27 Aug 2010
Covert Operations

Truth and Fiction - if the Koch brothers are libertarians, then I'm a woolly mammoth.

I was there in 1980, working on the Ed Clark campaign in Indiana. I met David Koch. Six weeks later I quit the Libertarian Party (of which I was one of the founding members here) and never went back. We called what we encountered the "Kochtopus" (coined by SEK3, IIRC). Sure they believed in property rights - theirs - and they treated the Libertarian Party as if it were their personal property, a mere vehicle for their personal enrichment (and ego).

I had no idea these were the folks behind the Tea Party movement - but with this knowledge I know for certain to stay as far away from from it as I can (as if I needed an extra nudge away from those raving wingnuts).

The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry—especially environmental regulation. These views dovetail with the brothers’ corporate interests.

(link) [The New Yorker]

06:50 /Politics | 2 comments | permanent link