ThinkProgress interviews David Koch, Part 1

[StunnedByStupidity]

Its hard to think of ANYONE and yes I mean ANYONE - more evil than the Kochs - NO ONE COMES CLOSE - and he's just SO happy about it... My head just spins trying to understand these despicable humans... They are on course to kill BILLIONS, trash the global economy wipe out 40-70% of all species, deprive billions of of any future - and he is over the moon about it - my only explanation is that they are STUNNINGLY stupid...

[shutuprafa]

a greater uprising than the civil rights movement? clearly he is lacking some perspective

[EndTheFedRes]

By support business do you mean the MIC?

I'm all for cutting spending but lets start with the MIC (militarism), its unneeded.

At least Coch wants to end the Fed...I think.

[TheJayEffkay]

what a nice guy ! david kochs my hero

[rvggarcon]

They stole all that money, you fucking idiots. It's the only way they can sleep at night.

[iainmac2]

A massive funder of cancer research and great libertarian - thank you.

[hob976]

@iainmac2 ...Over 100 million toward fighting cancer. Nearly a billion in philanthropy. Good people.

[HUMANSAREBENEATHME]

I don't see an army protecting this enemy(KOCH) of working class families...

[green0000]

wow, what a little bastard "yes man" next to Koch.

[iflyboats]

that's charles koch you liberal shitbrain

[hob976]

@iflyboats ...No. I think that's David Koch.

[HUMANSAREBENEATHME]

I wonder when a group of patriots will make a name for themselves,and rid humanity of the KOCH TERRORISTS...

[Baron2yahoo]

The guy on the left is Tim Philips, he works for the Kochs as head of "Americans for Prosperity"(AFP). He's is connected to dealings with "Jack Abramoff" and Ralph Reed. To describe him in laymen's terms, he's like the "Dick Cheney" of George Bush, another word for: Devil's Advocate. And as you can see from this video he's playing the role of David Koch's "Chief" political adviser. At least he's smart enough to know David shouldn't do interviews for liberal media.

[HexTest]

@Baron2yahoo - Tim sounds like a pretty awesome guy, though I don't think the Cheney analogy works very well.

[Baron2yahoo]

@HexTest Haha, I wish, but that depends on your definition of an "awesome guy". But i'm not gonna lie he seems really smart, just listen to his maddow interview, he's good with that "crimson tongue". The "cheney" analogue refers to how he's one of the guys running things "behind the scenes," while everyone else likes to blame the "billionaire popular" kochs.

[ShinjukuHH]

Rich old guys had earlier trophy wives...

...now they have trophy politicians.

[HexTest]

@ShinjukuHH - Union leaders?

[ShinjukuHH]

@HexTest LOL Union Leaders!!!

The Labour Unions are a mere shadow of themselves...

Take a look at Europe, where Unions are on the board of directors for example.

Union leaders.... rofl... they are maybe as powerful as community organizers!

[MrUnprintable]

@iwustudent101 You are completely misinformed, none of those things are supported by the koch bros. What they want is to

1. End public unions

2. Cut taxes for the wealthy

3. Cut social programs and domestic spending, without a reduction in defense spending

4. Reduce industry regulations

5. Keep the minimum wage low

Those that you list may reflect the beliefs of a small group of liberal libertarians, but the kochs are not associated with that group at all.

[HexTest]

@MrUnprintable - Actually they are libertarians, so yes, everything iwustudent101 listed is true.

They also want to cut taxes for EVERYONE and END foreign interventionism.

And I think the minimum wage should be abolished, so I guess I could criticize them for not going far enough...

[MrUnprintable]

@HexTest You are right, the koch brothers have supported those things that iwustudent listed. But the things I have listed are definately higher priority for them. They tend to lean left on social policies, while leaning heavily to the right on economic policies. It is much more in their interest to pursue these economic policies as they directly affect the amount of wealth the koch bros accumulate.They do not want to cut defense though because they made 170 mil in the past 15 years in contracts

[2savetherepublic]

Ladies and Gentlemen from the great state of Wisconsin: May I introduce to you, Wisconsin's Lieutenant Governor, David Koch!

[HexTest]

Looking at what Soros and top unions have done in terms of political donations, I think it's safe to say that critics of the Koch brothers don't really care that they use their money to support causes they believe in.

Rather - they object to their choice of recipients.

[MrUnprintable]

@HexTest The difference is that Koch is the second richest man in New york city and he is using his money to fight against the unions which represent working class citizens. It is a struggle between a filthy rich minority and regular, hard-working, honest-living, group of average citizens, who have to put their money together to compete agianst the goliath that is David Koch.

[HexTest]

@MrUnprintable - Except they are outstripped in spending by Soros, Buffet, and every union in existence. Look it up on opensecrets.

David Koch is a fucking badass!!!

[MrUnprintable]

@HexTest David Koch is not listed on opensecrets, it is really hard to keep tabs on all their contributions through pac's and 527s. Nevertheless, it is the principal, David koch has more than enough money, yet he is fighting to lower the wages of the poorest segments of the population, meanwhile the price of necessities like food and gasoline is rising and pretty soon there is going to be a lot of unrest when everyone wakes up and sees that their wealth has been stolen by the capitalists.

[HexTest]

@MrUnprintable - "Koch Industries" is listed very clearly as #87 on the heavy hitters list, below the unions that dominate the top dozen. Maybe you should look harder.

"yet he is fighting to lower the wages of the poorest segments of the population,"

He is fighting for freedom to work, freedom from the coercive Unions that have put people out of business for their own benefit.

[MrUnprintable]

@HexTest Sure looks good on paper doesn't it, "freedom" to work. Don't you see the need for people to form unions to create a balance of negotiating power against the wealthy owners. Individually workers can't compete, unless they collectivize. The two entities have opposing interests, the workers want money to buy food, pay for housing, pay for their childs education, and David Koch wants MORE money to compensate for what I imagine to be a very small penis.

[HexTest]

@MrUnprintable - Then they shouldn't need to rely on putting other people out of work using the force of law just because someone doesn't want to be part of a union.

"...David Koch wants MORE money to compensate for what I imagine to be a very small penis."

Thanks for elaborating on your interest in David's penis. You have just made my day.

[MrUnprintable]

@HexTest Not all unions are guilty of this, it is not an inherent consequence of unionization. You are using the fallacy of hasty generalization to assert that all unions practice discrimination against non union workers, which obviously is not true. You cannot simply say that all unions are bad because of a few incidents where individuals within unions have implemented policies that turn out to have a less than optimal effect. And I'm not even going to respond to your homophobic so-called humor

[HexTest]

@MrUnprintable - On that last point I should be saying the same thing to you.

But yeah, shooting a guy in the arm for helping cable providers provide for their customers is out of hand to me.

[BigStick3456]

I love it how certin people are now getting heart attacks when it comes to the Koch brothers. Enjoy it, George Soro puppets.

[S0k0s]

Regular people like us? Really David Koch? Unfortunately, I don't think everyone is a billionaire.

[HUMANSAREBENEATHME]

I wonder when a patriot will make a name for himself and rid humanity of the KOCH bros...I bet he would get a movie/book deal.

[Jona910]

Koch certainly knows how to behave correctly when there's a camera around, doesn't he?

[enjoyitbro]

lol this guy sounds nothing like the prank caller, how could scott be such an idiot

[HexTest]

@enjoyitbro - Because they had nothing to do with each other.

[chukmaty]

David Koch, definitely a nice guy. Funny thing is, I probably would love having a beer with any of these guys. I just happen to agree with David on 70% and Lee probably on like 5% :). Despite the lobbyist expertly keeping the blogger off guard and letting his boss know who he was dealing with. Sorry lefties, David is no George Sorros, just a really nice guy, smart business man, philanthropist, and someone who just so happens to believe in free market causes and responsible government.

[HUMANSAREBENEATHME]

KOCH BROS...GET A ROPE!!!

[terra2100]

With all his billion$ KOCH is using a cheapass little flip phone...

[terra2100]

With all his billion$ KOCH is using a cheapass little flip phone...

[EddieLandsberg]

I like how Koch's assistant tries to warn him twice not to talk to him with that big sugary smile... Classy !

[HKGJOHN]

Who is Koch's handler there?

[shadowfaxx1]

I laughed out loud when he said they were normal people like us. It's disgusting, his thoughts on what is good for America. He reminded me of a parody of what a ultra-rich old white man should be. Barring the accent, he is exactly like Thurston Howell III on Gilligan's Island.

[seahorse05]

"....just normal people like us...," Koch said. He fails to say he inherited much of his wealth. And he's far from "normal." He's very greedy, mean-spirited and is the epitomy of is wrong in America.

[RosenKrantz666]

There's NOTHING 'Progressive' about ThinkProgress. They're a neoLiB/neoCON controlled opposition founded by a Clinton/DLC/CFR trash, warmonger-in-chief, John Podesta. Do these oBUSHmaBots at Ctr. for Am.Progress have any clue that they're working for an organization whose head called for decapitation & regime change vs.Iraq as early as 1998, & all the way up to 2003? a Mea Culpa & a ginourmous STFU & refraining from ANY public discourse is the best they can offer at this point. Gullible mooks!

[TankUni]

One bought man and his asshole owner.

[scottinoshkosh]

@TankUni Very, very well said!!

[cmfluteguy]

Somebody Kill Koch, PLEASE!!!

He is a domestic terrorist and an enemy of the people.

[dustinjt]

You're not a normal person, Mr. Koch.

[whoo689]

"Probably the best underground representation of pro-corporate policies that help me as a big business leader" is what he meant

[whoo689]

You pussy, Lee. You should've asked him about his FINANCIAL and corporate interest in the tea party, really corner him.

[Sevenfold120]

@whoo689 back someone into a wall and you get nothing... better to ask the questions your more likely to get a response from... Koch could of left at any moment as his henchman wanted.

[kindofbluenyc]

Good Job. Very disturbing to watch. The guy next Mr. Koch looks like the devil. The way he was looking at the Mr. Lee was disgusting.

good work.

[NakedWombat666]

Did anyone make a pun yet about his name being cock? Well, someone should! Grassroots uprising? That's hilarious. Fox News promoting every teabagging event that goes on, but it's total grassroots. And some will believe it. Humanity = dumb tribal animals.