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Americans for Prosperity-

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Below, written by fact check.org regarding the group, Americans for Prosperity which is a great description of this political organization funded by the Koch brothers. The Koch brothers have expended hundreds of millions of dollars over the past several years attempting to create a Congress controlled by the publican party. They have further funded millions of dollars in state races were many of their business interest reside. And philosophy is not the main logic to remove the Democrats from power. The motive, is money. They want significant reductions in regulatory requirements that they indicate cost their company hundreds of millions of dollars. The Koch brothers own such companies as Georgia -Pacific, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Pipelines, Koch Fertilizer, Koch Minerals and The Matador Cattle Company.

From Fact Check.Org  February 7, 2014 Political leanings: Conservative/libertarian Spending target: Unknown
Founded by billionaire businessman and conservative/libertarian political activist David Koch, Americans for Prosperity has emerged as one of the most influential conservative issue advocacy groups on the national and state political scene. A major force behind the tea party movement, AFP seeks to support free markets and entrepreneurship by advocating lower taxes and limited government spending and regulation.
The group’s president is Tim Phillips, a Republican campaign strategist and early tea party organizer.
Directors of theorganization include James Miller, an economist, former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and a budget director under President Ronald Reagan, and Frayda Levin, a former Reagan administration official who also sits on the boards of Club for Growth and the Foundation for Economic Education.
Americans for Prosperity is registered under the IRS code as a 501(c)(4). As such, it is not required, nor does it, disclose its donors. It is allowed to advocate for political issues, but cannot solicit votes for a specific candidate. Its sister organization, Americans for Prosperity Foundation, is a 501(c)(3), a designation that allows donations to be tax-deductible but has restrictions on political activity. David and Charles Koch, co-owners of Koch Industries, have been major contributors to AFP. However, it is unclear how much money the brothers funnel directly into AFP and their larger network of libertarian advocacy groups. The Kochs have defended the anonymity of their political activities as “fundamental liberties protected by the First Amendment.” And the groups say that more than 90,000 donors from all 50 states contribute to AFP and its sister organization, AFP Foundation. AFP has been one of the primary outside spending groups attacking the Affordable Care Act – self-naming itself the “nation’s largest grassroots champion for health care freedom.” According to the New York Times, the group has spent at least $20 million since September 2013 on television ads targeting Democrats running for reelection for their support of the health care law. Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat from North Carolina, has faced an onslaught of attack ads criticizing her stance on the ACA. According to the Times, AFP issue ads against Kagan aired 3,535 times from June 1, 2013, to Jan. 12, 2014, and the group has spent about $5 million against her. On Feb. 4, AFP announced that it would be spending $1.4 million on new television ads attacking Hagan, and that figure doesn’t include additional digital ads, radio ads and grassroots actions. In the 2012 election cycle, AFP reportedly raised $140 million — with more than $44 million of that coming from a donor network organized by the Koch brothers. In total, the Koch-backed political donor network — identified by the Washington Post and Center for Responsive Politics — raised at least $407 million in the 2012 elections. Fact-checking Americans for Prosperity ads: ACA Hurts ‘Struggling Families’? Jan. 16, 2014 In Florida Ad: Recycled Quote Still Wrong, Feb. 11, 2014 AFP Distorts Begich’s Carbon Tax Stance, Feb. 28, 2014

Political Activity:

• Koch Industries has spent more than $50 million to lobby in Washington since 2006, according to the Center for Responsive Politics

• According to the Center for Responsive Politics, many of Koch Industries’ contributions have gone toward achieving legislation on energy issues, defense appropriations and financial regulatory reform.

• Koch employees were the largest donors from the oil and gas industry to members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is responsible for legislation affecting that industry.

• Charles Koch co-founded the Cato Institute in 1977

Their free enterprise seminars in Aspen Colorado have included supreme court justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas; Governors Bobby Jindal and Haley Barbour; commentators John Stossel, Charles Krauthammer, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh; Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn; and Representatives Paul Ryan, Mike Pence, and Tom Price.

• Known as “the nation’s most prominent funders of efforts to prevent curbs on fossil-fuel burning“.

• As of 2011, David Koch sits on the board of directors of the Cato institute, the Reason Foundation and the Aspen Institute

• Public records show that the Kochs gave more than $17 million between 1997 and 2008 to various groups including the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which lobbies for legislation opposing unions.

• According to Greenpeace, the company has “had a quiet but dominant role in a high-profile national policy debate on global warming,” and has out-spent ExxonMobil (another corporation active in

fighting climate change science and legislation) in giving money to organizations fighting legislation related to climate change. “From 2005 to 2008, ExxonMobil spent $8.9 million while the Koch Industries-controlled foundations contributed $24.9 million in funding.”

• According to a study by the progressive media watchdog Media Matters for America, Koch Industries (and other Koch brothers-owned companies) “have benefited from nearly a $100 million in government contracts since 2000.”

• According to Jane Mayer (New Yorker magazine) During the US 2000 election campaign, Koch Industries spent some $900,000 to support the candidacies of George W. Bush and other Republicans. And tax records in 2008 indicate the three main Koch family foundations gave money to thirty-four political and policy organizations, three of which they founded, and several of which they direct.

Reducing the cost of environmental regulations by a Republican-controlled Congress would more than Koch industries millions of dollars. It would further allow them to expand their most environmentally dangerous operations. Below, we list several of their environmental violations and note the source in each case.

Additional Koch Brothers Links

Koch’s kill Nashville Transit Project