RNC and Kochs at odds over Trump

[Belsnickel]

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/02/rnc-warns-donors-kochs-760233?cid=apn

Quote:The Republican National Committee is sending a warning shot to major GOP donors not to play ball with the powerful Koch political network, escalating a fight between President Donald Trump’s allies and the Kochs.

The move follows a weekend retreat in Colorado at which Koch network officials criticized the Trump administration, hinted they would work with Democrats, and announced they would not help a Republican candidate in a key 2018 Senate race.

“Some groups who claim to support conservatives forgo their commitment when they decide their business interests are more important than those of the country or Party,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel wrote in a memo to party contributors on Thursday afternoon. “This is unacceptable.”

In the memo, McDaniel notes that the RNC has long expressed concerns about the Koch network, which has developed its own data program for Republican candidates to use. The Koch data program rivaled the one that had been created by the RNC.

McDaniel also warns Republican candidates to steer clear of the Kochs. While some GOP contenders have chosen to use the Koch data program over the years, McDaniel argues that decision could come at a cost. If the Kochs decide to help Democrats going forward, she argues, that could include a future opponent.

“From the beginning, the RNC had concerns about any outside entity building a data operation to compete with ours because we knew they could potentially weaponize that data against Republicans if their business interests conflicted with electing Republicans,” McDaniel writes. “Sadly, our concerns were recently proven true.”

McDaniel writes that the RNC, which stores and provides information for party contenders seeking a range of offices, “is the only entity which can be trusted with the data Republicans candidates need to win up and down the ballot.”

The rift between the Trump White House and the Kochs, a donor network that typically spends heavily on behalf of GOP candidates, comes at a perilous moment for the party. Three months out from the midterms, the GOP is facing the prospect of a Democratic wave that wipes out its House majority.

James Davis, a Koch spokesman, did not respond directly to the RNC’s move. But he suggested the network stood by its pledge to work across party lines.

“We have a long-term commitment to unite around issues that will help people improve their lives. Just as we have in the past, we will work together with the President, elected officials and others where we agree. And, where we disagree, we will do so in a civil way,” he said. “This is what it will take to make progress on the issues and ultimately create a society of mutual benefit — where people succeed by helping others.”

Michael Palmer, the president of the Koch data program i360, sought to reassure Republican candidates it works with. “We will continue to drive innovation to create superior value for our customers now and in the future,” he said.

The Kochs have long expressed unease with Trump, choosing to sit out the 2016 election rather than back him. But their anger at the president bubbled over at the Colorado summit.

Network officials blasted Trump for his protectionist trade policies, which they argued were taking a toll on the economy. They also described the White House as toxic and said it was causing long-term damage to the country.

The network pledged to spend $400 million on the midterms. But the Kochs announced they would not support North Dakota Republican Senate hopeful Kevin Cramer, saying that he’d broken with the network on key policies. The Kochs, who have spent freely in past races, also said they would hold Republican candidates to higher standards when determining whom to support.

In the days since, the Kochs have come under fire from the president.

“Charles Koch of Koch Brothers, who claims to be giving away millions of dollars to politicians even though I know very few who have seen this (?), now makes the ridiculous statement that what President Trump is doing is unfair to ‘foreign workers,’” Trump, who effectively controls the RNC, wrote in a Thursday morning tweet. “He is correct, AMERICA FIRST!”

Earlier in the week, Trump tweeted, "The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade. I never sought their support because I don’t need their money or bad ideas. They love my Tax & Regulation Cuts, Judicial picks & more. I made..... ....them richer.”

“Their network is highly overrated, I have beaten them at every turn,” he added. “They want to protect their companies outside the U.S. from being taxed, I’m for America First & the American Worker - a puppet for no one. Two nice guys with bad ideas. Make America Great Again!”

As part of its offensive, a senior party official said, the RNC would be reaching out to donors to make the case “that if you give to Koch you could be supporting a Democrat and risking GOP majorities.”

This feud has been building for a while, now, but this is a rather interesting development. The Kochs have essentially bankrolled the Tea Party movement within the GOP, so this turn of events could prove troublesome.

[Benton]

A little of subject, but I did snicker at:

Quote: “They want to protect their companies outside the U.S. from being taxed

I'll give Trump a vote if he fixes that. Our last round of tax reform wasn't much reform and mostly just a handful of upper class cuts.

[*michaelsean*]

It will be interesting to see how they become less evil if they start giving to Dems.

[Benton]

(08-06-2018, 10:24 AM)michaelsean Wrote: It will be interesting to see how they become less evil if they start giving to Dems.

They won't be less evil, they'll just be differently evil enabled.

Instead of being __________ they'll be ___________. In the end, we'll still have a crappy economy thanks to a lot of their influence. It'll just be differently crappy.

[hollodero]

(08-06-2018, 10:24 AM)michaelsean Wrote: It will be interesting to see how they become less evil if they start giving to Dems.

Yeah well. It's about getting rid of horrifying alt-right Trumpism, one can't be too picky in these circumstances. Something about the enemy of my enemy. I guess conservatives would be very welcome to join that side too.

[*michaelsean*]

(08-06-2018, 10:55 AM)hollodero Wrote: Yeah well. It's about getting rid of horrifying alt-right Trumpism, one can't be too picky in these circumstances. Something about the enemy of my enemy. I guess conservatives would be very welcome to join that side too.

Well I knew there would be a good reason if they all of a sudden become liked.

[GMDino]

(08-06-2018, 10:57 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Well I knew there would be a good reason if they all of a sudden become liked.  Somehow they have no problems with the likes of Soros who made his fortune off of other people's misery.

The Kochs brothers are "libertarians"...in the sense that want government out of their business affairs and don't want to pay taxes.

That's really all they care about.  The money they give to "conservatives" is for that.  All the other evil stuff is just a result of "conservatives" trying to get votes.

Not sure why Soros was brought up, or how he made his money off other people's misery.  

[fredtoast]

(08-06-2018, 10:57 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Well I knew there would be a good reason if they all of a sudden become liked.  Somehow they have no problems with the likes of Soros who made his fortune off of other people's misery.

Soros is an investment banker and fund manager.  How is that making a fortune off of other people's misery?

[fredtoast]

(08-06-2018, 10:24 AM)michaelsean Wrote: It will be interesting to see how they become less evil if they start giving to Dems.

Of course.  Why wouldn't a change in behavior trigger a change in perception?  Your side will claim they have become more evil.

[*michaelsean*]

(08-06-2018, 11:17 AM)fredtoast Wrote: Of course.  Why wouldn't a change in behavior trigger a change in perception?  Your side will claim they have become more evil.

They will just be buying a new group of people, but it will be the right group of people.  Their goals will be the same.  

[*michaelsean*]

I deleted the Soros comment. Don't need to sidetrack as I have done more than once.

[GMDino]

(08-06-2018, 11:34 AM)michaelsean Wrote: They will just be buying a new group of people, but it will be the right group of people.  Their goals will be the same.  

Same response to this as before:

They care about their own money.  Period.  If they suddenly decided the Democrats would be anti-tax and anti-regulation they would throw their money there.  And we would have all the evils of liberalism suddenly arising in this country.  

[*Nately120*]

(08-06-2018, 11:07 AM)GMDino Wrote: The Kochs brothers are "libertarians"...in the sense that want government out of their business affairs and don't want to pay taxes.

That's really all they care about.  The money they give to "conservatives" is for that.  All the other evil stuff is just a result of "conservatives" trying to get votes.

They are fake libertarians in the sense that they, like lots of the ultra rich, want a system where the government stays out of their business...unless the government is bailing them out.  That kind of deregulation where the government will save you from your own bad business is a neo-con thing, not a true libertarian one.  They have enough money and power to screw the proverbial money while we hold the head...so to speak.

Regulations are bad! Leave me alone, government! Oh no, my unfettered business practices didn't work...save me government!

[GMDino]

(08-07-2018, 10:32 AM)Nately120 Wrote: They are fake libertarians in the sense that they, like lots of the ultra rich, want a system where the government stays out of their business...unless the government is bailing them out.  That kind of deregulation where the government will save you from your own bad business is a neo-con thing, not a true libertarian one.  They have enough money and power to screw the proverbial money while we hold the head...so to speak.

Regulations are bad!  Leave me alone, government!  Oh no, my unfettered business practices didn't work...save me government!

I totally agree.

They LOVE capitalism with no government interference...and they LOVE socialism with total government bailouts when things go bad/spill/explode.

Something that many won't admit.

[*Nately120*]

(08-07-2018, 11:00 AM)GMDino Wrote: I totally agree.

They LOVE capitalism with no government interference...and they LOVE socialism with total government bailouts when things go bad/spill/explode.

Something that many won't admit.

This is one of the reasons when I debate with my left-wing pals that I need to point out that libertarian deregulation isn't the same as this neo-con scheming bs.  Privatize profit and socialize loss...that's the name of the game when you're super rich.  And to think, some people have it in for that segment of the population.  No fair.

[*michaelsean*]

(08-07-2018, 11:37 AM)Nately120 Wrote: This is one of the reasons when I debate with my left-wing pals that I need to point out that libertarian deregulation isn't the same as this neo-con scheming bs.  Privatize profit and socialize loss...that's the name of the game when you're super rich.  And to think, some people have it in for that segment of the population.  No fair.

I said it with all the bailouts, and people from both sides yelled at me.  Were the Koch brothers bailed out of something?  

[Belsnickel]

(08-07-2018, 12:09 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I said it with all the bailouts, and people from both sides yelled at me.  Were the Koch brothers bailed out of something?  

I don't know about bailouts, but the number of subsidies and other things that they receive from the government is rather sizeable. Especially given their petroleum portfolios. Then you have to look at the applications they have made, like the one a few years ago for their mine in Colorado, seeking some $14 million from the government.

Nately is spot on, really. The Koch family isn't spending their money in politics because they are just ideological conservatives or libertarians and they want this vision to be realized. Their motivation is protecting their money. They are oligarchs that have gained power in our system because we have become less democratic, and they are using that power to gain more power and wealth. That's all it is.