Koch Brothers Make Cato Institute Power Grab

The Koch Brothers, apparently looking for a respite from backing beleaguered Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, have decided to attempt to seize full control of the libertarian think tank Cato Institute. The brothers already have a fifty percent ownership of the Institute, and are making their move to obtain majority control. Today's online edition of the Washington Post provides the unsavory details.

The Kochs' power play delivers a strong, highly unpleasant message to those libertarians who believe they can dance with right-wing politicians and their wealthy enablers. However, I don't feel sorry at all for the libertarians impacted by the Kochs' muscle tactics. They just found out freedom has a price that goes beyond issuing position papers and smugly endorsing conservative politicians.

One irony is that the Koch-Cato wrestling match became publicized on the day conservative media baiter and Los Angeles native Andrew Breitbart died of a heart attack. The LA Times reported the episode, and its coverage included a sidebar noting Twitter comments about Breitbart.

It's very difficult to muster any sympathy for Breitbart, even in his moment of death. Breitbart's repellent tactics, including an attempted, felonious bugging of a congressperson's office, deserve no respect at all. What Breitbart never wanted to pursue was the development of a cogent, thoughtful political plan and structure. In essence, mirroring the Koch brothers' lust for power, Breitbart's actions focused on what was best for Andrew Breitbart.

Rare Interview with David Koch Focuses on Right-Wing Politics, Cancer Research

David Koch
(photo from Kansas City Star)

David Koch, one of the two Koch brothers prominent in American right-wing activism, recently talked with a Palm Beach Post health reporter about two topics of importance to the billionaire industrialist: cancer research and politics. The story was noted in a blog post by Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel political writer Don Walker.

In the interview, Koch makes no bones about his support for Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. The Kansas-based industrialist, whose wealth places him in the Top Ten of the Forbes 400 list, strongly asserts his belief that labor unions are inimical to unfettered free market capitalism. Walker's gutting of most Wisconsin public employee collective bargaining rights was something Koch ardently supported, and continues to support. Koch's political front organization, Americans for Prosperity, has supported Walker with TV commercials and other funded initiatives in the current recall campaign against the Wisconsin governor.

Koch's ideology has family antecedents. His West Texas father, according to the Palm Beach Post article, sold technology to the Russians during the Stalin era. That capability was used to help develop the Communist nation's nuclear capability. Koch père's upset over that development has been cited as a reason why he became a founder of the John Birch Society.

Today, David Koch and his brother Charles are visible tips of the right-wing political iceberg. They proudly welcome supposedly impartial Supreme Court justices, such as Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, to events with a clear political and judicial agenda. Discussions from these meetings are divorced from public scrutiny, a stance more in keeping with Communist government practice than transparent democratic ventures.

Wisconsin Governor
Scott Walker

The Koch interview is a timely one, as the recall campaign against Scott Walker is something of a tossup right now. The vote matters greatly to the unions and to the right-wing. The Walker maneuvers leveraged resentment that it has exploited to political gain far beyond the stated goals of overt limitation of union benefits. Liberals need to face the fact that a considerable portion of Wisconsin's electorate backed Walker's campaign and subsequent efforts to attack and ultimately destroy unions. While the Kochs' and their formidable allies are playing to win, one wonders where Barack Obama is on this debate. The president has never really been friendly with the labor unions he will ultimately need to win the Midwest in the 2012 presidential elections. His silence is even more curious as Obama's power base is Chicago, just a short drive from Wisconsin.

Regardless of the Wisconsin recall campaign's results, the Koch brothers fully intend to pursue their push to drive American political institutions and legal apparatus further to the right. They've just begun to fight.

The Bradley Foundation's Funding of the American Conservative Movement

Michael W. Grebe

Today's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported on the Bradley Foundation, a Milwaukee-based organization that has tremendous national influence on the American conservative movement. The well-written story includes an interview with the non-profit's president and chief executive, Michael W. Grebe. His plain-spoken comments make clear that among his institution's goals are the elimination of useful collective bargaining rights, the elimination of public schools in the name of "competition," and a "robust national defense" (whatever that means).

The story illuminates a number of useful points to consider during this high tide of conservative political power:
1. The Bradley Foundation's funding is far more extensive than that of the Koch brothers and Rupert Murdoch.
2. They've paid conservative star shills such as Paul Gigot, George Will, and William Kristol for some of their media and publishing work.
3. Among the foundation's founders was a former major backer of the John Birch Society.
4. It is implied that Grebe had veto power over right-wing Wisconsin governor Scott Walker's key appointees.
5. The foundation financially supports a Catholic monthly news magazine.
6. Its controversial stance on Islam includes subsidizing the David Horowitz Freedom Center, "creator of the Jihad Watch website."

Whether one is liberal, conservative, or neuter, the story is fair and worth reading.