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Wichita, home base of abortion doctor terrorism, now emerges as the home of petroleum industry influence and funding for astro-turf Tea Party groups. A new power center for a Republican House controlled by corporate lobbyists.

David Koch actually mounted a VP run against the Reagan ticket in 1980, arguing then that Reagan was too liberal. Frankly, Reagan would be labeled a RINO in today's right-wing-driven GOP environment, because he was a pragmatist who generally put political momentum ahead of ideological purism. He dialed back his tax cuts with tax increases when it became clear they went too far. Likewise, George Bush Sr. raised taxes when he realized he needed to keep the country's government running.

Today's GOP hardliners don't have that sort of tempering in their approach, so they'll end up pushing the pendulum back to the Democrats when they push too hard, and getting their marching orders from Koch Industries pretty much ensures they'll be pushing too hard.

The goal for many with future generations in mind is not how to make petroleum producers and processors like Koch more wealthy, but how to minimize our need for petroleum products and the rising costs of crude oil. A Koch-controlled GOP will only ensure that big oil gets more money from each American and our dependence on oil-based products increases.

LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,1681069.story

The billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch no longer sit outside Washington's political establishment, isolated by their uncompromising conservatism. Instead, they are now at the center of Republican power, a change most evident in the new makeup of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Wichita-based Koch Industries and its employees formed the largest single oil and gas donor to members of the panel, ahead of giants like Exxon Mobil, contributing $279,500 to 22 of the committee's 31 Republicans, and $32,000 to five Democrats.

Nine of the 12 new Republicans on the panel signed a pledge distributed by a Koch-founded advocacy group — Americans for Prosperity — to oppose the Obama administration's proposal to regulate greenhouse gases. Of the six GOP freshman lawmakers on the panel, five benefited from the group's separate advertising and grass-roots activity during the 2010 campaign.

Claiming an electoral mandate, Republicans on the committee have launched an agenda of the sort long backed by the Koch brothers. A top early goal: restricting the reach of the Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the Kochs' core energy businesses.