With all the pessimism this is one positive in this campaign season so far-super PACs don't matter so much. Indeed, Charles Koch is pretty disappointed in what he is getting for his money:
"Billionaire oil tycoon Charles Koch lamented to the Financial Times that he and his brother haven’t had as much “influence” as they hoped to in the 2016 presidential race. In an interview flagged Friday by Politico, Koch said that presenting a list of the Kochs’ political priorities to the candidates failed to shift their focus."
"The list “doesn’t seem to faze them much,” Koch said. “You’d think we could have more influence.”
"Koch said in November that he planned to refrain from endorsing any individual candidate, and his view of the field seems to have soured further since then."
“It is hard for me to get a high level of enthusiasm because the things I’m passionate about and I think this country urgently needs aren’t being addressed,” he said.
"Though the billionaire conservative donor said he would eventually end up supporting a candidate he agreed with on some subjects, he expressed particular distaste for Republican frontrunners Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Koch said that Trump’s proposal of a ban on Muslim immigration would “destroy our free society” and knocked Cruz’s suggestion that the U.S. combat the threat of terrorist groups like the Islamic State by carpet-bombing swaths of territory in the Middle East."
Pointing out that there are some 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, he asked, "what are we going to do: go bomb each one of them?”
"According to the Financial Times, the network of conservative donors tied to Koch and his brother David are expected raise almost $900 million for the 2016 election cycle."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/koch-influence-2016-race
Turns out $900 million doesn't buy what it once did.
"Charles Koch sounds a lot like an ordinary voter when he bemoans what he said is a lack of substance and civility in the 2016 White House race."
“It’s mainly about personalities, and ‘your mother sucked rotten eggs,’ ” he said during an interview in his office here."
"In the interview, Mr. Koch said he holds no sway over the Republican Party or GOP members of Congress, citing their recent failure to block legislation extending a series of tax breaks for a wide swath of businesses. “They say we have all this influence,” he said. “Well, where?”
"Mr. Koch said he is looking for issues on which he can work with both parties, citing their recent efforts to work with the White House to ease sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and enact other changes to the criminal justice system. He also mentioned work to reduce red tape for low-income Americans looking to start a small business, another White House priority. Asked about money he has spent against Mr. Obama and his party, Mr. Koch said, “It’s not against him; it’s for these ideas…I would love to be able to support Democrats.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-frustrated-koch-brother-decides-its-time-to-spout-off-1445903458
If he wants to support Democrats maybe he could start by cutting it out with all the opposition research against Hillary.
"Billionaire oil tycoon Charles Koch lamented to the Financial Times that he and his brother haven’t had as much “influence” as they hoped to in the 2016 presidential race. In an interview flagged Friday by Politico, Koch said that presenting a list of the Kochs’ political priorities to the candidates failed to shift their focus."
"The list “doesn’t seem to faze them much,” Koch said. “You’d think we could have more influence.”
"Koch said in November that he planned to refrain from endorsing any individual candidate, and his view of the field seems to have soured further since then."
“It is hard for me to get a high level of enthusiasm because the things I’m passionate about and I think this country urgently needs aren’t being addressed,” he said.
"Though the billionaire conservative donor said he would eventually end up supporting a candidate he agreed with on some subjects, he expressed particular distaste for Republican frontrunners Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Koch said that Trump’s proposal of a ban on Muslim immigration would “destroy our free society” and knocked Cruz’s suggestion that the U.S. combat the threat of terrorist groups like the Islamic State by carpet-bombing swaths of territory in the Middle East."
Pointing out that there are some 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, he asked, "what are we going to do: go bomb each one of them?”
"According to the Financial Times, the network of conservative donors tied to Koch and his brother David are expected raise almost $900 million for the 2016 election cycle."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/koch-influence-2016-race
Turns out $900 million doesn't buy what it once did.
"Charles Koch sounds a lot like an ordinary voter when he bemoans what he said is a lack of substance and civility in the 2016 White House race."
“It’s mainly about personalities, and ‘your mother sucked rotten eggs,’ ” he said during an interview in his office here."
"In the interview, Mr. Koch said he holds no sway over the Republican Party or GOP members of Congress, citing their recent failure to block legislation extending a series of tax breaks for a wide swath of businesses. “They say we have all this influence,” he said. “Well, where?”
"Mr. Koch said he is looking for issues on which he can work with both parties, citing their recent efforts to work with the White House to ease sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and enact other changes to the criminal justice system. He also mentioned work to reduce red tape for low-income Americans looking to start a small business, another White House priority. Asked about money he has spent against Mr. Obama and his party, Mr. Koch said, “It’s not against him; it’s for these ideas…I would love to be able to support Democrats.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-frustrated-koch-brother-decides-its-time-to-spout-off-1445903458
If he wants to support Democrats maybe he could start by cutting it out with all the opposition research against Hillary.
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