Want To Boycott Koch Brothers' Products While Shopping? There's An App For That Soon

http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2012/06/18/microsoft-programmer-turned-democrat-politician-plans-anti-koch-brothers-smartphone-app/

Clare O'Connor 6/18/2012

There’s a good chance billionaire industrialists and liberal whipping boys Charles and David Koch are making money off your weekly shopping cart.

If you’ve ever bought Brawny paper towels, Angel Soft toilet paper or Dixie cups, you’ve contributed cash to Georgia-Pacific, a subsidiary of Koch Industries.

There’s a good chance billionaire industrialists and liberal whipping boys Charles and David Koch are making money off your weekly shopping cart.

If you’ve ever bought Brawny paper towels, Angel Soft toilet paper or Dixie cups, you’ve contributed cash to Georgia-Pacific, a subsidiary of Koch Industries.

You didn’t know that, did you? Neither did Darcy Burner, a Democrat running for Washington state’s 1st Congressional District seat — but once she learned how many household products are manufactured by the conservative billionaires’ companies, she decided to take action.

“Our democracy has been bought and sold by people like the Kochs,” Burner said, citing the Citizens United ruling that allows tax exempt nonprofits like Americans for Prosperity, founded by David Koch, to donate anonymously in unlimited amounts to candidates and causes. “When I’m out talking to voters, they say they want a way to take action.”

At her recent Netroots Nation keynote address, Burner pitched her plan of action to an audience of progressive bloggers: a smartphone app allowing shoppers to swipe bar codes to check whether the Kochs, or other right-wing supporters, are behind a product on the shelves.

Harvard computer science grad Burner has some experience with all things tech herself: she spent years as a programmer at Microsoft and Lotus before entering politics. Her 2012 Congressional bid will mark her third attempt to represent a swath of suburban Seattle popular with fellow techies.

She put her expertise to use designing a mock interface for the app (above, right). Now she’s just waiting on the right team to build the back end.

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