Real Koch Facts

Best Dark Money Fundraisers Forever: Kochs and Adelson Team Up

June 15, 2015

In their nearly $900 million quest to install one of their devotees to the White House, the Koch brothers have teamed up with casino mogul Sheldon Adelson to purchase the presidency.

The new coordination appears to stem at least partly from their shared interest in busting unions and ending estate taxes — two policies that would greatly benefit both of their own interests while hurting everyday working families.

Both the Kochs and Adelson have become ubiquitous with dark money in conservative politics, but only recently did the two major fundraising networks begin to work together. Adelson gave at least $15 million to Americans for Prosperity in 2012, and roughly 30 percent of Adelson’s $100 million in political spending in 2014 went to the brothers.

The Kochs are so committed to their new arrangement that they’re overlooking the most egregious policy difference.

From Huffington Post:

One notable case involves an Adelson-financed lobbying crusade to kill […]

Kochs’ Dream Come True Would Be Nightmare for Dodd-Frank

June 12, 2015

Hester Peirce, a fellow at the Koch-founded Mercatus Center, is in line to become a commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Peirce’s seat at the table would give the Koch brothers a huge leg up in their fight against the Dodd-Frank Act, as her stance on the regulation falls perfectly in line with the brothers’ opposition to the reform. Never before have the Kochs had a federal agency commissioner in their pocket who is willing to do their bidding to protect their bottom line at the expense of consumers.

From the Financial Advisor:

As evidence of her conservative thinking on regulation, in testimony before a Financial Services Committee panel, Peirce criticized the authors of the Dodd-Frank Act for putting too much power in the hands of the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“Any pronouncement from the agency’s director has the appearance of being the agency’s official […]

This just might be the Kochs’ most absurd legal argument yet

June 11, 2015

Using one of their most incredulous and absurd legal runarounds yet, the Kochs actually ended up undercutting their argument on academic freedom. After a Kansas University student organization filed a public records request for the emails of Art Hall, one of the Kochs’ handpicked business professors, Hall’s lawyers (who are being paid for by the Kochs) are arguing that he is not actually a public employee but a private citizen because the funding for his position comes from somewhere else (i.e. the Kochs).

Since this is without a doubt one of the most perplexing legal arguments ever, let’s back up for a moment.

At KU, just as they have done at many other schools, the Kochs have used their massive wealth to influence the college through grants that come with strings attached. Some of the grants give the billionaires leverage over the faculty hired to work in their program. This is likely the case […]

Kochs cannibalize their own

June 8, 2015

The Koch brothers are so extreme that they’re targeting Florida Republicans who support such unholy things as providing people with affordable health care and fixing crumbling roads and bridges. The Kochs have already made sure that they’re responsible if 1.3 million Floridians lose affordable health insurance this month.

To be fair, Florida Republicans probably saw this coming. Americans for Prosperity is targeting 25 state senators for supporting Medicaid expansion that would provide 800,000 Floridians with health care. In response, one Florida Republican recently called out AFP in a hearing, saying, “Obviously you’re for prosperity for yourself and not anyone else … You people serve absolutely no purpose.” Others are trashing AFP’s motives and attempts to deceive voters.

Nationally, the Kochs are trying to get ahead of their problems with state Republicans bucking their agenda by holding auditions for the top GOP presidential contenders for a share of the nearly $900 million they’re spending this election. The Kochs have

A Boost for the Texas economy? Not at the expense of the Koch brothers

June 8, 2015

Texas lieutenant governor and redder than red Tea Partier Dan Patrick called for it. Texas Republican-establishment favorite and state House Speaker Joe Strauss pushed it. Democratic state Senator Carlos Uresti introduced it. Even environmentalists and pipeline companies were agreeing on it. So what stopped the bipartisan energy policy that would have boosted the Texas economy by increasing the demand for natural gas? None other than Koch Industries.

According to the Texas Tribune, the bills in question “would have incentivized state agencies, counties and cities to convert their oil-guzzling fleets to those that run on natural gas or other alternative fuels” as well as updated the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan to increase its efficiency.

By increasing the demand for natural gas, the policy “would have been a shot in the arm for the economy, and it would have continued to build on the infrastructure,” Uresti told the Texas Tribune. But the […]

Executive Director of Koch Latino Group Holds Dramatic Reading of Bridge Project Report

June 8, 2015

Daniel Garza, the executive director of the Koch-bankrolled LIBRE Initiative, apparently read Bridge Project’s report on his group this weekend. Judging by his Twitter account, the only gripe he could find with the in-depth research on LIBRE’s hypocritical policies against Latinos — while purporting to represent Latinos — was about him.

In particular, Garza has compared himself to Moses, Esther, Daniel, Joseph, King David, Martin Luther King Jr., the Salvation Army, and the Underground Railroad. According to Garza’s dramatic reading of Bridge Project’s report, raising his comparison of himself to biblical leaders amounts to a political attack. Quoting scripture is not extreme — but thinking that you should be in the same breath as Moses is.

Bridge Project’s report revealed LIBRE’s continued advocacy against the interests of the Hispanic community that they supposedly represent.The report uncovers that LIBRE advocates for Koch-backed policies that disproportionately hurt Hispanics including repealing the Affordable […]

Kochs team up with GOP 2016ers to disenfranchise voters

June 4, 2015

The Koch brothers’ favored presidential candidates are more than willing to sell off their policy platforms’ for a chunk of the $900 million the billionaire brothers plan to spend on the 2016 election. In doing so, the GOP has been working overtime to disenfranchise voters across the country. Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Scott Walker are among the many Republicans content with taking away Americans’ right to the ballot box in order to secure Koch cash and ease their path to the White House.

Koch Ties to Voter Suppression
Americans For Prosperity
Americans for Prosperity Mailed Wisconsin Voters Absentee Ballots With Wrong Date On Them, Hosted Events With “True The Vote”

During 2011 Recall Elections, AFP Mailed Voters Absentee Ballots With The Wrong Date. According to Politico, “The conservative third-party group Americans for Prosperity said absentee ballot applications sent to Wisconsin voters this weekend with the wrong election date were the result of a ‘printing mistake.’ […]

Kochs are responsible if 1.3 million Floridians lose their health insurance

June 4, 2015

The Koch brothers will be forced to answer why they took away health insurance from more than 1.3 million Floridians if the Supreme Court decides against the administration in the upcoming Affordable Care Act case. Florida has more residents who might lose health insurance through the ACA than any other state. In total, the Kochs could be taking away health insurance from 6.4 million Americans who would lose their subsidies from the federal government, rendering their health insurance unaffordable.

The Kochs have been leading the conservative pack in trying to unravel the benefits from ACA, starting as early as 2010 when the Koch-bankrolled American Enterprise Institute began developing their legal theory. One of the speakers, who worked at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (another Koch-funded group), went so far as to say, “This bastard has to be killed as a matter of political hygiene.” The Nation reports that the Kochs are responsible for more than half […]

Kochs’ canary in the coal mine: Kansas

June 2, 2015

The Koch brothers’ economic experiment has failed so horribly that Gov. Sam Brownback might be forced to do the unimaginable for a Republican: raise taxes.

Brownback is scrambling to make up for devastating budget shortfalls after he teamed up with the Kochs in their home state to push their agenda, according to the New York Times. Just three years ago, Brownback passed the largest tax cuts in state history — promising that they would lead to economic growth. Unfortunately for the citizens of Kansas, that growth and prosperity never came. It’s the canary in the coal mine warning us that, as the Kochs look to buy the presidency in 2016, their model state is in financial ruin.

Brownback’s extreme tax cuts came directly from the Koch playbook. The Times notes that Brownback’s radical rollbacks on small business and income taxes are estimated to cost a total of about $7 billion through 2019. […]

Koch Candidates Unmask the Billionaires’ Charade for Criminal Justice Reform

June 2, 2015

Another Koch lackey is exposing the thinly veiled truth about the Koch outcry for criminal justice reform: The campaign is a PR stunt to rehabilitate the Koch brand. Despite their promises to help reform the criminal justice system, the hypocritical billionaire brothers continue to back candidates who spin the cycle of mass incarceration. Recently, Maryland Governor — and Koch pawn — Larry Hogan vetoed six pieces of major criminal justice reform legislation, according to the Intercept. Hogan’s vetoes of a so-called Koch priority reaffirms that criminal justice reform is merely a sham campaign by the Koch brothers.

The Kochs have been candid about creating a “do-gooder” image that helps their bottom line. In a March profile, Koch Industries’ marketing executive, Steve Lombardo, admitted the initiative was “a key part of the strategy to deflate the negative narrative around the Kochs.” Now that the Kochs are being branded as out-of-touch oil […]