Koch Brothers “Prank” No Laughing Matter

Published on Thursday, February 24, 2011 by PR Watch
by Mary Bottari

Embattled Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker came under fire today after news broke about statements he made in a 20-minute phone call from a Boston-area alternative news reporter posing as David Koch, a billionaire whose PAC directly supported Walker and who has given millions to groups that have run ads to aid Walker's rise to the state's highest office. (Listen to the call here.)

As the Center for Media and Democracy has reported, the Koch PAC not only spent $43,000 directly on Walkers race, but Koch personally donated $1 million to the Republican Governor’s Association which spent $5 million in the state. Besides the Governor, Koch Brother’s has other “vested interests" in the state.

They include Koch Pipeline Company, which operates a pipeline system that crosses Wisconsin. It also owns Flint Hill Resources, which distributes refined fuel through pipelines and terminals in Junction City, Waupun, Madison and Milwaukee. Koch Industries also owns the C. Reiss Coal Company, a power plant company located in Green Bay, Manitowoc, Ashland and Sheboygan.

The Koch brothers opened a lobby shop in Wisconsin two days after Walker was elected, and many protesters have suspected that the “budget repair bill” provisions allowing the no-bid sell-off of any state-owned heating, cooling, or power plant, plus new rules on pipeline transport may be of interest to Koch. The company has denied any interest in these assets. Transcript Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns.

Pink Slips as Poker Chips Raises Legal Concerns

At the start of the conversation Walker eagerly reports on all he is doing: 

 First, he tells the fake Koch brother about a plan to change Senate rules on pay to reel-in the out-of state Democratic senators who are holding out to protect collective bargaining. The new rule would force the Senators to pick up their paychecks in-person. This rule was passed in a partisan vote in the Senate yesterday--a move that went unnoticed by the mainstream press. 

The fake Koch asks Walker how they might get others in Senate to vote to stop collective bargaining. Walker responds that he's involved the Justice Department in investigating whether the union is paying the absent Democratic senators to remain out of state, or providing them with food, shelter, etc., saying it would be an ethics violation or potentially a felony. Wisconsin legislators are well aware of these rules and have already stated they are using their own money while they are out of state.


But the Governor also explains how he is going to layoff thousands of Wisconsin workers as a tactic to get the Democrats to cooperate:  “So, we’re trying about four or five different angles. Each day we crank up a little bit more pressure. The other thing is I’ve got layoff notices ready, we put out the at-risk notices, we’ll announce Thursday, they’ll go out early next week and we’ll probably get five to six thousand state workers will get at-risk notices for layoffs. We might
ratchet that up a little bit too.”

The move has been called “despicable” and “ruthless “ and “sickening.” But most importantly, if he is choosing to lay off workers as a political tactic when he wasn’t otherwise planning to do so then it is not just morally repugnant but legally questionable. State and federal contract and labor law has protections against this type of abusive behavior and inappropriate quid pro quo.



This morning the Capital Times quotes the state’s former Attorney General: “There clearly are potential ethics violations, and there are potential election-law violations and there are a lot of what look to me like labor-law violations,” said Peg Lautenschlager, a Democrat who served as Wisconsin’s Attorney General after serving for many years as a U.S. Attorney. The head of the state teacher's association, Mary Bell, reminds us: “he literally planned to use five to six thousand hardworking Wisconsin taxpayers as political pawns in his political game. He actually thought through a strategy to lay people off – deny them the ability to feed their families – and use it as leverage for his political goals."

Kids and Hired Thugs

Walker also says he considers then rejected the idea of hiring trouble makers to disrupt the rallies which have been packed with elementary school children and highs schoolers. When fake Koch says “We’ll back you any way we can. But what we were thinking about the crowd was, uh, was planting some troublemakers.” Walker says: “we thought about that," but he rejected the idea in case it back-fired. He didn’t want to  “scare the public into thinking maybe the governor as to settle to avoid all these problems.” 



Wisconsin Ethics Rules



Wisconsin has the toughest ethics law in the nation. Public officials are prohibited from soliciting or receiving anything of value if it could reasonably be expected to influence or reward official actions. The rules against “pay to play politics” say a public official is prohibited from taking official action in exchange for political contributions or anything else of value for the benefit of a candidate, political party, or any person making certain candidate-related communications. You can’t even take a cup of coffee from a lobbyist.



Earlier in the call, Walker had asked the fake Koch for help “spreading the word,” especially in the "swing districts," in defense of his determination to break the unions and help get calls in to shore up his Republican allies in the legislature. Walker benefited from a high-dollar "issue ad" campaigns by groups funded by Koch group before the election. Americans for Prosperity, which Koch chairs, promoted and funded a couple thousand counter-protestors last Saturday.

On the same day that the scandal broke here in Wisconsin, Americans for Prosperity went up with a $342,000 TV ad campaign in support of Walker – an enormous sum in a state like Wisconsin.  If such ads are effectively coordinated with the Governor's office they may be subject to rules requiring greater disclosure of expenditures and contributors.




Toward the end of the call, the fake Koch offers to fly Walker out to California, after they "crush the bastards," and show him "a good time," to which Walker responds with enthusiasm in his voice "All right, that would be outstanding." But, Wisconsin rules bar state officials from taking action for something of value.  After Walker agrees to the junket, the fake Koch adds, "And, you know, we have a little bit of a vested interest as well" to which Walker responds, "Well that's just it."



Conclusion

So, while Walker did not apparently not recognize Koch's voice, he certainly recognized his name, eagerly recounting his efforts to crush collective bargaining in Wisconsin to an out-of-state billioniare backer and thanking him for all Koch had done for him. The entire conversation raises ethical concerns that warrant much closer examination, especially with Wisconsin's tough pay to play rules. A week ago the Center for Media and Democracy filed an open records request for the Governor's phone records, email records, and other communications. Perhaps these records will help us understand all the influences behind the Governor's recent radical actions.

Wisconsin is not Illinois, it has a reputation for being a squeaky clean state and lesser scandals have brought down political officials. Governor Walker likes to complain of “outside agitators.” Hard to imagine an agitator with more influence and money than the Koch-family.

© 2011 Center for Media & Democracy

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/02/24-6

Oil soars close to $120 on Libya fears

By Agence France-Presse
Thursday, February 24th, 2011 -- 4:27 pm

LONDON – Oil prices rocketed close to $120 on Thursday, levels unseen since mid-2008, as growing instability in Libya stoked supply jitters across the Middle East and beyond.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April rallied as high as $119.79 per barrel, the highest since August 22, 2008. It breached $110 easily on Wednesday as Libya was gripped by a fresh wave of violence and other protests continued across the Middle East.

New York's light sweet crude for April, known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), jumped to $103.41, a level last seen in late September 2008.

"Oil prices continued to surge higher as events in Libya dominate the headlines and the oil market," said Westhouse Securities analyst David Hart.

"The country's output of high-quality crude is being significantly impacted due to the exodus of foreign personnel."

The oil market has spiked higher this week as foreign energy companies have halted or cut output from Libya as a result of the violence.

Spain's biggest oil company, Repsol, stopped production there earlier this week as anti-government protests spread.

Italy's ENI, the biggest foreign energy major in Libya, said Thursday that it has cut oil production in the country by over 50 percent due to the ongoing unrest while British giant BP evacuated all expatriate staff from the restive country.

"Crude prices held up over the past week, underpinned by persistent geopolitical concerns amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East and North Africa," said VTB Capital commodities analyst Andrey Kruchenkov.

"Violence in Libya escalated with the country's Eastern provinces allegedly (escaping from) government control and reports of shutting down production capacity by oil majors."

In later afternoon deals on Thursday, Brent stood at $113.94, up $2.69 from Wednesday's closing level, while New York was $1.31 higher at $99.41 per barrel.

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi spoke Thursday to the elders of a town west of the capital where he said a drug-crazed mob of youths spurred on by Al-Qaeda had killed four policemen, urging them to bring their children under control.

Speaking on state television by phone from an undisclosed location, the embattled 68-year-old former colonel fretted about unrest in Az-Zawiyah, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Tripoli as the battle to unseat him began to encircle the capital.

Al-Jazeera television reported heavy fighting there between pro- and anti-government forces and said there had been an undetermined number of casualties.

"Increasing unrest in North Africa and the Middle East has been a key driver of the latest spike (in prices)," said Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP Capital Investors.

He said in a research note that Libya accounts for 1.8 million barrels a day of oil production, while Algeria, which has also seen protests, accounts for 2.1 million barrels.

Libya has Africa's largest oil reserves, is the continent's fourth largest producer and is a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the cartel that produces about 40 percent of global supplies.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/24/oil-soars-close-to-120-on-libya-fears/

‘Big Oil’ lobby to begin donating to political candidates

By Eric W. Dolan
Thursday, February 24th, 2011 -- 8:23 pm

The American Petroleum Institute (API), which represents more than 450 oil and natural gas companies, has announced it will start donating to political candidates this year as President Obama aims to cut subsidies to energy companies and expand environmental laws.

"This is adding one more tool to our toolkit," Martin Durbin, API’s executive vice president for government affairs, told Bloomberg in an interview. "At the end of the day, our mission is trying to influence the policy debate."

The API spent $6.7 million to lobby Congress and the White House last year, ThinkProgress reported, making it the seventh most prolific spender in the oil and gas industry, following ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Exxon-Mobil, Shell, Koch Industries and BP.

API President and CEO Jack Gerard sharply criticized President Obama proposal to cut billions in subsidies to energy companies, saying it would eliminate thousands of new jobs.

"It’s no surprise the administration is proposing yet again to raise taxes on the U.S. oil and natural gas industry," he said. "But it’s still a bad idea and comes at one of the worst times in our economic history."

In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama called for investments into clean energy, declaring they should be paid for in part by cutting federal subsidies and tax breaks for the oil industry.

Obama said the United States should get 80 percent of its electricity from clean energy sources by 2035, though he included nuclear power, "clean coal," and natural gas as part of that standard, in addition to wind and solar.

On Thursday, Richard Ranger, a senior policy adviser at API, called on President Obama to lift drilling restrictions on Alaska's outer continental shelf.

In July 2010, Greenpeace obtained an internal memo from the API that showed the institute funded and developed a fake grassroots campaign to attack environmental legislation.

"API will provide the up-front resources," the email said. "This includes contracting with a highly experienced events management company that has produced successful rallies for presidential campaigns."

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/24/big-oil-lobby-to-begin-donating-to-political-candidates/

Fox host: Wisconsin clash is about busting unions, not budget

Labor Protesters Chant "Fox Lies," "Tell The Truth" During Live Fox Reports

Study says most corporations pay no U.S. income taxes

Tue, Aug 12 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most U.S. and foreign corporations doing business in the United States avoid paying any federal income taxes, despite trillions of dollars worth of sales, a government study released on Tuesday said.

The Government Accountability Office said 72 percent of all foreign corporations and about 57 percent of U.S. companies doing business in the United States paid no federal income taxes for at least one year between 1998 and 2005.

More than half of foreign companies and about 42 percent of U.S. companies paid no U.S. income taxes for two or more years in that period, the report said.

During that time corporate sales in the United States totaled $2.5 trillion, according to Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, who requested the GAO study.

The report did not name any companies. The GAO said corporations escaped paying federal income taxes for a variety of reasons including operating losses, tax credits and an ability to use transactions within the company to shift income to low tax countries.

With the U.S. budget deficit this year running close to the record $413 billion that was set in 2004 and projected to hit a record $486 billion next year, lawmakers are looking to plug holes in the U.S. tax code and generate more revenues.

Dorgan in a statement called the report "a shocking indictment of the current tax system." Levin said it made clear that "too many corporations are using tax trickery to send their profits overseas and avoid paying their fair share in the United States."

The study showed about 28 percent of large foreign corporations, those with more than $250 million in assets, doing business in the United States paid no federal income taxes in 2005 despite $372 billion in gross receipts, the senators said. About 25 percent of the largest U.S. companies paid no federal income taxes in 2005 despite $1.1 trillion in gross sales that year, they said.

(Reporting by Donna Smith, Editing by David Wiessler)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/08/12/us-usa-taxes-corporations-idUSN1249465620080812

Murdoch Reportedly Pays $77M To Settle "Alleged Tax Avoidance Scheme"

February 15, 2011 10:28 am ET by Sarah Pavlus

According to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation -- the parent company of Fox News -- "has been forced to pay the [Australian Capital Territory] government $77 million in taxes and penalties after an alleged tax avoidance scheme unravelled."
The payment was reportedly "noted in the [Australian Capital Territory]
midyear budget update as duties on 'shares and marketable securities.'"

From the article:

The Rupert Murdoch media empire paid the money late last year in a secret settlement, two years after being taken to court by ACT tax authorities who demanded $84 million in unpaid taxes, penalties and interest.

[...]

A News Corporation spokesman said yesterday the case had been settled confidentially and declined to comment further.

The ACT government also made no comment, citing the territory's secretive tax laws.

But documents reveal how the commissioner for ACT revenue, Graeme Dowell, and his officials untangled a web of transactions between Murdoch-controlled companies in Victoria, Queensland and as far away as the North Atlantic tax haven of Bermuda.

The trail reaches back to 2004, when the territory claimed it was owed duty on the transfer of nearly $9 billion worth of shares in a former territory-registered Murdoch company, Karlholt, as part of the restructure of the media mogul's empire.

You can read more about it here and here.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201102150010

The Freedom to Conduct Research, Write, and Share Ideas Without Fear of Violence is Fundamental to American Democracy

A Response to the Recent Attacks on Professor Frances Fox Piven

February 15, 2011

For many years, the academic community in the United States has stood firm in its support of scholars across the world who have been threatened or endangered by their scholarship, research, and writing. We must do the same for scholars in the United States.

We, the leadership of major scholarly associations, express our collective outrage at the recent, repeated attacks on Professor Frances Fox Piven. These attacks have been based on rhetoric, rather than substance, and have incited threats of violence, rather than encouraging open debate. Radio and television personality Glenn Beck has accused Professor Piven of creating a plan to “intentionally collapse our economic system,” as reported by The New York Times; and he has included her in a list of the nine “most dangerous people” in the world. While Mr. Beck has not directly called for violence against Professor Piven, his attacks have created a space for threats of violence to emerge. Over the past several months, Professor Piven has received a flood of hate mail and menacing internet postings, including death threats. The Center for Constitutional Rights has identified many violent posts by visitors to Mr. Beck’s website, including the following: “I am all for violence and change Frances: Where do your loved ones live?” The rhetoric has become sufficiently overheated that the potential for physical violence is real.

Dr. Piven, a Professor of Political Science and Sociology at the City University of New York Graduate Center who holds a PhD from the University of Chicago, is one of the nation’s most thoughtful commentators on the country’s social welfare system. She has been elected President of the American Sociological Association, Vice President of the American Political Science Association, and President of the Society for the Study of Social Problems.

We call on public officials, political commentators, and others in the media to help discourage the rhetoric of hate and violence that has escalated in recent months. We vigorously support serious, honest, and passionate public debate. We support serious engagement on the research of Professor Piven and of others who study controversial issues such as unemployment, the economic crisis, the rights of welfare recipients, and the place of government intervention. We also support the right of political commentators to participate in such debates. At the same time, we insist that all parties recognize the rights of academic researchers not only to gather and analyze evidence related to controversial questions, but also to arrive at their own conclusions and to expect those conclusions to be reported accurately in public debates.

Both scholars and commentators, regardless of political orientation, strive to serve the public good. We can only benefit from their work when all parties respect the rights of others to disagree without fear of violent reprisal. We call on all parties to condemn the recent escalation of violent rhetoric, which does nothing to serve democracy.

Signatories:

American Anthropological Association
American Association of Geographers
American Council of Learned Societies
American Educational Research Association
American Sociological Association
Association for Humanist Sociology
Board, American Society of Criminology
Board, Research Committee 19 (Poverty, Social Welfare, and Social Policy) of the International Sociological Association
Board, Society for the Study of Social Problems
Consortium of Social Science Associations
Eastern Sociological Society
Linguistic Society of America
Mid-South Sociological Association
Midwest Sociological Society
National Women’s Studies Association
Pacific Sociological Association
Planners of Color Interest Group, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning
Rural Sociological Society
Social Science History Association
Social Science Research Council
Sociologists for Women in Society
Sociologists Without Borders
Southern Sociological Society

http://www.asanet.org/press/Freedom_to_Conduct_Research_Without_Fear_of_Violence.cfm

Boehlert On Hardball: Glenn Beck "Is Just An Absolute True Conspiracist" -- "He's Selling Paranoia," "Fear"

February 14, 2011 6:18 pm ET

From the February 14 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

Dick Wadhams drops out of state GOP chairman’s race

Posted February 7, 2011, 6:28 pm MT

UPDATE: Ryan Call, the state’s legal counsel said he is “strongly considering” running for chairman.

Dick Wadhams

Dick Wadhams today unexpectedly dropped his bid for a third term as chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, and said he has no idea what he will do next.

Wadhams said he had the votes but in the last few days got to thinking, “What happens after I win?”

“I have loved being chairman, but I’m tired of the nuts who have no grasp of what the state party’s role is,” he said.

Wadhams last year was alternately accused of meddling in the governor’s race and not interceding in order to make sure the right Republican won. Democrat John Hickenlooper ultimately won the race despite 2010 being a Republican year.

His departure from the race leaves state Sen. Ted Harvey as the strongest contender in the race, although a number of Republicans expect more candidates to run now that Wadhams is out. Among those mentioned: Ryan Call, legal counsel for the GOP.

“I am strongly considering it,” Call said. “Our party needs good leadership and someone who can build consensus.”

Here is the memo Wadham sent this afternoon to members of the Colorado Republican State Central Committee:

It has been an honor and privilege to serve as Colorado Republican Chairman but after much reflection I have decided to not seek reelection.

I am very grateful to a clear majority of the members of the Colorado Republican State Central Committee who offered their support and encouragement over the past several weeks.

I entered this race a few weeks ago looking forward to discussing what we accomplished in 2010 and to the opportunities we have in 2012 to elect a new Republican president; to increase our state House majority and win a state Senate majority; and to reelect our two new members of Congress.

However, I have tired of those who are obsessed with seeing conspiracies around every corner and who have terribly misguided notions of what the role of the state party is while saying “uniting conservatives” is all that is needed to win competitive races across the state.

I have no delusions this will recede after the state central committee meeting in March. Meanwhile, the ability of Colorado Republicans to win and retain the votes of hundreds of thousands of unaffiliated swing voters in 2012 will be severely undermined.

For the past four years, I have devoted all of my professional time and energy to serving as state chairman and am very proud of what we accomplished in the face of unique and unprecedented challenges in both the 2008 and 2010 election cycles.

I will always remain humbled and grateful for the opportunity to travel this magnificent state where I was born and raised and to work with Republican leaders and elected officials in all 64 counties as state chairman.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot/2011/02/07/dick-wadhams-drops-out-of-state-gop-chairmans-race/22599/