Atlantis Online
March 28, 2024, 04:30:49 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: DID A COMET CAUSE A FIRESTORM THAT DEVESTATED NORTH AMERICA 12,900 YEARS AGO?
http://atlantisonline.smfforfree2.com/index.php/topic,1963.0.html
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

Koch Brothers, Allies Pledge $100 Million At Private Meeting To Beat Obama

Pages: [1]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Koch Brothers, Allies Pledge $100 Million At Private Meeting To Beat Obama  (Read 310 times)
0 Members and 12 Guests are viewing this topic.
Jade Hellene
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 3488



« on: February 05, 2012, 07:11:51 pm »

Amanda Terkel
Amanda Terkel aterkel@huffingtonpost.com
Ryan Grim ryan@huffingtonpost.com Become a fan of this reporter
GET UPDATES FROM Ryan
 
Koch Brothers, Allies Pledge $100 Million At Private Meeting To Beat Obama


First Posted: 02/ 3/2012 3:43 pm Updated: 02/ 3/2012 9:05 pm



David Koch, executive vice president of Koch Industries, attends a meeting of the Economic Club of New York, Monday, April 11, 2011. (AP)

WASHINGTON -- At a private three-day retreat in California last weekend, conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch and about 250 to 300 other individuals pledged approximately $100 million to defeat President Obama in the 2012 elections.

A source who was in the room when the pledges were made told The Huffington Post that, specifically, Charles Koch pledged $40 million and David pledged $20 million.

The semi-annual, invitation-only meeting attracts wealthy donors, Republican politicians and conservative activists. Last year, hundreds of activists gathered outside the walled-off resort to protest the meeting. This year, however, the conference went off quietly.

"Conference organizers and their guests successfully slipped in and out of the Coachella Valley without being detected, by buying out nearly all of the 500-plus rooms at the Renaissance Esmeralda resort in Indian Wells," reported The Desert Sun. "The resort closed its restaurants, locked down the grounds with private security guards and sent many workers home."

This is the ninth straight year the Kochs have hosted the conference. As Politico reported last year, the meetings often adjourn "after soliciting pledges of support from the donors -- sometimes totaling as much as $50 million -- to nonprofit groups favored by the Kochs."

The fact that the wealthy conservative donors pledged $100 million for the 2012 elections shows how intent they are on trying to get Obama out of office -- and previews how intense, and likely nasty, the general election will be.

There are limits on how much an individual can give to a political candidate. Therefore, much of the money pledged at the recent gathering will likely go to super PACs or nonprofits that can spend and accept unlimited amounts of funds. GOP primary voters have already gotten a glimpse of how the political system looks with super PACs around: record amounts of money spent on a large number of negative ads in the early primary states.

The source told The Huffington Post that they lamented the direction the conference has taken over the years. They said it used to be about "conservative strategy" and building a movement, but now it was mostly an "alpha male" spectacle focused on fundraising to beat Obama.

The Koch brothers have been the major donors behind many Republican candidates, the Tea Party movement and efforts to discredit the science around man-made global warming. Democrats frequently highlight the brothers to fundraise, and the first TV ad of the Obama reelection campaign invoked them as "secretive oil billionaires attacking President Obama with ads fact checkers say are not tethered to the facts."

Also at the conference was Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of the Citadel Investment Group. He supported Obama in 2008, leading his employees to contribute more than $205,000 to the campaign. By the time of the election, however, he had switched his allegiance to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Since the election, he has openly discussed his "frustration" with Obama's policies, stating that he is "greatly concerned about the fiscal instability of the U.S." In the fourth quarter of 2011, Citadel employees completely abandoned Obama, contributing nothing to his campaign while giving $120,500 to presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

The Center for Public Integrity also reported that for the first time, Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson attended the conference. Adelson and his family are largely bankrolling Newt Gingrich's presidential run, with Adelson and his wife, Miriam, having given the pro-Gingrich super PAC Winning Our Future $10 million just this year.

Koch Industries did not return a request for comment.
Report Spam   Logged

Sort through the media disinformation:
http://mediamatters.org/

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Jade Hellene
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 3488



« Reply #1 on: February 05, 2012, 07:13:46 pm »

The Supreme Court decision of "Citizens United" has absolutely guaranteed the dirtiest, most underhande­d, money-cont­rolled elections in American history.


And the sounds from FAUX News GOP talking point memo parrots who continue to blast those like George Soros who donate to the democrats decrying "the ultra rich buying influence within the party to further their agenda"...­..........­..........­.......*cr­ickets*
Report Spam   Logged

Sort through the media disinformation:
http://mediamatters.org/
Jade Hellene
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 3488



« Reply #2 on: February 05, 2012, 07:14:43 pm »

The return on this $100 million investment will be miniscule in comparisio­n to what theIR return will be if they are successful in promoting Romney to the POTUS. With the "INHERITAN­CE TAX" either eliminated or reduced, just think of the savings. i.e.: Return. For instance: Walton family: 3 members in the top 10 wealthiest­. Total Worth: $120 Billion, cut the inheritanc­e tax to 5% in lieu of 20%, savings: $240 Billion minus $60 Billion equals: $180 Billion in inheritanc­e tax savings. Not bad for a weekend's work and a combined $100 million invested. And the sad part of the equation, is this: how does the federal government make up for the reduction in tax income by this adjustment­? You don't even have to guess, you know the answer: YOU AND I !!
Report Spam   Logged

Sort through the media disinformation:
http://mediamatters.org/
Pages: [1]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy