Koch Brother Meeting spawns confidential list of republican donors - Polidicks

So basically(and thankfully) some idiot left a list somewhere in a hotel and it provides the visitors of a twice-a-year meeting organized by the Koch brotheres where they promote republican ploitics, usually this stuff is highly confidential but now the cat's aout of the bag: [url]http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/02/koch-brothers-palm-springs-donor-list[/url] [quote]The more than 40 donors courted by the Kochs include hedge fund and private-equity billionaires, real estate tycoons, and executives of top corporations, including Jockey International and TRT Holdings, owner of Omni Hotels and Gold's Gym. A number of them have never been identified as members of the Koch donor network, including Schnatter, one of the more prominent names on the list. An outspoken opponent of the Affordable Care Act, he is a longtime Republican donor who hosted a fundraiser for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. The document notes that the pizza mogul was scheduled to meet with Ryan Stowers, the director of higher education at the Charles G. Koch Foundation. [/quote] [quote]The meeting list illustrates the interwoven nature of the Koch brothers' corporate, political, and philanthropic activities. [/quote] [quote][B]At least half of the one-on-one sessions involved representatives of Americans for Prosperity[/B], the political advocacy group founded by the Koch brothers and their top political adviser and strategist, Richard Fink, a Koch Industries executive vice president and board member. The AFP officials called to duty for these discussions included AFP's president Tim Phillips, chief operating officer Luke Hilgemann, vice president for state operations Teresa Oelke, and vice president for development Chris Fink (Richard Fink's son). The state directors for AFP's Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida chapters were also slated for tête-à-têtes during the Koch summit. (AFP spokesman Levi Russell declined to comment on the meeting document.) [B]In the past, Koch Industries has distanced itself from AFP and its political activities.[/B][/quote] I suggest reading the article if you are planning to vote with your wallet.

The funny thing is that everyone knew they were there, but they didn't have the real proof until now.

These are the same guys who actively promote Climate Change Denial by the way I misspelled politics up there but can't edit it. Dang.

Now we know who to eat first when the revolution comes.

I find myself hoping there'll be a huge public backlash over stuff like this, but knowing people will just ignore it anyway.

The Koch brothers practically control elections in smaller ridings with the amount of cash they throw around

[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;43849979]Now we know who to eat first when the revolution comes.[/QUOTE] Viva la cannibalution!

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;43849992]The Koch brothers practically control elections in smaller ridings with the amount of cash they throw around[/QUOTE] If we just get the focus on how, when pronounced properly, their name kind of sounds like cock, we might just get some attention.

Even if I were an extremely wealthy person with conservative interests I probably wouldn't donate money to any of these foundations considering how much money was poured into the 2012 election. If I'm going piss away millions in an attempt to buy elections, it better damn well work

[QUOTE=Squidman;43850075]Even if I were an extremely wealthy person with conservative interests I probably wouldn't donate money to any of these foundations considering how much money was poured into the 2012 election which ended in failure.[/QUOTE] it didn't really fail they still got a candidate elected Obama's no less bought off than any republican. Just look at Goldman Sachs donations to his campaign. Super PAC's and lobbies will buy any politician.

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;43850091]it didn't really fail they still got a candidate elected Obama's no less bought off than any republican. Just look at Goldman Sachs donations to his campaign. Super PAC's and lobbies will buy any politician.[/QUOTE] It was a failure for conservative super PACs, most notably the Heritage Foundation. I meant that I wouldn't donate to conservative super PACs specifically.

[QUOTE=archangel125;43849986]I find myself hoping there'll be a huge public backlash over stuff like this, but knowing people will just ignore it anyway.[/QUOTE] And what, exactly, is public attention going to accomplish? The public is powerless to change anything and the government is too bought off to do much more than a token slap-on-the-wrist. The only companies on there that operate directly towards the public that I recognize are TFT Holdings and Papa John's(And only the latter in my area, I've never actually seen a Gold's Gym or an Omni Hotel), so it's not like we can reliably vote with our wallet.

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;43850091]it didn't really fail they still got a candidate elected Obama's no less bought off than any republican. Just look at Goldman Sachs donations to his campaign. Super PAC's and lobbies will buy any politician.[/QUOTE] don't forget acorn, they got him into office then he immediately disassembled them when they started demanding their favors its totally insane how election cash has exploded in the last 10-15 years, they want no less than the ability to directly donate billions of dollars straight to their chosen pupi....politician

[QUOTE=TestECull;43854702]And what, exactly, is public attention going to accomplish? The public is powerless to change anything and the government is too bought off to do much more than a token slap-on-the-wrist. The only companies on there that operate directly towards the public that I recognize are TFT Holdings and Papa John's(And only the latter in my area, I've never actually seen a Gold's Gym or an Omni Hotel), so it's not like we can reliably vote with our wallet.[/QUOTE] Omni Hotel is Anthrocon's hotel of choice, IIRC. The furries won't be happy.

So it went from something that everybody knows about and knew has happened constantly to something that everybody knows about and knew happened constantly, with a timetable.

[QUOTE=Reds;43854766]So it went from something that everybody knows about and knew has happened constantly to something that everybody knows about and knew happened constantly, with a timetable.[/QUOTE] its just now everybody knows who is funding to keep the 99% in the mud

One of the people in there is actually involved in a university I went to. He's one of the donors for a nanotech lab there- I know that the groups the Koch's astroturf use social issues as smokescreen to detract from their economic proposals that only benefit a small part of the population so that'd run for the head of a corporation, but still I'm not sure how anyone with a science education can associate with a group of individuals who've promoted attacks on science research and education in good conscience.