Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Last week I wrote up a post titled Scott Walker: A Fiscally Responsible Governor or a Politician Who Is Playing Favorites?. Judging from the number of comments left at that post, it appears that people are very interested in what’s been going on in the state of Wisconsin. I think many people may believe that as Wisconsin goes—so goes the nation…and probably the life expectancy of labor unions and collective bargaining.
What got a lot of press attention was the story of the prank phone call that Governor Walker received from gonzo journalist Ian Murphy. Murphy pretended to be billionaire industrialist David Koch. He talked to Walker for twenty minutes. Murphy reportedly told the Associated Press he made the prank phone call in order to show how candid Walker would be in a conversation with Koch at a time when Democrats claim the governor was refusing to return their calls.
The prank phone call appears to show a cozy relationship between Walker and Koch, a top campaign donor who may have a financial interest in fighting unions. Union workers protesting in Wisconsin have already made monetary concessions to help with Wisconsin’s budget shortfall. One has to wonder what is really behind the governor’s demand that public employee unions be stripped of their right to bargain collectively. Is it all part of an agenda to “take unions out at the knees”—a strategy suggested by Scott Hagerstrom at the annual conference of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC)? Hagerstrom is the Executive Director of Michigan’s chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP).
In a Mother Jones article, Andy Kroll writes: Walker’s plan to eviscerate collective bargaining rights for public employees is right out of the Koch brothers’ playbook. Koch-backed groups like Americans for Prosperity, the Cato Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Reason Foundation have long taken a very antagonistic view toward public-sector unions.
And who is Americans for Prosperity? Felicia Sonmez has written that AFP is really two groups—both of which were founded by David Koch in 2004: Americans for Prosperity, a 501(c)4 and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, is a 501(c)3.
Somnez says that both groups are considered “not-for-profit” organizations under the Internal Revenue Service code—and that they do not have to disclose the identity of their donors or the contributions made by those donors. She added that David Koch is believed to be one of the group’s top donors.
In a New Yorker article titled Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama, Jane Mayer wrote about Peggy Venable, the Texas State Director of AFP: She (Peggy Venable) explained that the role of Americans for Prosperity was to help “educate” Tea Party activists on policy details, and to give them “next-step training” after their rallies, so that their political energy could be channelled “more effectively.” And she noted that Americans for Prosperity had provided Tea Party activists with lists of elected officials to target. She said of the Kochs, “They’re certainly our people. David’s the chairman of our board. I’ve certainly met with them, and I’m very appreciative of what they do.”
In August 2009, ThinkProgress said that it had obtained an exclusive memo from a Tea Party group that is supported by Koch’s Americans for Prosperity.
From Think Progress: “The memo outlined various ways for Tea Party activists to intimidate Democratic lawmakers and disrupt their town hall meetings on health reform. ThinkProgress published half a dozen articles exposing the role of Koch-funded groups like “Patients United” in encouraging opposition to health reform. For instance, in Virginia, a Koch-funded operative Ben Marchi assisted a birther who followed Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA) around, yelling at him at town hall meetings.”
That’s all I’ve got for now, folks. Talk amongst yourselves. I need a break!
**********
Sources
Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama. (New Yorker)
Who is “Americans for Prosperity”? (Washington Post)
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: Funded by the Koch Bros. (Mother Jones)
Why did Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker take a call from ‘David Koch’? (Christian Science Monitor)
Billionaire Brothers’ Money Plays Role in Wisconsin Dispute (New York Times)
On prank call, Wis. governor discusses strategy (Yahoo)
Koch Front Group Americans For Prosperity: ‘Take The Unions Out At The Knees’ (Think Progress)
Union Busting: The Real Call from the Koch Brothers (Huffington Post)
Charles And David Koch Exposed For Insidious Role In Crafting The Modern Right (Think Progress)
For Further Reading
Koch-Powered Tea Party Pushes Climate Denial Bill In New Hampshire (Think Progress)
Commentary: Koch brothers and the union-busting Kansas House (The Kansas City Star)
To all,
“Silly me in thinking that it is there job …”
“THEIR”
Please excuse the spelling and grammatical errors – I’m barely through my first cup of coffee!
rafflaw,
I think you’re rubbing off on me!
Here’s one more unlikely source of truth telling:
Elaine M,
I forgot about that – thanks for the reminder.
Anderson Cooper may be the exception to the rule these days. He also called out Michelle “Bat-Sh*t” Bachmann for her lack of historical knowledge.
Mrs.M:
May I also give my KUDOS!!,After getting all the info I guess the real up setting thing is seeing how many people are so misinformed on the issue and are taking to that misinformation like catnip.
Stamford Liberal,
Just recently, Anderson Cooper took the heat from some people for calling Mubarak a liar.
OS,
Yeah, the flamingo hat threw me off, too. Maybe she was also protesting for Greenpeach and, “Save the Flamingos?” 🙂
I also agree with your take on the MSM. I read my local paper just to keep up with local issues and events, but I cannot remember the last time I sat through any evening newscasts. Most, if not all of my news comes from the internet. The MSM are more concerned, in the name of “objectivity”, with how they will be perceived if they dare speak out against falsehoods put forth by politicians, etc., than they are in pointing out the hypocrisy exhibited by policitians, etc. Silly me in thinking that it is there job to point out falsehoods and hypocrisy. Edward Murrow must be spinning in his grave.
Elaine M’s indepth coverage of what is happening in WI, and by extension the country, is enough to put network and cable news to shame. And she is doing so quite effectively.
OS:
“Another reason the MSM is becoming more and more irrelevant.”
Case in point,I just caught the roundtable on Meet The Press,not the interview with Governor Walker for I knew where that would be going,they seem to have a decent panel but when they went to commercial after discussion their postitions on what walker said,I’m sitting here saying, What??
eniobob: Another reason the MSM is becoming more and more irrelevant. It is the reason I did not renew my subscription to either of our local newspapers, and seldom watch the evening news any more. If you stop and think about it, more of our news feeds are coming through the internet than ever before. We can get unfiltered video from the streets of Cairo, strange news of the weird, and local news items of interest that would never have made it into the local paper. Whether this is a good thing or not is a matter of opinion.
I know one newspaper editor and photographer who quit his job because as he put it, “Dead tree journalism is dying and I do not want to be the one left to turn out the lights.”
Speaking of crowd sizes,I saw where someone said if it was a tea party demo with 50 people the media would have been all over it,but since it wasn’t and on a week-end I guess it dosen’t rate.
Coverage has been little to none accept probably like here in Jersey,they showed our state and what was going on in New York.
Woosty,
It does no harm to remind people of the truth. We hear lies being repeated all the time–so much so that many have come to believe that those lies are the truth.
silly me…I spoke before reading all the posts…Buddha has this angle well in hand (as usual) ….I am just not speedy enuff……:[
Stamford Liberal: I agree that the “DOPE” sign was great. My personal favorite is “Stop the Imperial Walker,” for pure creativity. And do not forget the lady in the flamingo hat. Not sure of her message, but anything that can make one smile at a time like this has to be a Good Thing.
Dick Grabble 1, February 26, 2011 at 6:03 pm
“The Kochs are libertarians not fascists.”
__________________
Are they Libertarians behaving like fascists?
====================
lib·er·tar·i·an (lbr-târ-n)
n.
1. One who advocates maximizing individual rights and minimizing the role of the state.
2. One who believes in free will.
[From liberty.]
liber·tari·an adj.
liber·tari·an·ism n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
_______________________
…’cause they apparently don’t beleive in anyone else having free will or right to speech (and collective bargaining…which would crtnly minimize the states involvement ) not to mention they seem to be perfectly happy to UTILIZE the so called ‘State’ (ala Scalia, Walker …that other Judge…etal…..)….!
Oh, my! Freudian slip … “Koch = Soros does not compute” …
OS,
I looked at the pictures on the Daily Kos link – thank you! I think my favorite sign was the “Dope” sign – Lol.
Elaine M,
I echo many of the sentiments here. You have done an outstanding job in keeping this topic front and center. You are to be commended for your efforts!
Dickey,
What Mike Spindell said. Your Kock = Soros does not compute.
“He’s not one of us”
….pardon me while I gak excessively…..
“Bdaman 1, February 26, 2011 at 10:02 pm
I looked at the pictures from the Daily Kos. The thing that stuck out to me is out of all those pictures and looking deep into them I only counted 3 black people. If that was a Tea Party march you would say they are racist. Just sayin.”
Can only give you my opinion,the marchers know who is who and the people of color who live in the state know what side has their best interest in mind.
Wether seen or not there is one binding word:
“sol·i·dar·i·ty (sl-dr-t)
n.
A union of interests, purposes, or sympathies among members of a group; fellowship of responsibilities and interests”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/50261.html GOP bets its future on Wisconsin. Wisconsin used to be a bastion of liberalism in the midwest.
I see my Governor is going to be on TV again this morning,the “new darling”of the media.
I asked a local reporter about this for she had written a piece earlier about Christie,and I wanted to know why he seemed to be so popular outside of our state:
“Thank you for your e-mail. I can assure you that your sentiments were shared by many more who wrote to me this weekend about Gov. Christie’s comments after returning from Disney.
I think the popularity they are referring to is that which extends beyond the boundaries of New Jersey. He has amassed a large following nationwide, sometimes that is incompatible with the sentiments of the people in the state.
I suppose Vitter and Christie are quite different. But if Vitter can get through that situation, it would seem a politician can weather any storm.
Thank you again for your e-mail.
——————–
The Star-Ledger Statehouse bureau
Sent: Sunday, January 02, 2011 6:10 PM
Subject: Christie sent wrong message
I hope this short e-mail finds you well and preparing to tackle the challenges of the in coming New Year,which my family and I wish you a happy and healthy one.
Liked your article but I think Bob Mann is comparing Sen. David Vitter(La) situation to Governor Christies is like Apples and Santa Claus Melons,not even close.
The other thing I find puzzling is the other day I caught I think her name is Michelle Bernard on Hardball with Chris Matthews say something to the effect of the Governor being “popular” I had heard this said awhile back on another program which name escapes for now.With who?
But where is that coming from?
christie 49%
corzine 45%
They also keep refering to Christie as the one who started this stuff with the Unions,The Teachers union to be exact and this happened Friday:
TRENTON — There were cheeseheads, signs calling for the recall of Gov. Chris Christie, and chants about solidarity.
Bemoaning what some called a nationwide attack on the middle class, poncho-clad public workers flooded Trenton Friday in a show of support for employees in Wisconsin, where Gov. Scott Walker has called for an end to collective bargaining. The rally, organized by the state AFL-CIO, attracted a crowd of about 3,100, State Police said.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/nj_public_workers_rally_at_sta.html
I see Walkers going to be on meet the press this morning.
The Tea Party Patriots met in Phoenix yesterday. The mentionimg of Scott Walker’s name drew many standing ovations. Pawlenty and Ron Paul were the speakers. As Frank Rich said in today’s NYT, “the goal is to destroy government not balance the budget.”