When it comes to government, Charles and David Koch want to influence, some say control, the political thoughts of all Americans. Yes, including Mississippians.
The Koch brothers and their super wealthy compatriots are spending billions of dollars to inform, many say indoctrinate, Americans on how to think about government, how to vote, and how to take down contrary elected officials.
The sprawling, sophisticated Koch network ranges from its grassroots army, Americans for Prosperity founded by David Koch in 2004, to its funding arm, Freedom Partners founded in 2011 that funnels money Koch network ventures, to its affiliated conservative think tanks like the Cato Institute, Fraser Institute, and Heritage Foundation, to its higher education ventures funded by various Koch family charities, to its like-minded coalition of billionaires who pump hundreds of millions of dollars into political campaigns across the country.
And that's not all. Indeed, the pervasiveness of the Koch thought machine across America is mind boggling, some say frightening, even reaching deep into Mississippi politics.
A foundation Charles Koch created (now defunct) spent millions over decades to fund groups advocating the Koch agenda, including conservative state-based think tanks affiliated with the national State Policy Network, e.g., the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. The Koch network has continued funding the State Policy Network and its affiliated American Legislative Exchange Council of which Mississippi Speaker of the House Philip Gunn is a board member. School choice advocate Empower Mississippi is the latest link in this network.
The Charles Koch Foundation has spent millions to push Koch thinking onto college campuses, including Mississippi State University. In 2015 the university announced formation of its Institute for Market Studies to be funded with nearly $2.5 million of Koch money over six years. Since then, MSU associate professor Claudia Williamson, co-director of the Institute, has been an active voice for economic policies aligned with Koch thinking.
The Mississippi chapter of Americans for Prosperity has risen in power to dominate thinking on many legislative issues. The chapter has strongly touted Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves for promoting its agenda. It is expected to play a dominant role in next year’s legislative elections.
As they infiltrate American politics, the Koch brothers, owners of the second largest private company in America, have used populist themes to pursue extremist policies beneficial to their vast business interests. Many of these anti-government policies, such as sweeping deregulation and big tax cuts, harken back to David Koch’s 1980 run for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket. Among other issues, the party platform called for abolition of the FBI, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Department of Energy and the end of Social Security and all personal and corporate income taxes.
“Average Americans are realizing that they are being cheated a fair shot at building a better life,” wrote David Koch in a fundraising letter last month for Americans for Prosperity. He, again, pitched “economic freedom and opportunity” as the alternative.
This siren call of personal freedom lures many while shrewdly obscuring the real goal – freedom for corporate titans to do as they please.
Yes, the deliberate, relentless Koch brothers have deeply rooted their thought machine into American politics. Its machinations will greatly influence Mississippi state politics and elections next year.
Crawford (crawfolk@gmail.com) is a syndicated columnist from Meridian.
37 comments:
What’s the point of this article?
Who the hell is Bill Crawford anyway?
George Soros.
There used to be a Republican from Meridian named Bill Crawford. I wonder if this guy knows him.
And not a word about that old Nazi (a real, WWII Nazi) George Soros using his billions to replace DAs and Secretaries of State in multiple states and counties with his minions. How do you think Al Franken was able to steal a Senate seat in Minnesota weeks after the votes were cast, when he kept showing up with box after box of "suddenly discovered" ballots, 99% of which were for Franken. But Salter seems oblivious to this.......
I guess Crawford is trying to pick up where Bill Minor left off, attacking those he disagrees with instead of challenging their ideas. Bill outs himself as a tin foil hat wearing, black helicopter conspiracy theorist, no different from the loons on the right who gripe all the time about Soros.
Yea, and Netflix billionaire founders Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph are influencing (some say controlling) political thoughts of Americans with their left wing propaganda via so-called documentaries on Netflix, where many of the lazy get their “history” these days. Hell, Netflix just recently cut a deal with Obama and another pathological liar leftist named Susan Rice.
The point of this article? Well I’m guessing ole Bill Crawford doesn’t want you to be influenced by, well, people with views that he doesn’t like, including the libertarian views of the Koch brothers. So, he uses that “billionaire” word all leftist like to use, as if everybody is supposed to be stupid enough not to know that some of the richest billionaire’s in America supported Hillary Clinton and many other leftist Democrats (like the Netflix founders above).
If I am correct, then Bill Crawford is propagandist for the Democratic Party and all readers should be informed of such.
This was so dumb.
Most Mississippians do not even know who the Koch brothers are . . . Please . . .
Thank goodness for businessmen such as the Koch brothers that are fed up with seeing our country deteriorate from a super power to one of pervasive bureaucratic overreach that, yes Bill, some would say has become controlling and frightening.
I have yet to read an article from Bill Crawford that I felt better off having read. This one is no exception. Crawford is a leftist gadfly and his words are a waste of space.
The government is too big. Too over reaching. It’s paralyzing. It’s anti-freedom, and sadly most cheer it on not realizing that their fascist views are the final straws in businesses offshoring jobs. India—-India has more freedom for commerce than does America. The “grow the government so big that you can’t live your life” 2 party system needs to look in the mirror and ask itself why it’s got me wanting to move to Thailand or some other highly favored ex-pat locale where at least I’m told upfront that I don’t have rights. We don’t even have individual freedom anymore. Get a clue.
Your “great work/experiment” thingie has been an abject failure and a colossal waste of funny money AND TO TOP IT OFF, it shows no signs of slowing down.
The comments prove the thesis.
@4:44 it doesn’t take the Koch brothers or their old libertarian platform to at least acknowledge that the country that was here only 20 years back is not the country that exists today. It doesn’t take a super genius to figure out that the governed have been sold down the river without the governed’s consent.
1:53 PM George Soros is Jewish and was a child during WWII. Posting anti-Semetic remarks reveals what you are about.
This was a good fictional piece of mostly imaginary ties
Are they any relation to the Koch Foods that utilizes a work force that may or may not be properly documented to work in the USA? The same processing plants that NEVER get raided even though everyone in the towns they are located in know?
For anyone living in Pearl or Brandon, if you ever notice the large number of Scott County car tags at Walmart and the large number of possible undocumented workers shopping there, they drive from the area with a certain chicken processing plant that may or may not have Koch in the name.
Maybe I am wrong and they just share some other interesting affiliations.
At least the Koch's own companies that produce value in jobs and wealth. So Bill, do you instead prefer the socialist world of Bernie Sanders?
1:53 I am well aware Soros is Jewish, which make his collaboration with Nazis even more abhorrent. His age was meaningless - he was a collaborator against his own people.
OTOH maybe he was just the equivalent of MS13 in his day, showing that "spark of divinity" as he helped his co-religionists head toward the camps. Good luck defending Nazis.
Most Mississippians need to be more worried about the Barbour and McConnell political machines controlling MS politics and politicians...
The messenger is getting shot again. It may not be this year but the sooner than later the populace will rise up against this travesty.
8:55 pm — a 5 second search on Wiki reveals the answer to your question. The answer is No. Koch foods doesn’t have anything to do with the Koch brothers. But, thanks for confusing the issue when 5 seconds of your time would have answered your staggeringly difficult question.
9:13; If, to you, age is meaningless, how do you explain your theory that a little boy 'collaborated with Nazis'? I don't know the age of Soros but find it hard to imagine that a ten year old did much collaboration during WWII.
11:22PM - Get a load of the guy still using wikipedia.org as reference in 2018! Ha! I guess you haven't seen the tech news where google.com has been humiliated by using wikipedia.org as a reference in their knowledge boxes?
I'm glad to see someone is bringing awareness to an issue that really needs to be addressed. Illegals come here to work. It is illegal to employ them. How much money is changing hands to turn a blind eye to these crimes in Mississippi?
At least Soros uses his money for the greater good.
8:55, yes, yes you are wrong, but thank you for being liberal and casting out some incorrect rhetoric without facts trying to associate something illegal with the topic at hand to discredit them. This is common place among people of your ilk these days.
6:16, get a load of these facts from the Koch Foods website:
"Are you related to other companies with the Koch name?
Koch Foods is an independent, privately held company that specializes in the processing of poultry. We are in no way affiliated with the Koch brothers, Koch Industries, Koch Companies or any other organization that uses the Koch name."
Link: http://kochfoodsinc.com/our-company/faq
I'm glad to see you're not using your Google App to find the correct answers. Took all of 30 seconds, but yes, lets bring awareness to something that doesn't pertain to the subject at hand. I wonder if you get humiliated for trying to be an ass, and being wrong at the same time.
Since you think so, what is the greater good he's paying for?
This must be written by the same Bill Crawford who once ran for President.
@ 8:40
Running General Nathan Bedford Forrest Algood out of office?
Good article. I think a large number of Mississippians are guilty of voting for candidates based solely on the R next to their name. If more of us would consider what positions most of these candidates are pushing and how their votes line up with their paid corporate sponsors, we would likely come to a much different decision at the ballot box.
As abhorrent and worthless as Soros is, we need to realize that he was 10-14 years old during WWII.
And, 3:37, I'm sure you meant to include 'D' in your second sentence. Please be more careful prior to hitting the 'enter' key.
Yahoos, neither the Kochs nor Soros should be able to do what they are doing.
It should be illegal for any one citizen to contribute more than $1000 to any one candidate . That should include any business or corporation since our Supreme Court has been successfully politicized and thinks an organization is a " citizen".
PS The Kochs' grandfather actually did openly support Hitler . While Soros and his family were working with the underground making false documents for Jews and the Allies in the same time period.
None of us should see ANY information generated by Kochs or Soros supported entities as ANYTHING other than BIASED.
It should be illegal for any one citizen to contribute more than $1000 to any one candidate.
Why?
@ 8:47 AM said: None of us should see ANY information generated by Kochs or Soros supported entities as ANYTHING other than BIASED.
And...None of us should see ANY information generated by Bill Crawford or any other propagandist posing as a journalist as ANYTHING other than BIASED.
There is a 2-part Freakonomics podcast called "Why Hate the Koch Brothers" that was SO VERY interesting. I've listened to it more than one time - lots of detail on what Charles Koch really believes. Host tried hard to lead him into expected rhetoric, but the man seemed sincerely motivated to improve things. I find it better to go to the original source for information on what someone's agenda.
7:51 "Soros uses his money for the greater good" WTF? Antifa and BLM? These are violence advocating terrorist organizations. And to the other commentator who thinks Soros was a child during WW11, HE ADMITS he was a Nazi collaborator dispossessing Jews of their property.
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