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freshwest

(53,661 posts)
9. Go for it! I'll take the DNC platform over theirs anyday:
Tue Aug 26, 2014, 02:24 AM
Aug 2014
BERNIE SANDERS Uncovers 1980 Koch Agenda- "What Do the Koch Brothers Want?"

What else do the Koch brothers want?


In 1980, David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980.

Let’s take a look at the 1980 Libertarian Party platform.

Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:

“We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission.”

“We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”

“We oppose any compulsory insurance or tax-supported plan to provide health services, including those which finance abortion services.”

“We also favor the deregulation of the medical insurance industry.”

“We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary.”

“We propose the abolition of the governmental Postal Service. The present system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages governmental surveillance of private correspondence. Pending abolition, we call for an end to the monopoly system and for allowing free competition in all aspects of postal service.”

“We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes.”

“We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”

“As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.”

“We support repeal of all law which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws.”

“We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended.”

“We condemn compulsory education laws … and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.”

“We support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools, whether profit or non-profit.”

“We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency.”

“We support abolition of the Department of Energy.”

“We call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation.”

“We demand the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system.”

“We specifically oppose laws requiring an individual to buy or use so-called "self-protection" equipment such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets.”

“We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration.”

“We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration.”

“We support an end to all subsidies for child-bearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children.”

“We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and ‘aid to the poor’ programs. All these government programs are privacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals.”

“We call for the privatization of the inland waterways, and of the distribution system that brings water to industry, agriculture and households.”

“We call for the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.”

“We call for the abolition of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”

“We support the repeal of all state usury laws.”

In other words, the agenda of the Koch brothers is not only to defund Obamacare. The agenda of the Koch brothers is to repeal every major piece of legislation that has been signed into law over the past 80 years that has protected the middle class, the elderly, the children, the sick, and the most vulnerable in this country...

Tomorrow it will be Social Security, ending Medicare as we know it, repealing the minimum wage. It seems to me that the Koch brothers will not be content until they get everything they believe they are entitled to.

Our great nation can no longer be hijacked by right-wing billionaires like the Koch brothers.

For the sake of our children and our grandchildren, for the sake of our economy, we have got to let democracy prevail.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers

http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a7980koch

to kpete:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298

We've heard these memes for years, Americans have come to believe this is how it has to be.

Another explanation of this here:

How Freedom Became Tyranny

Rightwing libertarians have turned “freedom” into an excuse for greed and exploitation.

George Monbiot - December 19, 2011

Freedom: who could object? Yet this word is now used to justify a thousand forms of exploitation. Throughout the rightwing press and blogosphere, among thinktanks and governments, the word excuses every assault on the lives of the poor, every form of inequality and intrusion to which the 1% subject us. How did libertarianism, once a noble impulse, become synonymous with injustice?

In the name of freedom – freedom from regulation – the banks were permitted to wreck the economy. In the name of freedom, taxes for the super-rich are cut. In the name of freedom, companies lobby to drop the minimum wage and raise working hours. In the same cause, US insurers lobby Congress to thwart effective public healthcare; the government rips up our planning laws; big business trashes the biosphere. This is the freedom of the powerful to exploit the weak, the rich to exploit the poor.

Right-wing libertarianism recognises few legitimate constraints on the power to act, regardless of the impact on the lives of others. In the UK it is forcefully promoted by groups like the TaxPayers’ Alliance, the Adam Smith Institute, the Institute of Economic Affairs and Policy Exchange. Their conception of freedom looks to me like nothing but a justification for greed.

So why have we been been so slow to challenge this concept of liberty? I believe that one of the reasons is as follows. The great political conflict of our age – between neocons and the millionaires and corporations they support on one side and social justice campaigners and environmentalists on the other – has been mischaracterised as a clash between negative and positive freedoms.


More at the link about the meaning of positive and negative freedoms and how the concepts are being used against women and all the other groups:

http://www.monbiot.com/2011/12/19/how-freedom-became-tyranny/

They have not changed the agenda, just packaged it differently. I have other examples of their state platform, no moderation.

And we are fighting over this at DU with good faith, with shiny things in our faces, when they are not arguing in good faith. The USPS lingo is the same as the NSA lingo. And so much is like that.

It has nothing to do with what they say it is, and it's one RF101* here every week or faster, to depress the Democrats from voting by demoralizing them. And they use the 'left' to do the same, but the results will benefit the Libertarian Party.

I have to be practical and not dogmatic. People in real life can't wait for their utopia. Which as you explain in your OP, is not one for us.

*Take a good long read of the link below if you have the time. It's continuous and has worked for many years:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/110215862

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

I immediately leave the thread when this starts. And it usually turns into a pile-on against Clinton NBachers Aug 2014 #1
The hell of many of the post is their belief is a corporatist. Thinkingabout Aug 2014 #2
Absolutely. 2014 is crucial BainsBane Aug 2014 #3
I think it is called triangulation ... Tuesday Afternoon Aug 2014 #4
if I had a dollar for every thread with an Op 'I' in the title. eom littlemissmartypants Aug 2014 #5
They are setting us up for Hillary War, Part II Warpy Aug 2014 #6
Yes, 'the Rand Paul shit was a bridge too far.' I only saw reactions to the weekend outbreak. freshwest Aug 2014 #7
Another great post, Freshwest BainsBane Aug 2014 #8
Go for it! I'll take the DNC platform over theirs anyday: freshwest Aug 2014 #9
DU Rec. For this stand alone post that should be required reading for everyone. Tuesday Afternoon Aug 2014 #11
I wish I could rec your posts! redqueen Aug 2014 #23
I love the no more b.s. kitty! JustAnotherGen Aug 2014 #15
JAG, yes, we are BAD kitties! To the Paulites and their 4 sacred issues I say: freshwest Aug 2014 #17
Hillary Clinton.... Spitfire of ATJ Aug 2014 #10
Oh yes, I've noticed theHandpuppet Aug 2014 #12
I was told yesterday that "many" voters will their away "pet issues" for Paul's "anti-war" stance. PeaceNikki Aug 2014 #13
Over half the country are pets, huh? We know how well that worked out for us. (Warning: Graphic Pic) freshwest Aug 2014 #16
Fuck that. And I'm not buying it. n/t MadrasT Aug 2014 #18
And LGBT rights theHandpuppet Aug 2014 #21
Yeah, I mentioned equality meaning to encompass that. PeaceNikki Aug 2014 #22
She was called an "ice queen" in an OP today. sufrommich Aug 2014 #14
Wow. Blatant sexism. redqueen Aug 2014 #24
Yup, it seem like a conditioned reaction intaglio Aug 2014 #19
Ayn Rand Paul BainsBane Aug 2014 #25
Bringing up HRC is red meat to conservatives. Her bashers use buzzwords, misinformation and outrage. freshwest Aug 2014 #20
That video is great. redqueen Aug 2014 #27
And the "tone" of those comments is usually snarky, snide, goading, baiting, rude, or shitty. MADem Aug 2014 #26
Does this look familiar? TBF Aug 2014 #28
Yes, but I don't believe they are all trolls BainsBane Aug 2014 #29
Exactly - TBF Aug 2014 #30
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