By Erin Schikowski at The Nation
In this clip by Robert Greenwald and the Brave New Foundation, Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) invites the Koch brothers to testify before Congress regarding their stake in the Keystone XL Pipeline. Visit Koch Brothers Exposed to sign the petition asking Waxman to haul the brothers before Congress.
Billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch look like they’re easy graders. Their tea party group released its rankings this week of senators and congressman who tow the Koch line most, and it gave a total of 44 A+’s for the 112th Congress.
Americans for Prosperity, the Tea Party group funded by the Kochs, based its grades on opposition to affordable health care, clean air, alternative energy and net neutrality. Scores were also boosted if the elected official signed the tea party group’s anti-revenue pledge.
In sum, the five senators who scored 100 percent on the Americans for Prosperity how-can-we-make-the-Kochs-richer test received $187,400 in campaign contributions from the Kochs and their allies.
These senators are Ron Johnson (R-WI), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and potential Republican vice presidential nominee Marco Rubio, a freshman from Florida. Indeed, Rubio, Johnson and Coburn have a lifetime of A+ scores!
Though the brothers are worth about $42 billion, a little political donation here and there goes a long way. Factor in the brothers’ self-serving “philanthropy” with the Kochs’ numerous other nonprofit foundations and academic think tanks and you’ve exposed a vast echo chamber of perpetuating myths and distortions designed to make the Kochs richer.
While the Koch brothers use their enormous wealth to influence democracy in the Capitol, they’re also funding or supporting groups that aim to replace the values of working families with policies that make the Koch brothers richer. At the same time, the Kochs are working to bolster their clout with influential members of the political and media elite to favor devastating environmental developments that would boost the soaring profits of Koch Industries.
To complement their political giving, the Kochs are also working with partners to curb access to the voting booth. The Kochs fund the American Legislative Exchange Council, which has helped facilitate the proliferation of voter suppression laws across the country. These laws would have their most adverse effect on students, seniors, minorities and disabled citizens.
At a local level, a Americans for Prosperity chapter helped make a community North Carolina school board race the most expensive in recent memory and favored candidates who pledged to resegregate public schools. They were ultimately rebuked by voters last year.
Exposing the Kochs reveals a pattern of selfish and manipulative priorities that consistently favor the most fortunate among us. In an era of Patriotic Billionaires, Occupy Wall Street and a decaying democratic process, the Koch brothers and their allies continue to demonstrate their satisfaction obstructing progress and social justice.
What do you think Martin Luther King Jr. would have to say about it?
I invite you to comment and take action at our Koch Brothers Exposed page on Facebook.
Co-written by Robert Greenwald, President and founder of Brave New Foundation, and Judith Browne Dianis, co-Director of the Advancement Project.
If you live in one of 38 states, billionaire political operatives Charles and David Koch are trying to influence your and your neighbors’ constitutional right to vote. The Koch brothers and their allies have already succeeded in shepherding voter suppression bills through seven states, which amount to about one third of the 270 electoral votes to win the White House.
Through their web of think tanks, nonprofit organizations, family foundations and political donations, the Koch brothers have bought access to democracy’s lifeblood: elections. They’ve used their $42 billion in wealth to support state laws and legislators that erect barriers to the voting booth.
The Kochs’ victims are young people, senior citizens, disabled individuals and people of color– precisely the 99 percent of us who are opposed to the Koch brothers’ political agenda.
In 34 states, the Kochs have supported legislation that makes a photo ID a prerequisite to voting. It’s a Jim Crow poll tax of a different name, and the voter fraud it engenders the Kochs to silence whole communities. These Koch-supported voter suppression laws have the intended effect of transforming constitutional and civic obligations into an endless challenge for the elderly, disabled and young voters alike.
The Kochs enhanced their influence on state capitals through the American Legislative Exchange Council, a 30-year-old organization that brings lawmakers and corporations together to, literally, write model legislation together. The Koch Brothers even provided ALEC with a loan to help the organization start up.
ALEC is an exclusive corporate-legislative hybrid that costs members membership dues in order participate in their secretive meetings. It is estimated that the Kochs have paid over $1 million to the organization and have been board members for years. ALEC has institutionalized and codified the interests of the top 1 percent into laws at city halls, county boards of supervisors and state capitals.
For their investment in ALEC, the Kochs have funded efforts to thwart 21 million Americans from voting. Koch dollars helped write and propose voting suppression bills in Texas, Florida, California, Wisconsin and 34 other states. At the same time the brothers’ Tea Party group, Americans for Prosperity, intents to spend $200 million on local political races with patently false advertisements.
The most decisive and unifying opportunity to deny the Kochs’ power grab at the ballot box is appealing directly to Attorney General Eric Holder. Under the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act, Holder can deny states like Florida, South Carolina and others from imposing new voter restrictions.
Their history of Jim Crow sets them apart from other states’ voting rights. It’s the responsibility of the Department of Justice to live up to its name and enforce the law, which calls for one person, one vote, not two billionaires and no votes for 21 million American students, seniors, people of color and disabled citizens who could be electorally blacklisted.
These are citizens who could fall through the cracks in our system– cracks exploited by the Koch brothers for their benefit. Rather than supporting politicians who ensure every vote is counted fairly, the Koch brothers have paid more than $245,550 directly to elected officials who support voter suppression laws.
A prime example is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, whose largest out of state donors were the Koch brothers. In May, he signed a bill that requires voters present a photo ID before casting a ballot. Imposing restrictions on access does not build a more perfect union nor ensure the sanctity of everyone’s vote.
We can stop this by giving Attorney General Holder the support he needs to act. Stand up for democracy and tell him to protect one person, one vote.
BNF: How do the Koch brothers and Big Oil figure into what you do day by day as a criminologist and Professor?
Dr. Melissa Jarrell: I examine a particular form of corporate crime: environmental crime. As a criminologist, I want to make sure that I teach students about corporate and environmental crimes and give them a better understanding of the nature and distribution of these types of crime. People picture criminals as gang members, not corporations that dump pollution into the air or the water. They do not usually picture a wealthy and powerful man in a suit making decisions that affects millions of people in big cities and small towns all over the country
Corporate and environmental crimes are far more responsible for illnesses, injuries and deaths than crimes we think about on TV. My research has looked at environmental crimes committed by the petroleum industry, particularly the refining industry, of which the Kochs are big players.
In addition to teaching and researching, I also make efforts to assist victims of environmental crimes whenever possible. I’m able to produce research to help them fight their victimization in the press, courts and the court of public opinion.
When did you first hear about the Koch brothers and what’d you think?
I first learned about Koch Industries in 2004 and saw Koch Industries was at the top of the list in terms of committing serious environmental crimes (10 criminal cases in 2001-2002). Over the years, Koch Industries has committed multiple environmental crimes that have caused harm to thousands of people. But, even when convicted and punished, its criminal behavior has continued. Corporations, like Koch Industries, are not concerned about paying fines. After all, if you make billions of dollars each year, a few million in fines is pocket change. Big Oil, led by Koch Industries, spends millions of dollars trying to convince the public that the EPA is killing jobs by creating and enforcing environmental laws.
How has the EPA changed the last 10 years, and who’s been responsible?
The EPA has always been underfunded and understaffed, and our environmental laws are watered down versions of what they should be. The EPA has been directly attacked by industry lawyers who argue that the agency lacks authority to enforce legal and important safety protections.
Remember, policies are only as good as their enforcement. While we argue over the scope and nature of a new policy, we often ignore the fact that these measures, if enacted, have little value because they are routinely ignored by industry. The EPA does not have the workforce to monitor the thousands of industries across the U.S. that emit pollution on a daily basis. The standards we have are better than nothing, but much weaker than they should be and will almost always be weakened further by leaders who fear confrontations with business and special interests.
What’s the balance between legality and safety in terms of EPA standards and pollution? What pressures are brought to bear to shift the fulcrum?
As long as people aren’t dropping dead on a daily basis from polluted air and water, I think the tug-o-war will look much the way it does right now. Gain an inch; lose an inch, back and forth. However, one day, when the air and water are so polluted that it affects those with power and wealth, perhaps then something will be done about it. If I were in charge, I would immediately pass a law that states that NO ONE should live within 5 miles of major brick-and-mortar sources of pollution. And I would require corporations like Koch Industries to help relocate affected communities and take better care of their workers.
What’d you think of the Arkansas video?
The Arkansas video is disturbing and frustratingly familiar. Corporations like Koch could do more to protect the people the people in these communities from air, water, and soil pollution. They could install the best pollution controls, provide better monitoring, and help relocate communities. However, corporations like Koch Industries are more concerned about profits and presenting an image of environmental stewardship than actually changing their polluting practices and helping communities.
He levitated the Pentagon, brought down Lyndon B. Johnson, shamed Richard Nixon, challenged Wall Street and pioneered a cultural revolution.
Sometimes I still hear his Brooklyn meets Boston accent when I think about Abbie Hoffman, his family or his legacy. I directed Steal This Movie to capture what I consider to be Abbie’s greatest gift: using satire and culture to impact and inspire people to take action. Steal This Movie was the last narrative film I did, and Abbie inspires me to this day.
Abbie died 22 years ago this month and that’s got me thinking about what he would do to stop the Koch brothers.
Tell me at my Koch Brothers Exposed campaign Facebook page.
Remember when he nominated a pig for president at the 1968 Democratic National Convention? Whether it was the Vietnam War, income inequality or environmental causes, Abbie always struck the right note.
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