He has written about having sex with an underage girl, and claims he once threatened to kill a pregnant girlfriend unless she had an abortion. He claims to hate marijuana, but recommends heroin as the cure for suburban boredom. He mocks “Tea Baggers” and scorns “hippies.” His Russian newspaper was shuttered after a government crackdown, and he’s a regular on The Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC.

Meet Mark Ames, the provocateur who created the Koch brothers conspiracy theory.

Long before John Podesta’s Center for American Progress began targeting the Koch brothers for their supposed role in the Tea Party, and two years before the Kochs were cast as the villains of public sector union protests in Wisconsin, Ames had already shaped the Koch brothers meme.

Ames and co-author Yasha Levine launched the conspiracy theory–and its twin themes of drug abuse and gay sex–with a blog post (now removed) at Playboy.com in February 2009, entitled: “Backstabber: Is Rick Santelli High on Koch?” They published almost exactly the same article at their own site, exiledonline.com, as “Exposing the Rightwing PR Machine: Is CNBC’s Rick Santelli Sucking Koch?”

Ames and Levine alleged that Santelli’s famous “rant heard around the world” that inspired the Tea Party movement “was not at all spontaneous as his alleged fans claim, but rather it was a carefully-planned trigger” for an “anti-Obama campaign.” That campaign, they claimed, had been planned for months before the 2008 election, and funded by “the Koch family, the multibilllionaire owners of the largest private corporation in America, and funders of scores of rightwing thinktanks and advocacy groups.”

Ames would later explain that he had been inspired to write about the Kochs by his experiences in post-Soviet Moscow, when he edited a sensational newspaper, the eXile–described last year by Vanity Fair as “arguably the most abusive, defamatory, un-evenhanded, and crassest publication in Russia” before it closed in 2008. (more…)

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Eric O’Keefe to discuss the Health Care Compact, Medicaid and Medicare reform and the financial danger posed by unfunded liabilities.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Why Health Care Compact could be solution to Medicaid crisis
Eric O’Keefe and Getting Rid Of Obamacare With The Health Care Compact
HealthCareCompact.org
The Sam Adams Alliance

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There are—of course—the Grammys, the Emmys, and the Oscars, but the Sammies? You won’t see Kanye, Rosie, or Bragelina at this year’s Sammies, rather  you’ll see Omid Malekan, Rob Port, and Michelle Minton—all finalists for what our keynote speaker, John Stossel, describes as “an award that matters.”

No one knows the Sammies better than Andrew Breitbart, who rallied the crowd with his keynote address last year, and returns next Friday, April 8th as a judge and presenter.

Andrew Breitbart with Sammie winner John Papola and John’s wife Lisa at the 2010 Sammies reception.

But while those other awards shows are by the industry and for the industry, the Sammies are a breath of fresh air compared to those musty rooms of punch-drunk self-congratulators. The Sammies recognizes citizens who effectively stand up in defense of freedom—the very idea that makes Hollywood cringe and the rest of those awards shows even possible.

This year the Sammies is “redrawing the lines”—better yet, the Sammies is honoring those who redrew the lines on the American political landscape in 2010. These great Americans erased the “Rs” and the “Ds,” challenged the traditional left-right trap, and took on the political establishment who has been running the show for too long.

In the mold of other awards shows, the Sammies offers prizes in several categories, including the “Watchdog,” the “Reformer,” and the “Modern Day Sam Adams.” Among the finalists this year is Tim Eyman who successfully used initiatives in Washington to challenge tax increases and Toby Marie Walker whose Tea Party propelled her from local grassroots activist to national pundit.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Anne Sorock discusses the Sam Adams Alliance study on the Wisconsin union protesters. Then Pejman Yousefzadeh talks about the brutal battle between Jewish settlers and Palestinian terrorists.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Madison Unwrapped: Reading the Union Label
Tea Parties and the Political Establishment
Buy Tickets to the Sammies
Coffee & Markets: Wisconsin Assemblywoman Michelle Litjens Discusses Union Protests
Insiders Sharply Split On Influence Of Unions In U.S. Life And Politics
Are Israeli Settlers Human?

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Anne Sorock from the Sam Adams Alliance to discuss the Reagan legacy among America’s youth, then Pejman Yousefzadeh talks about Andrew Sullivan.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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The Enduring Appeal of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan Legacy Research
Answer This Andrew Sullivan
Daily Beast hires Trig Truther
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On today’s Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Anne Sorock of the Sam Adams Alliance to discuss their in-depth study of the Tea Party movement, their successes and failures in the 2010 election and how they may influence governing in this upcoming Congress.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. You can find our iTunes feed at CoffeeandMarkets.com. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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Veterans Day reminds us we owe more than just parades to the 22 million who served
Which Tea Party Candidates Won?
Sam Adams Alliance’s Research on the Tea Party Movement
Nominations for the 2011 Sammies Awards
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“The Early Adopters” Report uncovers that most oppose a third party, many are new to politics

CHICAGO, —  A new study released today reveals that Tea Party activists are motivated by feelings of responsibility to future generations and belief in America’s founding principles, but still struggle with questions of leadership and identity. The study conducted by Sam Adams Alliance, The Early Adopters: Reading the Tea Leaves, also reveals that Tea Party activists are a diverse group trying – often for the first time – to change the political landscape by holding elected officials more accountable. The results of the full report can be found at www.activistinsightsreport.com.

The Sam Adams report offers the first-ever insights into the Tea Party movement that include a survey sample made up entirely of recognized Tea Party activists.

“A lot of surveys have focused on the Tea Party movement, but they’ve been about what others think of them, and don’t reveal the motives of actual Tea Partiers,” said Sam Adams Alliance chairman Eric O’Keefe. “We decided to learn what the Tea Party leaders are up to the old fashioned way: We asked them.”

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