The Economy

SPN comprises 59 affiliated think-tank organizations, including at least one in every state. In addition, other institutions, such as Cato Institute and Heritage Foundation are associate members. They are, of course, registered as a 501©(3) non-profit. Some of their support comes from Ruth and Lovett Peters Foundation, Castle Rock Foundation (a spinoff of the Adolph Coors Foundation) and the Bradley Foundation, a charity devoted to financial support for conservative causes. Most of their reported revenue was from grants in 2009.

As is expected, the Koch family has either started or contributed funding to many organizations. It could be said that they only fund organizations where they feel they will get the most bang for their buck as well. One reason it is important to know these organizations is because the MSM is not going to help you.

As you can see, the Koch family touches each and every American every day. It would be nice to boycott their products but the list is long and undistinguished and would be difficult for the average American to remember, if they participated at all.

The average annual COLA on SS has been around 2.8% over the 50 years or so. Looking back those same 50 years, the use of Chained CPI-U would have resulted in an average of a 2.55% annual COLA increase. Overall, the use of Chained CPI-U hardly seems radical.

In 1927, Koch developed a more efficient thermal cracking process for turning crude oil into gasoline. The larger oil companies instantly sued and filed 44 different lawsuits against Koch. Koch won all but one of the lawsuits, which was overturned after it was revealed that the judge had been bribed.

Tomorrow begins a four part series on the background and agenda of two of the most economically and politically powerful men in today's America, the Koch brothers.

The enemy is small but incredibly powerful, they mount assaults all across the globe on people everywhere but are like terror cells, operating independently but driven by the same philosophies and practicing the same ruthlessness. The enemy is both foreign and domestic and has more destructive power than any army.

They literally wrap themselves in flags (at least flag pins) but if you were to make a checklist of all of America's founding and ongoing principles, as a democracy and society, you'd find a substantial Republican checklist of things they despise.

Republicans claim they only have a problem with the way they communicate their message. Perhaps this more severe, lost Ryan Budget could be presented in a more appetizing way, perhaps as the wrapper on a Big Mac, so it would get the respect and lengthy consideration it deserves.

When we last left Bob Woodward in The Perils of Bobline, he was tied up and left on the railroad tracks by the evil Snidely Obama who threatened him that if he didn't pay the mortgage, he would take away his publishing house and let the train run of media opinion over him.