Koch Brothers Exposed!

This week on #OffTheGrid it's all about the Koch brothers. Charles and David Koch are two of the wealthiest guys on the planet. Have you ever wondered how they made their money and why their names keep coming up in every election cycle?

Jesse wants to know of any examples about how deep their dark money pockets run that the ATS community can share with him.



You can also check out Jesse's investigation of the Koch brothers on Ora.tv

a reply to: OFFTHEGRID

SaturnFX posted a great vid the other day...



Quite related to your topic.

Hey Jesse,

This was one of my posts regarding the Koch Brothers on a Cliven Bundy thread:

originally posted by: Rosinitiate
Ah Curiouser and curiouser, me thinks maybe this has been political theater and serious political infighting over the future of energy in the US. Perhaps this is MUCH bigger than we have been thinking.

So conservatives are fighting to rollback State legislation on Solar Energy and big surprise Koch brothers got their dirty mitts in it. The world is but a stage....

The Koch brothers and large utilities have allied to reverse state policies that favor renewable energy. Environmentalists are pushing back, but the fight is spreading and intensifying.

The institute has warned power companies that profits could erode catastrophically if current policies and market trends continue. If electricity companies delay in taking political action, the group warned in a report, "it may be too late to repair the utility business model."

LA Times

So now it seems we have a pickle. Support the Koch brothers attack on the solar industry via their attack on Harry Reid...(tempting) or see it for what it is and still arrest Harry but still fight back on solar energy? WHAHAHAHA

www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: OFFTHEGRID

Get ready for some MUCH needed Progressive LOVE Jesse!

I think we all know what powers the cogs in our current form of government....MONEY!!

Until our elected officials decide the Constitution should be behind their decisions, we can continue to watch the likes of the Koch brothers and George Soros rule the country by buying up every elected puppet in our government! Strings our pretty cheap when it comes to ruling the world!

The Koch's fund a lot of public television in the US, I wonder what kind of influence they have on public broadcasting?
Must learn more about these guys.

a reply to: OFFTHEGRID With the Koch brothers having a ton of money I am sure it falls on both sides of the street . One claim that the AGW crowed will claim is that they heavily fund the skeptic side of the debate .If that were true why would Peter Glick a pro-AGW need to present a fraudulent document that it would seem he himself manufactured .Having lots of money doesn't make you evil , but presenting a fraudulent document is very questionable .Who knows maybe they were hedging their bets and buying some of man-bear-pigs (Al Gore ) carbon stocks ... ETA “Today marks the one-year anniversary of ‘Fakegate,’ the day Pacific Institute President Peter Gleick sent to liberal activists and reporters documents he stole from The Heartland Institute and claimed to have obtained from a ‘Heartland insider’ and later from an ‘anonymous source.’ The documents included Heartland’s annual budget, fundraising plan, and other confidential documents. Media outlets in the U.S. and around the world reported on the ‘leak’ of ‘secret plans’ by an anonymous ‘insider’ at the world’s most prominent think tank promoting skepticism about man-made global warming.

“Gleick eventually confessed to being the ‘insider’ and explained that he had stolen the identity of another person – a member of Heartland’s board of directors, it soon became known – in order to steal the confidential documents. There was no ‘leak.’ Gleick also admitted to lying about the nature of one document he originally claimed had come from Heartland, a ‘strategy memo’ that purported to describe Heartland’s plans to address climate change in the coming year. That document was quickly shown to be a fake, written to misrepresent and defame The Heartland Institute. Gleick denied he was the author of the fake memo. wattsupwiththat.com...

a reply to: seeker1963
George Soros has no where near the influence that the Koch brothers have on our politics. Soros only funds left wing politicians while the Koch brothers will give money to any politician whether they are left or right that will vote what they want into law. They are responsible for the oil speculation which helps to drive gas prices up. They fund the Heritage foundation the think tank that came up with the ACA that everyone just loves. And they also took over the tea party that Ron Paul started and changed it from a true grass roots organization to one that pushes their political agenda.

I am sure I speak for everyone on ats when I say nobody wants to see those old shriveled up Kochs exposed.
plus they aint so bad. Now soros. Theres a lower life form.

originally posted by: buster2010
a reply to: seeker1963
George Soros has no where near the influence that the Koch brothers have on our politics. Soros only funds left wing politicians while the Koch brothers will give money to any politician whether they are left or right that will vote what they want into law. They are responsible for the oil speculation which helps to drive gas prices up. They fund the Heritage foundation the think tank that came up with the ACA that everyone just loves. And they also took over the tea party that Ron Paul started and changed it from a true grass roots organization to one that pushes their political agenda.

Soros is just as bad with his manipulation of the media thru his funding the likes of Mediamatters etc etc..... Soros was very instrumental in genocide against his own people in his thirst for making money!

I am not making excuses for ANY OF THEM!!! They our all blood thirsty vampires whom only wish is to gain more wealth and power!

Blame our politicians whom are so readily available to hold out their hands and bow down in service to the likes of those we are discussing!

If politicians weren't corrupt in the first place, why are we even having this discussion?

Probably a tad biased, but I like Greenwald and will view this doc for some info. I am trying to apply objectivity and scan the interwebs for positive aspects of these guys but all I see is hate and attack. So at this point, I am not in favor of these bros and their reach and power. They have targeted solar industry and funded(quite efficiently/effectively) anti-climate change efforts.

ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLATIONS & POLLUTION
In 2000, the Clinton administration leveled a 97-count indictment against Koch Industries for covering up the discharge of 91 tons of benzene, a carcinogen, from its refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas. The company was liable for $350 million in fines; 4 Koch employees faced up to 35 years in prison. “The Koch Petroleum Group eventually pleaded guilty to one criminal charge of covering up environmental violations, including the falsification of documents, and paid a twenty-million-dollar fine” (Jane Mayer, “Covert Operations”, The New Yorker, August 30, 2010).
The federal government sued Koch in 1995 over a reported 300 oil spills at pipelines owned by the company, which dumped an estimated 3 million gallons of oil into lakes and streams in 6 states. In 2000, Koch settled the case and agreed to pay $30 million in civil penalties.
“In 1999, a jury found Koch Industries guilty of negligence and malice in the deaths of two Texas teen-agers in an explosion that resulted from a leaky underground butane pipeline” (Mayer). See the National Transportation Safety Board’s report on the accident.
A jury found Koch Industries guilty in 1999 of stealing millions of gallons of oil from public and Indian lands through fraudulent mismeasuring. This concluded a 20-year long legal battle between Charles and David Koch and their estranged brother, Bill Koch, who revealed the scheme and spearheaded the lawsuit. See the 60 Minutes story about the case.
The University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute released a study this year that named Koch Industries one of the top ten air polluters in the United States.

Sounds sneaky to me and greedy.

POLITICAL INFLUENCE
“Public tax records show that between 1998 and 2008 the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation spent more than forty-eight million dollars” on politics. “The Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, which is controlled by Charles Koch and his wife, along with two company employees and an accountant, spent more than twenty-eight million. The David H. Koch Charitable Foundation spent more than a hundred and twenty million” (Mayer).
“Koch Industries spent a total of $37.9 on oil and gas lobbying from January 2006 to December 2009” (Greenpeace). During the same period, that figure was exceeded only by ExxonMobil and Chevron.
“From the beginning of the 2006 election cycle, Koch’s PAC spent more on contributions to federal candidates and committees than any other oil-and-gas sector based PAC. For that period, Koch Industries and its executives spent $3.55 million…” (Greenpeace).
In 1997, the Senate “began looking into what a minority report called ‘an audacious plan to pour millions of dollars in contributions into Republican campaigns nationwide without disclosing the amount or source,’ in order to evade campaign-finance laws” (Mayer).
In 2004, non-partisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) accused Citizens for a Sound Economy, an organization founded by David Koch in 1984 and financed by his foundation, of illegally working to get Ralph Nader on Oregon presidential ballot (Bob Williams and Kevin Bogardus, “Koch’s Low Profile Belies Political Power”, July 15, 2004).
“Americans for Prosperity… has announced that it will spend an additional forty-five million dollars before the midterm elections, in November. Although the group is legally prohibited from directly endorsing candidates, it nonetheless plans to target some fifty House races and half a dozen Senate races, staging rallies, organizing door-to-door canvassing, and running ads aimed at ‘educating voters about where candidates stand’” (Mayer).

www.oilwatchdog.org...
Strike 2…or 3?

They made part of their fortune selling petrochemicals to IRAN
Where are all the IRAN haters on this? I guess it is good to have a thread pointing out all the questionable acts of these guys. In fairness, one could be made about Soros, but upon superficial researching, by comparison Soros seems more altruistic imo, in favor of social issues that benefit more people, whereas I feel Koch bros support industries and divisiveness over well being of people.

a reply to: speculativeoptimist

They all have blood on their hands in their quest for wealth and power!

Can those of us rational enough to not believe in the Church of the Right OR Left at least get that much of this insane argument???

Hell, a firing squad doing it's job eliminating ALL of them including the politicians whom sold out their constituents might actually make me sleep better at night and actually make me want to wake up in the morning.......

The idea that the Koch's are MORE EVIL than Soros is one of the reasons the two party system is a total farce and failure! We see it every election cycle!

"Well, I voted for the lesser of two evils!"!!!!!!

Yet we wonder why we are doomed?

Evil is EVIL. There is nothing good out of supporting anyone or anything that is bad!

a reply to: seeker1963

I hear ya man, but this thread is for pointing out the Koch bros issues. I would like to see a Soros one too in fairness.

The idea that the Koch's are MORE EVIL than Soros is one of the reasons the two party system is a total farce and failure! We see it every election cycle!

That can be flipped(Soros with Koch) to mean the same no?
I think it is the attacking, dividing and distorting of truth and putting industry before people that does the most damage, but that is just my opinion.

ETA" Indeed, evil is evil but my gut tells me Koch are worse, maybe that's the liberal side of me talking. haha

Capitalism is a dirty word..,, Now its about eliminating the competition though legislation,,manipulating the markets,, and governments picking the winners and losers....

originally posted by: speculativeoptimist
a reply to: seeker1963

I hear ya man, but this thread is for pointing out the Koch bros issues. I would like to see a Soros one too in fairness.

The idea that the Koch's are MORE EVIL than Soros is one of the reasons the two party system is a total farce and failure! We see it every election cycle!

That can be flipped(Soros with Koch) to mean the same no?
I think it is the attacking, dividing and distorting of truth and putting industry before people that does the most damage, but that is just my opinion.

ETA" Indeed, evil is evil but my gut tells me Koch are worse, maybe that's the liberal side of me talking. haha

Now I see you get it!

It is about dividing and conquering!

I was just trying to show the hypocrisy by those whom hate those whom are religious(yea, I know I didn't bring it up directly) but yet some of those same people worship at the alter of a political party!

I hate the Koch's AND I hate Soros! But can I blame them? Nope! If it wasn't for elected officials whoring themselves out to the wealthy, do you really think this topic would even merit a discussion?

originally posted by: Elton
a reply to: OFFTHEGRID

SaturnFX posted a great vid the other day...

Quite related to your topic.

So many fails in this video, consensus is not science, repeatable and reproducible empirical data is science. The video doesn't seem to have any facts, just opinions. Here is an opinion; These Koch guys look like nice guys, I just can't understand why everyone is beating up on them. Here is a fact;

Cheers - Dave

Jeez Jesse you're opening a can of worms here!

Most ATS members completely subscribe to Koch propaganda because it appeals to their Libertarian ideals, even though the big government BS that comes from these corporate cronies is so friggin transparent to anyone who actually takes the political blinders off every once in a while.

If you want to do that then I completely welcome it - but just know that you are going to set off a crap-storm of identity crisis freak outs around here.


So where do we even start? Considering the hottest topic on ATS at the moment is some poll on Global Warming and most of the comments (as usual) are about what a big scam it is, how about all the money the Kochs have invested in pushing this very view on the public:
Koch Industries: Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine


This is completely in line with their overall agenda, which is profit above all else, no matter the health & safety risks to the environment and general public:
Toxic Koch: Keeping Americans at Risk of a Poison Gas Disaster


Which also ties into their war on clean energy:
Koch Brothers And ALEC Expand Fight On Clean Energy Users

Or see this ATS thread:
Koch-Fueled Americans For Prosperity Plans Protest Against ‘Extremist’ Kids Flying Kites


But I'm sure they're just out to fight the big nanny state our behalf, and not because it has anything to do with stuff like this:
KOCH INDUSTRIES TO PAY RECORD FINE FOR OIL SPILLS IN SIX STATES


...
Anyway, sorry for the cynicism, but I've been trying to draw ATS' attention to these douchebags for years, only to meet other conspiracy theorists who mindlessly regurgitate their talking points like some Libertarian creed, or flat out celebrate these shills as if they're true American heroes or something.

And if all else fails, then there's the "Hey look over there - it's George Soros!!" excuse.



But I give you props for bringing it up I will check out your video.


Another very excellent Koch documentary here:

a reply to: OFFTHEGRID
I say leave them alone...

Their companies employ 62,000 Americans supplying goods and services we need to maintain living standards we love...and most appreciate instead of Chinese-manufactured "quality" that encroach into stores and businesses if they weren't around.

Same deal with Northrop Grumman...they employ 58,000 Americans...the best remaing companies in america keeping strong.

originally posted by: Elton
a reply to: OFFTHEGRID

SaturnFX posted a great vid the other day...

Quite related to your topic.

I should've probably mentioned before that ^this^ video is a 3 min clip from the full 1 hour documentary I posted above. I recommend watching the whole thing, it's well worth it.


Anyway I see the drones have started to file in. Good luck Jesse lol

Great post, thanks for the info! a reply to: speculativeoptimist

We always want to remind people to 'stay vigilant' no matter the topic. Thanks so much for sharing your perspective! reply to: mc_squared