Koch Brothers
Publisher: Huffington Post
Author: Robert Greenwald
17 Aug 2011
Why Didn’t Americans for Prosperity Love Our Video?
Following the 2009 Wake County school board election, Americans for Prosperity waited a few months before publicly popping champagne bottles. The blog entitled, "Your grassroots action really paid off in Wake County Public Schools," is a self-congratulatory missive AFP published. In light of the role AFP played in Wake County, the blog post affirms its active role in repealing and replacing successful school integration policies.
Publisher: Huffington Post
11 Aug 2014
Koch Brothers Reach Out To Hispanic Voters
Looking to make inroads with the rising number of Hispanic voters, conservative activists are offering English classes, health checkups and courses to help Spanish-speakers earn high school diplomas. Picking up part of the tab: Charles and David Koch. The billionaire industrialists are working to patch a gaping hole in the GOP coalition that could spell a generation of irrelevance if Republicans cannot build some credibility with Hispanic voters, who typically shun the GOP.
Publisher: Huffington Post
23 Feb 2013
Don’t Get too Comfortable The Koch Brothers Will Be Back
Word spread this week that the Koch brothers were temporarily slowing their funding of the extremist Tea Party as they complete an audit of their failed 2012 electoral efforts. This shouldn't be viewed as surrender. Anyone willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to win the White House and Congress doesn't give up after they lose one round (especially when they are worth billions). The Koch brothers are committed to gutting environmental protections and devouring government agencies, and they will live to fight another day.
Publisher: Huffington Post
9 Oct 2013
David Koch Should Lose Public TV Board Seat Over ‘Anti-Science’ Views, Activists Argue
An environmental activist group wants Boston's public television and radio affiliate to bump billionaire conservative donor David Koch from its board of trustees over his position on climate change. Forecast the Facts argues that Koch's "anti-science track record" should disqualify him from any role at the company that produces the award-winning science series "Nova" and other notable public affairs programming.
Publisher: Huffington Post
6 Jun 2013
Koch Brothers Say They’re Interested In Buying Newspapers Wall Street Journal
Charles Koch confirmed that he and his brother David are exploring the possibility of buying newspapers in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. There have been rumors swirling for weeks that the conservative billionaires, who run Koch Industries, are interested in acquiring the Tribune's big regional titles, which include the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune and Orlando Sentinel. The prospect of such a sale has raised alarm among some readers and Tribune employees, who are concerned that the new owners would use the papers to advance their political causes.
Publisher: ibtimes
31 Dec 2014
Top Election Donors 2014: Mike Bloomberg, Sheldon Adelson, David Koch Were Biggest Contributors
Koch, the influential vice president of Koch Industries, which owns a number of chemical and energy companies, backs multiple super PACs and the company s political action committee with his brother, Charles Koch. While David Koch personally contributed $6.2 million toward the 2014 midterm elections, the Koch brothers super PAC, Americans for Prosperity, spent $125 million on the election, according to Politico.
Publisher: Idaho Mountain Express
2 Jun 2011
Universities don’t go better with Kochs
The Koch family, most recently brothers Charles and David, has operated on the far-right edge of traditional politics, supporting Americans for Prosperity, the tea party and the John Birch Society. The latter has spent Koch resources hunting communists, fellow travelers and dupes supposedly hidden among the clergy and high school and college faculty. Koch Industries is an energy and chemical company that is the nation's second-largest privately held company.
Publisher: Latin Post
21 Apr 2014
Koch Brothers, Conservatives and Oil Companies Lobby States Using Renewable Energy Sources Alternative, Solar Power And Environmentalism Gaining Popularity
As more and more states are beginning to utilize solar energy and adapt to other clean green energy solutions, conservative lobby groups and oil tycoons have aggressively started pushing back against alternative energy. The Koch brothers, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist and a number of powerful companies in the nation have started running campaign ads in Arizona, Kansas and North Carolina that paint renewable energy as a greedy bad guy, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Publisher: LJWorld
27 Jan 2011
Profile of Koch brothers misguided
The author of the article obviously doesn t like the Kochs and, more importantly, doesn t like their politics, their privacy or their philanthropy. She portrays the Kochs as sinister figures hiding behind a plethora of companies and foundations and supporting political and social groups who oppose the liberal/progressive agenda. Undoubtedly, the purpose of the article is to be a wake-up call to the American public about the evil Koch family.
Publisher: Los Angeles Times
24 Apr 2014
Koch brothers vs. the solar industry
The vast sums of money used by the Koch brothers and their ilk originated from average Americans fueling their vehicles and powering their homes. Billions of dollars are sucked out of our economy by those who want us to keep using carbon-based energy. The use of oil, coal and natural gas has massive external costs that are not paid by the end user. This is the reason government regulators are trying to level the playing field by providing reasonable incentives for solar energy.
Publisher: mcall
18 Sep 2012
Koch and Adelson campaign money tests integrity of election
Dave Koch ran as the Libertarian vice presidential candidate in 1980 on a platform to abolish Social Security and corporate taxes. He was also against campaign spending limits, and he and his brother evidently now realize that this opens the door to the other two goals. Adelson is also grateful for the Supreme Court's convenient outlook that money has nothing to do with corruption, stating in a jaw-dropping admission of what moral integrity means to him: "I'm against very wealthy people attempting to or influencing elections, but as long as it's doable, I'm going to do it."
Publisher: Media Matters
25 Aug 2014
Associated Press Profile Of Koch Brothers Whitewashes Their Fossil Fuel Ties
On August 25, the Associated Press published a "primer on the Koch brothers and their role in politics," headlined "Koch 101," along with a lengthy overview of the history of the Koch family. A primer on the influence of Charles and David Koch is sorely needed: Their political organizations are reportedly expected to spend nearly $300 million during this year's election cycle, yet most Americans still haven't heard of the highly influential brothers.
Publisher: Michael Moore
Author: Robert Greenwald
30 Jul 2011
Koch Economics and their Debt Default Advantage
We are seeing the result of Koch Economics and what happens when a few tycoons accrue the billions necessary to invest in politicians, nonprofit foundations and ideological think thanks. Pay for active duty soldiers and veterans' benefits would freeze without raising the debt ceiling. Embassies, emergency assistance, IRS and all the accounting at the Treasury Department, airport security, education, student loans and unemployment insurance, food inspection, transportation work and government contracts with thousands of businesses will all be left in the lurch if the government defaults. There's even a chance Social Security checks will be delayed or withheld altogether.
Publisher: MN Progressive Project
27 Jan 2013
Dollars for Denial Koch Brothers Funding of Anti Climate Change Movement
This will not be a big surprise, but the order of magnitude involved may be a bit shocking. Over the last two days a number of findings have been released related to the funding of anti-climate change science activities, by Big Oil but mainly the Koch Brothers. I wrote up an overview, which, in turn points to the major news stories, so when you go to work Monday Morning you'll know all about it!
Publisher: MN Progressive Project
9 Oct 2012
Koch Brothers shutter plant in Duluth, Nolan calls out Cravaack for doing nothing
"When we lost 141 jobs here, our congressman was nowhere to be found," said his DFL opponent Rick Nolan. "Chip Cravaack has been all show and no go - when the working men and women in this district are looking for a champion to fight for their jobs - he's no where to be found." "And now the Koch brothers are spending millions to protect Chip Cravaack and others because they know he will always be a vote for their interests, not the working men and women who rely on these jobs," Nolan continued.
Publisher: Mother Jones
9 Mar 2011
David Koch lamenting Cancer Research Cuts, and Bankrolling the GOPers Behind Them
Publisher: Mother Jones
1 Apr 2010
Inside Koch’s Climate Denial Machine
Who s behind a multi-million dollar campaign to seed doubt about climate change? It s not just Exxon and Chevron it s also Koch Industries, an oil and gas giant that most people have never heard of, according to a new report from Greenpeace. Koch's extensive funding of anti-climate work makes it the "financial kingpin of climate science denial and clean energy opposition," says Greenpeace.
Publisher: Mother Jones
24 May 2011
Waxman Targets the Koch Brothers
What do the infamous Koch brothers have to do with the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which, if approved, would run 1,661 miles from Alberta, Canada to Texas, carrying 900,000 barrels of oil from Canada's tar sands to US refineries? TransCanada has requested permission to build the pipeline, but Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) want more information about how project might also benefit the right-wing financiers and their energy conglomerate, Koch Industries.
Publisher: Mother Jones
10 Nov 2012
Koch-Backed Group Warns Chris Christie
This preemptive chastising of Christie is an odd turn in the Koch-Christie tale. The Koch brothers have long been fans of the governor. On June 26, 2011, as Mother Jones first reported, Christie delivered the keynote speech at Charles and David Koch's ultra-exclusive seminar at the Ritz-Carlton resort near Vail, Colorado. At the event, David Koch hailed Christie as a "true political hero."
Publisher: Muckety
17 Nov 2012
GOP leaders sign Americans for Prosperity pledge
While Grover Norquist and his no-tax pledge may be losing support among congressional Republicans, a newer, more insidious group is getting greater attention. Americans for Prosperity, a Tea Party group relying on cash from the billionaire Koch brothers, announced a different pledge on Thursday. It s called the "No Climate Tax" pledge and it has been signed by House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy and other GOP leaders.
Publisher: MyFDL
6 Mar 2011
NYT Gives Us David Koch, Public Benefactor
The New York Times Michael Cooper gives us a fawning tribute to billionaire David Koch, he of the infamous Koch Brothers and fifth most wealthy man in America, using the dedication of a cancer center at M.I.T. funded by Mr. Koch to extol his virtues as a great humanitarian and philanthropist. Oh, please.
Publisher: National Review
Author: Kimberly Dennis
16 Nov 2010
Democrats CanÂ’t Blame the Koch Brothers (However Much They Might Want To)
But think about that for a moment. The Kochs philanthropic dollars back research and advocacy efforts focused on getting government out of the business of running the economy. If they were truly interested in protecting their profits, they wouldn t be spending so much to shrink government; they d be looking for a bigger slice of the pie for themselves. Their funding is devoted to promoting free-market capitalism, not crony capitalism.
Publisher: New York Magazine
25 Jul 2010
How Oil Heir and New York Arts Patron David Koch Became the Tea Party’s Wallet
With an estimated net worth of $17.5 billion, Koch is the second-richest man in New York City, behind Michael Bloomberg. Across the room on the floor of his office sits a scale model of El Sarmiento, the sprawling yellow Addison Mizner designed mansion he owns in Palm Beach (the matching yellow biography of the house he commissioned rests nearby).
Publisher: NOLA
29 Sep 2014
The Koch Brothers’ money – the worst, but not the most: James Varney
The Koch Brothers can be - and are - featured as the villains on any topic. If you follow the money, however, what is disappointing about the Koch Brothers' kind is that there isn't more of it. Despite the endless and unseemly harangues of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the Koch Brothers aren't donors in the same league with their left-wing counterparts.
Publisher: NPR
28 Mar 2012
Koch Brothers Move To Control Cato Institute
Publisher: NPR
16 Jan 2015
Conservative Koch Brothers’ Group Puts Congressional GOP On Notice
Americans for Prosperity, the most prominent arm of the Koch brothers' organization, put Republican lawmakers on notice Thursday, setting out a conservative agenda for Congress. AFP leaders say it will be pushed by the group's grass-roots supporters in 34 states. The agenda covers three areas: taxes, including repeal of the estate or death tax; energy, headlined by a call to build the Keystone XL pipeline; and health care, which includes repealing the Affordable Care Act. Phillips noted that Washington has debated all of the issues for years.
Publisher: NYTimes
6 Mar 2011
Cancer Research Before Activism, Koch Brother Says
More than a thousand miles from the labor tumult in Wisconsin - where his name shows up on the signs of protesters and a liberal blogger impersonating him got through to the governor on the phone and said "gotta crush that union!" - the real David H. Koch was greeted rather more warmly here Friday when he officially opened a new cancer research institute bearing his name.
Publisher: NYTimes
6 Apr 2014
To Strike at Kochs, Democrats Revive Tactic That Hurt Romney
By drawing public attention to layoffs by subsidiaries of Koch Industries across the country - a chemical plant in North Carolina, an oil refinery in Alaska, a lumber operation in Arkansas - Democrats are seeking to make villains of the reclusive billionaires, whose political organizations have spent more than $30 million on ads so far to help Republicans win control of the Senate.
Publisher: NYTimes
27 Jan 2014
The Koch Party
Democrats have been staggered by a $20 million advertising blitz produced by Americans for Prosperity, the conservative advocacy group organized and financed by the Koch brothers, billionaire industrialists. The ads take aim at House and Senate candidates for re-election who have supported the health law, and blame them for the hyped-up problems with the law s rollout that now seem to be the sole plank in this year s Republican platform.
Publisher: NYTimes
23 May 2014
‘Sons of Wichita’
The founder of the family dynasty, Fred Koch, born in 1900, grew up middle class in a small town just east of the Texas Panhandle and rose quickly. A few years after graduating from M.I.T., he helped found an engineering firm in the oil industry that did well enough to make him rich by the time he was in his early 30s. It would be hard to think of a rich oilman in the Southwest who wasn't right-wing during Fred Koch's midcentury heyday, but Koch seems to have been especially so. A period spent doing business in the Soviet Union in 1930 left a deep impression on him. In 1938 he wrote to a friend that Germany, Japan and Italy were "the only sound countries in the world." In 1958 he became one of the founders of the John Birch Society. In 1960 he published a pamphlet called "A Business Man Looks at Communism," in which he wrote: "The colored man looms large in the Communist plan to take over America."
Publisher: NYTimes
8 May 2014
Can the Kochs Hold Back History?
Next year, the Kochs will have a Congress loaded with crackpots ready to serve their agenda. There will be show hearings, bills will be introduced, meaningless votes will be taken. In the end, health care and clean energy will march on. The Kochs, to close with another film reference, will be like Harold Lloyd in one of the great scenes from the silent movie era - hanging from the hands of a giant clock. It may cost them half a billion dollars to learn that they can t stop time.
Publisher: NYTimes
Author: Jeremy W. Peters
6 Mar 2017
Patience Gone, Koch-Backed Groups Will Pressure G.O.P. on Health Repeal
Saying their patience is at an end, conservative activist groups backed by the billionaire Koch brothers and other powerful interests on the right are mobilizing to pressure Republicans to fulfill their promise to swiftly repeal the Affordable Care Act. Their message is blunt and unforgiving, with the goal of reawakening some of the most extensive conservative grass-roots networks in the country. It is a reminder that even as Republicans control both the White House and Congress for the first time in a decade, the party’s activist wing remains restless and will not go along passively for the sake of party unity.
Publisher: opednews
4 Jun 2012
Jeb Bush Rebukes Koch Brothers, Karl Rove’s Political Machine; Calls For Total Campaign Disclosure
BUSH: In a perfect world, we could have a different financing system. I love the idea of having campaigns be funded directly, rather than indirectly. And have no limits and total transparency so if people were offended by a large donor, the candidate, he or she, would have to accept responsibility for the message and the for the amount of money and who gave it
Publisher: OpEdNews
7 Apr 2014
Is Charles Koch Un-American: Let Thomas Jefferson Decide
While Jefferson rejected the aristocracy of money, the Koch brothers have taken the lead in organizing it. As a leaked confidential document revealed, they have aggressively courted other billionaires in order to create an organized network of right-wing political funders. Now that's collectivism. The Koch Collective has flooded the political system with cash at all levels. The Kochs themselves have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into extremist "think tanks" like the Ayn Rand Institute. Jefferson would have been repelled by Rand's vision of self-serving bermenschen and her contempt for charitable activities.
Publisher: OpenSecrets
21 Sep 2010
Capital Rivals: Koch Brothers vs. George Soros
Publisher: OpenSecrets
1 Jan 2011
Lobbying Spending Database-Koch Industries, 2010
Publisher: OpenSecrets Blog
18 Sep 2013
Koch Group’s IRS Report Unlocks A Few Mysteries
IRS filing shows funding and connections of Koch front groups - Five of those groups -- Americans for Prosperity, 60 Plus Association, American Future Fund, Concerned Women for America and American Commitment -- laid out just shy of $70 million in outside spending (mostly for TV ads) benefiting Republican candidates in the 2012 elections.
Publisher: Opposing Views
27 Oct 2013
Publisher: oregonlive
Author: Jeff Mapes
4 Sep 2014
Koch brothers group toughens advertising attacks against Jeff Merkley
A group tied to the Koch brothers is releasing a tough new ad that more directly urges Oregon voters to oust Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. Previous TV commercials from Freedom Partners -- a group tied to the conservative political network formed by industrialists Charles and David Koch -- have been pitched as issue ads that end by urging voters to call Merkley and tell him to do something.
Publisher: other98
13 Jul 2011
Tell Andrew Cuomo – Stand Strong Against The Kochs
The Koch Brothers are at it again and this time, they ve taken aim at the entire east coast. The Kochs and their Tea Party-funding oil front group, Americans For Prosperity, are suing New York State for taking part in RGGI*, a regional cap-and-trade effort that has forced polluters to pay, and raised over $700 million for the states taking part**. They re trying to argue it s illegal to make huge corporations pay for their pollution output, but it s more than fine for American non-corporate citizens to pay the bill.
Publisher: palm beach post
19 Feb 2012
David Koch intends to cure cancer in his lifetime and remake American politics
In a sense, David Koch is becoming the Andrew Carnegie of his age. Carnegie, a Gilded Age steel tycoon, founded libraries and universities, and famously battled organized labor. The parallels with David Koch exist on both scores. Koch's $100 million pledge to MIT has created the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.
Publisher: pjmedia
31 Dec 2014
Evil, Racist Koch Brother to Spend Money on – Criminal Justice Reform
The continuing demonizing of the Koch brothers is one of the more appalling lies abetted by the MSM. Far more open-minded and less single-issue than any of their Democrat big money counterparts, Charles and David Koch spread their money around to a variety of causes and politicians that would surprise anyone who only knows them from the media characterizations. While prominent progressives are encouraging "protesters" to disrupt holiday shopping, travel and traffic in the name of criminal justice reform, Charles Koch is taking out his checkbook to affect real change
Publisher: Politico
Author: Maggie Haberman
6 May 2011
Koch is neutral, not with Mitt Romney
Publisher: Politico
Author: Kenneth P. Vogel and Ben Smith
12 Feb 2011
Kochs brothers’ plan for 2012 raise $88 million
In an expansion of their political footprint, the billionaire Koch brothers plan to contribute and steer a total of $88 million to conservative causes during the 2012 election cycle, according to sources, funding a new voter micro-targeting initiative, grass-roots organizing efforts and television advertising campaigns.
Publisher: Politico
9 Dec 2014
The Kochs eclipse the RNC
Publisher: Politico
9 May 2014
Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity plans $125 million spending spree
The Koch brothers main political arm intends to spend more than $125 million this year on an aggressive ground, air and data operation benefiting conservatives, according to a memo distributed to major donors and sources familiar with the group. The projected budget for Americans for Prosperity would be unprecedented for a private political group in a midterm, and would likely rival even the spending of the Republican and Democratic parties congressional campaign arms.
Publisher: Politico
11 Sep 2013
The Koch brothers’ secret bank
An Arlington, Va.-based conservative group, whose existence until now was unknown to almost everyone in politics, raised and spent $250 million in 2012 to shape political and policy debate nationwide. The group, Freedom Partners, and its president, Marc Short, serve as an outlet for the ideas and funds of the mysterious Koch brothers, cutting checks as large as $63 million to groups promoting conservative causes, according to an IRS document to be filed shortly.
Publisher: Politicus USA
4 Jan 2015
The Koch Brothers Launch A Surrogate War Against Pope Francis
The Pope already drew the wrath of both evangelical and Catholic Republicans in Congress for criticizing the greed and income inequality championed by the GOP, but now he has the undivided attention of the Koch brothers, Exxon, and their dirty energy cohorts. The cause c l bre for the Koch-funded evangelical movement is the Pope s recent announcement that it is beyond high time for the world, and all Catholics to join the fight to reduce the existential threat to human beings from anthropogenic climate change.
Publisher: Politicus USA
9 Dec 2014
The Koch Brothers Fund Religious Groups That Are Eliminating Women’s Rights
It is beyond refute that the libertarian Koch brothers spend hundreds-of-millions of dollars to abolish government to eliminate taxation and regulatory agencies they claim interferes with their crusade for power and wealth. However, to accomplish their goal of controlling the government, they have had to climb in bed with fundamentalist Christians intent on using the government to control and subvert women s rights and force adherence to biblical values on all Americans. The Kochs have claimed, on several occasions, that their interest in social and cultural issues, particularly religious attacks on women and gays is non-existent, but through their Secret Bank (Freedom Partners) they are heavily-funding Christian women s groups whose stated mission is to eliminate women s reproductive health choices and push biblical values on all citizens; not exactly a libertarian agenda.
Publisher: Politicus USA
13 Jan 2015
The Kochs’ Very Profitable War On Busses and Mass Transit
Anyone even remotely familiar with the Koch brothers is aware the billionaire oil magnates are pro-anything that translates into more personal profits for themselves, and anti-anything that does not explicitly advance their business interests and increase their wealth. Inherent in increasing their wealth is promoting policies and agendas that force Americans to buy more gasoline which is why there is a dearth of options to driving a car on this sad country s pitiful roads, and why America s mass transit systems lag the rest of the civilized world. Whether it is paying Republican governors, state legislators, or congressional representatives the Kochs are behind every last effort to kill alternatives to driving. They have successfully blocked several states high speed rail projects, and obstructed community progress on bike lanes, light rail, bus rapid transit, or urban communities' "walkability" factor; any mode of transportation that keeps Americans from driving cars and purchasing gas.
Publisher: Politicus USA
12 Nov 2012
The Koch Brothers Turn On Chris Christie and Warn Him About Setting Up Obamacare
The Koch Brothers think-tank, Americans for Prosperity, handed down a warning to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for not rejecting provisions in the ACA to submit health insurance exchange plans ahead of the health law s full implementation. Republicans were already furious with Christie for praising President Obama s rapid response to the super-storm Sandy that ravaged parts of the East Coast last week, and now the Koch Brothers are pressuring him to reject a New Jersey exchange bill to rebuff the ACA s requirement before a November 16 cutoff date for states to set up health insurance exchanges. If states fail to set up the exchanges, the federal government does it for them and the provision gave individual states leeway to set up a healthcare marketplace according to their resident s needs.
Publisher: Politicus USA
8 Oct 2013
Tell the Justice Department to Investigate the Koch Brothers Seditious Govt Shutdown Plot
Teabaggers have lusted to shut down the federal government since 2011 unless taxes and domestic spending were abolished, but they lacked Republican support until the Koch brothers and their band of seditionists decided the government was fair game to eliminate the healthcare law. The fascist Koch brothers and their Americans for Prosperity belief tank funding the effort to abolish the ACA recently spent $5.5 million to denigrate the idea of affordable healthcare through a propaganda and misinformation campaign that would make Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels proud.
Publisher: ProPublica
31 Aug 2010
Koch Industries Fought the Health Care Law, But Sought Funds From It
Publisher: ProPublica
24 Aug 2010
Company Owned By Cancer Research Donor Lobbied Against Designation of Formaldehyde as Carcinogen
Publisher: Public Integrity
10 Dec 2014
Luxembourg tax deals for Disney, Koch brothers empires revealed
A new leak of confidential documents expands the list of big companies seeking secret tax deals in Luxembourg, exposing tax-saving maneuvers by American entertainment icon The Walt Disney Co., politically controversial Koch Industries Inc. and 33 other companies. Disney and Koch Industries, a U.S.-based energy and chemical conglomerate, both created tangles of interlocking corporations in Luxembourg that may have helped them slash the taxes they pay in the U.S. and Europe, according to the documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Publisher: Pundit Fact
20 Apr 2014
Doonesbury says Koch brothers outspent unions 3-1
"You know, the Roberts court really did screw us over with Citizens United," she said to Mike Doonesbury, speaking about the U.S. Supreme Court and a decision that allows corporations and unions to contribute unlimited amounts of money to political campaigns. "Last election cycle, a pair of nasty billionaires spent three times what the top 10 unions spent combined."
Publisher: RedState
23 Aug 2010
Barack Obama’s Attempted Character Assassination of Koch Industries
Publisher: review journal
28 Mar 2014
Soros backs good causes; Kochs don’t
Mr. Soros doesn t fit the mold of the Koch brothers. He funds entities that will tax him at a higher rate and will regulate his industry, which gives him a greater advantage. When industries are regulated for fairness, the truly gifted are at an advantage. When industry is unregulated, any thieving, unscrupulous financial thug can make money, as we witnessed in the recent financial crash
Publisher: Roland Martin Reports
21 Nov 2012
Koch Brothers ‘Extremely Disappointed’ In Rick Scott After Obamacare Shift
Americans for Prosperity, a conservative organization backed by the billionaire Koch brothers, took aim at Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) on Monday, accusing him of working against his state s interests with his apparent change of heart on Obamacare. In a statement, AFP said that Scott s recent signal that he was willing to consider implementing key provisions of President Barack Obama s health care reform law was a step in the wrong direction.
Publisher: Rolingstone
24 Sep 2014
Inside the Koch Brothers’ Toxic Empire
The Koch Brothers are among the largest polluters on the planet. Under the nearly five-decade reign of CEO Charles Koch, the company has paid out record civil and criminal environmental penalties. And in 1999, a jury handed down to Koch's pipeline company what was then the largest wrongful-death judgment of its type in U.S. history, resulting from the explosion of a defective pipeline that incinerated a pair of Texas teenagers. The volume of Koch Industries' toxic output is staggering. According to the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Political Economy Research Institute, only three companies rank among the top 30 polluters of America's air, water and climate: ExxonMobil, American Electric Power and Koch Industries
Publisher: Saint Peters Blog
25 Nov 2014
Koch Brothers group calls on U.S. Reps Bilirakis and Buchanan to oppose wind subsidies
On page three of your Tampa Bay Times this morning is a quarter-page ad paid for by Americans for Prosperity, calling on Republican Congressmen Gus Bilirakis and Vern Buchanan to oppose wind subsidies. The ad says that Extending the wind energy handout will cost $13 billion over the next decade, with one photo of a wind farm and another of dollars being printed. It then advocates that readers call the two GOP representatives to oppose such wind subsidies.
Publisher: Salon
18 Jan 2015
Koch brothers/charter school nightmare: “White kids get to go to a school with a Montessori approach while children of color get eye control”
A fight over education in Nashville might come your way next: It's a proxy for dangerous right-wing education ideas. "We know we need to do something about students who are not achieving in our schools." That anxious appeal - along with its many variations - has become the refrain now firmly embedded in speeches and opinion columns about American public education.
Publisher: Salon
8 Nov 2014
The Koch brothers’ underhanded attack on wind energy
Well that took absolutely no time at all. A coalition of conservative groups lead by the Koch-affiliated American Energy Alliance (and including the Koch-affiliated Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-affiliated Competitive Enterprise Institute, among others) are showing up in force against renewable energy, urging congressional Republicans to allow a key wind energy tax credit to expire. Wind power's Achilles heel, for the time being, is that it's not yet sustainable on its own - without tax credits, it collapses. According to the American Wind Energy Association, capacity and construction drop a full 84 percent when the wind production tax credit (PTC) isn't available.
Publisher: Salon
8 Nov 2012
Conservatives fail to oust judges in Iowa and Florida
In Florida, the Koch-backed Americans For Prosperity and the state Republican party failed to get rid of three state Supreme Court justices, who they argued were "extreme" and "activist" in their rulings. One decision that the right didn t particularly like involved the state s attempt to block the Affordable Care Act, which the judges ruled against.
Publisher: Salon
12 Jun 2015
The Koch brothers just took a huge step toward a GOP civil war
Republican elected leaders found they no longer had the power to negotiate or make a deal on the party s behalf. They also did not seem to realize that this monster is extremely wealthy and very, very powerful. And it is taking control: The RNC is now openly arguing - that the Kochs political operation is trying to control the Republican Party s master voter file, and to gain influence over - some even say control of - the GOP.
Publisher: Scaling Green
14 Jun 2014
Koch Brothers Launching New “Seven Figures” Effort to Promote Dirty Energy; Trash Clean Energy and the Environment
The energy initiative is being created under the umbrella of the largest Koch network nonprofit in apparent response to a number of developments: the commitment by liberal billionaire Tom Steyer to steer $100 million into ads in several states to make climate change a priority issue in the elections; numerous setbacks at the state level where Koch network backed advocacy groups have been fighting against renewable energy standards; and the new EPA regulations to curb carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
Publisher: seattlepi
27 Jan 2011
Tea Party billionaire booed in Brooklyn
Publisher: SolveClimate News
11 Feb 2011
Publisher: source watch
30 Dec 2011
ALEC Alumni in Congress
ALEC is not a lobby; it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, behind closed doors, corporations hand state legislators the changes to the law they desire that directly benefit their bottom line. Along with legislators, corporations have membership in ALEC. Corporations sit on all nine ALEC task forces and vote with legislators to approve "model" bills.
Publisher: STAT
Author: Erin Mershon
15 Jan 2018
Publisher: sustainable business
9 May 2013
Furor Erupts Over Koch Bros Buying Major Newspapers
Even before the Koch Bros have put in an official bid to buy the Tribune newspapers, people around the country are up in arms over the prospect of them owning eight important regional news outlets. About half the staff at the Los Angeles Times have pledged to quit their jobs if the paper is taken over by the Koch Bros, and many are moving to block the sale. There are protest rallies planned for LA and Chicago at Tribune headquarters.
Publisher: Teamster Nation
8 Dec 2011
Hoosiers oppose right-to-work for less bill pushed by Koch brothers
The Koch brothers are at it again. Through one of their favorite front groups, American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, they're pushing right-to-work for less in Indiana. Yesterday, Indiana Republicans teamed up with ALEC to promote the anti-worker proposal at the Statehouse. Reports the Indianapolis Star,
Publisher: The Atlantic Wire
12 Nov 2013
Anti-Obamacare Group Bros Out with Booze and College Girls
Generation Opportunity is a Koch brothers-funded group that wants young people to opt out of Obamacare because it's a "bad deal." We've noted before that GenOpp is still "working on" the math to back up this claim. Still, the group has been rolling along with its "Opt Out" campaign since September, offering up creepy Uncle Sam ads and now, apparently, booze.
Publisher: The Daily Caller
14 Apr 2012
Kochs fire back at anti-ALEC campaign from Color of Change
Philip Ellender, president and chief operating officer of government and public affairs at KCPS, told TheDC that the anti-ALEC campaign is designed "not only to intimidate, but to silence supporters of free-market principles and those who oppose the current policies that are worsening our already ruinous deficits."
Publisher: The Daily Caller
7 Apr 2014
The Koch brothers must not be allowed to thwart the will of Chuck Schumer
Schumer and his little pals are scared that the Koch brothers logical, fact-based, liberty-loving message will resonate with voters, so they re trying to poison the well. They can t point to their successes, having none, so they re appealing to the dumbest of the dumb: their base. "Get the Koch brothers! Attack! Spread the word!"
Publisher: The Daily Pulp
19 Mar 2011
David Koch, Billionaire Tea Party Funder, Is in Jeffrey Epstein’s Black Book
What does a Republican fundraiser and wealthy oilman have in common with sleazy sex offender Jeffrey Epstein? Who knows, but it's something worthy of exchanging digits. David Koch, the billionaire Tea Party bankroller, makes an appearance in Epstein's address book. He joins an illustrious group of celebs now tainted by Epstein's practice of hiring of underaged girls to massage and service him. Former President Bill Clinton and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also appear in the book, according to the Palm Beach Daily News.
Publisher: the ecologist
13 Nov 2013
Koch Brothers Win 2013 Rubber Dodo Award
The Koch Brothers, an ultra-secret and super-rich duo that shamelessly funnels money to the climate-denier movement and campaigns to ram through the Keystone XL pipeline, are the lucky recipients of the Center for Biological Diversity's 2013 Rubber Dodo Award, given annually to those who have done the most to drive endangered species extinct.
Publisher: The Globe and Mail
27 May 2012
Harper is right Foreign radicals are after the oil sands
Stephen Harper s Conservatives have courageously chosen to expose and confront foreign interests that have surreptitiously been infiltrating the Canadian oil industry - and they don t mean their Chinese Communist partners. They are apparently in possession of revelations about these extremists and criminals that, in the words of Senator Nicole Eaton, "would make your blood boil." For six decades around the world, Koch Industries has blazed a path to riches - in part, by making illicit payments to win contracts, trading with a terrorist state , fixing prices, neglecting safety and ignoring environmental regulations. At the same time, Charles and David Koch have promoted a form of government that interferes less with company actions."
Publisher: The Guardian
9 May 2012
Conservative thinktanks step up attacks against Obama’s clean energy strate
A network of ultra-conservative groups is ramping up an offensive on multiple fronts to turn the American public against wind farms and Barack Obama's energy agenda. A number of rightwing organisations, including Americans for Prosperity, which is funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, are attacking Obama for his support for solar and wind power. The American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec), which also has financial links to the Kochs, has drafted bills to overturn state laws promoting wind energy.
Publisher: The Guardian
6 Dec 2013
State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax
Conservative groups across the US are planning a co-ordinated assault against public sector rights and services in the key areas of education, healthcare, income tax, workers' compensation and the environment, documents obtained by the Guardian reveal. The strategy for the state-level organisations, which describe themselves as "free-market thinktanks", includes proposals from six different states for cuts in public sector pensions, campaigns to reduce the wages of government workers and eliminate income taxes, school voucher schemes to counter public education, opposition to Medicaid, and a campaign against regional efforts to combat greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
Publisher: The Guardian
6 Jul 2015
Koch Industries spent 0.5m Euro lobbying EU on environmental protection
A notorious funder of climate sceptics in the US has spent at least 550,000 ( 390,908) lobbying the EU on environmental protections and energy issues over the past three years. An obscure entry on the EU s voluntary transparency register shows that up to 750,000 ( 533,049) may have been spent by Koch Industries, the largest private energy company in the US, on trying to influence EU policy.
Publisher: The Hill
21 Aug 2014
NextGen connects Scott Brown to Koch brothers, oil interests
NextGen Climate released an advertising campaign Thursday aimed at linking New Hampshire Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown to billionaire conservatives Charles and David Koch and the oil industry. - "Out-of-state oilmen like the Koch brothers are spending millions to elect out-of-state politician Scott Brown to our Senate seat," the voiceover says in the TV ad. "Brown voted to protect tax giveaways for big oil, which is polluting our air and water."
Publisher: The Nation
18 Oct 2011
Charles Koch to Friedrich Hayek: Use Social Security!
There's right-wing hypocrisy, and then there s this: Charles Koch, billionaire patron of free-market libertarianism, privately championed the benefits of Social Security to Friedrich Hayek, the leading laissez-faire economist of the twentieth century. Koch even sent Hayek a government pamphlet to help him take advantage of America s federal retirement insurance and healthcare programs.
Publisher: The Nation
Author: John Nichols
25 Feb 2012
Scott Walker’s Koch Connection Goes Bad
Billionaire campaign donor David Koch has rarely spoken in public about the central role he has played in the election of Scott Walker as governor of Wisconsin, the defense of Walker s embattled governorship and, now, Walker s desperate attempt to defeat the recall election that more than one million Wisconsinites have demanded. Until now. And that has raised fundamental legal and political questions about the manipulation of Wisconsin politics by out-of-state billionaires
Publisher: The Nation
2 Oct 2014
Brothers Are Molding the Next Scott Walkers
The tape shared by The Undercurrent with The Nation illustrates how gubernatorial candidates appealed for the blessing not just of the Kochs but of the network of wealthy donors that can provide support both for specific campaigns and for "independent" projects such as a primary-season ad blitz highlighting Walker s endorsement of Arizona s Ducey. As Ducey told the Koch brothers summit on June 16, I can t emphasize enough the power of organizations like this. Why does the Koch power matter so much? That s easy. The policies that governors like Walker have outlined and implemented are not popular. Despite an $18 million investment by the RGA and its allies in Walker s Wisconsin experiment, Cox acknowledged at the Koch summit that the governor has no easy route to re-election. "This is a race we re going to have to be engaged in right on until the end," he said of this year s race in Wisconsin, where recent polls have had Walker in a tied race or actually trailing.
Publisher: The Nation
Author: Lee Fang
23 Dec 2012
David Koch Now Taking Aim at Hurricane Sandy Victims
Billionaire David Koch’s prime political organization, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), having failed in its $125 million quest to oust President Barack Obama, is now aiming at a slightly less sophisticated political target: victims of Hurricane Sandy.Hurricane Sandy was the second most costly in American history, leaving 100 lives lost, over $50 billion in devastation and tens of thousands of damaged or destroyed homes. Legislative efforts to help those who survived Hurricane Sandy’s wrath will reach a major stumbling block.