I just learned this a few days ago, but Koch industries is listed as one Max Baucus’s largest donors. The company is listed as having contributed $40,000 to Baucus since 2005. That puts him in an exclusive club with Paul Ryan, Michelle Bachmann, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, and Eric Cantor, who have all taken more than $30,000 from the Kochs during the last four campaign cycles.
And it’s eight times what the Koch’s have given to Denny Rehberg, according to FEC reports.
This is a highly disturbing state of affairs and Baucus should promptly return the money. The Koch brothers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars attempting to persuade the American public that climate change is a hoax. Generally, they fund much the racist and inciteful enterprise known as the Tea Party, from grassroots (or astroturf) organizing to TV ads. They also bankroll anti-union candidates in dozens of states, including major support for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
When the 2012 election is over, the Kochs, whose combined fortune is estimated to be as high as $50 billion (exceeded only by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett), will have spent at least a billion dollars to try to oust Obama and Biden and other democrats across the nation.
These two gentlemen, who inherited their chemical and paper products company from their father (they make Brawny paper towels and Dixie cups, so shop for some alternatives), have stated that their political activity stems from a few core beliefs. According to a New Yorker profile, they believe that taxes are too high, that corporations are regulated too heavily, and that too much money is spent on the poor and the needy.
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