Do the notoriously right-wing Koch brothers own the Republican Party, its tea party arm – and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker?
Apparently so. A prank call by the Buffalo Beast to Gov. Walker – who thought he was talking to David Koch – proves it. The call is available below, so you can hear for yourself.
It’s hard to tell what’s more extreme: Walker’s anti-working class attitude or his stupidity. Why would he accept calls and discuss strategy with far-right billionaires if he doesn’t hate the working class? And why would he go into a nearly half-hour long soliloquy outlining his secret plans to anyone who calls if he’s not stupid?
A few gems from the conversation:
- Walker is plotting against the principled Democratic senators who left town in solidarity with the workers. He wants to cut off their direct deposit and force them to come to town to collect the checks – and then “chain them to their desks” in the State Capitol.
- Walker considered a COINTELPRO style operation against the demonstrators. When “David Koch” suggests that he “plant some troublemakers,” Koch replies that he’s “thought about that,” but “”if there was a ruckus caused, that would scare the public into thinking the governor’s got to settle to avoid all these problems.”
- Sending Andrew Breitbart – who gained notoriety for releasing doctored videos purportedly showing progressive activists breaking the law – to Madison is, according to Walker, “good stuff.” Does he know that the unions are on the right side and receive public support – and therefore realize that he needs to slander them if he wants to convince the public he’s right?
- Walker apparently knows that he’s the “first domino” in the Koch brothers’ scheme to destroy labor and push back working-class rights. “Koch” adds that he has a “vested interest,” which Walker seems to already know.
- Walker would love to accept unethical, or possibly illegal, bribes. When “Koch” says, “Once you crush these bastards, I’ll fly you out to [California] and show you a good time,” Walker agrees.
- Walker sees his role as akin to Reagan’s when he crushed the air traffic controllers’ union, PATCO. This, says Walker, “was the first crack in the fall of the Berlin Wall and the fall of communism.”
- Walker sees himself as the “first domino” in a long fight, and is touch with Gov. Kasich in Ohio, Gov. Rick Scott in Florida and other Republican tea party governors across the country.
Listen to the recordings below:
Continued:
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