Same as the unions. Exact. Same. Thing.

There can only be one king

There’s a lot of talk these days about The Fabulous Koch Brothers Boys – so much money, so committed to their own Randian libertarian principles. It never rang true with me – all I ever saw in their political activity was a committment to their own bottom line, their own personal wealth. Which is fine, but when that greedy instinct affects the lives of 400 million other people, how can we see it as anything other than base. And yet, and yet . . .

This one is as blatant a dismissal of the public good as I have ever seen. Our national tragedy is that this is possible and that Americans aren’t taking to the streets in the face of such an insult. (Don’t count on much media attention.)

Via The Washington Monthly  ( featured also on The Rachel Maddow Show last night – link above), here are the boys showing true colors.

“In 2007, following a series of scandalous incidents, federal officials created on online consumer-product-safety database, allowing Americans to go online and access free information about the safety records of household products. It passed the House unanimously, sailed through the Senate, and was signed into law by George W. Bush.”

But that was so 2007.

“Why would even the most unhinged Republican reject giving Americans free access to such materials?  (Guess)

“For very little money, the government created an online resource to help families make more informed choices, and create a new incentive for manufacturers to put safe products on the market.

” . . . the Kochs don’t care for the consumer product safety database, so . . .as the Kansas City Star explained, their Congressman, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R) of Kansas, “pushed a measure to delay and weaken it. As the Star explained, Pompeo wanted to push off implementation ‘to give Congress a chance to make changes that both he and the business community would prefer’.'”

Because a unanimous Congressional vote and a presidential signature isn’t ‘a chance’.

 ” ‘One would think it hard to find a politician who opposes reducing preventable dangers to children. [Pompeo] has stepped up to this challenge’.”  Pompeo’s proposal, an amendment to the House spending-cut bill, was approved with 227 Republican votes,

Hey,  getting elected is tougher every year. Public be damned. The Howard Rourke twins triumphant.