Republican elected leaders found they no longer had the power to negotiate or make a deal on the party s behalf. They also did not seem to realize that this monster is extremely wealthy and very, very powerful. And it is taking control: The RNC is now openly arguing - that the Kochs political operation is trying to control the Republican Party s master voter file, and to gain influence over - some even say control of - the GOP.

A fight over education in Nashville might come your way next: It's a proxy for dangerous right-wing education ideas. "We know we need to do something about students who are not achieving in our schools." That anxious appeal - along with its many variations - has become the refrain now firmly embedded in speeches and opinion columns about American public education.

Well that took absolutely no time at all. A coalition of conservative groups lead by the Koch-affiliated American Energy Alliance (and including the Koch-affiliated Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-affiliated Competitive Enterprise Institute, among others) are showing up in force against renewable energy, urging congressional Republicans to allow a key wind energy tax credit to expire. Wind power's Achilles heel, for the time being, is that it's not yet sustainable on its own - without tax credits, it collapses. According to the American Wind Energy Association, capacity and construction drop a full 84 percent when the wind production tax credit (PTC) isn't available.

In Florida, the Koch-backed Americans For Prosperity and the state Republican party failed to get rid of three state Supreme Court justices, who they argued were "extreme" and "activist" in their rulings. One decision that the right didn t particularly like involved the state s attempt to block the Affordable Care Act, which the judges ruled against.