High court: California can't collect charity top donor names
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered California to stop collecting the names and addresses of top donors to charities. The justices voted 6-3 along ideological lines to side with two nonprofit groups, including one with links to billionaire Charles Koch. The groups argued that California's policy of collecting the information violates the First Amendment.
news.yahoo.comA key to bridging the political divide: Sit down and talk?
One Small Step, which Isay established in 2018, is among a growing number of nonprofit initiatives whose aim is to narrow America's increasingly toxic political divide. But he felt it was a start, and he named his initiative accordingly: One Small Step. One Small Step, which Isay established in 2018, is among a growing number of nonprofit initiatives whose aim is to narrow America's increasingly toxic political divide. Yet they'd never met and probably never would have, if not for their joint involvement in One Small Step. But as One Small Step has developed, expansion has followed, with roughly 800 people meeting in pairs in about 40 cities.
Koch network pushes private-sector health care agenda to counter Biden's public option push
The political advocacy group backed by billionaire Charles Koch is pushing forward with its own health care agenda as President Joe Biden's administration looks to build on the Affordable Care Act. AFP officials started promoting their own health care idea late last year, including in an op-ed that was published in October. The Koch network has long opposed the public option. Biden signed a slate of health care related executive orders, including one that reopens the ACA's HealthCare.gov for a special, three-month enrollment period. Although the Koch network did not get involved with the 2020 presidential election, the organization as a whole mostly supported Republicans.
cnbc.comUS states look to step up wolf kills, pushed by Republicans
Wolf hunting policies in some states are taking an aggressive turn, as Republican lawmakers and conservative hunting groups push to curb their numbers and propose tactics shunned by many wildlife managers. AdThe timing of the Wisconsin hunt was bumped up following a lawsuit that raised concerns President Joe Biden’s administration would intervene to restore gray wolf protections. The states have been holding annual hunts since, and wildlife officials cite stable population levels as evidence of responsible wolf management. Ad“Too many wolves,” Republican state Sen. Bob Brown said of his mountainous district in northwest Montana. Ad“I’m not surprised we’re seeing hunting groups wrap themselves in the mantle of patriotism,” Winkler said.
Unusual alliance seeks policing reforms in New Mexico
The bill has grown out of recommendations from a bipartisan civil rights commission created after the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. The proposed Civil Rights Act from Democratic state legislators is confronting near-unified opposition from a long list of sheriffs and law enforcement associations. AdThe bill builds on the recommendations of a civil rights commission, chartered by the Legislature and Gov. “The general consensus across law enforcement, across the state?” said Mace, chairman of the New Mexico Sheriffs' Association. “It's an all-out attack on law enforcement.”AdOn Monday, Americans for Prosperity announced a petition and advertising campaign in support of reforms to police immunity provisions.
Koch network encourages Congress to certify election for Biden as some of the group's allies challenge results
In this February 26, 2007 file photograph, Charles Koch, head of Koch Industries, talks passionately about his new book on Market Based Management. The political advocacy organization backed by the billionaire Charles Koch is encouraging Congress to certify President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory. The move comes as several of the network's Republican beneficiaries in Congress plan to object to the results. "Joe Biden is the president-elect, and we support the process and certification of his election," Lo Isidro, a spokesman for the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, said in a statement. The statement comes as other business-friendly organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, pushed back against a group of GOP senators and House members who say they plan to object to the Electoral College results.
cnbc.comKoch network plans for life after Trump following Joe Biden's victory
The Koch network has had a mixed relationship with the Trump administration. They cheered for Trump's tax cuts, business deregulation, push for criminal justice reform and his nominees to the Supreme Court. "It's a very different Koch network that Biden didn't see much of during his years under Obama," a longtime associate of the organization told CNBC. You've got to call it like you see it," he said when discussing the groups working to fix the criminal justice system. Yet even he admitted that criminal justice reform could be where the Koch network finds common ground with Biden.
cnbc.comDespite policy wins under Trump, the Koch network isn't helping the president's reelection bid
The political advocacy group backed by billionaire Charles Koch has seen key policy victories under President Donald Trump, including regulatory and tax cuts. The Washington Post reported last year that the network would not get involved with the president's bid for reelection. The Koch group has also pushed for further weakening of business regulations. But there remain stark policy differences between the Koch network and the Trump administration. The Koch network believes its resources will be better utilized elsewhere, people familiar with the network said.
cnbc.comKoch network launches campaign to confirm Trump Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett in Senate
The political advocacy group backed by billionaire Charles Koch is officially launching their campaign in support of President Donald Trump's latest nominee to the Supreme Court. Trump on Saturday selected Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. This will be the latest Supreme Court fight AFP will be involved with since Trump has become president. Doug Jones said on Friday he would not vote for any Supreme Court nominee until after Election Day in November. AFP will be the latest group to join the 2020 battle over the Supreme Court.
cnbc.comInfluential Koch network closes offices, shifts to digital outreach as coronavirus spreads
An activist organization backed in part by libertarian billionaire Charles Koch has shifted its operations to the digital realm as the coronavirus spreads throughout the United States. "We're engaging activists by showing them ways to educate their neighbors and expand their reach through social media and other peer-to-peer outreach." Americans for Prosperity and others are conducting some of their efforts through their i360 app, Tardiff said. Volunteers and activists are moving toward working the phones from home to assist in their operations. The network's policy proposals are often based on libertarian ideals, with an emphasis on cutting taxes, government spending and business regulations.
cnbc.comSupreme Court petitioned on police officers’ legal immunity
A public interest law firm is asking the Supreme Court to consider whether police officers and other government agents should have broad immunity from civil lawsuits. He sued the officers who arrested him, but a judge tossed out the case, ruling that the officers were entitled to immunity for their actions. “They are inconsistent with our founding principles.”The qualified immunity doctrine was first enunciated by the Supreme Court in 1967, and expanded greatly by the court in the 1980s. While there is strong momentum for reconsidering the qualified immunity doctrine, it has its defenders. “Absent dramatic new information, until and unless Congress says otherwise, qualified immunity should remain our law,” the authors write.
Koch donors at annual summit, concerned that Trump could lose, discuss the need to defend GOP Senate majority
Libertarian and conservative donors who attended the annual Koch network summit over the weekend discussed the need to defend the GOP majority in the Senate as a backstop in case a Democrat defeats President Donald Trump in November. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren winning they were also concerned about the moderate former Vice President Joe Biden, according to attendees who declined to be named since the conversations were deemed private. Biden maintains a lead in national polls, according to a Real Clear Politics average, ahead of Sanders and Warren. The network, according to people familiar with the matter, believes these policies are a form of government overreach. In an introductory video that played at the summit, Charles Koch himself said the group is seeking to unite people.
cnbc.comVC firm with ties to Charles Koch expected to reach $100 million in new funding
A venture capital firm with close ties to billionaire industrialist Charles Koch is expected to reach $100 million in new funding to invest in startups focused on social change. Trust Ventures launched last year at Koch's semiannual private retreat for donors to his sprawling social advocacy network. But Trust Ventures would not disclose its investors, saying only that it has received funding from a "diversity" of sources across the political spectrum. "We are looking to find the most innovative companies in the economy and help them successfully navigate public policy headwinds," Trust Ventures partner Salen Churi said. Trust Ventures is separate from Koch Disruptive Technologies, the venture fund run by Koch's son, Chase, focused on startups outside of Silicon Valley.
cnbc.comPowerful Koch network taking on school choice with new group
Billionaire industrialist Charles Koch 's powerful network that's known for influencing state policy is now targeting education issues like school choice as the movement battles a new wave of hostility from Democrats who oppose charter schools and private school vouchers that use taxpayer money. Hock and officials with the Koch network said it's too early to provide specifics about what policies the group is pushing. She cited Texas, West Virginia, Tennessee and Florida as priority states where school choice proposals have flourished. Though Koch has previously supported publicly subsidized voucher programs for private schools, the new initiative wades deeper into K-12 education and school choice at a delicate or even hostile time for private school vouchers and charter schools. The charter school movement has come under recent attack by more liberal Democrats.
chicagotribune.comKoch-backed group will unleash ads targeting some corporate tax breaks, Export-Import Bank
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. An influential conservative advocacy group is launching a new six-figure ad campaign Monday attacking the Export-Import Bank and special tax breaks. Fighting the reauthorization of the ExIm Bank and the package of tax breaks known as "extenders" are two of AFP's top legislative priorities this year. Tax extenders are a package of industry-specific tax breaks that are ostensibly temporary but that lawmakers typically renew. But the new tax law included temporary tax breaks of its own, and lawmakers are proposing a bill that would revive many of the expired provisions and extend new ones. Tax extenders have come under fire from an unusually broad array of groups.
cnbc.comKoch network throws its weight behind Silicon Valley in the regulatory battle with Washington
The libertarian Koch network has long been a powerful advocate for conservative causes and a major funder for Republican politicians. During the midterms, for example, the network spent $2.1 million on ads supporting then-Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley's challenge to incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. The Koch network quickly issued a statement slamming Hawley's bill as "toxic" and argued it would "punish success in the next generation of innovative startups." That's why we're taking a more active role in supporting positive tech work and holding government accountable on tech issues." At the Koch summit, tech was a recurring theme over the three-day gathering.
cnbc.comCharles Koch says he might support Hillary Clinton
Conservative billionaire Charles Koch is one of the biggest influences on presidential campaigns. He has been backing Republican candidates for a number of elections, but in an interview he said he's considering supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign. Koch is making clear to the GOP that he is firmly against a Donald Trump nomination. CBS' Nancy Cordes explains.
cbsnews.comCharles Koch on the millions spent on politics, and his influence on politics
Charles and David Koch have become major players in campaign finance, using their combined $86 billion to bankroll a network of conservative groups that helped create the tea party movement. Charles made a rare television appearance on "CBS Sunday Morning", to discuss "dark funding"
cbsnews.comCharles Koch on drug use and the presidency
In part two of his conversation with correspondent Anthony Mason, billionaire industrialist and conservative political donor Charles Koch talks about decriminalization for non-violent drug offenders who are sent to prison while presidents and candidates for the White House have admitted past drug use.
cbsnews.comCharles Koch on the millions spent on politics, influence
The Koch brothers are among the best-know politically active families in America. The billionaires' network of political action committees and advocacy groups will spend $300 million on the 2016 campaign. Anthony Mason spoke with Charles Koch in a rare television interview, ahead of the release of his book, "Good Profit."
cbsnews.comBillionaire Charles Koch on fighting in the political arena
He's a controversial figure in the world of business and political funding. In a rare TV appearance the industrialist and conservative advocate Charles Koch talks to Anthony Mason about his political philosophy, the Tea Party, and his reasons for spending hundreds of millions of dollars to influence elections.
cbsnews.comBillionaire Charles Koch talks 2016 candidates on "Sunday Morning"
Forbes calls him one of the most politically influential billionaires in the U.S. Koch is the chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, a Kansas-based conglomerate. It had revenue of $115 billion dollars last year. His endorsement of a GOP candidate spells money, influence and more money. Anthony Mason previews his report for "Sunday Morning."
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