Koch brothers now at heart of GOP power

[spanone]

Reporting from Washington — The billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch no longer sit outside Washington's political establishment, isolated by their uncompromising conservatism. Instead, they are now at the center of Republican power, a change most evident in the new makeup of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Wichita-based Koch Industries and its employees formed the largest single oil and gas donor to members of the panel, ahead of giants like Exxon Mobil, contributing $279,500 to 22 of the committee's 31 Republicans, and $32,000 to five Democrats.

Nine of the 12 new Republicans on the panel signed a pledge distributed by a Koch-founded advocacy group — Americans for Prosperity — to oppose the Obama administration's proposal to regulate greenhouse gases. Of the six GOP freshman lawmakers on the panel, five benefited from the group's separate advertising and grass-roots activity during the 2010 campaign.

Claiming an electoral mandate, Republicans on the committee have launched an agenda of the sort long backed by the Koch brothers. A top early goal: restricting the reach of the Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the Kochs' core energy businesses.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-koch-brothers-20110206,0,7986328,print.story

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. First they bought an election, now they are buying the govt they want

Wake up America.

[EV_Ares]

2. There are dangerous things & ideas that come out of Kansas, these guys,

that church, their former attorney general who spent his time going after abortion doctors and you have that other political figure that basically wrote the immigration law that New Mexico is using and goes around fighting that stuff.

I agree; what the hell is the matter with Kansas?

[atreides1]

3. Kansas

The new home of the Flat Earth Society!!!

[Leithan]

5. Well, it IS very flat

:evilgrin:

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Actually no, it's not.

The Flint HIlls stretch from north to south in central and eastern Kansas. And they are absolutely gorgeous.

[EV_Ares]

8. I think I would drive around it to get to Colorado.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. The Republicans run the state - that's what's the matter with Kansas

But (contrary to popular belief) Kansans are NOT stupid. They voted the fundies off the state school board and brought evolution back within a year of that controversy. Many high profile moderate Republicans have left the party and are now active Kansas Democrats. The far right whackos are losing fans quite rapidly.

[spanone]

6. best government money can buy

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. And there are more where they come from

The Anshutz family - also from Kansas - is just as evil and nearly as wealthy as the Kochs.

[AndyTiedye]

4. Fruits of the "Citizens United" Ruling

How much do you think they will spend to buy the 2012 elections?

[Volaris]

7. half of the money they will make between 2010 and 2012 because

doubling your money is ALWAYS a good return on investment.....

[Skidmore]

10. So the BFEE has been defeated???

[Initech]

17. No - we've only begun to expose the people behind the BFEE.

[fascisthunter]

13. the More Exposure for the Koch Brothers the Better

but aren't they only one of a bunch of billionaire families taking over our government?

[Bosso 63]

14. The Wichita lying men.

With apologies to Glen Campbell.

[bobthedrummer]

15. "The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a

point where it becomes stronger than their democratic State itself. That, in its essence is Fascism-ownership of a government by an individual, by group or by any controlling private power."
Franklin Delano Roosevelt

[marybee]

16. corporations are people, what a bunch of bs

na

[Hutzpa]

18. The perfect storm n/t