Rolling Stone's article Inside the Koch Brothers' Toxic Empire, by Tom Dickinson, published September 24,2014, is a deep probe into who the Koch brothers are, and why they pose a real threat to all Americans. Before reading this article, all I knew about the Koch brothers was that they were pouring money into Tea Party and Republican elections. After reading this incredibly informative piece, I developed a new fear for America, and I started to see the importance of overturning Citizens United. It is also very clear why those who've benefited from the Koch Brothers' donations deny the science behind Climate Change.
The short story can be summed up quite easily. The Koch Brothers own an empire making money off oil and its byproducts. Through Citizens United, the Koch Brothers donate money to politicians to help them get elected. When they are elected, those politicians embrace the beliefs of Citizens United, which lead to denial of climate change, and actions to benefit corporate interests.
The whole picture is quite scary and poses real threats to the environment and America's people.
What is Citizens United?
The website Reclaim Democracy explains Citizens United in a simple way. Citizens United is a Political Action Committee (PAC) that sued the Federal Election Commission, claiming the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act was unconstitutional. The Act "barred corporations and unions from paying for media that mentioned any candidate in periods immediately preceding elections."
Citizens United then challenged the Act and the Supreme Court ruled the restrictions put forth by the Act as unconstitutional. The law now enables corporations and unions to spend money on elections, as they see fit. A big key here is to remember the following:
"Citizens United is a group that promotes corporate interests, socially conservative causes and candidates who advance their goals, which it says are 'limited government, freedom of enterprise, strong families, and national sovereignty and security'"What does this translate to?
Any politician funded by Citizens United will be chained to the ideals they've essentially promised to represent by accepting the funds. This includes things like keeping tax rates low for corporations, prevent abortions by passing laws that limit or eliminate a pro-choice environment, supporting controls on whether or not a company's insurance will provide birth control to women, stand against marriage equality and gay rights, and even the denial of climate change (which will be explained further when the Koch Brothers are discussed). It also means anti-immigration reform, and support of wars for national security.
Corporations need to pay more taxes. It's that simple.
Senator Bernie Sander (I-VT) has mentioned several times on his Facebook page how corporations aren't paying enough taxes:
"In 1952, corporate America paid 32% of all federal taxes. Today, despite record-breaking profits, they pay less than 10% and 1 out of 4 large profitable corporations pay NOTHING in federal income taxes. The wealthy and large corporations much pay their fair share of taxes. We need real tax reform."
Think about that for a moment. Let it sink it. Citizens United gives to the Tea Party and Republicans, and they in turn are pro-corporate interests, which means keeping tax breaks in place. This means the rich get richer, and the money never trickles down. Ever.
America should fear the Koch Brothers.
First, a quick definition for you: oligarchy is when government is dominated by only a few, affluent people. The Koch Brothers are oligarchs because they essentially own the Tea Party, and their attempt to pour millions of dollars into the recent mid-term elections paid off nicely for them. Republicans don't own the House and Senate; the Koch Brothers do. This is when democracy died.
A recent list of the top five richest people in America showed the Koch Brothers holding the #4 and #5 places. I have to apologize, I don't have a reference for this, as I saw it on a political news program. The Rolling Stone article on the Koch Brothers noted how Forbes has estimated Koch Industries as earning $115 billion in annual revenue. That's almost an unlimited amount of spending that could be contributed the Citizens United. They could easily put $1 billion into the honey pot, and it wouldn't make a dent in their bottom line. That's a lot of votes they could and do buy.
Outside of the oligarchs themselves, what Koch Industries has done to the environment is reprehensible, and they continue to act in a way that treats mother nature like their own personal landfill for toxic waste. Why? Because when they screw up and break environmental laws or have accidents that pollute the environment, they simply pay up and keep working as usual.
Here's a quick rundown of just a few of the atrocities committed by the Koch Empire, as mentioned in Tim Dickinson's article:
- In the past 50 years, their company as paid out record-breaking penalties for civil and criminal environmental actions
- Koch Industries is in the top three corporation that pollute the environment. They pollute more than the other two companies combined
- Their company ranks #13 in the nation for pollution of the air with toxic chemicals, and generates 24 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year.
And this my friends is exactly why you hear many Republicans say "I'm not a scientist, but..." and then deny the existence of Climate Change. They're protecting their wallets and the people funding their elections.
What can be done?
There are many things you can do to slow the effect of the influence of the Koch Empire (yes, like in Star Wars, they are a twin version of the Emperor). First, support the effort to overturn the Citizens United ruling. There are Senators supporting this effort. Write to your Senators and tell them how you feel about the ruling. You can also participate in local efforts to protest women's suppression. Women have had a long battle to earn the right to insurance covered birth control and the right to choose to terminate a pregnancy. Although you may not agree with abortion, the right to choose is important to keep available so women don't die in back-alleys like before Roe v. Wade. Most of all, stop voting for politicians benefiting from the Koch Empire. Learn more about the people you are voting for, and become educated on their agenda. Ask yourself if a candidate will help protect the environment, women, and the interests of America's tax system: one that benefits all, and not just the richest of the rich.
Be sure you take some time to read Tim Dickinson's article on the Koch Brothers. It not only talks about their "toxic" empire, but it explains how the Koch family came to be, every type of business they are involved in (which extends far beyond their hands in the oil business), and goes in depth on the topic of the environment and the Koch Brother's irresponsible, heartless actions. Once you read everything, fear of where this country is headed may be a little overwhelming at first. Remember, we can do something about it when we work together to make a positive, progressive change for America.
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