Kochs Fund $5.6 Million Ad Campaign in Ohio

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Billionaires Charles [7] and David Koch [8] of Koch Industries [9] are funneling $5.6 million through the astroturf [10] group FreedomWorks [11] for an Ohio TV ad campaign starting March 18, 2011 that continues the attack on labor unions that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker [12] started in February. FreedomWorks [11], a non-profit group heavily involved with organizing the Tea Party [13], does not disclose its corporate donors. The 30-second TV ad focuses on Ohio, but features discredited Fox News [14] footage taken of an out-of-state protest [15], inserted in the ad order to depict Wisconsin union protesters as being aggressive. The ad blames unions for what it claims is a debt "crisis" in Ohio. It says, "We won in Wisconsin, but the fight must go on," and urges viewers to call a phone number to "Thank Governor Kasich for leading the fight against Union corruption in Ohio."The ad doesn't mention that a Wisconsin judge temporarily blocked implementation of Governor Walker's anti-union bill over a potential violation of open meetings laws incurred in the way the highly-contentious bill was pushed through Wisconsin's legislature.