Real Koch Facts

Speaking fluent Koch, Jeb Bush Backs Moving VA to Voucher System

April 9, 2015

While speaking at a Colorado Springs IHOP, Jeb Bush called for privatizing elements of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“This is where I think empowering people with the equivalent of a voucher that gives you the same economic benefit of receiving care inside of a clinic or a hospital,” he said. The likely presidential candidate has previously called for a system change saying he was “all in on the voucher thing.”

What a coincidence — the Kochs are all in on the voucher thing, too.

In February, Koch-funded organization Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) released a report calling for extreme policy changes including privatization and tougher enrollment standards. Under the CVA’s plan, one-fifth of future veterans would be ineligible for care.

These radical policies are widely unpopular with veterans groups like the American Legion and Paralyzed Veterans of America. That’s because they know what Jeb doesn’t: privatizing their care does […]

78% of Latinos oppose Kochs’ move to block immigration reform

April 8, 2015

A new MSNBC/Telemundo/ Marist poll released today shows that 78 percent of Latinos approve of President Obama’s recent immigration moves.

It’s no surprise, then, that the Koch brothers would take the opposite position and fight the president’s executive order. The Koch-backed LIBRE Initiative — which purports to empower Latinos — has a long history of spurning Latinos with their backwards policies. In fact, earlier this month LIBRE Initiative President, Daniel Garza, testified that the group opposed the administration’s newly established policy. The LIBRE Initiative claims to support comprehensive immigration reform, but they have poured a large chunk of their war chest into campaigning against the very candidates who truly support comprehensive reform. The sad irony of the Koch Brothers’ efforts to mobilize Latino grassroots supporters for the GOP is that if the president’s executive actions are undone, it will result in millions facing deportation and a smaller voting pool.

In another twist, LIBRE spent […]

Promoting the Koch Agenda at the Expense of Hispanics

April 7, 2015

The Koch-funded LIBRE Initiative claims their mission is to advance liberty and freedom in the Hispanic community. The group is actually a shameless ploy to make inroads with a fast growing constituency in advance of the 2016 elections.

Just yesterday, the Houston Chronicle reported that the Center for Shared Services, a recruiting arm for Koch-backed organizations, posted openings for LIBRE Initiative jobs in Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, Colorado, and Virginia – states with that also happen to be heavily contested in the 2016 elections.

According to Conservative Transparency, Freedom Partners, the Koch money machine, donated $3.3 million in 2013. In addition, LIBRE has received large donations from other Koch-related groups.

While LIBRE wants you to think that they are empowering Hispanics, they are actually promoting the Koch agenda at the expense of Hispanics by campaigning for policies that would hurt the community. As UCLA political […]

Koch Agenda’s Consequences for Kansas Students

April 6, 2015

Two Kansas school districts plan to end the academic year early to save money, citing financial pressures caused by Koch Brothers shill Governor Sam Brownback’s radical budget.

Kansas school districts are facing massive budget shortfalls after losing $51 million they were expected to receive for the current school year. Governor Brownback’s misguided revamp of the income tax code has given billionaires and businesses a tax break while slashing school spending. The new school funding plan scraps the previous formula for determining state aid and replaces it with block grants, which will give districts a fixed amount of money for the next two years while the Legislature develops a new formula.

Governor Brownback’s extreme legislation was copied right out of the Koch playbook. It’s hardly surprising given that the governor is advised by Koch crony Steve Anderson.

According to ThinkProgress, the consequences of spending cuts have been dire […]

Republican Points to the Kochs’ Real Motives: “Prosperity for Yourself and Not Anyone Else”

April 3, 2015

One Republican, yes Republican, legislator in Florida is calling out the Kochs for trying to co-opt the Republican Party. Florida State Senator Nancy Detert (R-Venice) is exposing how the Koch brothers’ are manipulating their rubber-stamp legislators for their own self-serving agenda.

“You’re all on the Koch brothers’ payroll. Good for you. I’m glad you’re all employed … I hope you’re getting paid a lot of money to show up to these meetings and say meaningless things. Obviously you’re for prosperity for yourself and not anyone else … You people serve absolutely no purpose.”

The hearing was on a film incentive bill Detert sponsored in hopes of drawing more movie makers to the state. Since its introduction, Americans for Prosperity have gone after Detert, sending out mailers against the senator and testifying at hearings.

It seems Detert has heard enough of the Koch brothers’ propaganda. She’s realized what we’ve been saying for years: the Kochs’ actions […]

Kochs Continue War on Workers by Lobbying to Repeal Wisconsin’s Prevailing Wage

April 2, 2015

Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity is joining forces with other anti-worker organizations to lobby the Wisconsin state legislature in hopes of ending the state’s prevailing wage. The prevailing wage creates an even playing field for workers on local and state public works and constructions projects. Republican lawmakers are citing a study funded by a trade association called Associated Builder and Contractors (ABC) to argue that the prevailing wage is unnecessarily adding to the cost of such projects.

However, the study seems to be deeply flawed; one economics professor even called it “a mirage.” If AFP and its cronies are successful in ending the prevailing wage it could drive workers away from the state.

State Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca said, “Repealing prevailing wage would be another huge hit against the middle class and small businesses in Wisconsin. Over the last decade, Wisconsin has been the worst state in the nation for […]

Are the Koch Brothers Using your Name to Spam Lawmakers?

April 1, 2015

The Koch brothers have been spamming lawmakers’ inboxes to defund net neutrality in your name.

According to Politico, members of Congress have reported a recent flood of messages ostensibly from constituents who oppose net neutrality rules, but they are actually coming from addresses outside of members’ districts.

This week Koch connected group American Commitment boasted that it helped direct more than 1.6 million messages from more than half a million constituents to members of the House and Senate. Some of these messages encouraged lawmakers to defund the FCC’s new net neutrality rules.

Last year, the Sunlight Foundation caught American Commitment red handed submitting shady form letters in response to the FCC’s net neutrality rules. American Commitment was responsible for more than half of the 1.6 million comments criticizing the rules.

For their part, American Commitment could not have been more delighted with the Sunlight Foundation’s findings. President Phil Kerpen, […]

Koch Front Group for Seniors backs Medicare cuts

April 1, 2015

The 60 Plus Association is the latest Koch bankrolled group to come out in favor of the dangerous Senate Republican budget.

60 Plus describes itself as a so called, “non-partisan seniors advocacy group” with a “free enterprise, less government, less taxes” twist. Last week the group issued a statement in support of the Senate Republican’s dangerous budget that calls for 5.1 trillion in spending cuts.

Senate Republicans are fearful of passing a budget that would cut Medicare programs in an election year. But fuzzy math, sleight of hand, and arithmetic acrobatics cannot change the fact that the Republican budget would devastate programs that the middle class rely on — including Medicare. The Senate budget would slash $430 billion in unspecified cuts from Medicare in order to balance the budget in ten years.

Why would a group that defends America’s seniors advocate for a budget that cuts […]

Americans for Prosperity President Questions Legitimacy of Man Made Climate Change

March 31, 2015

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Tim Phillips, president of Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, said, “I think the government should look very carefully as to what level mankind is contributing to climate change.”

97% of climate scientists agree that global warming is connected to human activities. The correlation between humans and climate change is considered a scientific consensus, with eighteen scientific associations signing on to the following statement: “Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver.”

Phillips also warned against government actions, in this case the EPA’s latest coal regulations, because they could “harm a lot of Americans.” In reality, the only real harm that changing the standards will cause is to the billionaire Koch brothers’ bottom line. It’s become common practice for the Koch brothers to cry […]

Chris Christie’s environmental flip flop brought to you by the Koch brothers

March 30, 2015

Chris Christie once bragged that he would be “New Jersey’s No. 1 clean-energy advocate,” according to the Washington Post. But once he had a series of meetings with the Koch brothers and other Republican donors, he changed his mind and went to work on behalf of the Koch’s fossil fuel interests rather than the people of New Jersey.

Christie went back on a pledge he made to his state so he could remain in good graces with the Koch brothers. In 2010, he touted plans to build a wind farm off the Atlantic City coast. Soon after, the Koch brothers came calling and Christie began fighting wind energy proposals. Unfortunately for Christie, ignoring New Jersey has left him in “political free fall” back home – and unpopular on the national stage as his pre-presidential campaign sputters.

The Koch brothers have a long history with Chris Christie. Last year, his Board […]