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Forum Post: There's Koch in Iran and Black Water in Afghanistan!

Posted 11 years ago on June 5, 2012, 12:50 a.m. EST by TrevorMnemonic (5827)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-46840786/report-koch-brothers-made-sales-to-iran/

Report: Koch Brothers Made Sales to Iran By Rachel Elson

An extensive investigation in Bloomberg Markets magazine finds that Koch Industries has made multiple 'improper payments' (read: bribes) to win business in Africa, India and the Middle East; rigged prices with competitors; and used foreign subsidiaries to sell equipment to Iran. (Read the full story here - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-02/koch-brothers-flout-law-getting-richer-with-secret-iran-sales.html

According to the Bloomberg report, the company had a widespread culture of cheating and deception. Sally Barnes-Soliz, who's now an investigator for the State Department of Labor and Industries in Washington, says that when she worked for Koch, her bosses and a company lawyer at the Koch refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, asked her to falsify data for a report to the state on uncontrolled emissions of benzene, a known cause of cancer. Barnes-Soliz, who testified to a federal grand jury, says she refused to alter the numbers.

"They didn't know what to do with me," she says. "They were really kind of baffled that I had ethics." The company is a massive conglomerate with operations in oil, chemicals, textiles, trading and consumer goods -- including Dixie cups, Brawny paper towels and Quilted Northern bath tissue, which are all made by Koch subsidiary Georgia- Pacific.

Charles and David Koch tied for fourth place on this year's Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, with an estimated net worth of $25 billion each.

Over the last 5 years, Bloomberg found, Koch Industries has spent more than $50 million on lobbying Washington to fight derivatives regulation and greenhouse gas limits.

Bloomberg Markets says neither brother agreed to be interviewed for the article.

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[-] 6 points by shadz66 (19985) 11 years ago

Mussolini said that 'Fascism' was just a word but what he really understood it to be was the conglomeration of The State and Corporations. The Kochs are a major part of this insidious tendency.

Further, please reflect upon :

I can't remember who said it but "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance" !!

e tenebris, lux ...

[-] 2 points by SparkyJP (1646) from Westminster, MD 11 years ago

It's a Thomas Jefferson quote. :)

[-] 2 points by SparkyJP (1646) from Westminster, MD 11 years ago

This quotation was well-known in the nineteenth century, and was in fact used by a number of famous figures, including Frederick Douglass, James Buchanan, and William Henry Harrison.

http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/eternal-vigilance-price-liberty-quotation

[-] 4 points by beautifulworld (23769) 11 years ago

Thanks for posting this. Shedding light on the complete lack of ethics of the people who have bought our government is important.

[-] 4 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

No problemo. But seriously... where's a full scale investigation into this? When India wanted to keep trading with Iran, our government at least made empty threats.

"The Obama administration is threatening to impose sanctions on India over its continued economic ties with Iran" - http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-16/us/31201039_1_iranian-crude-oil-imports-iranian-oil

We need to dump all those funded by the Kochs and we need to dump all those funded by Goldman Sachs.

[-] 4 points by beautifulworld (23769) 11 years ago

I agree, but I'm feeling a little depressed about the fact that Walker won. That had all to do with the money he raised. It's either that or the American people don't want workers' rights. They want declining wages, no benefits, no retirement and more wars.

[-] 1 points by beautifulworld (23769) 11 years ago

Ooooh. This is cool that this thread is back up. Seems some old threads are mysteriously appearing at the top of our bubbling system.

[-] 1 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

Sometimes They Come Back.

I linked this post to someone the other day.

[-] 1 points by bensdad (8977) 11 years ago

Ending this corruption & beginning to solve virtually all of our problems starts in one place exactly:


disconnect democracy & capitalism with a constitutional amendment
corporations are not people & overturn citizens united


start here and move forward:

................................................. http://corporationsarenotpeople.webuda.com