Last night, there was a lot of attention on the Koch brothers’ front group that targets veterans — Concerned Veterans for America. Here’s what you need to know about the Kochs’ so-called veterans advocacy group that fights against vets:
- Despite claiming to work for veterans, CVA pushes the Koch agenda first and foremost — that means standing in opposition to nearly every other veterans organization and advocating for extreme right-wing policies that hurt our nation’s heroes.
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From pushing a plan to privatize the VA health care system, to proposing a transition from the current military retirement system to a private 401(k)-like plan, CVA follows the radical conservatism of the Koch brothers, working to advance the Kochs’ self-interest at the expense of veterans.
- CVA has been deeply involved in the GOP primary, holding events with several candidates and driving policy positions. According to MSNBC‘s Rachel Maddow, “This one group has been the driving force of all of these Republican candidate getting on board with this incredibly radical idea of killing the VA.”
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A recent bipartisan poll showed veterans don’t support the Koch brothers’ plan to privatize veterans healthcare by turning it into a voucher system. The Vet Voice poll “found that almost two-thirds of survey respondents oppose plans to replace VA health care with a voucher system, an idea backed by some Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates.” And as CVA pushes GOP candidates to back their plan to privatize the VA in exchange for a piece of the nearly $1 billion the Kochs plan to spend on 2016, the poll showed 57% of veterans surveyed would be less likely to vote for candidates who supports “privatizing the VA health care system.”
- CVA has already spent at least $1.9 million in the 2016 election, propping up candidates that back their agenda and attacking Democrats at the Senate and Presidential level. In 2014, the Kochs’ funneled CVA at least $15 million to push the Koch agenda.
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Last month, the face and leader of the Kochs’ vets front group, Pete Hegseth, mysteriously “transitioned” at the beginning of an election year. Before he left CVA, Hegseth admitted on an audio recording that the Koch “network” organizations work together to push the Koch agenda in communities in swing states across the country:
- Looking for more on Charles and David Koch’s “veterans advocacy” front group that’s used to promote their selfish, right-wing agenda? Check out Bridge Project and Vote Vets’ joint-report, “The Vets Group That Fights Against Veterans,”
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The bottom line is CVA isn’t about promoting the interests of veterans. Like every other Koch-network front group, CVA is all about the Kochs. The group’s primary objective is electing candidates who’ll prioritize Charles and David’s selfish agenda when it comes into conflict with the interests of the veterans they purport to care about.