You know, we've been at this RaisingKaine thing for 8 months now, and we've collected a whole bunch of great material on Jerry Kilgore. I was thinking that it might be a good idea to condense all the reasons NOT to vote for Jerry Kilgore into an easy-to-read "Top 25" list. But then I thought, that's too many in one shot. So, instead, I've started listing a reason per day, counting down -- David Letterman style - to #1 in early October. Anyway, here's reason #5!5) Kilgore has also received a significant chunk of change from Kansas-based Koch Industries. According to Forbes Magazine ? no left wing rag, that?s for sure ? in late September 2000, ?a federal grand jury indicted Wichita, Kans.-based Koch Industries and four of its employees of 97 felony counts?accused of covering up the emission of a cancer-linked chemical called benzene from its Corpus Christi, Tex., refinery.? Interestingly, according to the Center for Public Integrity, ?just before the lawsuit went to trial? the Justice Department abruptly settled the case." In other words, Koch?s modus operandus is to commit crimes but then to evade serious punishment by ?settling? (i.e., paying people off) on extremely lenient terms. Of course, Koch is aided in this strategy by its ?friends? in high places, to whom they kindly give hundreds of thousands of dollars out of the goodness of their (corporate) hearts.
Now, another ?friendly? politician, Virginia?s own Jerry Kilgore, is receiving large sums of money ($35,500 so far) from Kansas-based Koch. The question is, why? What does Koch want from Jerry Kilgore? Or are they simply giving him wads of money because of altruism?