What Are the Koch Brothers Working Towards?

It seems that whatever the issue is, the Koch Brothers are there, even ones you wouldn’t expect them to be interested in – like GMO agriculture or health care.

Given that their fortune comes from oil and chemicals, it’s understandable that they would be against mass transit and the growth of renewable energy.

We’re pointing this out because they are going further than any individuals have gone, literally building out their own national campaign infrastructure with hundreds of employees across 32 states so far. In the first four months of 2014, they have already spent over $30 million on the mid-term campaigns.

They launched the Tea Party with their funds.

The Koch Brothers are worth $80 billion, adding $12 billion to their wealth last year, according to Forbes Magazine. They own the second biggest private company in the US and are among the largest tar sands oil owners.
 

"But that’s not good enough for them, says Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who would give Americans a real progressive choice if he decides to run for President in 2016. "It doesn’t appear that they will be satisfied until they are able to control the entire political process." 

In 1980, David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate, giving us insight into what his overall goals are.

He would repeal and abolish just about everything the government does. Read this incredibly long list:

• Abolish federal campaign finance laws and the "despotic Federal Election Commission;"
• Abolish Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, calling the latter a "fraudulent and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. After repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary;
• "We oppose any compulsory insurance or tax-supported plan to provide health services, including those which finance abortion services."
• Deregulate the medical insurance industry
• Abolish the US Postal Service and turn it over to the private sector.
• "We oppose all personal and corporate income taxes, including capital gains taxes, and support the eventual repeal of all taxes." Until then, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.
• Repeal minimum wage laws
• "We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Public schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with individual free choice. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended. We condemn compulsory education laws."
• Private schools should not be taxed on income or property.
• Abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Federal Aviation Administration, Food and Drug Administration, Consumer Product Safety Commission and Department of Transportation;
• "We demand the return of America’s railroad system to private ownership. We call for privatization of public roads and the national highway system."
• "We specifically oppose laws that require people to buy or use so-called "self-protection" equipment such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets."
• End all tax credits that have to with raising children, and all  welfare and 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 support the repeal of all state usury laws."

"These are the people who pull the strings for Republican Party and because of the disastrous Citizens United and McCutcheon Supreme Court decisions, they can now spend an unlimited amount of money to buy the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the next President of the United States," says Sanders.

They are also working on state and local levels, but that still isn’t enough – they are also influencing what’s taught in our schools, from grade school through college.

Luckily, they are getting old.