Last week was the 5th anniversary of Citizens United, with protests across the country calling for a constitutional amendment to reverse the Supreme Court decision.
Coincidentally, it was the weekend of the "Koch Primary," where Republican presidential hopefuls attempted to gain their support at a private resort near Palm Springs, CA.
The Koch’s say they will double their spending in this presidential election to about $900 million from 300 core donors. That’s the tip of the iceberg, most of which is buried in dark money, but that amount alone makes their spending on par with the two national parties.
This is the first time they actually made these intentions known and also allowed cameras to broadcast one of the panels as a show of transparency. What does this mean? They are emboldened by success and are coming out of the shadows.
"The Koch brothers’ agenda is clear: they are on a mission to buy the Republican Party and our country," says Center for American Progress.
A record $5 billion is expected to be spent in the 2016 election, after $4 billion in the 2014 midterms – more than double the 2012 election.
Thanks to Citizens United, the Koch’s have created what many call their own shadow political party, outspending the Republican party and having a political network that spans the US. Its main advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity employs 550 people.
What the Koch Brothers are Working On
"The Koch brothers and their allies are pumping tens of millions of dollars into a data company that’s developing detailed, state-of-the-art profiles of 250 million Americans, giving the brothers’ political operation all the earmarks of a national party," says Politico in "Inside the Koch Data Mine."
"They have in-house expertise on polling, message-testing, fact-checking, advertising, media buying, dial groups and donor maintenance," says Politico, "exceeding the Republican National Committee’s data operation." Add to that unlimited cash and you can see why they are emerging as a national party.
But they go much deeper than that – they are just as active on the local level, electing local judges, state attorney generals and legislators, along with their pal, ALEC.
One of Koch’s companies – i360 – "links voter information with consumer data purchased from credit bureaus and other vendors. Information from social networks is blended in, along with any interaction the voter may have had with affiliated campaigns and advocacy groups. Then come estimated income, recent addresses, how often a person has voted, and even the brand of car they drive. Another i360 service slices and dices information about TV viewing to help campaigns target ads more precisely and cost efficiently," and campaigns pay them for these detailed profiles.
Read our article, Koch Brothers Exposed Even More, which details their overwhelming network that’s attacking renewable energy, while they pollute away. They are behind the relentless push for the Keystone pipeline, and certainly won’t let the wind production tax credit be renewed.
Read the full article at Politico:
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