"... there is a distinct dark side to the Kochs that Gates and Zuckerberg do not exhibit, bred by an overabundance of greenbacks and libertarian views."

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Koch brothers' lies tear at very fabric of American society
By Barry Ellsworth, August 2, 2014

Commentary

Charles and David Koch are at it again, this time using their wealth to back a creepy “Carenival” complete with games, jugglers, knife throwers and acrobats whose sole purpose is to scare people away from Obamacare.

There’s almost a tangible aura of evil that surrounds the Kochs.

Some billionaires like Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg use some of their vast riches to advance the cause of mankind through humanitarian donations.

Then there are those like the coal-loving Koch brothers, who seem to delight in using their money to throw up roadblocks to programs that would benefit the vast majority of Americans.

Through their foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates donated $750 million to fight AIDS, TB and malaria. Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan gave $120 million to schools in California’s Bay Area.

David and Charles Koch also donate – $125 million to cancer research (David had prostate cancer) and $100 million for a new ambulatory care center at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
But there is a distinct dark side to the Kochs that Gates and Zuckerberg do not exhibit, bred by an overabundance of greenbacks and libertarian views.

Organized by the Koch-backed Generation Opportunity – a group that targets young conservatives and libertarians – the "Carenival" sideshow has a hospital of horrors as well as games rigged against young people, a metaphor to demonstrate how Obamacare will hurt people by pushing up costs for younger generations, the Huffington Post reported.

The carnival, which will tour the nation this fall, debuted at the National Mall in Washington near the end of July.

Featuring creepy Uncle Sam – the same guy used in other ads by Generation Opportunity – there’s a strongman booth that says 2.5 million jobs will be lost due to Obamacare, a myth, reported PolitiFact.

A palm reader predicts that 90 million people will be dropped from health plans because of Obamacare, another falsehood, reported FactCheck.

There is even a death panel that considers the case of an athlete who broke both ankles and refuses him treatment, saying he is in good enough health to walk off the injury. That Obamacare would mean the establishment of death panels has also been debunked and was actually the PolitiFact “Lie of the Year” way back in 2009.

One of the carnival themes is that Obamacare represents a so-called massive government intrusion into the lives of Americans. That’s anathema to the Kochs, who are rabid libertarians.

In 1980 as the Libertarian vice-presidential candidate, David Koch advocated abolishing the minimum wage. He also said, “We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation.”

And their funding of climate-change denial – Koch Industries is an oil and gas giant – is almost legendary.

The billionaire brothers plan to spend $15 million to back ultra-conservative candidates in this fall’s midterm elections, “with an overall goal of giving about $300 million,” Forbes reported.

Singer/activist Harry Belafonte said the Koch brothers are “men of evil,” and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said the pair “are about as un-American as anyone that I can imagine.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, in a Huffington Post story in April, summed up the Koch brothers' goal quite succinctly:

“The truth is that the agenda of the Koch brothers is to move this country from a democratic society with a strong middle class to an oligarchic form of society in which the economic and political life of the nation are controlled by a handful of billionaire families,” he wrote.

Based on the record, you can’t argue against that conclusion.

To view the video on the "Carenival" click here.
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