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Koch Brothers Come Out of the Closet, Democrats are Scrambling


Political-Donations.jpgOnly in America, as humorist Harry Golden might say, could the billionaire Koch Brothers secretly dominate politics and government in the United States as they have done for decades.
 
What?  You haven't heard of the Koch Brothers, pronounced "Coke"?
 
They head the second largest privately-owned, Wichita, KS-based commerce conglomerate in the U.S. Their latest financials in 2013 disclosed revenue of $115 billion. Only Cargill Inc. in Minnetonka, MN topped them with revenue of $137 billion.
 
Charles G. Koch, 80, is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Koch Industries. David H. Koch, 75, is Executive Vice President.
 
Their father, Fred C. Koch, who died at 67 in 1967, was an American chemical engineer and entrepreneur who founded the oil refinery firm that later became Koch Industries in 1940. He developed an innovative method for the refinement of heavy oil into gasoline.
 
Today, Koch Industries, along with its oil-related products, manufactures thousands of American household items, from brand-name paper drinking cups to paper towels and toilet tissue.
 
Fred Koch also was one of the founding members of the John Birch Society. But the brothers today say that doesn't necessarily make them right-wingers in their political and social outlooks.
 
They say they would rather like to be thought of as "social liberals," whatever that is. And true, they are regarded as among the top private philanthropists in the country today, often sharing their wealth with both Republican and Democrat Party-supported institutions.
 
David Koch has said he personally supports gay marriage, backs marijuana legalization, opposes war, applauds prison reform and is behind abortion rights.
 
Basically, the Kochs say, that through their money-backed candidates, they want to influence the Congress to remove government regulation on all industries, increase tax cuts for the wealthy and decrease the size of the federal government.
 
Still, the $889 million they and their 300 super wealthy associates plan to spend on backing candidates and educating the American public on their corporate mission in the 2016 Presidential Election race sure has caught the eye and pocketbook of the Grand Old Party.
 
Attending the Kochs' annual donor get-together, as invited guests, a few weeks ago in Rancho Mirage, near Palm Springs, CA were Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Senators Marco Rubio of Florida, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas.
 
Curiously, no Republican leaders themselves were invited to the three-day pow-wow.  And no Democrats either, of course.
 
The Koch Brothers and their Political Action Committee associates will be spending more on the 2016 Election than either the GOP or the Democrats. That essentially makes the Kochs and their network of donors and political action committees, the third major party in the U.S. by far.
 
The Republicans plan to spend at least $700 million; the Democrats at least $600 million; and Hillary Rodham Clinton alone, at least $300 million. President Barack Obama's successful 2012 campaign cost $1 billion.
 
While the Koch Brothers have previously opposed disclosure by wealthy donors of all campaign contributions, their position has now mostly reversed itself.
 
Their convention near Palm Springs, CA earlier this year was open to the media for the first time. An attendee at that event leaked the $889 million spending plans to the press.
 
And while the Democrats plan to launch a negative series of television ads later this month and into 2016, blasting the Koch Brothers, the brothers themselves also plan to kick off a multi-million-dollar public relations campaign called "We Are Koch." The Koch ads will probably be positioned near the Democrats' ads.
 
I say the Koch Brothers coming out of the closet at this time is a good thing for American politics and for the American public in general.
 
I say let the rich spend as much as they want on political campaigns and other social-related issues but have them disclose their actions.
 
Make the amounts they donate transparent. Money, of course, has always been the core of politics globally, but let the world know what you are giving and don't be ashamed of it.
 
That's the American way and only in America could it happen first. And that's the way it is today.

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