Koch family foundations

Koch Family Foundations is the informal name for a group of charities in the United States of America associated with the family of Fred C. Koch. The most prominent of these are the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation, created by two of Fred C. Koch's sons, who own the majority of Koch Industries, an oil, gas, and chemical conglomerate, which is the U.S.A.'s second largest privately held company with annual revenues of $110 billion.

In total, the Koch brothers have given more than 196 million dollars to dozens of organizations. Tax records indicate that in 2008 the three main Koch family foundations gave money to thirty-four political and policy organizations, three of which they founded, and several of which they direct.

Background

The Koch Family Foundations began in 1953 with the establishment of the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation. In 1980 Charles G. Koch established the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, and in 1981 he inherited control of the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation when he was left in charge of Claude Lambe's estate. David H. Koch established the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation.

Political activities

Charles and David's father, Fred C. Koch, was a co-founder of the John Birch Society. He gave a speech in 1963 warning of “a takeover” of America in which Communists would “infiltrate the highest offices of government in the U.S. until the president is a Communist, unknown to the rest of us”. David H. Koch was a Libertarian vice-presidential candidate in 1980, polling 1%, on a platform that advocated the abolishment of Social Security, the FBI, the CIA, and public schools. David Koch helped found the Citizens for a Sound Economy in 1986, and has given over $21 million to the Cato Institute.[1] During the 2008 elections, Koch Industries contributed over $1.8 million, 88% to Republican candidates. They have supported the Tea Party. David Koch has praised the Tea Party for demonstrating the “powerful visceral hostility in the body politic against the massive increase in government power, the massive efforts to socialize this country.”

Think Tanks

The Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation was established with the stated purpose of advancing social progress and well-being through the development, application and dissemination of "the Science of Liberty". Charles' and David's foundations have together quietly provided millions of dollars to a variety of organizations, usually libertarian or conservative think tanks, such as Americans for Prosperity Foundation, the Cato Institute, the Mercatus Center, the Institute for Humane Studies, Citizens for a Sound Economy, the Institute for Justice, the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, the Institute for Energy Research, the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment, Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the George C. Marshall Institute, the Reason Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.

Lobbying for Oil, Gas, and Chemical Industries

From 2005 to 2008, Koch Industries and the foundations under its control donated $5.7 million on political campaigns and $37 million on direct lobbying to support fossil fuel industries. Between 1997 and 2008, Koch Industries donated a total of nearly $48 million to climate change opposition groups,[2] exceeding even the donations of ExxonMobil.

Cancer Research, Arts, and Science

In a more public manner, the David H. Koch Foundation has funded cancer research and a number of arts and science organizations, including the American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the American Museum of Natural History.

Foundations

• Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation (1953)
• Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation (1980)
• David H. Koch Foundation
• Koch Cultural Trust (founded 1986 as Kansas Cultural Trust, renamed in 2008)
• Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation

See also

Richard H. Fink, a member of the boards of directors and President of the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation. He is also on the board of the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation.

External links

• Koch Family Foundations official site
• Koch Industries
• Media Transparency entry on the Koch Family Foundations
• "Ari & I; White House Press Briefing with Ari Fleischer related by Russell Mokhiber regarding relationship between White House and Koch Industries, May 3, 2001.
• "Koch Industries, Market Process Analysis, and the Science of Liberty"