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SouthBayDem

(32,610 posts)
Fri May 2, 2025, 01:30 AM 19 hrs ago

In DC Speech, Charles Koch Speaks of 'the Mess' He Sees the Country In

Source: Time

Charles Koch never uttered his name, but it was mighty clear that President Donald Trump was on his, and everyone else’s, mind Thursday night at a glitzy gala that might have as well have been Koch Con.

“With so much change, and chaos, and conflict, too many people and organizations are abandoning these principles and turning to power to solve problems,” said the 89-year-old billionaire industrialist behind some of the most formidable organizations on the political Right. “But we know from history, this just makes them worse.

“People have forgotten that when principles are lost, so are freedom and progress,” he added at the gala convened in his honor by the Cato Institute, the libertarian think tank he founded.

Charles Koch has long been a foe of protectionism and an evangelist for free markets, competitive advantage, and mutual benefit. In fact, the remarks he delivered Thursday evening—just a few minutes of efficiently coded winks and nods sprinkled with quotes from philosophical favorites Friedrich Hayek and Frederick Douglass—could just as easily have come a decade ago or a decade later.

Read more: https://time.com/7282130/charles-koch-speech-trump-tariffs/



I wonder whose name he really should have uttered.
20 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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In DC Speech, Charles Koch Speaks of 'the Mess' He Sees the Country In (Original Post) SouthBayDem 19 hrs ago OP
FU Chuckles. Hassler 19 hrs ago #1
That's Rich Punx 19 hrs ago #2
He's YOUR Frankenstein, Charles. nt SunSeeker 19 hrs ago #3
Quit yer bitchin' Charlie! HappyLarge 18 hrs ago #4
I hope he realizes that his Cato Institute ideas have morphed into LiberalArkie 18 hrs ago #5
The Cato Institute came into being AFTER the Heritage Foundation. valleyrogue 10 hrs ago #13
I am sorry, I always phrase things incorrectly. I was indicating that the conservative viewpoints that the Koch brothers LiberalArkie 9 hrs ago #14
Vomit comes up in my throat BigmanPigman 17 hrs ago #6
You put him into power Charles. E.S.A.D. Botany 16 hrs ago #7
Yeah, Chuckles, MLWR 14 hrs ago #8
Turning 90, eh...? Montauk6 11 hrs ago #9
Fuck you charlie. You funded this notsee takeover. Clouds Passing 10 hrs ago #10
Any word from anyone that is spoken against the orange devil is a good thing. Especially someone as powerful PortTack 10 hrs ago #11
"Libertarians" were the ones who created the mess 100 years ago and caused valleyrogue 10 hrs ago #12
He, his father, and his brother, gave birth to and financed all of this! Grins 9 hrs ago #15
You broke it, you own it! 50 Shades Of Blue 8 hrs ago #16
"Victor Frankenstein, student of natural philosophy at the University of Ingolstadt, expresses concern that the creature Aristus 8 hrs ago #17
Please die already. maxsolomon 7 hrs ago #18
CHARLES KOCH IS THE ANTICHRIST. His money bought Citizens United AND SCOTUS. He IS Proj 2025 and all privatization. ancianita 5 hrs ago #19
Bit fucking late now, Charlie - from April 2024: muriel_volestrangler 5 hrs ago #20

HappyLarge

(54 posts)
4. Quit yer bitchin' Charlie!
Fri May 2, 2025, 02:30 AM
18 hrs ago

You paid good money to create the perfect petri dish to spawn Stupid Hitler. You broke the system that made you rich, you and your billionaire buddies.

LiberalArkie

(18,044 posts)
5. I hope he realizes that his Cato Institute ideas have morphed into
Fri May 2, 2025, 02:55 AM
18 hrs ago

The facist ideals of the Heritage Foundation, but I don’t guess it matters much as they did get their plutocracy. And that was their goal in the first place

valleyrogue

(2,039 posts)
13. The Cato Institute came into being AFTER the Heritage Foundation.
Fri May 2, 2025, 10:55 AM
10 hrs ago

It was founded in 1977 with Koch money, while the Heritage Foundation was founded in 1973, with the financial backing of Joseph Coors.

LiberalArkie

(18,044 posts)
14. I am sorry, I always phrase things incorrectly. I was indicating that the conservative viewpoints that the Koch brothers
Fri May 2, 2025, 11:12 AM
9 hrs ago

had originally expressed with the Cato Institute are not the ideals they express now. If they had expressed at the start where they are now thing might have been different.

It seems like most of these places started off with trying to abolish integration. And once they started adopting viewpoints from like minded folks they morphed into the fascist viewpoints. Of course I believe that the Kochs and others always strived to the oligarchy and plutocracy systems, but they could not express those at the beginning. That was just their wet dreams more or less.

I think that with all these groups really "pushing the envelope" further and further, we might come out of all this a better country. Of course we might not come out of it.

BigmanPigman

(52,947 posts)
6. Vomit comes up in my throat
Fri May 2, 2025, 04:01 AM
17 hrs ago

whenever I hear his name as a donor on PBS.

That greedy, hypocritical spawn of Satan should have been aborted in the womb. The world would be a much better place if both he and his evil brother never took a breath.



*But that's just my own opinion and I stand by it.

Botany

(73,979 posts)
7. You put him into power Charles. E.S.A.D.
Fri May 2, 2025, 04:39 AM
16 hrs ago

Eat shit and die. The current republicans party, our dirty ass court system, and those 10s of millions of
fire breathing idiots be them citizens for prosperity, MAGA dumb fucks, proud boys, and science
deniers are your offspring. Without you Krasnov would never have been President.




MLWR

(298 posts)
8. Yeah, Chuckles,
Fri May 2, 2025, 06:47 AM
14 hrs ago

In the immortal words of your very own Herman Cain: "Blame yourself." You had a big hand in putting him who shall be nameless in the postition he know holds.

Montauk6

(9,046 posts)
9. Turning 90, eh...?
Fri May 2, 2025, 10:05 AM
11 hrs ago

Whassa matter, old man??? Sweatin' that trip to the Great Gig in the Sky?

THIS is what your Ayn Rand worshippin', Lazy Fairy tale, Austrian economics system that (surprise, surprise) couldn't pick Vienna on a map if it was thumbtacked, GOT us to!!!

PortTack

(35,613 posts)
11. Any word from anyone that is spoken against the orange devil is a good thing. Especially someone as powerful
Fri May 2, 2025, 10:44 AM
10 hrs ago

And influential with the ppl that can and hopefully will take him down.

One can only imagine what went thru orange man’s mind when he heard that. Especially knowing he can’t touch koch…it not a bad thing! Just a useful tool…for now.

valleyrogue

(2,039 posts)
12. "Libertarians" were the ones who created the mess 100 years ago and caused
Fri May 2, 2025, 10:52 AM
10 hrs ago

the Great Depression, which necessitated all the programs and regulations in order to save capitalism in the U.S., and they are the main ones causing the mess now.

Koch is as anti-American as they come.

Grins

(8,320 posts)
15. He, his father, and his brother, gave birth to and financed all of this!
Fri May 2, 2025, 12:02 PM
9 hrs ago

Don’t like it, Charles? Look in a damn mirror!

The effing brass ones on this guy.

Aristus

(69,805 posts)
17. "Victor Frankenstein, student of natural philosophy at the University of Ingolstadt, expresses concern that the creature
Fri May 2, 2025, 12:24 PM
8 hrs ago

he created is getting out of control. Frankenstein disavowed responsibility for his creature's rampage, however."

ancianita

(40,392 posts)
19. CHARLES KOCH IS THE ANTICHRIST. His money bought Citizens United AND SCOTUS. He IS Proj 2025 and all privatization.
Fri May 2, 2025, 03:24 PM
5 hrs ago

muriel_volestrangler

(103,522 posts)
20. Bit fucking late now, Charlie - from April 2024:
Fri May 2, 2025, 03:38 PM
5 hrs ago
The review by Accountable.US also found that oil billionaire Charles Koch’s network directed over $4.4 million in 2022 to organizations on Project 2025’s advisory board via its donor conduit, Stand Together Trust.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/leonard-leo-koch-networks-pour-millions-prep-potential-second-trump-ad-rcna144360

Jan 27, 2025:
Charles Koch’s network launches $20m campaign backing Trump tax breaks

Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the flagship political arm of the rightwing network formed by the fossil fuels billionaire Charles Koch and his late brother David, is launching a multimillion-dollar campaign backing Donald Trump’s plans to extend tax cuts and roll back federal regulations.

A private fundraising letter from AFP to its secretive list of donors, seen by the Guardian, outlines the organization’s strategy for the first six months of the new Trump administration.

The eight-page document, made public here for the first time, promises a “herculean undertaking” in which AFP says it will press for renewed and deepened tax cuts and an “unwinding [of] as many of the growth and innovation killing regulations as possible”.

The group, which has played a significant role in shifting the Republican party to the right in recent years, has announced a $20m campaign to extend the tax cuts introduced by Trump during his first presidency that are due to expire at the end of this year. The donor appeal calls for even bolder tax cuts for corporations that would directly benefit Koch Industries, the energy and chemicals giant from which most of AFP’s funding derives.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/27/koch-americans-for-prosperity-trump-tax-breaks

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