Charles Koch And Crony Capitalism

by Stuart Shaprio

Charles Koch penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (where else?) today saying that the involvement of Koch Industries in politics is to prevent growing crony capitalism in the United States.  In the immortal words of Inigo Montoya, “You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.”

For starters, Koch Industries has benefited plenty from government subsidies in the past. As the New York Observer reported, Koch companies have received subsidies from the Venezuelan government as part of a deal to sell Venezuelan-made fertilizer in the US; used US land subsidies for its Matador Cattle Company; and profited from private logging of US forests that wouldn’t have been possible if the US Forestry Service hadn’t built new roads with taxpayer money to un-logged lands, among other examples. (For much more on the Kochs’ use of subsidies, check out this ThinkProgress post.)

One has to wonder about the underlying psychology here.  Does Charles Koch feel guilty about all of the government money he’s gotten over the years?  Does he not want others to turn out like him and his brother?  Or is he really just interested in making sure he keeps getting his and no one else gets anything from the government?  Never mind, I think I know the answer.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.