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The Koch brothers are "still trying to supplant American democracy with their little laissez-fairyland plutocracy." (Image: DonkeyHotey/flickr/cc)
Billionaire Donors Plot a 'Renaissance of Freedom' -- for the Privileged
Who needs roads when you've got a private jet?
Jul 31, 2017
Charles and David Koch -- the billionaire oil men who've financed a vast network of right-wing advocacy groups -- have stayed out of the national limelight recently. But they're still trying to supplant American democracy with their little laissez-fairyland plutocracy.
In fact, in late June, they held a meeting of the Koch Boys Billionaires Club, gathering about 400 other uber-wealthy rascals to plot some political high jinks for next year's elections.
The club meets every year at some luxury hideaway, and its attendees have to pay $100,000 each just to get in. But participants are also expected to give generously to the brothers' goal of spending $400 million to buy a slew of congress critters, governors, and others in 2018.
This year, the group gathered in Colorado Springs at the ultra-lux Broadmoor Hotel and Resort, owned by the brothers' billionaire pal and right-wing co-conspirator, Phillip Anschutz.
Among the recent political triumphs that these elites celebrated in the Broadmoor's posh ballroom was the defeat this year of a Colorado tax hike to fix the state's crumbling roads.
After all, who needs adequate roads, when you can arrive in private jets?
This attitude of the Kochs' privileged cohorts explains why the public is shut out of these candid sessions. A staffer for the Koch confab hailed such no-tax, no-roads policies as a "renaissance of freedom." For the privileged, that is -- the freedom to prosper at the expense of everyone else.
Indeed, their agenda includes killing such working class needs as the minimum wage and Social Security, and privatizing everything from health care to public education. This self-absorbed cabal of spoiled plutocratic brats intends to abandon our nation's core democratic principle of "We're all in this together."
If they kill that uniting concept, they kill America itself.
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
This column was distributed by OtherWords.
Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the books "Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow" (2008) and "There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos: A Work of Political Subversion" (1998). Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.
Charles and David Koch -- the billionaire oil men who've financed a vast network of right-wing advocacy groups -- have stayed out of the national limelight recently. But they're still trying to supplant American democracy with their little laissez-fairyland plutocracy.
In fact, in late June, they held a meeting of the Koch Boys Billionaires Club, gathering about 400 other uber-wealthy rascals to plot some political high jinks for next year's elections.
The club meets every year at some luxury hideaway, and its attendees have to pay $100,000 each just to get in. But participants are also expected to give generously to the brothers' goal of spending $400 million to buy a slew of congress critters, governors, and others in 2018.
This year, the group gathered in Colorado Springs at the ultra-lux Broadmoor Hotel and Resort, owned by the brothers' billionaire pal and right-wing co-conspirator, Phillip Anschutz.
Among the recent political triumphs that these elites celebrated in the Broadmoor's posh ballroom was the defeat this year of a Colorado tax hike to fix the state's crumbling roads.
After all, who needs adequate roads, when you can arrive in private jets?
This attitude of the Kochs' privileged cohorts explains why the public is shut out of these candid sessions. A staffer for the Koch confab hailed such no-tax, no-roads policies as a "renaissance of freedom." For the privileged, that is -- the freedom to prosper at the expense of everyone else.
Indeed, their agenda includes killing such working class needs as the minimum wage and Social Security, and privatizing everything from health care to public education. This self-absorbed cabal of spoiled plutocratic brats intends to abandon our nation's core democratic principle of "We're all in this together."
If they kill that uniting concept, they kill America itself.
Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the books "Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow" (2008) and "There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos: A Work of Political Subversion" (1998). Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.
Charles and David Koch -- the billionaire oil men who've financed a vast network of right-wing advocacy groups -- have stayed out of the national limelight recently. But they're still trying to supplant American democracy with their little laissez-fairyland plutocracy.
In fact, in late June, they held a meeting of the Koch Boys Billionaires Club, gathering about 400 other uber-wealthy rascals to plot some political high jinks for next year's elections.
The club meets every year at some luxury hideaway, and its attendees have to pay $100,000 each just to get in. But participants are also expected to give generously to the brothers' goal of spending $400 million to buy a slew of congress critters, governors, and others in 2018.
This year, the group gathered in Colorado Springs at the ultra-lux Broadmoor Hotel and Resort, owned by the brothers' billionaire pal and right-wing co-conspirator, Phillip Anschutz.
Among the recent political triumphs that these elites celebrated in the Broadmoor's posh ballroom was the defeat this year of a Colorado tax hike to fix the state's crumbling roads.
After all, who needs adequate roads, when you can arrive in private jets?
This attitude of the Kochs' privileged cohorts explains why the public is shut out of these candid sessions. A staffer for the Koch confab hailed such no-tax, no-roads policies as a "renaissance of freedom." For the privileged, that is -- the freedom to prosper at the expense of everyone else.
Indeed, their agenda includes killing such working class needs as the minimum wage and Social Security, and privatizing everything from health care to public education. This self-absorbed cabal of spoiled plutocratic brats intends to abandon our nation's core democratic principle of "We're all in this together."
If they kill that uniting concept, they kill America itself.
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