Thread by @AliAdair22

I love what you guys are doing. If any of you are aspiring journalists, I would look into the history of the NRA & why so much money started pouring in 1975-77. I’ll bet it was a PAC driven by the Koch Bros. w/ some innocuous name. Because if you think about it 1/

What do grey-haired, cigar smoking old guys that want smaller government (i.e. hate poor people) have in common with hunters, sportsmen and target shooters? Absolutely nothing. Why is this a partisan issue? It was artificially created as one. See this thread on how they 2/

turned climate change—which was supported by Republicans—into a circus.

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For instance, the Koch Bros. provided funding to the Cato Institute in 1977.
google.com/amp/s/www.newy…

Here’s a chart of the political influence they have over many organizations with innocuous names (and usually the purpose is the opposite of what it sounds like): from this website:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political…

For instance, the Center for Energy Change helps fuel climate change denial:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute…

The Freedom Partners (AKA the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce), which is affiliated with the Koch Bros., gave $4.9 million in 2014 to the Institute for Legislative Action, the lobbying arm of the NRA. I'm sure that is the tip of the iceberg.
latimes.com/business/hiltz…

But that's not really news. What could be is how this sham all got started? How did we, as a society, start to believe that gun ownership is affiliated with right-wing conservatism? It boggles the mind and it had to have been artificially generated. #NeverAgainMSD #NeverAgain

I mean do these guys (& a couple of women) look like sportsmen, hunters & target shooters to you? Why would they defend your rights to guns to vehemently? #NeverAgainMSD

To quote author, social critic, public speaker, & blogger James Howard Kunstler on suburban housing developments constructed after World War II: "So the marketing of them is strictly abstract and sentimental really. The housing developments are always named after the things...11/

they DESTROY. so if it's called 'Quail Run' it means the quails have all been exterminated. If it's 'Oak Ridge' it means there's no oaks left."—James Howard Kunstler. So the same goes for the Koch Bros. funded organizations. Americans for Prosperity—yeah theirs! /12

Concerned Veterans for America (AKA Vets for Economic Freedom Trust) - they are at odds with a plethora of veterans' organizations:
conservativetransparency.org/org/concerned-…
#NeverAgainMSD

Freedom Partners Chamber Of Commerce (AKA Freedom Partners or Association for American Innovation) is the sugar daddy of the Koch money funneling organizations. A complaint filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington noted that their nonprofit status was...14/

likely a way to avoid disclosing contributions to the government. #NeverAgainMSD #GunControlNow 15/
conservativetransparency.org/org/freedom-pa…

The Libre Initiative? Supposedly a grassroots campaign to empower Hispanics. But instead it works "against their own interests" and works to "disenfranchise Hispanic voters." mediamatters.org/blog/2015/03/0… 16/
16/

Concerned Women for America Action? The CWA identifies itself as an amalgam of "policy experts and...activists[s]" whose anti-feminist approach to politics bolsters its mission to "protect and promote Biblical values among all citizens." ANTI-FEMINIST!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerned… 17/

The 60 Plus Association? Supposedly an alternative to the @AARP? This nonprofit's purpose is to promote solutions to seniors' issues that are grounded in free markets, less gov't, & less taxes. Over the years, it has sought to offer a privatized option for Social Security...18/

..end the federal estate tax, and strengthen gun rights. Yes, STRENGTHEN GUN RIGHTS...Great idea! End Social Security! That's really looking out for the over 60 crowd! 19/ #NeverAgainMSD

Evangchr4 Trust? Another non-profit? Seems like the IRS is giving 501(c) status like candy to the Koch Bros affiliated organizations.! Evangchr4 mission: "to develop, disseminate & apply Biblical principles to economics, politics and society as a whole in order to make the...20/

...U.S. a country where spiritual and economic prosperity flourishes." Hmm...could they be using Koch millions to pay off evangelical leaders to look the other way re: sexual indiscretions (remember the "Mulligan?") and other right-wing issues, such as the right to bear arms? 21/

Center to Protect Patient Rights? According to the Washington Post it's a "major cash turnstile for groups on the right during the past two election cycles," because it received large amounts of funding from Freedom Partners and TC4 Trust as part of the $400 million Koch...22/

political network. Nothing to actually help people with medical problems! Center to Protect Patient Rights is also known as Encore and it's super SECRET!...Jane Mayer from her book, Dark Money: "the organization existed only as a locked, metal mailbox, number 72465...,23/

inside the Boulder Hills post office at the edge of a desert road north of Phoenix...The effort was surrounded in such secrecy that when Noble was asked in a 2013 deposition who hired him, he declined to answer, citing confidentiality agreements." 24/
sourcewatch.org/index.php/Amer…

Americans for Job Security? Described by Center for Responsive Politics as "pro-Republican", "pro-business", and "established to directly counter labor's influence." Anti-labor! And only appears to engage when there is an election.
sourcewatch.org/index.php/Amer… 25/

I could go on...but back to the NRA. The NRA receives money through its lobbying arm called the Institute for Legislative Action. The ILA received $54 million during the 2016 election. The NRA is strengthened by its affiliation with the right-wing libertarian lobby. 26/

Right-wing libertarian? That is the Koch Brothers. David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980. This was the party's platform back then. But I'll give you a couple of highlights next.
sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers
27/

“We specifically oppose laws requiring an individual to buy or use so-called "self-protection" equipment such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets.” That includes GUN SAFETY! To sum it up:
#NeverAgainMSD #GunControlNow 28/

When you really think about it, are there really many ideological differences between Democrats & Republicans? There is a core difference: Republicans believe in limiting the Government’s intervention in the work of the individual towards prosperity; Dems believe in helping 29/

people who can't help themselves. But some of these other issues that have deeply divided our society: Gun Control, Climate Change, same sex marriage, immigration, etc. have little relation to party affiliation. They are issues that have been conjured up by people with money. 30/

Dark money. #NeverAgain will we be manipulated by dark money. #NeverAgain will we have a mass shooting. Our younger generation will bravely lead us to the next step and do what is morally right. They won't be bought off by dark money or any money. #NeverAgainMSD 31/

#NeverAgainMSD #NeverAgain #LibertyRising