The Tea Party is funded by two Libertarian billionaire brothers, David and Charles Koch, who obtained their riches though the oil industry, and supplement it today by selling things like Lycra and Dixie Cups. As you’ve probably heard by now, an article appeared in The New Yorker recently that profiled the brothers and their political views. Not surprisingly, the brothers weren’t thrilled and now they’re speaking out about the “Kochtopus'” reach:
The origins of “the Billionaire who Secretly Funds the Tea Party” narrative seems to be his connection to Americans For Prosperity, an organization he founded six years ago, whose message is indeed aligned with the Tea Party movement’s message of less taxes and more efficient government. But, he says, no one from the Tea Party movement has ever approached him for money, and when I ask him straight up if he’s funding the Tea Party, all he says is, “Oh, please.”But none these accusations—covertly supporting the Tea Party movement, polluting the planet, stealing oil and being a climate change denier—bother him as much as this: It is the suggestion that his position as a member of the National Cancer Advisory Board, an arm of the National Cancer Institute, presents a “conflict of interest” because Koch Industries has lobbied against the classification of formaldehyde as a carcinogen.
It is this accusation which has prompted the normally press-shy Koch to take my call.
Read the rest of this Daily Beast post, by Elaine Lafferty, here.
This video, featuring Thom Hartmann, asks, “Have Americans become useful idiots for Koch industries?”
This article appears in Sep 7-13, 2010.
