63 results for 'koch brothers'

Who the GOP Needs to Win in 2016…No One At CPAC

It’s hard when you can see what’s wrong, but you can’t do anything to correct it. That’s how the Republican Party must feel about CPAC. As thousands of conservative Republicans arrive in Washington, DC for the three-day jamboree, the Republican Party will have to balance how to appease its right-wing base but still attract and win over women, immigrants, and the youth vote.

From the looks of CPAC’s agenda, panel discussions, and guest speakers, the GOP has waved the white flag.

Check out this list of speakers, panels, and activists who will have a mic at CPAC:

Women Don’t Vote for Anti-Choice, Anti-Equal Pay Agendas

James O’Keefe of Project Veritasand his Protégé-In-Crime David Daleiden of the Center for Medical Progress are sitting down together for an “inside the activists’ studio” session – presumably they’ll be providing tips on how to misleadingly doctor up videos to inspire a congressional investigation to undermine women’s health and defund Planned […]

Read more after the jump.

Future45: GOP Megadonors Form Another Shady Group To Buy Republicans The White House

The Wall Street Journal reports that GOP megadonors are kick-starting another special interest group to push the GOP’s out-of-touch agenda and attack Democrats.

Future45 “will be bankrolled by some of the biggest donors to Republican candidates and causes, including hedge-fund billionaires Ken Griffin and Paul Singer and the family of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, whose wife, Marlene, donated more than $5 million to super PACs backing candidates in the first half of the year.”

Read more about who’s behind yet another special interest group formed to buy the GOP elections at Conservative Transparency: 

Conservative Transparency: Future45

Future45 is a super PAC created by a trio of conservative megadonors focused on electing a Republican to be the 45th – hence the name – President of the United States in 2016. The group is headed by “veteran GOP operative Brian Walsh,” who told the National Journal that the PAC was “focused on the general” and […]

Read more after the jump.

Kevin McCarthy’s Rise In House GOP Leadership: A Story Of Missteps, Reversals & Out Of Touch Policy Positions

Kevin McCarthy’s Rise In House GOP Leadership: A Story Of Missteps, Reversals & Out Of Touch Policy Positions   
 

Today, ahead of the House Republican Caucus’ election for the next Speaker of the House, Bridge Project is releasing new research that reveals what’s hidden in Kevin McCarthy’s past. As McCarthy has risen from a member of the California State Assembly to House Republican leadership, his record and rhetoric have changed significantly. 

Buried not-so-deep in McCarthy’s short political career are a series of gaffes, missteps, reversals, and policy positions that would sink most politicians. Read the research here, but first, a few highlights:

McCarthy referred to budget deficits as “cancer” and said said cuts that focused mostly on services to the poor and disabled were akin to a “painful” session of “chemo.”

In 2011 and 2014, McCarthy voted to raise the debt ceiling. Ahead of the 2014 vote, McCarthy organized a field trip to the Bureau of […]

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REPORT: The Vets Group That Fights Against Veterans

Bridge Project and VoteVets.org have teamed up to expose the political agenda of Concerned Veterans of America in a new report titled, “The Vets Group That Fights Against Veterans.” CVA promotes extreme right-wing policies that stand in opposition to nearly every other veterans group, as reported in the Military Times today.

From pushing a plan to privatize the VA healthcare system to proposing a transition from the current military retirement system to a private 401(k)-like plan, CVA follows the radical conservatism of the Koch brothers, working to advance the billionaires’ self-interest at the expense of veterans.


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Already, Marco Rubio has participated in a CVA town hall in New Hampshire. Bridge Project will be working with partners to hold CVA and the Koch brothers accountable as Jeb Bush, Rubio, Scott Walker, and the rest of the Republican field audition for a slice of the $900 million the Kochs plan to spend propping up GOP candidates and trying to buy the White House.

Read “The Vets Group That […]

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Bridge Project releases Concerned Women for America report

Bridge Project is releasing an in-depth report on Concerned Women for America, another Koch brothers front group. While the Kochs try to promote an image of themselves as libertarians who stay out of controversial social issues, more than $11.5 million of Koch-connected money has gone to the extremist group CWA. CWA’s self-declared mission is to “protect and promote Biblical values” and to “restore the family to its traditional purpose.”

Read the report here.

CWA garners most of their media attention through the outlandish statements made by the group’s leaders. Recently, a male CWA staffer wrote, “I wish that I was Bruce Jenner’s father,” and suggested that if Caitlyn Jenner had validation from a father figure, she wouldn’t be going through this “Caitlyn fantasy.” CWA staff has also criticized the Disney movie Frozen for empowering women while villainizing masculinity and “tearing men down,” and previously accused Harry Potter of “indoctrinating” students in “paganism and the occult.”

Although these […]

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One More LIBRE Lie: ‘Voter ID Laws Don’t Hurt Latinos’

Image Credit: nshepard

It’s well documented that voter ID laws disproportionately disenfranchise Latinos, the same demographic for which the LIBRE Initiative claims to be advocating. Yet, the Koch-backed organization’s executive director, Daniel Garza, said he was in favor of the policy yesterday, with NBC News reporting Garza claims “he has no problem with requiring identification to vote because he believes in preserving the ‘integrity’ of the vote.”

The truth is: needless voter ID laws only serve to build up barriers to the ballot box for those that aren’t receptive to the Koch brothers’ regressive vision for America. As the New York Times noted on Monday, “There is virtually no in-person voter fraud; the purpose of these laws is to suppress voting.” Even a top RNC official admitted voter fraud is basically a straw-man of the right’s creation.

Read more after the jump.

REPORT: Highway to the Obstruction Zone: Republican Obstructionism has led to Crumbling Infrastructure and a National Crisis

Bridge Project today released a report on how Republican obstructionism and the Koch agenda is causing our infrastructure to crumble and creating a self-inflicted national crisis.

Republicans punted on the highway bill last summer by funding a short-term solution that is set to expire at the end of May. It’s starting to look like the GOP leadership will once again bow to pressure from the Tea Party and the Koch brothers by trying to pass another short-term fix.

Passing the highway bill used to be a bipartisan effort, until the Koch brothers’ Tea Party mentality seeped into the mainstream Republican Party — rejecting the idea of federally funded infrastructure entirely.

Read more after the jump.
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Citizens for a Sound Economy – Florida

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CSE Was Created In 1984 By David Koch And Richard Fink. According to the New Yorker, “In 1984, David Koch and Richard Fink created yet another organization, and [President of FreedomWorks Matt] Kibbe joined them. The group, Citizens for a Sound Economy, seemed like a grassroots movement, but according to the Center for Public Integrity it was sponsored principally by the Kochs, who provided $7.9 million between 1986 and 1993.” [New Yorker, 8/30/10]

CSE Was “Principally” Sponsored By The Kochs, Who Gave $7.9 Million To The Group Between 1986 And 1993. According to the New Yorker, “The group, Citizens for a Sound Economy, seemed like a grassroots movement, but according to the Center for Public Integrity it was sponsored principally by the Kochs, who provided $7.9 million between 1986 and 1993.” [New Yorker, 8/30/10]

  • The Koch Brothers Were “Very Controlling” Of CSE. According to the New Yorker, “Within a few years, the group had mobilized fifty paid field workers, in twenty-six states, to rally voters behind the Kochs’ agenda. David and Charles, according to one participant, were ‘very controlling, very top down. You can’t build an organization with them. They run it.’” [New Yorker, 8/30/10]

CSE Worked For Public Policy Changes That Would Result In “Lower Taxes” And “Less Government. According to an archived page of the CSE website, “The members of CSE are fighting hard to restore America’s freedoms and the values of our Founding Fathers. We work for public policy change that will result in lower taxes, less government, and more freedom.” [CSE.org via Archive.org, 12/3/03]

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A Timeline Of Years-Long Efforts By Jeb Bush and Florida Republicans to Gut Protections That Would Safeguard the St. John’s River From GP’s Pollution

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Background: Economic and Environmental Harm From GP’s Pollution In the St. John’s River

Small Businesses Impacts

Brooks Busey, Owner Of Sadler Point Marina, Warned That Many Individuals’ Livelihoods Depended On A Healthy St. Johns River. According to the Jacksonville Business Journal, “The issue isn’t just an environmental one considering the 4,000 direct and indirect jobs the Palatka plant supports, and the Riverkeeper had made the economic case for cleaning the river through its new campaign, which launched last month. The Cleaner GP campaign, which calls on Gov. Rick Scott to nix the pipeline, features Sadler Point Marina owner Brooks Busey saying his business is hurt when the river suffers. ‘My livelihood depends on a healthy St. Johns River,’ Busey is quoted as saying on the campaign website. Riverkeeper Executive Director Jimmy Orth said an unhealthy river affects marinas and the fishing industry, making the fight more than just environmentalists versus businessmen. ‘Business people want a fair playing field and this is not a fair playing field,’ Orth said. ‘Yes, they provide a lot of jobs, but they should have to meet the same water quality standards as other businesses.’” [Jacksonville Business Journal, 2/11/11]

Read more after the jump.