Amidst news that the Koch brothers are considering purchasing at least five major Tribune Company newspapers — including the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel and Hartford Courant — the staff at these organizations are starting to fight back.

Here is a case in point. Last week, at an in-house awards ceremony for Los Angeles Times staff, columnist Steve Lopez asked everyone in attendance, “Raise your hand if you would quit if the paper was bought by the Koch brothers.” Fully half of the staff raised their hands.

What DailyKOS is unwilling to report in their naive release is that Tribune just emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December of 2012. Under the management of companies that care not about content, the papers are ripe for purchase from someone actually willing to run them. It would also seem that liberal-heavy content is not doing as well as say… the Wall Street Journal. Air America and Newsweek anyone?

The 50% of newspaper journalists that would leave those papers solely on ideology should absolutely do so. They are, by their own admission, biased – not a shock to the rest of the country.

If this is not a clear cut case of “I’m right because I said so” vapidity then 2 + 2 does not equal 4.

MoveOn even lies to its own people by saying MoveOn gets no big checks from CEOs.  Apparently they count on membership from uninformed people who have never heard of the huge donations MoveOn has received over the years from billionaire George Soros.

Below is the text as sent out in an email by MoveOn:

Dear MoveOn member,

Paul Ryan is bad for America. He’s anti-choice, and would give big tax cuts for millionaires, while raising taxes on the middle-class. He’s a Tea Party favorite who takes donations from the billionaire Koch brothers, and he introduced one of harshest and most inhumane budgets in recent history. His ideological hero for many years called selfishness a virtue and charity an abomination.

But most people don’t know just how bad Paul Ryan is. So we made this list of 10 things to know about Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential pick, Paul Ryan. Read it, then click here to share this list as an image on social media, or just forward this email! The future of America is on the line—from a woman’s right to choose to our economy.

10 Things to know about Paul Ryan

1. His economic plan would cost America 1 million jobs in the first year. Ryan’s proposed budget would cripple the economy. He’d slash spending deeply, which would not only slow job growth, but shock the economy and cost 1 million of us our jobs in 2013 alone and kill more than 4 million jobs by the end of 2014.¹

2. He’d kill Medicare. He’d replace Medicare with vouchers for retirees to purchase insurance, eliminating the guarantee of health care for seniors and putting them at the mercy of the private insurance industry. That could amount to a cost increase of more than $5,900 by 2050, leaving many seniors broke or without the health care they need. He’d also raise the age of eligibility to 67.²

3. He’d pickpocket the middle class to line the pockets of the rich. His tax plan is Robin Hood in reverse. He wants to cut taxes by $4.6 trillion over the next decade, but only for corporations and the rich, like giving families earning more than $1 million a year a $300,000 tax cut. And to pay for them, he’d raise taxes on middle- and lower-income households and butcher social service programs that help middle- and working-class Americans.³

4. He’s an anti-choice extremist. Ryan co-sponsored an extremist anti-choice bill, nicknamed the ‘Let Women Die Act,’ that would have allowed hospitals to deny women emergency abortion care even if their lives were at risk. And he co-sponsored another bill that would criminalize some forms of birth control, all abortions, and in vitro fertilization.⁴

5. He’d dismantle Social Security. Ironically, Ryan used the Social Security Survivors benefit to help pay for college, but he wants to take that possibility away from future generations. He agrees with Rick Perry’s view that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” and he supported George W. Bush’s disastrous proposal to privatize Social Security.⁵

6. He’d eliminate Pell grants for more than 1 million low-income students. His budget plan cuts the Pell Grant program by $200 billion, which could mean a loss of educational funding for 1 million low-income students.⁶

7. He’d give $40 billion in subsidies to Big Oil. His budget includes oil tax breaks worth $40 billion, while cutting “billions of dollars from investments to develop alternative fuels and clean energy technologies that would serve as substitutes for oil.”⁷

8. He’s another Koch-head politician. Not surprisingly, the billionaire oil-baron Koch brothers are some of Ryan’s biggest political contributors. And their company, Koch industries, is Ryan’s biggest energy-related donor. The company’s PAC and affiliated individuals have given him $65,500 in donations.⁸

9. He opposes gay rights. Ryan has an abysmal voting record on gay rights. He’s voted to ban adoption by gay couples, against same-sex marriage, and against repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell.” He also voted against the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which President Obama signed into law in 2009.⁹

10. He thinks an “I got mine, who cares if you’re okay” philosophy is admirable. For many years, Paul Ryan devoted himself to Ayn Rand’s philosophy of selfishness as a virtue. It has shaped his entire ethic about whom he serves in public office. He even went as far as making his interns read her work.¹⁰

If there was ever any doubt that Mitt Romney’s got a disastrous plan for America—he made himself 100% clear when he picked right-wing extremist Paul Ryan as his running mate. Paul Ryan is bad for America, but we can’t beat him if Americans don’t know everything he stands for. Share this list with all your friends by clicking here, or simply forward this email.

Thanks for all you do.

–Justin, Carrie, Steven, Stephen, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. “Ryan’s Budget, Robin Hood in reverse,” Economic Policy Institute
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278939&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=4

2. “12 Things You Should Know About Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan,” Think Progress, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278662&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=5

3.”Ryan Budget Would Raise Some Taxes; Guess Who Gets Hit?,” Off the Charts, April 12, 2012 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278692&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=6

“Middle class could face higher taxes under Republican plan, analysis finds,” The Washington Post, June 19, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278693&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=7

4. “Statement on Mitt Romney’s Selection of Rep. Paul Ryan for His Vice-Presidential Running Mate,” NARAL, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278694&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=8

“Paul Ryan’s Extreme Abortion Views,” The Daily Beast, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278695&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=10

“Paul Ryan Sponsored Fetal Personhood Bill, Opposes Family Planning Funds,” Huffington Post, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278852&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=12

5. “12 Things You Should Know About Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan,” Think Progress, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278662&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=13

“Ayn Rand would have HATED Paul Ryan,” Daily Kos, August 12, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278853&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=14

6. “Pell Grants For Poor Students Lose $170 Billion In Ryan Budget,” Huffington Post, March 27, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278696&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=15

7. “Ryan Budget Pads Big Oil’s Pockets with Senseless Subsidies,” Center for American Progress, March 20, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278697&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=16

8. “Koch brothers have Paul Ryan’s back,” Politico, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278940&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=17

9. “Paul Ryan as VP Matches Mitt Romney on Homophobia,” The Advocate, August 11, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278698&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=18

10.”Paul Ryan And Ayn Rand”, The New Republic, December 28, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=278699&id=48819-18317182-fpqNWbx&t=19

Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

http://mjfellright.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/moveon-attacks-ryan-with-lies/

The Times article uses the Koch brother funding as a negative example of how independent political groups funded by a small number of wealthy donors are shaping the presidential campaign in key swing states. Apparently, NYT writers forgot about the millions given to Super PACs by Democratic ally George Soros.

The following is one of the first ads that will be played in key battleground states over a three week period.

Many conservatives will be thinking it’s about time for Republicans to start responding to the many negative recent campaign ads by Team Obama.

 
Updated 8/9–Ad has been updated to the AFP site after the other was closed.