Tag: Charles Koch

The Story: Both George Soros and Charles Koch believe that the foreign policy of the United States has become unhinged from any defensible conception of...

President Trump on Tuesday lashed out at the Koch brothers, saying their conservative political network had "become a total joke in real Republican circles" and was "highly overrated” — deepening the divide between the GOP's donor class and its increasingly populist base at a crucial time, three months before the midterm election. Charles Koch, who now runs the family’s political network after the retirement of his brother David, who is ill, was somewhat more restrained, acknowledging that political polarization affected Washington and the country long before Trump entered the fray. "We've had divisiveness long before Trump became president and we'll have it long after he's no longer president," he told reporters Sunday. "I never sought their support because I don't need their money or bad ideas." Trump added that the Kochs "love" some of his policies, including tax cuts and conservative picks for federal courts. Although they have benefited from the administration's tax cuts and deregulation efforts, the Kochs oppose Trump's immigration and trade policies, especially tariffs. “If you’re running the country, you’re not really interested in a couple of billionaires -- whether it’s the Steyers on the left or Kochs on the right -- telling you, ‘We don’t really think you know what you’re doing,’” said the former administration official. “The interesting question is the extent to which the business community is going to start to be more actively opposed to Trump policies and this move by Charles Koch and his network could be a triggering mechanism,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of a left-leaning nonprofit group called Democracy 21, which has focused on Trump’s ethics and the role of big money in politics. Charles Koch and his network have the personal fortunes to push back against Trump, especially on trade and immigration, in a way that Republican lawmakers have so far been unwilling to do, Wertheimer said. While other business interests have pushed back against Trump’s trade policies, they have not done so as aggressively as Koch, he added.

President Trump just called the Republican party’s most powerful donors a “total joke” on Twitter. Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle break down why the Koch brothers are so important to the GOP and why the president is slamming them anyways.…

NEW YORK (AP) — Billionaire conservative icon David Koch is stepping down from the Koch brothers' network of business and political activities. David Koch is leaving his roles as executive vice president and board member for Koch Industries and a subsidiary, Koch Chemical Technology group, where he served as chairman and chief executive officer. Koch is also stepping down as chairman of the board for the Americans For Prosperity Foundation, the charity related to Koch brothers' primary political organization. He will continue to serve as the CEO of Koch Industries and the unofficial face of the network's political efforts. Democrats have demonized the Koch brothers for their outsized influence in conservative politics over the last decade. Citing concerns about Trump's style and substance, the network refused to endorse either presidential candidate in the 2016 election. And while they have praised Trump's policies on taxes, de-regulation and health care, they have aggressively attacked the Republican administration's trade policies. David Koch, who served as the Libertarian Party's vice presidential candidate in 1980, had begun focus more on philanthropy in recent years. The Manhattan resident donated $150 million to New York City's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 2015, the largest gift in the organization's history. And David is much more into elective politics than I am."

Of all people, conservative energy mogul and billionaire super-contributor Charles Koch complained Thursday in a newspaper opinion column about the unfair influence of corporations and the “privileged few” in political decisions. He also wrote: “Our entire economy is rife with cronyism.” Everyday Americans forking over unearned millions — to make up for slashing the corporate rate and estate taxes for the wealthy — could be a description of what just happened in the new tax law, which was vigorously supported by Koch. Koch, along with his brother, David, and Koch Industries have contributed millions of dollars to political campaigns and issue battles to get their hard-line libertarian, corporate-friendly laws passed. The Koch brothers spent tens of millions of dollars to get the tax law passed and continue to build support for it. The changes are expected to save the brothers and their company more than $1 billion a year in taxes. Koch wrote his op-ed article because he didn’t get his way this time. He’s opposed to the aluminum and steel tariffs Donald Trump announced Thursday. He believes free trade, without such tariffs, creates the healthiest economy and the “most tolerant” society. Also Charles Koch: “When large companies can pressure politicians to force everyday Americans to fork over unearned millions, we should all question the fairness of the system.” — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 8, 2018 Charles Koch wrote in the Washington Post today that “we should all question the fairness of the system” when companies can pressure politicians. Well, here’s how billionaires like the Kochs use their wealth to influence our political system and give themselves tax breaks: pic.twitter.com/zgJXCQaaU3 — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 8, 2018 Charles Koch plays a different track from his album “Rich Guys Own America”.