2006 was a bad year for Camas Washington, with over 300 workers losing their jobs at the local Georgia-Pacific mill, shortly after the company was acquired by Koch Industries. But while the region is still suffering from the “Koch-izing” of Georgia-Pacific, at least one Camas resident owes the far-right-wing Koch brothers a huge debt of gratitude, if not something more specific: Republican congressional hopeful Jaime Herrera.
The latest campaign finance reports are in, and it turns out the Kochs are spending big to buy Herrera a job in the other Washington, contributing $5,000 directly to her campaign, and spending at least another $282,000 through their “Americans for Prosperity” front group, attacking her Democratic opponent, Denny Heck. It is the ultimate insult to WA-03 voters; first the New York-based Kochs make millions closing local mills and outsourcing jobs, and now they’re spending a portion of their profits to purchase themselves another congresswoman.
You know… the free market at work.
So are WA-03 voters going to let a couple of New York City billionaires buy their congressional seat? Do they really believe that Herrera won’t be beholden to the Koch’s anti-Social-Security/anti-regulatory/pro-outsourcing agenda? Only if the local media continues to fail to inform voters about what Herrera and her backers really stand for.
One brother, David, lives in NYC. He’s the richest man in NYC AFAIK.
The other Charles lives in Wichita, KS.
Charles I believe has the business head and David is more the politically active one after living most of his life as a leisurely playboy.
Despite somewhat different personal styles they’re in total agreement there’s not a single tax that cannot be cut even further, a regulation that has any business being enforced or any politician that is right wing enough.
Strangely enough they owe their fortune to Josef Stalin. Best article about them in circulation right now:
http://www.newyorker.com/repor.....fact_mayer
Despite his billions, Charles continues to punish himself like a medeival Lutheran by voluntarily residing in Wichita.
@2 Don’t they uh…raise a lot of sheep in Kansas?
Hey Goldy-
Do you know if they are putting money into Koster? Bellingham also had a G-P pulp mill close down around that same time.
Interesting connection…
Outsourcing jobs is central to the Republican agenda. They voted en masse to oppose any federal restrictions on the practice.
Vote Republican and lose your job to a foreigner!
Seriously?! All the Democrats have is to sell is some fairy tale involving some charactured robber barron-esque send up of the Koch brothers that every minor prophet has already espoused two weeks ago?
Thanks to Democrats tanking the American economy , America is essentially for sale. Who can blame people for taking advantage of that. If you weren’t some progressive troglodyte who’s waiting for their 40 acres and a mule, you could get in on it to.
@3: …and goats. Lots of goats.
Regardless of how much money the Koch’s pump into this race neither of these candidates is very impressive. Neither have said anything about the overseas commitment of U.S. troops and these two wars which are draining the country and killing servicemen and women as well as civilians.
Maybe we need a couple of dishrags running.
Hmmm.
Timber, pulp, paper, and print are tough industries. Declining demand, very high capital and operating costs, very low margins. Economics and automation have been the causes for shedding jobs.
Though the corporatists, with the complicity of their media pets, successfully scapegoated environmentalists (e.g. the spotted owl).
I can’t imagine why anyone would invest.
I’d guess another angle.
Like Weyerhaeuser using Quadrant to convert sensitive habitat into subdivisions for track housing and starter castles.
Or maybe shipping our commodities (timber or pulp) overseas for further (finish) processing.
Jaime Herrera is the emptiest of suits. (although it looks like her thighs are getting rather thunderous)
She has been sucking on the public teat her entire adult life, and now wants a lifetime DC ticket. I am so sick of her ads down here, and you never hear a single one about anything she has done or would do. She is clueless, but so are a lot of voters in Vantucky. This is good information, and I will post commentary to this effect on the local rag website, but the trolls there are mostly a lost cause.
You folks seem a little desperate and a whole lot RACIST! You make Herrera sound like some kind of waterboy for out-of-state rich white guys.
I fully expect last minute attacks of this nature. Desperate people do desperate things.
Hey, how about talking about how Jaime and Denny would vote on specific issues??
I wonder if it has occurred to the CEO’s of these outsourcing behemoths that the only thing left to outsource are the CEO positions themselves.
That will be the final result of globalization. There will be no products made or sold here by these avatars of the global econoimy (read,cheap labor conservatives.
re 11: You’ve been dragging around red-herrings for so long, you can’t even smell them anymore.
Jason @ 9: It appears that a lot of our recycled paper is going to China. They load it by the shipping container full, and pay only a few cents a pound. It gets processed back into paper and they print anything you want, shipping it back by the containerfull for a considerably higher value (but still less than the cost of printing here).
Once the recycled paper is in China, the Chinese firms sometimes argue that their inspection showed it had too much of the wrong kind of paper in it, so they refuse to pay. What’s the recycler going to do – send out inspectors to try to prove the correct proportion of recyclable paper in the shipment, when they only get a couple hundred dollars per shipment? pay a few hundred dollars to ship it all back here? Take the Chinese firm to court in China (Chang is is the chief judge, you can tell him all about your beef with his nephew).
They are also recycling huge amounts of metal. They were consumers of a large amount of scrap metal from the U.S., but recently they are getting a lot of it from Russia. It seems the Russians are tearing down their Soviet-era factories and selling the scrap metal to the Chinese, for kopeks on the ruble. (That’s the equivilent of pennies on the dollar, for those that don’t get the translation).
The Koch Brothers = America’s Future
Billionaire Rule….
So you’re quite the idiot, sunshine. My bet is that you don’t even live in the district…or this state and you couldn’t give two shits about Washingtonian’s jobs.
Tell your boss “Uncle Karl” to go fuck himself…and feel free to follow suit.
You too Cyniklown. What a vapid asshole you are.
@15: When Republicans bitch on and on about George Soros (so 2004) they should be reminded of the Koch brothers and the other billionaires behind the Prefers Teabag Party party.
@6 (piling on edition)
Really, you don’t know the Koch brothers? How ’bout Sciafe. Name ring a bell? No? How ’bout Soros? I’ll bet you KNOW soros is the anti-christ, right?
“You make Herrera sound like some kind of waterboy for out-of-state rich white guys”
Nobody went within a mile of that. But you did. You did so because you think that way. And you think that way because you’re a racist Psycho-KLOWN!
Easy – Heck on the right side of the issues – mostly. He’s something of a middle of the roader.
And Herrera on the empty suit Reichert-style side of the issues – insane Republican party line all the way.
Har! The right wing is sure sucking everything they can out of those Kochs.
– S O R O S –
The name that gets too tight right wing underwear in a maxi-bind.
Why the Liquor Control Board should get out of the retail business and spend 100% of its time on licensing and enforcement (II)
The latest over-the-top TV ad from the beer industry’s campaign to defeat I-1100 (and preserve the state liquor monopoly along with beer’s shelf space in grocery stores) actually makes a compelling case FOR I-1100 and getting the state out of the liquor business so it can focus on licensing and enforcement.
The YouTube ad follows. First, let’s debunk its claims:
1) “Over a recent 10-year period 443 Washington teens died in drunk driving accidents” (source: “Washington Safety Traffic Commisson” [sic])
“443” is an exaggeration1, but whatever the number, every one of those tragic losses occurred under the current liquor control system. Again, Washington’s rate of DWI traffic fatalities is significantly higher than the national average, and higher than the rate in states with private sector liquor stores. (34.5% of all Washington traffic fatalities in 2007-2008 were alcohol-impaired, vs 31.6% in the U.S. overall. The rate in states with private sector liquor is essentially the same as the national average) [source]. Nor have the state liquor monopoly’s defenders produced any other evidence that the state monopoly accomplishes anything to reduce the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths.
I feel sorry for teabagging banana republicans.
Teabagging banana republicans are being led down the path of disaster. Here’s something you refuse to understand; the Koch brothers are going to be ok no matter the outcome of any election, and will always be ‘better’ than you.
But teabagging banana republicans don’t get that. No teabagging banana republican that does not have a net worth of >$2M and an annual income >$400K will not fail to lose even more than under GWB.
Not rich (Low Net Worth Individuals – LNWIs) will be screwed like never before if the Republican party increases its power in government.
You can get all we-we-ed up over Socialism, death panels and George Soros but LNWIs pay attention like a loser in 3 card monte.
And what ought to really f-k the mind of LNWI teabagging banana republicans is that those pointy headed libtards are smart enough to not only hang on while we ride the teabagging banana republican teatard obstruction whirlwind, but we (High Net Worth Individual Liberals (HNWILs)) know this shit is FAIL and can position our assets to do much better than you LNWI teabagging banana republicans can because you think Bush/Cheney/Delay II will do you better than Bush/Cheney/Delay I.
I think Washingtonians are smarter than the average voter and grifters like Herrera stand a greater than the average not riding the wave of teabagging banana republicans, but any LNWI who votes for a Republican is either a fool or an idiot.
….and Goldy, once again, showed you.
3) “… where stings by police prove they sell to teens 1 out of every 4 times…” (source: Washington State Liquor Control Board)
No. There is no such proof. 2
The Liquor Control Board doesn’t have a process in place to determine the actual rate at which “minimarts” sell to teens on average. Of course, some do a better job than others. The Liquor Board’s own records show that several gas station/groceries and other convenience store chains actually have better track records than state system stores. Among them: Most 7-11 stores, Chevron gas stations, Brown Bear Car Wash, Inland Oil Company, Plaid Pantries and Yorkston Oil.
2) “Initiatives 1100 and 1105 expand sales of hard liquor to thousands of 24-hour gas stations and minimarts…”.
All of these “gas stations and minmarts” are grocery stores which are already selling alcoholic beer. No surprise that the beer companies who are paying for the ad don’t have a problem with that. The only reason to mention “24-hour” is to leave the impression that these stores would be selling alcohol 24-hours a day. But they cannot. Hours of sale are restricted (currently forbidden between 2am-6am) by Liquor Board administrative rules (WAC 314-11-070), and can be changed by the board. Cities also have authority to restrict hours further.
@23 – The primary reason the state is in the liquor business is we make a ton of profit that is plowed back into schools and other necessary government programs.
The reason there is talk about privatizing is because private businesses want that money. And if they get the money, much of the profit will travel right out of the state into the hands of already stinking rich people.
Simple greed is behind the reasons for privatizing the liquor board. Whether it is greedy consumers who want a little cheaper bottle, or huge distributors who want to take the money right out of the state.
I bet you are against 1098 also. Heaven forbid the state of Washington have enough money to provide the services the citizens expect and demand. Much better to give it to Tim Eyman for his over priced crap watches.
i’m sure the kochs’ strive to grow a strong christian middle class.
The greed part is with the state! 59% markup on liquor sales, exactly the reason I buy mine in Portland.
I just want to say that I love Headless Lucy’s comments when ever they appear.
We went through Camas the weekend before last on our way down Hwy 14 through the Gorge. It’s a sweet little town…check it out.
The western Columbia Gorge is a hell of a place.
You KLOWNS are really squealing in desperation. I love it!! Remember what you were going to do to “rich people”? idiots. Rich people have tons of options to legally avoid paying taxes and are not required to invest when the President ImamObamao is anti-business. $3 TRILLION on the sideline waiting for ImamObamao to get fired in 2012.
So here is what the voters think–
Monday, October 18, 2010
Whine, whine & whine some more.
This is even more telling KLOWNS…especially re: economy-
Monday, October 18, 2010
@28: You can tell this how, exactly?
@29: So, what do you sell? I’ll be sure to not buy any.
hahhaha – this was the same Klynical idiot who cited Rasmussen polls and told us McCain was going to win.
Yes, republicans will pick up some seats and maybe win the house in a midterm election. so what – they won’t win the Senate and they have no real agenda except to filibuster, stall and lie. The republican advantage will last two years until the next presidential election when they again will have no agenda, no record of doing anything positive and will lose big to Obama as the economy turns around despite their efforts to kill the US economy.
you guys are all wasting your time on trivia when you should be asking the important questions, like, how come on dancing with the stars, even though they are integrated with.
an english jew, an italian, some type of polynesian, or whatever she is, an english announcer, and typically only one white christian male….they dont have a homo dancing couple. wtf
Only partially on-topic, but we in the Soviet of Olympia are also part of the 3rd, and it’s amusing to note that I haven’t even seen a single sign for Herrera, while Heck has rented a campaign office right down the street, and has signs everywhere. I suspect the real battleground’s elsewhere..
Which is why they’re spending millions upon millions upon millions to elect empty-suit lackeys who’ll do their bidding on taxes.
I guess it’s cheaper than hiring lawyers and tax accountants – oh wait, they got plenty of those too.
I remember the good old days when Bill Clinton raised taxes and the right wing gnashed their teeth, whined “class warfare”, “the economy will crash”… blah, blah, blah.
And guess what happened?
@40
Well economy went sour towards the end of his term… that is what W inherited.
@41- If the economy was going sour when bush was inaugurated, boy did he ever drive it right off a cliff!
cnr–When did I say McCain was going to win?
I don’t particularly care for McCain although he wouldn’t have done some of the stupid shit ImamObaMao has done.
Why don’t you ignoramuses look at what the Washington State Department of Ecology does to the operating economics of businesses in this state. I’d be willing to bet regulatory costs had everything to do with the closure.
delbert @ 44
That’s a great idea. How much we betting? $50?