(Formerly) Anonymous Koch Brothers Political Donors Outed

Last week the Koch Brothers held their twice-a-year meeting with their fellow rightwing movers and shakers.  Corporations and wealthy individuals who contribute to the Koch Brothers' various front groups are guaranteed to be kept anonymous.  They can make huge donations to Americans For Prosperity, Freedom Partners and other Kochtopus tentacles, and still keep hiding and cowering under their rocks so nobody knows who they are.

But at last week's meeting, one of the attendees left behind a sensitive document that listed some of the largest donors to the Kochtopus.  The document promptly found its way to Mother Jones, which is why these anonymous donors' identities have gone viral.

Without further ado, here are some of the corporations and individual billionaires who have been secretly trying to derail our democracy:

Papa John's Pizza;

TRT Holdings, owner of Omni Hotels and Gold's Gym;

Carl Berg, Silicon Valley real estate billionaire;

Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel hedge fund, ranks #103 on the Forbes 400;

Klipsch Group, headphone and speaker company;

John W. Childs, private equity investor;

Mountaire Corporation, huge agribusiness firm;

Charles Chandler, CEO of Intrust Bank;

Lone Star Steakhouse and Saloon restaurant chain;

And on and on...

The complete list is shown at the linked article.

Koch Brothers: Biblethumpers, NOT Libertarians

Most people think the Koch Brothers are using their inherited billions to fund pro-business anti-regulation causes and aren’t interested in the Christian Right’s social agenda.

WRONG.

An investigation by Politico and RH Reality Check has uncovered a vipers’ nest of Biblehump organizations that are secretly funded by the Koch Brothers.  Tax documents show that Koch-funded “pro business” groups are pouring money into state legislatures’ attempts to close abortion clinics and ban birth control.

Senior Washington correspondent Adele Stan said:

“There is little doubt that the rash of anti-choice measures that flooded the legislative dockets in state capitols in 2013 was a coordinated effort by anti-choice groups and major right-wing donors lurking anonymously behind the facades of the non-profit ‘social welfare’ organizations unleashed to tear up the political landscape, thanks to the high court’s decision in Citizens United.  Helping to drive the right-wing offensive in the states and in Congress is a network of deep-pocketed business titans convened by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.”

A Koch Brothers’ shell company, Freedom Partners, is the main clearinghouse for these anonymous donations.  About two hundred donors give an average of $100,000 apiece, each year, to Freedom Partners.  Freedom Partners, in turn, has funneled this money into the following Astroturf groups:

Center to Protect Patient Rights, a gang of teabaggers dedicated to fighting the twin evils of abortion and Obamacare;

Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, which pushes the Talibangelical “Christian” agenda;

Generation Opportunity, a cult group that’s trying to lure “Liberty-loving” young people into their parlor;

And we’re all familiar with the infamous Americans for Prosperity.

The president and editor-in-chief of RH Reality Check describes this confluence of gutting the safety net and all regulations while bringing back the Salem Witch Trials:

“It is a marriage of ‘church and commerce’ not previously seen in the United States.  Now it is clear that the Koch brothers are pouring money into a policy agenda that recognizes both corporations and fertilized eggs as people, but not the personhood of women.”

Yup, “Limited Government” in all its glory.