Tag: Koch Brothers

Really? A Tax Break For Dark Money Outfits?

The following article by David Sirota with the International Business Times was posted on the National Memo website December 8, 2017:

With Republican megadonors like Charles Koch, 82, and his brother David, 77, advancing in age, a top GOP senator from the Kochs’ home state has proposed a special tax break for moguls who bequeath their riches to so-called “dark money” groups that advocate for policies and bankroll lawmakers’ election ads. Though Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts’ proposal did not make it into the Senate-passed version of the tax bill, it could still be added by the conference committee that will write the final $1.4 trillion tax cut legislation.

Although dark money groups are entitled to conceal the identities of their donors, reporting has shown the Koch brothers are some of most prolific deployers of such groups. Roberts’ proposal would provide a new post-mortem tax break to boost that activity — at a moment when the Republican Party’s biggest donors include septa- and octogenarians such as the Kochs, Sheldon Adelson, 84, Robert Mercer, 71, and Foster Freiss, 77.  Continue reading “Really? A Tax Break For Dark Money Outfits?”

Conservative Groups Seeking Support for Tax Cuts Find It a Hard Sell

The following article by Jeremy W. Peters was posted on the New York Times website December 6, 2017:

So far, Americans for Prosperity and its field staff and volunteers have visited more than 41,000 homes and made 1.1 million phone calls. Credit Cassi Alexandra for The New York Times

MIAMI — A dozen high school students working for Americans for Prosperity, the conservative political network funded by Charles G. and David H. Koch, fanned out across the Little Havana neighborhood one day last week to make the case that the Republican tax bill was something to get excited about.

“We believe it’s time to fix our broken tax code and let families keep more of what they earn,” Barbara D’Ambrosio, a sophomore, dutifully told an elderly woman who answered the door in her slippers. After she finished her script, Barbara glanced up from the iPad she was carrying and asked if the woman would kindly call her senators to urge them to support the tax bill, which was hours away from being approved by the Senate.

The woman stared at her silently for a moment. Then she nodded, politely but unconvincingly. Continue reading “Conservative Groups Seeking Support for Tax Cuts Find It a Hard Sell”

Meet the people bankrolling James O’Keefe’s group

The following article by Josh Israel and Joshua Eaton was posted on the ThinkProgress website November 29, 2017:

James O’Keefe, in 2015. Credit: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

For the past seven years, conservative operative and convicted criminal James O’Keefe and his Project Veritas have used a mix of selective editing and guerilla filmmaking in a mostly unsuccessful series of attempts to discredit political opponents.

On Monday, their latest “sting” operation exploded in their face when The Washington Post caught on to an operative’s false claims of statutory rape, designed to discredit those actually coming forward with stories of sexual assault and to undermine the paper itself. Continue reading “Meet the people bankrolling James O’Keefe’s group”

The Kochs just got their hands on Time. Who’s next?

The following article by Matt Gertz was posted on the MediaMatters website November 27, 2017:

Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who are major funders of Republican candidates and conservative organizations, now own a stake in Time Inc. On Sunday night, the Meredith Corporation announced that it is purchasing the company with the help of $650 million from a Koch equity fund. A Koch spokesman suggested this is purely a business decision, and Meredith has claimed the right-wing billionaires will not have a seat on its board or influence over the editorial decisions of the newly acquired magazines, which include Time and Fortune. But journalists are rightfully skeptical that the Kochs would enter the embattled magazine publishing business if they didn’t view the investment as a way to advance their conservative principles.

If the Kochs do begin to play a role in the workings of Time, they will join a handful of major conservative donors who have decided in recent years to purchase, fund, or launch media outlets as a way to expand their political influence. The new owners often bring in new leaders who push the newsroom to support their boss’ political interests. With print, digital, and broadcast journalism business models all faltering, right-wing billionaires will have more opportunities to pull off these sorts of takeovers in the future. Continue reading “The Kochs just got their hands on Time. Who’s next?”

Koch brothers’ ‘passive’ role in Time Inc. takeover met with skepticism

The following article by Michael Calderone and Jason Schwartz was posted on the Politico website November 27, 2017:

‘They’re always looking to exert influence in one way or another,’ says Koch biographer after the conservative billionaires backed Meredith’s takeover of the magazine giant.

Reports of the Koch brothers role in the deal, or lack thereof, have been met with skepticism from journalists, media watchers and Koch chroniclers. David Koch speaks at the 2015 Defending the American Dream summit hosted by Americans for Prosperity. | Paul Vernon/AP Photo

Charles and David Koch have actively promoted conservative and libertarian policies for years by pumping tens of millions of dollars into political campaigns, advocacy organizations, think tanks and University groups.

Yet the billionaire industrialists’ $650 million investment supporting Meredith Corporation’s takeover of Time Inc, the magazine giant behind titles like Time, Fortune, People, and Sports Illustrated, was characterized by a Koch spokesman on Sunday night as a “passive” one. And Meredith said in a release that Koch Equity Development — the Koch brothers’ private equity arm involved in the deal — “will not have a seat” on its board and “will have no influence” on editorial or managerial operations.

Reports of the Koch brothers role, or lack thereof, have been met with skepticism from journalists, media watchers and Koch chroniclers. Continue reading “Koch brothers’ ‘passive’ role in Time Inc. takeover met with skepticism”

Time Inc. to be acquired by company backed by Koch brothers

The following article by Brett Samuels was posted on the Hill website November 26, 2017:

© Getty Images

Meredith Corp., a publisher backed by GOP mega-donors Charles and David Koch, announced on Sunday it was buying Time Inc. for $1.8 billion, according to multiple reports.

The publisher said it would acquire Time’s outstanding shares for $18.50 per share, Reuters reported.

The two companies said the deal had been unanimously approved by their respective boards and would close sometime early next year, according to the Associated Press. Continue reading “Time Inc. to be acquired by company backed by Koch brothers”

GOP’s Plan B for Obamacare — repeal first, replace later — began with quiet push from Koch network

The following article by Lisa Mascaro was posted on the Los Angeles Times website June 30, 2017:

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) talks on his phone outside the Senate office buildings on Capitol Hill. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

President Trump’s surprise suggestion Friday that deadlocked Senate Republicans shift their focus to simply repealing Obamacare — and worry about replacing it later — has its roots in a Koch network proposal that has been shopped around Congress for months.

The influential Koch network, backed by the billionaire industrialists, floated the idea most recently at a retreat last weekend in Colorado Springs, Colo., where key conservative lawmakers heard an earful from frustrated GOP donors about the party’s failure to deliver on their signature campaign promise.

Among those attending the gathering at the luxurious Broadmoor Hotel was Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who has been working with the White House behind the scenes on the idea. Continue reading “GOP’s Plan B for Obamacare — repeal first, replace later — began with quiet push from Koch network”

Thwarted in Washington, the Koch network racks up conservative victories in the states

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve was posted on the Washington Post website June 27, 2017:

THE BIG IDEA: 

Charles Koch speaks during an interview on the sidelines of the 2015 Koch network seminar. (Patrick T. Fallon For The Washington Post)

COLORADO SPRINGS—The wealthy donors who finance the Koch network are frustrated that national Republicans are not doing more to capitalize on having unified control of the federal government. But at their summer seminar here in the Rocky Mountains, which wrapped up last night, many were ecstatic—even giddy—about significant conservative gains that have been made this year in state capitals across the country.

Republicans now control the governorship and legislature in 25 states, compared to only six states for Democrats. Last November, the GOP seized all the levers of lawmaking in four new states – Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and New Hampshire – making it much easier to pass far-reaching legislation.

The network, led by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on low-profile races and building out grassroots operations in 36 states over the past decade. Continue reading “Thwarted in Washington, the Koch network racks up conservative victories in the states”

Paris Exit Was ‘Victory Paid and Carried Out’ by Republican Party for the Koch Brothers

The following article by Lorraine Chow via EcoWatch was posted on the Alternet website June 13, 2017:

The 22 Republican senators who urged Trump to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement received millions of dollars from fossil fuel interests.

Charles and David Koch – The Koch Brothers Charles de Ganahl Koch and David Hamilton Koch are the notorious Koch Bothers. The brothers own Koch Industries and are major benefactors for organizations and candidates involved in pushing radical Republican policies. The Koch Brothers use their immense wealth to cast a shadow on American government at all levels and form it to their own design. Your vote has value to the Koch Brothers Would billionaires spend millions to influence your vote if it had no value? The U.S. Map is adapted from a Creative Commons licensed image available via Wikimedia. The caricatures of Charles and David Koch are an original paintings in Photoshop.
Photo Credit: DonkeyHotey/Flickr CC

The 22 Republican senators who recently sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement received more than $10 million dollars in campaign funds from fossil fuel interests.

The two-page letter was signed by a number of Republican heavyweights from coal/gas/oil-rich states, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and Ted Cruz of Texas.

The Guardian calculated that the 22 senators received a total of $10,694,284 from oil, gas and coal money in just five years. (See the breakdown below.)

However, that sum does not even come close to the amount of undisclosed funds coming from the deep pockets of Charles and David Koch‘s coal, oil and gas conglomerate, Koch Industries, and other outside groups.

As the Guardian explains:

“Visible donations to Republicans from those industries exceeded donations to Democrats in the 2016 election cycle by a ratio of 15-to-1, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. And that does not include so-called dark money passed from oil interests such as Koch industries to general slush funds to re-elect Republicans such as the Senate leadership fund. Continue reading “Paris Exit Was ‘Victory Paid and Carried Out’ by Republican Party for the Koch Brothers”

Koch Convention to Rewrite Constitution Runs Into Roadblocks

The following article by Arn Pearson was posted on the ExposedbyCMD.org website June 12, 2017:

This year’s legislative season saw a strong push in the states from right-wing groups, bankrolled by the Koch brothers and other ultra-conservative billionaires, hoping to convene a national constitutional convention in order to inject rigid fiscal constraints into our country’s founding document. Advocates of a federal “balanced budget amendment” (BBA) picked up two more states, Wyoming and Arizona, in their drive to win the 34 resolutions needed to bypass Congress and convene a convention to propose changes to the U.S. Constitution.

That momentum, however, was blunted by surprisingly successful campaigns to rescind convention calls in three states, New Mexico, Maryland, and Nevada. As a result, BBA proponents now claim 27 states in their column, down from 28 at the beginning of the year. Continue reading “Koch Convention to Rewrite Constitution Runs Into Roadblocks”