Have Americans become useful idiots for the Koch Industries?

[platipot]

What did these Koch Industries do?

Are they bad? Good?

[nightowl8936]

Koch Industries love the cock.

[zealberg]

American civil society has been infiltrated by opinion manipulators.

[airforcemax]

People like Mr. William Yeatman need to be exposed for supporting people like the Koch Brothers. Mr. Yeatman's answers about NPR and other topics to include the "Free" Market are suspect so I dedicate Bill Hick "Shill" on You Tube. If the US had an authentic Free Market the financial sector would had not received a bail out since they do not want any US government interference, but it seems they accept subsidies and want to have no taxes thus elected officials allow them to have tax havens.

[lamourlupus]

Have Americans become useful idiots for the Koch Industries? The Tea Parties are sponsored by them just like many Republicans. We need to peacefully expose all who write comments without any proof to validate their stance and especially refuse to help in research to understand why they feel that way and why they support corporations and businesses who have weak policies to protect employees right and numerous other reasons.

[Underdog123]

well public broadcasting funding our hate towards the american worker no wonder minnesota Is shut down, and wisconsin, Indiana and ohio feels betrayed these billionaires should go to jail buying through georgia pacific, AFP, NPR, PBS, flint mills, koch piping I feel the pain of public, union and governement workers this Is unfair and unjust and we don't need this shit.

[fraterlucifer888]

"in no way compromised,by taking money" BULLSHIT

[abbadabbadolittle]

If you do not believe this check the tv show lineup on NATGEO....war, armageddon, prisons,Jesus, cults,alternate wierd lifestyles, devil worship...all evil,all war...Fox News network (News Corp) now owns the majority share. They have ruined NAT GEO

[MegaAstrodude]

Anyone who attacks the Koch family for helping build our civilization needs a good club to the face the next time they go to take their money.

[FenixofWow]

@thomhartmann You're an idiot... he never said 'no' to offshore drilling. He has said many times that it isn't the key to our oil problem, therefore... we need to invest in other forms of energy that are climate-friendly as well. Immedeately upon hitting play for your silly video you say something false... all credibility lost... moron.

[danielvincentkelley]

Free market "principled decisions"...!? That wholly defy science and proceed at massive human cost pushing injurious policy? Doesn't sound principled to me.

[danielvincentkelley]

Sesame just had Katy Perry on topless, great for kids to wish tits not their moms... When was Nova relevant? Like in the 80s... Now it's strong a broadcast as wild wild world of animals. Meaning most could not care less.

[unite4peaceonearth]

Global warming is happening, but c02 is not a major cause of it!!! Socialism will bankrupt America! All Thom's video uploads are as far as I need to search the Internet to find live coverage of him making a fool of himself. RT is great except for Thom's show.

[kansasdem1]

Hey Yeatman, been to a Koch party lately?

[FinalFan0]

Something really makes me ponder the mentality of a "Young Blood" such as William Yeatman tries to jerk around an older more experienced guy...

Dogmatism at it's finest...

[Whikat777]

Thom, why do you do an interview and then talk over your guest. If you ask a person question, why not wait and listen to the answer? Great job, talking over your guest.

[ppwalk05]

Hey Thomas how is that homeopathic medicine working?

[pvisserandorra]

Capitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class.

Al Capone

[tomintroy]

@pvisserandorra I like that you quote one of Americas most despicable criminals for your rules of life. Any tidbits from Stalin you care to share?

[pvisserandorra]

@tomintroy So you think these guys are honorable? They make Capone look like an angel. The difference is that they have paid for political support.

[Knossos22]

Yeatman is full of crap. A google image search on media consolidation will show who owns what... It is all about the money! Koch, Exxon, and others are funding climate and peak oil denial...

Smith's guiding hand of the market is a load of crap! What a myth! Profits do not lead to the best decision, they lead to decisions that lead to more profits - i.e. short term decisions that are generally antithetical to the environment.

[tomintroy]

@Knossos22 All out inner cities are proof positive of briliance of non-profit government programs wisely spending trillions of dollars to create paradises like Detroit, Philly, Miami and L.A.

[pvisserandorra]

@tomintroy The corporate nanny state provides for the big corporations, everyone else gets whats left.

[Dayversion]

"Exxonmobil corp., the world's largest crude oil refiner, supports taxing carbon dioxide as the most efficient way of curbing greenhouse gas emissions, its chief executive said.

"As a businessman, it's hard to speak favourably about any new tax, but a carbon tax strikes me as a more direct, more transparent and more effective approach," Rex Tillerson, CEO of the Irving, Texas based company, said Thursday at the Woodrow Wilson international center for scholars in Washington."

[WildChubbiesPro]

this guy is a moron, greenpeace is an NGO, NON-PROFIT, INDEPENDENT organization, and they get stuff done without taking corporate or government money. hmmm how long have they been around? oh yeah 39 years

[nightowl8936]

Koch Industries are yet another example of those damn Jew bastards and their manipulative games.

They are perverting the scientific process by using these groups to undermine solid science that might force them to change.

Yeatman is just a stooge for these Jew cunt motherfuckers.

Its not about free markets or libertarianism or smaller government. Its about stereotypical Jewish greed.

Yeatman's idiotic prattling reminds me of the Chewbacca defense on a South Park episode some time back.

[StunnedByStupidity]

Yeatman is stunningly disingenuous. So, CEI base their denialist position on what pray tell if not financial incentives? It CERTAINLY isn't the science.

Oh and BTW as far as I know it wasn't CEI distancing themselves from Exxon but the diametric opposite. Exxon was coming over as so stunningly irresponsible that it stopped funding several companies - that included CEI.

And 'free markets' yeah right that is his position. See Chomsky's 'freemarket fantasies' for what is really going on...

[captcrais101]

Obushma does it again

[tomestubbs]

When we have two presidents like Reagan and GW Bush as models people will become usefully stupid, easily manipulated by the predators.

[hollywoodartchick]

Yeatman thinks he's slick, but he's no Ari Fleischer. He can dance all he wants, but how naive would someone have to be to believe that a funding source has no influence on message, or that a corporate donation expects no quid pro quo?

[qloey]

Part 3 of 3

The reference to PBS caving in and accepting corporate sponsorship, thus losing its objectivity in reporting, might have been parlayed into the larger issue of the reduction in government funding (which I believe was a result of Republican witchhunting in the 90's), which forced them to turn to corporate America for funding. Thom must do better in confronting the patsys of industry. Still, more power to you, Thom.

[jimlaregina]

Either Mr. Yeatman is the capitalist version of a useful idiot or someone is paying him well to promote his nonsense.

[megagagnon1]

there's no example of international organizations being uncorrupt - as a matter of fact, there's no example of such organizations being incredibly orgasmically corrupt.

[megagagnon1]

does anyone seriously think that giving trillions to third world countries via a multinational agreement will decrease carbon emmissions significantly - or just be a waste of money filled with corruption? instead of focusing on whether climate change is real, focus on people and whether international organizations can handle trillions without corruption

[FloppyFormatFrenzy]

Paraphrasing Yeatman "Taking the money in no way influences our free market ideas"

I 100% agree with that; however, I was pretty sure the idea about having a "free market" of ideas is that the better idea wins out and not which special interest has the biggest backers.

btw, isn't that ironic for someone at a "free market" advocacy group to imply there's something wrong with industry purchasing influence in media?

[zayadnay]

aww this is adorable! this guy is still repeating the same old rhetoric as the media has repeated for decades now... " are you implying some kind of conspiracy theories?" bad thom! lol this kind of shit doesn't fly any more buddy wake the f*ck up !

[Talondas]

@zayadnay "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!" - Upton Sinclair

There is no conspiracy here, only American capitolism working as it always has with people willing to say anything just to keep the money comming in.

Come to our next Coffee Party meeting dude, I'll buy you a cup. Might help you to "wake up" dude.

[zayadnay]

@Talondas lool well i guess we can agree on one thing first, that a conspiracy doesn't have to have the negative connotation which it has in your mind as is evident in your comment... i happen to agree with your explanation of the current situation and capitalism... i do believe that giving people the incentive to make money and allowing them to be in a situation where moral hazard can lead them to do something negative does not mean they are evil... so thanks for the cup of coffee dude :)

[FloppyFormatFrenzy]

@zayadnay It's no surprise he's still around. I'm pretty sure they pay him well.

I remember a while back when a Libertarian I knew was talking about how some "free market" think tank was offering him a job where they apparently had ready access wine cellars, and I couldn't help thinking "There's no way I could be in a think tank, with my politics, and have that kind of luxury because I don't tote the corporatist line like a damn tool."

You can have it easy if you deny humanity in this economy.

[zayadnay]

@FloppyFormatFrenzy yup it is sad to see that the kind of example our children are seeing in our politicians and corporate elites is a horrible one, leading them to believe that it is okay to do something that is morally and ethically wrong as long as it makes you some money at the end, not being concerned with the side affect your actions have on your fellow man.

[lamourlupus]

@zayadnay Which is why I am surprised that Americans are not protesting like in Egypt and other countries especially since the Colonists protested The English and the United States was born even with many imperfections. We need to have meeting of the public and private sectors with Americans of all lifestiles to find constructive and positive solutions not just people like the Koch Brothers and their supporters.

[HulksHeroes]

Thom is brilliant!!

Didn't enjoy the yacking over each other by both of them....but I guess that's what happens when your guest fillabusters with his 10 minute reponses. Oh well.

[julsHz]

Unfettered free markets = predatory capitalism. Unfettered free markets were the cause of the Shirtwaist Factory Fire. We regulate free markets so we can go to work and not have to worry about the building burning down. And now the planet is 'burning down'. Wealth creation is fine, but just how much money does one group, or one person, need? Whatever happened to just taking what you need, not just all you want?

[mrx0066600]

Money is the goal for these bastards and damn the health and well being of others basically is the Reps stance. and to be honest it seems to be the Dems stance as well.

[mrgoodvibrations]

Thom a climate change pundit, harumph. My open mind only makes me watch this fluff. What a poofta you are Thom.

[GorgonLuvs8008135]

@mrgoodvibrations

Whats your null hypothesis on climate change? Let me suggest changes in polar ice.

[mrgoodvibrations]

@GorgonLuvs8008135 harumph!

[HulksHeroes]

@mrgoodvibrations

That's a "good one"....."my open mind"....lol

Keep up the humor. The world needs more of it.

[megagagnon1]

whether man-induced climate change is real or not, there's no way a carbon tax scheme can significantly change things. It would be a trillion dollar burden and would hurt the developing world by incentivizing then to develop at a slower rate.

[17R3W]

@megagagnon1

You don't think Taxes can change habits? You honestly believe higher taxes on cigarettes haven't reduced smoking?

[megagagnon1]

@17R3W i was being flippant.

[megagagnon1]

@17R3W you mean about global warming? trillions in taxes, and how much less CO2 would we emit? that's my point, even if such a scheme could decrease CO2 output, it wouldn't be significant, and if you disagree, show me.

[FloppyFormatFrenzy]

@megagagnon1 I'll agree that any amount of money being taxed from carbon would be wasted if it wasn't going to any program to develop alternative CO2 neutral energy sources or CO2 capturing methods in order to offset the carbon we've dumped.

I often joked that we'd be doing more to reduce carbon levels by taking plants and burying them. Oil is carbon stored int he grown. plants take carbon from the air. Put the plants into the ground and make sure the carbon doesn't escape.

[nigelelsass]

@FloppyFormatFrenzy: I disagree... any amount of money taxed on carbon can be used to pay of the debt or lower taxes on where the wealth creation is: wages paid. I prefer a society which puts taxes on greenhouse gases than one which puts taxes on creating wealth for individuals and the society.

[FloppyFormatFrenzy]

@nigelelsass If you're going to say income taxes, just say income taxes; don't mask it with "wealth creation" because the creation of wealth isn't just a matter of low or no taxes.

[nigelelsass]

@FloppyFormatFrenzy : well I do not feel comfortable with "income tax" - maybe I should have said "payroll tax" as I believe taxes on capital gains should be maintained as they income mostly comes from a pre-existing situation and capturing the rent on the work of others - as opposed to wages which are more directly the creation of wealth.

[FloppyFormatFrenzy]

@megagagnon1 How would a carbon tax hinder development in developing nations be effected if a developed nation implemented it? The only way I can imagine this harming developing nations is if they themselves implemented the carbon tax, or if the oil producing countries implemented their own tax for pumping oil out of the ground, which is insanely unlikely.

[nigelelsass]

@FloppyFormatFrenzy :

... happened already in Sweden and Norway. And if you want the economic impact of a cap-and-trade system, look at Germany: all these countries aren't doing too bad, right?

[megagagnon1]

money influences decisions? no way! Yeatman is like a really weak amateur chessplayer playing Hartmann the grandmaster.

[adamsfall]

"Unfettered free markets" is what has fuct up our economy. How long does it take an idiotic idea to end?

[MarmaladeINFP]

Hartmann owned this guy. He had his facts straight and he held Yeatman's feat to the fire. I don't know if Yeatman is working directly for Koch industries, but he obviously is a frontman for some kind of monied interests.

[MarmaladeINFP]

I'm always amused by the phrase "useful idiots". It reminds me of the Buddhist notion of "useful means". Something is considered "useful means" if it has beneficial result even if it isn't true. A "useful idiot" is beneficial to those in power because they're mis-/uninformed about the actual facts.

[bangurdead102]

mute this fucker so he doesn't talk over you, hes a pathetic man here to debase you, without really takling to you, WELL IF YOU BELIEVE THIS YOU THINK THESE PEOPLE ARE CORRUPT, yep pretty much