Koch Brothers, Politics, And Buying America

It is hard to even imagine what $889 million looks like, but that is how much the Koch brothers? political groups are planning to funnel into the 2016 elections, according to an article in The Huffington Post. They kicked off their fundraising season last weekend at a meeting of the lobbying group Freedom Partners, where undoubtedly no one even blinked when that figure was mentioned.

The Koch Four
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If you’re not convinced that money can buy elections, think about the fact that Freedom Partners et al poured almost $300 million into November’s congressional elections, giving republicans control of the Senate and retention of their majority in the House of Representatives. Money talks AND walks.

Among the darlings of the Koch brothers are Rand Paul, Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio, who attended the Freedom Partners meeting and who are all hinting at running for the presidency in 2016. These are the ?fringe? of the Republican Party generally referred to as the ?tea party? candidates. All of these guys are arguably right of Attila the Hun on the political spectrum and would mostly likely not make much of a ripple if it weren’t for the Koch brothers? support. Right now, they are all vying for their sugar daddies? favor (i.e. bucket loads of money) to catapult them into the top spot as the Republican candidate in 2016.

An article in Rolling Stone listed some of the ways the brothers have influenced politics in America in the past including:

  • Re-segregating a district in North Carolina to weaken its school district thus creating a vacuum for privatization to rush in to fill
  • Pushing through voter ID laws to disenfranchise students and minorities among others
  • Funding universities and colleges as a quid pro quo for allowing them to influence curriculum choices to include texts by Ayn Rand and other right-wing ?libertarian? authors
  • Funding the movement to privatize Social Security

Let’s not forget that these insanely busy brothers are also trying to force fracking down America’s throat and pocketing the proceeds from their efforts. Said proceeds naturally are then funneled into their pet campaigns. See how this works? In an article in Republic Report (whose motto is ?Investigating How Money Corrupts Democracy?), author Lee Fang (2012) states

?Many of the pro-fracking think tanks, like the Heartland Institute and the American Legislative Exchange Council, are funded by the petrochemical conglomerate Koch Industries.?

Fang also compiled a list of ways the Kochs are ?monetizing the fracking business?:

  • Flint Hills Resources recently purchased a small craft pier and wharf in Ingleside, TX to store shipments of natural gas from fracking operations in the Eagle Ford shale formation. Flint Hills Resources is a Koch Industries subsidiary.
  • Koch Supply & Trading, a Koch Industries company that deals with commodity trading and financial products, is ?already trading Eagle Ford crude? to help supply Koch companies and other customers…
  • Koch Chemical Technology Group is designing a processing facility near Yoakum, TX to help process natural gas fracked in southern Texas. Koch Chemical is a subsidiary of Koch Industries.
  • John Zink, a Koch Industries company, is providing flares for a natural gas processing plant in Helena to service the fracking industry.
  • Georgia Pacific produces resins used for chemicals used to prop open micro-fractures, an important process for fracking to occur. Koch Industries acquired
  • Koch Fertilizer, a Koch Industries company, has tapped into increased natural gas production from fracking to develop fertilizer

I suppose being a billionaire allows one to formulate an agenda designed to enrich your coffers and then pump enough money into it to make it happen. But just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you should. On the bright side, mere mention of the Koch brothers has become a dog whistle for the Democrats, inspiring many who might otherwise ignore pleas for campaign funds to contribute to liberal causes. So there’s that.

 

Beth is a lifelong bleeding heart liberal who has become more intense and adamant (but not dogmatic!) about her politics the older she gets. This is not a popular stance in a red state like Georgia, but it is moderately better than when she lived in Birmingham. She has found like-minded individuals through her Episcopal church and websites like LiberalAmerica.