Bikewer
Penultimate Amazing
Today's Fresh Air show featured an article on the Koch brothers:
http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13 (streaming audio)
A pair of multi-billionaire oil men who are also staunch libertarians. (actually started up the Libertarian party that did so poorly a few elections back)
They are essentially against nearly everything to do with government, including almost all regulation, social security, medicare, medicaid, etc.
They have been involved in many EPA disputes, including criminal actions by that agency.
They are very strongly against Obama and everything he stands for, and have been busily bankrolling all sorts of groups that are fighting administration policies, including the Tea Party movement.
Evidently they have pumped large amounts of cash into the nascent movement, while at the same time being extremely secretive about their wide-spread corporate involvement.
It's interesting that a movement which tends to be heavily populated by older Americans who are quite fond of their Social Security, Medicare, etc., find much of the funding coming from a sector which is violently opposed to such entitlement programs.
Of course, there are big-money liberal types who fund causes and projects in line with their point of view, but as the article points out at least folks like Soros are upfront and transparent about their spending.
I don't really know what to make of such goings-on; it does seem that politics is increasingly dominated by money (was it ever not so?) and now huge spending by corporate "entities" has the stamp of approval....
http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13 (streaming audio)
A pair of multi-billionaire oil men who are also staunch libertarians. (actually started up the Libertarian party that did so poorly a few elections back)
They are essentially against nearly everything to do with government, including almost all regulation, social security, medicare, medicaid, etc.
They have been involved in many EPA disputes, including criminal actions by that agency.
They are very strongly against Obama and everything he stands for, and have been busily bankrolling all sorts of groups that are fighting administration policies, including the Tea Party movement.
Evidently they have pumped large amounts of cash into the nascent movement, while at the same time being extremely secretive about their wide-spread corporate involvement.
It's interesting that a movement which tends to be heavily populated by older Americans who are quite fond of their Social Security, Medicare, etc., find much of the funding coming from a sector which is violently opposed to such entitlement programs.
Of course, there are big-money liberal types who fund causes and projects in line with their point of view, but as the article points out at least folks like Soros are upfront and transparent about their spending.
I don't really know what to make of such goings-on; it does seem that politics is increasingly dominated by money (was it ever not so?) and now huge spending by corporate "entities" has the stamp of approval....
