On Monday, CNN Money profiled Puerto Rico bondholders to “put a face on the crisis.” The nine people featured told stories about losing their hard earned money due to the debt crisis in the territory. Undisclosed in the article is that four out of the five profiles were members of the Main Street Bondholders, a project of the Koch-front group 60 Plus.
According to The New York Times,
The group cast the victims of a bankruptcy as ordinary Puerto Ricans and retirees who owned government-issued bonds. In November, 60 Plus recruited a group of these individuals, calling them ‘Main Street Bondholders,’ for a news conference in San Juan.
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Exactly who the group was speaking for was unclear. Puerto Ricans own less than a fifth of the island’s debt, according to government officials. And while 60 Plus claims to represent millions of seniors, most of the group’s revenue comes from a few large, anonymous contributions, according to its most recent tax return
60 Plus is another shady front group part of the Koch brothers’ political machine. The group was actually “recruited by the DCI Group, a Republican public relations firm that specializes in ‘AstroTurfing’ — orchestrated lobbying campaigns designed to look like grass-roots efforts.”
There’s nothing sincere about the efforts by Main Street Bondholders — it’s just another ploy by the Koch brothers to protect their allies. Kenneth Griffin, a Koch donor who has attended summits with the brothers in the past, owns a company that stands to lose millions if the U.S. allows Puerto Rico to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
The debt crisis in Puerto Rico will have dire consequences, but all the Kochs care about is their political empire. Main Street Bondholders’ campaign against giving bankruptcy protection to the territory is entirely Koch manufactured.
Read more about the Kochs’ work against Puerto Rico in Bridge Project’s report: The Koch’s Wealth Versus The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.