What they did not mention ...
Image by jimbowen0306 via FlickrAmong the thousands of demonstrators who jammed the Wisconsin State Capitol grounds this weekend was a well-financed advocate from Washington who was there to voice praise for cutting state spending by slashing union benefits and bargaining rights.They also did not mention the Koch brothers previous interest in American Cup racing. That the Koch's support Americans for Prosperity is no secret revelation. Even Obama is aware of it and has mentioned it. I personally like what they are doing and find it much better for the US than what George Soros spends his money on to effect politics.
The visitor, Tim Phillips, the president of Americans for Prosperity, told a large group of counterprotesters who had gathered Saturday at one edge of what otherwise was a mostly union crowd that the cuts were not only necessary, but they also represented the start of a much-needed nationwide move to slash public-sector union benefits.
“We are going to bring fiscal sanity back to this great nation,” he said.
What Mr. Phillips did not mention was that his Virginia-based nonprofit group, whose budget surged to $40 million in 2010 from $7 million three years ago, was created and financed in part by the secretive billionaire brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch.
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What is really omitted from the story is the conflict of interest between the unions and Democrat politicians who get over 95 percent of the unions political contributions which come from deductions of worker paychecks that are paid by taxpayers. The Democrats have access to more contributions if they agree to increase workers pay and benefits even though those increases are contrary to the interest of the taxpayers and have resulted in huge deficits and benefit payments that are not sustainable.
That is the biggest omission in most of the reporting on what is happening in Wisconsin. I think it is an important part of the story and I hope the Times will eventually start covering it. It puts facts in perspective in a much more important way than the support the Koch brothers provides to conservatives who are trying to fix the problem caused by the conflict.
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