US Democracy: Koch brothers: commit to spend billions on 2016 presidential election

They have been called the unseen force in US politics and they’re two of the most powerful figures in the country.

Billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch take an aggressive and active interest in the US political system and frequently bankroll politicians who share their conservative views.

In the eyes of many, the two men have effectively co-opted one side of American politics and bent them to their will with a seemingly endless stream of donations.

With the Republican nomination for the presidential race set to be decided in the coming months, the outcome is inextricably tied to the actions of Charles and David Koch. As Democratic senator Harry Reid stated on the senate floor last year: “the Koch brothers are trying to buy America.”

With their increasing wealth and influence, the pair are inching closer to that undeclared goal and the upcoming presidential race could prove as a barometer for the power of the men — considered the king makers of the Republican Party.

The reason they have been able to use their wealth to openly dictate the course of the America’s right-wing politicians is largely thanks to a 2012 decision by the Supreme Court, known as Citizens United. The landmark judgment held that the US constitution prohibited restrictions on political expenditures by corporations and made it easier for them to pump money into elections.

Current presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders railed against the decision at the time and lamented how the Koch brothers helped usher it in.

“What the US government said to the Koch brothers, is you can buy the United States government. Why would you hesitate for one minute to spend a billion, two billion — that’s pretty good,” Bernie Sanders exclaimed on MSNBC.

Read more: Koch brothers: commit to spend billions on 2016 presidential election

US Politics: 300 Koch-Led Businessmen Pledge $500 Million to Turn the Senate Over to Republicans

The Koch boys, Charles and David, live in their own little world. It's a special world, enshrouded in a rarefied atmosphere created by the fumes emanating from their family's enormous stockpiles of wealth.

Thus, the two brothers have always felt very special, and they also expect those of us in the down-to-Earth world to treat them special, even heroic. The boys were born rich and right-wing, and they parlayed Daddy Fred Koch's millions into a huge industrial conglomerate that has made each of them uberbillionaires. This has further bloated their sense of self-importance, while also giving them the financial muscle to try transforming our democratic world of egalitarian ideals into their fantasy world of laissez-fairy, social Darwinism, ruled by supermen like...well, like them, of course.

So, twice a year, the Kochs convene a secret summit of superrich supermen to plot strategy and pledge millions of dollars to their political transformation of America. In June, about 300 of the billionaire brotherhood gathered with Charlie and Dave at the St. Regis Monarch Bay Resort on the Southern California coast. As investigative reporter Lauren Windsor wrote in The Nation, the Koch confab, which bore the heroic title of "American Courage," took over the entire luxury resort, including its golf course and restaurants, for three days, at the cost of nearly a million bucks—not counting charges for guest rooms.

David Koch provided a keynote talk, modestly titled "Saving America," and attendees were treated to a feedfest of right-wing boilerplate from a gaggle of GOP congress critters summoned to the summit. The billionaires were especially delighted to hear Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell assure them that he would defend to his last sour breath their right to buy our election

Read more: 300 Koch-Led Businessmen Pledge $500 Million to Turn the Senate Over to Republicans | Alternet

US Elections: How the Koch Brothers Spent at Least $3.9 Million in Unreported Partisan Attack Efforts During the 2010 US Election - by Lee Fang

Republic Report has obtained financial audits showing that the billionaire Koch brothers supported at least $3.9 million in unreported election-related activity in 2010. The documents, reported here for the first time, provide a window into an otherwise secret campaign infrastructure that will likely be reactivated this year.

David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers of the Koch Industries business empire, are big election spenders: They dumped millions into negative advertisements against Democrats in the last election, and control a political action committees that has distributed well over $5.2 million in checks to favored politicians over the last two campaign cycles (Koch PAC). But the petrochemical plutocrats spent way more than what has been previously disclosed. Documents obtained by Republic Report shed light on the 2010 midterm election strategies of the Koch political machine, including secret money used to harness Tea Party activists into defeating Democrats.

On the Federal Election Commission disclosure website, you won’t find any big checks written to super PACs by David or Charles Koch. That’s because the brothers prefer nonprofit 501(c) organizations to hide their donations and their political spending. By evading the spirit of campaign disclosure laws, the attacks go on with little accountability from the public.

For more: How the Koch Brothers Spent at Least $3.9 Million in Unreported Partisan Attack Efforts During the 2010 Election