Kochs’ vast dark money network exposed

New tax filings by a Koch-funded front group reveal the staggering scope of the political machine that wants to destroy workers' rights and turn us into feudal serfs. Exposed secret political spending by “Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce,” which included $250 million during the 2012 election cycle, shines a light on the vast shadowy network of organizations, LLCs and business groups promoting anti-worker causes.

Our friends at the Center for Media and Democracy have the story:

The Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce's tax filing also lists the names and amounts of all of the entities it funded between late 2011 and the eve of the 2012 elections. Here is the list of the top five groups to which the Kochs' Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce funneled millions:

• "Corner Table LLC," known as the "Center to Protect Patient Rights" (CPPR): three infusions of cash totaling $114,678,000. CPPR is at the center of a probe by the California Elections Board on "dark money" spent through shell groups to influence two ballot initiatives, among other concerns that have been raised about it.    

• "PR Dist LLC," described as "Americans for Prosperity," which is directed by David Koch: two infusions totaling $31,600,000.  

• "The 60 Plus Association Inc.," $15,660,000  

• "American Future Fund," $13,600,000 

• "Concerned Women for American Legislative Action Committee," $8,150,000

Freedom Partners’ tax report also shows it owns five other shell game groups that all share the same Washington DC street address: “American Entrepreneur Fund LLC,” “American Enterprise Group LLC,” “American Strategies Group LLC,” “MIC LLC,” and “American Strategic Innovations LLC."

Creepy!

CMD reports that the “National Federation of Independent Business” received $2.5 from the Koch-funded “Freedom Partners” group. The NFIB claims to represent the interests of small business owners, yet it’s getting millions from the Kochs’ big corporation ... which would just as soon crush the small businesses that try to compete with it.

And in case you needed a reminder of how intricate and well-funded the right-wing anti-worker arsenal is, there’s more:

Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce spent another $50 million on other groups, cumulatively, some of which are well known and some of which have flown below the public's radar:

• "American Commitment," $6,260,000 

• "Partnership for Ohio's Future," $500,000  

• "West Michigan Policy Forum," $1,000,000  

• "American Energy Alliance," $1,460,000 (has previously been connected to the Kochs) 

• "American Values Action," $230,000 (spent $14 million on "independent expenditures" including phone calls against Obama during the 2012 election; donors unknown/not registered as a PAC)  

• "Common Sense Issues, Inc.," $50,000 

• "Heritage Action for America, Inc.," $500,000 (connected to the Heritage Foundation, which has deep Koch connections)  

• "ORRA LLC (EVANGCH4 Trust)," $5,055,000 

• "POFN LLC (Public Notice)," $5,466,250  

• "Republican Jewish Coalition," $700,000

• "RION LLC (Center for Shared Service Trust), $2,738,000 (closely connected to the Charles Koch Foundation)

• "SLAH LLC (Public Engagement Trust)," $1,500,000 (Arlington)

• "State Tea Party Express," $600,000 (operates out of Willows, California)

• "STN LLC (Themis Trust)," $5,781,000

• "TONA LLC (Libre Initiative Trust)," $3,112,000

• "Tea Party Patriots," $200,000 (operating out of Woodstock, Georgia)

• "TRGN LLC (Generation Opportunity), $5,040,000 (a group aimed at Gen X that tries to pin the economic crash that began under President George W. Bush on Democrats)

• "The National Right to Work Committee," $1,000,000 (which pushes anti-worker, union-busting measures)

The next time you hear about a “grassroots” organization of concerned citizens whining about “big government” and “big labor” while calling for things like “right to work” for less laws and financial deregulation, odds are that those ordinary folks are in fact right-wing billionaire goons – or at least they’re getting paid by right-wing billionaire goons.  

Today's Teamster News 07.29.11

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SB 5 referendum will be Issue 2 on November ballot  Columbus Disptach   ...Issue 1 is a proposal from the legislature to change the state constitution so that judges don't face mandatory retirement until age 70, up from the current 65...
Reports: Tension growing between Gov. Snyder, Republican legislators  Mlive.com   ...state Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, pressed Snyder during the meeting about advancing "Right to Life" issues. Snyder ... said his focus will remain on other issues, such as the fiscally conservative budget-cutting agenda ...
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How Shadowy Right-Wing Front Groups Engineered Our National Embrace Of Debt Reduction Over Job Creation  ThinkProgress   ...Since the end of the Bush presidency, shadowy right-wing groups, many of them formed for this very purpose, have primed the public with a sophisticated public relations campaign to shift the national discourse to a focus on debt reduction...

Meet the think tanks paid to wage war on workers

We've bitched about the Koch brothers trying to destroy the middle class, and the DeVoses for their efforts to get rid of public education. Unfortunately, there are plenty more malanthropists where they come from. Today,  Mother Jones revealed more about the "think tanks" paid by plutocrats to attack workers. Writes Andy Kroll,

Conceived by the same conservative ideologues who helped found the Heritage Foundation, the State Policy Network (SPN) is a little-known umbrella group with deep ties to the national conservative movement. Its mission is simple: to back a constellation of state-level think tanks loosely modeled after Heritage that promote free-market principles and rail against unions, regulation, and tax increases.

Kroll reports the SPN was founded in 1992 by Ronald Reagan pal Thomas Roe—who also served on the Heritage Foundation's board of trustees for two decades. The SPN now has 59 "freedom centers," or affiliated think tanks, in all 50 states. It's funded by the usual suspects.

So when the plutocrats' candidates took over state legislatures and governors' offices in November, they played out a drama scripted by the SPN think tanks.

• Iowa's double-dipping governor, Terry Branstad used research by SPN's Public Interest Institute as justification for curbing public workers' collective bargaining rights. (It died in the Senate.)
• Michigan's Mackinac Center for Public Policy, recommended financial martial law, which passed in March. Now Detroit's teachers all have pink slips and Benton Harbor residents are being taxed without representation. 
• Nevada's Policy Research Institute (NPRI) came up with data to support a bill weakening collective bargaining rights.
• In California, the Pacific Research Institute puts out reports and op-eds to attack collective bargaining for teachers.
• In Wisconsin, the MacIver Institute and Wisconsin Policy Research Institute supported fellow Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker; the MacIver Institute even produced a video calling workers who protested in Madison communists and socialists.
• In Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs urged lawmakers in support of a bill to strip collective bargaining rights from government workers. (The governor is expected to sign the bill into law.)

And people made fun of Hillary Clinton for complaining about a "vast right-wing network."