Monthly Archives: October 2010

The Guardian: The Tea Party movement: deluded and inspired by billionaires

By funding numerous rightwing organisations, the mega-rich Koch brothers have duped millions into supporting big business

October 25, 2010: The Tea Party movement is remarkable in two respects. It is one of the biggest exercises in false consciousness the world has seen – and the biggest Astroturf operation in history. These accomplishments are closely related.

AlterNet: Koch Footprints Lead to Political Powder Keg: Exposing the Far Right’s Secret Slush Fund to Keep Fear Alive

A secretive libertarian nonprofit bankrolled a fear-mongering effort to get McCain into the White House. Until now, where the money came from has been a hotly debated mystery.

October 27, 2010: A secretive libertarian nonprofit with ties to Charles Koch bankrolled what was widely perceived to be a fear mongering effort to throw the Presidential election to Senator John McCain in 2008. Until now, where the money came from has been a hotly debated mystery.

LA Times: California voters likely to keep global warming law, toss two-thirds budget passage

October 25, 2010: Reporting from Sacramento — Despite the struggling economy, most California voters oppose suspending the state's landmark global warming law, which would place strict new environmental regulations on business, a new Los Angeles Times/ USC poll shows.

Proposition 23, which would put the new emissions standards on hold, is trailing 48% to 32% among likely voters, according to the survey.

Tea Party Inc.: The Big Money and Powerful Elites Behind the Right Wing’s Latest Uprising

The Tea Parties are billed as a people's movement. But they wouldn't exist without the help of deep-pocketed billionaires.

October 24, 2010- This article was reported in collaboration with The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute.

Win or lose, the Tea Party movement will come away from next week's elections triumphant, having injected into the Republican Party a group of candidates pledged to the dismantling of government and wed to the religious right. Of the movement's dozen favored candidates for U.S. Senate, all are anti-abortion, and five oppose it even in cases of rape and incest. Among their number are Colorado's Ken Buck, who has compared homosexuality to alcoholism, and Nevada's Sharron Angle, who wants to demolish both the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency. Major GOP players, from political strategist Karl Rove to former Bush speechwriter David Frum, have fretted publicly over Tea Party extremism, with Frum complaining of the movement's "paranoid delusions."

Virginia’s Koch Royalty

By David Swanson

October 22, 2010: While most of us Virginians don't feel we have a tight grip of control over our national government, Virginia's Koch Royalty have a very different perspective. While many states are completely unrepresented at the Koch Brothers' gatherings that determine the agenda for moneyed interests in our politics each year, Virginia has a major presence, more than any other state, and that's not counting the sizeable contingent from across the Potomac in Washington, D.C. Here's the full list.

Two dozen Virginians are members of the House of Lords. Here's the Virginia list in more detail, starting with those near Washington who tend to be professional rightwing advocates, and working our way out to the further reaches of the state where the royalty tend to be people who are just filthy rich.

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