Gitzo Loc: Indiana

Op-ed: Charles G. Koch Responds to Baseless Leftist Attacks

Daniel Doherty | Apr 03, 2014


The Left’s obsession with Koch Industries and the two brothers who founded it is almost surreal. Take, for example, the Senate Majority Leader. Virtually every time he speaks now he mentions the Koch brothers in some capacity, complaining incoherently about them and how they’re attempting to “buy America.” To accept his assertions at face value, in other words, is to believe that every problem in America is directly -- or tangentially -- related to Koch Industries. This is absurd.

Well aware of the Left’s crusade to soil the Koch brand, Charles G. Koch took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to defend himself and his company. In his piece, he assails collectivists as lacking real ideas, “[promising] heaven but [delivering] hell,” and resorting to “character assassination.” He also provides some important facts about his company that the Left will no doubt dispute -- and scoff at, too. Nevertheless, here they are:

Rather than try to understand my vision for a free society or accurately report the facts about Koch Industries, our critics would have you believe we're "un-American" and trying to "rig the system," that we're against "environmental protection" or eager to "end workplace safety standards."

These falsehoods remind me of the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan's observation, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." Here are some facts about my philosophy and our company:

Koch companies employ 60,000 Americans, who make many thousands of products that Americans want and need. According to government figures, our employees and the 143,000 additional American jobs they support generate nearly $11.7 billion in compensation and benefits. About one-third of our U.S.-based employees are union members.

Koch employees have earned well over 700 awards for environmental, health and safety excellence since 2009, many of them from the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. EPA officials have commended us for our "commitment to a cleaner environment" and called us "a model for other companies."

Our refineries have consistently ranked among the best in the nation for low per-barrel emissions. In 2012, our Total Case Incident Rate (an important safety measure) was 67% better than a Bureau of Labor Statistics average for peer industries. Even so, we have never rested on our laurels. We believe there is always room for innovation and improvement.

Far from trying to rig the system, I have spent decades opposing cronyism and all political favors, including mandates, subsidies and protective tariffs—even when we benefit from them. I believe that cronyism is nothing more than welfare for the rich and powerful, and should be abolished.

In a sane world one would think that most rational observers could disagree with the Koch brothers’ political agenda without labeling them “un-American,” and a threat to our constitutional republic. After all, they provide tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, and have been awarded hundreds of commendation awards by federal government agencies.

Apparently, though, demonizing conservative billionaires -- while giving progressive billionaires a pass -- is a more effective political strategy than debating Republicans on the issues.

This is why anti-Koch hysteria is now ingrained in our politics, and isn't going away anytime soon.
End of Article


Comments;
Maybe I'll run across an article about Katzenberg or Soros?
Or maybe Steyer?

Just reading yesterday.......the Koch boys are worth $4o Bil (each! )

Dingy Harry (Damn..looks like the old POS is turning red! (Maybe he's having a stroke, thinking about Koch's?

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

"I believe that cronyism is nothing more than welfare for the rich and powerful, and should be abolished."

Yes we know, rich old dude, finally money = free speech.

papayanirvana Loc: Kauai

1 dollar... 1 vote, nothing unamerican about that.

DEBJENROB Loc: DELRAY BEACH FL

I think you miss the point .... the Koch brother, with their money, influence elections .... their goal is to have a government of elected officials who agree with a narrow group of self interested short sighted individuals .... in the late 1800, Henry D. Lloyd wrote Wealth against Commonwealth .... he made a comment that relates today to the Koch Brothers, Adelson etc. .... Liberty creates wealth, wealth destroys liberty .... do you really think that the Koch Brothers are interested in legislation that would benefit the middle class ..... go back in history .... those societies that were the most stable, had a strong middle class .... or a government that provide fertile ground for the middle class to grow ... every social and political position that the Koch Brothers support are designed to further secure the position of the wealthiest few ... sounds like France before the French Revolution .... yes they have the right to support who they want but WE as an electorate have the obligations to understand their motives ...

wilpharm Loc: Oklahoma

are they worse than Geo Soros????

DEBJENROB Loc: DELRAY BEACH FL

I would include him also ... but his positions generally are in opposition to his economic self interest .... i.e. ... more funding for safety net programs .... which would cost him more in taxes .... so ... yes there is a difference ....

wilpharm Loc: Oklahoma

I doubt that good ole George does anything that is not in his own self interest….

ted45 Loc: Delaware

If you actually look at what they have said and written the Koch brothers are basically libertarians. They do not always agree with the Republican parties position. They are 49th on the list of donors and also give money to the Democrats on occasion.

Harry Reid on the other hand is a tottering old fool and should be put out to pasture. There is a rumor that he uses the screen name "ole sarg".

Bazbo Loc: Lisboa, Portugal

Don't just look at what they say and write. Look at what they fund. Follow the money.

Their funding of voter suppression efforts make their sanctimonious words about liberty and other assorted blather ring a little hollow, don't you think?http://thecentristword.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/alec-koch-brothers-and-voter-suppression/

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Although I think both parties are equally corrupt, it remains mystifying when politicians bite the hands that feeds their contribution chests just to make headlines.
That said, the Koch brothers are supporters of right wing think tanks and activist organizations. Out here, it's the Goldwater Institute, and ALEC.
If I had to pick two to be put out to pasture, it would be Reid and McCain. Just my opinion.

ted45 Loc: Delaware

Yeah, the evil Koch brothers support voter ID. Grow up.

I can't register my car, buy a beer, or enter a public U.S. Government building without showing ID. You guys want to allow the number one right of citizens in this country to go unmonitored and subject to any number of abuses. You're right the Koch brothers are the very personification of evil.

Where is your objection to George Soros working overtime to turn out society into the perfect socialist world?


I won't even get into his major funding of efforts to legalize pot and turn our country into a Nation of Cheetos munching do nothings. Just a few of the organizations he provides monetary support for.

•The American Prospect, Inc. is the owner and publisher of The American Prospect magazine, which tries to "counteract the growing influence of conservative media."

•Free Press is a "media reform" organization co-founded by Robert McChesney, who calls for "a revolutionary program to overthrow the capitalist system" and to "rebuil[d] the entire society on socialist principles."

•The Independent Media Institute aims to "change the world" via projects like AlterNet, an online news magazine calling itself "a key player in the echo chamber of progressive ideas and vision."

•The Nation Institute operates synergistically with the far-left Nation magazine, which works "to extend the reach of progressive ideas" into the American mainstream.

•The Pacifica Foundation owns and operates Pacifica Radio, awash from its birth with the socialist-Marxist rhetoric of class warfare and anti-capitalism.

•Media Matters For America: For a number of years, the Open Society Institute gave indirect funding—filtering its grants first through other Soros-backed operations—to this "progressive research and information center" which "monitor[s]" and "correct[s] conservative misinformation in the U.S. media." In October 2010, Soros announced that he would soon donate $1 million directly to Media Matters.

•Sundance Institute: In 1996, Soros launched his Soros Documentary Fund to produce "social justice" films that would "spur awareness, action and social change." In 2001, this Fund became part of actor-director Robert Redford's Sundance Institute. Between 1996 and 2008, OSI earmarked at least $5.2 million for the production of several hundred documentaries, many of which were highly critical of capitalism, American society, or Western culture generally. In 2009, Soros pledged another $5 million to the Sundance Institute.

Read more at http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/03/just-george-soros-affect-american-politics/#0BXjVBorAVRHAxws.99

wilpharm Loc: Oklahoma

pretty hard to equate Voter ID with voter suppression...

DEBJENROB Loc: DELRAY BEACH FL

Of course you can ....the type of I'D that the Conservative right would like ... requires the voter to appear at a state office and present proof of citizenship ... this can be difficult if not impossible for the elderly and or infirmed ....those types of voters typically vote Democrat ... many are poor and do not have the means to get to a state office or may have been home born in rural areas 60 or 70 years ago and do not have birth certificates yet they have voted for many years ...the solution would be for representatives to go to their dwellings ...why will that not happen ....because they Don't want these people to vote ....think of what happened in Pa. .... they found 4 illegal voters out of millions ... so let's not delude ourselves...... voter purity is really ..voter suppression ..

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

The elderly typically vote Democrat? You may wish to research that contention. 8-)

wilpharm Loc: Oklahoma

BS