And minorities..
For some reason these two men frighten me. They're massively wealthy, very conservative and apparently they are trying to shape this nation into something that fits their own personal ideology of what this country should be.
Many rich men from time to time have used their wealth to either run for public office or influence public policy, but what the Koch brothers are doing is simply unprecedented. Last year their organization spent well over $100 million dollars buying off politicians and slamming democrats. This year they plan to spend even more. They have now started to influence state and city legislation throughout the country.
The Koch brothers frighten me because I believe they want to turn back the hands of time and take the country to a place where women and minorities have fewer rights and less of a voice. These two men support repealing worker rights, repealing legislation that ensure clean air standards and they are for limiting the right to vote of minorities.
And honestly these two guys remind me of the weird cartoon character Mr. Burns from the Simpsons. He was the old, rich white man always up to some sinister plot.
However, more realistically I'm opposed to the Koch brothers because they were born rich and never knew a life of hardship. They have always been removed from what 98% of the country goes through because of their immense wealth.
They don't know (or care) how the laws which are passed by primarily rich white men (because let's face it most of the congressmen and senators were born wealthy and have never known a life of hardship) affect minorities and the middle class. The repeal of worker rights and the watering down of voter protections for minorities have very real and very harmful consequences on many people.
Many employees have little to no chance to bargain for fair wages and treatment against a multibillion dollar corporation without some protections written into law.
Republicans want workers to be entirely vulnerable. They say "if you have a problem take it up in the courts" and I'm sure they are aware a low wage employee struggling to pay the rent will most likely be deterred from taking up costly litigation against a company armed with attorneys inside the courts.
And in many republican strongholds the employee rights have been weakened. It's as if the corporations have written many of the laws because they offer so little protection to workers.
I live in one of the most Republican states and I have seen companies use their wealth and attorneys to bully the poor and bully workers. Have a problem with one of these firms you'd better not talk about it because you'll be immediately threatened. Texas courts are packed with ideological right wing judges who often have their entire campaigns financed by the very companies whose cases they preside over. No, most do not recuse themselves.
If you come up against power in a state like Texas you'd better hope and pray you are in a federal court and not a state court.
Recently, there was a homeowner in Weatherford, Texas which is right outside Fort Worth, TX. Due to fracking he had flammable water coming up out of his well as and through his pipes. He could light a match next to his water hose with water coming out and the water would catch fire just like gasoline.
He started to complain and what do you know. The company who was the subject of his complaints dragged him into court and hit him with lawsuits to shut him up. The courts blindly acquiesced to this injustice and made the man sign confidentiality statements "or else".
Another family in another part of Texas had a similar issue where they all started to get sick due to the environmental effects of fracking in their neighborhood and the judge stated that fracking was a safe procedure and backed the company. The same judge when this very same procedure started to be done near his home immediately filed a lawsuit to stop it. Talk about a hypocrite.
So as long as it wasn't his family he had no problem with others being poisoned.
This is Texas for you and most likely similar activities are happening in other republican states.
The corporations have outsized influence and they use the courts in a manner that they were not intended which is to bully opposition and to bully those who use their first amendment rights to speak out against the activities of the powerful.
There are so many things going on that are questionable in the state of Texas but which are perfectly legal.
For instance, an overwhelming majority of companies place clauses in their contracts that if a dispute ever arises one would forego their right to a trial by jury which is guaranteed under the sixth amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Companies are aware that juries tend to be be fairer to the aggrieved than an ideological extreme rightwing Texas judge.
And this is allowed by state law.
So most people with a dispute against a company is up against a judge who is more than likely a white male republican who is overtly partial to the pleadings of a corporation.
These Texas judges have a "how dare you" mentality when a poor person or a minority should dare to take a corporation to court, no matter how legitimate their claim.
The Koch Brothers represent the 'WORSE' of America to me. They represent a time when wealthy white men had all the power and were essentially above the law. Do minorities or the middle class really want to go back to that time?
What the Koch Brothers are trying to do is rig the playing field even more for those that 'have' against those that 'have not'.
