Koch 'Philanthropy' Advances Koch Business, Political Agendas
By Aaron Dorfman and Bob Edgar
The Huffington Post
October 26, 2011
This week, a few hundred people who lead foundations will gather in Scottsdale, Arizona., for the annual meeting of Philanthropy Roundtable, an organization that promotes independent giving to solve America's challenges while encouraging laws and regulations that make it easy for wealthy people to engage in private philanthropy with little oversight.
At this meeting, the organization will pay homage to Charles Koch who, along with brother, David, is owner of Koch Industries, the second largest privately held company in America. The firm runs oil refineries and owns consumer brands like Lycra fabric and Brawny paper towels. The brothers are the fourth- and fifth-richest men in America; each has a net worth of $25 billion.
According to Philanthropy Roundtable, the principles that govern Charles Koch's philanthropy are simple: "He wants to sustain and strengthen America as a land of freedom and prosperity. He wants to give others the same opportunity to succeed that he has had. Having benefited from the capitalist system, he wants others to prosper in the same way."
But closer examination suggests that Charles Koch's "philanthropy" is mostly about influencing our political systems to promote and strengthen domestic policies that favor Koch Industries, while at the same time, hurting the rest of us.
Read the full commentary.
