He isn’t the fifth Beatle. But Herman Cain just may be the fifth Koch brother. The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO received a rock star ovation at an Americans for Prosperity summit in Washington, D.C., on Friday night when he declared he feels a deep kinship with the Koch brothers.
A radio version of The Colorado Independent’s story Monday on the Koch brothers influence in environmental politics has now been aired on more than 400 radio stations in more than 30 states. The radio story was produced by Kathleen Ryan for Public News Service.
LONGMONT– The right and left protesters and counter-protesters gathered here off a sprawling suburban four-lane road and around a wall-less field house at the Boulder County Fairgrounds agreed on at least two things: that the group hosting the gathering, Americans for Prosperity, is suffering an image problem and that government subsidies to oil and gas companies have got to end.
In the eyes of the American public, Wichita-based Koch Industries is coming to stand more for right-wing string-pulling than for its blockbuster oil and gas business. For years, David and Charles Koch spent millions mostly behind the scenes to advance anti-environmental and anti-labor policies and to attack Democratic candidates for office. In the last two years, however, their expenditures have routinely made news. In the wake of the high-profile standoff in Wisconsin– where Gov Scott Walker was caught explaining to a prank caller impersonating David Koch his plans to break public employee unions– Koch Industries has dedicated time and money to mitigate fallout from the politics of the men in charge. The company’s website includes an op-ed and a video defending Koch politics. Today comes news that the company has been buying up anti-Koch web addresses as part of its new brand-management strategy.
Coloradans blame market speculation and oil companies for high gas prices, and the vast majority say the best way to bring prices down is to crackdown on market manipulation, according to a poll released Tuesday.
Today, Wisconsin is holding the greatest recall election in U.S. history. Six Republican senators are on the block, a result of Governor Scott Walker’s sweeping anti-worker’s rights proposals and the legislative maneuvering he engineered to pass them, which managed to offend Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike. Amid a deep jobless recession, the brief Wisconsin campaigns have reportedly drawn roughly $40 million in spending. The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza describes them as “special elections on steroids,” but adds that it’s hard to draw any conclusions about what the unique showdown means
Tea Party and Koch-funded libertarian organizations took to the Capitol steps Friday in an attempt to call on Colorado legislators and politicians to fight against union rights in Wisconsin and voice their commitment to Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan.
In the wake of Dick Wadhams’ exit from GOP leadership, a shootout is erupting over the soul of the state Republican Party. Wadhams this week said he is done with the political sniping – particularly from Tea Party and 9-12 sectors – and is not seeking a third term as party chair.
DENVER–Members of Colorado Tea Party and 912 groups and the libertarian think tank Independence Institute attended a “grassroots session” and rally sponsored by Americans For Prosperity at the Capitol Wednesday. The activists met with GOP lawmakers for a strategy session in the Old Senate chambers and then gathered on the capitol steps. The rally lured a familiar group of Republican lawmakers, led this time by Yuma state Rep. Cory Gardner, who is also running to represent the Fourth Congressional district in Washington.
PITTSBURGH – Scott and Anna Allegrini founded The Children of Liberty shortly after the inauguration of President Barack Obama. It was a small group that would meet at the local library in Sylvania, Ohio, bringing in guest lecturers to talk about economics and the words of America’s founders. What they learned made them ever more concerned about the state of America.
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