Several new reports show Cain is in the back pocket of dirty industries
By Andrew Schenkel
Herman Cain’s quick rise up the political latter is raising eyebrows in the energy community. On the campaign trail Cain loves touting his business background. He likes to cast himself as the ultimate outsider but his rise appears to be an inside job. Enter Charles and David Koch. Yes, the same Koch brothers who have been profiled by The New Yorker and 60 Minutes for working behind the scenes of the American political system to manipulate environmental policy for the betterment of their chemical companies. And yes, the same David and Charles Koch who recently came under fire for secret dealings with the Iranian government. These two men are also behind Herman Cain’s climbs in GOP and Cain isn’t even hiding it for one second.
1-Herman Cain says Koch Brothers are Patriots
It doesn’t get any more apparent than the video posted by ThinkProgress (watch below): When a reporter asked Cain what he thought of the Koch brothers. Cain asked for the question again, thought for a moment and then put it right out there, “David Koch is a patriot and David Koch cares about the future of this country, his brother Charles is also a patriot and cares about the future of this country.” Okay well now we know how he really feels. As for those people who say the Kochs have too much power over policy in the United States, Cain has some choice words for them: “Typical liberal way. They are of conservative and they are attacked because they are rich.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzLQNZfqyHY&&w=450&h=300]
2-Cain and Americans for Prosperity
If you want to know who Herman Cain is, one should start by learning about Americans for Prosperity (AFP). AFP is a front group that funnels cash to politicians who push a hard anti-clean air and anti environmental agenda. AFP gets a substantial amount of financial support from both Charles and David Koch. Cain and several members of his campaign team have actually worked for AFP over the last few years. One such employee is Cain’s current campaign manager, Mark Block.
3-Mark Block’s AFP dirty tricks & suspension from politics
O
n the same day Cain struggled to explain the details of his ‘9-9-9’ plan (see tie #4), an investigation surfaced focused on the connections between Block and dirty tricks with AFP. The Associated Press noted that Block who was hired to lead the AFP Wisconsin chapter had a “spotty past and settled a suit in 2001 that accused him of violating campaign laws by agreeing to pay $15,000 and “sit out of politics for three years.” The suspension would have been unrecoverable for most hoping to have a successful political career. For Block, he ended up being rewarded by heading Cain’s presidential run less than a decade later.
4-Cain’s ‘9-9-9’ plan copied from AFP
Mark isn’t the only holdover from AFP that made its way into Cain’s campaign. It turns out the centerpiece of Cain’s campaign, the ‘9-9-9’ plan, is the brainchild of AFP. Once again the Associated Press investigation spells it all out: “Cain credits a businessman who served on an AFP advisory board with helping devise his ‘9-9-9’ plan to rewrite the nation’s tax code. And his years of speaking at AFP events have given the businessman and radio host a network of loyal grassroots fans.
5-Cain speaks at Koch brothers anti-climate rally in NYC
Now in case you were waiting for an even more direct tie between Cain and the Koch brothers (as if the video wasn’t enough), let’s not forget Cain’s stop in New York earlier this year. ThinkProgress reported this that “Cain took time out in June to travel to New York and headline a Koch-backed anti-climate rally. The rally, held by Americans for Prosperity, protested New York’s involvement in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an important project to fight global warming that has been long-opposed by the Koch Brothers.”
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