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 elses, 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 eveningjust a few minutes of efficiently coded winks and nods sprinkled with quotes from philosophical favorites Friedrich Hayek and Frederick Douglasscould 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.

Hassler
(4,285 posts)Punx
(471 posts)You can't make this stuff up.
SunSeeker
(55,622 posts)HappyLarge
(54 posts)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)The facist ideals of the Heritage Foundation, but I dont guess it matters much as they did get their plutocracy. And that was their goal in the first place
valleyrogue
(2,039 posts)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)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)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)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)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)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!!!
Clouds Passing
(4,540 posts)PortTack
(35,613 posts)And influential with the ppl that can and hopefully will take him down.
One can only imagine what went thru orange mans mind when he heard that. Especially knowing he cant touch koch
it not a bad thing! Just a useful tool
for now.
valleyrogue
(2,039 posts)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)Dont like it, Charles? Look in a damn mirror!
The effing brass ones on this guy.
50 Shades Of Blue
(11,125 posts)Aristus
(69,810 posts)he created is getting out of control. Frankenstein disavowed responsibility for his creature's rampage, however."
maxsolomon
(36,456 posts)Join Dave Koch in Hell.
ancianita
(40,395 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(103,522 posts)https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/leonard-leo-koch-networks-pour-millions-prep-potential-second-trump-ad-rcna144360
Jan 27, 2025:
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 Trumps 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 organizations 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 AFPs funding derives.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/27/koch-americans-for-prosperity-trump-tax-breaks
I never imagined the leopards would eat my face, says man who bankrolled the ...