"March 7, 2014, 9:05 am
The Senate Majority Leader has decided to try to shame and silence a private citizen for daring to engage in political discourse. Here is Harry Reid:
I believe in an America where economic opportunity is open to all. And based on their actions and policies they promote, the Koch brothers seem to believe in an America where the system is rigged to benefit the very wealthy.
Remember that this is coming from the man who has somehow become a multi-multi-millionaire over a lifetime of only holding government jobs.
Contrast this with Charles Koch's actual words, parts of which could have come out of the mouth of an occupy Wall Street protester:
I think one of the biggest problems we have in the country is this rampant cronyism where all these large companies are into smash-and-grab, short-term profits, saying how do I get a regulation, or we don’t want to export natural gas because it’s one of our raw materials … Well, you say you believe in free markets, but by your actions you obviously don’t. You believe in cronyism.
And that’s true even at the local level. I mean, how does somebody get started if you have to pay $100,000 or $300,000 to get a medallion to drive a taxi cab? You have to go to school for two years to be a hairdresser. You name it, in every industry we have this. The successful companies try to keep the new entrants down. Now that’s great for a company like ours. We make more money that way because we have less competition and less innovation. But for the country as a whole, it’s horrible.
And for disadvantaged people trying to get started, it’s unconscionable in my view. I think it’s in our long-term interest, in every American’s long-term interest, to fight against this cronyism."...
The World's Most Famous Investor Is Now Investing in...
March 11, 2014, 8:29 pm
...government access. Clearly Warren Buffet saw the writing on the wall in 2009, that the way to make money in the US was no longer to build products and factories but to invest in lobbying to get crony advantages and giveaways"
Democrats claim the Koch brothers want to ‘protect tax cuts for companies that ship our jobs overseas’
“Out-of-state billionaires spending millions to rig the system and elect Bill Cassidy. Their goal: Another politician bought and paid for. Their agenda: Protect tax cuts for companies that ship our jobs overseas. Cut Social Security and end Medicare as we know it. They even tried to kill relief for hurricane victims. Cassidy’s billion-dollar backers: They’ve got a plan for him. It’s not good for Louisiana.”
Voiceover for new ad sponsored by the Senate Majority PAC, attacking GOP Senate candidate Bill Cassidy
The Pinocchio Test
Upon examination, this claim crumbles into dust. The ad not only mischaracterizes an ordinary tax deduction as a special “tax cut” but then it falsely asserts that “protecting” this tax break is part of the Koch agenda. It turns out this claim is based on a tenuous link to an organization that never even took a position on the legislation in question.
We often have been critical of AFP ads, and we realize Democrats want to fight back against an onslaught of attacks. But if you want to join a gun fight, don’t fire blanks.
