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Forum Post: Kochs Bankroll Move to Rewrite the Constitution

Posted 6 years ago on March 28, 2017, 8:19 a.m. EST by factsrfun (8310) from Phoenix, AZ
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

"Libertarian billionaires Charles and David Koch have long opposed federal power and federal spending. Koch Industries is one of the nation’s biggest polluters and has been sanctioned and fined over and over again by both federal and state authorities. In response, the Kochs have launched a host of “limited government” advocacy organizations and have created a massive $400 million campaign finance network, fueled by their fortunes and those of their wealthy, right-wing allies, that rivals the two major political parties.

The Kochs’ Americans for Prosperity says it favors a balanced budget convention. Such an austerity amendment would drastically cut the size of the federal government, threatening critical programs like Social Security and Medicare and eviscerating the government’s ability to respond to economic downturns, major disasters and the climate crisis.

AFP has opposed an open convention, calling it “problematic.” But whatever qualms the Kochs might have, they continue to be a bedrock funder of the entire convention “movement.”

Running the “Convention of States initiative” is an Austin, Texas-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit called Citizens for Self-Governance (CSG). CSG reported revenue of $5.7 million in 2015, more than double its haul from two years earlier, when it launched its Convention of States Project, according to The Dallas News. It now boasts 115,000 “volunteers,” although that figure may represent the number of addresses on its email list.

The group is not required to disclose its donors, but research into other organizations’ tax records by the Center for Media and Democracy, Conservative Transparency and this author show a web of Koch-linked groups having provided nearly $5.4 million to CSG from the group’s founding in 2011 through 2015:

Donors Trust, a preferred secret money conduit for individuals and foundations in the Koch network of funders, has given CSG at least $790,000 since 2011. The Greater Houston Community Foundation, which is funded by Donors Capital Fund (linked to Donors Trust) and the Kochs’ Knowledge and Progress Fund, has donated over $2 million since 2011. The Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, which has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Donors Capital Fund, gave $2.5 million from 2012-13. Citizens for Self-Governance also has two Koch-connected board members. Eric O’Keefe is a director of the Wisconsin Club for Growth, a group which has taken in considerable funding from Koch-linked groups like the Center to Protect Patient Rights, and was at the center of the long-running “John Doe” criminal investigation of Scott Walker’s campaign coordination with dark money groups.

O’Keefe was the national field coordinator for the Libertarian Party when David Koch ran for vice president in 1979 on the Libertarian Party ticket. The party’s platform called for the end of campaign finance law, the minimum wage, “oppressive Social Security,” Medicaid, Medicare and federal deficit spending.

The Koch agenda has not changed much since."

http://billmoyers.com/story/kochs-to-rewrite-constitution/

4 Comments

4 Comments


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[-] 1 points by ImNotMe (1488) 6 years ago

''Freeing up the rich to exploit the poor – that’s what Trump and Brexit are about'', by George Monbiot:

fiat justitia ...

[-] 1 points by elf3 (4203) 6 years ago

What would it really take to stop koch ...not much they are made of flesh like anyone vulnerable to many things.

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 6 years ago

One could hope that karma would visit upon them all the cancers they have visited on so many others!

[-] 1 points by elf3 (4203) 6 years ago

The cancer they bring is to take ownership of a country and world that belongs to all of us...who are they to step in and decide to change freedom into a twisted version the only benefits their selfish desires? This world does not belong to a koch or a corporation if they believe they are so powerful stand in front of the crowd unprotected and tell them you claim it all for yourself...tell them of your plans to subjugate freedom. See if they are so powerful then when they aren't hiding like the true cowards they are behind their inherited wealth and body guards.