In case you are are new to conservative politics, Charles and David Koch are long time beneficiaries of the Republican party. These gentlemen are heirs to Koch industries (built on oil refineries), and are worth $30 Billion each. Yes, that’s each.
They meet with other large conservative donors every year and pool resources to garner hundreds of millions of dollars to support conservative candidates and issues.
The Koch brothers have just announced their plans to invest heavily in grassroots organizations to mobilize and educate voters. Three organizations will fold into the core group, Americans for Prosperity. Those groups are Concerned Veterans for American, LIBRE Initiative which focuses on Latinos and Generation Opportunities which focuses on younger voters.
All organizations will share offices in the 35 states where Americans for Prosperity is currently located.
No word as of yet as to levels of funding as of yet, however this provides critical mass for grass roots effort in each location. This could signal a switch in emphasis from supporting candidates to influencing the voters directly.
Author’s note: Given the concentration of money and the influence of the Koch brothers over that money, it concerns me that they should have that much influence.
The Koch brothers have refused to support Donald Trump as the Republican candidate for President. It seems to me these gentlemen are subject to personal animosities (are you surprised that billionaires might be jealous of each other?) to the detriment of American conservatism.
Could a personal vendetta by 2 or 3 people change the course of America’s future? If they had gone the extra step and decided to spend parts of their large fortunes attacking Trump directly it might have done just that.
The Koch brothers are 80 annd 76 years old respectively. They coud conceivably have 20 years or more of influence left.