Critic of Koch Brothers takes shots at their policy prescriptions and political spending

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Koch Brothers
Illustration of Charles and David Koch by DonkeyHotey on Flikr - Creative Commons / attribution license.

In this show we look at the Koch Brothers and how they influence public policy — we hear from two guests: one is from the Charles Koch Institute and the other is a writer who was kept out of a secretive Koch donor retreat.

Listen to the full show here:

In late May the Charles Koch Institute hosted a panel discussion in Orlando about ideas to make Florida a leader in economic growth and job creation. The next day I interviewed Alison Fraser, the managing director of research and policy from the Charles Koch Institute about their conference. We talked about the institute’s recommendations for Florida like a small tax burden, reducing the “regulatory burden” on businesses, cutting funding for the Florida Enterprise Fund, education choice, smart investments in transportation and infrastructure and keeping Florida free from a state income tax. The Charles Koch Institute is separate from the Charles Koch Foundation.

The second guest joined us by phone. She’s Lauren Windsor, executive director of American Family Voices and executive producer of The Undercurrent. She has tried to get to the bottom of who is funding the Koch machine, but they take extraordinary measures to keep their donors secret. She wrote an article called “I tried to cover the secret Koch retreat and here’s what they did to me,” about this year’s donor meeting. We talked about who funds the Kochs’ political machine and its connection to ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council.

 

One Response to “Critic of Koch Brothers takes shots at their policy prescriptions and political spending”

  1. Jay Beswick

    Its time to consider whether Hilary or Trump has the best plan for Koch Industries. Its no secrete they had 400 million waiting for a GOP candidate to surface. Watch the EU begin to crumble and targets added to the backs of Global Mega Corporations, can have a backlash supporting either side or none! Sitting back now saying they are sitting this one out, can’t be won by those PR ads on TV. Its time to ignore the poles, but get a pulse on the average American. A great Dynasty will be part of the peoples movement or a Mega Corporation to blame. Politically no winners, the GOP is sacked and still fighting the will of the voting public. Hilary could win, but not without seeing every dirty deal on the table. Clinton’s own inside staffers are set to leak documents that will undermine her efforts to demonstrate leadership. Bernie Sanders supporters on public radio already told journalist where and what to look at. Hilary trashed Bernie and expects his supporters to embrace her.

    Elitism, Globalism, Nationalism or any other label does not erase the loss of union jobs to countries that have a cheaper labor force. Would her base see outsourcing a reason to support her more? College students in love with Bernie who left college to discover they had no future do to Globalization, will they throw a way their ideals for hers? My 3 kids each went to Universities to graduate in to a world without opportunities. They managed to get jobs that did not require degrees. But are strapped with student loan debts.

    KOCH brothers, get your tea leaves out and read them, now is the time to pick splinters out, your time on the bench is over. Entering to late can be as bad as not entering at all. A winning horse Trumps millions spent on PR ads. The secrets that will unravel the Clinton’s are all 6 letters a way G O O G L E. KOCH a little harder, a little more secret, but business interest and priorities are out there.

    Reply

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