Real Koch Facts

Florida Man Buys State: Koch Impacts in the Sunshine State

Through their decades in business and politics, Charles and David Koch have honed their methods for rigging the system in their favor, both through their national operations and activities. Their history in Florida is indicative of this overall multifaceted strategy, which includes lobbying and raising funds for politicians, using their advocacy network to sway public policy, and leveraging financial donations to universities to buy professors that promote their worldview. Time and time again, the Koch brothers’ self-interested actions proved to be beneficial to their bottom line at the expense of hardworking Floridians.

One key aspect of the Kochs’ strategy was cultivating relationships with high-profile Florida politicians who were sympathetic to their message. Senator and likely GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio was the only U.S. Senator to receive a 100 percent score from Koch-group Americans for Prosperity in 2013. In that same year, Sen. Rubio was the keynote speaker at […]

Kansas Gov. Brownback Gives the Kochs Another Home State Win with Ethanol Subsidy Compromise

May 6, 2015

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback just gave the Koch brothers exactly what they wanted. On Monday, Brownback announced a “compromise” on the state’s renewable energy standards, changing a mandate into a voluntary goal — another win for the elected officials protecting the Kochs’ bottom line.

The renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requires utilities to get at least 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources like wind and solar. Since January 2014, the Koch brothers have been attacking the standards through Americans for Prosperity, calling for an end to the mandate. Brownback gave the Kochs just that and then went above and beyond for Koch Industries, changing the property tax exemption for wind power producers to a 10-year exemption.

The Kochs bankrolled the governor’s campaign and many of his policies come straight out of their playbook, including the cuts to taxes, state spending, and public jobs that have devastated the Kansas educational system. […]

Bush Hires Staff with Deep Koch Ties

May 4, 2015

Jeb Bush figured out yet another way to suck up to the Koch brothers: Hire their former staff for his campaign. Conveniently, as the Kochs hold open auditions to find their preferred presidential candidate, Bush is adding Jose Mallea, the former national strategic director for the LIBRE Initiative. LIBRE is the Kochs’ front group for Latino outreach.

The LIBRE Initiative has received at least $10 million from the Koch money machine, Freedom Partners, to push the Koch agenda under the facade of Hispanic outreach. While the LIBRE Initiative claims that they are working to empower the Hispanic community, the reality is that they are promoting Koch policies at the expense of Hispanics. LIBRE opposes policies that disproportionately help Hispanics including the Affordable Care Act, minimum wage increases, and immigration reform. Mallea led LIBRE through the 2014 elections when the group challenged Latino candidates in favor […]

Marco Rubio’s Koch candidate tryout

May 1, 2015

Next up … we have Marco Rubio auditioning to become the Koch brothers’ candidate in their shadow primary! Rubio is set to address the Koch brothers and their cronies at today’s Americans for Prosperity “Road to Reform” luncheon.

This is just the latest stunt by Rubio to suck up to the billionaire brothers. Last week, Rubio participated in a conference call, led by Americans for Prosperity, to push for the expiration of the Export-Import Bank, which is the Koch’s latest pet project. In tomorrow’s address, Rubio is set to call for regulation reforms that would likely protect the the fortune of billionaires — not the best interest of Americans.

This is the latest event in the Koch brothers’ invisible primary, where candidates are competing to win the blessing and the financial backing of the billionaires. Normally, the Kochs stay out of presidential primaries, but this year the Kochs are hedging their bets and selecting their […]

Koch-backed LIBRE Would Remove Deportation Protections for Millions

April 30, 2015

While the Koch-backed LIBRE Initiative would like you to believe that they are working to support the Hispanic community, the reality is that they mainly advocate for the issues of their benefactors: the Koch brothers. Freedom Partners, a group funded by the billionaires, has given LIBRE at least $10 million to push its agenda. LIBRE campaigns against policies that disproportionately help Hispanics including the Affordable Care Act, minimum wage increases, and immigration reform.

In March, Executive Director Daniel Garza testified against deportation protections for millions through DAPA, calling it “executive overreach” at a congressional hearing.

Of course, they conspicuously leave all that out during their community outreach.

Washington Post: Koch brothers cater to Latinos, hoping for votes

Cristóbal Alex, president of the Victory Fund, said LIBRE offers handouts and “talks about immigration in a positive way” but “is really doing work on behalf of the Koch brothers who put huge money behind candidates against […]

Cutting Seniors’ Benefits to Win the Blessing of the Kochs

April 30, 2015

Last week, Politico got its hands on a secret Koch brothers memo to their donors about their plot to expand into new states, recruit new donors, and continue to co-opt the Republican Party — and its presidential field — as the 2016 cycle gets underway.The secret memo the Kochs never wanted us to see gives the 2016 GOP wannabes a roadmap of Koch priorities that will help in their audition for Koch cash: repealing federal support for wind energy, eliminating estate taxes that largely benefit the very wealthy, defunding the EPA, all in service of their bottom line. The Kochs’ priorities, however, would be disastrous for the American people.

In the memo, the Kochs go even farther, taking a page from Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” playbook and appallingly putting blame on social welfare programs for sustained poverty. “The irony is maddening. America’s poor have been shackled by […]

The Kochs vs. the Pope: Equal Pay Edition

April 30, 2015

The Kochs won’t be too excited about Pope Francis’ latest advocacy issue. The pope is now unequivocally supporting equal pay — one of the brothers’ most loathed ideals. The religious leader called the wage gap between men and women “pure scandal” in a speech Wednesday.

“Why is it taken for granted that women must earn less than men? No! They have the same rights. The discrepancy is a pure scandal,” said Francis.

This is more than likely to set off the brothers against the pope once again. Koch Industries spent almost a million dollars lobbying against issues like the paycheck fairness in 2010, which would have brought the country closer to equal pay.

In their audition for the Kochs’ invisible primary, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Jeb Bush all fall in line on equal pay. Scott Walker repealed the Wisconsin equal pay law and Rand Paul once […]

The Kochs Vs. the Pope: Climate Change Edition, Part 2

April 29, 2015

The Koch brothers are doubling down on their offense against Pope Francis’ efforts to curb the effects of climate change. Earlier this week, the Kochs lashed out at the pope’s stance and spouted misleading rhetoric and junk science.

A Koch-funded think-tank, the Heartland Institute, today continued to attack the pope for working with world leaders and the United Nations on climate change in a American Spectator post entitled, “Francis is Out of His Element.” Their case boils down to protecting oil billionaires so they can drill for fossil fuels at faster rates…sound familiar?

H. Sterling Burnett, a research fellow at the Institute, takes it further and argues the pope is being swayed by people who support forcible population control programs:

“Those pushing for bans on fossil fuel use think too many humans are the environmental problem. Many of them worship the creation, not the Creator. The same people pushing the pope […]

The Kochs vs. the Pope: Infiltrating Catholicism Edition

April 29, 2015

In the eyes of the Kochs, Pope Francis has committed the ultimate sin: advocating against their bottom line. In response to the pope’s work to combat climate change, the brothers are pulling out all the stops, using their money and conservative cronies to try to derail his efforts to protect the environment, as we wrote about yesterday.

Last year, Pope Francis gave a statement asking for “the rich to help the poor, to respect them, to promote them.” The Kochs have a long history of doing just the opposite, but don’t tell John and Carol Saeman. The prominent Catholics and contributors to Koch-backed Freedom Partners co-authored a Washington Post op-ed where they said that Pope Francis’s call had inspired them to support the Koch brothers’ “nonprofit community.”

However, many Catholics believe that the Koch agenda goes against church teachings and the backlash from the community was swift. Catholic writer Michael Sean Winters was among the […]

The Kochs vs. the Pope: Climate Change Edition

April 28, 2015

The pope is picking sides in the climate change debate, and the Koch brothers are terrified about what it means for what they worship most: their bottom line.

Recently, the pope has become a beacon of hope for climate change activists. As the New York Times reports, the pope is calling for Catholics and world leaders to take action on human-caused global warming. Unsurprisingly, the Koch brothers aren’t too happy whenever anyone, much less such a prominent figure, wants to take steps that would hurt their profits.

The Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based think-tank that receives funding from the Charles G. Koch Foundation, went to Rome to protest the Vatican’s action on climate change with no luck. In a statement, the president of Heartland, Joseph Bast, said,

“The Holy Father is being misled by ‘experts’ at the United Nations who have proven unworthy of his trust. Though Pope Francis’ heart is surely […]