Conservative donor Koch urges end to ‘corporate cronyism’

(What.) “This means stopping the subsidies, mandates and preferences for business that enrich the haves at the expense of the have nots”.

Last summer, The Nation, citing a source who attended the conference, reported that “Freedom Partners spent more than $870,000, which included large fees to shut down public access to the golf course, the Michael Mina restaurant Stonehill Tavern and Motif Restaurant” in order to keep out uninvited guests.

The bank is a federal agency that helps U.S. companies sell products overseas by underwriting loans to foreign customers.

This weekend, some 450 donors who have pledged to pump almost $900 million into the network ahead of the 2016 election will gather with the Kochs and their top aides to share ideas and plot strategy.

Presidential candidate and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker spoke to the group Saturday afternoon and praised Koch and his younger brother, David Koch, for having “harnessed” their frustration with government overreach into an effort to “put in place some positive reforms”.

The billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch wield significant financial and political influence on US politics, both directly and indirectly, via various advocacy and lobbying organizations. “I wish the whole world could see what goes on here”, Koch said. “You’re here because you love America”. However, Republicans have an innate following the will of the people, or the Constitution for that matter, and in that spirit McConnell and Republicans are conniving to gut more from campaign finance laws to expedite the Koch brothers’ purchase and control of state and federal government. Marco Rubio, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Texas Sen. Sitting on a stage on the resort lawn, they fielded questions separately from Politico’s Mike Allen, seeking to demonstrate their conservative bonafides and win over the deep-pocketed contributors in the audience.

Asked about some of his Cabinet choices, should he be chosen as GOP nominee and elected next November, Walker named fellow hopefuls Fiorina and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, as well as former Missouri Sen.

Charles Koch – introduced by the meeting’s emcee Kevin Gentry as “our great leader” – stumbled slightly on his way to the stage, as attendees squinted into a hot Southern California Sunday.

Democrats, in the meantime, are preparing to spend millions of their own to paint the Kochs’ political efforts as cynical and self-interested. He will have a 25-minute policy discussion with each of the invited candidates. The High Court eviscerated 1974 law immediately by eliminating campaign spending limits in Buckley v. Valeo; that ruling started the “fundraising arms race” the wealthy are winning and to ensure total victory, the Koch Supreme Court wiped out the rest of Buckley, and Citizens United and McCutcheon v. FEC allowed corporations to spend unlimited money directly and voided individual aggregate contribution limits; all in the name of “freedom of speech”. The announcement prompted the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, another donor, to sever its relationship with the fund – a publicity coup, some argued, for the Kochs. Koch told them that obtrusive government policies are to blame not just for problems in the banking industry but, more broadly, economic inequality and lack of opportunity.