Koch Brothers

[Drew Phipps]

Koch Industries calls for end to partisan politics

Jun 10th 2016 8:48PM

http://www.aol.com/article/2016/06/10/ko.../21393318/

When you think of Koch Industries, you probably think of their dozens of products or the millions of corporate dollars spent for GOP candidates. But now the company is hoping to change your mind. "We believe it's time. Time to remove the barriers, to end the divide. To replace winner-take-all with a system where we all can win," a narrator said.


That video is part of a campaign called "End the Divide." It was launched by the company on Friday and calls for Americans to put aside partisan politics. The campaign also vows the company will be putting more money and effort into enacting public policy and social change. Charles Koch told USA Today: "Let's stop attacking people we disagree with and trying to silence them. Let's instead try to find common ground and learn from each other so we can innovate."


The campaign hits on issues like how the criminal justice system is "rigged" and disproportionately impacts the poor, and how government regulation hinders business growth. Though the campaign may seem to be a strange fit for the conservative billionaires, the shift has been coming for a little while. Koch officials recently got rid of an oppo-research unit created to gather information about liberal groups and Democratic candidates.


And the Kochs have been arguing for criminal justice reform for years, secretly pumping millions into campaigns to fix the system and teaming up with members of the right and the left who think it's broken. Though critics are sure to say this is all a business strategy, the company has already made changes to its own policies to reflect the campaign. For instance, it's stopped asking potential employees about their criminal history on applications.

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Emphasis added. I'm quite sure those pesky government regulations governing public health, pollution, and unfair labor practices (to name a few) really do still concern the Kochs. I'm happy that at least one company in America will be tapping into the vast pool of cheap (non-immigrant related) labor that the War on Drugs has manufactured.


However, this program stinks more like a concession speech than a call to action. In case you were wondering about how "recently" the Kochs had their change of heart about spending millions of dollars on opposition research, it was AFTER Trump carried New York and the rest of New England in April, and mere days before Cruz suspended his campaign. It's hard to imagine a greater public relations coup for Trump could be arranged.


Having failed in their bid to either be, or own, a candidate at the top of a party ticket for president, and after two decades of inciting the most partisan bickering seen in my lifetime, NOW the Koch want cooperation? I'm hearing the Donald use the "L word". I'm hearing Hilary talk about the "vast right conspiracy." I'm also seeing all those die hard Tea Party types (who were willing to shut down the government instead of legislating in the public interest) wondering when the knife in their backs will arrive.


Sorry, rich guys, you bet on the wrong horses, and to use a phrase I'm sure you recognize, "Margin call!"