# The Koch Bros. hit a new low -- killing a rapid-bus line in Nashville just because **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 1, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112 "2014-04-01T20:07:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/61 "2014-04-02T20:49:59Z")
> [@splatterpunk](#): > > Uh huh. “I already provided a link/copypasta dump about this topic without adding any substantive comment. Here it is… Here’s another…” > > Christ. Get a life. This is Buttmunch Gluttons life. He spends all day scouring the internet for articles he knows the majority of the dope is going to agree with, because at the dope all conservatives are evil, and then in joyfull glee he comes running back here and starts an OP with nothing but a link and “Look at the poopyheads! Look at the poopyheads!” Then when other tards come in and agree with him that indeed conservatives are poopyheads he furiously masturbates while crying and proclaiming to the heavens, “They like me. They really do like me. I am somebody. See dad I’m not a worthless piece of shit who will never amount to anything besides being a jizz recipient for homeless drugged out pedophiles.” > [@Lobohan](#): > > To be fair, your typical post is, “Another _Conservatives are Evil_, circlejerk.” Yeah, Oak, stop posting the truth. The truth is annoying. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/62 "2014-04-02T21:00:08Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > GIGO: You keep referring to “good causes” No where is anyone arguing about the good causes of the Koch brothers. Catch up. You have shown\*\* no evidence \*\*about Charles and David Koch’s desire to teach your kids about creationism. :rolleyes: Not when one considers what “School Choice Week”, that Americans For Prosperity was a part of, proposes. It shows that you are indeed an ignorant about what they are attempting to do. BTW there is another option here: that the Koch’s are ignorant of what their subordinates are doing. Not a good good excuse when one considers how many articles and protesters told them before to stop supporting groups that promote pseudoscience and ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/63 "2014-04-02T21:03:59Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > This is Buttmunch Gluttons life. > > He spends all day scouring the internet for articles he knows the majority of the dope is going to agree with, because at the dope all conservatives are evil, and then in joyfull glee he comes running back here and starts an OP with nothing but a link and “Look at the poopyheads! Look at the poopyheads!” > > Then when other tards come in and agree with him that indeed conservatives are poopyheads he furiously masturbates while crying and proclaiming to the heavens, “They like me. They really do like me. I am somebody. See dad I’m not a worthless piece of shit who will never amount to anything besides being a jizz recipient for homeless drugged out pedophiles.” What? Smurfette told you no so you are angry for not getting any? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/64 "2014-04-02T22:05:17Z")
Back on track (yeah, foolish me!) for a moment, the reason AFP and people like the Kochs would be involved in scuttling Nashville mass transit is suggested right in the OP. First, mass transit isn’t good for business if your business is profligate consumption of resources. So stopping it wherever possible makes good business sense. Keeping the scruffy masses in their place is merely a secondary benefit that brings kneejerk support from a large element of the base. I don’t know who Ogles is, but this quote from the OP > [@](#): > > “With supermajorities in both houses,” [Ogles] said, “Tennessee is a great state to pass model legislation that can be leveraged in other states.” explains it quite well. Get something horribly restrictive of mass transit planning passed in some compliant state. Then use the “See? Everybody else knows this is a good idea!” bandwagon argument to rationalize it elsewhere. It won’t stop all mass transit, of course, but one takes ones opportunities as one finds them and does what one can. Every little bit helps. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/65 "2014-04-02T23:47:10Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Wrong. [Three out of four](http://www.nashvillemta.org/pdf/fn57.pdf) Nashvillians support it. But groups like ALEC, AFP and Tea Party groups control both houses of the legislature. So every time Nashville tries to step into the 21st century, the dickheads at the state house stomp them down. That poll was just a general poll about BRT in general, not about the specific system under consideration in Nashville at this time. The devil is frequently in the details, as indicated in the Salon article linked in the OP. Beyond that, the legislature is a state body and is responsive to a lot of people outside of Nashville. Apparently, a big part of the opposition was from state people outside the city who objected to that much state (& federal) money going to Nashville. (See the quote [here](http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2014/03/31/koch-brothers-group-works-stop-nashville-amp/7100469/).) ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/66 "2014-04-03T00:27:42Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > To be fair, your typical post is, “Another _Conservatives are Evil_, circlejerk.” Bullshit. Most of my posts aren’t even in political threads. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/67 "2014-04-03T00:30:33Z")
So, Americans for Prosperity isn’t controlled by the Koch Brothers? Have they adopted a position that disfavored the Koch Brothers, in any way, at any time? Figure that’s just a coincidence? You know the expression, he that pays the piper owns his ass, or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/68 "2014-04-03T01:14:30Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Bullshit. Most of my posts aren’t even in political threads. That’s fair. How about _many of your posts in political threads_? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/69 "2014-04-03T01:14:46Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Leaper: Considering that AFP is not controlled by the Koch’s . . . You really are an idiot, aren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/70 "2014-04-03T01:18:32Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Beyond that, the legislature is a state body and is responsive to a lot of people outside of Nashville. Apparently, a big part of the opposition was from state people outside the city who objected to that much state (& federal) money going to Nashville. (See the quote [here](http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2014/03/31/koch-brothers-group-works-stop-nashville-amp/7100469/).) From the article linked in the OP: > [@](#): > > The Amp is a 7-mile-long proposed Bus Rapid Transit project connecting East and West Nashville. It is essentially Nashville’s first major mass transit project, **which is unsurprising considering that the state of Tennessee is never going to fund transit projects, leaving the city to look to the feds for all project funding.** At its best, Bus Rapid Transit is an affordable and effective alternative to expensive rail mass transit. It’s cheaper to build than light rail, and if implemented effectively it’s much faster and more efficient than traditional bus service. In cities with dire mass transit needs but without the funding or political support for new rail projects, BRT can be a great alternative. In order for it to be effective, it requires dedicated bus lanes and traffic signal priority. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/71 "2014-04-03T01:25:12Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > BG rarely contributes any original thought. First time I’ve **ever** been told that here or IRL. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/72 "2014-04-03T03:36:09Z")
Consider the source. **Oakminster** _never_ contributes any original thought to political threads. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/73 "2014-04-03T04:15:31Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > “[Railroads] would only encourage the common people to move about needlessly." > > Lord Wellington. Had some sort of beef with railroads. > > [Yahoo Search - Web Search](https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091205003117AASse4U) Whilst over in Prussia, the Great General Staff was beginning to **[think](https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=14539)** long-term in the _1830s_. Prussian observers were sent in 1826 to **[examine](http://www.zum.de/whkmla/sp/0910/csj/csj1.html)** Britain’s new Iron Horse. Of course they didn’t have the Koch Bros to dissuade them. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/74 "2014-04-03T04:36:03Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > First time I’ve **ever** been told that here or IRL. I told the Emperor his whole ass was hanging out, too. > [@dropzone](#): > > Consider the source. **Oakminster** _never_ contributes any original thought to political threads. Up yours, Shit-for-Brains. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/75 "2014-04-03T13:47:38Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > That’s fair. How about _many of your posts in political threads_? Sadly, that is an appropriate thing to post in most political threads on the SDMB these days. Most of them really are content free circle jerks just like this one. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/76 "2014-04-03T13:48:41Z")
[Charles Koch: I’m Fighting to Restore a Free Society](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303978304579475860515021286?mod=hp_opinion&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303978304579475860515021286.html%3Fmod%3Dhp_opinion). Looks like one Koch brother wrote an op-ed in the WSJ yesterday. Interesting stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/77 "2014-04-03T14:12:01Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > [Charles Koch: I’m Fighting to Restore a Free Society](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303978304579475860515021286?mod=hp_opinion&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303978304579475860515021286.html%3Fmod%3Dhp_opinion). > > Looks like one Koch brother wrote an op-ed in the WSJ yesterday. Interesting stuff. That’s right-The Koch Brothers are not interfering in local politics…and here is why they feel justified in doing it. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/78 "2014-04-03T14:38:02Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That’s right-The Koch Brothers are not interfering in local politics…and here is why they feel justified in doing it. :dubious: Are you confusing me with another poster? My only two posts to this thread are right above yours and I haven’t said anything resembling your strawman there. Try and pay attention. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/79 "2014-04-03T14:56:37Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > [Charles Koch: I’m Fighting to Restore a Free Society](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303978304579475860515021286?mod=hp_opinion&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303978304579475860515021286.html%3Fmod%3Dhp_opinion). > > Looks like one Koch brother wrote an op-ed in the WSJ yesterday. Interesting stuff. Interesting in the sense that I’m interested also on how the mind of the ones paying for the propaganda works. Not impressed at all, as I pointed before Koch can do a lot of good but that does not excuse nor denies what the critics are reporting. You are only looking there at ways to excuse reprehensible behavior from the paid minions. > **[Beyond U.S., Climate Politics Stir Parallel Battles | FRONTLINE](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/beyond-u-s-climate-politics-stir-parallel-battles/)** > > A bruising fight over cap-and-trade legislation in Australia stands as a reminder that despite broad scientific consensus on global warming, an unsettled political debate over the issue is not unique to the U.S. > [@](#): > > That divide has contributed to a standoff over climate policy, as well as ongoing feuds between scientists and the government of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In May, for example, the nation’s environment minister accused several environmental groups of money laundering and influence peddling in an effort to obstruct energy exploration in Alberta’s oil sands. Harper — who has said a carbon tax would “screw everybody” — has also trimmed spending on research and technology, leading scientists to accuse the government of “a systemic attack on science” during protests in front of the nation’s parliament this past summer. **Meantime “a few hundred” elected leaders have signed onto a “no climate tax pledge” from Americans for Prosperity, the group’s president, Tim Phillips, told FRONTLINE.** ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112/80 "2014-04-03T15:21:44Z")
Is anyone who opposes a climate tax reprehensible? Are you able to accept someone having a different political opinion from you without thinking they’re evil. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-koch-bros-hit-a-new-low-killing-a-rapid-bus-line-in-nashville-just-because/685112.md?page=5)