Koch Bros vs. George Soros, who is spending more?

The Koch brothers’ company, Koch Industries, has been a big player in both campaign donations and lobbying. Koch Industries currently leads the oil and gas industry as the top contributor to federal candidates and parties, and is the fifth highest lobbying spender in the industry this year. Soros’ hedge fund, Soros Fund Management, has also lobbied at the federal level, but employees have not made campaign donations through a Soros-sponsored political action committee. Because of the notable lobbying involvement of a Soros-funded think tank, the Open Society Policy Center, this group's data is also included for the purpose of this comparison:

VERDICT: When it comes to the combination of institutional lobbying, 527 group donations and PAC expenditures, Koch Industries far out-spends Soros’ hedge fund and think tank, $57.4 million to $12.8 million. Most of this money is attributable to lobbying expenditures.

Soros and the Koch brothers have all donated to federal political campaigns and committees. While Soros has far out-spent the Koch brothers in donating to 527 groups, especially when considering his incredible $23.7 million in donations to the groups between 2003 and 2004, the Koch brothers have donated more money to federal candidates and committees.

The Koch brothers give almost exclusively to Republicans just as Soros donates predominately to Democrats and Democratic organizations.

Overall, Soros has spent $34.24 million and the Kochs have spent $4.06 million. (Note: This study only covers donations to federal candidates - to see donations to state candidates, go to Followthemoney.org and search for Soros and Koch. For example, as Ben Smith of Politico wrote recently, David Koch and his wife have given $74,000 to a Democrat, Andrew Cuomo, New York's State Attorney General.)

www.opensecrets.org...

This is quite telling of the amount of money both the Koch bros and Soros are spending to influence our politics. Another thing that is telling, those who often rail against Soros say nothing about the Koch bros and vice versa.

David Koch: $2,224,170
$667,500 – National Republican Congressional Committee
$555,000 – Republican National Committee
$191,400 – National Republican Senatorial Committee

Charles G. Koch: $363,100
$58,900 – National Republican Senatorial Committee
$50,000 – Republican National Committee

George Soros: $1,748,627
$252,670 – Democratic National Committee
$147,216 – Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
$259,716 – Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

David Koch’s Favorite congressional members:
$17,100 – Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.)
$7,600 – Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.)
$7,200 – Mark Foley (R-Fla.)
$6,600 – James Inhofe (R-Okla.)
$5,000 – Sam Brownback (R-Kan.)

George Soros’ favorite congressional members:
$6,500 – Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.)
$6,200 – Jon Cranley (D-Ohio)
$6,000 – Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) $6,000 – Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.)
$5,500 – Tom Perriello (D-Va.)

I think it's time both are recognized for how they are influencing and corrupting our politicians. I encourage everyone to read this article. It goes into pretty good detail on where their money is going and who it is influencing.

Here is also a thread about the Koch bros influence on trying to end social security.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

In addition to donating directly to political candidates, parties and committees, the Kochs and Soros have funded numerous political think tanks and advocacy groups. These groups are not required to reveal their donors, therefore making it hard to come up with a comprehensive list of organizations that have financial ties to these individuals. The institutions mentioned are those most well-connected with the Koch brothers and George Soros.

Charles Koch co-founded the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, along with Edward Crane in 1977.

Charles and David Koch, along with Richard Fink and Jay Humphries, co-founded the Citizens for a Sound Economy in 1984.

In 2004, CSE broke off into two groups: Koch-linked Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, headed by former congressman Dick Armey. According to its website, Americans for Prosperity "is committed to educating citizens about economic policy and a return of the federal government to its Constitutional limits." In addition to those mentioned above, Charles Koch has helped to build the Institute for Humane Studies, the Bill of Rights Institute and the Market-Based Management Institute.

David Koch is currently on the board of directors at Cato, as well as the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, a research center dedicated to “market-oriented ideas.” He is a trustee at the libertarian Reason Foundation whose goal is to advance “free minds and free markets.”

George Soros founded the Open Society Institute which is his primary philanthropy organization. According to the website, "The Open Society Foundations fund a range of programs around the world, from public health to education to business development." While the foundation spends much of its resources on democratic causes around the world, OSI has also contributed to political advocacy groups such as the Tides Foundation. In 2004, Soros pledged $3 million to the progressive think tank, Center for American Progress.

Soros is also a major financial backer of the Democracy Alliance, an organization committed to drive progressive activist funding and the recently formed Institute for New Economic Thinking, which was jump started by a $50 million pledge from Soros.

Amazing how much these guys are influencing our government. At the end of the article, it states that in the end there is no real way of telling how much soros and the koch bros are spending...but it is an incredible amount.

excellent thread David.
I have no clue why this was
ignored for a week.

S&F for your efforts
in uprooting the criminal element
of our political system

Originally posted by boondock-saint
excellent thread David.
I have no clue why this was
ignored for a week.

S&F for your efforts
in uprooting the criminal element
of our political system

It was ignored because the usual right-winger shills (possibly smiling all the way to the bank every week after receiving a part of their "dirty money") do not like this topic...

They dont wish to discuss GREEDY BILLIONAIRE oil tycoons who are said to be ready at all times to buy congressmen, change laws, destroy the middle-class, eliminate Unions (because Unions represent the COMMON people which is against their greedy business ways), destroy the environment, and keep the TAX BURDEN on the back of the average American citizen just to keep their PROFITS remaining ASTRONOMICALLY HIGH.

I wonder if these guys fund some of the online shills here. Like the clan here who RUSH into political threads and anything about George Soros at MACH speed. All of them threads except this one.....

Hmmmmm.

What?!
George Soros kills Christian puppies
with his bare hands, and the Koch Brothers'
love everyone, especially black presidents.

Fantastic Thread David.
Thank you for sharing.
But the right wing members
won't believe it. Even when it's laid
out as clearly as this is.

The Koch Brothers – Exposed!
(Rollingstone.com)

If the Koch brothers didn't exist, the left would have to invent them. They're the plutocrats from central casting – oil-and-gas billionaires ready to buy any congressman, fund any lie, fight any law, bust any union, despoil any landscape, or shirk any (tax) burden to push their free-market religion and pump up their profits.

But no need to invent – Charles and David Koch are the real deal. Over the past 30-some years, they've poured more than 100 million dollars into a sprawling network of foundations, think tanks, front groups, advocacy organizations, lobbyists and GOP lawmakers, all to the glory of their hard-core libertarian agenda. They don't oppose big government so much as government – taxes, environmental protections, safety-net programs, public education: the whole bit. (By all accounts, the Kochs are true believers; they really buy that road-to-serfdom stuff about the the holiness of free markets. Still, you can't help but notice how neatly their philosophy lines up with their business interests.) They like to think of elected politicians as merely "actors playing out a script," and themselves as supplying "the themes and words for the scripts." Imagine Karl Rove’s strategic cunning, crossed with Ron Paul’s screw-the-poor ideology, and hooked up to Warren Buffett's checking account, and you’re halfway there.

That first link in the above paragraph leads to this: REPORT: Everything You Need To Know About The Koch Brothers, and a PDF FILE that lists all the think tanks and "grass roots" organizations they fund to push their globalist radical-right agenda.

...This thread still remains free of replies from the usual Right-winger paid posters who always SWOOP in on all Soros 'action' and political based threads at WARP SPEED like CLOCKWORK every-time!!!

...everytime except when the threads EXPOSES the DIRTY FILTHY TRUTH of their almighty behind-the-scenes right-wing-propaganda-master, dirty-money-funding, OIL-TYCOON, anti-clean-energy agenda, break-the-backs-of-the-already-burdened-middle-class-to-keep-profits-high-for-the-wealthiest Americans, good 'ol K-BROTHERS.

We all know them shills here. They couldnt display any more clearer signs that they are being funded with dirty money from you-know-who...

Funny how they have yet to comment here...

Their Master must be instructing them to leave this one alone. I guess they are hoping it disappears by not touching this one, eh?

Not on my watch! Back up again!!!