Where the Koch Brothers Give Money

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1. Robert Rendo says:

   February 22, 2014 at 5:10 pm

   Lloyd,

   Great article.

   And do readers have ANY idea of the contributions made by the Kochs to Canadian Premier Harper and his cronies. The Koch brothers are transforming Canada and the way Canadian society and parliament are set up, including decentralization of its nationalized healthcare system and reductions in the scope of goods and services therein.

   They will stop at nothing to turn the world back into one big kingdom and serfdom . . . . . . . . .

   They are roaches and mice and locusts. . . . .

   Calling all giant cans of Raid and sticky mouse traps . . . . . . .

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   • Duane Swacker says:

     February 22, 2014 at 8:09 pm

     Well, considering their father was a co-founder of the John Birch Society, nothing that they do should be surprising.

     For you younger folk please get an introduction to the JBS @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

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2. Sara Springer says:

   February 22, 2014 at 5:16 pm

   I think you should be following Soros’ money trail if you are concerned about education.

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   • Duane Swacker says:

     February 22, 2014 at 8:10 pm

     Some links please.

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   • nano says:

     February 23, 2014 at 1:47 am

     You have just outed yourself as a Koch operative. That is a standard line they give: Soros, another billionaire financier–real friend of the people and civil society..not.

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3. sharsand2013 says:

   February 22, 2014 at 6:04 pm

   George Mason University and its Mercatus Center front group receive the most university money donated by the Kochs because it’s the hotbed of Koch libertarian propaganda. Here’s info from Wikipedia, and you can find this through other research as well:
   The Mercatus Center was founded by Rich Fink as the Center for the Study of Market Processes at Rutgers University. After the Koch family provided more than thirty million dollars[2] to George Mason University, the Center moved to George Mason in the mid-1980s before assuming its current name in 1999.[2] The Mercatus Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit and does not receive support from George Mason University or any federal, state or local government, but rather is entirely funded through donations, including some from companies like Koch Industries[3] and ExxonMobil,[4] individual donors and foundations. As of 2011, the Center shows that 58% of its funding comes from foundations, 40% from individuals, and 2% from businesses.[1]
   Mission[edit]

   Stated mission[edit]
   The organization describes itself as “the world’s premier university source for market-oriented ideas” that aims to bridge “the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems.”[2] By advancing knowledge about how markets can work to improve lives and individual freedoms, by training graduate students, conducting research, and applying economic principles, they hope to offer solutions to society’s most pressing problems.
   Mercatus has several research and outreach programs: Capitol Hill Campus, the Government Accountability Project, the Regulatory Studies Program, and the Global Prosperity Initiative.
   Media/political comments[edit]
   Washington Post columnist Al Kamen has described Mercatus as a “staunchly anti-regulatory center funded largely by Koch Industries Inc.”[3] Rob Stein, the Democratic strategist, has called it “ground zero for deregulation policy in Washington.”[2] The Wall Street Journal has called the Mercatus Center “the most important think tank you’ve never heard of.”[2]
   Recent activity[edit]

   In 2012, Mercatus scholar Charles Blahous raised a controversy by releasing a study claiming that, contrary to the official Congressional Budget Office forecast, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) would worsen the federal deficit.[5] The study was generally criticized by supporters of the PPACA.[6][7] Jeanne Lambrew, deputy assistant to the president for health policy, wrote, “This new math fits the old pattern of mischaracterizations about the Affordable Care Act when official estimates show the health care law reduces the deficit.”[8] Despite these criticisms, Blahous defended the findings of his research.[9]
   In 2010, the Center collaborated with EconStories to produce a parody rap video about the conflict of ideas between F. A. Hayek and John Maynard Keynes.[10] A sequel, “Fight of the Century”, was produced in 2011.[11]
   In 2001, the Office of Management and Budget asked for public input on which regulations should be revised or killed. Mercatus submitted 44 of the 71 proposals the OMB received.[3]
   Mercatus organizes an active African research activity, Enterprise Africa!, in cooperation with the Institute of Economic Affairs of the United Kingdom, the Free Market Foundation of South Africa, and the John Templeton Foundation. Mercatus holds that the only sustainable solution to alleviate Africa’s seemingly continuous trifecta of serious socioeconomic problems – poverty, famine, and political corruption – is not from year-after-year of monetary aid provided by western governments, but rather from entrepreneurship and development from within Africa, to help destroy the problems from the ground up by supporting African innovators directly.
   Organizational structure[edit]

   Hazel Hall, home of the Mercatus Center and the Institute for Humane Studies on the George Mason University Arlington campus
   The Mercatus Center is located on George Mason University’s Arlington Campus, and is affiliated with GMU’s Economics department. The Provost of George Mason University has the power to appoint a Faculty Director to head up the Mercatus Center.
   Board of directors[edit]
   Members of the Board of Directors include:[12]
   Frank Atkinson, Partner at McGuireWoods
   Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics at GMU *
   Richard H. Fink, Executive Vice President of Koch Industries
   Manuel H. Johnson, economist
   Charles G. Koch, co-owner, Chairman and CEO of Koch Industries
   Edwin Meese, 75th United States Attorney General (1985–1988)
   Menlo Smith, CEO of the Sunmark Capital Corporation
   Vernon L. Smith, 2002 winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences *
   * indicates Mercatus Fellow
   Publications

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4. Charlotte Vrooman says:

   February 22, 2014 at 6:15 pm

   If I were a millionaire, I’d rather give my money to the Society for the Preservation of County Fair Tractor Pulls. (It’s a joke!)

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   • Robert Rendo says:

     February 22, 2014 at 6:40 pm

     You have something against tractor pulls?

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     • Charlotte Vrooman says:

       February 22, 2014 at 7:20 pm

       No, that’s why I’d donate. It seems like good, dirty fun, mud wrestling and three-legged races.

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     • Duane Swacker says:

       February 22, 2014 at 8:11 pm

       Yeah, they’re too damned loud, especially when I don’t have any hearing protection in the truck!

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5. FLERP! says:

   February 22, 2014 at 6:23 pm

   The dollar figures in the linked article seem really, really, really low, even for just focusing on think tanks and not political spending. I don’t think it gives a remotely accurate sense of the scale of the money that flows through the Kochtopus.

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   • Alexandra Miletta says:

     February 22, 2014 at 9:29 pm

     “Kochtopus” is brilliant – how can that go viral?

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     • FLERP! says:

       February 22, 2014 at 10:04 pm

       I think it already has — it’s not my invention.

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6. FLERP! says:

   February 22, 2014 at 6:59 pm

   Diane — when you were working for/with conservative think tanks, did you ever feel pressure from their big corporate donors?

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   • teachingeconomist says:

     February 22, 2014 at 11:44 pm

     An interesting question. My thought is that money typically finds those that already support a view, it does not change viewpoints.

     I look forward to Dr. Ravitch’s answer. Even a nonresponse from Dr. Ravitch will be informative.

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     • Jon Awbrey says:

       February 23, 2014 at 12:34 am

       That’s funny, I always find that a fool and his party are soon monetized.

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7. Jon Awbrey says:

   February 22, 2014 at 8:25 pm

   Calling them “academic think tanks” is of course sheer blather — they are nothing but PR firms, flapping gums for hire, with no trace of research integrity to their names.

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   • dianeravitch says:

     February 22, 2014 at 9:53 pm

     Jon, one reader called them “belief tanks.”

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     • Jon Awbrey says:

       February 23, 2014 at 12:35 am

       The Church of Friedmanology must have its missionaries.

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   • retiredbutmissthekids says:

     February 23, 2014 at 1:58 am

     Jon, “a fool and his party are soon monetized” is brilliant!
     Is that an Awbrey original? May I quote you?

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     • Jon Awbrey says:

       February 23, 2014 at 5:16 am

       Yes & Yes

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8. Paul AFT 2063 says:

   February 22, 2014 at 8:34 pm

   The Gilder Lehrman Instititute for American History gets a big chunk of change as well, and they sell “Common Core” History Lessons. The Kochs give to Manhattan Institute and the MI gives another big chuck of change to Gilder Lehrman. The Kochs sponsor GL History teacher seminars in Wichita, their hometown and are expanding this model to other cities. Guess what, The content at these seminars is heavily influenced by the Federalist Society, another Koch sponsored organization. The Project Director for the GL summer seminars for teachers as of two years ago was very conservative and gave out “free enterprise” materials to participants in a seminar that I attended in NY. Between the Gates’ with STEM, the Common Core, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Kochs’ with all of these institutions, the Liberal Arts are under assault. Gates is killing school Humanities with STEM and the Kochs are doing their best to promote charters through ALEC and seize History for the right. Remember as well that charters kill the arts and humanities.

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9. ajbruno14 says:

   February 22, 2014 at 10:19 pm

   Let’s consider the concern of the “educated” among us. If any large contributor, whether it is Koch, Soros, Buffet, Gates, etc,. gives money to any school or institution that is not ‘acceptable’ to the public education community they will be criticized. Is this the lesson these so-called educators want our children to learn?
   Just once, allow people the freedom to determine for themselves how best to spend their money, without feeling the sting of unwarranted criticism

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   • Mike says:

     February 23, 2014 at 12:16 am

     I think the concern is the destruction of public schools, ajbruno. If you want to give your money for a museum or helping poor people in Africa or the United States, I don’t think you’d get any “unwarranted” criticism. I think that if you give your money to try to destroy the public school system, then you are going to get plenty of criticism from those aware. The public schools (whether good or bad) are the only ladder out of poverty available to millions of children. Encouraging vouchers, or a business-model for education is never going to be successful. Before you spend your billions on stupid ideas, you may want to talk to a few veteran teachers about what would really would help and save yourself some money. If you are out to get rid of public schools, then you deserve much more criticism. It’s a shame that the government allows people like you to have influence over public education policy. That is the saddest thing. Can you imagine some billionaire in Germany trying to change education in Germany. It would never happen.

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   • nano says:

     February 23, 2014 at 1:55 am

     The new oligarchs differ from the Guilded Age oligarchs in that the former does not fund public enrichment projects–such as libraries, museums, etc. (unlike the latter), instead, the former push their minority viewpoint on the rest of society,, which like their business activities, abuse workers and manipulate the market. Koch industries was caught manipulating gas measurements.

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     • FLERP! says:

       February 23, 2014 at 8:35 pm

       “The new oligarchs differ from the Guilded Age oligarchs in that the former does not fund public enrichment projects–such as libraries, museums, etc. (unlike the latter)”

       Wrong. Read the link that Diane posted.

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10. retiredbutmissthekids says:

    February 23, 2014 at 2:05 am

    Between the Kochs & the Gulen movement (allowed to infiltrate the U.S. courtesy of the bloviated egos {such as flattery [“awards”] [& free trips to Turkey!] will get you everywhere} of our clueless legislators), we have to continue our teacher-parent-community push back twice as hard to save our public schools.
    Yes, WE can…and WE WILL!

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11. Gordon Wilder says:

    February 23, 2014 at 7:43 pm

    The TV program: Democracy Now, ran an expose of the Koch brothers. Every American should view it.

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