This Is How Much the Koch Brothers Hate Donald Trump

 

—By Daniel Schulman

| Thu Feb. 4, 2016 1:02 PM EST

 

There is one man standing in the way of the Koch brothers' plans to elect a free-market conservative to the White House in November. His name is Donald J. Trump.

The Kochs, whose fascinating political evolution I detail in my book Sons of Wichita, are not fans of the bombastic real estate mogul whose positions on everything from taxes to foreign policy are at odds with theirs. Charles Koch has said Trump's plan to create a Muslim registry would "destroy our free society"—and for months Trump has been a source of debate and discussion within their donor network, which is raising nearly $900 million for the 2016 elections. Early on in the race, some members of the network believed, as did almost everyone else, that Trump would implode on his own. Some still do. And a very small handful of Koch network donors are Trump supporters. But in recent months, the Kochs and their allies—who now are largely leaning toward Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz—have considered a campaign targeting Trump, whose candidacy they believe poses a threat to the Republican Party, if not the country at large.

The Kochs' Trump problem is the topic of my new piece, just out at Vanity Fair. I report:

But Trump's second-place Iowa finish was more a blow to his ego, in some respect, than the viability of his campaign. If he prevails in New Hampshire, where he's maintaining a huge lead in the polls, pressure is likely to mount within the Koch network to launch an offensive before a march to the nomination gains formidable momentum. When the Kochs and several hundred of their allies gathered last weekend for another summit, halting Trump was a major topic of discussion.

What form might this attack take? According to The Hill, the Kochs' operatives have carefully assessed Trump's vulnerabilities—and those of the other candidates—and determined that highlighting his track record of bankruptcies and predatory business deals harms his standing with likely voters. (The Democrats deployed a similar strategy, to great effect, against Romney's "vulture capitalism.")

"As to whether we would mount something like that, everything is on the table,” one senior Koch official told me. "But there's no real plan. In all of our meetings we've discussed it."

One thing that has held the Koch network back so far, in addition to the Trump backers within their ranks, is the concern that taking on Trump would inevitably draw the thin-skinned tycoon's legendary invective, which it almost certainly would. If the Kochs go after Trump, rest assured that he will take every opportunity to highlight how he's being attacked by a cabal of billionaires seeking to control the outcome of the election. And this more or less explains their caution to this point. By taking on Trump, the Kochs risk lending credence to his claims of being an outsider who is battling against a corrupt political system rigged by the elites.

If Trump performs poorly in New Hampshire, the Koch network may be able to avoid a damaging showdown. But if he wins, it may already be too late to halt the runaway Trump train, especially if there's no Trump-targeting campaign in the can. So what happens if Trump seizes the nomination? Here's where things get very interesting.

If Trump becomes the nominee and he faces self-declared socialist Bernie Sanders in November, the senior Koch official explains, members of the donor network are likely to hold their noses and back Trump's candidacy. But there's another scenario that could prove far more controversial and possibly damaging for the network: a Trump-versus-Clinton matchup. There is absolutely no love between the Clintons and the Kochs, whose company experienced one of the most traumatic periods in its history as it fought off regulators during Bill Clinton's presidency. But, so strong is the dislike for Trump within Koch network, that a Clinton-Trump race is a tough call. "I could see the network not participating in the presidential election at all," says the senior Koch official.

This doesn't mean the Koch network would stand down in 2016 entirely. Under this scenario, donors would instead channel their resources into other races. If this were to occur—and it's a very big if—that would be a stunning development for a network of donors that has been amassing such a huge warchest for the presidential race.

Read the full story here.

 

Above is from:  http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2016/02/koch-brothers-have-donald-trump-problem

Mick Dumke investigates Bruce Rauner

 

Above is from: http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/7/71/1306331/watchdogs-rauner-still-keeping-secrets

 

 

 

 

Might any of Rauner’s companies be involved in the proposed “prison reform”?

 

 

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Crime / Politics / News Firm tied to Bruce Rauner profits from 'court-sanctioned extortion'

Posted By Mick Dumke on 09.25.14 at 03:15 PM

• AP Photos
• Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner has ties to a company that makes money by punishing poor people for minor criminal violations.

During stops in black and Latino neighborhoods in Chicago this week, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner promised to fight crime in low-income neighborhoods by creating jobs, funding a stronger social safety net, and especially targeting the most dangerous criminals—all things that he accused Governor Pat Quinn of neglecting to do.
"What we've got to focus on is the violent crime in our communities," he said at a church in Humboldt Park. "We've got to prevent it, and Pat Quinn is failing on that issue."

 

But Rauner himself has financial ties to a company with a very different focus: punishing poor people for nonviolent misdemeanor offenses like traffic violations, often until they're so burdened with fines that they end up behind bars.

Rauner, a first-time candidate, made a fortune as a leader of the private-equity firm GTCR, and its many business dealings have been closely scrutinized since he launched his campaign for governor. In particular, questions keep coming up about Rauner's role in the firm's investments in nursing homes, and its potential liability for deaths that occurred there.

Though Rauner retired from GTCR in 2012, he's still an investor in it. Not long after he left the firm, it acquired a company called Correctional Healthcare Companies, which provides medical and mental care, including "behavioral programming," for prisons and jails that want to save money by outsourcing such services.

Illinois is one of the states that's contracted with CHC. As the Better Government Association has reported, the mental care it's provided at juvenile detention facilities has been the subject of a lawsuit—though the suit was filed against the Quinn administration. Records show that the state has paid CHC about $21 million since 2012.

But CHC owns another company that does far more controversial work. Judicial Correction Services doesn't operate in Illinois, but in a number of states in the south it's a leading provider of what's called private or offender-funded probation. Simply put, the company contracts with local courts to oversee people on probation for misdemeanor offenses. The arrangement is attractive to budget-cutting officials because there are no direct costs for taxpayers: the offenders cover expenses by paying monthly fees to be supervised.

The thing is, these aren't hardened criminals—they're people snared in the court system for committing low-level offenses. And the problem with asking them to pay is that many of them are on probation because they didn't have the money to pay the fines for their misdemeanors in the first place. The ACLU calls the practice "court-sanctioned extortion."

The private probation industry—and Judicial Correction Services in particular—has been the subject of investigations by Human Rights Watch, the Nation, and the New Yorker, among others. From the Human Rights Watch report:

"Pay only" probation is used for offenders who would not be on probation at all if they had more money. They pose no threat to public safety and require no supervision. Many are guilty of offenses that carry no real threat of jail time such as speeding, driving without proof of insurance, noise violations and the like. At sentencing, judges who use probation this way ask offenders whether they can pay their fines and court costs immediately and in full. Those that can walk free and wash their hands of the criminal justice system. Those that can't are put on a long-term payment plan and sentenced to probation.

Such probationers are then responsible for monthly fees of $35 to $40, on average, and if they can't keep up, they fall further into arrears. The New Yorker's Sarah Stillman detailed the experience of a 49-year-old mother in Montgomery, Alabama, named Harriet Cleveland: she was put on probation with JCS after being unable to pay off the fines for driving without insurance or a license. From there her hole only got deeper:

In early 2012, she turned over nearly all her income-tax rebate—some two thousand dollars—to JCS. But by that summer her total court costs and fines had soared from hundreds of dollars incurred by the initial tickets to $4,713, including more than a thousand dollars in private-probation fees.

Cleveland ended up without a job and in jail. And there are many others like her. "Vast numbers of arrest warrants are issued every year for offenders on private probation," Human Rights Watch reported. "In Georgia alone, 124,788 arrest warrants were issued for offenders on private probation in 2012." JCS and other private probation companies likely bring in $40 million a year in that state alone.

Rauner's campaign wouldn't comment on JCS or the work it does. Spokesman Mike Schrimpf stressed that Rauner had left GTCR by the time it acquired the company and "has pledged to put all his assets in a blind trust if elected governor."

Schrimpf also blasted Quinn for a former prisoner-release program and the state's ongoing efforts to place some parolees on home confinement. "Unfortunately, Pat Quinn shortchanged public safety and released violent offenders early who went on to commit more horrendous crimes," Schrimpf said. "Bruce will make public safety a top priority."

Quinn's camp responded by pointing to a report that concluded he was not responsible for the "premature release" of dangerous criminals who'd committed additional crimes.

The truth is that neither candidate was talking much about public safety or criminal justice issues until Rauner slammed Quinn in an ad this week.

That's unfortunate. Though private probation companies aren't operating in Illinois, the state's criminal justice systems have extensive, expensive, and dangerous problems.

In the Cook County criminal court, defendants face their own means test to determine whether they end up behind bars: those with money to post bond can walk free, while those who lack it are locked up. It's one reason the local jail population remains stubbornly high.

Last year Quinn closed two state prisons to save money. Though the governor has insisted that the state correctional system isn't overcrowded, the prisons that remain open were designed for fewer than 34,000 inmates, but were holding nearly 49,000 as of mid-July. More than 19 percent were in on drug charges—more than for murder or any other offense.

And the prison population is projected to climb to more than 50,000 by next year, according to the Department of Corrections.

As it is, the budget for the corrections department is more than $1.3 billion for the current fiscal year.

Rauner has vowed to cut taxes while also getting the budget into shape—but he's all but called Quinn a murderer for putting some prisoners on home confinement.

Something has to give.

Privatizing and cutting services can save taxpayers money in the short run. But of course there's another way to save resources while ensuring justice: making sure that the only people in the criminal justice system are those who need to be there.

ABOVE IS FROM:  http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2014/09/25/firm-tied-to-bruce-rauner-profits-from-court-sanctioned-extortion

To Break Big Oil's "Stranglehold," Obama to Propose $10-a-Barrel Oil Tax

Published on

Friday, February 05, 2016

by

Common Dreams

To Break Big Oil's "Stranglehold," Obama to Propose $10-a-Barrel Oil Tax

Budget plan, set to be announced next week, proposes investing $300 billion in public infrastructure

by

Nadia Prupis, staff writer

 

President Barack Obama is set to propose a $10-a-barrel tax on oil to fund clean energy infrastructure, a move that environmental groups said would bring the U.S. "into the 21st century."

"Obama's vision underscores the inevitable transition away from oil, and investments like this speed us along the way to a 100% clean energy future," said Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune in response to the announcement.

The proposal will be part of the final budget request to be released next week and will include more than $300 billion worth of investments over the next decade in public transportation, high speed rail, and other infrastructure aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Politico reported on Thursday.

The $10 "fee" on every barrel of oil would help pay for those investments, although the charge to the oil companies would likely be passed along to drivers at as much as 25 cents a gallon, Politico's Michael Grunwald wrote.

Still, climate advocates say the more important outcome would be a step toward transitioning to a post-fossil fuel era.

"This is a big deal," said Jason Kowalski, policy director at the environmental group 350.org. "President Obama is standing up to Big Oil and putting a price on pollution so we can fund the transition to a clean energy economy... The plan opens the door to more creative ways to get the fossil fuel industry to finally pay up for wrecking our climate."

And a White House memo outlining Obama's plan notes that it would also provide a "clear incentive for private-sector innovation to reduce our reliance on oil and invest in clean-energy technologies that will power our future."

The proposal comes just after the global climate pact was signed at the COP21 conference in Paris in December.

"When the world leaders joined together in Paris last year, they signaled the end of the fossil fuel era and the need to transition into a clean energy economy," Brune said. "Obama [has] laid out more of his vision of how we can meet this agreement by challenging Big Oil’s stranglehold on how America powers its transportation sector."

As outlined in the plan, about $20 billion a year would go to "enhanced transportation options," such as public transit, high speed rail, and the Transportation Income Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) stimulus program, which awards grants for transportation projects with "measurable economic and environmental benefits," Grunwald wrote.

Another $10 billion would go to local, regional and state governments to invest in green infrastructure and more livable cities.

"Providing clean, convenient, and affordable transportation choices will create American jobs and protect our climate," Brune continued. "From expanding public transit, to developing the vehicles of tomorrow, the president's plan will put people to work repairing our crumbling transportation system and moving it into the 21st century."

The plan is expected to fall on deaf ears in a Republican-controlled Congress. But as one senior administration official told Grunwald, "This is a new vision. We're realistic about the near-term prospects in Congress, but we think this can change the debate."

Above is from:  http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/02/05/break-big-oils-stranglehold-obama-propose-10-barrel-oil-tax

Pentagon Releases 200 Photos of Bush-Era Prisoner Abuse, Thousands Kept Secret

Published on

Saturday, February 06, 2016

by

Common Dreams

Pentagon Releases 200 Photos of Bush-Era Prisoner Abuse, Thousands Kept Secret

'What the photos that the government has suppressed would show is that abuse was so widespread that it could only have resulted from policy or a climate calculated to foster abuse.'

by

Lauren McCauley, staff writer

•  

Photo relating to prisoner abuse released by DoD on February 5, 2015 in long-running ACLU lawsuit.The Pentagon on Friday was forced to release nearly 200 photographs of bruises, lacerations, and other injuries inflicted on prisoners presumably by U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The record-dump was the result of a Freedom of Information Act request and nearly 12 years of litigation by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which fought to expose the Bush-era torture.

The images, the group says, prove that there was "systemic abuse of detainees." And while troubling, attorneys say that even more problematic is the roughly 1,800 photographs that the government refused to disclose.

"The disclosure of these photos is long overdue, but more important than the disclosure is the fact that hundreds of photographs are still being withheld," said ACLU deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer, one of the attorneys in the case.

"The still-secret pictures are the best evidence of the serious abuses that took place in military detention centers," Jaffer continued. "The government’s selective disclosure risks misleading the public about the true extent of the abuse."

Eliza Relman, a paralegal with the ACLU's National Security Project, said that documents and emails that the government has been forced to release over the course of the litigation give an idea of what the remaining images may contain.

"We have found more than 100 documents that either reference photos related to cases of abuse or actually contain photos that were redacted before they got to us," Relman said.

She continued:

The photos still being withheld include those related to the case of a 73-year-old Iraqi woman detained and allegedly sexually abused and assaulted by U.S. soldiers. According to the Army report detailing the incident, the soldiers forced her to "crawl around on all-fours as a 'large man rode' on her,” striking her with a stick and calling her an animal. Other pictures depict an Iraqi teenager bound and standing in the headlights of a truck immediately after his mock execution staged by U.S. soldiers. Another shows the body of Muhamad Husain Kadir, an Iraqi farmer, shot dead at point-blank range by an American soldier while handcuffed.

The Department of Defense argues that the release of the remaining images would jeopardize national security and "may incite others to violence against Americans and US interests," the ACLU explains.

"What the photos that the government has suppressed would show is that abuse was so widespread that it could only have resulted from policy or a climate calculated to foster abuse," said ACLU staff attorney Alex Abdo, who noted that no senior official has been held accountable "or even investigated" for these abuses.

"That is why the government must release all of the photos and why today's selective disclosure is so troubling," Abdo added.

The ACLU first filed its request six months before the notorious Abu Ghraib images were leaked by the press in March 2006.

In 2009, then-defense secretary Robert Gates issued a blanket certification preventing hundreds of photographs from being made public. An identical certification was issued in 2012 by Gates' successor, Leon Panetta.

In March 2015, a U.S. district court judged ruled in favor of the ACLU, which argued that the certifications are "unsupported and overbroad." Defense Secreatry Ashton Carter certified the photographs again last November, with the exception of the 198 now made public

 

Above is from:  http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/02/06/pentagon-releases-200-photos-bush-era-prisoner-abuse-thousands-kept-secret

Should the PSB tax be a major issue in the Boone County Board Primary?

http://www.rrstar.com/article/20150328/OPINION/150329373/0/SEARCH/?Start=2

Well  according to Chairman Walberg our new county board will make the decision.  That was back in March 2015.  Will we hear from the candidates as to where they stand on the issue?  Will the people have the right to decide in a referendum?  There are have major doubts if either occurs.

 

•   ...      

• My View: 2018 Boone County Board will decide future of tax

• 

   

• By Bob Walberg
  Boone County Board chairman

  Posted Mar. 28, 2015 at 3:02 PM
  Updated Mar 28, 2015 at 3:46 PM

  The Boone County Board of 2018 will still have the decision to stop or continue collecting the Public Safety Tax. An ordinance to abate property taxes used to guarantee the bond payments was on the board agenda and was properly published. One of the “whereas” statements was the pledge to demand that the board in 2018 will stop collecting the tax. One member pointed this out and remarked that we promised to only use the money for the jail and stop collecting it when the jail bonds are paid. Discussion during the meeting led to amending the ordinance and removing the “whereas” pledge to stop collecting the tax in 2018.

  Who are the people who promised to stop collecting the Boone County Public Safety Tax when the jail bonds are paid in 2018?

  They made a promise with no authority to back them up. The ballot made no mention of a sunset to this referendum that created the Public Safety Sales Tax. No one can promise and obligate a board 20 years down the road. The board of 2018 will have that difficult decision to make regarding the future of this tax.

  That group promised to only use the money to pay for the jail building. In 2003 the board decided to also pay jailor salaries with the money. Since then, the money has also been used for Public Safety Capital Improvements. Every year the board voted for the budget with this spending included.

  All the talk of removing this is a distraction and publicity stunt. I believe the real reasons most people supported the referendum is because they saw the need for public safety as the ballot stated. They believed that it was better to pay for this need with sales taxes instead of real estate taxes. The Public Safety Sales Tax does not tax food, medicine or titled property. If the board of 2018 stops collecting the sales tax, their next decision will be on how to replace those revenues or stop paying those expenses.

  It was foolish to think that when the jail bonds were paid we would close the jail because there was no money to operate it.

  Every year the Boone County Board makes cuts because our revenues are increasing much less than the increase in our costs. The state is making very large reductions to county revenues. Some of the proposed reductions include freezing property taxes and cutting the county’s share of the income tax by 50 percent.

  The Boone County Board will need level-headed, responsible members to deal with the apparent overwhelming challenges that appear to be facing them.

  A similar problem happened to the District 100 School Board. Rapid growth was impacting the district. The plan was to build schools to accommodate the future growth. They planned to pay for the schools with the larger population that would generate property tax dollars. That would require a smaller share of the cost of the new buildings for each taxpayer. Again, unforeseen events took place, and a declining population faced very large bond payments for the schools.

• Page 2 of 2 - The community clearly saw the problem and passed a referendum for a sales tax to give relief to the property tax obligation of the school district.

  In 20 years the situation can change. We can’t expect board members to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the responsibility of providing public safety for the county. Our present board only removed the demand being placed on the board of 2018. The decision to stop collection of the tax will still be the 2018 board's challenge.

  Bob Walberg is chairman of the Boone County Board.

• Above is from:  http://www.rrstar.com/article/20150328/OPINION/150329373/0/SEARCH/?Start=2

Insurance claim: Former Winnebago County purchasing director bought resort vacations, furniture

By Adam Poulisse
Staff writer

Posted Feb. 6, 2016 at 8:38 PM

ROCKFORD — Winnebago County's former purchasing director is accused of spending taxpayer money on personal vacations, gift cards, new cabinets and countertops, furniture, and other appliances for her home, according to a document obtained by the Register Star.

Sally Claassen, who resigned from the job in September, allegedly spent more than $60,000 on personal items, a draft of an insurance claim Winnebago County plans to file shows. The preliminary document was presented to County Board members Thursday during a public meeting of the Finance Committee, but county officials initially declined to provide a copy to the Register Star. The document was obtained today after a Freedom of Information Act request. The vendors were redacted from the document.

Claassen has not been charged with a crime. The insurance claim is based on an internal investigation by the county auditor's office and the finance department that alleges Claassen falsified invoices. County officials did not disclose how they determined documents were falsified. The findings were turned over to the FBI.

"At this point, this is a preliminary number the auditor and Finance Department came up with," County Administrator Steve Chapman said.

The claim shows that 14 credit card and check purchases from May 2014 to June 2015 total $60,427.77.

"We're going to file the claim at some point in time," Chapman said. "We (will) wait to see if there are any further items that should be included, then file the claim at that time."

The purchases are:

— Three resort vacations totaled $17,472.84, the priciest being $8,200 booked in May 2014. It was submitted as "gun targets" to the county, the insurance claim states. The other two vacations — $3,072.84 booked in June 2014 and $6,200 booked in March 2015 — were submitted as building repairs and maintenance and Dura Panel, respectively.

— Kitchen appliances purchased in February 2015 total $5,379.87. The purchases were submitted to the county as "miscellaneous."

— Cabinets and countertops for Claassen's home purchased on Jan. 29, 2015 totaled $11,992. The purchases were submitted as cabinets and countertops for county buildings.

— Patio furniture for the Claassen residence — originally submitted as replacement parts for the county — was purchased in May and June 2015 for $3,816.14.

— Other purchasing discrepancies, which total $21,766.92, alleged that Claassen bought gift certificates, grills, furniture and "swimming pool vacuum, etc."

Claassen led the county's purchasing department from 1997 until she resigned in September amid an internal investigation. She is represented by Rockford attorney Chuck Prorok.

"Ms. Claassen is fully cooperating with the FBI and their investigation," he said today, declining further comment.

Claassen, in her employment separation agreement with the county, agreed to have her unpaid vacation and compensatory time held in escrow in an attempt by the county to recoup its losses. The separation agreement was also obtained through FOIA. There is $31,000 in escrow in the county treasurer's office that will offset whatever the final amount is, according to Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen. The variance will then be filed through an insurance claim.

Page 2 of 2 - "That's always been our attempt — to get restitution and make those accountable, accountable," Christiansen said.

A memo distributed to the public at Thursday's Finance Committee meeting says Auditor Bill Crowley and Finance Director Bryan Cutler audited five years of transactions associated with Claassen. The findings were turned over to the FBI.

The auditor and finance offices also reviewed 2015 spending of the 1 percent public safety sales tax fund, searching specifically for transactions "charged incorrectly" by Claassen.

Sikich LLP, an outside auditor based in Rockford, is in the process of performing additional tests of the county's checks and balances on spending.

County Board and committee members have voiced their concerns over the investigation.

"As a County Board member, seeing these things happen is disheartening whichever way you cut it," said John F. Sweeney, R-16, caucus leader and Finance Committee member. "I believe this County Board has done a really good job controlling overall county costs and keeping the levy low. When things like this happen, there is a policy in place to catch it."

County Board member and Operations and Administrative Committee Chairman Gary Jury, R-7, said he is "dumbfounded" by the investigation.

"I'm really shocked this would have even happened to the person they're looking into," he said.

Jury said a different way of auditing is necessary, including more frequent and surprise audits, and making sure policy is followed.

The Purchasing and Policy Committee was established in October to formulate possible changes to the purchasing policies. The first meeting is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 15.

Adam Poulisse: 815-987-1344; apoulisse@rrstar.com; @adampoulisse

Above is from:  http://www.rrstar.com/news/20160206/insurance-claim-former-winnebago-county-purchasing-director-bought-resort-vacations-furniture/?Start=2