Associated Press
It's widely known that David Koch and his brother are helping provide breathtaking amounts of money to help buy the 2012 elections for Republicans. It's less widely known that Koch doesn't always agree with the candidates he's supporting.
Billionaire industrialist David Koch, who is helping steer millions of dollars to elect Mitt Romney and congressional Republicans, on Thursday told POLITICO he disagrees with the GOP's stance on gay marriage and believes the U.S. needs to consider raising taxes to balance the budget.
Koch, who is serving as a delegate to the Republican National Convention from New York, spoke to POLITICO after delivering brief remarks at a reception held in his honor by Americans for Prosperity, the political advocacy group he chairs and has helped fund.
Let me get this straight. David Koch, a billionaire, supports marriage equality, believes defense cuts should be considered as part of a responsible budget plan, is open to "some" tax increases to lower the deficit, and would like to see the U.S. withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
With this in mind, why is he helping invest $400 million to purchase elections for Republicans who disagree? Koch told Politico his focus is on "economic issues."
Of course, if his concern were solely about the economy, one might think he'd be donating to President Obama -- businesses like the Kochs' have done extremely well over the last few years, as corporate profits have reached an all-time high, and you'd think there'd be some apprehension about returning to Bush-era policies.
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This... makes NO SENSE AT ALL.
Yeah, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, I'm going to have to conclude that Koch is engaged in the fine Republican tradition of lying through his teeth so those of us squawking about Citizens United will back off in hopes he will one day start contributing to candidates that agree with the more moderate stance on the issues he's claiming to embrace here.
Yes, Freddie, Koch is a liar! In Iowa, Karl Rove as a surrogate for the Koch Brothers spent $350,000 to have three Iowa Supreme Court justices recalled. Their sin: They ruled that gay couples could have equal rights and be married. And they are still at it: the Republican Party of Iowa has endorsed the drive to recall a fourth judge who voted as part of a unanimous opinion to give gays the equal right to marry. So David Koch is a liar. He also lies about where his money comes from. The millions he and his brother pledge to give to the Romney campaign is far less than the total they receive in government oil subsidies and in taxes they don't have to pay. David and Charles Koch are worse than liars, much worse, but they indeed are liars.
Besides, in the "show" of politics, as the "Legitimate"-Rape-Public-CONs tend to view it, the Kochs are producers - not actors - they don't have to follow the stinkin' script.
Vulture/Voucher 2012
Proving Two Rights DO Make a Wrong!
;-)
Agree.
Here's my (albeit talking out my butt) answer to the question posed in the post above, as to why Koch bro is dumping cash to back a platform that he doesn't not entirely agree with:
He's trying to marshal a social movement. Or rather, he's trying to BUY a social movement.
I think the Kochs et. al. understand that complex and nuanced positions don't exactly net out into a rabid social movement sufficient enough to tip the scales against another side which is famous for its deep thoughts and complex and nuanced positions (not to mention rigorous internal disagreements and debates, all that messy stuff).
He doesn't want that. He wants single-issue rabid automatons. Ditto-heads. Goose-steppers. Frothers. People who will mount their high horses and yell for him and his elite money machine.
In short, a capsule definition of demagoguery and fascism.
To motivate those people, several conditions have to be met:
1. Authoritarians provide fertile ground for top-down message control. Father/Leader/King/Bully in Chief, they love to follow someone who looks like he's going to win anyway, because they really really (REALLY, like in the high school sense) like winning.
2. Reduced education and reduced opportunities for conflicting viewpoints softens the "rubes" (sorry, there is no other word for this, except maybe patsies) up for motional button-pushing messaging, the most effective way to rally these masses.
3. A villain. The Other. The Not-Us Bad Guy who is a Threat to EVERYTHING "We" hold dear. Hang on to your white wives, your children, your economic security, EEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHH! The sky is falling, build your bunker now! An obscure prophet from the Old Testament predicted exactly THIS! OMG! It is coming true. The wolves are at the gate! How we we ever survive? We must band together, we patriotic, we true, we the we of all perfect ruling we's, because in the end, to live, WE MUST RULE and SUBJUGATE the lessers.
4. No nuance. No grays. No asking questions of our richer than rich overlords.
And lastly...
5. The need to exploit the prejudices that these people already hold. Marry your cause to their causes, whatever they are, and you get them in your army, even if your causes are not ENTIRELY their causes at all. Because all you have to do is motivate them, put the quarter in the slot, set them in motion, and then watch what you have unleashed as it unfolds.
Fantastic!
Yep, WTG Chris. Didnt sound rectally-derived to me.
I thank you, and my butt thanks you.
He doesn't give a crap, as long as whoever takes the job of President removes all the EPA barriers, so he can drill even in YOUR NOSE, if he can find oil in there.
Exactly Chris! The Kochs DON'T CARE what the rest of us think or do or say or believe...as long as they get what they want with all that money they're spending to buy the government. That's what none of the 3 viciously squabbling Republican factions (although that may be down to 2, now) have ever understood - and the Kochs have given $$$ to all of them, too. They DON'T CARE, as long as there are single issue fanatics and crazies running around, causing the rest of us trouble and distraction while they continue to pollute and send jobs and their fair share of OUR tax money off-shore.
Koch believes taxes need to be raised on "little people," not Galtian Overlord Supermen Job Creators such as himself. And when you're worth what Koch is worth, whatever silly little laws the government may have passed about teh gays or abortion or whatnot don't have any affect on you or those you know.
Back when abortion was illegal, rich people just quietly flew their pregnant daughters off to countries where it was legal for a "holiday." And in those days, it was tough being gay anywhere. It meant risking jail and and violence and opprobrium anywhere if you were discovered. But you were also rich, you could at least buy yourself a closet that was one hell of a lot larger, more comfortable, and much, much safer.
OMG
David Koch is a freakin' Commie!!
David Koch is not a communist... he is far more likely a fascist.... that is he believes in corporate control of the government. Corporations too big to fail, too powerful to either tax or regulate. His father, a financial backer of the John Birch Society, who made his fortune in Russia, i think. I don't know if his ancestor were involved in the Putsch of 1933, when a group of businessmen, including Prescott Bush, plotted to take over the government. David & his brother are involved in a number of industries & have multiplied the fortune they inherited many times over. He is a lot of the push behind the XL pipeline which will allow Canadian oil sands to be brought across America to Texas for processing to sell to on the world market. he stands to make billions if he succeeds. Thr Romney /R
yan plan to end capital gains taxes will net him hundreds of millions as well.
No, David and Charles Koch are not "Commies". Their father made his money in Russia under Stalin and came back to the United States when he didn't like the way some of his friends were being treated. He came back and became a major force in the John Birch Society. So the Koch's are not Commies. They are outsourcers, much greater outsourcers than Romney. Their chief targets for outsourcing are inside the United States. With their ally, Grover Norquist, they talk about "no new taxes." The result in city after city is that they don't have the money to fund essential government services. So the Kochs and other 1%ers come and say, "Close your schools." We can provide the education for kids, as long as we can have vouchers to "help" us. Sounds like the Ryan medicare plan? It is. We are seeing it across the country in state after state and city after city. David and Charles Koch are not Commies. They are the anti-government outsourcers in chief.
I am at a loss for how to respond to these.
My first thought was "Are you so freaking stupid that you that you could not tell that was a joke?" But I immediately realized that would be rather harsh.
I'm still working on a better response, but so far - nothing.
As far as why he would support the party that is against all that, it's like a friend I have who listens to every argument I make and agrees with every one of them, but he's a Republican, and his family has been Republican, and so he can't do such a crazy thing as vote Democratic. It's like my long-dead grandmother, lifelong Republican (her grandfather was one of the founders of the Pennsylvania Republican Party), she could never bring herself to vote for "that man" (FDR), even though in fact she agreed with everything he said (according to my father - those arguments were a bit before my time). But, she was a Republican. It was proper for women of her background to be Republicans, not like "those Hunkie women..."
And yes, none of the above makes sense. Welcome to America.
I thought my Republican neighbor was crazy. She is against everything Republicans stand for, but says she is one. Looks like there are lots of folks out there like that.
Tribalism has been a facit of American politics forever. You will not change it. The best you can do is change minds one at a time.
Charter educated.
There's a Koch Wing at the Boston Museum for Fine Arts. And one of the brothers (not a political one, evidently) is into yachting.
As for the economic thing....that I can buy. There are many people who voted for Mr. O last time who are disappointed. For example, why the emphasis and long, drawn out fight for healthcare? Yes, this IS important, but the economy is more so.
I hate to say this, but I actually understand. It's between the Democrats (give us your money and we'll dole it out to where we think it should go) and the Republicans (give us your money and we'll invest it so that in some convoluted way, you'll get your job back).
"...the Republicans (give us your money and we'll invest it so that in some convoluted way, you'll get your job back)."
I do understand that this is what people believe will happen. I just don't understand how, or why, they keep on believing it, in the face of decades of evidence that it isn't true for anyone who isn't already spectacularly wealthy.
Kathy, while I do understand your frustrations regarding both parties, but you are drawing a false equivalence here. This nation has been under trickle down economics since Raygun first started using that term. The difference being that the GOP has bought that whole cloth, even though the policies have led to soaring deficits, mass unemployment and jobs hemorrhaging to low/no wage nations. Don't get me wrong democrats swallowed that kool-aid also, but the difference is that at least democrats are waking up to the fact that the policies are BAD for America and working Americans.
Frankly, while I support the ACA because I do believe that everyone should be able to see the doctor, the truth is "health insurance" is a racket, and the costs have been rising even as the services paid for are costing more out-of-pocket for those that do have "insurance". While I believe that more cost controls should have been put in place, it is a start. And frankly those costs (waste, fraud, abuse) that were saved in Medicare were needed and it's not costing current seniors more money out of pocket.
Yeah, the GOTP is "investing" that money they take - just ask Mitt about both his Swiss bank account and those in the Cayman islands where he's not paying taxes on it.
The Koch family supports many artistic programs that they enjoy. They are also supporters of the Smithsonian... it doesn't change the fact that they & others like them are the money behind the Republican conspiracy to sabotoge the nation to insure the failure of this president. Why are they doing this, to insure the election of politicians who share their philosophy.... that corporations should control the government & social programs should be eliminated to lower taxes on the wealthy like themselves.
Re: #5
The single most important factor that will influence the economy in the short and long term is the cost of healthcare.
This includes the affect on the Federal Budget of increases in Medicare and Medicaid spending.
But more importantly, the ballooning share of the entire GDP that will go to healthcare is not sustainable.
That was the reason it was important to begin to address the problem.
"...why is he helping invest $400 million to purchase elections for Republicans who disagree? Koch told Politico his focus is on "economic issues."
Easy answer.
Because Republicans, on the whole are much, much easier to control than those pesky, independent Democrats.
Yup - I agree completely.
You apparently can buy Republicans.
Agree. That corporate profit margins have done so well under Obama, and the Koch's are still supporting the Republican candidate, must mean either more interfering government agency's regulatory teeth need pulling, or the free market can machine profits much easier under a Repubican. Or both.
With Democrats, corporations are saddled with more pollution regulations, international trade limits, and paying a fair share of taxes.
So he believes in what Obama believes in? Makes no sense that he has helped block everything the President has tried to do these last 2 years by supporting the republicans. I guess once a republican always a republican. No, because I used to be a registered republican and then I saw the light. Hopefully David Koch will see the light soon too.
People have to understand the mindset of someone like Koch, and even Romney and Ryan. Any tiny regulation that costs them a nickel is a bad thing in their book. Clean air? Clean water? Who cares, because it costs them money to do that. These are people who have the mindset that no matter how many billions of dollars they have, and they cannot possibly spend it all in their lifetime, it's NEVER enough, and they will steamroll anyone that gets in their way. The Kochs/Romney/Ryans of this world don't want regulation in industry, they don't want regulations on the banking industry. They want to push every envelope as close to the edge as they can and make another dollar. The rest of us are just collateral damage, the cost of doing business.
Doesn't anybody understand that an economic recovery does not happen overnight. This recession was the worst since the 1930's. John Boehner did his best to block everything. Best politician the Koch brothers can buy/next to Ryan and Romney.
Please America, please wake up. Obama may not be the best-he has made mistakes, however, he is light years above Romney and Ryan. Just look at Janesville/Beloit Wisconsin to see how pathetic Ryan actually is. Please America, please wake up.
The GOP really has done a magnificent job of corralling all of the low information knuckle draggers.
It's a ruse. Evil men are always thinking ahead of the next move ....or he just wants to be loved?
along the same lines as freddie, it's a bait and switch to attract independents. "oh, he's not all bad...maybe he knows or understands something I don't". Low information voters don't look at facts or history and Koch's history has aways been profit at the expense consumers and employees. They might have been more profitable during the Obama administration then under Bush, but with deregulation and the Romney "energy independence" push, Koch stands to be even more profitable under Romney administration.
I found this interesting. Democracy now was filming Romney when he shook hands with David Koch. I was watching NBC and I did not see the hand shake. I did see the two women. I do not know how the TV Corps get their video or who is directing which shots get on screen. Do they delay enough to make this choice, or was it just chance?
The Romney-Koch Handshake: Network TV Misses Revealing Moment Between Nominee & Billionaire at RNC
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/8/31/handlers_of_billionaire_david_koch_block
In the video clip you linked to, Amy Goodman explained that the network pool camera feed (Democracy Now had their own camera on the scene) cut away at the critical moment, showed "two enthusiastic young female supporters", then an overhead shot, and then came back to Willard hand-shaking further down the line. She showed the scene again, in a split-screen format, comparing in real time what Democracy Now viewers were able to see with what the viewers of the national networks, including NBC, got to see.
Ms. Goodman didn't go quite so far as to state definitively that the timing was deliberate (though it might certainly make one wonder), but she did (as do I) find it to be an interesting example of the national media's ongoing failure to focus on the influence of big money in our political system.
Good link - thanks.
Vulture/Voucher 2012
Proving Two Rights DO Make a Wrong!
;-)
It's the anti-regulation stuff. With Republicans, the Kochs get the flat-earth approach to climate change and other environmental issues. That and anti-union policies. It's all about their own greed, not anyone else's freedoms.
Maybe he is just a swell guy or maybe he has learned how to ply politics. Which would you pick as the reason?
"Learned how to ply politics." He knows that if he wants to buy political influence, he needs to buy a Republican.
There are over 1,000 federal laws that apply only to married couples, including doubling the tax exemption for sale of a residence, inheritance, insurance, social security, and immigration (i.e. heterosexuals can get a green card and residency by being married to a US citizen, LGBTQs can't). Marriage equality IS an "economic issue.
So is being able to control the number of children you have and timing of their births. So is being able to afford medical care.
"Social issues" ARE "economic issues."
Koch likes to be in charge of all he can survey (vide the recent flap about the Cato Institute leadership) and Mitt is much more malleable than Obama. True, given all the lawyers at his command, Koch can afford to slalom around all the inconvenient laws, but it would be ever so much simpler not to have them at all. Hence his investment in the elephant circus.
One of the speculative reasons that Palin was swept under the rug was to help "rid the GOP of crazies." Koch's agreement with the above mentioned social issues would follow that tactic. There are many one issue voters in America, abortion being the obvious example. His one issue is economics. Claiming to agree wit the social side, which i don't buy for a moment, sanitizes his otherwise dirty spending habits.
It does not matter what any of them say they believe, it only matters what they actually do. Koch's money speaks much louder than his words!
Perfectly stated.
...if david koch is back-walking the plank, maybe he does know something we don't. as the ship sinks the rats are always the first to disembark.
He must have interest in oil deregulation or something. Where does he make his money.? He may want to have a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan but that doesn't mean a war couldn't happen some place else....to coin a phrase "follow the money".
I worry about the ecology if Republicans get in.
Mr. Koch's strategy is simply to control what is likely the largest voting block in America - The Galactically Ignorant - giving him the ability to easily manipulate the vote. The GOP really has done a magnificent job of corralling all of the low information knuckle draggers. If the truth be known, Mr. Koch is also very much on the side of evolution - not creation. He is THE major funder of NOVA and other PBS programs that promote knowledge in science. - Disclaimer: No relation here because of the same name.
Why he's funding Republicans is because of environmental regulation. The Koch Bros. and others like them simply don't care if the Earth, it's environment, and it's climate is trashed as long as, while they're alive, their profits don't take a hit. This is about being able to run roughshod over those less wealthy and over the the Earth. And that's why the Koch's are funding Republicans. And they'll probably succeed.
Maybe if Obama had supplied the war with Koch brand toilet paper...greased some palms, as we say?
//snark off//
I can not believe David Koch, he and his brother support ending public education further they advocate for Re-Segregation of Schools (www.huffingtonpost.com)
They are members and financial supporters of ALEC, the foundation that wrote the Arizona Immigration Law, they wrote a model for Voter ID laws (voter Suppression laws), stand your ground laws, etc. They do not support minimum wage law and they want EPA Regulations reduced. The Kock brothers support one thing - their bottom line.
I think it's his way of trying to make Romney appear to be an independent strong leader/ thinker rather than the one we know he really is, lead and controled by his donors!! Koch has NOTHING to lose by what appears to be bucking the Party's agenda, Romney and Koch has everything to gain by painting Mitt in new light, new image. It's ALL about the remake of Mitt right now!!
Why is Koch supporting a group he doesn't evidently agree with? Only reason I can see is that Obama is a little too black for him. The "economic issues" he claims is quite bogus since he's *agreeing* with what the President has been advocating.