But it’s
what we have on David and
Charles Koch, the oil-baron billionaires who have contributed millions to
various causes and groups that in turn have subverted our political process.
That was
the nice way of saying it.
The real
way?
The Koch
brothers have bought the government, and are fucking the environment and us.
You could
look at my state of Wisconsin, for example, and the enormous amount of money
that the Koch brothers have spent. How much? Well, Tim
Phillips, the president of Americans for
Prosperity, which the Koch brothers founded and (presumably) still fund, said
that the group had contributed 10 million dollars “in 2011 and 2012 on TV ads,
direct mail, staff and other expenses to support reforms made by Walker and the
Legislature.”
Or look at
the recall
election in Wisconsin: Scott Walker
raised 30 million to retain his seat; his opponent raised a bit under 4
million. Or so said
Debbie
Wasserman, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman, three days after
Walker, a Republican, beat Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett.
But was it
true? A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
article
says no—the Koch brothers gave no money to Walker directly. So they’re in the
clear, right?
Who knows?
Because Americans for Prosperity “as a tax-exempt ‘social welfare’
organization, AFP does not have to disclose its donors, according
to the Center
for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C. that tracks money
in politics on the national level.”
The article
goes on to say that Americans for Prosperity has received funds from other
sources than the Koch brothers, but is that the point? Who cares what rich,
libertarian, fat cat puts up the money? The effect has been the same
everywhere.
And that
is, you say?
Well, first
you have to control the dialogue—so you create a playbook. And in Wisconsin, it
was all about creating jobs. Excellent—and what was the obstacle to job
creation? You guessed it—that stifling state government, with those pesky
regulations on pollution, or worker safety, or collective bargaining, or health
care or whatever. You just had to get enough people to say the words, “stifling
government,” and those good Wisconsin dairy farmers got it into their heads—Scott
Walker was going to go right down there to Madison and put that crazy
legislature in shape.
Well, he
certainly did. You know how that worked out—the first state in the union to
allow unions for public workers became the first state in the union to ban
them. But was that all? No, because what worked its way into Bill 11, in the
year 2011? Well, we have this,
on the bottom of page 23….
.
1
16.896 Sale or contractual operation of state−owned heating, cooling,
.
2 and
power plants. (1) Notwithstanding ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.705 (1), the
.
3
department may sell any state−owned heating, cooling, and power plant or
may
.
4
contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with
or without
.
5
solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be
in the best
.
6
interest of the state. Notwithstanding ss. 196.49 and 196.80, no approval
or
.
7
certification of the public service commission is necessary for a public
utility to
.
8
purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such
purchase is
.
9
considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria
for certification
.
10 of
a project under s. 196.49 (3) (b).
“With or without solicitation of bids?”
“No
approval or certification of the public service commission?”
OK—let’s
be fair; apparently the bill failed. And I have spent thirty minutes looking
for the same language in the bill that did pass, Senate Bill 10. And
what can I tell you? That, according
to Wikipedia, the
bill, which was the Wisconsin
Budget Repair Bill, and which caused the massive demonstrations in the
state capitol, ‘authorizes the Department of Administration to sell state
heating plants. The proceeds from any sale, net of remaining debt service,
would be deposited in the budget stabilization fund.’[4][8][9]
I should, I
really should wade through the Wisconsin Repair Bill to find out—was that
language above incorporated into the Repair Bill? But then I wonder—I’ve
checked both the Wisconsin State
Journal and the Green Bay Press Gazette—and got a nearly identical quote:
“The bill authorizes the Department of
Administration to sell state heating plants. The proceeds from any sale, net of
remaining debt service, would be deposited in the budget stabilization fund.”
What
accounts for the curiously similar language? Well, the Press Gazette comes out and says it:
information provided from the office of Governor Scott Walker. Who presumably
provided the same information to Wikipedia.
Well,
guess what? Apparently the provision of selling the state heating and cooling
plants didn’t make it through the legislature. And how do I know? Because, according
to the Journal Sentinel, the provision is back!
When
Republican Gov. Scott Walker set off a political firestorm two years ago by
unveiling a bill to impose restrictions on public sector unions, one piece of
his proposal didn't become law.
That proposal
- to sell off state-owned power and heating plants - could get resurrected this
month when the governor announces his proposed 2013-'15 state budget.
Wisconsin
Energy Corp. Chairman Gale Klappa has been signaling to company observers for
months that the proposal would return. Last week, state Sen. Robert Cowles
(R-Allouez) announced during a public hearing, "It's coming back."
Well,
I set out to tell you the news—the power of the Koch brothers is sufficiently
strong to get
PBS to not air a documentary called Citizen Koch. So that means you
have to organize
a group to show the documentary; that’s a trifle harder than putting your
finger on the remote.
It’s
now 2:29—I have spent a good four hours digging around, investigating the
Kochs. And guess what?
I’ve
barely started….
I
invite any reader.
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