The political activities of the Koch brothers include the financial and political influence of Charles G. and David H. Koch on United States (US) politics. This influence is seen both directly and indirectly via various advocacy and lobbying organizations in which they have an interest.[1] The Koch brothers are the sons of Fred C. Koch, who founded Koch Industries, the second-largest privately held company in the US, of which they own 84%.[2] Having bought out two other brothers' interests, they remain in control of the family business, the fortune which they inherited from their father, and the Koch Family Foundations. The brothers have mainly contributed to libertarian and conservative thinktanks and campaigns. They actively fund and support organizations that contribute significantly to Republican candidates, and that lobby against universal health care and climate change legislation.[3] They have donated more than $196 million to dozens of free-market and advocacy organizations.[3] In 2008, the three main Koch family foundations contributed to 34 political and policy organizations, three of which they founded, and several of which they direct.[3][4] Some of the political activities of the Koch brothers have brought controversy from organizations such as Greenpeace. In 2014, Koch Companies Public Sector CEO Philip Ellender responded to comments that Harry Reid made on the floor of the Senate, when he said that the Koch brothers were trying to "buy the country". The phrase "Koch brothers" generally refers to the sons of Fred C. Koch.[7][8][9][10] The most political sons are Charles Koch and David H. Koch who bought out their brothers Frederick and Bill in 1983.[11] David H. Koch was a Libertarian Vice-Presidential candidate in 1980.[12] He advocated the abolition of Social Security, the FBI, the CIA, and public schools.[13][14] Koch put $500,000 of his own money into the race,[14] and he and Ed Clark, his presidential running mate, won 1.1% of the vote -- the best Libertarian showing in a U.S. presidential race to date.[15] But the experience caused David Koch to change course: "I had enough ... [W]e are not a nation that debates issues. We vote on candidates' personalities." By 1984, David had parted company with the Libertarian Party, because, he said, "they nominated a ticket I wasn't happy with" and "so many of the hard-core Libertarian ideas are unrealistic."[14] Interested in maintaining their privacy, they prefer to spend on donations to non-profit groups who do not disclose donors.[16] Charles Koch funds and supports libertarian and free-market organizations such as the Cato Institute,[17] which he co-founded with Edward H. Crane and Murray Rothbard in 1977,[18] and is a board member at the Mercatus Center, a market-oriented research think tank at George Mason University. Charles Koch supported his brother's candidacy for Vice President on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1980.[3] After the bid, Charles told a reporter that conventional politics "tends to be a nasty, corrupting business ... I'm interested in advancing libertarian ideas".[3] In addition to funding think tanks, the brothers support libertarian academics;[19] since 1992, Charles has funded the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program through the Institute for Humane Studies, which mentors young, self-described libertarians.[20] Charles also organizes twice yearly meetings[21] with Republican donors.[17] The brothers promote the ideal of economic freedom as essential to society's well-being. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_activities_of_the_Koch_brothers

• published: 17 Jun 2014
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