Koch Network, Charlie Baker and Transportation

Koch Network, Charlie Baker and Transportation

1. Charlie Baker was one of the founders of the Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based libertarian think tank. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Baker
2. Pioneer Institute Lies about MBTA. Transportation Union objects
3. The Politically-Driven, Koch-Backed Campaign to Undermine Boston Transit Baker inflates absenteeism. 
4. How the Koch Brothers Are Killing Public Transit Projects Around the Country "Americans for Prosperity (AFP), which is financed by the oil billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch .. ". They use a ..."data service built by the Kochs, called i360, that helps them identify and rally voters ..".  "Early polling ...suggested that the $5.4 billion transit plan would easily pass." In a few months AFP had defeated the plan. The Koch conglomerate is a large producer of gasoline and asphalt. They are pushing driverless vehicles, claiming they give Americans the freedom they want.
5. The Koch brothers hate public transit. But they can’t always stop projects in their tracks The Koch network focuses on conservative cities.
6. Uber and the Koch unite in their animosity towards Mass Transit. "rideshare corporations and oil tycoons share a financial interest in a car-centric future". "Uber, together with its main competitor Lyft, boasted more lobbyists in 2016 than Amazon, Microsoft and Walmart combined". 
7. Kochs Mobilize to Kill Public Transit Plans "Americans for Prosperity counters that public transit plans waste taxpayer money on unpopular, outdated technology like trains and buses just as the world is moving toward cleaner, driverless vehicles." Americans for Prosperity is a Koch Network  "propaganda" machine.

Frank kashner - unchaindemocracy.org

http://unchaindemocracy.org/ his page on Koch

Charlie Baker - How two Republican governors in bright blue states will survive the blue wave

How two Republican governors in bright blue states will survive the blue wave

From American Exercise Institute.

Environmental Governor Needed!

Environmental Governor Needed! Your help is vital!

gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K [CC BY 2.0]

Social Animals, like the dark, go where other cockroaches are, consume and multiply.

Putting an environmentalist in the governor's office will help us achieve 350's goals. Governor Baker is a barrier to progress. Being apolitical is often associated with environmentalist. I believe big money has been used to manipulate would be environmental activists to be politically passive. Environmentalists must get involved with political activities if they are going to save the planet. We are in the 11th hour. Loss of the Amazon represents 30% or our oxygen production. Unions are powerful political players. We need to emulate them.

Our Republican governor is more popular with Democrats. Wait, what?
"Still, it’s notable that Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican seeking a second term in November, had a higher job approval rating with independents and Democrats, 76 percent and 71 percent, respectively, than he did with Republicans, 59 percent of whom gave him high marks in a recent poll from Suffolk University and The Boston Globe."

"This matters given that a Morning Consult poll last month found Massachusetts to be the most anti-Trump state in the nation." " Massachusetts likely voters surveyed said Baker is anti-Trump,"

There is a nagging feeling that Governor Baker is not on our side. Why is that? It helps to understand Baker's connection to the Koch Network.

I first got interested in the Koch network after reading "Democracy in Chains" by by Nancy MacLean. I helped a friend, Frank Kashner, set up: 

http://unchaindemocracy.org/. The site shows 85 Koch organizations. Climate change denial is an important activity for the Kochs.

Charlie Baker on Wikipedia. "In the late 1980s, Baker was hired as co director of the newly founded "Pioneer Institute", part of the State Policy Network.

EXPOSED: The State Policy Network  The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government

Exposed How Rights State Based Think Tanks Are Transforming Us Politics

Affiliate: Pioneer Institute, Massachusetts, 185 Devonshire Street Unit 1101 Boston, MA 02110 Phone: 6177232277. Contact: Micaela Dawson

What does the Koch Network want? David Koch ran for president in 1980 as a Libertarian. This was his platform: End all of the following:
• Aid to the poor
• All Taxation
• Department of Energy
• Department of Transportation
• Medical insurance regulation
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Federal Aviation Administration
• Federal Election Commission
• Food and Drug Administration
• Medicare and Medicaid
• Minimum Wage Laws
• Obamacare
• Public highways and railroads and waterways
• Public Schools
• Social Security
• Support for Abortion Services
• US Postal Service
• Welfare

But they are keeping the police and prisons! They believe in meritocracy, except when it applies to their relatives and friends. No estate tax for them.

Baker made secret trip to conservative meeting. By Jim O’Sullivan Globe Staff,March 16, 2016, 6:53 p.m. Baker’s trip took him to Sea Island, home to posh resorts, for the so-called World Forum, an elite, off-the-record gathering of right-leaning power brokers hosted by the American Enterprise Institute. The American Enterprise Institute's head of energy studies, Benjamin Zycher, has suggested there is doubt about man-made climate change: [5]

“The issue of the climate sensitivity of the atmosphere to increasing GHG concentrations is nowhere near resolution.”  ref: https://www.desmogblog.com/american-enterprise-institute

The Politically-Driven, Koch-Backed Campaign to Undermine Boston Transit"MBTA has its flaws, the charges against it don’t stem from a good government campaign so much as an ideologically-driven assault, filled with exaggerations and lies and backed by groups affiliated with the Koch brothers"

https://www.politicalresearch.org/2016/11/18/privatizing-massachusetts. Privatizing Massachusetts, The Right-Wing’s Blue State Game Plan

Baker Keeps a low profile How two Republican governors in bright blue states will survive the blue wave

THREAT TO PUBLIC EDUCATIONNOW CENTERSON MASSACHUSETTS "Governor Charlie Baker has made charter expansion a top priority, mirroring his privatization efforts involving transportation and other public services. Baker vows to hold the line on taxes despite the myriad unmet needs that persist year after year for our public schools, colleges and universities, as well as for early childhood education. Make no mistake: The governor remains faithful to a hard-line conservative ideology even as he puts forth a moderate front."

References:
Income Inequality
desmog database of deniers

https://apps.bostonglobe.com/spotlight/secret-courts/

massachusetts bill aims to reduce traffic congestion but will it help climate

https://energynews.us/2019/08/16/northeast/massachusetts-bill-aims-to-reduce-traffic-congestion-but-will-it-help-climate/

massachusetts bill aims to reduce traffic congestion but will it help climate

Seniors Face Big Decisions by Steven A. Levy

High School seniors who are barely adults have to make some serious financial decisions. College degrees do not guarantee a happy financial future. These decisions can burden young people with a mountain of debt. There are many forces at work urging students to make decisions that will limit their life options. Things like owning a home, getting married and having children become hard when all your spare money is used to pay school loans.

When I entered senior year in 1964, life in some ways was simpler. There was the Draft. But, compared to what students face today it was easy. Out of 450 graduates in my high school class, only about 50 went to college. Many of my friends went to work for Automotive. They would say to me "Why work so hard to get a degree in engineering. We will make more assembling cars." Things have changed. Many of those jobs no longer exist. Automation has eliminated them. Automation will eliminate more good jobs in the future.

What you do and where you live is important. If you want to maintain suburban homes, the Northshore, might be good. If you want to be a TV producer, NYC would be a better choice. Housing is more expensive than it was in the middle of the 20th century. What you do and what you can afford becomes a challenging two sided question. A four year degree might not be necessary to get your first good job. It is possible to finish in night school while you work. Living at home may sound awful, but think how you will feel paying for your "exciting college years" for decades after you graduate.

Education can be very helpful. It does not guarantee success. Before making life altering financial commitments, think it over. Get some advice from people who have made both good and bad financial decisions. Everyone likes a good listener.

Steven A. Levy; (781) 771-2779; stevenlevymath@gmail.com, 26 Sagamore Road, Marblehead, MA. 

Home Page: www.stevenlevymath.com (It is a blog! Follow me!)

A Solution to the Traffic Problem

Boston Globe Article "Traffic congestion has reached a ‘tipping point’ in Massachusetts, state officials say" By Kellen Browning and Emily Sweeney.

If  you were a Martian what would you say looking at our congestion problem? Why do you need a  3,000 pound vehicle to move one 135 pound human? Why is there only one person in the car? Why is everyone going to work at the same time? If you worked together you could easily solve this problem. What is stopping you? What's more important, your community or your own needs? To solve this problem, we all must put community needs ahead of our own.

Letter to the Editor, Boston Globe

If you would like to submit a letter to be published in The Boston Globe's Letters to the Editor section, please send an e-mail to letter@globe.com.

Be sure to include your full name, address, and a telephone number for confirmation purposes. Letters should be 200 words or less and are subject to condensation.

Pioneer Institute, Kochs and Charlie Baker

https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pioneer_Institute_for_Public_Policy_Research
Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research
PI is a "partner organization" in the Charles Koch Institute's Liberty@Work program.
Former PI Executive Director Charlie Baker Takes Office as Governor of Massachusetts.

The Politically-Driven, Koch-Backed Campaign to Undermine Boston Transit

The Politically-Driven, Koch-Backed Campaign to Undermine Boston Transit"MBTA has its flaws, the charges against it don’t stem from a good government campaign so much as an ideologically-driven assault, filled with exaggerations and lies and backed by groups affiliated with the Koch brothers"

Transportation for Massachusetts

Transportation for Massachusetts

• diverse coalition of more than 70 member and partner organizations with a stake in improving transportation across the Commonwealth. 
• advocates at the state, federal, and local levels for transportation 
• policies that are innovative, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. 
• We want a transportation system that strengthens our economy and our communities, 
• safer, healthier, more affordable and reliable.

why -are -thirty somethings -lonely

why-are-thirtysomethings-lonely-because-society-doesnt-value-friendship

Gov. Baker was an executive director of PI

https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pioneer_Institute_for_Public_Policy_Research

Former PI Executive Director Charlie Baker Takes Office as Governor of Massachusetts

On January 8, 2015, Charlie Baker (R) was inaugurated as Governor of the state of Massachusetts.^[11] Gov. Baker was an executive director of PI for many years and the organization highlighted this on its website on the day he assumed office, "Our confidence stems in part from the fact that the new Governor was one of this organization’s first executive directors, and played a role in a number of research initiatives since that time. Our founder, the late Lovett C. “Pete” Peters, is surely smiling down on today’s Inauguration with a great deal of pride."^[11] 

^{www.sourcewatch.org}

Well that's pretty obvious.

New sources of hope for local journalism

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2019/08/05/new-sources-hope-for-local-journalism/wPnrh8qLGUpZxzPNNxhtFM/story.html

August 1 Court Watch

August 1 Court Watch

Political Parties

Democratic

• Democratic National Committee
• Massachusetts
• Marblehead

Republican

• National
• Massachusetts
• Marblehead

Koch Network

ENLIST DONORS to amass a fortune to fund the effort:
• Institute for Free Speech  (Formerly: Center for Competitive Politics)
• Club for Growth Donors Trust
• Freedom Partners
• Koch seminar network (the semi-annual donor summit) The Seminar Network
• Philanthropy Roundtable

DEVISE STRATEGY, POLICY, AND TACTICS for each stage of the plan:
•American Enterprise Institute
•Americans for Tax Reform
•Cato Institute
•Heritage Foundation
•Mont Pelerin Society
•National Center for Policy Analysis (2017 extinct)
•Reason Foundation

RECRUIT AND TRAIN LARGE NUMBERS OF OPERATIVES to carry out the agenda:
• Bill of Rights Institute
• Charles Koch Foundation
• Institute for Humane Studies (indoctrination  attendance is mandatory at all activities
• Leadership Institute
• Liberty Central
• Liberty Fund
• Mercatus Center (George Mason University)
• Young Americans for Liberty

GET CONTROL OF A MAJORITY OF THE STATES and use that power to change the rules virally:
•American Legislative Exchange Council
•Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity
•Mercatus Center’s State and Local Policy Project
•State Policy Network (153 member organizations in 49 states, Puerto Rico, & D.C.)

BREAK THE POWER OF THOSE WHO MOST EFFECTIVELY BLOCK YOUR AGENDA:
•Capital Research Center
•Center for Individual Rights
• Citizens United (the organization behind the court case)
• National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation
•Project Veritas

CONSTRICT THE ELECTORATE:
•Project on Fair Representation
•Organizations listed in other categories also involved:
•Americans for Prosperity
•American Legislative Exchange Council
•State Policy Network

CREATE RIVAL IDENTITY-BASED GROUPS that exploit media “balance”:
• Association of Mature Americans
• Concerned Veterans of America
• Generation Opportunity
• Independent Women’s Forum
• Libre Initiative (aimed at Latinos)
• (Also, lay groundwork among African Americans through contributions to the United Negro College Fund, Thurgood Marshall Fund, etc.)

SPREAD MISINFORMATION to advance the agenda where otherwise losing:
• Center to Protect Patient Rights
• Citizens against Government Waste
• Competitive Enterprise Institute climate change denier
• Heartland Institute
• Independent Institute
• Judicial Watch

SACRALIZE THE AGENDA by cultivating religious allies
• Americans United for Life
• Council for National Policy
•Concerned Women for America
•Faith and Freedom Coalition
•Focus on the Family
•National Right to Life
•Susan B. Anthony List

CREATE A GRASSROOTS PROXY ARMY— for pincer action with donors pressing from above:
Americans for Prosperity
• Heritage Action
• i360 (data analytics company with “a database of over 250 million 18+ adults” sourced from “multiple consumer data compilers.”)
• National Taxpayers Union
• Stand Together

TRANSFORM HIGHER EDUCATION, to undermine its obstruction and gain legitimacy:
• American Council of Trustees and Alumni
• Campus Reform
• Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
• Turning Point USA
• Campus base camps at GMU, Florida State University, Arizona State University, and others (Charles Koch Foundation now investing on over 350 campuses)

TURN GOP INTO A DISCIPLINED DELIVERY VEHICLE by using “the accountability play” of primary challenges to enforce compliance:
• Americans for Tax Reform
• Club for Growth
• Freedom Partners
• National Taxpayers Union

CHANGE THE LAW, THE JUDICIARY, AND CONSTITUTIONAL UNDERSTANDING to entrench the
agenda:
• Cato Institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies
• Cause of Action Institute
• Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies
• Federalist Society
• Institute for Justice

• Judicial Crisis Network
• Judicial Watch
• Landmark Legal Foundation
• Project on Fair Representation
• Rule of Law Defense Fund
• Scalia School of Law, GMU
• Washington Legal Foundation

MOVE THE AGENDA INTERNATIONALLY, FOR LASTING, GLOBAL SUCCESS:
• Antigua Forum
• Atlas Network – 457 partner organization members operating in 95 nations
• Fund for American Studies
• Mont Pelerin Society
• Students for Liberty

—– Compiled by Nancy MacLean, mid-2018. Note that this is a work in progress and may not fully comprehensive (particularly of education-related efforts). Comments and suggestions welcome

Counter Koch Network

Interrelated Organizations that Counter the Koch Network (Reference Page)

NOTE: this is not a complete list, just groups we know about. Please write to us with additions or corrections.

BUILD DONOR NETWORK

• AFL-CIO, NEA, SEIU, etc?
• Democracy Alliance and Committee on States?
• Progressive foundations

DEVISE STRATEGY, POLICY, AND TACTICS for each stage of the plan:

• Center for American Progress
• Center for Economic and Policy Research
• Center for Media & Democracy
• Checks and Balances Project
• Color of Change
• Demos
• Economic Policy Institute
• Institute for New Economic Thinking
• In the Public Interest
• Institute for Policy Studies
• Institute for Women’s Policy Institute
• Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
• National Employment Law Project
• Political Research Associates

RECRUIT & TRAIN TALENT TO CARRY OUT AGENDA

• Roosevelt Institute
• Scholars Strategy Network
• Scholars for Social Justice
• Union Summer*
• UnKoch My Campus

ORGANIZE TO REGAIN STATE-LEVEL & LOCAL POWER & PROMOTE SELF-REINFORCING POLICY

• ALICE*
• Center for Popular Democracy
• Committee on States
• EARN
• Jobs to Move America
• Jobs with Justice
• LAANE, CCNE*, etc.
• Local Progress
• Our Revolution
• People’s Action
• State Innovation Exchange (SIX)
• State Priorities Partnership
• Unions
• Working Families Party

EXPAND THE ELECTORATE & DEFEND VOTING RIGHTS & PARTICIPATION

• AFL-CIO
• America Votes
• Brennan Center
• Campaign Legal Center
• Democracy Initiative
• Democracy North Carolina and equivalents elsewhere
• Every Voice
• Indivisible
• League of Women Voters
• MoveOn
• NAACP
• Our Revolution
• Working Families Party

DE- SACRALIZE THE RIGHT’S AGENDA by cultivating religious allies & advance a pro-public one

• Faith in Action
• Faith Partnerships*
• Interfaith Worker Justice
• National Council of Churches
• Repairers of the Breach

EXPOSE THE KOCH CONTERFEIT RIVALS OF PROGRESSIVE GROUPS to media & rally originals

• AARP
• Generation Opportunity: United States Student Association, etc.
• Independent Women’s Forum: IWPR, Ms. Foundation, NOW, NARAL, PP, etc.
• Libre: National Council of La Raza, MALDEF

USE WEDGE ISSUES TO BREAK UP THE KOCH PHALANX AND PEAL OFF THEIR SUPPORTERS

• Faith groups and leaders – enlist National Council of Churches etc. to convey the libertarian ethical agenda
• Veterans administration privatization – Concerned Veterans of America pushing for privatization of VA against all the venerable, real vet groups, including VFW and AL.
• Corporate interests and investors hurt by climate change (agriculture, green energy, insurance, tourism, etc.)
• AARP – expose stealth bid to privatize Social Security and Medicare
• Common sense gun control – organize union veterans and hunters against the NRA?
• Environment – strong majorities of Republican voters, too, still support protection of air and water quality, western lands and monuments, etc., so expose what the GOP is trying to do quietly and administratively

DOCUMENT KNOWING MISINFORMATION FOR THE KOCH AGENDA TO EDITORIAL BOARDS

• Brennan Center
• Climate Investigations
• DeSmog Blog
• Greenpeace
• Public Citizen
• Sierra Club
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• UnKoch My Campus

SUPPORT MEDIA THAT DO OR COULD EXPOSE AND COUNTER FOX, BREITBART, & THE REST

• Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
• Center for Media and Democracy
• DeSmog Blog & international contacts (e.g. on Mont Pelerin Society & Atlas Network)
• Little Sis
• Etc.

DEFEND HIGHER EDUCATION BY EXPOSING THE DONOR GAMBIT TO RUIN IT

• AAUP
• AAUW
• AFT
• NAACP youth groups
• NEA
• PIRGs
• Students against Sweatshops (United Students Against Sweatshops?)
• UnKoch My Campus
• United States Student Association (Facebook)

USE VOTER ACTION & PROGRESSIVE DONOR INFLUENCE TO KEEP DEMOCRATS HONEST AND ACCOUNTABLE TO VOTERS AND “MUST-HAVE” PRO-DEMOCRACY STRUCTURAL REFORMS

• Ballot Initiative Strategy Center
• Center for Popular Democracy
• Climate Hawks
• Indivisible
• League of Women Voters
• Our Revolution
• Working Families Party

THWART THE ARTICLE V CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION & ENGAGE PUBLIC INTEREST LAWYERS AND PROGRESSIVE LAW SCHOOL FACULTY TO DEVISE LEGAL STRATEGY TO BETTER PROMOTE DEMOCRACY

• ACLU
• American Constitution Society
• Common Cause
• End Citizens United
• Equal Justice Initiative
• League of Women Voters
• Public Citizen
• Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
• [various law schools’ legal clinics]

BUILD GLOBAL INFO EXCHANGES & RELATIONSHIPS TO BLOCK “EXIT THREATS” & LIFT FLOORS

• Amnesty International
• EU folks dealing with Brexit, etc.
• Greenpeace
• International Consortium of Investigative Journalists [Panama Papers team]
• SEIU and other unions forging international partnerships
• Solidarity House
• Tax Justice Network
• Tri-continental

**** other possible state and local partners at Field Guide to the Democracy Movement: http://www.fieldguidetodemocracy.org/

*Could not find or too many choices

kvetch-gers

kvetch-gers: super heros that save the world by complaining.

Humor Scripts by Steven Levy

Feel free to use in any way. (or Broadway, Yea!) but if you make it big, get me some free tickets. Steven. Here's the link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0_MMzBW9S39fjJfVEoyUzFQdVB5Ml96akhUUEQyR2lSTWJGYXpIck1xZEd6a0dqcFY3dlk?usp=sharing

Fishing insider embraces new role as Vineyard Wind liaison

References

https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20180923/fishing-insider-embraces-new-role-as-vineyard-wind-liaison

https://www.capecodtimes.com/opinion/20190722/vineyard-wind-deserves-to-move-ahead-without-delay

Lynn, MA. Sewage Treatment Plant

stevenlevymath: Lynn, MA. Sewage Treatment Plant A quick look at sewage treatment in Lynn, MA.. click here for video

Emissions Targets, Energy Storage, & Electric Vehicles Hearing

Got there after CourtWatch. It was so crowded I could not even stand in the back of the room. I met people from 350 and the Sierra Club. I left after 30 minutes. More people kept coming so I gave up the idea of eventually getting a seat.

Court Watch MA BMC July 23, 2019

Court Watch MA is an ACLU Massachusetts project.  BMC is Boston Municipal Court. Got there at 10:30. I wrote up eight cases. Most of the cases were missed jury duty. 

Book Review of “Democracy in Chains”

Rod Kessler and Frank Kashner

July 22, 2019

Democracy in Chains, by Nancy MaClean, examines how the Radical Right Billionaire Class threatens  American life, the environment and our children’s future.

The book explores some dark and scary corridors of U.S. political history. It was published in 2017. It is a readable and well-researched. “Democracy…” traces the origins and expansion of America’s most extreme and powerful political right. 

The author, Nancy MacLean, is an award-winning author and professor of History and Public Policy at Duke. In her book, she reveals how various political operators subvert our institutions without the public’s knowledge. Economists Milton Friedman and James McGill Buchanan are ...
Click to read the entire document

How I made my website in 2 hours for $23

1) Bought domain from GoDaddy. $23
2) Set up blog on blogger. free
3) Create a post to be my home page. Used the URL for that page in domain setting at GoDaddy.

It's not everything I want it to be, but close enough. No programming!

stevenlevymath HOME PAGE

Facebook Pages

• stevenlevymath: https://www.facebook.com/stevenlevymath2
• Marblehead Democrats: https://www.facebook.com/MarbleheadDems/
• Northshore Mass Transit News and Research: https://www.facebook.com/NsMaMtNr/

Linked In : https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenlevymath/

TransitMatters: http://transitmatters.org/

Educational Videos:

• Vimeo (Best Source): https://vimeo.com/stevenlevymath
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/stevenlevymath
• Teachertube: https://www.teachertube.com/user/channel/stevenlevymath
• (Teachertube has so many ads now, it makes it difficult to use)

Notes and References: Search as needed
Interesting Sites: Tabor Music Box Company

GHG

https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data

How is the environment changing

(1) How is the environment changing
Videos:

Helping our Communities Adapt to Climate Change, Outline

Helping our Communities Adapt to Climate Change, Outline
Better Title: Adapting to Environmental Changes

THURSDAY, 401, Thursday 9-11 am, Class Leader: Steven Levy
March 7, 14, 21, 28

(1) How is the environment changing
(1a) How to know what is true
(1b) Sources of information
(1c) Earth science, the basics. Explore earth’s past and possible future. Most Important issues. Urgency.

(2) What have other countries and communities done?
(2a) Cambridge
(2b) Denmark
(2c) California

(3) Positive and negative forces

(4) Explore and commit to local opportunities to help in adapting to climate change.


Course Format: Lecture, research and discussion. Some videos will be shown. Extensive use of on line resources.
Required books or supplies: Bring laptop or tablet to each class
Required reading for first class: Read about climate change on Wikipedia