PHOTOS, PAGE 1

       Editor and prime reporter is Doug Terry, a veteran television and radio reporter in   Washington, DC, (details below)

A conspirarcy to thwart democracy right out in the open: the Koch brothers

The United States now has an on going, upward blooming right wing plan to destroy the value of the votes of ordinary Americans across the nation. It is being spearheaded by the Koch brothers (pronounced coke). There are many differences between what is being done now and efforts that have been made in the past and the details are contained in the linked article below.

People with great wealth have always sought to influence, even take over, government for their own ends. This was one force behind the effort to break up huge companies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a movement that reached its zeinth with the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt. Further, people with a lot of money will most likely always have more influence, much more influence in fact, that ordinary voters. The political system runs on money and if you’ve got it to spare, you are going to use it.

I would argue that this is not always a bad thing. If business corporations were forced to operate in a completely hostile situation, there seems little doubt that our economy would not prosper. It is, yes, possible to tie business up with rules and regulations that a growing, vital business becomes difficult or impossible.

We are in no danger of that at the present. Instead, the opposite is true and threatening to grow more important every day: giant corporations now act as though laws were a minor inconvenience and their country of residence, the US, is but a stopping point to bigger earnings elsewhere. Business is not merely hostile toward government, many actively seek to bring down its power and influence.

We now have a predatory form of capitalism that wishes to dismantle the works of democracy and thwart the will of the people. Our democracy is under direct siege by the wealthy, the most notable of whom are the Koch brothers. Here is a clip from a foundational article in the New Yorker by Jane Meyer:

     “With his brother Charles, who is seventy-four, David Koch owns virtually all of Koch Industries, a conglomerate, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, whose annual revenues are estimated to be a hundred billion dollars. The company has grown spectacularly since their father, Fred, died, in 1967, and the brothers took charge. The Kochs operate oil refineries in Alaska, Texas, and Minnesota, and control some four thousand miles of pipeline. Koch Industries owns Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups, Georgia-Pacific lumber, Stainmaster carpet, and Lycra, among other products. Forbes ranks it as the second-largest private company in the country, after Cargill, and its consistent profitability has made David and Charles Koch. who, years ago, bought out two other brothers, among the richest men in America. Their combined fortune of thirty-five billion dollars is exceeded only by those of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.”

Read more

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer#ixzz1F 4zFDKgE

As is common in our country these days, efforts of the Koch brothers are being cheered by one side (the right), while loathed by the other. This false division of left and right is unfortunate, especially where this issue is concerned. The Koch brothers are using aggressive and perhaps illegal means to counteract the will of voters. All sides of the political spectrum have an interest in democracy and seeing it continue to be successful. After all, the bedrock of “conservative” thought in America is supposed to be a belief in democracy and the constitution.

The Koch brothers believe they can defeat democracy by countering what the voters decide they want. While they might reach short term success, democracy is long, life is short. They might win temporary victories, but over the longer term their methods are likely to defeat their objectives.

Doug Terry, 2.26.11

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