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(image: Diane Wittner)
A new report released today unravels a scheme that funnels money from the notorious Koch Brothers through a third party organization and which in turn makes anonymous donations in the millions to right wing policy think tanks.
The 200+ page report by Silicon valley scientist Dr. John Mashey shows in great detail how the Koch brothers flows money through two organizations called Donor Trust and Donors Capital Fund, which in turn passed that money on to major right wing think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute, Heartland Institute and Americans for Prosperity.
In total over $311 million has been put through the Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund with much of that coming from David and Charles Koch.
Donors Trust is run by Whitney Ball who is the former director of development for the Cato Institute. The Trust describes itself as:
DonorsTrust was established as a 501(c)(3) public charity to ensure the intent of donors who are dedicated to the ideals of limited government, personal responsibility, and free enterprise. Explicitly devoted to supporting organizations that promote liberty, DonorsTrust alone can commit to honor and defend the charitable intent of donors who share in our mission.
You can see the details of the report [a 4MB PDF file] here.
13 Comments
Don’t vote for the Kochs. Instead, vote for Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase:
https://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cid=N00009638
Just what is the definition of charity?
Something’s broken in the Promised Land.
Pretty much anyone can become a c(3) charity. Long and annoying process and you have to abide by strict standards regarding lobbying behaviors and politicking.
I have been boycotting everything on the Koch Bros. list for almost a year and will continue til they are kuput or I am. (not betting on me winning that one). Wish everyone could boycott because their money is all they care about. And let’s face it if you are an unscrupulous person and basically mentally ill you can still get invited to the Kennedy Center if you amass enough money.
Sounds like much money, but in truth they buy us cheap. We should be ashamed. We should put them in jail.
Stein went to Harvard too, alas. But if she’s willing to be chained to a chair for nine hours I give her props. . .
A scaffold would be more effective.
“Liberty” meaning “the right of corporations to do as they please, no matter how irresponsible to society and in violation of your rights.”
It’s a charity whose beneficiaries are parasitic propagandists from the Republican party.
“us?”
I don’t see a cent of that money, do you?
BTW, the corporations say the most bang they get for any buck they spend comes from their campaign donations to politicians.
Not necessarily. The Koch brothers donated to the Democratic Leadership Council in the early days of the DLC.
Do you know how much even 1% interest is on, say, twenty billion dollars just overnight?
If you like their products, I wouldn’t feel too guilty about buying them. You’ll do them more harm by voting Green.
The IRS is broken.
Just about the only thing that will cost a church its charitable deduction (in theory) is endorsing a candidate by name from the pulpit. Evangelicals have been doing this for years, filming themselves doing this and mailing the tapes to the IRS because they want a a first amendment case on this issue to get to the Roberts court.
The IRS has been silent.
Link to Section 501 (c). Scroll down for (3). http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/501
The IRS regulations promulgated under 501(c)(3) are also online.
I disagree that just about anyone can qualify. You can mess up in so many ways. However, if you have big bucks, are a political hot potato and/or have good lawyers, the IRS may just look the other way indefinitely.
If you are just selling lemonade to help a school or something, though, you’d best mind your Ps and Qs.