Real Koch Facts

Walker’s Wisconsin budget proposal borrows from the Koch playbook

February 6, 2015

Earlier this week, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker released his two-year budget proposal and like you’d expect from any Koch disciple, it includes plenty of material inspired by the billionaire brothers and their political agenda. In particular, Walker’s budget proposal includes a plan to allow an unlimited amount of taxpayer-funded school vouchers for Wisconsin students, and a whopping $250,000 line item for a study on the supposed health impacts of wind energy, an alternative energy source that has long drawn the ire of the Kochs and their allies.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, Walker’s budget proposal removes an existing cap on the number of students who can use school vouchers to attend private schools in the state. What’s more, “Walker would also start paying for the program with money that otherwise would go to public schools,” per the report. Diverting public school funds to pay for private education is […]

Head Of Koch Women’s Group Thinks The Movie “Frozen” Is Too Empowering For Women

February 5, 2015

No matter how much evidence there is to the contrary, the Koch brothers and their defenders continue to argue that the billionaire Republican kingmakers are singly focused on expanding our economic freedoms. Many believe that their efforts are entirely disconnected from movements of social conservatives and that the Kochs can thus help expand the Republican tent.

Well, maybe this latest incident will help some who subscribe to that theory finally…Let It Go.

Penny Nance, the head of Concerned Women For America — a group that, according to the Washington Post, received $8 million from the Kochs’ bank to run “social-media campaign and get-out-the-vote effort aimed at young women in 2012.” — was on Fox News this week bemoaning the degree to which the movie “Frozen” empowered women. She went on to clarify that it’s not just “Frozen” that is problematic, but indeed Hollywood as a whole, which “has often […]

The Gazillionaire-Owned Party: Kochs Complete Takeover Of The GOP

January 27, 2015

To: Interested Parties

From: Brad Woodhouse, President, American Bridge 21st Century
Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Re: The Gazillionaire-Owned Party: Kochs Complete Takeover Of The GOP

Eight-hundred and eighty-nine million dollars. The Koch brothers’ budget for the 2016 elections is $889 million.

That’s what it costs to buy a political party these days, apparently. But then again, the Koch brothers’ net worth fluctuated more than that much yesterday, so what’s it to them?

In early 2014, American Bridge launched RealKochFacts.com, a first of its kind research and rapid response website to shine light on the unsavory activities of the Koch brothers, their decades-long self-interested agenda, their growing power within the Republican Party, and the consequences of their platform for working families. At the time, some asked why we were focusing this much time and effort on two private citizens. It should be clear now, we never had a choice — the Koch network has overtaken GOP.

Consider the realities of the […]

End Scene: McCrory & the Kochs Killing NC’s Film Industry

January 21, 2015

Last year, we brought you the first in the trilogy about the Kochs’ tirade against the successful film industry tax credits in the Tarheel State: Thom Tillis Gives the Koch Brothers Two Thumbs Up. Then there was the smash-hit sequel, North Carolina Film Tax Incentives: The Kochs Strike Back. Although the Kochs sent one of the key protagonists — then-Speaker Thom Tillis — to Washington, the series continues, this time starring Republican Governor Pat McCrory.

Although the film tax credit was integral to attracting high-budget films and television shows to the state and critical to supporting thousands of North Carolina jobs, the Koch brothers’ political arm, Americans for Prosperity, ran ads last year railing against the program. Despite dire warnings, McCrory caved to the anti-film tax credit clamor created by AFP and other special interests. First, McCrory signed a budget that effectively ended the film […]

For GOP Presidential Hopefuls, The Koch Primary Looms Larger Than IA or NH

Yeah, but how will that play in Iowa and New Hampshire?

That’s a question that used to be asked about presidential candidates as they geared up to court base voters in the nation’s crucial first caucus and primary. But for today’s GOP hopefuls, the game has changed, and the most important primary is already underway: The Koch primary.

If you want to understand who makes up the core constituency that Republicans are hoping to impress ahead of 2016, look no further than this morning’s lede from POLITICO — a revealing commentary on the current state of the GOP:

Four leading Republican presidential prospects are expected to appear this weekend in the California desert before an exclusive gathering of rich conservatives convened by the Koch brothers’ political operation, several sources tell POLITICO.

And the New York Times coverage of the upcoming Koch gathering recounted GOP presidential hopefuls’ varying attempts to cozy up to the billionaire […]

Pat McCrory’s Medicaid Expansion Conundrum

January 16, 2015

Back in 2013, Gov. Pat McCrory roundly rejected the call for Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, leaving 500,000 constituents uninsured. The bill for the program would have been footed almost entirely by federal dollars, but that wasn’t going to stand in the way of McCrory asserting his categorical opposition to the Affordable Care Act.

At the time, the Koch brothers’ political arm, Americans For Prosperity, applauded McCrory for his denial of expanded health care access. That’s not overly surprising — McCrory has extensive ties to the Koch brothers, from doingrobocalls for AFP in 2011 before he was technically a gubernatorial candidate, to hiring long-time Koch-crony Art Pope as his budget director.

But it turns out denying people healthcare to prove one’s ideological purity isn’t overly popular. McCrory started to waffle on the issue after facing significant political pressure to accept Medicaid expansion. Of course, that didn’t sit too well with […]

Two More Republicans In Congress Give Key Posts To Koch Cronies

We have even more development in the never-ending shuffling of staffers between Koch-backed groups and official Republican posts on the Hill!

This week, Jim Inhofe — who has literally written a book called The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future — officially assumed his post as chairman of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee. That meant he had to name his staff hires, and fittingly, he named a staffer from the Koch-backed group Generation Opportunity as the EPW press secretary.

It makes a lot of sense if you think about it. The Koch brothers have spent tens of millions of dollars funding climate change denial and continue to fight tooth and nail against taking any action address it. Inhofe has dedicated a great deal of his public life trying to discredit climate science. So best to hire your spokesperson straight from the Kochtopus.

Of course, it’s all very scary when […]

The Koch Brothers’ “Support” for Immigration Reform

January 14, 2015

The Koch brothers have bent over backwards to try to convince everyone that they are expanding the Republican tent and appealing to minority voters in the way the party so desperately needs. Everyone accepts that the billionaire brothers’ economic agenda is ultra-conservative. But they’ve managed to persuade some folks that their platform is more inclusive when it comes to social issues, immigration, and beyond, all while funding right-wing organizations that push extreme polices on these fronts.

Look no further than the current immigration debate for proof of their antics. A Koch brothers-funded group called The LIBRE Initiative was founded in 2011 to focus on Hispanic outreach. They are a self-proclaimed “grassroots organization that advances the principles and values of economic freedom to empower the U.S. Hispanic community so it can thrive and contribute to a more prosperous America.”

So what is The LIBRE Initiative doing to help move the immigration […]

AFP Michigan sponsors event featuring racist speaker

January 13, 2015

On the eve of the Republican National Committee’s annual winter meeting, Chairman Reince Priebus and RNC leaders find themselves dealing with the fallout from yet another inappropriate, racist remark by a Republican official. According to a report from Slate, Michigan RNC Committeeman and former State Rep. Dave Agema has become an “embarrassment for much of the party,” thanks to his long history of posting racist material on Facebook.

“Much” is the operative word here. Prominent GOP members are calling for Agema’s ouster after his most recent Facebook post, which quoted a white supremacist magazine. Further, according to Slate, two sponsors — the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and Heritage Action — backed out of an event Agema recently spoke at in Michigan, “The Powwow.” Yet a handful of organizations remained listed as sponsors despite Agema’s racist rants, including Americans for Prosperity Michigan, the Koch brothers’ political arm in the state. […]

Things keep getting worse in the Koch-dreamland of Kansas

January 9, 2015

“Kansas Is Totally Screwed.” That’s the Mother Jones headline from this week for their story documenting the latest in what’s been a fierce downward spiral for the Sunflower State ever since Governor Sam Brownback implemented his massive Koch-inspired tax cuts.

The article paints a stark picture of just how dire the situation in Kansas really is. Brownback will need to trim $279 million from the budget by this summer, an additional $650 million for fiscal year 2016, and on top of everything else, the Kansas Supreme Court claims that student funding is already so low that it’s threatening the “state’s constitutional guarantee of an adequate education.”

In sum, Brownback that promised his extreme tax overhaul would provide “a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy.” It appears instead, it just shot the Kansas economy in the heart. They’ve already been tagged with a slew of credit downgrades, […]