The Men Who Who Own America

Billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch take an aggressive and active interest in the US political system and frequently bankroll politicians who share their conservative views.

In the eyes of many, the two men have effectively co-opted one side of American politics and bent them to their will with a seemingly endless stream of donations.

With the Republican nomination for the presidential race set to be decided in the coming months, the outcome is inextricably tied to the actions of Charles and David Koch. As Democratic senator Harry Reid stated on the senate floor last year: “the Koch brothers are trying to buy America.”

With their increasing wealth and influence, the pair are inching closer to that undeclared goal and the upcoming presidential race could prove as a barometer for the power of the men — considered the king makers of the Republican Party.

The two brothers are the owners of Koch Industries — the second largest privately run business in America with an estimated wealth of over $135 billion. Among many other things, the Koch brothers own oil refineries in Texas, Alaska, and Minnesota and control over 6,400 kilometres of pipeline.

A third Koch brother, William, previously accused them of engaging in “organised crime” and told 60 Minutes that “Koch Industries has a philosophy that profits are above everything else”.

They are also frequently attacked by activist groups such as Greenpeace which has charged them with “secretly funding the climate denial machine” by spending over $108 million since 1997 on groups that work to deny climate change.

Despite their many critics, they are an unbridled force in politics and continue to use their awesome wealth in pursuit of their expressed desire for smaller government.

At the outset of the Republican race for president, speculation was rife over who they would throw their weight behind.

This month conservative Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker emerged as the winner of the “Koch donor straw poll”.

The upcoming presidential election is shaping up the be the most expensive in history and the Koch brothers have their wallets ready.

At a gathering of political donors overseen by the two brothers held earlier in the year, they committed to spend $1.2 billion on the 2016 presidential election. According to the New York Times, the staggering amount would “allow their political organisation to operate at the same financial scale as the Democratic and Republican Parties.”

“In many ways, they have superseded the party,” said former Obama adviser, David Axelrod.

And it’s this band of plutocrats led by the Koch brothers which led Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman to claim this week that GOP candidates promise government by the one per cent, for the one per cent.

The reason they have been able to use their wealth to openly dictate the course of the America’s right-wing politicians is largely thanks to a 2012 decision by the Supreme Court, known as Citizens United. The landmark judgment held that the US constitution prohibited restrictions on political expenditures by corporations and made it easier for them to pump money into elections.

Current presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders railed against the decision at the time and lamented how the Koch brothers helped usher it in.

“What the US government said to the Koch brothers, is you can buy the United States government. Why would you hesitate for one minute to spend a billion, two billion — that’s pretty good,” Bernie Sanders exclaimed on MSNBC.
-News.com.au