From Dirty Power to Dirty Politics
A Brief Summary of the Koch Brothers’ not so Hidden Agenda
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SONS
In 1927, Fred Koch developed a new technique that helped him amass a personal
fortune in the oil and gas industry. In 1940, he started his own oil refinery business,
which would later become Koch Industries, headed by two of his sons, Charles and
David. Moving beyond oil and petroleum, the Koch brothers would transform their
patrimony into a multinational conglomerate of industrial production interests.
Now, with a combined total wealth that ranks them second on the list of America’s
wealthiest, behind Bill Gates (individually, they tie for fourth place), Charles and
David Koch are proving that they have inherited more than just a business. The
CEO and Executive VP of Koch Industries, respectively, have adopted political and
economic views and strategies echoing their father’s legacy.
Fred Koch was a shrewd businessman. He was also a vocal opponent of government
anti-poverty programs and a co-founder of the infamous John Birch Society. In 1960
he released a self-published book, A Businessman Looks at Communism. In addition
to its rants about imminent communist takeover via “internal subversion,” including manipulation of students and minorities to swing voting balances and incite a
“vicious race war,” Koch vents,
Many of the large tax-free foundations are controlled by an interlocking group of leftwing intellectuals. They are using astronomical sums of money in their control to bring
on socialism in the U.S.A.
Even as he accused the left-wing of unethically setting the country’s political agenda
through financial influence, Koch himself used his wealth and influence to much
the same effect. His sons now follow in his footsteps, strategically directing
their wealth toward public policy efforts that will serve to protect their business interests and limit the political participation of working class families. The
result is a covertly tangled web of infiltration significantly impacting modern political movements in a dangerous way.
Did You Know?
In 1979, David Koch ran as Vice
President to the Libertarian
party’s presidential candidate,
Ed Clark. The party’s platform
included a call for personal protections, including:
■■ Abolishing
the FBI, CIA, SEC
and Department of Energy
■■ An
end to social security, minimum wage laws and income
taxes
■■ Removing
gun control laws
■■ Legalizing
prostitution
Ring a bell? Fred Koch, a founding member of The John Birch
Society, which today bears the
slogan “Less government, more
responsibility,” was a staunch
opponent of government antipoverty programs.
UNTANGLING THE KOCH POLITICAL ENTERPRISE
The combined reach–political and financial influence–of the Koch enterprise is so entrenched that it has been dubbed “The
Kochtopus.” The sheer volume of right-wing and anti-government institutions girdled by the tentacles of the Koch family is so
vast that the true scope of its influence is difficult to determine. - American Legislative Exchange Council
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Koch Industries
nCurrently
revenue
ranks #1 on Forbes’ list of Largest Private Companies, with $90 billion in
nSince
1998, has spent more than $50 million on lobbying efforts and $8 million
on political campaigns via the KochPAC
Koch Petroleum Group
n Since 2006, has ranked first in political contributions from energy companies
nOperated
a fraudulent measuring scheme (1986 to 1988) to steal $31 million
worth of crude oil from Indians and settled the case for $25 million (2001)
nSentenced
record-setting $30 million in civil fines for violating federal environmental protection laws, including more than 300 oil spills from its pipelines and
refineries
Family Foundations Campaign Contributions (Since 1998)
nDavid
“The Kochs are on a whole
different level. There’s no
one else who has spent
this much money. The
sheer dimension of it is
what sets them apart. They
have a pattern of lawbreaking, political manipulation,
and obfuscation.”
Charles Lewis, Founder,
Center for Public Integrity
H. Koch Charitable Foundation: more than $120M
nCharles
G. Koch Charitable Foundation: more than $48M
nClaude
R. Lambe Charitable Foundation: more than $28M
nBrothers
have personally donated more than $2M to political candidates
Some of the most prominent organizations known to receive Koch funding include groups like Americans for Prosperity, an
organization that contributes significant portions of its Koch Industries-provided resources to fund the “grassroots” Tea Party
movement; the Cato Institute, founded by the Koch family in 1977 to fund and distribute “non-partisan” research advocating
conservative public policies; the Heritage Foundation, “whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies;”
FreedomWorks, a spinoff think-tank from the former Citizens for a Sound Economy that mobilizes volunteers in support of
smaller taxes and government.
Conservative organizations targeting environmental policies are also intricately linked to Koch backing. Groups like the
Independent Women’s Forum, which fights to remove global warming education from schools and whose former CEO,
Nancy Pfotenhauer, was lobbyist and director for Koch Industries in Washington, DC; George Mason University’s Mercatus
Center, which routinely opposes the Environmental Protection Agency and whose founder, Richard Fink (a co-founder of the
Americans for Prosperity Foundation), presides over the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, the Fred C and Mary R Koch
Foundation and the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation.
American
Prosperity
■■ Limited
Government
■■ Free
Markets
■■ Cutting
■■ Tea
Taxes
Party
Movement
Cato
Institute
Heritage
Foundation
■■ Corporate
■■ Reduced
services
■■ Relaxed
■■ Economic
tax cuts
Freedom
exaggerated” Census and
media depictions of
poverty
■■ Deregulation
■■ Abstinence
education
■■ “Grossly
social
­ nvironmental regue
lations
Mercatus
Center
■■ Founded
by lobbyist
Richard Fink
■■ Consistently
­challenges EPA
■■ Received majority
of $30M Koch charity to GMU
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American
Legistlative
Exchage Council
■■ Drafts
legistlation to
roll back minimum
wages
■■ Pushes
state
requirements for
voter ID laws