Americans should hope that their government weighs decisions
affecting the outcome of America’s electoral process on laws and
reality; not out of sorrow for fabricated suffering and misfortunes of
billionaires claiming they are targets of disparaging public commentary
and scorn. A little over three years ago, the conservative Supreme Court
was overwhelmed with pity and sorrow for the Koch brothers and their
surrogate wingnut non-profit, Citizens United, and ruled that after
being put upon by Federal Elections Commission rules regarding
corporate campaign finance laws, the wealthiest corporations were
entitled to First Amendment protections prohibiting government from
restricting political independent expenditures by corporations.
Up until the time the High Court ruling on Citizens United was handed
down, the public was oblivious to the Koch brothers’ machinations to
hijack the electoral process resulting in little to no public outcry
against exempting the richest corporations in the nation from buying
elections. It appears Americans are being kept unawares again as the
Koch’s so-called grass-roots organization, the teabaggers, have asked
for an FEC exemption on campaign finance disclosure rules.
The teabaggers
appealed
directly to the Federal Elections Commission in September with the
outrageous claim they are being assailed by, and encounter unprecedented
harassment from, both government officials and private actors. Their
appeal claimed their wealthy corporate contributors face widespread
hostility and “
a reasonable probability of threats, harassment, or reprisal” because of their extraordinary desire to “
curb increasing government infringement of their individual liberties.”
The Koch brothers’ organization also asserted that all they are
comprised of are besieged individual groups who share common values
including “
limited federal government, respect for the original
meaning of the Constitution, fiscal responsibility, and returning
political power to the states and the people.”
To garner extra pity, the appeal claimed “
the tea party is not a political party because it does not nominate candidates to federal office.”
One wonders if Koch brother acolytes and tea party Senators Ted Cruz,
Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and Marco Rubio, as well as a herd of congressional
representatives qualified as candidates for federal office. It is
claims like “
the tea party is not a political party” that
engenders some of the harassment as filthy liars and imbeciles the group
claims qualifies them for exemption from campaign finance laws. To
garner even more pity, the teabaggers claimed it is just a simple “
nationwide grassroots movement that arose organically in 2009 out of an immense”
hatred for the federal government; especially since the American people
elected an African American man as President. The billionaire Koch
brothers and their dark money certainly played a crucial role in the
ascendance of the teabaggers who also benefitted from the Kochs’
influence on the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.
The FEC seems conflicted about whether to give the Koch brothers
(teabagger) organization an exemption from adhering to campaign finance
disclosure laws based on if they are either beleaguered victims of
public derision and mockery, or just another political party and dark
money concealment mechanism. In fact, although there is a public hearing
to settle the issue set for November 21
st, the FEC has drafted
two separate rulings in advance of the November 21
st
hearing to either; grant the Kochs an exemption based on the
teabagger’s claim of public harassment and ridicule, or a rejection
because the Koch’s teabaggers are not, as they claim, a minor party or
organization. It has been
well-documented,
beyond a shadow of doubt, that the teabaggers are not an “
organic grass roots organization,”
and although their limited government, states’ supremacy, fiscal
austerity, and individual liberty to flaunt federal law goals may be
sincere, they were cultivated, incited, and
heavily funded by the libertarian billionaire Koch brothers.
That the FEC is even considering granting the Koch brothers’ tea
party an exemption from FEC reporting and disclosure requirements,
including their dark money donors, is beyond outrageous in light of the
democracy-killing Citizens United ruling courtesy of Koch surrogates
Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia on the wingnut Supreme Court.
It is little surprise that, like the Citizens United ruling, the Kochs’
organization is appealing directly to the FEC leading up to the 2014
midterm elections. Americans are still reeling from the devastating
effects of the Citizens United ruling on the 2010 midterms, and with
news that the Kochs and teabagger Ted Cruz are embroiled in a shadowy tea party scheme driving a wingnut group “
masquerading as a mainstream non-profit to push extremist laws”
in every state, the likelihood they would transfer millions to an
exempt organization is very real outcome of an FEC ruling favorable to
the Kochs.
The report by the Center for Media and Democracy focusing on the State Policy Network revealed that the “
network” and its “
affiliates” are pouring $83 million in the states to promote an extreme conservative agenda, and they claim “
that money is on the rise.”
The group is backed by the Koch brothers and teabagger Ted Cruz, as
well as numerous ties to ALEC. At its annual meeting in September there
were representatives from “
Koch Industries, the Charles Koch
Institute, the Charles Koch Foundation, and several Koch-backed wingnut groups such as Americans for Prosperity.” With the group
being investigated for orchestrating extensive lobbying and political
operations while registered as educational nonprofits peddling an
extreme conservative agenda to state legislators, it appears they are “
in violation of IRS’ regulations on nonprofit political and lobbying activities.”
A favorable ruling by the FEC granting the Kochs’ teabaggers an
exemption to conceal their dark money makes it reasonable to assume the
billionaire libertarians would simply shift tens-of-millions to
teabaggers under cover of an FEC exemption.
Although the audacity of the Kochs’ teabaggers to demand an exemption
from FEC campaign disclosure laws is an affront to the American people,
and democracy, it should not surprise anyone. What is shocking is that
the FEC even remotely considered drafting a favorable ruling to the
Kochs’ organization; particularly in advance of a hearing a week away
and especially based on their claim they are not a political party, are
offended they are the butt of Americans’ jokes, and claim they face a “
reasonable probability of threats, harassment, or reprisal”
if they reveal their financing comes from the Koch brothers. Unlike the
Koch brothers’ surrogates on the Supreme Court sneak attack on
democracy, alerts from at least one
progressive watchdog exposed the Kochs’ stealth attack on democracy leading up to the 2014 midterm elections.
News of this blatant assault on the electoral process should enrage
the people and incite them to mobilize and march on FEC headquarters on
November 21st to demand they reject the Kochs’ teabagger exemption with
extreme prejudice. In lieu of a mass in-person advance on the FEC
hearing to demand the Koch’s attempt to hijack another midterm election
is stopped in its tracks, there is a
petition to demand that the “
FEC Don’t Let Billionaires Buy Our Election”
here.
The Koch brothers own repugicans in Congress, governors’ mansions, and
state legislatures, two Supreme Court Justices, and are attempting to
own the electoral process outright. After the Citizens United ruling, if
the FEC exempts the Kochs’ teabagger organization from adhering to
campaign disclosure rules, they will finally achieve their ultimate goal
and own America.
Today is - Globally Organized Hug A Runner Day aka G.O. H.A.R.D.
I
suspect that most Americans will be familiar with both terms, thanks to
the prevalence of British television in the United States (thank you, Doctor Who and Downton Abbey).
The human mind is amazingly resilient, which becomes evident in so many different ways. One is 
