Real Koch Facts: Indiana

Three Questions for the Kochs as they “Defend the American Dream”

August 29, 2014

This weekend, capping off an interesting week for the Koch brothers, their chief political arm, Americans For Prosperity is hosting their so-called “Defending the American Dream Summit.” This is their public-facing summit, not to be confused with the highly secretive meeting of billionaires that dominated this week’s political conversation, after new audio surfaced from the event.

Those newly released recordings further exposed the degree to which the billionaire brothers have taken the reins of the Republican Party. One key Senate candidate after the next extolled the Kochs and their increasingly powerful network, expressing gratitude for their support and reaffirming their devotion to the extreme agenda they champion. On top of that, the executive director of the Republican Governors’ Association lauded AFP as their strongest partner.

The more we learn about the Koch brothers’ shadowy operation, the more we see how central they’ve become to the GOP. In fact, Washington Post […]

Kochs Continue To Ramp Up Senate Spending

August 10, 2016

The Kochs may not be thrilled with the top of the GOP ticket, but that won’t stop them from building a coalition to elect their political puppets down the ballot (and if that helps out Donald Trump along the way, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).

According to The Hill, the Koch brothers and their political front groups have “already spent more than $24 million in Senate races and [made] advertising reservations for the fall totaling at least $42 million.” They’ve signaled their support for vulnerable Republicans in Nevada, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, among others, and plan to make a buy in North Carolina.

Take a look at how over the past couple of weeks the Koch network has invested in each state to insure the Senate and the House is full of people who will do the brothers’ bidding, even if it hurts the voters who elected them:

Florida

It’s no […]

Kochs Use Indiana University To Advance Their Political Agenda

February 5, 2016

The Kochs’ money doesn’t just buy them elections — it buys them political influence over universities. For years, the brothers have been “donating” to colleges across the United States in an effort to advance their agenda. At Indiana University, the Kochs gave a $210,000 research grant to the school of public and environmental affairs.

However, as the students at IU have discovered, Koch money comes with strings attached. In a column for the Indiana Daily Student, graduate student Tristan Fitzpatrick expressed his concerns about the brothers’ influence over the school teaching about climate change:

The Union of Concerned Scientists, which advocates against misinformation of climate change, reported that foundations linked with the Koch brothers have donated millions of dollars to special interests that argue climate change is not caused by humans and is not a pressing political issue.

A group that routinely supplies false information about climate change, Americans for Prosperity, is one […]

The Continued Koch Assault on American Workers

May 8, 2015

The Kochs’ model Governor, Indiana’s Mike Pence, did even more damage to Indiana’s reputation this week when he signed a bill into law repealing Indiana’s common construction wage. The repeal does away with local boards that ensure construction workers earn a fair wage when building public projects.

The Kochs, who have attacked minimum wage laws nationwide, came out with full-throated support of Pence’s bill. Americans for Prosperity, the Kochs’ political arm bought radio ads in Indiana pushing the bill. The Kochs’ love affair with Pence goes back a long way. As Governor of Indiana, Pence enacted tax cuts, which benefited the state’s top earners — a move straight out of the Koch playbook. Also, at least three different former Pence staffers who are now embedded in the Kochs’ political network. Indeed, AFP operatives are so enamored with Pence’s Koch-backed policies that they held up Indiana as a example of a “model state” […]

Koch-founded CATO Institute lauds Kochs’ favorite governors

October 3, 2014

Earlier this week, the CATO Institute, a Koch-founded think tank, issued its 2014 “Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors.” Given the organization’s close ties to the billionaire brothers, it’s of little surprise that the report card issued “A” ratings to a handful of Republican governors who have implemented the Kochs’ self-serving agenda in their states and “F” ratings to eight governors, all Democrats who prioritize support for working families.

High atop CATO’s “A” list is Pat McCrory, the governor of North Carolina and reckless steward of what the Kochs’ political arm, Americans for Prosperity, lovingly refers to as their “model state.” He has implemented an extreme conservative agenda, dictated by the Koch brothers and one of their top lieutenants, Art Pope, who only recently stepped down from his lofty position as budget director in McCrory’s cabinet. In giving McCrory a top score, CATO cites a

Indiana’s Mike Pence could be the Kochs’ 2016 candidate of choice

August 29, 2014

On the heels of new revelations about the Koch brothers’ favorite 2014 GOP Senate candidates, POLITICO looks at a candidate the Kochs may be grooming for a 2016 run — Indiana Governor Mike Pence. The report points to numerous instances of alignment between Pence’s activities as a Member of Congress and Governor and the Kochs’ extreme agenda, in addition to the collection of former Pence staffers that are now among the upper echelons of Koch World. Given the hundreds of millions of dollars the Koch network is likely to pour into the next Presidential election — it raised over $400 million in 2012 — the headline’s claim that Pence could have a “Koch advantage” is quite the understatement.

In what reads like a 2,000 word love story about the romance between Pence and the Koch brothers, POLITICO notes that Pence initially piqued the Kochs’ interest as a Member of Congress for […]