Who are the Bros. Koch? And why have they bought the Republican party?

The Koch family has always been a very foreign, profoundly anti-American operation. The family background is a collage of racism, fascism and hate. Looking at it makes clear the genesis of the current generation as the biggest threat to American democracy since the Nazis -- and for many similar-- if not identical-- reasons.

 To understand why Charles and David Koch are using their billions to assault American democracy-- even teaming up with Iran (the way their father had teamed up with Stalin) to do so-- you have to look back at the history of this family.
Their Dutch-born Nazi-oriented grandfather, Harry Koch, took part in a years long right-wing propaganda campaign to shoot down New Deal programs. Grandfather and grandsons employ eerily familiar talking points to bash government pension and welfare programs... In a series of early editorials, Harry Koch scoffed at the idea that land rents should be regulated, and ridiculed the plight of heavily indebted farmers, writing that while they might find indebtedness unpleasant, a much bigger problem was their laziness and inability to take care of the farm equipment they had purchased on credit." His son, Fred, another neo-Nazi-- the father of the current generation, Charles, David and William (brother Frederick is just a normal billionaire)-- was one of the founders, and chief financier, of the John Birch Society.

The Koch father was as ruthless as his sons appear, only more likely to share his obsessive racism and anti-American rants with the general public than the current crop of pseudo respectable Kochs do today.
The Koch Father claimed that the Democratic and Republican parties were infiltrated by the Communist Party and he was a big time supporter of European fascists, like his hero Benito Mussolini. He wrote that "The colored man looms large in the Communist plan to take over America," and that "Welfare was a secret plot to attract rural blacks to cities, where they would foment a vicious race war." He may sound a lot like David Duke, but he was far more damaging and dangerous for this country than Duke and the whole KKK ever was. And now his obscenely rich sons have bought the Republican Party, bag and baggage.  They own it outright, and dictate its every move through shell organizations, shadow groups, think tanks and PACs....

Groups like Americans for Prosperity, ALEC, FreedomWorks, the Tea Party, John Birch Society, the CATO Institute, the Mercatus Center, Citizens for a Sound Economy, Democracy Data & Communications, a firm specializing in helping major corporations to activate their employees politically, etc
.
Their Foundations give money to nonprofit organizations that do research and advocacy on issues that impact the profit margin of Koch Industries, the Institute for Justice, which files lawsuits opposing state and federal regulations; the Institute for Humane Studies, which underwrites libertarian academics; and the Bill of Rights Institute, which promotes a conservative slant on the Constitution, the Independent Women’s Forum, which opposes the presentation of global warming as a scientific fact in American public schools.


ALEC in case you don't know, is the Koch-funded group largely responsible for the latest round of  voter ID laws which is being halted by the Justice Department for discriminating against minorities, it’s also responsible for “Stand Your Ground” laws around the country.

Just about two years ago investigative journalist Lee Fang first broke the story wide open about the nature of the relationship between the Kochs and Rep. Mike Pompeo, (R-KS). And the relationship isn't normal and isn't conducive to a democracy-- though it sure explains a lot about Pompeo's shameful behavior in Congress.
Over the weekend, the Kansas City Star published a lengthy article explaining how Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Kansas, has for years maintained a symbiotic relationship with the right-wing oil plutocrats David and Charles Koch and their conglomerate Koch Industries.

Pompeo, who actually penned an OpEd in Politico denouncing people who want to look into the Koch brothers' shady dealing and the danger they are posing to democracy and to America. Pompeo's attacks don't stop with the usual target--President Obama-- but go on to savage Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL) for daring to ask the Koch brothers to send "a representative" of their business for a hearing on the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Former Rep. Dan Glickman (D-KS), who lost to Tiahrt in 1994, said that Koch Industries funneled resources-- including its employees and funds-- to oppose him. Now, with an open seat in Koch Industries’ backyard, the massive “Kochtopus” network of Koch money and front groups is working to elect a new right-wing Republican to fill the seat: Mike Pompeo. Pompeo isn’t just another Wall Street-friendly, pro-polluter GOP radical (his initial response to the BP oil disaster was to say that he “fervently” hoped the government wouldn’t “overreact”), he is essentially a wholly owned subsidiary of the Koch brothers’ business empire.