Koch Bros -- Rolling Stone <-- Required reading.

[Nice Squirrel]

With Republicans and Democrats united in regulating the oil business, Charles had begun throwing his wealth behind the upstart Libertarian Party, seeking to transform it into a viable third party. Over the years, he would spend millions propping up a league of affiliated think tanks and front groups – a network of Libertarians that became known as the "Kochtopus."

Charles even convinced David to stand as the Libertarian Party's vice-presidential candidate in 1980 – a clever maneuver that allowed David to lavish unlimited money on his own ticket. The Koch-funded 1980 platform was nakedly in the brothers' self-interest – slashing federal regulatory agencies, offering a 50 percent tax break to top earners, ending the "cruel and unfair" estate tax and abolishing a $16 billion "windfall profits" tax on the oil industry. The words of Libertarian presidential candidate Ed Clark's convention speech in Los Angeles ring across the decades: "We're sick of taxes," he declared. "We're ready to have a very big tea party." In a very real sense, the modern Republican Party was on the ballot that year – and it was running against Ronald Reagan.

Charles' management style and infatuation with far-right politics were endangering his grip on the company. Bill believed his brothers' political spending was bad for business. "Pretty soon, we would get the reputation that the company and the Kochs were crazy," he said.


In late 1980, with Frederick's backing, Bill launched an unsuccessful battle for control of Koch Industries, aiming to take the company public. Three years later, Charles and David bought out their brothers for $1.1 billion. But the speed with which Koch Industries paid off the buyout debt left Bill convinced, but never quite able to prove, he'd been defrauded. He would spend the next 18 years suing his brothers, calling them "the biggest crooks in the oil industry."

.....


By this time, the Kochs had soured on the Libertarian Party, concluding that control of a small party would never give them the muscle they sought in the nation's capital. Now they would spend millions in efforts to influence – and ultimately take over – the GOP. The work began close to home; the Kochs had become dedicated patrons of Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, who ran interference for Koch Industries in Washington. On the Senate floor in March 1990, Dole gloatingly cautioned against a "rush to judgment" against Koch, citing "very real concerns about some of the evidence on which the special committee was basing its findings." A grand jury investigated the claims but disbanded in 1992, without issuing indictments


Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politic...-brothers-toxic-empire-20140924#ixzz3EutVYgfU
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

Fascinating expose.

 

[ksen]

Bill believed his brothers' political spending was bad for business. "Pretty soon, we would get the reputation that the company and the Kochs were crazy," he said.

you don't say :hmmm:

 

[dismal]

I didn't know they had a band.

 

[bleubird]

I didn't know they had a band.

Rolling Stone prints stuff that is not about music.First I heard of this!

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Rolling Stone is a very thorough and reputable source.

 

[Keith&Co.]

I didn't know they had a band.

Rolling Stone prints stuff that is not about music.First I heard of this!

Oh, i've known that since Firestarter.
Or was it 'Where the Buffalo Roam'....?

 

[dismal]

Rolling Stone is a very thorough and reputable source.

Haha, good one.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Rolling Stone is a very thorough and reputable source.

Haha, good one.

Compared to Newsweek and Time...

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Rolling Stone is a very thorough and reputable source.

Haha, good one.

Did you read the article? The Kochs did and are not disputing the facts presented.

he salient feature of Koch's response is that the company does not argue the core facts of our 9,000-word expose. Instead, Koch targets the messenger. Koch's top target here is not even Rolling Stone, but me, Tim Dickinson.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politic...one-and-we-answer-back-20140929#ixzz3EvMCNz1L
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

 

[dismal]

Haha, good one.

Did you read the article? The Kochs did and are not disputing the facts presented.

he salient feature of Koch's response is that the company does not argue the core facts of our 9,000-word expose. Instead, Koch targets the messenger. Koch's top target here is not even Rolling Stone, but me, Tim Dickinson.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politic...one-and-we-answer-back-20140929#ixzz3EvMCNz1L
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

I have not the Koch obsession, so no.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Did you read the article? The Kochs did and are not disputing the facts presented.

he salient feature of Koch's response is that the company does not argue the core facts of our 9,000-word expose. Instead, Koch targets the messenger. Koch's top target here is not even Rolling Stone, but me, Tim Dickinson.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politic...one-and-we-answer-back-20140929#ixzz3EvMCNz1L
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

I have not the Koch obsession, so no.

Do you only read about goats then?

 

[Underseer]

Did you read the article? The Kochs did and are not disputing the facts presented.

he salient feature of Koch's response is that the company does not argue the core facts of our 9,000-word expose. Instead, Koch targets the messenger. Koch's top target here is not even Rolling Stone, but me, Tim Dickinson.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politic...one-and-we-answer-back-20140929#ixzz3EvMCNz1L
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

I have not the Koch obsession, so no.

Worshiping them doesn't count as an obsession?

Are you using a definition of the word "obsession" that I am unfamiliar with?

 

[dismal]

Did you read the article? The Kochs did and are not disputing the facts presented.

he salient feature of Koch's response is that the company does not argue the core facts of our 9,000-word expose. Instead, Koch targets the messenger. Koch's top target here is not even Rolling Stone, but me, Tim Dickinson.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politic...one-and-we-answer-back-20140929#ixzz3EvMCNz1L
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

I have not the Koch obsession, so no.

Worshiping them doesn't count as an obsession?

Are you using a definition of the word "obsession" that I am unfamiliar with?

A sad, pathetic post.

Keep trying though.

 

[dismal]

You Koch-obsession guys will like this. Some old guy talking about the Koch brothers. A lot.

[YOUTUBE]vP7V0hrt1aw[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Maybe you could read the article and add something to the discussion?

 

[Keith&Co.]

Maybe you could read the article and add something to the discussion?

A completely off-topic and unsupported dismissal of a magazine because he associates it solely with the music industry. Dismal thinks he IS adding something to the discussion.

 

[dismal]

Maybe you could read the article and add something to the discussion?

A completely off-topic and unsupported dismissal of a magazine because he associates it solely with the music industry. Dismal thinks he IS adding something to the discussion.

I didn't mean to be critical of Rolling Stone. I'm sure they will write just the article someone obsessed enough about the Kochs to read this stuff would want.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Maybe you could read the article and add something to the discussion?

A completely off-topic and unsupported dismissal of a magazine because he associates it solely with the music industry. Dismal thinks he IS adding something to the discussion.

Yep. Apparently I am also obsessed with George Clooney and and Sarah Gadon because I read articles about them too.

 

[dismal]

A completely off-topic and unsupported dismissal of a magazine because he associates it solely with the music industry. Dismal thinks he IS adding something to the discussion.

Yep. Apparently I am also obsessed with George Clooney and and Sarah Gadon because I read articles about them too.

You may want to get that checked.

 

[Jarhyn]

It's a great history lesson on how, with enough theft, dishonesty, and irresponsible behavior, you can hijack an entire government.