Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Arkansas Politics Koch lobbyist Teresa Oelke: hypocrite of the day
Posted by Max Brantley on Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 4:05 PM
- Americans for Prosperity
Do as I sayWe did some web-surfing this week on Teresa Oelke, the Arkansas director of Americans for Prosperity, the organization funded by the billionaire Koch brothers to advocate their low-tax, low-regulation gospel through Tea Party organizing. She’s one of at least three full-time workers for the Kochs in Arkansas now.
In the 2010 election, she ginned a steady stream of news releases against Democratic candidates for not opposing the Obama stimulus package. Typical Oelke quote: “It costs over $280,000 to create one stimulus job.”
Now a little more background on Mrs. Oelke, a Rogers resident. She’s the daughter of the founder of Crossland Construction Company, based in Columbus, Kan. She has identified herself in times past as an executive of the company. Her husband Tim is a vice president of the company.
Recent Crossland Construction work according to a cursory web search? A $3.75 million contract to build a fish hatchery in Neosho, Mo., with — yes! — Obama stimulus dollars. There’s also a $3.8 million elementary school in Fort Smith with — correct! — Obama stimulus dollars. In Oklahoma, a $2 million contract with — you guessed it, stimulus money! — for a health center. There’s more, but you get the idea. Stimulating.
We called Oelke to talk, as she likes to do, about what the government is doing with your tax dollars. So far, no return call.
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