Some independent oil people pay great attention to the markets, interest rates, overhead.... Frank Phillips is perhaps the best example of this since before he was in the oil business he was a Banker.

And Frank's brother Waite was the total opposite. Waite looked for oil for the fun of it and Frank even accused him of hitting oil just to make Frank look bad. Waite built massive homes, bought massive ranches, built one of the best golf courses in the world at the time (Southern Hills in Tulsa) and gave away money as fast as he could make it. To Waite it all came down to he was making about $50,000 a day during the 1920's and 30's so why should he sweat the small stuff?

He gave his 72 room home to the city of Tulsa along with his art collection and 127,000 acres of his New Mexico ranch to the Boy Scouts. After all, you can't take it with you.

Maybe the Koch's think they are being smart or maybe they want power. Who knows. Waite's opinion on both was who needs 'em if you have a ton of cash coming in every day?

Maybe you can't take it with you but you can certainly use it to buy yourself immortality. The next best thing.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

And that makes you call them "The Voice Of Reason"? Still sounds like "The Voice That Is Similar to Mine".

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

The rats are abandoning ship....

__________________
On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

Simple answer to the Koch Brothers . . . follow the money.

"The Exam" commercial featuring creepy Uncle Sam in woman's ob/gyn visit . . . produced by conservative group titled Generation Opportunity . . . which gets a lot of funding from . . . yeah, you know.

Or anyone, ESPECIALLY when they tell you how much they care about you. We train dogs using the principle NILIF. Something we should learn too.

Just another advertisement to sway people.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Advertising's premise is to sell you sh7t and call it toothpaste so you will buy it.

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

And it works because people are gullible and foolish enough. Why was Hitler able to do what he did? Because he was a master orator and could sway others, many others. Fools being parted from their money is pretty much the order of things.

My thought is that people are generally wanting to believe that someone or something cares for them so they latch onto it, be it religion, some wonderful speech that moves them, etc, etc. As I have always said, people care about you to the extent that it is in their interest. While we have an interest in each other, we are BFF. When that changes, well.....

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Advertising at its finest:

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

My rich guys spend their money to help people and they love their country.

Your rich guys are enslaving the people and subverting America.

Rich people are interested their bottom line, patriotism is for suckers.

__________________
1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

Who isn't interested in their bottom line? Rich, poor or in between, it is all about their bottom line. Why single out the rich? Everyone has an agenda and takes payment in different currencies but they still take payment.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

I understand your perspective.

I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. --- bmg

I don't know the Koch brothers, but I have had business dealings with Koch. They are like every independent oil business person I have ever dealt with: They don't trust anyone and think they are smart because they are lucky.

And the worst of the lot are those that came into the money through their father. The Koch's old man was sharp and always on the lookout for a way to spread the wealth around. Not because he was a Robin Hood or anything but because he thought only an idiot would put all their eggs in one basket. As H. L. Hunt once said: Money is like manure. It only works if you spread it around.

So Hunt spread it and so did daddy Koch. H. L. Hunt spent millions on crackpot theories of how to make the world a better place, but somehow the better place was a better place for him and not really anyone else.

When H. L.'s sons took over the family business they set themselves up as the smartest people in the room and everyone fleeced them without mercy. The Koch's are learning an expensive lesson: No one gives a hoot about what they think, but if they keep the cash flowing there are folks out there that will tell them they are the saviors of the free world.

Sid Richardson (if you don't know who that is then do a wiki search) took a different approach. He left almost every dime to his foundation which spent the money on the Boy Scouts and cultural museums. He left his company to his nephews, now known as the Bass Brothers, who he knew would work hard to earn what they made and not spend everything trying to impress everyone with how smart they are. I was told once that Sid took a lesson from King Lear and apparently it paid off.

There is a saying in the Old South for the situation the Koch's find themselves in: They punched the tar baby. Now they can't get free no matter how hard they try.

Romans 1:22 is an apt verse for their situation.