~~~~~~~~ Don't Help The Koch Brothers/Koch Industries Fund Right Wing Extremism. Don't Buy: Georgia-Pacific Paper Products Bath Tissue Angel Soft® Quilted Northern Ultra Plush® Quilted Northern Soft & Strong® Soft n' Gentle® Napkins and Paper Towels Mardi Gras® Vanity Fair® Zee® Brawny® Mardi Gras® Sparkle® napkins Zee® napkins Cups & Tableware Dixie® plates, bowls, napkins and cups Insulair® PerfecTouch® Ultra Vanity Fair® Home and Office Papers and Envelopes Advantage® Image Plus® Spectrum® INVISTA PRODUCTS Antron COMFOREL® fiberfill COOLMAX® fabric CORDURA® fabric DACRON® fiber Lycra Polarguard POLYSHIELD® resin SOLARMAX® fabric SOMERELLE® bedding products STAINMASTER® carpet SUPPLEX® fabric TACTEL® fiber TACTESSE® carpet fiber TERATE® polyols TERATHANE® polyether glycol THERMOLITE® fabric PHENREZ® resin POLARGUARD® fiber LYCRA® fiber Georgia-Pacific lumber and building products, including: Blue Ribbon OSB Rated Sheathing Blue Ribbon Sub-floor Broadspan Engineered Wood Products Clutter Cutter® DensArmor Plus® Dense Armor Drywall and Decking DensDeck® DensGlass® sheathing DryGuard Enhanced OSB DensShield® DryPly® FibreStrong Rim board FireDefender Banded Cores FireDefender FS FireDefender Mineral Core FireGuard® Flexrock GP Lamboard® Hushboard® G/P Industrial plasters (some products used by a lot of crafters) Nautilus® Wall Sheathing Ply-Bead® Plytanium® Plywood Southern Gold® Sta-Strait Thermostat® OSB Radiant Barrier Sheathing ToughRock® ToughArmor Gypsum board Wood I Beam XJ 85 I-Joists Hardboard and Thin MDF including Auto Hardboard, Perforated Hardboard and Thin MDF Wood Fiberboard Commercial Roof Fiberboard Hushboard Sound Deadening Board Regular Fiberboard Sheathing Structural Fiberboard Sheathing Other Koch Chemical Technology Group Flint Hills Resources a major refining and chemicals company Koch Pipeline Company which owns and operates 4,000 miles of pipeline used to transport oil, natural gas liquids and chemicals Koch Minerals Koch Fertilizer, one of the world¹s largest makers of nitrogen fertilizers Koch Supply & Trading Matador Cattle Company division operates three ranches totaling 425,000 acres located in Beaverhead, Montana, Matador, Texas and the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. There are more than 15,000 head of cattle raised on the ranches. Groups funded by the Koch brothers or to which the Koch brothers or Koch Industries belong - Koch Family Foundations - Americans for Prosperity (formerly Citizens For A Sound Economy) - American Highway Users Alliance - Americans for Tax Reform, - Freedom Works (formerly Citizens For A Sound Economy) - American Legislative Exchange Council - Cato Institute - Citizens For A Sound Economy Foundation - Institute for Policy Innovation - National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (Koch Industries is a member) - National Taxpayers Union - Natural Gas Supply Association (Koch Industries is a member) - Reason Foundation (and Reason.com) - Manhattan Institute - Heartland Institute - Democratic Leadership Council - Texas Prosperity Project Sources: <http://www.alternet.org/story/150520/you_thought_the_koch_brothers_were_bad _turns_out_they_are_even_worse_than_you_thought?akid=6795.33004.bgHtgE&rd=1& t=2> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_Industries#Koch_Industries> List of products Koch manufacturers: http://www.boycottkochbrothers.com/#products <http://www.alternet.org/story/150078/how_you_can_boycott_the_kochs?akid=659 6.33004.Rbo6MA&rd=1&t=3> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invista> http://www.alternet.org/story/150078/how_you_can_boycott_the_kochs?akid=6596 .33004.Rbo6MA&rd=1&t=3 <"Don Hazen" <[email protected]>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From: Judy Reed <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 07 Apr 2011 01:20:42 -0600 Subject: ...the Koch Brothers...are Even Worse Than You Thought YES WE CAN! News & Alerts Liberal, Progressive, Secular, Green, & Humane Note: Just in case you thought the Republican Party has been fighting for anything other than money and power. P.S. Trickle-down economics is a lie. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> Source/Letters: AlterNet <http://www.alternet.org/feedback/> Link: <http://www.alternet.org/story/150520/you_thought_the_koch_brothers_were_bad _turns_out_they_are_even_worse_than_you_thought?akid=6795.33004.bgHtgE&rd=1& t=2> You Thought the Koch Brothers Were Bad? Turns Out They're Even Worse Than You Thought By Adele M. Stan, AlterNet Posted on April 5, 2011, Printed on April 6, 2011 You knew they were big. You knew they were evil. From the union-busting actions of their minions in Wisconsin and Ohio to their war on health-care reform, to their assault on the environment and their attacks on the science of climatology, Charles and David Koch have earned their place as the focus of progressives' scrutiny in the age of the Tea Party -- the destructive and regressive movement they bankroll. But a new report from the Center for American Progress Action Fund shows that, as bad as you thought the Kochs were, they're actually worse. And their reach into virtually every aspect of political, economic and physical life on the planet is probably greater than you thought possible. In The Koch Brothers: What You Need to Know About the Financiers of the Radical Right, author Tony Carrk, policy director of the CAP Action War Room, lays out a case that is breathtaking in its scope, showing how the Koch brothers are using their billions with the aim of reshaping the global economic system in such a way as to enrich themselves and their heirs at the expense of most other inhabitants of the planet. While much of the report will have a familiar ring (especially to readers of AlterNet, and CAP Action's own ThinkProgress), The Koch Brothers also addresses elements of the Koch agenda far beyond the well-trodden turf of Americans for Prosperity's organizing against health-care reform or the pollution rap against Koch Industries, the second-largest privately held corporation in the United States, which the billionaire brothers command. The Kochs and the Global Economy Consider, for instance, the Kochs' role in the financial business. You thought Koch Industries was just a high-polluting oil-and-gas-based conglomerate? Add in the part played on Wall Street by Koch Supply & Trading, and the depth of the Koch imprint on the economy is revealed. From Carrk's report: First, the Koch brothers fought efforts to give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission more oversight over speculative trading, whereby companies can artificially inflate prices on things such as oil, during the Wall Street reform debate. One of the Koch companiesKoch Supply & Tradingtakes part in oil and derivatives trading. We should point out that oil speculation has reached an all-time high at the same time gas prices continue to skyrocket. Then look at a recent position pushed by Americans for Prosperity, the Tea Party-allied astroturf group founded and funded by David Koch (and whose sibling organization, the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, he chairs): Similarly, Americans for Prosperity supports the House continuing resolution that cuts spending by $61 billion. Those cuts would reduce the budget for the CFTC by one-third. Make no mistake: Gutting the CFTC or limiting its authority would be a boon to Wall Street businesses that use complex financial instruments. But while the result is more profits for oil companies, it means everyone else pays more at the pump. Okay, now have a look at the Kochs' recent direct contributions to political candidates: The Kochs donated directly to 62 of the 87 members of the House GOP freshman class...and to 12 of the new members of the U.S. Senate. No wonder, then, how that continuing resolution -- the means for funding the government when a budget has not been passed into law -- managed to get through the House. (It was subsequently rejected by the Senate, setting the stage for a possible shutdown of the government at the end of this week.) Those 62 Koch-backed freshmen are essentially driving the agenda of the House Republicans, because together they form a large enough bloc to prevent House Speaker John Boehner from amassing a majority on any piece of legislation, should they choose to, despite the 2010 Republican victories that handed control of the House to the GOP. It should be noted that such "complex financial instruments" as those mentioned above had much to do with the 2008 Bush crash of Wall Street. The report reminds us that "from September 2007 to May 2009, American 401(k) and individual retirement accounts lost a total of $2.7 trillion." But if the Kochs had their way, Social Security would no longer be financed by the federal government, and would instead be invested on Wall Street -- a boon for financiers such as they. Too bad if your account takes a hit that lands you on the curb. And while we think of Wall Street as an American institution, when Wall Street sneezes, the world gets a cold. The Bush crash set in motion a global recession. Less oversight of the financial shenanigans known as derivatives (or "complex financial instruments") all but guarantees further crashes. The Brothers Koch and the Body Politic If you read the whole of the CAP Action report, you'll see how the Koch influence on the nation's politics is compounded and leveraged through a combination of the brothers' direct contributions to candidates, their investment in astroturf groups such as Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks (which do political organizing), and their funding of right-wing think tanks, which send policy position papers daily to the in-boxes of senators, representatives and their aides. Carrk identified some 85 right-leaning think tanks that received a collective $85 million from the Kochs over the course of the last 15 years. These include the Cato Institute, of which David Koch was a founder, and other well-known outfits, such as the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation. But that's not all: Charles and David Koch and their company, Koch Industries, do not limit their political donations to right-wing think tanks and advocacy groups. They also donate millions directly to candidates. Since 1990, the Koch network has donated $11 million to federal candidates, $9.8 million, or 89 percent, of which went to Republicans. In Congress, the donations are well-targeted. Take, for example, the House Commerce and Energy Committee, whose imprint on legislation has a direct effect on Koch Industries' core businesses. (Koch's Flint Hill Resources, LLC, according to the report, "has a combined crude oil processing capacity of more than 800,000 barrels of oil per day.") From the report: The Kochs have contributed significantly to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In fact, they are the single-largest oil and gas donor to members of the committee, contributing $279,500 to 22 of the committee¹s 31 Republicans and $32,000 to five Democrats. Tim Phillips, the head of Americans for Prosperity, even co-authored an op-ed with chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), detailing how Congress could stop the EPA from ensuring a cleaner environment. At the state level, the Koch influence is every bit as corrosive as it is at the national level, Carrk tells us. The Koch network donated $1.2 million to help elect conservative Republican governors last year, including Wisconsin¹s Scott Walker and Ohio¹s John Kasich, both of whom are trying to take away collective bargaining rights. During the fight in Wisconsin, Americans for Prosperity ran an ad and orchestrated protests to support Gov. Walker¹s union busting and orchestrated pro-Walker demonstrations. Americans for Prosperity also started a Web site urging people to ³Stand with Governor Kasich.² And that's not even counting the money the brothers donate to candidates for state legislatures, or to support ballot measures designed to enrich them and their heirs. Carrk reports: Data from the National Institute for Money in State Politics show that from 2003 to 2010, the Koch brothers, as well as their companies, employees, and affiliates, have donated $5.2 million to state candidates and ballot measures in 34 states. $3.4 million of those donations, or 65 percent, went to Republican candidates. Another $1 million, or 20 percent, went to one ballot initiative: the effort to overturn California¹s clean energy law, AB 32. Heck, as AlterNet reported, Americans for Prosperity was celebrating Scott Walker, the union-busting governor of Wisconsin, back when he was a mere county commissioner. In 2008, Walker served as the emcee for a ceremony by the Wisconsin chapter of the AFP Foundation -- at which the organization's "Defender of the American Dream" award was conferred upon Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who now chairs the House Budget Committee. Ryan this week proposed a budget plan for 2012 that would privatize Medicare and slash Medicaid. Much, Much More In addition to a narrative on the duo's activities in the political sphere, The Koch Brothers: What You Need to Know About the Financiers of the Radical Right serves up a bevy of lists and graphics that offer a range of facts and figures in an easy-to-grok form. There's a list of all the freshman congressional representatives who have received Koch campaign dollars, and the dollar amounts they received. Those 85 Koch-funded think tanks are listed, with total-donations-per-tank noted next to their names. A map of the U.S. shows the states in which Koch Industries has facilities (nearly all 50). Another highlights the 32 states in which Americans for Prosperity has a state chapter. There's also a comprehensive listing of all the Koch Industries subsidiaries and what they make or sell, as well as a detailed section on the pollution and environmental infractions for which the conglomerate is responsible. If you're one of those people who like to be scared out of your wits, you'll find the CAP Action report better than Wes Craven's latest offering. Just consider this: The significant victories the billionaire Koch brothers chalked up for their ideological and business interests in the 2010 elections is only a precursor of what is to come. The Koch brothers have already pledged to raise $88 million through their considerable network for policy and political projects for the 2012 election cycle. The report can be downloaded here (PDF), for free. <http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2011/04/pdf/koch_brothers.pdf> Adele M. Stan is AlterNet's Washington bureau chief. Follow her on Twitter: © 2011 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved. View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/150520/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> This is distibuted for nonprofit research and educational purposes only. 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