Beware the Last Minute Political Ad Blitz - Follow the Money!

Use your vote to show that our country is NOT for sale. Watch for and disregard ads sponsored by these groups.  They have a hidden (or perhaps, not-so-hidden) agenda.

• Americans for Prosperity, 
• the American Energy Alliance, 
• Concerned Veterans for America, 
• the Freedom Partners 
• Chamber of Commerce, 
• Generation Opportunity and 
• the 60 Plus Association

     (Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/09/04/one-out-of-every-10-ads-run-in-the-2014-election-have-ties-to-the-koch-brothers/)

These groups are heavily funded by the Koch brothers who are notorious for selecting politicians who will vote in ways that disregard the public interest and promote the Kochs' business interests.

The Koch brothers have made their fortunes in industries that pollute. (Source: http://www.inspirationgreen.com/koch-brothers-products.html)

University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute, shows Koch Industries as the nation’s 14th largest polluter/emitter. But with their 2013 purchase of Molex, Inc they will slide closer to the top. See detailed emissions breakdowns - www.peri.umass.edu/toxic_index 

Koch Industries spent a total of $37.9 million on oil and gas lobbying during 2006 to 2009. www.sourcewatch.org

According to the International Forum on Globalization, Charles and David Koch are America’s single largest source of private money for attacks against environmental protections. They have spent over $643 million to block or rollback legal protections for clean air, clean energy, clean water, and other environmental issues through sketchy scientific research, lobbying lawmakers, contributing to electoral candidates’ campaigns, media manipulation, etc. kochcash.files.wordpress.com 

Petroleum coke (a byproduct of tar sands refining) has been irritating numerous residents in both Chicago and Detroit. Koch Carbon is storing enormous quantities of petroleum coke on the banks of Chicago’s Calumet River and Michigan's Detroit River. The ever growing piles await processing, but refineries cannot keep up with the quantity. thinkprogress.org

A routine aerial inspection found Koch Pipeline Co. spilled 400 gallons of crude oil in Texas in late October, 2013.

I repeat: Use your vote to show that our country is NOT for sale.

Is the US No Longer a Democracy?

Severe financial inequality and "money as speech" = US oligarchy (rule by the richest few).

Among the blog posts worth taking time to read are:

Erza Klein's: http://www.vox.com/2014/4/11/5581272/doom-loop-oligarchy

Matthew Yglesias': http://www.vox.com/2014/10/2/6889147/winship-tcherneva-inequality-debate

Kevin Drum's: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/09/rich-are-getting-richer-part-millionth

The only way to maintain our democracy is for ALL eligible voters to get informed and VOTE.

How Big Money Endangers Democracy

This video by Robert Reich* recently came to my attention.  In 3 minutes, it provides the premiere example of how big money endangers democracy.

http://youtu.be/QJip9qX-Qy8

It's an easy way to get informed about this important issue.  You might want to take a look at Reich's YouTube videos on other topics such as raising the minimum wage, too.

* Robert B. Reich (currently a Professor of Public Policy at University of California at Berkeley) has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He also served on President-Elect Obama’s transition advisory board. He has written twelve books, including The Work of Nations, which has been translated into 22 languages; the best-sellers The Future of Success and Locked in the Cabinet,Supercapitalism, Aftershock and Beyond Outrage.