Harry Reid Calls Out the Koch Brothers: ‘They’re Trying to Buy the Country’

On Thursday, Harry Reid strongly criticized the Koch brothers’ and their corrupt political network,  saying the bothers are trying to “buy the country.”

The Senate Majority Leader was referring to the extensive political network the brothers are associated with. Reid claims that while many of these groups give the appearance of being social welfare groups, they are really pursuing political agendas. The Obama administration wishes to better regulate nonprofit groups who are supposed to be committed to social welfare. These 501(c)(4) groups may instead be advocating the agendas of certain political parties.

“The abuse here is not the administration’s enforcing the law, but folks like the Koch brothers pretending to be social welfare organizations,” Reid said.

 “Because of a United States Supreme Court decisions called Citizens United, there’s been some really untoward stuff going on in the political world,” Reid said. “We have two brothers who are actually trying to buy the country.”

The Koch brothers operate a network of nonprofit organizations: the Center for Shared Services, Aegis Strategic, and Freedom Partners. In 2012, the Koch network raised more than $400 million to assail Obama in the 2012 elections, and other groups in the Koch network have spent $25 million bashing Obamacare.

After Obama won the 2012 election, the Koch brothers did an in-depth voter analysis and concluded that Republicans would need to do a better job with young and Latino voters. Additionally, Charles and David Koch are planning to meet with other large Republican investors this Sunday in Palm Springs.

“Charles Koch and David Koch will continue to exercise their First Amendment rights to advocate for their fundamental beliefs in individual liberty, limited government, and the promotion of policies that help people improve their lives,” said Philip Ellender, the president and chief operating officer at Koch Companies Public Sector, in response to Reid’s comments.

Opponents are claiming that the administration’s plan is a violation of First Amendment rights and that the president is trying to muzzle Republican grassroots organizations.

If these so-called social welfare companies are pushing their political agendas, should they be exempt from being transparent about their aims. Besides, the GOP very recently introduced a bill that, if passed, would tax women who had an abortion, and could potentially require that rape victims be audited by the IRS. So why do these large, Koch-funded organizations get the benefit of pushing their agendas and evading taxes?