Nancy MacLean’s Democracy in Chains is a wonderfully researched and written book. It comes from a different point-of-view when it comes to Charles Koch and his war against US Democracy and the United States Constitution. MacLean views the Koch revolution. which is really a revolution of billionaires against the masses and against the US Constitution, through the eyes of Professor James Buchanan, a noted economist who developed an intellectual framework through which the Koch brothers operate.
Koch’s billions now control the Republican Party, most of the US Supreme Court, the US Senate, the US house of representatives, the Cato Institute, George Mason University, the Federalist Society, the Tea Party, as well as exercising massive influence on other universities, think tanks, FoxNews, the Wall Street Journal, judges, etc…. via his billions.
Both Buchanan and Koch see the mass of people as lesser creatures unworthy of making intelligent decisions about the role of government, their finances, how many toxins should be allowed in the air, ground and water, etc…. Therefore, only Koch and Buchanan know what is best, at least in their minds.
Both Buchanan and Koch push for economic freedom, which can be defined as anything any billionaire and or corporation wants to do in the name of profits. Democracy is an impediment to profits because those lesser creatures use democratic means, i.e. their right to vote, to curb the economic freedoms of corporations and their billionaire owners to give the masses such things as breast cancer; polluted rivers, air and groundwater; cause their babies to be born without brains and other deformities, rob them of their Constitutional rights, etc…
In other words, democracy stops the billionaires from doing everything they want to do in the name of economic freedom. Koch really wants the golden rule; he who has the gold makes the rules. Among other underhanded tactics, Koch engaged in a campaign of lies and fraud to convince citizens that big time voter fraud was occurring when it is not. Thus, Koch developed a rationale to push his Republican Party to curb voting rights, with such things as voter ID laws. Professor James Buchanan developed that idea in the name of economic freedom, and Charles Koch adopted it.
And so the Republican Party war against democracy continues as they push unnecessary voter I.D. laws, and pack US courts at all levels with judges who have benefited from Koch money in one way or another. Bret Kavanaugh is the latest example. John Roberts was an earlier example. Neil Gorsuch is a more recent example.
As NPR commented, “The Federalist Society is a hugely powerful, nationwide organization of conservative lawyers which will be instrumental in helping President Trump pick the next Supreme Court nominee.” Koch has poured millions into the Federalist Society. The result is Kavanaugh.
What does Kavanaugh support? He believes that corporations are people although nothing in the US Constitution nor in the writings of any of the founding fathers even remotely suggests that. Kavanaugh believes corporations spending money is free speech, and must be protected at all costs, even though nothing can be found suggesting this in the US Constitution or in any of the writings of the founding fathers.
In other words, Kavanaugh has been nominated by President Trump and Charles Koch to alter the meaning of the United States Constitution in a way completely abhorrent to the founding fathers. And yet, Kavanaugh claims he is an original intent jurist, which means he decides legal issues based on what the founding fathers thought, and nothing could be further from the truth. That, of course, is a lie.
Kavanaugh has been picked by Charles Koch and Donald Trump so he will alter the meaning of the US Constitution in favor of the billionaires and at the expense of the vast majority of US citizens. He intends to curtail the constitutional rights of the masses by extending greater rights to the corporations owned by billionaires.
This is precisely what Charles Koch wants. He wants government for the billionaires and against the common good.
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