Site icon The Punching Bag Post

Koch Network Launches New Super PAC Prior to Midterm Election

<p>The Koch network&comma; founded by brothers Charles and David Koch&comma; announced it will be adding another super PAC to its portfolio&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The super PAC&comma; known as AFP Action&comma; will help the Koch network make more of &&num;8220&semi;an impact&&num;8221&semi; in the political sphere according to network&&num;8217&semi;s spokesmen Bill Riggs&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;Our mission is to help improve lives by breaking the barriers holding people back&comma; and that requires building the policy coalitions in Washington to get it done&comma;&rdquo&semi; said Riggs in a statement&period; &ldquo&semi;Americans for Prosperity has been a difference-maker supporting policy champions in tight races&comma; and AFP Action is a new tool that will allow us to expand those efforts and make an even larger impact&period;&rdquo&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to <em>Politico<&sol;em>&comma; this new super PAC &&num;8220&semi;will give Koch network&rsquo&semi;s largest arm &mdash&semi; Americans for Prosperity &mdash&semi; significantly more leeway to push lawmakers directly on political issues&comma; adding another tool to AFP&rsquo&semi;s arsenal at a moment when the Koch network is trying to assert its power in Washington&period;&&num;8221&semi;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Koch network&comma; which has plans to drop at least &dollar;400 million this election cycle&comma; can now spend even more money to support political activities&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Americans for Prosperity&rsquo&semi;s existing organization&comma; a 501&lpar;c&rpar;&lpar;4&rpar; nonprofit&comma; is required by law to spend a significant amount of money on &ldquo&semi;social welfare&rdquo&semi; activities and cannot expressly urge voters to cast ballots for or against a member of Congress&period; But the new AFP Action super PAC can expand that work by spending unlimited sums of money on political activities&comma;&&num;8221&semi; writes <em>Politico&period;<&sol;em>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Riggs also said that the network has been planning to release the new super PAC since January&comma; but he did not mention if it would be affiliated with a particular party&period;&nbsp&semi;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Although the Koch network has been notoriously libertarian-leaning and has supported conservative values for years&comma; the network&&num;8217&semi;s co-founder Charles Koch&comma; who did not vote for Trump for president in 2016&comma; has been feuding with the RNC recently&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Koch and top network officials announced last month that Republicans should no longer take their financial support for granted unless they support free trade and oppose bloated government spending&period; Koch did not support Trump for president in 2016&comma;&&num;8221&semi; wrote <em>USA Today<&sol;em> in early August&period; &&num;8220&semi;The battle escalated last week when RNC chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel wrote an email to GOP donors warning them to stay away from Koch&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Koch network has vowed to outraise the RNC by &dollar;150 million during this year&&num;8217&semi;s election period&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>That being said&comma; the Koch network has spent roughly &dollar;6 million on attack ads against three Democratic candidates and has only advocated for Republican candidates&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Author&&num;8217&semi;s note&colon;<&sol;strong> The Koch network already wields a lot of influence and this new super PAC will give it even more power&period; This causes us to beg this question yet again&comma; should this much political influence be in the hands of these two brothers&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Exit mobile version