Charles and David Koch are the owners of Koch Industries, a privately-held firm with revenues estimated at $100 billion (no, that’s not a typo!). The firm runs oil refineries in Alaska, Texas and Mexico and owns consumer brands like Brawny Paper towels, Stainmaster carpets, and Dixie cups. They’re also among America’s most generous patrons of the arts – David Koch gave $100 million in 2008 to modernize the theatre at Lincoln Center in NYC and has donated $20 million to remodel the National Museum of Natural History in Washington.
The Kochs and their firm are the central figures in an informal alliance of business executives, conservative theorists and government officials who for several years have met twice annually to strategize over how best to advance an ambitious libertarian agenda. They favor dramatically lower personal and corporate income taxes, less government oversight of industry, particularly environmental regulations, and minimal public assistance for the needy.
Charles Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity, a non-partisan watchdog organization based in Washington, calls the Kochs “the Standard Oil of our times.” They have invested millions of dollars in campaigns designed to raise doubts about climate change and oppose Obama administration policies ranging from health care reform to the economic stimulus. They are also a major funding source for the Tea Party, supporting it through “Americans for Prosperity,” an organization founded by David Koch in 2004.
In a detailed profile of the Koch’s published in August, The New Yorker reported that “only the Kochs know precisely how much they have spent on politics. Public tax records show that between 1998 and 2008 the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation spent more than $48 million. The Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, which is controlled by Charles Koch and his wife, along with two company employees and an accountant, spent more than $28 million. The David H. Koch Charitable Foundation spent more than a $120 million.”
The Kochs also run KochPac, which has donated about $8 million to candidates, most of them Republicans, and Charles and David have made personal contributions of more than $2 million to candidates over the past dozen years, The New Yorker reported.
Koch Industries is planning an invitation-only confidential meeting in January 2011 in Palm Springs, California, to “develop strategies to counter the most severe threats facing our free society and outline a vision of how we can foster a renewal of American free enterprise and prosperity.” Common Cause and its coalition partners have dubbed this meeting “The Billionaires’ Caucus,” and are planning a series of alternative, public events in Palm Springs.
Best Regards-M.f.g-Saludos-v.h
Stefan Katafai
President@Agent4Stars.com
+34 637 97 37 42
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