To: 2016 presidential and congressional candidates
Just say NO to Koch's dirty money
Publicly rebuke the Koch Brothers and their secretive influence-buying, refuse to accept contributions or outside spending from their multi-million dollar network, and support much-needed disclosure reform to bring megadonors like them out into the open.
Why is this important?
Billionaire donors Charles and David Koch are reeling from a new report that their father worked with an American Nazi sympathizer to build an oil refinery for the Third Reich.
With such a tainted history, it’s no wonder that the Kochs love secrecy. Their multi-billion network of secret money groups and think tanks rivals the GOP itself in terms of spending and influence.
Worse, the Kochs have actively lobbied to make it easy for billionaires like them to dominate our democracy -- pushing against common sense campaign finance rules, and for restrictions on voting rights.
That’s not fair -- if the Kochs want to influence public policy and take such a huge role in shaping the debate, they should do so out in the open with full transparency.
But because it all happens behind closed doors, voters have no way of telling who’s taking Koch money. Today’s revelations put pressure on every candidate in 2016 to take a strong and active stand against the Koch Brothers and their anti-democracy agenda.
That’s why we’re calling on everyone seeking elected office this year to publicly rebuke the Koch Brothers and refuse to accept contributions or support from their network of secret money groups -- or from anyone else who doesn’t practice full transparency.
But more importantly, they should make full disclosure of campaign spending a centerpiece of their campaign, so that voters are able to hold accountable those candidates who do take money from the Koch Brothers and other big spenders.
With such a tainted history, it’s no wonder that the Kochs love secrecy. Their multi-billion network of secret money groups and think tanks rivals the GOP itself in terms of spending and influence.
Worse, the Kochs have actively lobbied to make it easy for billionaires like them to dominate our democracy -- pushing against common sense campaign finance rules, and for restrictions on voting rights.
That’s not fair -- if the Kochs want to influence public policy and take such a huge role in shaping the debate, they should do so out in the open with full transparency.
But because it all happens behind closed doors, voters have no way of telling who’s taking Koch money. Today’s revelations put pressure on every candidate in 2016 to take a strong and active stand against the Koch Brothers and their anti-democracy agenda.
That’s why we’re calling on everyone seeking elected office this year to publicly rebuke the Koch Brothers and refuse to accept contributions or support from their network of secret money groups -- or from anyone else who doesn’t practice full transparency.
But more importantly, they should make full disclosure of campaign spending a centerpiece of their campaign, so that voters are able to hold accountable those candidates who do take money from the Koch Brothers and other big spenders.