MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT



Crack Coke: The Real Thing



They're back!

The Koch brothers, according to a right wing publication report on a recent conclave held by the toxic billionaire siblings, will be back trying to buy the election in 2014.

According to The New American Magazine (which has the John Birch Society as the first on its list of "affiliates and friends"), the Koch Brothers recently revealed at their spring meeting of plutocrats (held in Palm Springs) that they are retooling their strategy for heavily investing in buying up the government:

One major change has already taken place at the Koch Brothers' key project, Americans for Prosperity (AFP). Founded in 2004 to educate and motivate concerned citizens about economic policy and political action for lower taxes and less government, in 2012 AFP invested more than $140 million in political ads and door-to-door canvassing efforts with disappointing results. The group’s chief operating officer was terminated along with most of its staff and several fundraisers, but two key Koch employees were placed on its board.

It’s likely that support for the 60 Plus Association will be reduced while funding for Generation Opportunity, geared more to younger voters, and The Libre Initiative, which focuses on Hispanics and Latinos, will be increased in time for the 2014 elections.

The big news, however, is the creation of a new tax-exempt group, the Association for American Innovation, which will be run by a former AFP strategist and will coordinate state efforts to reduce taxes and limit government spending.

In addition, heavy investment will be made in a voter-mining and management software program called Themis in an attempt to catch up with the Democrats’ successful data management strategy that gave them a significant strategic advantage in that party’s messaging during last year’s election campaign. It will likely be managed by a key Koch employee, Kevin Gentry, who will use it to target advertising buys on cable as well as focus on registering new voters and staying in touch with them on an ongoing basis.

The Koch brothers running a new tax-exempt group with another Frank Luntz style misleading name ("Association for American Innovation") that aims to allow multi-billionaires to seize even more of the nation's assets for personal wealth? This isn't innovation; it's just tax-exempt mugging by another name.

The New York Times (NYT) ran an article by reporter Nicholas Confessore, who had not attended the event closed to the media (with recording devices also banned). Confessore talked to attendees and concluded that the Koch brothers were now going to play a larger direct role in the Republican Party: "Strikingly, after years of nurturing a political network and donor base largely independent from traditional Republican circles, the Kochs are planning to substantially increase their involvement in party affairs."

Fasten your seat belts. 2014 is going to be another effort to duplicate the Tea Party surge of 2010. That's when plutocrats (the Koch brothers reportedly have a combined net worth well in excess of $50 billion dollars) distributed "Crack Koch" propaganda to anxious white middle class Americans, exploiting their economic and racial fears, creating a tsunami backlash against the federal government and Obama as a black president in particular.

That was powerful "Crack Koch" all right. It takes some strong emotional hot button brainwashing narcotic to turn people against their own financial well-being.

Remember as the election nears: cocaine is illegal, but "Crack Koch" will be abundantly distributed as 2014 approaches – and it doesn't get people high, just confused, angry, and in support of policies that pick their pockets.

(Photo: Wikipedia)