The Koch Family is a well
known for having made its mark as a bastion of industrialists and
businesspeople. In contemporary times
their most notable associations have been made visible through their vast array
of political
activities and control of Koch Industries, the second largest privately
held company in the United States (with 2013 revenues of $115 billion). Family patriarch, Fred
C. Koch, started the business, which developed a new cracking method for the refinement of heavy oil into gasoline.
The senior Mr.
Koch’s hardline conservative leanings are well documented. He was a founding member of the John Birch Society (JBS) is an advocacy group
supporting anti-communism
and limited
government. It has been
described as radical right. That
portends much for the activism of several of the current Koch Foundations.
During the 80’s and 90’s Fred C. Koch’s four sons litigated for control of Koch
Industries. At the end of the day, the
last two men standing, as it relates to Koch Industries, were Charles and
David.
Four sons of
Fred C. and Mary Robinson Koch:
The Koch
family foundations are a related group of non-profit organizations that began
with the establishment of the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation in 1953, and that now
includes the Charles Koch Foundation, the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation
and the Koch Cultural Trust. The organizations collectively have a stated goal
of "advancing liberty and freedom" through the support of various
causes which "further social progress and sustainable prosperity." In
addition to the direct action of the non-profits, the groups have also
contributed financially to other philanthropic organizations in the fields of
research, public well-being, arts, and education, including contributions to
scholarship programs, university support, and loan assistance through
organizations like the United Negro
College Fund.
The Koch
brothers have indicated that they intend to raise almost $900 million in
support of candidates in the 2016 elections, and have given more than $100
million to conservative
and libertarian
policy and advocacy groups in the United States, including the Heritage
Foundation and the Cato Institute, and more
recently "Americans for
Prosperity".
"Americans
for Prosperity", founded by David Koch, has been reported by Kenneth Vogel of Politico to be one of
the main nonprofit groups assisting the Tea Party movement;
but in 2010, Koch spokeswoman Melissa Cohlmia distanced the Kochs from the tea
parties and FreedomWorks
saying that "no funding has been provided by Koch companies, the Koch
foundations, Charles Koch or David Koch specifically to support the tea
parties." According to the Koch Family
Foundations and Philanthropy website, "the foundations and the individual
giving of Koch family members" have financially supported organizations
"fostering entrepreneurship, education, human services, at-risk youth,
arts and culture, and medical research."
According to
the environmentalist group Greenpeace;
the Koch brothers have played an active role in opposing climate change
legislation. Organizations that the Koch brothers help fund, such as Americans
for Prosperity, the Heritage Foundation, the Cato institute, and the
Manhattan Institute, have been active in questioning global warming. According
to salon.com, through Americans for Prosperity the Koch brothers influenced
more than 400 members of Congress to sign a pledge to vote against climate
change legislation that does not include offsetting tax cuts.
While the
Koch family has been making substantial donations to criminal justice reform
organizations for nearly a decade, most recently the Kochs headed a bipartisan
resolution to make more serious leaps to reform. Included in these are aims at
eliminating over criminalization and over incarceration, which generally harms
low-income and minority communities, as well as reducing recidivism rates,
diminishing barriers faced by the rehabilitated seeking employment, and law
enforcement's Asset forfeiture
to deprive the incarcerated of property.
Joe Scarborough, co-host
of MSNBC's Morning Joe,
has pointed out that, although their critics are usually unaware of the fact,
the Koch brothers have supported more than just what are generally considered
conservative causes. They opposed George W. Bush on many
issues, are pro-choice,
support same sex
marriage, and had worked closely with the Obama White House for the Obama
administration's criminal justice
reform initiatives that aligned with their own.
This counter
narrative brings us face-to-face with the notion that despite a significant
historical footprint in the arena of conservative and ultra-conservative
politics and policies the Brothers are expanding their range of interest to
encompass addressing the needs of the poor.
At first blush, one may be tempted to wonder if these leopards have shed
their spots, or at least altered them in some meaningful way. That is a fair contemplation.
Upon further
reflection, one may recall that after the 2012 General Election, the GOP did a
results audit to examine the micro and macro results of the election, and to
determine the cause of causes that they failed to capture the White House. One of the findings of that analysis revealed
was that Mitt Romney’s efforts were torpedoed, largely, due to something
characterized as an “empathy gap”
Among voters seeking a candidate who “cares about people like me”, President Obama
clobbered Romney 81 percent to 18
percent ― by far the widest gap among the four traits commonly
measured (the others are vision for the future, shares my values and strong
leader.
To that end,
lets rip the thinly disguised veneer away and just admit that this initiative
is part of a grand design to mind-game people who traditionally have recognized
that their interest are not well served by people who vote and frame policy in
a way that aligns with the interests of the Koch Brothers and/or their
Foundations.
The brothers
have invested millions of dollars in programs to win over an unlikely
demographic target for their small government conservatism – poor people. The related outreach includes turkey giveaways,
GED training and English-language instruction for Hispanic immigrants,
community holiday meals and healthy living classes for predominantly African
American groups, vocational training and couponing classes for the
under-employed. The strategy calls for
presenting a more compassionate side of the brothers’ politics to new
audiences, while fighting the perception that their groups are merely fronts
for rich Republicans seeking to game the political process for personal
gain. Not surprisingly, the efforts do
include a healthy dose of proselytizing about free enterprise and how it can do
more than government to lift people out of poverty.
Once again,
that sounds good, and may even be true, if you discount the almost certain bait
and switch elements waiting in the wings.
Eventually,
the Koch network will throw its clout behind a GOP nominee who supports a tax
plan that lavishes its largest windfalls on the rich; would repeal Obamacare’s
coverage expansion for many millions and replace it with something that would
almost certainly cover far fewer people; resoundingly
rejects a minimum wage hike to keep pace with inflation; and pledges
fealty to the Paul Ryan vision, which would block-grant safety net programs to
the states, potentially “increasing poverty and financial hardship,” as the Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities puts it. Broadly speaking, the GOP
candidates are already committed to a vision built around the idea that rolling
back Obama’s redistributive policies, and unshackling runaway growth, is
the way to jog loose stagnating wages and stagnant opportunity. As conservative
writer Ramesh Ponnuru
recently put it: “Republicans do not seem to be even trying to erode
the Democratic advantage on middle-class economics.”
And that’s
fine! Let’s put this contrast before the voters — again. Obviously one doesn’t
want to dismiss out of hand the possibility that there may be a backlash among swing voters to
Obama’s government activism or that a candidate like Marco Rubio
may effectively employ his humble
background to sell conservative policies in a way Mitt Romney
couldn’t. But right now, it seems doubtful that slathering the same old
economic vision with fat from free turkeys will make it any easier to swallow.
Election
season begins in earnest February 1st. Until then, just recognize…” Koch and a Smile: Masking an Illiberal Agenda!”
I’m done; holla back!
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