Tag Archives: Charles Koch

Blood on Their Hands

Posted on by under Election 2024, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Social commentary

“I’m the only candidate on stage who isn’t bought and paid for, so I can say this — the climate change agenda is a hoax … And so the reality is more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate change … This isn’t that complicated guys, unlock American energy, drill, frack, burn coal, embrace nuclear ”  Vivek Ramaswamy, GOP debate, 23 August 2023  Translation:  Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

I wasn’t pleased with any of the candidates’ answers regarding climate change on Wednesday night, but Ramaswamy’s comments blew my mind.  If ever I wanted to smack somebody upside the head …

But folks, if ANY Republican gets into the White House in 2025, the environment will be doomed, for there is an overall Republican plan by the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that directs most GOP policy, to destroy the environment.  Why?  Oh come on … you don’t need me to tell you why.  One simple answer:

The Heritage Foundation has ties to fossil fuel billionaire Charles Koch.  Need I say more?

The document by the Heritage Foundation is called Project 2025 and is a scary literal blueprint for every aspect of governing in the first 180 days when/if a Republican takes control of the White House in 2025.  The 920-page document outlines everything including economics, limited government, free markets and free trade, tax cuts, reduced government spending, privatization, and the reduction of government run welfare programs in favor of private-sector nonprofits.  I plan to cover more about Project 2025 in the coming months, but for now I’m only talking about how the plan would deal with climate change and the future of life on the planet.

According to an article last month in The Guardian …

The guide’s chapter on the US Department of Energy proposes eliminating three agency offices that are crucial for the energy transition, and also calls to slash funding to the agency’s grid deployment office in an effort to stymie renewable energy deployment, E&E News reported this week.

The plan, which would hugely expand gas infrastructure, was authored by Bernard McNamee, a former official at the agency. McNamee was also a Trump appointee to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He previously led the far-right Texas Public Policy Foundation, which fights environmental regulation, and served as a senior adviser to the Republican senator Ted Cruz.

Another chapter focuses on gutting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and moving it away from its focus on the climate crisis. It proposes cutting the agency’s environmental justice and public engagement functions, while shrinking it as a whole by terminating new hires in “low-value programs”, E&E News reported. The proposal was written Mandy Gunasekara, who was the former chief of staff at the EPA under Trump.

The guide also features a chapter on the Department of the Interior written by William Perry Pendley, who controversially led the Bureau of Land Management under President Trump and worked to eliminate drilling regulations.

None of the candidates at the debate earlier this week would commit to following through on climate regulations to attempt to get greenhouse gas emissions under control or to any other major climate regulations.  I suspect that each of the eight have read the Heritage document and signed on to it wholeheartedly.  And we already know what the elephant who wasn’t in the room thinks.  Our lives, the lives of our children and grandchildren, of the future of the world, matter not one whit to these arseholes … the only thing that matters is that almighty dollar/pound/yen/euro.

This isn’t only about the U.S., people … every single person on Planet Earth has a stake in how the U.S. handles environmental issues, for what any one country does affects EVERY person in EVERY country.  Republicans are still living back in the day when we thought we were autonomous, and they still reject globalism, but to do so is utterly ignorant.  Step outside about 2:00 p.m. and tell me that climate change isn’t real, that it isn’t killing us!  Tell it to the people living in Maui, or Southern California.

Anyone who votes for a Republican next year will have the blood of our future generations on their hands, in my book.

Conservative Millionaire CEOs Are Becoming Their Own Stereotype of the Welfare Queen

Posted on by under Economic issues, Environmental Issues, History, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

In case you were wondering why far too many of our members of Congress do NOT represent us, the answer lies here in this well-spoken post by our friend Gronda. It all boils down to this: The rich get richer, while the poor get poorer. Democracy in action? I think not.

Gronda Morin

Disclaimer: I’m pro-business but I truly do believe in free enterprise, competition in the marketplace where companies win by innovating, creating new widgets, smart cost cutting while paying their employees a living wage and treating them and their consumers with respect.

In short, anyone like Elon Musk buying a company at an inflated price where bills aren’t paid, employees who’ve yet to be fired are treated with disrespect, and management doesn’t deliver on a quality product, shouldn’t be allowed to stay in business. It’s the height of hubris for CEOs to blame workers who don’t want to live 24/7 in the workplace for their owners’ stupidity. This is the definition of lazy management and the antithesis of businessmen taking personal responsibility for their own lack of due diligence and failures. These greedy short-sighted CEOs have become their own stereotype of the “welfare queen.”

These are the same guys who get…

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Da Snark Just Keeps On Comin’ …

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, voting rights

Once again, the snarky just eats away at my psyche … until I share it!  So, hold onto your hats, for here are more … {🥁drumroll🥁} … SNARKY SNIPPETS!

What a guy, eh?

The infamous Charles Koch, head of Koch Industries, is still doing business in Russia today.  No matter how many lives Russian dictator Vladimir Putin takes in his unprovoked war against Ukraine, to Mr. Koch, profit is far more important.  Yesterday, Koch’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Dave Robertson released the following statement:

Koch company Guardian Industries operates two glass manufacturing facilities in Russia that employ about 600 people. We have no other physical assets in Russia, and outside of Guardian, employ 15 individuals in the country. While Guardian’s business in Russia is a very small part of Koch, we will not walk away from our employees there or hand over these manufacturing facilities to the Russian government so it can operate and benefit from them (which is what The Wall Street Journal has reported they would do). Doing so would only put our employees there at greater risk and do more harm than good.

Bullshit. 

Koch Industries is the largest privately-held company in the United States, and Charles Koch, one of the most influential figures in American politics, buying up politicians right and left to block such legislation as increased corporate taxes or an increase in the minimum wage rate.  And now, Koch has put adding to his $60.2 billion net worth ahead of the lives of thousands of people.

About those gas prices …

The bandwagon everybody is jumping on – blaming President Biden for rising fuel prices – has four flat tires and the only gas powering it is the hot air that emits from the mouths of the brainwashed and the ignorant.  The reality is that the price per barrel of oil has been decreasing of late, while prices at the pump are steadily increasing.  Now, even a child could figure out that there is a disparity somewhere, that there’s some money unaccounted for … let’s give the oil companies a chance to ‘splain, shall we?

  • Exxon: “…we expect to generate over $100 billion in excess cash… and we expect to have sustained excess cash flow and increasing shareholder distributions.”
  • Chevron: “All the excess cash that we’ll be generating under these conditions…we can generate $25 billion of excess cash over five years.”
  • Marathon: “Our cash flow-driven return of capital framework uniquely prioritizes our shareholders as the first call on cash flow generation, not the drill bit.”
  • Pioneer: “Whether it’s $150 oil, $200 oil, or $100 oil, we’re not going to change our growth plans,” and “We think it’s important to return cash back to the shareholders.”

And to add insult to injury, these companies have never paid their fair share of income taxes!  STOP blaming President Biden for high gasoline prices … yes, the war Russia started against Ukraine plays a role, but the real blame belongs squarely on the shoulders of the already-wealthy oil companies!

They finally found something they could agree on …

The two sides of the political aisle cannot find common ground on almost anything these days, not even protecting the rights of We the People to cast a vote … a right granted by the U.S. Constitution, but denied by Congress.  They cannot agree on holding the pharmaceutical industry accountable for gouging those of us who need medications and cannot afford them.  They cannot agree on helping people who are struggling due to the economic fallout from COVID. They cannot agree to protect women’s rights, thus allowing states like Texas to knock women’s rights to make their own decisions about their bodies back hundreds of years! But on one thing, they managed to unanimously agree … a big nothingburger!

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate unanimously agreed to make daylight savings time permanent … no more switching the clocks back at the end of October.  In the list of priorities, I would put this one at about #1,983!  Voting rights are FAR more important to the people of this country than whether it’s 2:00 or 3:00 in Milwaukee!  While personally I am not in favour of making daylight savings time permanent, it really doesn’t matter that much to me relative to the things I mentioned above.  Protecting LGBTQ people, women, Black people, and others is far more relevant, but Congress cannot move even slightly on those issues.  Nooooooooooo … they are too busy wasting time and OUR taxpayer dollars on stupid crappola like whether it should be slightly lighter at 5:00 in the winter!

Why is the GOP Against The For the People Act?

Posted on by under Election 2020, Election 2022, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, voting rights

There are two major issues happening in Congress that the Republicans are hellbent and determined to block. One is the formation of a January 6th commission to attempt to identify all those who contributed in one way or another to the attempted coup at the Capitol on that day. The other is the For The People Act, a bill currently being held up in the Senate that would protect our right to vote, to have a say in our government. I’ll let Jeff tell you more about that one … thanks, Jeff!

On The Fence Voters

It’s far past time we start to hold the GOP accountable, especially as it pertains to The For the People Act, already passed as H.R. 1in the House, and S. 1, its mostly similar companion legislation pending in the Senate. It’s a simple question that needs to be asked: Why on earth are you against this piece of legislation?

Because once you take a look at it, you can only wonder what it is that keeps our GOP friends in Congress from supporting the bill. Because, folks, this bill will transform our politics for generations to come if it were to become law. And for the better.

The opportunity to truly remake our democracy in the 21st century is within our grasp. Failure to capitalize is not an option. Yes, we can talk about Senator Joe Manchin, if you’d like, because who in the hell knows where…

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Then They Came For Me

Posted on by under Election 2020, Election 2022, Election 2024, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary, voting rights

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

You’ve all heard and read this poem, written by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller, more than a few times.  Niemöller penned this in 1946, at the end of WWII, the end of the Holocaust that took more than 6 million lives.  It is engraved on a plaque at the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston, Massachusetts, and is known worldwide.  The poem speaks volumes and should serve as a warning to people all around the world today.

Here in the United States, they are coming for our voting rights, for our right to have a voice in our government.  They are coming for our right to peacefully protest those things we see happening, such as police brutally killing unarmed Black men.  What will they come for next?

“They” who are coming for our rights are not necessarily who you might think.  Most of us, if asked who ‘they’ are, would likely say “Republicans”.  Understandably, for they are the ones writing the voter suppression bills, the ones writing the bills that now allow people to run down and kill even peaceful protestors.  But the truth of the matter is that the Republicans are but pawns in a much bigger game.  They are puppets being moved like pieces on a chess board by the likes of Charles Koch and other uber-wealthy men who want to ensure their pawns stay in power, to ensure that We the People have only a very limited voice, or preferably in their eyes, no voice in how our government operates.

They work hand-in-hand with the likes of Vladimir Putin to buy politicians such as Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Ted Cruz and more.  They don’t choose the brightest bulbs in the pack to do their dirty work, but the weakest, those who have the most to lose if elections going forward are fair and honest, if every person over the age of 18 in this country has a vote, a voice.

HR1, now S1, For the People Act, would expand voter’s rights, end partisan gerrymandering, increase access to ballot boxes, postal ballots, and the polls.  But, what frightens the shadowy cabals pulling the puppet strings the most is that it would limit secret campaign spending and provide more transparency about political donors, effectively stemming the flow of ‘dark money’ in politics.  None other than the ignoble billionaire Charles Koch has said that congressional republicans would do better to ignore the will of the people and simply kill the bill in Congress.  To whatever extent possible, that is what they will do, and we will never know quite what hit us.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative organization that consistently ‘advised’ the former guy on his staff picks, recognized that the For the People Act is tremendously popular almost equally among democrats and republicans, so they have encouraged members of Congress to subject the bill to the filibuster and shut it down before it ever sees the light of day.  That is precisely what they are planning to do, and with the help of two Democrats, Joe Manchin from West Virginia, and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.