Real Koch Facts

On Its 5th Birthday, More Important Than Ever To Protect Dodd-Frank

July 21, 2015

Eyes on their profit margins, the Koch brothers have worked tirelessly against Dodd-Frank regulations — first pushing to stop their implementation and later lobbying to stymie its protections. Today marks Dodd-Frank’s fifth birthday, but the Kochs have yet to be deterred from their quest against this important Wall Street reform.

According to the Center for Public Integrity, the Kochs and their lobbyists “worked to favorably shape the bill, and have not stopped working since it was passed.” The Huffington Post reports that Charles and David “have assisted big banks in the lobbying blitz against Wall Street reform for years.”

As we’ve previously reported, it’s easy enough to figure out the reason behind the Kochs’ opposition: the brothers have made an uncounted amount over the years by trading in energy and other commodities on Wall Street. But Dodd-Frank clamps down on the speculative trading that can […]

With Liberty And Justice For All Koch Cronies, Especially Scott Walker

July 16, 2015

Conservative groups in Wisconsin really got all $7.8 million of their money’s worth with today’s ruling in the Scott Walker probe. All four of the Wisconsin Supreme Court justices who voted in favor of Walker, thereby ending the John Doe investigation into Walker’s recall campaign, received millions of dollars from Koch brothers-connected groups that were also being investigated. Wisconsin Club for Growth donated $2.76 million and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce spent $5.56 million to buy favor, culminating in today’s vote. The final vote was 4-2.

Both John Doe investigations threaten to wreak havoc on Walker’s campaign — John Doe 1 resulted in six convictions over wrongdoing in Walker’s Milwaukee County Executive office and John Doe 2 was mired in shady backroom deals and potential illegal coordination. The bipartisan prosecutors even asked for the four bought-and-paid-for judges to recuse themselves, but none did. For more from American Bridge on Walker’s investigations, click here.

Walker has already had […]

The Kochshank Redemption

July 16, 2015

Bridge Project today released a new report, “The Kochs’ Criminal Justice Pump-Fake,” highlighting the hypocrisy of the Koch brothers’ sham push to reform the criminal justice system and their secret, profit-driven motives.

It all started in the ’90s: “The Kochs’ ‘come to Jesus’ moment on criminal justice reform came back in the 1990s, when a handful of their employees at a Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery were indicted for violating the Clean Air Act and other crimes,” according to Yahoo News.

Yes, you read that correctly. The Kochs began “championing” criminal justice reform only after Koch employees were charged on 97 counts of environmental crimes.

For all their professed concerns about reforming the criminal justice system, the Kochs don’t really care — not about the impacted families and individuals, anyway — their only concern is their bottom line. The Kochs’ criminal justice charade is just that — a public relations scam.

Need […]

Koch Industries’ History Of Selling Millions Worth Of Oil Equipment To Iran

July 14, 2015

One after another the Republican presidential candidates have come out condemning the Obama administration’s historic deal with Iran today. But two of the GOP field’s top backers might not agree with them.

In a damning report, Bloomberg digs in to the Koch brothers’ business engagements with Iran. Koch Industries flouted laws put into place in 1995 by President Clinton that barred U.S.-Iran trading and sold petrochemical equipment to the Middle Eastern country.

According to Bloomberg,

A Bloomberg Markets investigation has found that Koch Industries — in addition to being involved in improper payments to win business in Africa, India and the Middle East — has sold millions of dollars of petrochemical equipment to Iran, a country the U.S. identifies as a sponsor of global terrorism.
…
The company’s products helped build a methanol plant for Zagros Petrochemical Co., a unit of Iran’s state-owned National Iranian Petrochemical Co., the documents show. The facility, in the coastal city of Bandar Assaluyeh, is […]

NOT BREAKING: Area Koch Brothers Mouthpiece To Give Speech Tonight

July 10, 2015

If there was any doubt what constituency is most important to Marco Rubio, tune into his speech at “FreedomFest” in Las Vegas tonight. What you’ll hear is a carefully crafted argument to appeal to two men: Charles and David Koch.

It’s no secret the Koch primary is on. And for the five candidates who made the shortlist, winning that contest means a faithful allegiance to their “libertarian” causes.

For example, just a few days ago Rubio called higher education “a cartel.” That little gem mimics a Koch front group’s website trying to convince younger Americans that more student debt and a deregulated higher education system will somehow improve their futures.

Wondering what other acts Rubio will do in his Vegas Koch show? The same tired policies that help billionaires like the Kochs cloaked in grandiose language of a “New American Century.” In addition to calling education “a cartel,” other items on the Koch agenda that Rubio […]

Charles Koch Reveals Coordinated Funding Effort

July 9, 2015

Seven months ago reports surfaced that Koch Industries planned to spend almost $1 billion on the 2016 election. Now in the latest company newsletter, Charles Koch discloses how that money will be spread across the Koch Network and its allies according to the Wichita Business Journal. While Charles may think his latest newsletter will divert attacks on their immeasurable political spending, he’s actually revealed that the Kochs’ goals will be achieved by coordinated spending efforts across their political, advocacy, policy, and education efforts. Charles says the Kochs will channel about $300 million directly towards political spending and the rest is for “efforts designed to change policies and promote a culture of freedom in the United States,” according to the newsletter. But the claim that the other spending is solely charitable or unmotivated by their bottom line is an outright lie.

The money they fuel into “other initiatives” and […]

In The Shadows: Kochs’ Hypocritical Attacks On Solar Power

July 7, 2015

Today, the Obama administration is rolling out new solar power executive actions. The National Journal reports that the White House is working with the private sector “to help underserved communities power their homes with solar energy while expanding opportunities for Americans to get jobs in the solar industry.” The initiative is expected to help boost the solar industry and reduce consumer energy costs — the exact thing Koch Industries doesn’t want to happen.

The Kochs’ record for pushing for more regulation for solar power reveals their greedy motivations. Every time the brothers tout their “free market” values, they’re really just pushing their own profit-driven agenda. Using the Koch-financed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Koch’s political long arm Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the billionaires have advocated for legislation across the country that put up road blocks for the market’s expansion.

According to the Washington Post:

Legislation to make net metering illegal […]

We Told You So, GOP: Unpopular Bobby Jindal Whining That He Can’t Hang Out with the Cool Kid$

July 6, 2015

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is upset the Kochs are leaving him out, again. CNN’s John King reports Jindal “is being excluded from Koch sponsored gatherings.” And Jindal isn’t the only one: Just last month the RNC’s senior staff went on the record to sound the alarm that the Koch brothers control more than just the cash. They also control the top Republican vault of voter information – and who gets to use it. Behind the scenes the Kochs are locked in a data war with the RNC.

RNC Chief of Staff Katie Walsh said, “I think it’s very dangerous and wrong to allow a group of very strong, well-financed individuals who have no accountability to anyone to have control over who gets access to the data when, why and how.”

So, Bobby, Katie, and the rest of the GOP: Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

How Conservatives Took Over Wisconsin

July 3, 2015

Wisconsin’s current political landscape looks wildly different than it did just a few years ago. Long a state with reliably Democratic leanings, everything changed in 2010 when conservative outside groups helped flip the state legislature and governor’s office from blue to red.

Led by Governor Scott Walker, the state’s new Republican leadership quickly set about imposing its extreme conservative agenda. They introduced an assault on collective bargaining rights that effectively cut public workers’ pay and destroyed their ability to negotiate over health coverage, safety, or sick leave. The severity of the bill prompted impassioned protests centered around the state capitol and forced Republican lawmakers to use underhanded measures to pass it without a single Democrat. Although a judge initially blocked the law because of the Republican tactics, it was reinstated by the state Supreme Court, which had maintained a conservative majority thanks to a narrowly re-elected justice whose campaign got significant […]

Koch Brothers To The Rescue On Income Inequality

July 2, 2015

Our prayers have been answered! Like a pair of white knights, the Koch brothers are joining the Republican pack and paying lip service to mounting income inequality in the U.S. Millions of middle class and working class Americans are breathing a collective sigh of relief now that the industrialist duo – commonly known for destroying jobs and polluting communities in service of their bottom line – have turned their attention to income inequality.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s important to note what Americans for Prosperity’s president, Tim Phillips, sees as their goal: “A lot of it is extolling the virtues of a system that’s lifted more people out of poverty than anything else in the history of mankind.”

That’s right. AFP’s main objective is simply a public relations campaign about the virtues of capitalism, which is likely why they avoided supporting American workers by having their t-shirts made in Nicaragua.

Phillips also points out that […]