by George Lakoff and Elisabeth Wehling, Reader Supported News
Perhaps as early as today, the conservative-dominated Roberts Court will choose a metaphor that will affect millions of people and perhaps change the history of our country very much for the worse.
Back in 1978, linguists Michael Reddy and me (George Lakoff), working independently, demonstrated that metaphor is fundamentally a matter of thought, and that metaphorical language is secondary. Conceptual metaphors shape our understanding and can determine how we reason. Consequently, metaphor is central to law, as Citizens United showed by making the metaphor Corporations Are Persons into a law, with vast political consequences.
This week's likely judgment was prefigured in the 2008 Republican presidential race when Rudolph Giuliani likened health care to a flat screen TV. If you want a flat screen TV, buy one; and if you don't have the money, go earn it. If you can't, too bad, you don't deserve it. The same with health care, he argued, imposing the metaphor that Health Care Is a Product.
This was a sign that conservative strategists were looking for a way to impose this metaphor.
Barack Obama helped them. He bought into that metaphor when he chose the Interstate Commerce clause as the constitutional basis of his health care act. He had an alternative - Medicare for All - since Congress has the duty to provide for the general welfare.
But Obama accepted the Health Care as Product metaphor because he wanted to regulate the insurance industry, and Congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce. In doing so he fell into a conservative trap. The Interstate Commerce clause rests on the metaphor that Health Care is Product. That led to Supreme Court justices arguing that the individual mandate is forcing people to buy a product, and that, they hinted, is unconstitutional - at least 5-4 unconstitutional. The argument is that if the government can force you to buy one product, it can force you to buy any product - even broccoli.
There is another metaphor trying to get onstage - that the individual mandate levies a health care tax on all citizens, with exemptions for those with health care. The mandate wasn't called a tax, but because money is fungible, it is economically equivalent to a tax, and so it could be metaphorically considered a tax - but only if the Supreme Decided.
Where the first metaphor would effectively kill the Affordable Care Act, the second could save it. Since Congress has the power to levy taxes, the second metaphor would clearly be constitutional.
But adopting such a metaphor would open the door to other disasters, since then all fees or fines can be argued to be taxes. Conservatives are already making such arguments.
The Supreme Court is a remarkable institution. By a 5-4 vote, it can decide what metaphors we will live - or die - by. It is time recognize, and speak regularly of, the Metaphor Power of the Court, the power to make metaphors legally binding. It is an awesome power. This is a something the press should be reporting on, legal theorists should be writing about, and all of us should be discussing. Should the Court have such a power? And if so, should there be any limits on it?
Indeed, could the Court decide whether the Metaphor Power of the Court itself is constitutional?
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/272-39/12092-focus-the-power-to-make-metaphor-into-law
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Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
At Look at Koch Industries From Wikipedia
Koch Industries, Inc. is an American multinational corporation based in Wichita, Kansas, United States, with subsidiaries involved in manufacturing, trading and investments. Koch also owns Invista, Georgia-Pacific, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Pipeline, Koch Fertilizer, Koch Minerals and Matador Cattle Company. Koch companies are involved in core industries such as the manufacturing, refining and distribution[1] of petroleum, chemicals, energy, fiber, intermediates and polymers, minerals, fertilizers, pulp and paper, chemical technology equipment, ranching,[3] finance, commodities trading, as well as other ventures and investments. The firm employs 50,000 people in the United States and another 20,000 in 59 other countries.[4]
In 2011, Forbes called it the second largest privately held company in the United States (after Cargill), with an annual revenue of about $98 billion,[5][6][7] down from the largest in 2006. If Koch Industries were a public company in 2007, it would rank about 16 in the Fortune 500.[8]
Fred C. Koch, for whom Koch Industries, Inc. is named, co-founded the company in 1940 and developed an innovative crude oil refining process.[9] His sons, Charles G. Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, and David H. Koch, executive vice president, are principal owners of the company after they bought out their brothers, Frederick and William, for $1.1 billion in 1983.[10] Charles and David H. Koch each own 42% of Koch Industries, and Charles has stated that the company will publicly offer shares "literally over my dead body".[5]
Predecessor companies
In 1925, Fred C. Koch joined MIT classmate Lewis E. Winkler at an engineering firm in Wichita, Kansas, which was renamed the Winkler-Koch Engineering Company. In 1927 they developed a more efficient thermal cracking process for turning crude oil into gasoline. This process threatened the competitive advantage of established oil companies, which sued for patent infringement. Temporarily forced out of business in the United States, they turned to other markets, including the Soviet Union, where Winkler-Koch built 15 cracking units between 1929 and 1932. During this time, Koch came to despise communism and Joseph Stalin's regime.[11][12] In his 1960 book, A Business Man Looks at Communism, Koch wrote that he found the USSR to be "a land of hunger, misery, and terror."[13] According to Charles G. Koch, "Virtually every engineer he worked with [there] was purged."[12]
In 1940, Koch joined new partners to create a new firm, the Wood River Oil and Refining Company, which is today known as Koch Industries. In 1946 the firm acquired the Rock Island refinery and crude oil gathering system near Duncan, Oklahoma. Wood River was later renamed the Rock Island Oil & Refining Company.[14] Charles G. Koch joined Rock Island in 1961, having started his career at the management consulting firm Arthur D. Little. He became president in 1966 and chairman at age 32, upon his father's death the following year.[9][15]
Koch Industries
The company was renamed Koch Industries in honor of Fred Koch, the year after his death. At that time, it was primarily an engineering firm with part interest in a Minnesota refinery, a crude oil-gathering system in Oklahoma,[12] and some cattle ranches.[16] In 1968, Charles approached Union Oil of California about buying their interest in Great Northern Oil Company and its Pine Bend Refinery but the discussions quickly stalled after Union asked for a large premium.[11] In 1969, Union Oil began trying to market their interest in Great Northern by telling potential buyers that Koch's controlling interest could be thwarted by currying favor with another owner, J. Howard Marshall II. When Marshall discovered this he threw his lot in with Koch, they together acquired a majority interest in the company and ultimately bought Union's interest.[14] Ownership of Pine Bend refinery led to several new businesses and capabilities, including chemicals, fibers, polymers, asphalt and other commodities such as petroleum coke and sulfur. These were followed by global commodity trading, gas liquids processing, real estate, pulp and paper, risk management and finance.[11]
In 1970, Charles was joined at the family firm by his brother David H. Koch. Having started as a technical services manager, David became president of Koch Engineering in 1979.
Subsidiaries
Among Koch Industries' subsidiaries across various industries[17] are:
Georgia-Pacific
Georgia-Pacific is a paper and pulp company that produces "Brawny" paper towels, "Angel Soft" toilet paper, "Mardi Gras" napkins and towels, "Quilted Northern" toilet paper and paper towels, "Dixie" paper plates, bowls, napkins and cups, "Sparkle" paper towels, and "Vanity Fair" paper napkins, bowls, plates and tablecloths. The Atlanta-based company has operations in 27 states.[18]
INVISTA
INVISTA is a polymer and fibers company that makes "Stainmaster" carpet, and "Lycra" fiber, among other products.
Koch Pipeline Company LP
Koch Pipeline Company LP, which owns and operates 4,000 miles (6,400 km) of pipeline used to transport oil, natural gas liquids and chemicals. Its pipelines are located across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Alberta, Canada. The firm operates offices in Wichita, Kansas, St. Paul, Minnesota and Corpus Christi, Texas.
In 1946 Wood River Oil Co. (a precursor company to Koch Industries) purchased Rock Island Oil and Refining Co. As a part of the transaction, it acquired a crude-oil pipeline in Oklahoma. As a result of construction and investments, Wood River acquired other pipelines in the U.S. and Canada. “In the ensuing years,” according to Koch Pipeline's website, “the company bought, sold and built pipeline systems transporting crude oil and refined products, as well as natural gas, natural gas liquids and anhydrous ammonia (for fertilizer).”[19] Koch Pipeline and its affiliates currently maintain a 4,000-mile network of pipelines.
In January 2000, Koch Pipeline agreed to a $35 million settlement with the U.S. Justice Department and the State of Texas. This settlement, including a $30 million civil fine, represented compensation for three hundred oil spills in Texas and five other states dating back to 1990.[20][21][22]
Pipeline accident
Koch's Sterling butane pipeline had a leak in Lively, Texas, on August 24, 1996. Two teenagers were killed when the gas exploded and burned. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that severe external pipeline corrosion was the cause of the failure, and recommended to Koch to improve corrosion evaluation procedures.[23] Although Koch distributed pamphlets about safety around the pipelines, they failed to maintain an up-to-date mailing list. Only 5 out of 45 residences in the area of the accident had received pamphlets. The families of the dead had not.[24]
In 1999, a Texas jury found that negligence had led to the rupture of the Koch pipeline and awarded the victims' families $296 million — "the largest compensatory damages judgment in a wrongful death case against a corporation in U.S. history".[25]
In a statement released in 2010, Koch Industries offered this comment:
The August, 1996 pipeline accident in Texas was a tragedy. Koch accepted responsibility immediately for the incident, which is the only event of its kind in the company’s history. The thorough review conducted of this pipeline the year before the accident did not uncover any issues that posed a foreseeable threat to public safety. The bacteria-induced corrosion that caused the accident acted more quickly to damage this pipeline than had ever been documented by any industry expert. Koch’s cooperative efforts to identify the source and cause of this problem so that this knowledge could be shared throughout industry were praised by the National Transportation Safety Board, which did a two-year investigation into this incident.[26]
Flint Hill Resources LP
Flint Hill Resources LP, originally called Koch Petroleum Group, is a major refining and chemicals company based in Wichita, Kansas. It sells products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol, polymers, intermediate chemicals, base oils and asphalt. It operates oil refineries in six states. Flint Hill has chemical plants in Illinois, Texas and Michigan. The firm is also a major manufacturer of asphalt used for paving and roofing applications. It operates 13 asphalt terminals located in six states including Alaska (2 terminals), Wisconsin (2), Iowa (3), Minnesota (4), Nebraska (1), and North Dakota(1).[27] The firm manages the purchasing of domestic crude oil from Texas and Colorado offices, has four ethanol plants across Iowa, operates three refineries in Alaska, Texas, and Minnesota, and has a refinery terminal in Alaska. The Minnesota refinery can process 320,000 barrels (51,000 m3) of crude a day, most of which comes from from Alberta, Canada, and handles one quarter of all Canadian oil sands crude entering the U.S.[28] It also operates fuel terminals in Wisconsin (4 locations), Texas (6), and one each in Iowa and Minnesota.[29]
In March 1999, Koch Petroleum Group acknowledged that it had negligently dumped hundreds of thousands of gallons of aviation fuel into wetlands from its refinery in Rosemount, Minnesota, and that it had illegally dumped a million gallons of high-ammonia wastewater onto the ground and into the Mississippi River. Koch Petroleum paid a $6 million fine and $2 million in remediation costs, and was ordered to serve three years of probation.[30]
In April 2001, the company reached a $20 million settlement in exchange for admitting to covering up environmental violations at its refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas.[31][32]
In June 2003, the US Commerce Department fined Flint Hill Resources a $200,000 civil penalty. The fine settled charges that the company exported crude petroleum from the US to Canada without proper US government authorization. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said from July 1997 to March 1999, Koch Petroleum (later called Flint Hill Resources) committed 40 violations of Export Administration Regulations.[33]
In 2005, Koch's Flint Hills Resources refinery was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Awards program for reducing air emissions by 50 percent while expanding operations.[34] The EPA has worked with Flint Hills Resources to develop "strategies for curtailing so-called 'upset' emissions, in what agency and company sources say could lead to guidance to minimize such emissions from petroleum refineries and other industrial facilities."[35] The EPA described the process as a "model for other companies."[36]
In 2006, Flint Hill Resources was fined nearly $16,000 by the EPA for 10 separate violations of the Clean Air Act at its Alaska oil refinery facilities, and required to spend another $60,000 on safety equipment needed to help prevent future violations.[37]
Koch Fertilizer, LLC
Koch Fertilizer, LLC, which is one of the world’s largest makers of nitrogen fertilizers.[38] Koch Fertilizer owns or has interests in fertilizer plants the United States, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and Italy, among others.[39][40] Koch Fertilizer was formed in 1988 when the Koch companies purchased the Gulf Central Pipeline and ammonia terminals connected to the pipeline. The next year, the Koch Nitrogen Company was formed in order to market ammonia. The next few years saw purchases of various ammonia facilities in Louisiana, Canada, and elsewhere, and ammonia sales agreements with firms in Australia, the U.K., and other countries. The year 2010 saw the founding of Koch Methanol, LLC, and Koch Agronomic Services, LLC. In October 2010, a plant in Venezuela was nationalized by the government.[41] In 2011, the firm acquired the British fertilizer firm J&H Bunn Limited.
Koch Agricultural Company
Koch Agricultural Company's Matador Cattle Company division operates three ranches totaling 425,000 acres (1,720 km2) located in Beaverhead, Montana, Matador, Texas and the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. There are more than 15,000 head of cattle raised on the ranches.[42]
The Matador Land and Cattle Company was founded in 1882 by Scottish investors, whose acquisition included 2.5 million acres in four Texas counties. In 1951, the company was sold to Lazard Freres and Company, which in turn sold some of the Texas land to Fred C. Koch. In 1952 Koch formed Matador Cattle Company, and later one of his companies purchased part of Matador Ranch, which was brought together with other Koch ranches in Montana and Kansas. Today, according to the ranch's website, it “is owned and operated by Matador Cattle Company, a division of Koch Agriculture Company, which is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch Industries.”[43]
Koch's Matador Ranch in Texas earned the Lone Star Land Steward award for outstanding natural resource management in 2010.[44] The Montana ranch has earned several environmental stewardship awards, including the EPA Regional Administrator's award.[45]
Environmental and safety record
From 1999 to 2003, Koch Industries was assessed "more than $400 million in fines, penalties and judgments."[25] Another source points out that Koch has had only "eight instances of alleged misconduct ... over the span of 63 years" despite being a giant multinational, and that this compares favorably to the fines, penalties and judgments accrued by the similarly large General Electric corporation.[46]
Pollution and resource fines
In May 2001, Koch Industries paid $25 million to the federal government to settle a federal lawsuit that found the company had improperly taken more oil than it had paid for from federal and Indian land.[47]
In 2007, Koch Nitrogen's plant in Enid, Oklahoma, was listed as the third highest company releasing toxic chemicals in Oklahoma, according to the EPA, ranking behind Perma-Fix Environmental Services in Tulsa and Weyerhaeuser Co. in Valliant.[48] The facility produces about 10% of the US national production of anhydrous ammonia, as well as urea and UAN.[49]
In 2010, Koch Industries was ranked 10th on the list of top US corporate air polluters, the "Toxic 100 Air Polluters", by the Political Economic Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst.[50]
Awards and certifications
According to its website, Koch Industries and its subsidiaries received 289 stewardship awards over the two years ending January 2011.[51]
Koch Industries' headquarters in Wichita has been certified for meeting the Energy Star standards for superior energy efficiency and environmental protection. As of 2010 it is the only Wichita office building to be so recognized.[52][53] A Tulsa, Oklahoma site of the Koch-owned John Zink Company site was part of the EPA's National Environmental Performance Track program from 2003 until 2009 when the program was suspended.[54][55]
In 2011, the Midway-Kansas Chapter of the American Red Cross awarded Koch Industries with a Corporate Excellence Award for its long-standing commitment to the humanitarian mission of Red Cross.[56]
Legal activity
In 2008, Koch Industries discovered that the French affiliate Koch-Glitsch had violated bribery laws allegedly securing contracts in Algeria, Egypt, India, Morocco, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia after an investigation by Ethics Compliance officer, Egorova-Farines.[25] After Koch Industries' investigative team looked into her findings, the four employees involved were terminated. A Bloomberg article states that Egorova-Farines’ reported her findings immediately, and even after Koch’s investigators substantiated the findings, her “superiors removed her from the inquiry in August 2008 and fired her in June 2009, calling her incompetent.”[25] Koch Industries’ general counsel, Mark Holden, gave a different account of the events to Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post.[57] Holden stated that Egorova-Farines failed to promptly share the findings, choosing instead to give the information to a manager at Koch-Glitsch who was later fired for bribery. Rubin writes that, according to Holden, “Egorova-Farines was not fired but instead ran into performance problems, left the company to go on leave and never returned.” Egorova-Farines sued Koch-Glitsch for wrongful termination in France. Rubin writes that she lost and “was ordered to pay costs for bringing a frivolous case.”[57]
In May 2011, a Utah judge dismissed a Koch Industries lawsuit alleging that Youth For Climate Truth, in releasing a fake Koch Industries press release, had infringed on Koch Industries' trademark.[58]
Political activity
Koch Industries has spent more than $50 million to lobby in Washington since 2006, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.[25]
The company has opposed the regulation of financial derivatives and limits on greenhouse gases.[25] It sponsors free market foundations and causes.[59][60] According to the Center for Responsive Politics, many of Koch Industries' contributions have gone toward achieving legislation on energy issues, defense appropriations and financial regulatory reform.[61] According to Greenpeace, the company has "had a quiet but dominant role in a high-profile national policy debate on global warming," and has out-spent ExxonMobil (another corporation active in fighting climate change science and legislation) in giving money to organizations fighting legislation related to climate change. "From 2005 to 2008, ExxonMobil spent $8.9 million while the Koch Industries-controlled foundations contributed $24.9 million in funding."[62][63] Another Greenpeace study states that between 1997 and 2008 Koch Industries donated nearly $48 million to groups which doubt or oppose the theory of anthropogenic global warming.[64][65] Koch Industries replied saying the Greenpeace report "distorts the environmental record of our companies."[63][context?]
One policy proposal to control global warming that Koch Industries has come out against is Low Carbon Fuel Standards, such as were passed in 2007 in California.[28] According to Koch Industries, "LCFS would cripple refiners that rely on heavy crude feedstocks to provide the transportation fuels that keep America moving."[66]
Koch Industries have also been active in supporting and opposing politicians, including presidents. The Koch Industries website includes an opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal by Charles Koch, one of the company's owners, "Why Koch Industries is Speaking Out"[67] The article states:
Because of our activism, we've been vilified by various groups. Despite this criticism, we're determined to keep contributing and standing up for those politicians, like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who are taking these challenges [deficit spending by governments] seriously
References/ Footnotes
1.↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Koch Industries Welcomes 2009 Leadership Kansas Class" (PDF). http://www.kochind.com/files/070709KIILeadershipKansas.pdf. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
2.↑ "Forbes Magazine Profile for America's Top 100 Private Companies". Forbes.com. 3 November 2010. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/21/private-companies-10_Koch-Industries_VMZQ.html. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
3.↑ "Koch Industries, Inc - Industry Areas". Kochind.com. http://www.kochind.com/IndustryAreas/default.asp. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
4.↑ Continetti, Matthew (April 4, 2011). "The Paranoid Style in Liberal Politics". The Weekly Standard. http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/paranoid-style-liberal-politics_555525.html?nopager=1.
5.↑ 5.0 5.1 Fisher, Daniel (Mar. 13, 2006). "Mr. Big", pp. 24–26. Forbes. Online summary for calendar year 2005 at [1].
6.↑ "America's Largest Private Companies". Forbes. 8 November 2007. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/21/biz_privates07_Americas-Largest-Private-Companies_Rank.html?boxes=custom. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
7.↑ "Forbes rankings for 2009". Forbes.com. 2009-10-28. http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/28/largest-private-companies-business-private-companies-09_land.html. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
8.↑ "The Principled Entrepreneur". The American. July–August 2007. http://www.american.com/archive/2007/july-august-magazine-contents/the-principled-entrepreneur. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
9.↑ 9.0 9.1 "Summary of Koch Industries History". sec.gov. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 14 November 2005. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/41077/000119312505225697/dex993.htm. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
10.↑ The Top 10 Forbes Asia October 19, 2009
11.↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Koch, Charles C. (2007). The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World's Largest Private Company. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-470-13988-2.
12.↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Daniel Fisher (13 March 2006). "Mr. Big". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/global/2006/0313/024.html.
13.↑ Koch, Fred C. (1960). A Business Man Looks at Communism. Wichita, Kansas.
14.↑ 14.0 14.1 J. Howard, Marshall II (1994). Done in Oil: An Autobiography. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. p. 254. ISBN 0-89096-533-1.
15.↑ Bruce Upbin; Brandon Copple (14 December 1998). "Creative destruction 101". Forbes.
16.↑ John, Lincoln (1989). Rich Grass and Sweet Water. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 0-89096-387-8.
17.↑ Koch Industries website, Industry Areas, accessed Aug 25 2010,
18.↑ Georgia Pacific website, accessed March 11, 2011, Georgia-Pacific Company Overview
19.↑ "History". Koch Pipeline Company, L.P.. http://www.kochpipeline.com/AboutUs/history.asp. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
20.↑ "Koch Pipeline Company L.P. - Newsroom". Kochpipeline.com. 2000-01-13. http://www.kochpipeline.com/news/printable.asp?id=270. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
21.↑ By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz and Jeff Nesmith (2001-07-23). "Austin news, sports, weather, Longhorns, business". Statesman.com. http://www.statesman.com/specialreports/content/specialreports/pipelines/23pipegathering.html. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
22.↑ "Koch Agrees to $35 Million Settlement in Two Environmental Cases". Safety Online. 17 January 2000. http://www.safetyonline.com/article.mvc/Koch-Agrees-to-35-million-Settlement-in-Two-E-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO.
23.↑ Pipeline Rupture, Liquid Butane Release, and Fire, Lively, Texas, August 24, 1996
24.↑ "Austin news, sports, weather, Longhorns, business". Statesman.com. http://www.statesman.com/specialreports/content/specialreports/pipelines/23pipelively3.html. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
25.↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 25.5 Loder, Asjylyn; David Evans (3 October 2011). "Koch Brothers Flout Law With Secret Iran Sales". Bloomberg Markets Magazine. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-02/koch-brothers-flout-law-getting-richer-with-secret-iran-sales.html. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
26.↑ "Koch Industries Responds to New Yorker Claims". Newsmax Media. http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/koch-industries-new-yorker/2010/08/26/id/368519. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
27.↑ Flint Hill Resources website, accessed March 11, 2011, FHR Asphalt
28.↑ 28.0 28.1 Dembicki, Geoff (March 22, 2011). "The Kochs: Oil Sands Billionaires Bankrolling US Right". The Tyee (Vancouver, B.C.). http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/03/22/KochBrothers/index.html. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
29.↑ Koch Industries website, accessed March 11, 2011, http://www.fhr.com/newsroom/contact.aspx?ID=9
30.↑ "Koch Petroleum Group Sentenced for Minnesota Pollution" (Press release). Environmental Protection Agency. 9 March 2000. http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/eae2020401d0bf098525689d00713ea5!OpenDocument. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
31.↑ "Koch Pleads Guilty to Covering up Environmental Violations at Texas Oil Refinery". justice.gov. U.S. Department of Justice. 9 April 2001. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2001/April/153enrd.htm. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
32.↑ Don Richards (22 January 2001). "DOJ Reduces Indictments Against Koch Industries". ICIS. http://www.icis.com/Articles/2001/01/22/130888/doj-reduces-indictments-against-koch-industries.html.
33.↑ US Dept of Commerce, Commerce Dept Fines Kansas Firm, June 3, 2003 press release, http://www.bis.doc.gov/news/2003/kansasfirmfined.htm
34.↑ Jessica Harper (18 November 2009). "Flint Hills is coming out of murky waters". Dakota County Tribune. http://www.thisweeklive.com/2009/11/18/flint-hills-is-coming-out-of-murky-waters/.
35.↑ "Inside EPA's Clean Air Report". InsideEPA. http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:7eiXKq7LLHkJ:www.flinthillsresources.info/upload/InsideEPA9-09Pactwithoil.pdf+Flint+Hills+Resources+epa&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjlfx6q_Ri64N7NdqA3rho-Amf6W1nzG7_PkmPqn7Z9eJiGxEsQN9ph1qqI7EjuAUdIwNaS1l1voou3gXceHm_zhgBmQidSNdEp44PfgvYdxXP_u1PTXKeTbv4SM4bGwfZZ_7S2&sig=AHIEtbQgO5KZzY5H1tGz7XGieXnNJakdqQ. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
36.↑ "Flint Hills Resources, LP Agrees to Transition Its Texas Flexible Permits to Federally Approved Clean Air Act Permits - Transition affects facilities in Corpus Christi, Port Arthur and Longview". EPA. http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/6F25BD791C4B21CB852577C400552339. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
37.↑ EPA Press Release, EPA Fines Flint Hill Resources Alaska, Dec 13 2006, accessed Aug 25 2010, http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/b0789fb70f8ff03285257029006e3880/6b191200b3ce87e2852572430062f987!OpenDocument
38.↑ Koch Fertilizer website, accessed March 11, 2011, http://www.kochfertilizer.com/
39.↑ Yasha Levine (1 September 2010). "7 Ways the Koch Bros. Benefit from Corporate Welfare". The New York Observer. http://www.observer.com/2010/daily-transom/how-libertarian-koch-bros-benefit-corporate-welfare.
40.↑ "Fertilizers". http://www.kochind.com/IndustryAreas/fertilizers.aspx.
41.↑ "Koch Industries says no word on Venezuela takeover". Reuters. 11 October 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1112262420101011.
42.↑ Koch Industries website, accessed March 11, 2011, Ranching
43.↑ "The History of Matador Ranch". Matador Ranch. http://www.matadorranch.com/matadorranchhistory.php. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
44.↑ "Lone Star Land Steward Awards Winners Announced" (Press release). Texas Parks & Wildlife. 6 May 2010. http://archive.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/text.phtml?req=20100506. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
45.↑ "EPA Honors Koch Ranch for Environmental Excellence; Award is Ranch's Fourth Major Environmental Honor in 1999" (Press release). Koch Industries. 7 June 1999. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1999_June_7/ai_54811290/. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
46.↑ Bloomberg's Exposé on Koch Industries Reveals ... What Exactly? Daniel Indiviglio
4 October 2011
47.↑ Russell Ray (20 June 2001). "Tribe Likely to Get Piece of Settlement in Osage County, Okla., Oil Squabble". Tulsa World.
48.↑ "EPA Reports Toxic Releases to Air, Water and Land in Oklahoma in 2007". Environmental Protection Agency. 2009-03-19. http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6427a6b7538955c585257359003f0230/0c43e41531a2f7848525757e00664797!OpenDocument.
49.↑ Voorhis, Dan (2010-12-16). "Fertilizer Helps Koch Grow". Wichita Eagle. http://www.kansas.com/2010/12/16/1635564/fertilizer-helps-koch-grow.html.
50.↑ "Toxic 100 Air Polluters" (Press release). March 31, 2010. http://www.peri.umass.edu/toxic_press/.
51.↑ "Koch Companies Recognized with 289 Stewardship Awards since 2009" press release, January 24, 2011.
52.↑ "Koch Industries Inc., Earns Prestigious Energy Star for Efficiencies at Wichita Complex" (Press release). Koch Industries. 17 June 2008. http://www.kochind.com/newsroom/news_releases_details.aspx?id=994. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
53.↑ "ENERGY STAR Labeled Offices in Kansas". energystar.gov. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=labeled_buildings.showMap&SEARCH_OWNER_ID=&S_CODE=KS&PROFILES=&YEAR=&BUILDING_TYPE_ID=700&SEARCH_SPP_ID=&CITY=&ZIP=&SEARCH_PROP_MANAGER_ID=&FILTER_B_ID=#. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
54.↑ "Process and Pollution Control". kochenergy.com. Koch Industries. http://kochenergy.com/EHS/processandpollutioncontrol.aspx. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
55.↑ "Performance Track Final Progress Report". epa.gov. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. May 2009. http://www.epa.gov/performancetrack/downloads/PT_ProgRprt_2009_web.pdf. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
56.↑ Heck, Josh (18 May 2011). "Red Cross Recognizes three fundraisers". Wichita Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2011/05/18/red-cross-recognizes-three-fundraisers.html. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
57.↑ 57.0 57.1 Rubin, Jennifer. "Koch responds to Bloomberg". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/koch-responds-to-bloomberg/2011/03/29/gIQA3KzNIL_blog.html. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
58.↑ "SUMMARY JUDGMENTS: Our daily legal-news aggregator for May 11, 2011" Thompson Reuters News and Insight
59.↑ Secretive Republican Donors Are Planning Ahead by Kate Zernike published October 19, 2010, New York Times
60.↑ Pulling the Wraps Off Koch Industries By LESLIE WAYNE; Published: November 20, 1994; New York Times; " Their donations reflect their belief in libertarian and free market philosophies or their personal interests."
61.↑ OpenSecrets, Summary of Koch Industries
62.↑ Koch Industries: Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine . greenpeace.org . 30 March 2010]
63.↑ 63.0 63.1 Covert Operations The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama. by Jane Mayer . newyorker.com . August 30, 2010
64.↑ Vidal, John (30 March 2010). "US oil company donated millions to climate skeptic groups, says Greenpeace". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/mar/30/us-oil-donated-millions-climate-sceptics.
65.↑ "Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine". Global Warming. Washington: Greenpeace. 2010-03-29. http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
66.↑ http://www.kochind.com/ViewPoint/lowCarbon.aspx Low Carbon Fuel Standards
67.↑ Why Koch Industries is Speaking Out, Wall Street Journal, March 1, 2011
ttp://www.ask.com/wiki/Koch_Industries
In 2011, Forbes called it the second largest privately held company in the United States (after Cargill), with an annual revenue of about $98 billion,[5][6][7] down from the largest in 2006. If Koch Industries were a public company in 2007, it would rank about 16 in the Fortune 500.[8]
Fred C. Koch, for whom Koch Industries, Inc. is named, co-founded the company in 1940 and developed an innovative crude oil refining process.[9] His sons, Charles G. Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, and David H. Koch, executive vice president, are principal owners of the company after they bought out their brothers, Frederick and William, for $1.1 billion in 1983.[10] Charles and David H. Koch each own 42% of Koch Industries, and Charles has stated that the company will publicly offer shares "literally over my dead body".[5]
Predecessor companies
In 1925, Fred C. Koch joined MIT classmate Lewis E. Winkler at an engineering firm in Wichita, Kansas, which was renamed the Winkler-Koch Engineering Company. In 1927 they developed a more efficient thermal cracking process for turning crude oil into gasoline. This process threatened the competitive advantage of established oil companies, which sued for patent infringement. Temporarily forced out of business in the United States, they turned to other markets, including the Soviet Union, where Winkler-Koch built 15 cracking units between 1929 and 1932. During this time, Koch came to despise communism and Joseph Stalin's regime.[11][12] In his 1960 book, A Business Man Looks at Communism, Koch wrote that he found the USSR to be "a land of hunger, misery, and terror."[13] According to Charles G. Koch, "Virtually every engineer he worked with [there] was purged."[12]
In 1940, Koch joined new partners to create a new firm, the Wood River Oil and Refining Company, which is today known as Koch Industries. In 1946 the firm acquired the Rock Island refinery and crude oil gathering system near Duncan, Oklahoma. Wood River was later renamed the Rock Island Oil & Refining Company.[14] Charles G. Koch joined Rock Island in 1961, having started his career at the management consulting firm Arthur D. Little. He became president in 1966 and chairman at age 32, upon his father's death the following year.[9][15]
Koch Industries
The company was renamed Koch Industries in honor of Fred Koch, the year after his death. At that time, it was primarily an engineering firm with part interest in a Minnesota refinery, a crude oil-gathering system in Oklahoma,[12] and some cattle ranches.[16] In 1968, Charles approached Union Oil of California about buying their interest in Great Northern Oil Company and its Pine Bend Refinery but the discussions quickly stalled after Union asked for a large premium.[11] In 1969, Union Oil began trying to market their interest in Great Northern by telling potential buyers that Koch's controlling interest could be thwarted by currying favor with another owner, J. Howard Marshall II. When Marshall discovered this he threw his lot in with Koch, they together acquired a majority interest in the company and ultimately bought Union's interest.[14] Ownership of Pine Bend refinery led to several new businesses and capabilities, including chemicals, fibers, polymers, asphalt and other commodities such as petroleum coke and sulfur. These were followed by global commodity trading, gas liquids processing, real estate, pulp and paper, risk management and finance.[11]
In 1970, Charles was joined at the family firm by his brother David H. Koch. Having started as a technical services manager, David became president of Koch Engineering in 1979.
Subsidiaries
Among Koch Industries' subsidiaries across various industries[17] are:
Georgia-Pacific
Georgia-Pacific is a paper and pulp company that produces "Brawny" paper towels, "Angel Soft" toilet paper, "Mardi Gras" napkins and towels, "Quilted Northern" toilet paper and paper towels, "Dixie" paper plates, bowls, napkins and cups, "Sparkle" paper towels, and "Vanity Fair" paper napkins, bowls, plates and tablecloths. The Atlanta-based company has operations in 27 states.[18]
INVISTA
INVISTA is a polymer and fibers company that makes "Stainmaster" carpet, and "Lycra" fiber, among other products.
Koch Pipeline Company LP
Koch Pipeline Company LP, which owns and operates 4,000 miles (6,400 km) of pipeline used to transport oil, natural gas liquids and chemicals. Its pipelines are located across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Alberta, Canada. The firm operates offices in Wichita, Kansas, St. Paul, Minnesota and Corpus Christi, Texas.
In 1946 Wood River Oil Co. (a precursor company to Koch Industries) purchased Rock Island Oil and Refining Co. As a part of the transaction, it acquired a crude-oil pipeline in Oklahoma. As a result of construction and investments, Wood River acquired other pipelines in the U.S. and Canada. “In the ensuing years,” according to Koch Pipeline's website, “the company bought, sold and built pipeline systems transporting crude oil and refined products, as well as natural gas, natural gas liquids and anhydrous ammonia (for fertilizer).”[19] Koch Pipeline and its affiliates currently maintain a 4,000-mile network of pipelines.
In January 2000, Koch Pipeline agreed to a $35 million settlement with the U.S. Justice Department and the State of Texas. This settlement, including a $30 million civil fine, represented compensation for three hundred oil spills in Texas and five other states dating back to 1990.[20][21][22]
Pipeline accident
Koch's Sterling butane pipeline had a leak in Lively, Texas, on August 24, 1996. Two teenagers were killed when the gas exploded and burned. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that severe external pipeline corrosion was the cause of the failure, and recommended to Koch to improve corrosion evaluation procedures.[23] Although Koch distributed pamphlets about safety around the pipelines, they failed to maintain an up-to-date mailing list. Only 5 out of 45 residences in the area of the accident had received pamphlets. The families of the dead had not.[24]
In 1999, a Texas jury found that negligence had led to the rupture of the Koch pipeline and awarded the victims' families $296 million — "the largest compensatory damages judgment in a wrongful death case against a corporation in U.S. history".[25]
In a statement released in 2010, Koch Industries offered this comment:
The August, 1996 pipeline accident in Texas was a tragedy. Koch accepted responsibility immediately for the incident, which is the only event of its kind in the company’s history. The thorough review conducted of this pipeline the year before the accident did not uncover any issues that posed a foreseeable threat to public safety. The bacteria-induced corrosion that caused the accident acted more quickly to damage this pipeline than had ever been documented by any industry expert. Koch’s cooperative efforts to identify the source and cause of this problem so that this knowledge could be shared throughout industry were praised by the National Transportation Safety Board, which did a two-year investigation into this incident.[26]
Flint Hill Resources LP
Flint Hill Resources LP, originally called Koch Petroleum Group, is a major refining and chemicals company based in Wichita, Kansas. It sells products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol, polymers, intermediate chemicals, base oils and asphalt. It operates oil refineries in six states. Flint Hill has chemical plants in Illinois, Texas and Michigan. The firm is also a major manufacturer of asphalt used for paving and roofing applications. It operates 13 asphalt terminals located in six states including Alaska (2 terminals), Wisconsin (2), Iowa (3), Minnesota (4), Nebraska (1), and North Dakota(1).[27] The firm manages the purchasing of domestic crude oil from Texas and Colorado offices, has four ethanol plants across Iowa, operates three refineries in Alaska, Texas, and Minnesota, and has a refinery terminal in Alaska. The Minnesota refinery can process 320,000 barrels (51,000 m3) of crude a day, most of which comes from from Alberta, Canada, and handles one quarter of all Canadian oil sands crude entering the U.S.[28] It also operates fuel terminals in Wisconsin (4 locations), Texas (6), and one each in Iowa and Minnesota.[29]
In March 1999, Koch Petroleum Group acknowledged that it had negligently dumped hundreds of thousands of gallons of aviation fuel into wetlands from its refinery in Rosemount, Minnesota, and that it had illegally dumped a million gallons of high-ammonia wastewater onto the ground and into the Mississippi River. Koch Petroleum paid a $6 million fine and $2 million in remediation costs, and was ordered to serve three years of probation.[30]
In April 2001, the company reached a $20 million settlement in exchange for admitting to covering up environmental violations at its refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas.[31][32]
In June 2003, the US Commerce Department fined Flint Hill Resources a $200,000 civil penalty. The fine settled charges that the company exported crude petroleum from the US to Canada without proper US government authorization. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said from July 1997 to March 1999, Koch Petroleum (later called Flint Hill Resources) committed 40 violations of Export Administration Regulations.[33]
In 2005, Koch's Flint Hills Resources refinery was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Awards program for reducing air emissions by 50 percent while expanding operations.[34] The EPA has worked with Flint Hills Resources to develop "strategies for curtailing so-called 'upset' emissions, in what agency and company sources say could lead to guidance to minimize such emissions from petroleum refineries and other industrial facilities."[35] The EPA described the process as a "model for other companies."[36]
In 2006, Flint Hill Resources was fined nearly $16,000 by the EPA for 10 separate violations of the Clean Air Act at its Alaska oil refinery facilities, and required to spend another $60,000 on safety equipment needed to help prevent future violations.[37]
Koch Fertilizer, LLC
Koch Fertilizer, LLC, which is one of the world’s largest makers of nitrogen fertilizers.[38] Koch Fertilizer owns or has interests in fertilizer plants the United States, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and Italy, among others.[39][40] Koch Fertilizer was formed in 1988 when the Koch companies purchased the Gulf Central Pipeline and ammonia terminals connected to the pipeline. The next year, the Koch Nitrogen Company was formed in order to market ammonia. The next few years saw purchases of various ammonia facilities in Louisiana, Canada, and elsewhere, and ammonia sales agreements with firms in Australia, the U.K., and other countries. The year 2010 saw the founding of Koch Methanol, LLC, and Koch Agronomic Services, LLC. In October 2010, a plant in Venezuela was nationalized by the government.[41] In 2011, the firm acquired the British fertilizer firm J&H Bunn Limited.
Koch Agricultural Company
Koch Agricultural Company's Matador Cattle Company division operates three ranches totaling 425,000 acres (1,720 km2) located in Beaverhead, Montana, Matador, Texas and the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. There are more than 15,000 head of cattle raised on the ranches.[42]
The Matador Land and Cattle Company was founded in 1882 by Scottish investors, whose acquisition included 2.5 million acres in four Texas counties. In 1951, the company was sold to Lazard Freres and Company, which in turn sold some of the Texas land to Fred C. Koch. In 1952 Koch formed Matador Cattle Company, and later one of his companies purchased part of Matador Ranch, which was brought together with other Koch ranches in Montana and Kansas. Today, according to the ranch's website, it “is owned and operated by Matador Cattle Company, a division of Koch Agriculture Company, which is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch Industries.”[43]
Koch's Matador Ranch in Texas earned the Lone Star Land Steward award for outstanding natural resource management in 2010.[44] The Montana ranch has earned several environmental stewardship awards, including the EPA Regional Administrator's award.[45]
Environmental and safety record
From 1999 to 2003, Koch Industries was assessed "more than $400 million in fines, penalties and judgments."[25] Another source points out that Koch has had only "eight instances of alleged misconduct ... over the span of 63 years" despite being a giant multinational, and that this compares favorably to the fines, penalties and judgments accrued by the similarly large General Electric corporation.[46]
Pollution and resource fines
In May 2001, Koch Industries paid $25 million to the federal government to settle a federal lawsuit that found the company had improperly taken more oil than it had paid for from federal and Indian land.[47]
In 2007, Koch Nitrogen's plant in Enid, Oklahoma, was listed as the third highest company releasing toxic chemicals in Oklahoma, according to the EPA, ranking behind Perma-Fix Environmental Services in Tulsa and Weyerhaeuser Co. in Valliant.[48] The facility produces about 10% of the US national production of anhydrous ammonia, as well as urea and UAN.[49]
In 2010, Koch Industries was ranked 10th on the list of top US corporate air polluters, the "Toxic 100 Air Polluters", by the Political Economic Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst.[50]
Awards and certifications
According to its website, Koch Industries and its subsidiaries received 289 stewardship awards over the two years ending January 2011.[51]
Koch Industries' headquarters in Wichita has been certified for meeting the Energy Star standards for superior energy efficiency and environmental protection. As of 2010 it is the only Wichita office building to be so recognized.[52][53] A Tulsa, Oklahoma site of the Koch-owned John Zink Company site was part of the EPA's National Environmental Performance Track program from 2003 until 2009 when the program was suspended.[54][55]
In 2011, the Midway-Kansas Chapter of the American Red Cross awarded Koch Industries with a Corporate Excellence Award for its long-standing commitment to the humanitarian mission of Red Cross.[56]
Legal activity
In 2008, Koch Industries discovered that the French affiliate Koch-Glitsch had violated bribery laws allegedly securing contracts in Algeria, Egypt, India, Morocco, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia after an investigation by Ethics Compliance officer, Egorova-Farines.[25] After Koch Industries' investigative team looked into her findings, the four employees involved were terminated. A Bloomberg article states that Egorova-Farines’ reported her findings immediately, and even after Koch’s investigators substantiated the findings, her “superiors removed her from the inquiry in August 2008 and fired her in June 2009, calling her incompetent.”[25] Koch Industries’ general counsel, Mark Holden, gave a different account of the events to Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post.[57] Holden stated that Egorova-Farines failed to promptly share the findings, choosing instead to give the information to a manager at Koch-Glitsch who was later fired for bribery. Rubin writes that, according to Holden, “Egorova-Farines was not fired but instead ran into performance problems, left the company to go on leave and never returned.” Egorova-Farines sued Koch-Glitsch for wrongful termination in France. Rubin writes that she lost and “was ordered to pay costs for bringing a frivolous case.”[57]
In May 2011, a Utah judge dismissed a Koch Industries lawsuit alleging that Youth For Climate Truth, in releasing a fake Koch Industries press release, had infringed on Koch Industries' trademark.[58]
Political activity
Koch Industries has spent more than $50 million to lobby in Washington since 2006, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.[25]
The company has opposed the regulation of financial derivatives and limits on greenhouse gases.[25] It sponsors free market foundations and causes.[59][60] According to the Center for Responsive Politics, many of Koch Industries' contributions have gone toward achieving legislation on energy issues, defense appropriations and financial regulatory reform.[61] According to Greenpeace, the company has "had a quiet but dominant role in a high-profile national policy debate on global warming," and has out-spent ExxonMobil (another corporation active in fighting climate change science and legislation) in giving money to organizations fighting legislation related to climate change. "From 2005 to 2008, ExxonMobil spent $8.9 million while the Koch Industries-controlled foundations contributed $24.9 million in funding."[62][63] Another Greenpeace study states that between 1997 and 2008 Koch Industries donated nearly $48 million to groups which doubt or oppose the theory of anthropogenic global warming.[64][65] Koch Industries replied saying the Greenpeace report "distorts the environmental record of our companies."[63][context?]
One policy proposal to control global warming that Koch Industries has come out against is Low Carbon Fuel Standards, such as were passed in 2007 in California.[28] According to Koch Industries, "LCFS would cripple refiners that rely on heavy crude feedstocks to provide the transportation fuels that keep America moving."[66]
Koch Industries have also been active in supporting and opposing politicians, including presidents. The Koch Industries website includes an opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal by Charles Koch, one of the company's owners, "Why Koch Industries is Speaking Out"[67] The article states:
Because of our activism, we've been vilified by various groups. Despite this criticism, we're determined to keep contributing and standing up for those politicians, like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who are taking these challenges [deficit spending by governments] seriously
References/ Footnotes
1.↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Koch Industries Welcomes 2009 Leadership Kansas Class" (PDF). http://www.kochind.com/files/070709KIILeadershipKansas.pdf. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
2.↑ "Forbes Magazine Profile for America's Top 100 Private Companies". Forbes.com. 3 November 2010. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/21/private-companies-10_Koch-Industries_VMZQ.html. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
3.↑ "Koch Industries, Inc - Industry Areas". Kochind.com. http://www.kochind.com/IndustryAreas/default.asp. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
4.↑ Continetti, Matthew (April 4, 2011). "The Paranoid Style in Liberal Politics". The Weekly Standard. http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/paranoid-style-liberal-politics_555525.html?nopager=1.
5.↑ 5.0 5.1 Fisher, Daniel (Mar. 13, 2006). "Mr. Big", pp. 24–26. Forbes. Online summary for calendar year 2005 at [1].
6.↑ "America's Largest Private Companies". Forbes. 8 November 2007. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/21/biz_privates07_Americas-Largest-Private-Companies_Rank.html?boxes=custom. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
7.↑ "Forbes rankings for 2009". Forbes.com. 2009-10-28. http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/28/largest-private-companies-business-private-companies-09_land.html. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
8.↑ "The Principled Entrepreneur". The American. July–August 2007. http://www.american.com/archive/2007/july-august-magazine-contents/the-principled-entrepreneur. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
9.↑ 9.0 9.1 "Summary of Koch Industries History". sec.gov. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 14 November 2005. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/41077/000119312505225697/dex993.htm. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
10.↑ The Top 10 Forbes Asia October 19, 2009
11.↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Koch, Charles C. (2007). The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World's Largest Private Company. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-470-13988-2.
12.↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Daniel Fisher (13 March 2006). "Mr. Big". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/global/2006/0313/024.html.
13.↑ Koch, Fred C. (1960). A Business Man Looks at Communism. Wichita, Kansas.
14.↑ 14.0 14.1 J. Howard, Marshall II (1994). Done in Oil: An Autobiography. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. p. 254. ISBN 0-89096-533-1.
15.↑ Bruce Upbin; Brandon Copple (14 December 1998). "Creative destruction 101". Forbes.
16.↑ John, Lincoln (1989). Rich Grass and Sweet Water. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 0-89096-387-8.
17.↑ Koch Industries website, Industry Areas, accessed Aug 25 2010,
18.↑ Georgia Pacific website, accessed March 11, 2011, Georgia-Pacific Company Overview
19.↑ "History". Koch Pipeline Company, L.P.. http://www.kochpipeline.com/AboutUs/history.asp. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
20.↑ "Koch Pipeline Company L.P. - Newsroom". Kochpipeline.com. 2000-01-13. http://www.kochpipeline.com/news/printable.asp?id=270. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
21.↑ By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz and Jeff Nesmith (2001-07-23). "Austin news, sports, weather, Longhorns, business". Statesman.com. http://www.statesman.com/specialreports/content/specialreports/pipelines/23pipegathering.html. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
22.↑ "Koch Agrees to $35 Million Settlement in Two Environmental Cases". Safety Online. 17 January 2000. http://www.safetyonline.com/article.mvc/Koch-Agrees-to-35-million-Settlement-in-Two-E-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO.
23.↑ Pipeline Rupture, Liquid Butane Release, and Fire, Lively, Texas, August 24, 1996
24.↑ "Austin news, sports, weather, Longhorns, business". Statesman.com. http://www.statesman.com/specialreports/content/specialreports/pipelines/23pipelively3.html. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
25.↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 25.5 Loder, Asjylyn; David Evans (3 October 2011). "Koch Brothers Flout Law With Secret Iran Sales". Bloomberg Markets Magazine. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-02/koch-brothers-flout-law-getting-richer-with-secret-iran-sales.html. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
26.↑ "Koch Industries Responds to New Yorker Claims". Newsmax Media. http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/koch-industries-new-yorker/2010/08/26/id/368519. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
27.↑ Flint Hill Resources website, accessed March 11, 2011, FHR Asphalt
28.↑ 28.0 28.1 Dembicki, Geoff (March 22, 2011). "The Kochs: Oil Sands Billionaires Bankrolling US Right". The Tyee (Vancouver, B.C.). http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/03/22/KochBrothers/index.html. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
29.↑ Koch Industries website, accessed March 11, 2011, http://www.fhr.com/newsroom/contact.aspx?ID=9
30.↑ "Koch Petroleum Group Sentenced for Minnesota Pollution" (Press release). Environmental Protection Agency. 9 March 2000. http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/eae2020401d0bf098525689d00713ea5!OpenDocument. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
31.↑ "Koch Pleads Guilty to Covering up Environmental Violations at Texas Oil Refinery". justice.gov. U.S. Department of Justice. 9 April 2001. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2001/April/153enrd.htm. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
32.↑ Don Richards (22 January 2001). "DOJ Reduces Indictments Against Koch Industries". ICIS. http://www.icis.com/Articles/2001/01/22/130888/doj-reduces-indictments-against-koch-industries.html.
33.↑ US Dept of Commerce, Commerce Dept Fines Kansas Firm, June 3, 2003 press release, http://www.bis.doc.gov/news/2003/kansasfirmfined.htm
34.↑ Jessica Harper (18 November 2009). "Flint Hills is coming out of murky waters". Dakota County Tribune. http://www.thisweeklive.com/2009/11/18/flint-hills-is-coming-out-of-murky-waters/.
35.↑ "Inside EPA's Clean Air Report". InsideEPA. http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:7eiXKq7LLHkJ:www.flinthillsresources.info/upload/InsideEPA9-09Pactwithoil.pdf+Flint+Hills+Resources+epa&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjlfx6q_Ri64N7NdqA3rho-Amf6W1nzG7_PkmPqn7Z9eJiGxEsQN9ph1qqI7EjuAUdIwNaS1l1voou3gXceHm_zhgBmQidSNdEp44PfgvYdxXP_u1PTXKeTbv4SM4bGwfZZ_7S2&sig=AHIEtbQgO5KZzY5H1tGz7XGieXnNJakdqQ. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
36.↑ "Flint Hills Resources, LP Agrees to Transition Its Texas Flexible Permits to Federally Approved Clean Air Act Permits - Transition affects facilities in Corpus Christi, Port Arthur and Longview". EPA. http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/6F25BD791C4B21CB852577C400552339. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
37.↑ EPA Press Release, EPA Fines Flint Hill Resources Alaska, Dec 13 2006, accessed Aug 25 2010, http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/b0789fb70f8ff03285257029006e3880/6b191200b3ce87e2852572430062f987!OpenDocument
38.↑ Koch Fertilizer website, accessed March 11, 2011, http://www.kochfertilizer.com/
39.↑ Yasha Levine (1 September 2010). "7 Ways the Koch Bros. Benefit from Corporate Welfare". The New York Observer. http://www.observer.com/2010/daily-transom/how-libertarian-koch-bros-benefit-corporate-welfare.
40.↑ "Fertilizers". http://www.kochind.com/IndustryAreas/fertilizers.aspx.
41.↑ "Koch Industries says no word on Venezuela takeover". Reuters. 11 October 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1112262420101011.
42.↑ Koch Industries website, accessed March 11, 2011, Ranching
43.↑ "The History of Matador Ranch". Matador Ranch. http://www.matadorranch.com/matadorranchhistory.php. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
44.↑ "Lone Star Land Steward Awards Winners Announced" (Press release). Texas Parks & Wildlife. 6 May 2010. http://archive.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/text.phtml?req=20100506. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
45.↑ "EPA Honors Koch Ranch for Environmental Excellence; Award is Ranch's Fourth Major Environmental Honor in 1999" (Press release). Koch Industries. 7 June 1999. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1999_June_7/ai_54811290/. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
46.↑ Bloomberg's Exposé on Koch Industries Reveals ... What Exactly? Daniel Indiviglio
4 October 2011
47.↑ Russell Ray (20 June 2001). "Tribe Likely to Get Piece of Settlement in Osage County, Okla., Oil Squabble". Tulsa World.
48.↑ "EPA Reports Toxic Releases to Air, Water and Land in Oklahoma in 2007". Environmental Protection Agency. 2009-03-19. http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6427a6b7538955c585257359003f0230/0c43e41531a2f7848525757e00664797!OpenDocument.
49.↑ Voorhis, Dan (2010-12-16). "Fertilizer Helps Koch Grow". Wichita Eagle. http://www.kansas.com/2010/12/16/1635564/fertilizer-helps-koch-grow.html.
50.↑ "Toxic 100 Air Polluters" (Press release). March 31, 2010. http://www.peri.umass.edu/toxic_press/.
51.↑ "Koch Companies Recognized with 289 Stewardship Awards since 2009" press release, January 24, 2011.
52.↑ "Koch Industries Inc., Earns Prestigious Energy Star for Efficiencies at Wichita Complex" (Press release). Koch Industries. 17 June 2008. http://www.kochind.com/newsroom/news_releases_details.aspx?id=994. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
53.↑ "ENERGY STAR Labeled Offices in Kansas". energystar.gov. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=labeled_buildings.showMap&SEARCH_OWNER_ID=&S_CODE=KS&PROFILES=&YEAR=&BUILDING_TYPE_ID=700&SEARCH_SPP_ID=&CITY=&ZIP=&SEARCH_PROP_MANAGER_ID=&FILTER_B_ID=#. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
54.↑ "Process and Pollution Control". kochenergy.com. Koch Industries. http://kochenergy.com/EHS/processandpollutioncontrol.aspx. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
55.↑ "Performance Track Final Progress Report". epa.gov. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. May 2009. http://www.epa.gov/performancetrack/downloads/PT_ProgRprt_2009_web.pdf. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
56.↑ Heck, Josh (18 May 2011). "Red Cross Recognizes three fundraisers". Wichita Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2011/05/18/red-cross-recognizes-three-fundraisers.html. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
57.↑ 57.0 57.1 Rubin, Jennifer. "Koch responds to Bloomberg". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/koch-responds-to-bloomberg/2011/03/29/gIQA3KzNIL_blog.html. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
58.↑ "SUMMARY JUDGMENTS: Our daily legal-news aggregator for May 11, 2011" Thompson Reuters News and Insight
59.↑ Secretive Republican Donors Are Planning Ahead by Kate Zernike published October 19, 2010, New York Times
60.↑ Pulling the Wraps Off Koch Industries By LESLIE WAYNE; Published: November 20, 1994; New York Times; " Their donations reflect their belief in libertarian and free market philosophies or their personal interests."
61.↑ OpenSecrets, Summary of Koch Industries
62.↑ Koch Industries: Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine . greenpeace.org . 30 March 2010]
63.↑ 63.0 63.1 Covert Operations The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama. by Jane Mayer . newyorker.com . August 30, 2010
64.↑ Vidal, John (30 March 2010). "US oil company donated millions to climate skeptic groups, says Greenpeace". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/mar/30/us-oil-donated-millions-climate-sceptics.
65.↑ "Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine". Global Warming. Washington: Greenpeace. 2010-03-29. http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
66.↑ http://www.kochind.com/ViewPoint/lowCarbon.aspx Low Carbon Fuel Standards
67.↑ Why Koch Industries is Speaking Out, Wall Street Journal, March 1, 2011
ttp://www.ask.com/wiki/Koch_Industries
Saturday, June 9, 2012
The Future of Social Security: 12 Proposals You Should Know About
What are the pros and cons of options on the table in Washington?
You’ve paid into Social Security, and you deserve to know what changes are being proposed and how each might affect you and your family.
With more people living longer, Social Security faces increasing financial challenges. Estimates indicate the program will be able to pay full benefits for the next 20 years, but only 75 percent after that.
Here are summaries of 12 options being talked about in Washington. Each summary is accompanied by two opinions that AARP commissioned from experts whose views typically represent different sides of the issues.
(The calculations in these options are based on the 2011 Social Security Trustees’ report.)
(The calculations in these options are based on the 2011 Social Security Trustees’ report.)
Experts and policymakers in Washington are considering a broad range of proposals for reforming Medicare. Below, we present perspectives from leading experts on some of the more frequently mentioned policy options. Henry Aaron is a Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at The Brookings Institution, Stuart Butler is the Director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Policy Innovation, and Avalere Health is a leading health care policy consulting firm
In just 21 years, Social Security will be able to pay only three-fourths of its promised benefits, an outlook that guarantees debate about the future of — and the meaning of — Social Security in American life. Yet the projected shortfall is not the only challenge facing the program and those who depend on it. Changes in lifestyle, demographics and the economy are bringing insecurity to many older Americans.
See also: Social Security and older women.
Experts have put forth a number of proposals that in some combination could sustain Social Security for the long haul, while making it more helpful and fair. Here are 10 options now on the policy table in Washington:
1. Increase the cap
You make payroll tax contributions to Social Security on your earnings up to a limit ($110,100 in 2012). If you're like most workers, you earn less than the cap. Increasing the cap to $215,400 — so that 90 percent of U.S. earnings are covered — would reduce Social Security's shortfall by about 36 percent. Eliminating it altogether would end almost all of the shortfall in one stroke. Supporters say that raising the cap would be fair and that the amount would not be onerous. The main argument against such a rise is that high earners already get less of a return on contributions than lower-income workers, because benefits are progressive by design. Also, raising the earnings base would amount to a big tax hike on high earners.
You make payroll tax contributions to Social Security on your earnings up to a limit ($110,100 in 2012). If you're like most workers, you earn less than the cap. Increasing the cap to $215,400 — so that 90 percent of U.S. earnings are covered — would reduce Social Security's shortfall by about 36 percent. Eliminating it altogether would end almost all of the shortfall in one stroke. Supporters say that raising the cap would be fair and that the amount would not be onerous. The main argument against such a rise is that high earners already get less of a return on contributions than lower-income workers, because benefits are progressive by design. Also, raising the earnings base would amount to a big tax hike on high earners.
2. Raise the payroll tax rate
In recent years, wage earners have paid a Social Security tax of 6.2 percent on earnings up to the income cap, as have their employers. (Congress temporarily cut the employee share to 4.2 percent in 2011 and 2012 as a way to boost the economy.)
Raising the tax rate to 6.45 percent for both employees and employers would eliminate 22 percent of the shortfall and could be phased in. Critics voice concerns about the economic impact and say employers might respond by cutting other payroll costs, such as jobs.
Other ways to raise revenues include increasing income taxes on benefits. Taxing the money that goes into "salary reduction plans," which let you divert pretax income to health care, transit and other uses, could reduce the shortfall by 10 percent. But such a move would hit consumers who may rely on such accounts.
In recent years, wage earners have paid a Social Security tax of 6.2 percent on earnings up to the income cap, as have their employers. (Congress temporarily cut the employee share to 4.2 percent in 2011 and 2012 as a way to boost the economy.)
Raising the tax rate to 6.45 percent for both employees and employers would eliminate 22 percent of the shortfall and could be phased in. Critics voice concerns about the economic impact and say employers might respond by cutting other payroll costs, such as jobs.
Other ways to raise revenues include increasing income taxes on benefits. Taxing the money that goes into "salary reduction plans," which let you divert pretax income to health care, transit and other uses, could reduce the shortfall by 10 percent. But such a move would hit consumers who may rely on such accounts.
3. Consider women's work patterns
Women workers — single or married — tend to get lower benefits because they're paid less over the course of their careers and because they are more likely than men to take time off from paid employment for caregiving or child-rearing. One proposal would give workers credit for at least some of the time spent caregiving or child-rearing. At the same time, a non-married woman potentially gets a much smaller benefit (depending on her earnings history) than a nonworking wife because she can't rely on a higher-earning spouse for benefits. Measures addressing these issues would be gender-neutral, so they could also help some men. The cost of such a proposal would have to be offset, however, or it could increase the shortfall.
Women workers — single or married — tend to get lower benefits because they're paid less over the course of their careers and because they are more likely than men to take time off from paid employment for caregiving or child-rearing. One proposal would give workers credit for at least some of the time spent caregiving or child-rearing. At the same time, a non-married woman potentially gets a much smaller benefit (depending on her earnings history) than a nonworking wife because she can't rely on a higher-earning spouse for benefits. Measures addressing these issues would be gender-neutral, so they could also help some men. The cost of such a proposal would have to be offset, however, or it could increase the shortfall.
4. Adjust benefits
Benefit cuts are nothing to cheer about, but they would save money. They could be structured in a way that doesn't hurt current or near-retirees and low-income individuals. Any changes could be phased in after a long lead time, giving younger workers years to adjust their financial plans.
Still, reducing benefits for modest-income people could affect their standard of living in retirement. Reducing benefits for higher earners could undermine the broad public support for Social Security as a program in which everyone pays in and everyone gets benefits.
Benefit cuts are nothing to cheer about, but they would save money. They could be structured in a way that doesn't hurt current or near-retirees and low-income individuals. Any changes could be phased in after a long lead time, giving younger workers years to adjust their financial plans.
Still, reducing benefits for modest-income people could affect their standard of living in retirement. Reducing benefits for higher earners could undermine the broad public support for Social Security as a program in which everyone pays in and everyone gets benefits.
5. Set a minimum benefit
People who had low incomes during their working lives — perhaps one in five earners — now may end up with benefits that are still below the poverty line. A minimum benefit might be set at 125 percent of the poverty line, indexed to wage increases to keep it adequate over time.
6. Modify the COLA formula
Social Security benefits generally rise to keep up with the cost of living. This cost-of-living adjustment, known as the COLA, is currently based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (known as CPI-W).
One proposal would switch to a different measure, the "chained CPI," which assumes consumers alter their buying patterns if a price goes up too much. Say the price of beef soars — people may switch to chicken. The chained CPI rises about 0.3 percentage point more slowly each year than the CPI-W, meaning benefits would grow more slowly, too — about 6 percent less over the course of 20 years. Adopting a chained CPI would reduce the shortfall by about 23 percent.
Another approach would substitute a formula known as CPI-E. It takes into special account the type of spending that is more common among people 62 and older, such as medical care, which continues to rise faster than other costs. This could increase benefits, expanding the shortfall by about 16 percent.
7. Raise the full retirement age
The age at which you can get full Social Security benefits is gradually rising to 67 for people born in 1960 and later. Pushing it up even further would save money and provide an incentive for people to keep working.
A full retirement age of 68 could reduce the shortfall by about 18 percent. Raising it to 70 would close 44 percent. Such increases could be phased in, and proponents say this approach makes sense in an era of increased life expectancy. A healthy 65-year-old man, for example, is expected to live beyond 82. But not everyone has benefited equally from increases in longevity — lower-income, less educated workers have not gained as much as their more affluent, more educated counterparts. And a later full retirement age could be onerous for workers with health problems or physically demanding jobs. A related proposal — longevity indexing — would link benefits to increased life expectancy.
8. Give the oldest a boost
Americans are living longer, and the oldest often are the poorest. They may have little savings left; usually they no longer work and any pensions they have are likely eroded by inflation. A longevity bonus, for example, a 5 percent benefit increase for people above a certain age, say 85, could help them.
9. Establish private accounts
Free-market advocates have long pushed to make Social Security more of a private program, in which some of your payroll taxes would go into a personal account that would rise and fall with the financial markets. Supporters believe that stock market returns could make up for benefit cuts. You would own the assets in your personal account and could pass them on to your heirs. Personal accounts could be introduced gradually and become a choice for younger workers, while retirees and near retirees could remain in the current system. Opponents worry that they would replace a guaranteed, inflation-protected benefit for workers and, potentially, family members, with more limited protections. Private accounts only pay out the amount in the account. Also, diverting money to private accounts means additional funding could be needed to pay currently promised benefits.
The age at which you can get full Social Security benefits is gradually rising to 67 for people born in 1960 and later. Pushing it up even further would save money and provide an incentive for people to keep working.
A full retirement age of 68 could reduce the shortfall by about 18 percent. Raising it to 70 would close 44 percent. Such increases could be phased in, and proponents say this approach makes sense in an era of increased life expectancy. A healthy 65-year-old man, for example, is expected to live beyond 82. But not everyone has benefited equally from increases in longevity — lower-income, less educated workers have not gained as much as their more affluent, more educated counterparts. And a later full retirement age could be onerous for workers with health problems or physically demanding jobs. A related proposal — longevity indexing — would link benefits to increased life expectancy.
8. Give the oldest a boost
Americans are living longer, and the oldest often are the poorest. They may have little savings left; usually they no longer work and any pensions they have are likely eroded by inflation. A longevity bonus, for example, a 5 percent benefit increase for people above a certain age, say 85, could help them.
9. Establish private accounts
Free-market advocates have long pushed to make Social Security more of a private program, in which some of your payroll taxes would go into a personal account that would rise and fall with the financial markets. Supporters believe that stock market returns could make up for benefit cuts. You would own the assets in your personal account and could pass them on to your heirs. Personal accounts could be introduced gradually and become a choice for younger workers, while retirees and near retirees could remain in the current system. Opponents worry that they would replace a guaranteed, inflation-protected benefit for workers and, potentially, family members, with more limited protections. Private accounts only pay out the amount in the account. Also, diverting money to private accounts means additional funding could be needed to pay currently promised benefits.
10. Cover more workers
Not all workers take part in Social Security. The largest uncovered group is about 25 percent of state and local government employees who rely on state pension systems. Bringing new hires into Social Security would raise enough new revenue to trim about 8 percent of the long-term shortfall (though down the road, when these people claim benefits, costs would rise). State and local governments may oppose such a measure because it would divert dollars from public pensions that are already underfunded.
You may also like: How to maximize your check.
Jonathan Peterson wrote Social Security for Dummies © 2012 by AARP/John Wiley & Sons Inc. He is an executive communications director at AARP and a former correspondent at the Los Angeles Times
Not all workers take part in Social Security. The largest uncovered group is about 25 percent of state and local government employees who rely on state pension systems. Bringing new hires into Social Security would raise enough new revenue to trim about 8 percent of the long-term shortfall (though down the road, when these people claim benefits, costs would rise). State and local governments may oppose such a measure because it would divert dollars from public pensions that are already underfunded.
You may also like: How to maximize your check.
Jonathan Peterson wrote Social Security for Dummies © 2012 by AARP/John Wiley & Sons Inc. He is an executive communications director at AARP and a former correspondent at the Los Angeles Times
https://www.facebook.com/thomasplove#!/photo.php?fbid=2736199023848&set=a.2537836864918.94162.1823537282&type=1&theater
http://www.aarp.org/work/social-security/info-05-2012/future-of-social-security-proposals.html?cmp=NLC-WBLTR-MPCTRL-060812-F3-13&USEG_ID
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Theodore Truman Perry
Theodore Truman Perry followed Horace Greeley's advice and went West. With his cousin, either Loren Edwards or Loen Witherall, he sold subscriptions to Horrace Greeley's newspaper to pay expenses. Following his brother Anthony's advise, he studied law and with Loren they boarded 2 blocks from Lombard College with the widow of Lorenzo Chapin. Mary Ann Chapin was a step daughter of Lorenzo's widow and was studying Literature and Art at Lombard College. During the summer, Theodore worked on surrounding farms around Galesburg, Illinois and hoped to have his own farm some day.
Theodore and Mary Ann Chapin becamer sweethearts while they were atteding college and married an hour after she graduated on the lawn of her home near the college. Rev. Parker, the President of Lombard College married them on June 15, 1870. They moved to Girard, Kansas where Theodore had established a Real Estate office for the Frisco Rail Road and was running excursions from Illinois and Iowa in order to sell land to farmers.
They had 6 children:
Nellie Augusta Perry -Born in 1871 and died in 1871 in Girard Kansas
Roxanna Perry - Born in 1872 and died in 1872 in Girard Kansas
Minnie Izah Perry born 12/23/1873 and married Walter Lee Burkett, Dec 1910
Herbert Harvey Perry born 12/23/1873 and married Clara Ann Depuy, Dec 1907
Grace Adfelia Perry born 01/22/1879 and married Gavid Emanual Gustafson 6/15/1909
Theodore Thruman Perry -Born 2/1/1881 and died 02/1888 in Girard Kansas
Mary Ann Chapin died of pneumonia in Girard, Kansas in 1883 and in July 1885, Theodore Truman Perry married her cousin Sarah E Chapin who died Februaruy 2, 1913 in Girard, Kansas of a long illness.
In January 13, 1916 Theodore T Perry had a stroke and died within a few hours.
From Donaldson - Perry Geneology writtern by Abigail Perry Richards from Lamar, Missouri 1/15/1909 & amended by Evelyn Perry Love in 1948
Theodore and Mary Ann Chapin becamer sweethearts while they were atteding college and married an hour after she graduated on the lawn of her home near the college. Rev. Parker, the President of Lombard College married them on June 15, 1870. They moved to Girard, Kansas where Theodore had established a Real Estate office for the Frisco Rail Road and was running excursions from Illinois and Iowa in order to sell land to farmers.
They had 6 children:
Nellie Augusta Perry -Born in 1871 and died in 1871 in Girard Kansas
Roxanna Perry - Born in 1872 and died in 1872 in Girard Kansas
Minnie Izah Perry born 12/23/1873 and married Walter Lee Burkett, Dec 1910
Herbert Harvey Perry born 12/23/1873 and married Clara Ann Depuy, Dec 1907
Grace Adfelia Perry born 01/22/1879 and married Gavid Emanual Gustafson 6/15/1909
Theodore Thruman Perry -Born 2/1/1881 and died 02/1888 in Girard Kansas
Mary Ann Chapin died of pneumonia in Girard, Kansas in 1883 and in July 1885, Theodore Truman Perry married her cousin Sarah E Chapin who died Februaruy 2, 1913 in Girard, Kansas of a long illness.
In January 13, 1916 Theodore T Perry had a stroke and died within a few hours.
From Donaldson - Perry Geneology writtern by Abigail Perry Richards from Lamar, Missouri 1/15/1909 & amended by Evelyn Perry Love in 1948
The Early History of Cape Girardeau, MO:1798 to 1803
George Frederick Bollinger who came from Lincoln County, NC established a settlement from a Spanish Land Grant in 1796 at which time Louis Lormier, Spanish Commandant appears to have promised a large grant of land on the provision that he would bring additional colonolists to the district. Bollinger returned to North Carolina in 1798 and brought back about 20 families to farm the land. Lands had been established by treaty between the US and Spain from 1795 and land grants were given only with the survey expense owed. History of Southeast Missouri in recanting the immigration:
"The journey was made in wagons. The company crossed the Missouri River at St. Genevieve on the first of January 1800, and proceeded to the Whitewater along which stream the made their settlements. In this colony were Mathias Bollinger, William Bollinger, Henry Bollinger, Phillip Bollinger, Peter and Conrad Statler, Joseph Neyswanger, Peter and George Grount, John and Isaac Miller, Frederick Limbaugh, Leonard Walker, and Frederick Slinkard. All were either German or Swiss and all spoke fluent German. "
The first listing on the Millers in district land records is from a hearing before the Board of Land Commissioners appointed to adjust the claims in the Louisiana Territory. According to the testimonies of Isaac Miller (son of John Miller) George Frederick Bollinger, and Joseph Neyswanger Bollinger all were settled in Cape Girdeau County by October of 1803.
Although the rest of the community was Swiss-Germans (the Millers were friends of Hans Peter Eaker) and were of Scotch-Irish ancestory. A monument erecterd to his memory in the Millerville Cemetary lists his birth as 1763, and by the Revolutinary War, he was listed in his early twenties. Lincoln County, NC was site of one of the most decisive battles of the War at King's Mountain fought just twenty miles fropm the Miller home. A deed from 1790 lists the property belonging to the"4th Company" and listing several Millers.
John Miller's wife was Martha Clay, the third child of Edward Clay, the brother of Reverand John Clay and Madalena Trabue. She bore him twelve children, eight boys and four girls.
Millersville and the Miller Family by Helen Miller Penzel Ritgerod & Henry Ritgerod. Published in Fayetteville, AR, August 1939 with special acknowledgement to Miss Hunter Miller who began collecting data in 1926.
"The journey was made in wagons. The company crossed the Missouri River at St. Genevieve on the first of January 1800, and proceeded to the Whitewater along which stream the made their settlements. In this colony were Mathias Bollinger, William Bollinger, Henry Bollinger, Phillip Bollinger, Peter and Conrad Statler, Joseph Neyswanger, Peter and George Grount, John and Isaac Miller, Frederick Limbaugh, Leonard Walker, and Frederick Slinkard. All were either German or Swiss and all spoke fluent German. "
The first listing on the Millers in district land records is from a hearing before the Board of Land Commissioners appointed to adjust the claims in the Louisiana Territory. According to the testimonies of Isaac Miller (son of John Miller) George Frederick Bollinger, and Joseph Neyswanger Bollinger all were settled in Cape Girdeau County by October of 1803.
Although the rest of the community was Swiss-Germans (the Millers were friends of Hans Peter Eaker) and were of Scotch-Irish ancestory. A monument erecterd to his memory in the Millerville Cemetary lists his birth as 1763, and by the Revolutinary War, he was listed in his early twenties. Lincoln County, NC was site of one of the most decisive battles of the War at King's Mountain fought just twenty miles fropm the Miller home. A deed from 1790 lists the property belonging to the"4th Company" and listing several Millers.
John Miller's wife was Martha Clay, the third child of Edward Clay, the brother of Reverand John Clay and Madalena Trabue. She bore him twelve children, eight boys and four girls.
Millersville and the Miller Family by Helen Miller Penzel Ritgerod & Henry Ritgerod. Published in Fayetteville, AR, August 1939 with special acknowledgement to Miss Hunter Miller who began collecting data in 1926.
Red River Memories
In 1881, my great grandfather and my great grandmother were a young couple that
had left Missouri and moved to the northeast corner of East Texas along the
Oklahoma border. The area just south of the Red River to Lamar County would be
their new home. He was a young man, originally from Paducah, Kentucky and his
young bride of five years was Emma Miller, the daughter of one of the pioneering
families of Millersville, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. His name was James
William Wood and he, along with his mother, had been traveling westward
following the death of his father. They would make a home in Lamar County and
prosper until the Great Depression caused them to slowly fade but never wither
away. Along the way they would have joy and sorrow. A son-in-law (my
grandfather), JW Love would be Lamar County Judge in 1902 to 1906. JW Wood would
be president of the bank when it failed because of a Depression- fueled run due
to overwrought depositors. This was not,”It’s A Wonderful Life,” and no one
brought the money back. They endured because they loved each other, they were
Democrats, they believed in Justice, and their faith-supplied nourishment. JW
Wood would own a lumberyard on the very spot where Paris, Texas was incorporated
in 1844, a business long gone. I found this poem and all the love and
bittersweet memories of long ago cemented this story.
The Blue-grass & Show Me States by Emma Miller Wood(On the 59th Wedding Anniversary Feb. 10, 1935)
You were born in 1852 in Kentucky, the Blue-grass state
And I was born in Missouri, the Show Me State in 1858:
Many years since then have come and gone.
Life’s pathway strew with flowers and thorn.
More than fifty years ago, we came to the Lone Star State
In 1881, we will long remember the date.
We were young and happy and gay,
But long since my hair has turned to grey,
For years have come and years must go,
And yours is soft like silk and white as snow.
We have children six with devotion sweet,
They greet us with smiles whenever we meet,
Seventeen grand-children affectionate and kind,
And one great granddaughter, sweet and fine.
Five earthly mounds have brought many tears,
In the days of these fifty-nine years.
All though the future years, as we roam
And one by one we are gathered home.
May no word or thought or deed
Cause any aching heart to bleed,
Of kindred, stranger, or of friends,
By any one of us ‘till life’s journey ends.
In July of 2002, my father passed away from Alzheimer’s. A terrible disease that robs someone of everything that makes one human. The ability to walk, talk, swallow, and eventually live had left him. Going through the mementos and letters in an old trunk, I found my great-grandmothers’ poem and began to research their story. My fathers last words to me from his hospital bed were,” Tom, let’s go home, “ and so, by writing this story, I did. For as my father always said,” In life, you take the bitter with the sweet. “
The Blue-grass & Show Me States by Emma Miller Wood(On the 59th Wedding Anniversary Feb. 10, 1935)
You were born in 1852 in Kentucky, the Blue-grass state
And I was born in Missouri, the Show Me State in 1858:
Many years since then have come and gone.
Life’s pathway strew with flowers and thorn.
More than fifty years ago, we came to the Lone Star State
In 1881, we will long remember the date.
We were young and happy and gay,
But long since my hair has turned to grey,
For years have come and years must go,
And yours is soft like silk and white as snow.
We have children six with devotion sweet,
They greet us with smiles whenever we meet,
Seventeen grand-children affectionate and kind,
And one great granddaughter, sweet and fine.
Five earthly mounds have brought many tears,
In the days of these fifty-nine years.
All though the future years, as we roam
And one by one we are gathered home.
May no word or thought or deed
Cause any aching heart to bleed,
Of kindred, stranger, or of friends,
By any one of us ‘till life’s journey ends.
In July of 2002, my father passed away from Alzheimer’s. A terrible disease that robs someone of everything that makes one human. The ability to walk, talk, swallow, and eventually live had left him. Going through the mementos and letters in an old trunk, I found my great-grandmothers’ poem and began to research their story. My fathers last words to me from his hospital bed were,” Tom, let’s go home, “ and so, by writing this story, I did. For as my father always said,” In life, you take the bitter with the sweet. “
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