Political Corruption

“In 2001, Chevron acquired Texaco and became the second largest oil company in the United States.  The company produces nearly 3 million barrels of oil a day and has operations in 120 countries.  In addition to oil, Chevron also owns a chemicals subsidiary and holds a stake in Dynegy, a power company.  Chevron lobbies on all energy issues, including the proposal to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.  After never before spending $10 million on federal lobbying efforts...Read Full Story

Koch (pronounced like “Coke”) Industries is a private corporate conglomerate controlled by two brothers – Charles G. and David H. Koch – each of whom own 42% of the company.  Diversfied in chemicals and refining along with consumer products and commodity trading, the company’s subsidiaries and brands include many household names such as Georgia-Pacific (Dixie Cups and Tableware) and Invista (Stainmaster Carpets).  With over 70,000 employees and over $100 billion in annual revenues, Forbes...Read Full Story

Part 1 of 4: National Security Inc. “The evolution of General Dynamics was based on one simple strategy:  Follow the money.  The company embraced the emerging intelligence-driven style of warfare.  It developed small-target identification systems and equipment that could intercept an insurgent’s cellphone and laptop communications.  It found ways to sort the billions of data points collected by intelligence agencies into piles of information that a single person could analyze.  It also began...Read Full Story

Exxon Mobil Corporation is the the world’s largest publicly traded international oil and gas company.  It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil monopoly and – along with BP, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, and Total S.A. – one of the five global oil and gas ‘supermajors’. “Over the past two years [2009-2010], ExxonMobil reported $9.91 billion in pretax U.S. profits.  But it enjoyed so many tax subsidies that its federal income tax bill was only $39 million – a tax rate of...Read Full Story

“Control the oil and you’ll control the nations; control the food and you’ll control the people.” – Henry Kissinger Part 1 of 5: Cargill: A Threat to Food and Farming “How does the largest privately owned company in the U.S. impact you?  Plenty.  You may not realize how much you buy at the grocery store has been imprinted by the agribusiness giant Cargill, but Cargill ingredients are everywhere in your supermarket. There isn’t any Cargill-brand food but its hidden food products are probably...Read Full Story