Frank Guinta's Supporters

by: Dean Barker

Mon Oct 03, 2011 at 05:52:14 AM EDT

A Bloomberg  investigation finds that Koch Industries -- a global empire run by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, prominent financial backers of conservative groups -- made "improper payments" to win business in other countries and "sold millions of dollars of petrochemical equipment to Iran, a country the U.S. identifies as a sponsor of global terrorism."

"Internal company documents show that the company made those sales through foreign subsidiaries, thwarting a U.S. trade ban. Koch Industries units have also rigged prices with competitors, lied to regulators and repeatedly run afoul of environmental regulations, resulting in five criminal convictions since 1999 in the U.S. and Canada."

Also, Koch funded Americans for Prosperity spent $74,417 on attacking Carol Shea-Porter.

In congress, on inauguration day, David Koch personally invited Frank Guinta to a private party.

For the 2012 cycle Koch industries has given Guinta $2500 so far.

(find me > 140 on birch paper; on Twitter < 140)

Guinta: Things Go Better With Koch

by: William Tucker

Wed Mar 02, 2011 at 18:45:35 PM EST

Koch Industries, the second-largest private company in the country, has reported spending over $40 million in the past three years lobbying on behalf of energy and manufacturing interests. They have given more than $130,000 directly to members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform since 2000, including $72,750 in the last election

Committee member Rep. Frank Guinta was one of the beneficiaries of the Koch brothers' largess. Guinta received $5,000 from the Koch Industries Inc. Political Action Committee. In addition, Americans for Prosperity, the right-wing advocacy group funded by David Koch, spent $74,417 attacking Guinta's 2010 opponent, former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter.

[The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform] staff has already released findings sympathetic to industries bent on softening or eliminating certain government regulations. A preliminary report this month, for example, focused largely on Environmental Protection Agency standards and relied heavily on input from industry associations. Other standards the committee is targeting include new regulations on workplace safety and the financial services industry.

Guinta is no stranger to the Koch brothers. On the first day of the new Congress, David Koch hosted a party for Republicans and was observed buttonholing Guinta to ensure his attendance.

Scalia, Thomas and the Kochroaches

by: hannah

Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 09:52:37 AM EDT

What role have Justices Scalia and Thomas played in the Koch money machine?

This week, ThinkProgress' Lee Fang revealed several documents outlining the details of one of right-wing billionaire Charles Koch's secret convenings of corporate political donors. As Koch revealed to the Wall Street Journal in 2006, the purpose of these meetings is to recruit "captains of industry" to fund the conservative infrastructure of front groups, political campaigns, think tanks and media outlets. Buried in this document, however, is a surprising revelation about the role two supposedly impartial jurists have played in these extended fundraising solicitations: "Past meetings have featured such notable leaders as Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas."

Read more

Tea Party Genesis--An Oil Story

by: hannah

Mon Oct 18, 2010 at 08:37:12 AM EDT

David Koch, the very model of a 21st century Uriah Heep.