Home » Posts tagged 'charles koch'
Tag Archives: charles koch
Koch Political Machine Focuses on “Freedom” to Pollute and Pay Less Taxes
Koch Political Machine Focuses on “Freedom” to Pollute and Pay Less Taxes
Billionaire conservative activist Charles Koch on Sunday likened his political efforts to the struggles of Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass, saying that “we, too, are seeking to right injustices that are holding our country back.”
We know this because Politico and the Washington Post were allowed to attend Charles and David Koch’s fundraiser at a southern California luxury resort over the weekend, in exchange for a promise from the reporters that they would help keep the names of donors secret.
They may as well have promised to keep what the donors are actually paying for secret as well.
The two media organizations dutifully reprinted Koch’s claim that his political network is focused on reforming the criminal justice system, reducing irresponsible government spending and even “helping the lower class.”
The reality of the Koch political agenda is wildly different.
Koch executives have gained positive headlines recently by partnering with groups such as the ACLU, the Brennan Center for Justice, and the Pew Charitable Trust to promote alternatives to incarceration and other criminal justice reforms.
But the political network developed by the Koch brothers — the one that wins policy debates on Capitol Hill and elects favored candidates at the ballot box — has continued to elevate a narrow set of issues relating to upper income taxes and environmental deregulation.
Americans for Prosperity, the biggest political organ in the sprawling network of groups financed by the Koch brothers, has never lobbied the federal government on criminal justice reform. Rather, disclosures from the group show that it has dedicated its efforts to repealing the estate tax (a tax on heirs inheriting estates worth over $5.43 million), repealing a tax on medical device companies, and undermining Environmental Protection Agency regulations on industrial pollution.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Charles Koch Admits Climate Change is Happening, Then Denies the Problem
Charles Koch Admits Climate Change is Happening, Then Denies the Problem
As the nation warily watches every Republican presidential candidate kiss the ring of billionaire donor Charles Koch for a shot at his network’s $300,000,000 pool of presidential cash, Charles Koch did something unusual. Last week’s USAToday interview with Charles Koch noted his shifting opinion on what he calls climate change “hysteria:”
For the record, Koch says this of climate change: “You can plausibly say thatCO2 has contributed” to the planet’s warming, but he sees “no evidence” to support “this theory that it’s going to be catastrophic.”
Wait…Charles Koch just accepted that the planet is warming? Hold your applause.
Clearly, Mr. Koch still denies that there’s a problem – which means he’s missing the entire point of discussing climate change. But any movement from Charles on the 5 Stages of Climate Denial–from #1 down to #3–is a big deal. This is the same guy who has poured $80 million into organizations that have misrepresented climate change science to the public and advocated against any viable solutions to the problem.
Koch’s Right-Hand-Man: “Charles is ahead of me on this.”
Last June, leaked recordings surfaced from Koch’s regular meeting of millionaires and billionaires who are coordinating $889 million in spending around the 2016 election. Charles’s Koch top strategist Richard Fink indicated that we may see a shift in Koch’s rhetoric on climate change. Fink, aka “Charles Koch’s Brain,” told attending prospective donors what they wanted to hear: donate to us, and we’ll fight the crazy commie hippies and their pesky science. From the Undercurrent
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
