Koch brothers now at heart of GOP power The billionaire brothers' influence is most visible in the makeup of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where members have vowed to undo restrictions on greenhouse gases.
The billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch no longer sit outside Washington's political establishment, isolated by their uncompromising conservatism. Instead, they are now at the center of Republican power, a change most evident in the new makeup of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Wichita-based Koch Industries and its employees formed the largest single oil and gas donor to members of the panel, ahead of giants like Exxon Mobil, contributing $279,500 to 22 of the committee's 31 Republicans, and $32,000 to five Democrats.
At the center of the new ground-level strategy is a beefed-up role for Americans for Prosperity. Along with other well-funded conservative groups, the group was very active in the congressional midterm election — in many cases taking on roles often performed by national and state parties. Americans for Prosperity is the political arm of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which David Koch co-founded in the 1980s under the name Citizens for a Sound Economy. He is chairman of the board of the foundation, which says it aims to educate citizens on "a return of the federal government to its constitutional limits."
Americans for Prosperity says it spent $40 million in the 2010 election cycle, organized rallies and phone banks, and canvassed door to door in nearly 100 races across the country. The organization found scores of energetic activists in the "tea party" movement to carry its message.
Throughout this effort, Americans for Prosperity kept a strong emphasis on promoting its views on climate change and energy regulation. In 2008, it began circulating a pledge asking politicians to denounce a Democratic-led effort to compel oil refineries and utilities to clean up emissions of greenhouse gases through a so-called cap-and-trade system. The organization said it amounted to a hidden tax increase.
Like Soros & Gill here? You see the Koch's as evil puppetmasters, I think they are true patriots willing to use their wealth to get this country back on track.
Example of a corporation spending their funds like you have advocated in the past?
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
Yeah, and the millions of tea party protesters are just pawns. Uh huh.....
LJ, if you would actually be more even handed, and talk about the big $$ on both sides, your argument might be persuasive, but since you ignore the other side, you loose credibility.
Too bad future generations aren't here to see all the great things we are spending their $$ on!!
AWWWWW poor LJ can't deal with the fact that the playing field is now more level and that Soros is no longer the only billionaire throwing cash around. I bet LJ would of been OK with it if the Koch brothers were sleazy liberals fronting Media Matters and MoveOn.org.
