Incredibly the the Koch Brothers through their spokesman are accusing Obama and his allies of trying to intimidate the two 800-pound gorillas of political propaganda into silence.
Koch fights back: Obama 'trying to intimidate'
By MIKE ALLEN | 2/10/12 5:54 PM EST
Responding more aggressively than in the past, Koch Industries’ political arm on Friday accused President Barack Obama and his allies of “trying to intimidate into silence those who may disagree with them.”
The statement came in response to comments this week by the Obama campaign and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi that cited Koch political activities among the explanations for Obama’s relaxation of his objection to super PACs.
Philip Ellender, president and COO of Government and Public Affairs for Koch Companies Public Sector LLC said in the statement: “Apparently, the President and his allies do not want to lose that perceived fundraising advantage during the 2012 Presidential campaign, and are trying to intimidate into silence those who may disagree with them and who may decide to support other candidates."
As the principal funders of a whole galaxy of 57 Right Wing political action groups including some of the big onesAmericans for Prosperity, which spent $45 million during the 2010 election, the Koch Brothers have become the puppet masters for a large segment of the Far Right's AstroTurf and think tanks. That and the Koch Brothers recent pledge give $60 million to defeat Obama makes the charge of intimidation by Obama and his political allies so ridicules that it goes beyond irony.
Press: The anti-Obama hate machine
By Bill Press/Syndicated columnist
They’d been holding semi-annual gatherings of corporate barons since 2003, sprinkled with right-wing journalists, politicians, and Supreme Court justices. Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas sat in. So did Jim DeMint, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, Chris Christie and Rick Perry. Conservative pundits Charles Krauthammer, Michael Barone and Glenn Beck shed any pretense of objectivity to attend and wow the crowd of executives representing many of America’s biggest corporations: the Bechtel Group, the Fluor Corporation, Georgia-Pacific, Home Depot, Wells Fargo, the Blackstone Group, Circuit City, and Laredo Petroleum, among others.
Nor was this, as Charles Koch described it, just an innocent gathering of “some of America’s greatest philanthropists and job creators.” No, this was a meeting to line up corporate opposition to President Obama’s re-election — and a very successful one. Corporations attending the Rancho Mirage summit pledged $49 million for the 2012 anti-Obama campaign. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what the Koch brothers have raised and pumped into politics over the last 20 years.
As I learned in researching my book, “The Obama Hate Machine,” Charles and David Koch, with a combined wealth of $50 billion, are two of the richest men in the country.
Together, they’re probably the nation’s biggest political donors. Nobody else — not George Soros, not Bill Gates, not even Sheldon Adelson — comes close. And their influence is everywhere. They’re major funders of two conservative think tanks, the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute. They’ve created pseudo-scientific research centers on many college campuses, like the Mercatus Center of George Mason University. They’re the sugar daddies behind two powerful political organizations, FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity — which is currently running anti-Obama TV ads in 10 states. They were the money bags behind the tea party. They put up the funds to oppose new mining safety regulations in West Virginia, overturn tough mileage standards in California, and elect Scott Walker in Wisconsin. And, by my count, they’re principal sources of funding for at least 57 conservative political action groups.
Rep. Mike Pompeo has come to the Koch Brothers defense. Stop harassing the Koch brothers
Koch Brothers and Allies Pledge $100 Million to Defeat Obama
The Desert Sun reported,
“Conference organizers and their guests successfully slipped in and out of the Coachella Valley without being detected, by buying out nearly all of the 500-plus rooms at the Renaissance Esmeralda resort in Indian Wells. The resort closed its restaurants, locked down the grounds with private security guards and sent many workers home.”
The Koch brothers are some of the Republicans most ardent supporters. The fact that they pledged $60 million dollars themselves makes for a preview of how crazy this election cycle is going to be.
The Koch brothers, in addition to the millions they spend on elections have also given millions to discredit man made global warming theory. They are often cited in Democratic fundraising literature as ”secretive oil billionaires attacking President Obama with ads fact checkers say are not tethered to the facts.”
And the Koch Brothers are a big force behind the Republican efforts in the House to force the Keystone XL project on the country. From Truth-Out:
What the Koch Brothers Say Online but Won’t Say Under Oath?
Friday 10 February 2012
by: Robert Greenwald, Brave New Foundation
We took the Kochs’ video retreat and added a few facts from the historical record.
Maybe the Koch brothers prefer to let their allies in Congress speak for them? House Energy and Commerce Committee chair Rep. Ed Whitfield got $15,000 in donations from Koch Industries. Is he doing the Koch brothers bidding?
Whitfield is the tip of the iceberg. The Koch brothers and their employees were the single largest oil and gas donors to the committee with jurisdiction over the Keystone XL pipeline. They’ve contributed $279,500 to 22 of the 31 Republicans and $32,000 to five Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, according to the Los Angeles Times . It makes sense then that Whitfield and his cohorts would shy away from biting the hand that feeds them.
Maybe the Koch spokesman squealing so loudly about big bad Obama beating up on the poor Koch Brothers could be evidence that the Boycott Koch movement is starting to hurt the Koch Brothers revenue stream.
Online Campaign Urges Boycott of Koch Brothers Products
Products produced by Koch companies and targeted in the boycott include:
--Industry/Georgia-Pacific Products:
--Angel Soft toilet paper
--Brawny paper towels
--Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups
--Mardi Gras napkins and towels
--Quilted Northern toilet paper
--Soft 'n Gentle toilet paper
--Sparkle napkins
--Vanity Fair napkins
--Zee napkins