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Tuesday, January 12th, 2016

How the Koch network rivals the GOP

Author:     Kenneth P. Vogel
Source:     Politico
Publication Date:     12/30/15 05:22 PM EST
 Link: How the Koch network rivals the GOP
Stephan:   This is how a small subset of the oligarchy is buying American democracy, and attempting to change American culture. Discretely but straightforwardly they're just following what the rules allow, and backing it with vast sums of money, and very sophisticated thinking. This report is the best story I have seen on how it is being done.
The decision by David Koch (pictured in 2012) and Charles Koch to build their own, independent political organization was prompted largely by their dissatisfaction with George W. Bush and his Republican congressional majorities. Credit: AP Photo

David Koch (pictured in 2012) .
Credit: AP Photo

The political machine that Charles Koch launched a dozen years ago in a Chicago hotel conference room with 16 other rich conservatives has exploded in size and influence in the past few elections and now eclipses the official GOP in key areas.

Koch and his brother David Koch have quietly assembled, piece by piece, a privatized political and policy advocacy operation like no other in American history that today includes hundreds of donors and employs 1,200 full-time, year-round staffers in 107 offices nationwide. That’s about 3½ times as many employees as the Republican National Committee and its congressional campaign arms had on their main payrolls last month, according to POLITICO’s analysis of tax and campaign documents and interviews with sources familiar with the network. And the staggering sum the network […]

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1 Comment

  1. Rev. Dean on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 9:57 am

    I hope this “Pandora’s Box” party of the Kochs and their comrades backfires and explodes in their faces, eliminating them permanently.