The Koch Brothers: "Some man's sleaze is another man's class."

For those of you who don't know, the Koch brothers are billionaires who are putting a disproportionate amount of money into political campaigns and radicalized conservative movements and are avid proponents of outright lying in their political campaigns.

Well, they are leading the charge in the new election cycle - setting a great example for other conservatives to follow.

Matthew Vadum, a conservative author who "The Daily Show" labeled as a "political insider," said to sell a point of view, sometimes you have to employ a bit of "salesmanship."

"Some man's sleaze is another man's class," he said. "You have to have a little bit of showbiz."

CNN Source

This is how they think - and they have been responsible for such things as Fox News' unreliable reporting, and the recent, more radicalized Tea Party movement. The main theme is the idea that trickery to the point of outright lying is okay.

But more specifically, here is another example of the Koch Brother's trickery being used to win a local election through their Americans for Prosperity non-profit.

In August 2011, AFP "sent absentee voter applications instructing voters to return the paperwork two days late in at least two recall elections".[40] In addition, the PO Box that was listed on the "Ballot Application" is the address of an anti-abortion group, Wisconsin Family Action, as opposed to an official state address.[40] AFP responded, claiming that the misleading date was the result of a mistake and "was only intended for voters in the two districts where Democrats are set to face recalls on a later date, August 16".[41]

Wikipedia: Americans for Prosperity

Here is a money map of the Koch Brothers and all of the "Nonprofits" they are involved with.



Wikipedia: Political Activities of the Koch Brothers

The problem with someone promoting a political agenda through lies is that they don't respect the voters enough to tell them the truth - and this makes the voters uninformed. Although I think the Koch Brothers are having a good time, they may not realize that it might be beneficial to keep people informed with legitimate facts and figures.

One of my Facebook friends explained to me that the Koch Brothers were a major reason that inaccurate facts and data have started appearing in the political spectrum - for example, regarding the minimum wage debate -

It would be one thing if the conservatives were saying that raising the minimum wage would hurt the economy and have the facts to back it up, but the truth of the matter is, raising it would help the economy due to such factors as people having money to spend. The same thing goes for the new Democratic panel set up to raise 24 million jobs - suddenly it is bad to promote job growth?

Okay, so we already know that American's for Prosperity advocate outright lying to promote a personal, err, political, agenda. Now let's move on to yet another Republican attempt at corrupt political advertising (corrupt meaning through trickery and lies instead of honesty, good values and good policies).

CNN) – A warning this election season: If you are searching the Web for information on Democratic congressional candidates, read the fine print.

At least 15 websites that appear to be official campaign sites for Democratic candidates, are actually the handiwork of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

It may sound deceiving, but Scarpinato insists the well-thought out, well-planned program is pure genius.

”Well, we are very proud of this program.”

CNN Link

This is what scam artists do, not politicians - and it doesn't make me any more likely to vote Republican. I also like to think that people who do vote for people who are actively trying to manipulate them are worried enough about it to reconsider.

JohnLewis4Congress

Well this is a sample misleading advertisement. Is it unethical? Or is it okay because it is rather obvious that it is a scam?

Is this a new low for politicians or is it okay because they are Republican? Or is it just okay in general? Maybe these things just a bit playful? What does everyone think?

reply to post by darkbake


It is generally known in political circles that in American national presidential campaigns, and in many Senate campaigns, the Republicans lie and the Democrats don't. The Democrat presidential candidates always have to play defense to Republican lies. That's a given, and is understood by both sides.

(EDIT: I edited this for clarity)

For those of you who don't know, the Koch brothers are billionaires who are putting a disproportionate amount of money into political campaigns and radicalized conservative movements and are avid proponents of outright lying in their political campaigns.

For those that 'don't know' how is that any different than the Soros's of the flip side ?

Guess that is true 'Some man's sleaze is another man's 'class'.'

Aleister
reply to post by darkbake

 

It is generally known in political circles that in American campaigns the Republicans lie and the Democrats don't. The Democrats always have to play defense to Republican lies. That's a given, and is understood by both sides.

Are.

You.

Kidding!?

If you actually believe this proof please. It is generally known in political circles that both parties lie, the party line is more of gimmick to get elected than any genuinely felt ideology, and that really they are all just jockeying for wealth and position. They don't say it publicly, and they certainly don't indicate it often, but if you spend any amount of time with these jokers, and listen to some of the crap they say casually you will know how they operate. This partisan crap would be funny if it wasn't so effective.

Anyone who believes that either side is telling the truth to get elected is lying to themselves. There is rarely any truth in politics, it all comes down to who can sell the public the biggest lie while keeping a straight face and not getting caught.

reply to post by Aleister


I think it is all BS anyways instead of net neutrality they may as well tax ghosts in supposed haunted houses obviously the psychic says there is unreported persons residing in such a place let the gov implement the "ghost act" all of a sudden the afterlife is cool again like buddy jesus and the world marvels at innovation and out of the box thinking

reply to post by darkbake

It would be one thing if the conservatives were saying that raising the minimum wage would hurt the economy and have the facts to back it up,

Here are the facts to back that up:

Employers are paying half of SS contributions, and half of employees medicare contributions that gets translated to higher costs to the employer because that translates to higher contributions on both.

Not to mention the employer again is paying the employees unemployment insurance as well.

Take money out of the employers pocket what happens ?

They cut hours.

They lay off.

Raising the minimum wage does hurt the economy.

Not to mention that doesn't fix anything in the first place.

The GD problem is fiat currency because they print it out of thin air.

The inflationary effects of the dollar hurt the people the most including the employer again.

Because his money doesn't buy what it use to, and it hurts people too because their dollars don't buy what they use to.

If you think those 'articles' have a lick of 'truth' to them ?

That is just sad.

Lies, and manipulation of 'facts' is not a trait unique to the Koch's or the 'right'.

The left are masters of it.

I just had a brief email session with Vadum, here is one of his replies to me.

"I have nothing to be defensive about. Nothing I said was out of context. I support free political expression. You don't. Toodles, slope head. "

He also wanted to re-post our exchange on his website.

Weak little Man, send him a note: Matthew Vadum

He seems lonely.

lol

They are having a good time. Why would they not be. Why would they need to bring forward facts? Why would they need to care or make accurate statements about any of said above issues? Minimum wage? I think this is the last think they would be thinking about during the day. They are billionaires. They do what they do. Be billionaires. And your chart of what's going where, they would just glaze over that one.
Is it so hard to accept things for what they are.
Why does everything have to be made into a headline or a story or have charts made for it.

reply to post by darkbake


Are you upset that some billionaires are supporting a political campaign?

Or

Are you upset because there are some billionaires supporting a conservative political campaign.

reply to post by redhorse


I should have said in national presidential campaigns, and in many Senate campaigns, and I've so edited my first post in this thread. In general election presidential campaigns the Republicans lie and the Democrats don't (at least to any major outright lies). This likely does not go down the line to every House race, and to state races.

You could always go find another chart and post it. It might change the world.

And we can all keep using terms like consevative and blah and blahblahblah and go arounnddd and arounddd and continue to rehash our same feelings towards it overrr and overrr. Let's play.

Aleister
reply to post by redhorse

 

I should have said in national presidential campaigns, and in many Senate campaigns, and I've so edited my first post in this thread. In general election presidential campaigns the Republicans lie and the Democrats don't (at least to any major outright lies). This likely does not go down the line to every House race, and to state races.

edit on 6-2-2014 by Aleister because: (no reason given)

No major outright lies, hmmm? How about this one? Keep in mind that these are all dated appearances and anything before 11/08 is pre-election. How many times did Obama repeat just this one major election lie?



But sure ... go right ahead thinking that only the Republicans lie to you.

It just feeds into TPTB's little game.

I have a better one for you - It's all scripted. The Republicans are cast as the villains, and you buy it. The reality is that pretty much all established politicians, no matter what fancy little letter they wear, are out to enrich and empower themselves at your expense.

reply to post by ketsuko


Here is another lie:

reply to post by darkbake

There's one main rule at the conservative donor conclaves held twice a year by Charles and David Koch at luxury resorts: What happens there stays there.

In the words of Gov Perry..."Er OOPS".

But last week, following the Kochs' first donor gathering of 2014, one attendee left behind a sensitive document at the Renaissance Esmeralda resort outside of Palm Springs, California, where the Kochs and their comrades had spent three days focused on winning the 2014 midterm elections and more.

But I'm sure the attendees were good honest hard working Americans. The Salt of the Earth kind of guys like the one who owns that little Pizza place down the street..... Weren't they?

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.

Perhaps not. Double "OOPS".

After the brothers and their allies failed to win the Senate or unseat Obama in 2012, David Koch told Forbes that this setback would do little to deter them: "We're going to fight the battle as long as we breathe." At the Palm Springs conference, as the left-behind-list of VIP meetings shows, the Kochs are lining up serious financial firepower for the political fights of 2014 and beyond.

But, I hear you ask, what about the little Pizza Guy from down the road?

Don't worry he was there.

The document lists VIP donors—including John Schnatter, the founder of the Papa John's pizza chain—who were scheduled for one-on-one meetings with representatives of the political, corporate, and philanthropic wings of Kochworld.

The Koch Brothers Left a Confidential Document at Their Last Donor Conference—Read It Here

reply to post by BritofTexas


ROFLOL

The "List" mysteriously "found" is a classic example of planted "evidence".

The enemies always have a plan.

Same goes with the example of those "odd" absentee ballots in Wisconsin. those were the result of infiltration.

Classic.

The "printer" error was dealt with by internal "security" and resulted in resignations by people later to be exposed as Democrat operatives as I remember.

LOL

reply to post by darkbake


Saw the title and thought, this must be about Ice T and his wife. Imagine my suprise.!

reply to post by BritofTexas


They are having a good time, that is the thing, it is entirely believable from all perspectives. The problem really is the growing poor in the country, especially after the last economic crisis.

@Brotherman: The Koch Brothers do support net neutrality.

reply to post by neo96


I think Obama is just reading off a teleprompter at this point, I'm not even sure who is telling him what to say anymore. Yes, definitely lies on Obama's end, I think he is running a sinking ship at this point.

Democrats have their fair share of problems. Definitely lies on the Dem. end as well. I think a lot of the Democrat lies come from things not working out the way they expect in theory. Although I think with both Obama and Bush, there is some kind of puppet master in play.

reply to post by beezzer


Not really upset, I am kind of a moderate. I am more interested and reporting on the events. The factual discrepancies and slight anomalies in the Koch Brothers political campaigns, such as the fact that their non-profit organizations seem to be politically motivated, are more than likely oversights, and some of the anomalies like the fake web sites and the like seem to be with good intention and in good fun.

But I still think it is worth making note of. There were two relevant news stories on the front page of CNN about this kind of misinformation in political campaigns so I lumped them into one and did some more background research. Since Citizens United, there has been a lot of corporate campaign contributions. And in the early 2000's, it was made legal to lie on advertisements on television and the like, thus changing the political scene.

As for the chart, it is rather complicated, but it is now in the ATS "minutes" more or less.