"More Tentacles Surface at Rightwing Front Group "

[ensho]

http://counterpunch.com/


The Koch Empire and Americans for Prosperity


Lily Tomlin said it best: “No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up.” Despite two solid years of progressive media tracking the billionaire Koch brothers’ funding of right wing front groups, new details have emerged which show a more sophisticated and ominous network than previously understood.

One of the key organizations funded by a Koch-controlled foundation is Americans for Prosperity (AFP). While it has been widely documented and publicized that the group is orchestrating the Tea Party, AFP is also a veritable smorgasbord of other “grassroots” personalities. The AFP or the AFP Foundation have spawned the following identities:

-snip List-

Americans for Prosperity also created PatientsUnitedNow.com and orchestrated hundreds of rallies to help kill the public option in health care reform.

Americans for Prosperity now has chapters in 30 states, including those with the largest number of voters. As part of the focus on state level efforts, key right wing foundations are funding another nonprofit, the State Policy Network, which says it has free market think tanks in every state. The work of most of the groups is to push for privatization of public services and public schools. The State Policy Network is fueling a new, rapidly growing movement: right wing funded groups posing as independent investigative media outlets. So far, there is West Virginia Watchdog, Old Dominion Watchdog in Virginia, Texas Watchdog, Illinois Statehouse News, Missouri News Horizon, Capital Report New Mexico, Idaho Reporter, the Commonwealth Foundation’s Pennsylvania Independent, TNReport of Tennessee, the Pelican Institute’s Capital Reporter in Louisiana, Pacific Research Institute’s Cal Watch Dog in California, Idaho Freedom Foundation’s Idaho Reporter, the Cowboy State Free Press in Wyoming, and others in various stages of getting up and running.

-long snip that will have your mouth hanging open-
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they are insidious, malicious and criminal

we had better pay attention to all this

[Historic NY]

1. K&R.............the threat a RW sponsored coup d'état .

[gratuitous]

2. God bless Americans for Prosperity

Considering all the forces arrayed against prosperity, and the relentless war on prosperity being waged in American politics, it's damned refreshing to see someone at last stand up to advocate for prosperity.

Wait . . .

[StandingInLeftField]

3. It really makes me wonder what can be done about the takeover of America.

Does any group or coalition have enough clout to actually change the tide? When you have basically 50% of the population in agreement with their propaganda (if not their motives and modus operandi)how do you overcome that? Our education system is under attack from every quarter, with the intent of dumbing-down the populace; the media outlets are being consolidated under the right-wing umbrella; internet freedom looks as though it will soon be a thing of the past. So much for educating the masses.

I'm voting Dem in November, but the juggernaut (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain) appears all but unstoppable.

[Hannah Bell]

5. expose them. people don't like rich people buying democracy, or stealth politics.

[glinda]

6. Where is the straightforward political Ad by the Dems for this?????

[Scurrilous]

4. K & R

:thumbsup:

[TexasObserver]

7. recommend

[nofurylike]

8. K&R thank you for posting this, ensho! nt

[jmondine]

9. Well that's why they're called teabaggers. Oh wait... you said "TENtacles"