Reposted from The Swash Zone and the fabulous rockync:
UPDATE: (O)CT(O)PUS HAS ADDED MORE INFO ON THE GOP'S PLANS TO BUST UNIONS--GO TO THE END OF THE SWASH ZONE LINK AND READ THE SHOCKING REPORT.
GOVERNOR WALKER YOU’VE BEEN KOCH’D!
I am writing fast and furious to beat our dear Octopus to this story and thus keep him contained!
It has been reported and confirmed by his own staff that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was pranked by a caller pretending to be David Koch, one of the roachy duo who own Koch Industries, Inc, long believed to be pulling various GOP strings in order to further their own interests.
Walker fell for it, hook line and sinker and the ensuing conversation is full of priceless gems such as:
On the call, Walker talks about speaking with Democratic Sen. Tim Cullen, one of the Democrats hiding in Illinois to stop the bill, and telling Cullen he would not budge. After Walker said he would be willing to meet with Democratic leaders, the caller said he would bring "a baseball bat." Walker laughed and responded that he had "a slugger with my name on it."
HERE is a link to this breaking story.
And a h/t to BUFFALO BEAST who brought us this diabolical outing!
Fellow Zoners - please feel free to edit and add to this post as the story develops.
UPDATE! In the few minutes between the time I posted this and now, the Buffalo Beast has been removed from the 'net. Hopefully this is only because they were overwhelmed with visitors and not for more sinister reasons.
More on Gov. Walker's billionaire backers, the Koch brothers:
From the Madison, Wisconsin, Cap Times:
"The billionaire brothers whose political action committee gave Gov. Scott Walker $43,000 and helped fund a multi-million dollar attack ad campaign against his opponent during the 2010 gubernatorial election have quietly opened a lobbying office in Madison just off the Capitol Square.
Charles and David Koch, who co-own Koch Industries Inc. and whose combined worth is estimated at $43 billion, have been recently tied with Walker's push to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public workers. The two have long backed conservative causes and groups including Americans for Prosperity, which organized the Tea Party rally Saturday in support of Walker's plan to strip public workers of collective bargaining rights and recently launched the Stand with Scott Walker website."
And this:
"Assembly Democrats tried but failed Wednesday to prevent Gov. Scott Walker from selling state-owned power plants without bids amid growing concerns by Democrats that the owners of a multi-billion dollar oil-and-gas company are driving the governor's legislative agenda.
That suspicion grew Wednesday after Walker was secretly recorded revealing his strategy for pushing through his anti-union budget repair bill during a 20-minute phone conversation with a blogger who purported to be David Koch, executive vice president of the Wichita, Kan.-based Koch Industries.
The defeated amendment, which would have required that the sale be approved by the Public Service Commission, is among dozens likely to be shot down by the Assembly's Republican majority.
The $43 billion Koch Industries, which Koch owns with his brother, Charles, includes numerous energy-related enterprises, including a natural gas pipeline, refineries and a company that supplies coal to Wisconsin power plants.
At a news conference Wednesday, Walker denied any connection between the sale of the state's 32 power plants and the Kochs' support."
1 comment:
Shaw,
Moments after you posted this, I piggybacked an update after Rocky's post. Its about a 10 year plan by the GOP to break unions and seize pension assets. It is based on a collaboration between Lindsay Beyerstein and me. The only reason why we have not published this story yet (it was slated for Mother Jones magazine) is the ongoing litigation between the USAir pilots and the PBGC (a division of the U.S. Treasury Department). Please have a look. It will shock you.
Post a Comment