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Koch Industries sponsors [[free market]] foundations and causes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kochind.com/ViewPoint/publicPolicy.aspx |title=Advancing Market-Based Public Policy |author= |date= |work=kochind.com |publisher=Koch Industries |accessdate=18 February 2010}}</ref> For the 2012 election cycle, the Koch brothers plan to raise $88 million dollars.<ref name='Poltico2011-02-11'> {{cite news | first = Kenneth | last = Vogel | coauthors = [[Ben Smith (journalist) | Ben Smith]] | title = Kochs brothers' plan for 2012: raise $88 million | date = 2011-02-11 | publisher = [[Allbritton Communications Company]] | url = http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49303.html | work = [[Politico (newspaper) | Politico]] | accessdate = 2011-02-11}}</ref>
Koch Industries sponsors [[free market]] foundations and causes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kochind.com/ViewPoint/publicPolicy.aspx |title=Advancing Market-Based Public Policy |author= |date= |work=kochind.com |publisher=Koch Industries |accessdate=18 February 2010}}</ref> For the 2012 election cycle, the Koch brothers plan to raise $88 million dollars.<ref name='Poltico2011-02-11'> {{cite news | first = Kenneth | last = Vogel | coauthors = [[Ben Smith (journalist) | Ben Smith]] | title = Kochs brothers' plan for 2012: raise $88 million | date = 2011-02-11 | publisher = [[Allbritton Communications Company]] | url = http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49303.html | work = [[Politico (newspaper) | Politico]] | accessdate = 2011-02-11}}</ref>


[[Mother Jones (magazine)]], according to [[Rick Unger]]'s opinion column at blogs.forbes.com, says that the Koch Industries PAC gave to [[Scott Walker]]'s gubernatorial campaign. <ref>http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/02/18/koch-brothers-behind-wisconsin-effort-to-kill-public-unions/</ref> The New York Times further reported that the president for [[Americans for Prosperity]], the Koch Brothers' political action committee, was lobbying for the radically anti-union bill Governor Walker put forth to the Wisconsin legislature. <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/us/22koch.html?_r=1</ref>
[[Mother Jones (magazine)]], according to [[Rick Unger]]'s opinion column at blogs.forbes.com, says that the Koch Industries PAC gave to [[Scott Walker]]'s gubernatorial campaign. <ref>http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/02/18/koch-brothers-behind-wisconsin-effort-to-kill-public-unions/</ref> The New York Times further reported that the president for [[Americans for Prosperity]], the Koch Brothers' political action committee, lobbie for the radically anti-union bill Governor Walker put forth to the Wisconsin legislature. <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/us/22koch.html?_r=1</ref>


===Lobbying for Oil, Gas, and Chemical Industries===
===Lobbying for Oil, Gas, and Chemical Industries===

Revision as of 18:30, 22 February 2011

The political activities of the Koch family are the political activities of the family of Fred C. Koch, a co-founder of Koch Industries, an oil, gas, and chemical conglomerate which is the U.S.A.'s second largest privately held company[1] with annual revenues of $110 billion. Many of the activities are carried out via the Koch Family Foundations, the most prominent of which are the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation, created by two of Fred C. Koch's sons, Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch. Notable activities include Charles Koch co-founding the Cato Institute in 1977, and David Koch being the Libertarian vice-presidential candidate in 1980 and helping found the Citizens for a Sound Economy in 1984, and its spin-off Americans for Prosperity in 2004.[2] In total, the Koch brothers have given more than 196 million dollars to dozens of free-market and advocacy organizations[1][3][unreliable source?], in addition to over $600 million to arts, science, and educational organizations.[4] Tax records indicate that in 2008 the three main Koch family foundations gave money to thirty-four political and policy organizations, three of which they founded, and several of which they direct.[1]

Background

Charles and David's father, Fred C. Koch, was a co-founder of the John Birch Society.[1] He gave a speech in 1963 warning of “a takeover” of America in which Communists would “infiltrate the highest offices of government in the U.S. until the president is a Communist, unknown to the rest of us”.[3] [unreliable source?]

David H. Koch was a Libertarian vice-presidential candidate in 1980 on a platform that advocated the abolition of Social Security, the FBI, the CIA, and public schools.[5][3][unreliable source?] Koch put $500,000 into the race, and he and Ed Clark, his presidential running mate, won 1% of the vote -- the best libertarian showing in a U.S. presidential race to date. But the experience caused David Koch to change course: "I had enough," he said. "We are not a nation that debates issues. We vote on candidates' personalities." By 1984, David had parted company with the Libertarian party, because, he said, "they nominated a ticket I wasn't happy with" and "so many of the hard-core Libertarian ideas are unrealistic."[5]

Since then, Charles and David Koch have adopted a much less visible strategy toward advancing their libertarian and pro-corporate agenda.[citation needed] Jane Mayer says that they are now so secretive that "they are not just undercover, but underground".[6] In 1986, David Koch helped found the Citizens for a Sound Economy, and has given over $21 million to the Cato Institute.[7]

Charles G. Koch

Charles G. Koch funds and supports libertarian and free-market organizations such as the Cato Institute,[2] which he co-founded with Edward H. Crane and Murray Rothbard in 1977,[8] and is a board member at the Mercatus Center, a market-oriented research think tank at George Mason University. Koch supported his brother's candidacy for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1980.[9] After the bid, Koch told a reporter that conventional politics "tends to be a nasty, corrupting business ... I’m interested in advancing libertarian ideas".[9] In addition to funding think tanks, Charles and David also support libertarian academics[10] and (since 1992) Koch funds the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program through the Institute for Humane Studies which recruits and mentors young libertarians.[11] Koch is also chair of the Institute's board of directors.[12] Koch also organizes twice yearly meetings[13] of Republican donors.[2]

In the August 2010 New Yorker, Jane Mayer writes that "As their fortunes grew, Charles and David Koch became the primary underwriters of hard-line libertarian politics in America."[9] The Koch brothers fund a multitude of groups opposed to fiscally left-wing policies, including Americans for Prosperity.

Organizations

Family Foundations

Main article: Koch Family Foundations

The Koch Family Foundations began in 1953 with the establishment of the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation. In 1980 Charles G. Koch established the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundationwith the stated purpose of advancing social progress and well-being through the development, application and dissemination of "the Science of Liberty," and in 1981 he inherited control of the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation when he was left in charge of Claude Lambe's estate.[14][unreliable source?] David H. Koch established the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation. Charles' and David's foundations have together provided hundreds of millions of dollars to a variety of organizations, including arts organizations, educational organizations,[4] and libertarian or conservative think tanks.

Political organizations

Americans for Prosperity is an advocacy group that was founded in 2004 by the Koch brothers,[1] and is funded by them;[15] [1] it is the political arm of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, of which David Koch is chairman of the Board of Trustees[15][16]. Americans for Prosperity created Patients United Now, which advocated against a single-payer system during the 2009-2010 healthcare reform debate.

Citizens for a Sound Economy was co-founded by David Koch in the 1980s,[15] and, according to the Center for Public Integrity, the Koch Brothers funded it with $7.9 million between 1986 and 1993.[1]. In 1990, they created the spinoff group, Citizens for the Environment.[1]

Charles and David Koch also have been involved and have provided funding to a number of other think tanks and advocacy organizations: They provided initial funding for the Cato Institute,[15] they are key donors to the Federalist Society,[15] and also support the Mercatus Center, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Institute for Justice, the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, the Institute for Energy Research, the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment, Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the George C. Marshall Institute, the Reason Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.[17][18]

As of 2011, David Koch sits on the board of directors of the Cato institute,[19] the Reason Foundation and Aspen Institute.[16]

Political Activity

Koch Industries sponsors free market foundations and causes.[20] For the 2012 election cycle, the Koch brothers plan to raise $88 million dollars.[21]

Mother Jones (magazine), according to Rick Unger's opinion column at blogs.forbes.com, says that the Koch Industries PAC gave to Scott Walker's gubernatorial campaign. [22] The New York Times further reported that the president for Americans for Prosperity, the Koch Brothers' political action committee, lobbie for the radically anti-union bill Governor Walker put forth to the Wisconsin legislature. [23]

Lobbying for Oil, Gas, and Chemical Industries

During the 2010 election cycle, Americans for Prosperity claims to have spent $40 million dollars.[15] Koch groups were the largest oil and gas industry donors to Congressmen and women on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is responsible for legislation affecting the industry. Koch-backed groups donated $279,500 to 22 Republicans and $32,000 to five Democrats, including $20,000 to committee chairman Fred Upton.[15] Of the six Republican members who were elected to Congress for the first time, Americans for Prosperity supported five of their campaigns.[15] Of twelve Republicans newly appointed to the Committee, nine signed a pledge distributed by Americans for Prosperity to oppose greenhouse gas regulation.[15]

According to a Greenpeace report, from 2005 to 2008, Koch Industries and the foundations under its control donated $5.7 million on political campaigns and $38 million on direct lobbying to support fossil fuel industries. The report also asserts that between 1997 and 2008, Koch Industries donated nearly $48 million to climate change skeptic groups,[24] exceeding even the donations of ExxonMobil, and nearly $10 million to the Mercatus Center, $3.3 million to the Heritage Foundation, over $5 million to the Cato Institute (all 1997-2008), and $5 million to Americans for Prosperity (2005-2008).[25] Koch Industries and its subsidiaries spent more than $20 million on lobbying in 2008 and $12.3 million in 2009, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group.[26][27]

The Claude R. Lambe Foundation has donated to the American Energy Alliance, an offshoot of the Institute for Energy Research.[28][unreliable source?]

Free Enterprise Seminars

Charles and David Koch have organized seminars. In June 2010, an event was held in Aspen, Colorado, titled "Understanding and Addressing Threats to American Free Enterprise and Prosperity". The seminar program says "past meetings have featured such notable leaders as Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas; Governors Bobby Jindal and Haley Barbour; commentators John Stossel, Charles Krauthammer, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh; Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn; and Representatives Paul Ryan, Mike Pence, and Tom Price."[29]

Significance

One 1997 study by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy[30] identified 12 American foundations that have had a key influence on US public policy since the 1960s, particularly via their support for the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute and Cato Institute.[31] Three of these 12 are Koch Family Foundations (Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, David H. Koch Charitable Foundation).[31] [32] Charles Koch co-founded the Cato Institute, whilst David Koch sits on its board.[1]

Koch activities have been compared with other politically active philanthropists like George Soros and Peter Lewis and organizations like Democracy Alliance.[33] The Coors family behind the Coors Brewing Company has similarly contributed to conservative causes, including contributing to the 1973 establishment of the Heritage Foundation.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mayer, Jane (2010-08-30). "Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama". The New Yorker. Condé Nast Publications.
  2. ^ a b c Zernike, Kate (October 19, 2010). "Secretive Republican Donors Are Planning Ahead". New York Times. Cite error: The named reference "Zernike" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c The billionaires bankrolling the Tea Party., Rich, Frank, New York Times, August 28, 2010.
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Matt (September 2, 2010). "Koch Brothers Donate to Charity as well as 'Right Wing Causes".
  5. ^ a b Charlotte Curtis (1984-10-16). "Man Without a Candidate". New York Times.
  6. ^ Mayer, Jane (2010-08-26). "The Brothers Koch: Rich, Political And Playing To Win". Fresh Air.
  7. ^ [1]
  8. ^ "25 Years at Cato" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-07-10.
  9. ^ a b c Jane Mayer. "Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2010-09-07.
  10. ^ Brian Doherty (2008). Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement. PublicAffairs. p. 410. ISBN 1586485725. One longtime Koch lieutenant characterized the overall strategy of Koch's libertarian funding over the years with both a theatrical metaphor and an Austrian capital theory one: Politicians, ultimately, are just actors playing out a script. The idea is, one gets better and quicker results aiming not at the actors but at the scriptwriters, to help supply the themes and words for the scripts—to try to influence the areas where policy ideas percolate from: academia and think tanks. Ideas, then, are the capital goods that go into building policy as a finished product—and there are insufficient libertarian capital goods at the top of the structure of production to build the policies libertarians demand.
  11. ^ "Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program". Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. Retrieved 2010-09-10. The Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program combines a paid public policy internship with two career skills seminars and weekly policy lectures. You'll gain real-world experience, take a crash course in market-based policy analysis, and hone your professional skills. The intensive ten-week program begins in June and includes a $1,500 stipend and a housing allowance.
  12. ^ http://www.theihs.org/koch-summer-fellow-program/faqs#159
  13. ^ Stephen Moore (May 6, 2006). "The Weekend Interview with Charles Koch: Private Enterprise". The Wall Street Journal. p. A.8.
  14. ^ Pam Martens, CounterPunch, 19 October 2010, The Koch Empire and Americans for Prosperity
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hamburger, Tom (2011-02-06). "Koch brothers now at heart of GOP power". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved 2011-02-06. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ a b "Koch Industries, Inc. - Leadership". Koch Industries. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
  17. ^ The Tea Party movement: deluded and inspired by billionaires, George Monbiot, The Guardian, 25 Oct. 2010.
  18. ^ http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?year=2009&lname=Koch+Industries&id= Center For Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org
  19. ^ Cato Institute, Board of Directors, accessed 1 Feb 2011
  20. ^ "Advancing Market-Based Public Policy". kochind.com. Koch Industries. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  21. ^ Vogel, Kenneth (2011-02-11). "Kochs brothers' plan for 2012: raise $88 million". Politico. Allbritton Communications Company. Retrieved 2011-02-11. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/02/18/koch-brothers-behind-wisconsin-effort-to-kill-public-unions/
  23. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/us/22koch.html?_r=1
  24. ^ Vidal, John (30 March 2010). "US oil company donated millions to climate sceptic groups, says Greenpeace". The Guardian. London.
  25. ^ "Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine". Global Warming. Washington: Greenpeace. 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
  26. ^ http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?year=2008&lname=Koch+Industries&id= Center For Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org
  27. ^ http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?year=2009&lname=Koch+Industries&id= Center For Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org
  28. ^ NPR, New Group Tied To Oil Industry Runs Ads Promoting Drilling, Attacking Democrat
  29. ^ Charles G. Koch (2010-9-24). "Invitation to Seminar, Understanding and Addressing Threats to American Free Enterprise and Prosperity" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. ^ Sally Covington, Moving A Public Policy Agenda: The Strategic Philanthropy of Conservative Foundations, Washington, DC: National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, 1997.
  31. ^ a b Behan, Richard W. (2004), "Degenerate Democracy: The Neoliberal and Corporate Capture of America's Agenda", Public Land & Resources Law Review, Vol. 24, pp. 9-24. p19
  32. ^ The others are the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, John M. Olin Foundation, Carthage Foundation (controlled by Richard Mellon Scaife), Earhart Foundation, Philip M. McKenna Foundation, JM Foundation, Henry Salvatori Foundation, Sarah Scaife Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation. (Behan 2004:19)
  33. ^ Vogel, Ken (January 27, 2011). "Koch conference under scrutiny". Politico.
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