The Kochtopus has the nation in a stranglehold. It’s really more like the Alien covering our faces and shoving itself down our throats.

Koch brothers mania arrives at the Capitol By Dana Milbank May 22 at 8:30 am

Some groups have proposed boycotts of Koch brothers’ products, but such efforts don’t seem to grasp how deeply the Koch tentacles extend into Americans’ daily lives – in ways the average consumer can’t possibly comprehend. Were they a single person, David and Charles would pass Bill Gates as the richest man in the world. Their holdings include oil, chemicals, manufacturing, minerals, fertilizers and a range of consumer products. Lycra in your bathing suit, undergarments or exercise clothing? Koch brothers. CoolMax fabric wicking sweat from your skin? Kochs. Stainmaster cleaning your carpet? Kochs again. Dacron fabric, Vanity Fair napkins, Angel Soft or Quilted Northern toilet paper, Brawny or Sparkle paper towels, Dixie cups? Koch, Koch, Koch, Koch, Koch, Koch and Koch.

To test the depths of Americans’ Koch dependency, I went to the screening with a shopping bag full of Koch products. I offered them as free samples after the screening of “Koch Brothers Exposed.” Even after hearing all of Greenwald’s allegations about the Koch brothers’ evils, the attendees made off with every last roll of Angel Soft and Brawny, and even took the Lycra pantyhose and the Dixie cups.

Even those who lament what the Kochs do with their money are contributors to the brothers’ fortune.

Koch brothers mania arrives at the Capitol

EJ Dionne: No more liberal apologies as Elizabeth Warren takes the offensive – The Washington Post

From the time she first came to public attention, Warren has been challenging conservative presumptions embedded so deeply in our discourse that we barely notice them. Where others equivocate, she fights back with common sense.

Since the Reagan era, Democrats have been so determined to show how pro-market and pro-business they are that they’ve shied away from pointing out that markets could not exist without government, that the well-off depend on the state to keep their wealth secure and that participants in the economy rely on government to keep the marketplace on the level and to temper the business cycle’s gyrations.

Warren doesn’t back away from any of these facts. …

“There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own,” she said. “Nobody. You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear: You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for.” It was all part of “the underlying social contract,” she said, a phrase politicians don’t typically use. …

Warren tells of meeting with Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), a former FBI agent, to talk about the consumer agency. “After a bit,” she reports, “he cut me off so he could make one thing clear: He didn’t believe in government.”

That seemed strange coming from the graduate of a public university and a veteran of both the military and a government agency, though Warren didn’t press him then. “But someday I hoped to get a chance to ask him: Would you rather fly an airplane without the Federal Aviation Administration checking air traffic control? Would you rather swallow a pill without the Food and Drug Administration testing drug safety? Would you rather defend our nation without a military and fight our fires without our firefighters?”

How often are our anti-government warriors asked such basic questions?

But doesn’t being pro-government mean you’re anti-business? Well, no, Warren says, quite the opposite. “There’s nothing pro-business about crumbling roads and bridges or a power grid that can’t keep up,” she writes. “There’s nothing pro-business about cutting back on scientific research at a time when our businesses need innovation more than ever. There’s nothing pro-business about chopping education opportunities when workers need better training.” [mjh: Ie, there is nothing pro-business about the Tea Party or drowning the government in a bathtub.]

Oh yes, and it really bugs her when people assert that “corporate” and “labor” are “somehow two sides of the same coin.” She asks: “Does anyone think that for every billionaire executive who can afford to write a check for $10 million to get his candidate elected to office, there is a union guy who can do the same? Give me a break.”

EJ Dionne: No more liberal apologies as Elizabeth Warren takes the offensive – The Washington Post

‘Charismatic’ senator runs for governor | Albuquerque Journal News By Dan Boyd / Journal Staff Writer

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Copyright © 2014 Albuquerque Journal

Howie Morales’ journey from teacher and high school baseball coach to Democratic candidate for governor hasn’t left much time for rest stops.

Morales, 41, is the youngest of the five candidates vying for the Democratic Party’s 2014 nomination, but he says his background as a state senator and former county clerk – in addition to a doctoral degree in education and top hospital job – has prepared him for the responsibilities of statewide office. …

In March, Morales stirred the attention of state politicos by receiving the largest share of delegate votes – about 29 percent – at the Democratic pre-primary nominating convention. He also has received endorsements from two of the state’s largest unions, which have 35,000 combined members in New Mexico and plenty of political heft.

But the Morales campaign also faces stark challenges, chiefly a limited campaign war chest – he reported having $44,700 in his campaign account earlier this week – and a shortage of statewide name recognition.

“A combination of low name recognition and a small bank account creates a challenge,” longtime New Mexico political analyst Brian Sanderoff said

‘Charismatic’ senator runs for governor | Albuquerque Journal News