Koch Brothers donated $20M to the ACLU to fight the Patriot Act

The Koch Brothers get bashed by the liberal left but you don't often hear the "other" side of the story. I'll admit, I was surprised to see that they would fund the ACLU's efforts in stopping the Patriot Act but after hearing about their "libertarian tendencies" it does make quite a bit of sense. I've heard of their libertarian-ness in the past but I never knew they were against an interventionist foreign policy.

rare.us...

In 2010, the website facesofphilanthropy.com reported that David Koch’s American Civil Liberties Union donation was specifically “in relation to crushing Parts 15, 16 and 17 of the US Patriot Act.”
These have been some of the Patriot Act’s most controversial provisions.
Radley Balko reported at Reason in February 2011, “Browsing various accounts of the Kochs political spending over the years, that $20 million appears to be substantially more than the Kochs have contributed to all political candidates combined for at least the last 15 years.”
The Koch Brothers are longtime libertarians. Charles Koch helped found the Cato Institute with Ed Crane and Murray Rothbard in 1974. David Koch has taken libertarian positions, like support for gay marriage, marijuana legalization and a non-interventionist foreign policy.

I doubt that the American Communist Lawyers Union ever seriously contemplated taking down provisions of the Patriot Act... the ACLU has a long standing policy of supporting TPTB and their agendas...

reply to post by eLPresidente


Don't expect a lot of responses. Because they are damn emphatic the Koch bros are evil,evil,evil incarnate!

Those same people who constantly vilify Koch's and are so outraged about the Patriot Act seem to gloss over the FISA ACT of the 70s, and had zero problems with the Omnibus Counter Terrorism bill of the 90s.

Or the Care Act which happens to be MORE pages the the Patriot.

Their minds have been made up.

Awesome thread though!.

Politics is always about the perception, and the perception trumps everything else.

reply to post by eLPresidente


But. . .but . . but the Koch Bros. are evil! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL!


I guess we'll see a bunch of progressives supporting the patriot act now!

LOLZ

reply to post by eLPresidente


20 million is a drop in the bucket for these guys.

They claim to be libertarians, maybe they are(that title has various convoluted definitions that's why I always just go with anarchist) but are really just cartel kingpins.

Either way these guys are huge corporate statists that benefit greatly from government cartel systems.

Whatever they are doing is not for whatever reason they claim.

beezzer
reply to post by eLPresidente

 

But. . .but . . but the Koch Bros. are evil! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL!


I guess we'll see a bunch of progressives supporting the patriot act now!

LOLZ

"They" won't know what to do now.

This adds another confusing dilemma.

The weak rebuttals will bring more chickens home.

OrphanApology
reply to post by eLPresidente

 

20 million is a drop in the bucket for these guys.

They claim to be libertarians, maybe they are(that title has various convoluted definitions that's why I always just go with anarchist) but are really just cartel kingpins.

Either way these guys are huge corporate statists that benefit greatly from government cartel systems.

Whatever they are doing is not for whatever reason they claim.

I'm with you. This raises an eyebrow and requires further examination. Perhaps as was brought up, $20,000,000 to these guys is about, what, a month's pay at most? Really not that much. Just enough to grab a headline or two on conservative blogs. And that money will be spent doing what? Lobbying? Pay some rich friends a little extra on the side for their "efforts". That Act isn't going anywhere. I called and wrote my congressmen daily before it was voted on. But everyone was too afraid to be "against us" to see what would happen and now we see the end result.

I think its good. Good on them. The patriot act has been a disaster for America. More plutocrats should be protecting Americans constitution rights.

reply to post by the owlbear


Well the ACLU and ACLU foundation have some very interesting accounting going on. Almost 265 million in investments on both companies financial reports?

www.aclu.org...

ACLU Inc indeed.

Wonder what they are investing in?

reply to post by eLPresidente


....and because of this everybody needs to stop speaking out against them and ignore the many other millions they spent on trying elect rightwing corporate hacks into government? How much money did they spend on Romneys campaign last year alone? hmm? How about their attempts in supporting programs targeted against the poor and those on assistance? Aside from the questionable source (it's a questionable figure alone, $20 mill) this is really a desperate attempt on yourself eLPresidente in trying to make these guys look good, their other actions speak rather well of their agenda.

woodwardjnr
I think its good. Good on them. The patriot act has been a disaster for America. More plutocrats should be protecting Americans constitution rights.

I agree, whatever their reasons, the patriot act has to go and a $20 million addition to get rid of it should not be accepted with complaints.

OrphanApology
reply to post by eLPresidente

 

20 million is a drop in the bucket for these guys.
They claim to be libertarians, maybe they are(that title has various convoluted definitions that's why I always just go with anarchist) but are really just cartel kingpins.
Either way these guys are huge corporate statists that benefit greatly from government cartel systems.
Whatever they are doing is not for whatever reason they claim.

the owlbear
I'm with you

Leave it to "progressive" low-information members to jump on this, and to ignore the tons of money that their "leaders" pour into political positions,
Politico (the same group that gave Obama the "Lie of the Year" award) pointed out recently that "progressive" billionaires , including Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, Tom Steyer and Mark Zuckerbergare right in the thick of "dark money" contributions:
2013: Year of the liberal billionaire

Southern Guardian
reply to post by eLPresidente

 

....and because of this everybody needs to stop speaking out against them and ignore the many other millions they spent on trying elect rightwing corporate hacks into government? How much money did they spend on Romneys campaign last year alone? hmm? How about their attempts in supporting programs targeted against the poor and those on assistance? Aside from the questionable source (it's a questionable figure alone, $20 mill) this is really a desperate attempt on yourself eLPresidente in trying to make these guys look good, their other actions speak rather well of their agenda.

Why yes the only 'people' allowed to buy elections is left wing billionaires, and unions, and the 'people'.

Damn them evil Kochs!

reply to post by jdub297


All you did in that post was name call without any basis for the name calling or actual data or information, or point to be made for that matter.

It's also known as poisoning the well of discourse.

Make a point, back it with data.

Is calling people progressives or even political supporters somehow supposed to legitimize a point you were trying to make?

I guess I could go around saying that many ATS members wear their grandmas underwear. I'm not sure why I would though, since I don't know them or know what underwear they have on. Also the type of underwear they have on has nothing to do with whatever point I'm making or the data to back up that point.

Can anyone provide a list of folks like Soros or Bloomberg kicking in 20 million to fight the Patriot Act?

Just askin'. . . . . .

reply to post by OrphanApology


I don't see how Jdub didn't say anything. He/She provided a link for information. Yes, they did spew the "P" word, but that is a common these days. People like to bundle things up in a neat little package.

For instance, I say I don't like anarchists. But I do realize there are many stripes of them. You've explained your views on anarchy and I at least respect you for that. But there are many other folk who say they are anarchists that are the total opposite.

Many people these days think of Liberal/Progressives/Socialists as interchangable. The same goes for those who lump GOP/Conservatives/Tea Party together.

I think of myself as a independent, so I get it from both ends. LOL

reply to post by eLPresidente


That's why the communist left hates them. They are a threat to the authoritarian cabal.

There is a duality in all us, even Hitler loved his dog! They're paying it forward!

Doesn't matter which side of the political debate you're for, getting rid of the 'patriot' act is a good thing.

Derek

reply to post by TDawgRex


It just irritated me because instead of commenting on the Koch Brothers the whole post was just poisoning the well.

Make a point. They don't agree with me, that's great, but just using rhetorical fallacies to make the other side seem like idiots...well.

Either way I agree with what you're saying. It seems every topic is full of people calling everyone "progressives". Like what do they even mean? Is this like how everyone who had a different opinion was a commie back in the day?

I don't like the Koch brothers and think are the same as all the other state supporting assholes like Jamie Dimon and Bill Gates. So I don't agree with the motives for their giving money. If they don't agree with my disagreement that's fine but I just stop. poisoning.the.well...

lol

It's like having a discussion about which hamburger buns to use and someone saying "It's just like a progressive to like wheat".

What the hell does that have to do with hamburger buns?

OrphanApology
reply to post by TDawgRex

 

It just irritated me because instead of commenting on the Koch Brothers the whole post was just poisoning the well.

Make a point. They don't agree with me, that's great, but just using rhetorical fallacies to make the other side seem like idiots...well.

Either way I agree with what you're saying. It seems every topic is full of people calling everyone "progressives". Like what do they even mean? Is this like how everyone who had a different opinion was a commie back in the day?

I don't like the Koch brothers and think are the same as all the other state supporting assholes like Jamie Dimon and Bill Gates. So I don't agree with the motives for their giving money. If they don't agree with my disagreement that's fine but I just stop. poisoning.the.well...

lol

It's like having a discussion about which hamburger buns to use and someone saying "It's just like a progressive to like wheat".

What the hell does that have to do with hamburger buns?

edit on 28-1-2014 by OrphanApology because: (no reason given)

Don't try to reason with them OA...
They just salivate more. You said your well thought out piece of mind. I agree wholeheartedly, but trolls want to assign labels so everything fits in their perfect black/white dichotomy when in actuality, they defeat the very purposes they claim to hold in high regard.

That is why the US cannot climb out of this gutter. The one party system with leanings to left or right.
This post will probably be ignored by the masses because they want to drool over "naow libruls nede to luv it tooo"!

No. Nobody should have liked this.
"You're either with us...or against us"-gwb
Fall in line or face the political repercussions as we invade sovereign nations willy-nilly. Why?



"You must not love America..."