{"id":6786,"date":"2011-06-24T17:37:34","date_gmt":"2011-06-24T23:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/?p=6786"},"modified":"2011-06-24T17:37:34","modified_gmt":"2011-06-24T23:37:34","slug":"how-the-koch-brothers-are-trying-to-influence-your-elected-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/?p=6786","title":{"rendered":"How the Koch Brothers Are Trying to Influence Your Elected Officials"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Heartland publications sent to council members (Regina Cowles)<\/p><\/div>\n

Just about every week of every year the Boulder city staff produces a Weekly Information Packet (WIP) for each council member.\u00a0 Often containing up to 1,000 pages of reading, the WIP includes the agenda for the upcoming council meeting or study session, supporting documents, additional information and staff recommendations.\u00a0 Many non-profits in Boulder take advantage of the WIP to include printed invitations to fundraising and other community events. Often the WIP contains newsletters from Boulder membership groups like the Municipal League and the National League of Cities.\u00a0 And, anyone who writes a personal letter to council members in care of the city offices will have it included in the bike-courier-delivered WIP.<\/p>\n

Enter the Koch Brothers and their many front groups.\u00a0 By now most are familiar with the secretive ways of the Koch Brothers but it has been just under a year since they were brought to the public\u2019s attention in an article in the New Yorker by Jane Mayer entitled Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0 The blockbuster article propelled the Koch brothers into the spotlight and documented how the brothers, David and Charles, have quietly bestowed staggering amounts of money (some say up to $100 million dollars) on libertarian and Tea Party causes.<\/p>\n

With money inherited from their father Fred\u2019s oil refinery business, the brothers own Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups, Georgia-Pacific lumber, Stainmaster carpet, and Lycra, among many other products.\u00a0 The Koch brothers also invest in the Heartland Institute, “a Chicago-based, industry-funded conservative think-tank, [that] has had a long history of climate denial<\/a> that continues today.”<\/p>\n

Each week, the Boulder City Council receives a packet that includes slick newspapers published by The Heartland Institute, the tagline of which is: \u201cDiscovering, developing, and promoting free-market solutions to social and economic problems.\u201d <\/em>The newspapers include such titles as,\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n