There was a very interesting piece on CNN by Brad Woodhouse about how following David Koch's failed 1980 presidential bid on the Libertarian ticket the Koch Brothers used their network of front organizations to funnel money to the far right fringe of the GOP and helping to create the Tea Party as their primary tool for remaking the Republican Party, and incorporating the more radical doctrines of of the Libertarian Party.
The truth about the Koch agenda
By Brad Woodhouse
(CNN) -- The Koch brothers -- Charles and David -- have committed to spending $125 million to buy elections for the House and Senate this cycle.
What are they hoping to get for that hefty sum?
Likely, the same self-serving agenda items they have been after for more than 30 years: Tax cuts for the wealthy and big oil, eliminating the minimum wage, slashing Medicare and dismantling Social Security. You know, the usual agenda of the extreme, tea party candidates their money and organizations support.
The David Koch/Ed Clark 1980 campaign platform was strikingly extreme. They ran to the far right of Reagan, attacking him for representing "no change whatsoever from Jimmy Carter and the Democrats."
They called Social Security "the most serious threat to the future stability of our society next to the threat of nuclear war." They wanted to abolish all minimum wage laws, while giving tax breaks to the rich and big oil. All in a self-serving attempt to drive the policy discourse further toward their extreme ideals to benefit their own bottom line.
Well, it's now more than 30 years later, and the Koch agenda hasn't budged. Only now, instead of running a fringe party, they're driving the Republican Party.
What Do the Koch Brothers Want?
Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:
“We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission.”
“We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
“We oppose any compulsory insurance or tax-supported plan to provide health services, including those which finance abortion services.”
“We also favor the deregulation of the medical insurance industry.”
“We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary.”
“We propose the abolition of the governmental Postal Service. The present system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages governmental surveillance of private correspondence. Pending abolition, we call for an end to the monopoly system and for allowing free competition in all aspects of postal service.”
“We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes.”
“We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”
“As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.”
“We support repeal of all law which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws.”
“We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended.”
“We condemn compulsory education laws … and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.”
“We support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools, whether profit or non-profit.”
“We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency.”
“We support abolition of the Department of Energy.”
“We call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation.”
“We demand the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system.”
“We specifically oppose laws requiring an individual to buy or use so-called "self-protection" equipment such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration.”
“We support an end to all subsidies for child-bearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children.”
“We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and ‘aid to the poor’ programs. All these government programs are privacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals.”
“We call for the privatization of the inland waterways, and of the distribution system that brings water to industry, agriculture and households.”
“We call for the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.”
“We call for the abolition of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”
“We support the repeal of all state usury laws.”
Quixotic ’80 Campaign Gave Birth to Kochs’ Powerful Network
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE
“As a candidate, meeting only libertarians, it seemed to me that everyone was voting for us,” David Koch wrote in a letter to raise money to clear the party’s debts. “We all got a little too optimistic.”
Within a few years, a new faction won control of the Libertarian Party, and Charles and David Koch gradually withdrew.
But the two brothers did not leave politics. In 1985, the Kochs and a new adviser, Richard Fink, formed Citizens for a Sound Economy, a free enterprise-oriented group that evolved into Americans for Prosperity, the organization today led by David Koch that is the centerpiece of the brothers’ political activity. This year, it will spend a reported $125 million on the midterm elections, most of it aimed at defeating Democrats.
That was the beginning of the network of front groups we now call the Kochtopus.
Instead of moving into the Republican Party the Koch brothers adroitly used vast sums of anonymous money to shift the GOP to where the Libertarian Party was. Unfortunately his shift toward the radical in the GOP and the Koch brothers role in it has gone largely unreported in the MSM.
Online Campaign Urges Boycott of Koch Brothers Products
Products produced by Koch companies and targeted in the boycott include:
--Industry/Georgia-Pacific Products:
--Angel Soft toilet paper
--Brawny paper towels
--Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups
--Mardi Gras napkins and towels
--Quilted Northern toilet paper
--Soft 'n Gentle toilet paper
--Sparkle napkins
--Vanity Fair napkins
--Zee napkins