Free Republic

Marc Short, the Koch brothers’ top political adviser in Washington and a trusted member of their inner circle for five years, is making a surprise move to the Marco Rubio campaign as a senior adviser as the Republican establishment ramps up efforts to stop Donald Trump. Short — president of Freedom Partners, the Kochs’ umbrella political organization — will join the campaign in about a week and brings deep connections to the donor and grass-roots worlds.   “Marc has been running the most sophisticated political operation for the last few cycles, and really knows the mood of the electorate," said...

Mitt Romney is one step closer to entering the 2016 presidential race sources say, confirming what the-newshub.com reported last October that Romney would jump into the race after the first key primaries were held and some of the delegate dust had settled. Romney told Fox News on Wednesday that “We have good reason to believe that there’s a bombshell in Donald Trump’s taxes,” and quickly added that Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio should also disclose their tax information. Romney’s statement was a bowshot aimed at Trump, sources say, the surprise GOP frontrunner for whom Romney has unmitigated disdain.

The Donald Trump campaign began courting top staffers with the Koch-backed group Americans for Prosperity late last year, in order to bolster its ground game ahead of big primary nights in March, according to BuzzFeed News. The billionaire businessman's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, is a former AFP state director whose intricate knowledge of New Hampshire paid dividends in that primary. One top AFP staffer in a March primary state said he was approached by Lewandowski, who told him Trump "was for real. He's going all the way." "Anecdotally, I'd say a lot of people have been approached," another source close...

Billionaire Charles Koch’s political network plans to spend hundreds of millions to back Republicans in 2016, but he has penned an article agreeing with Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders about an economic system he calls “rigged to help the privileged few.” “He believes we have a two-tiered society that increasingly dooms millions of our fellow citizens to lives of poverty and hopelessness,” he wrote in the Washington Post. “He thinks many corporations seek and benefit from corporate welfare while ordinary citizens are denied opportunities . . . I agree with him.” But Koch offered a solution Sanders was sure to reject — stop...

Most of the 500 wealthy conservatives gathered at a Southern California retreat this week know they want to see a Republican back in the White House, but many don't know what to do with the billionaire who wants to "make America great again." Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump was not at the biannual Charles and David Koch-organized conference over the weekend, but he was a constant presence on the minds of many here at the seminar hosted by the billionaire executives known for their active role in Republican politics.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said late Saturday that most Republicans are skeptical of climate change because billionaire donors David and Charles Koch tell them to be. "Most of them are not that ill-informed," she said during a campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "They just have to do what the Koch brothers tell them. They say, 'don't believe your lying eyes - listen to us.' " Clinton warned America's economy would slip behind other nations if lawmakers keep debating climate change instead of acting. "Some country is going to be the 21st Century clean energy superpower," she said. "I...

Jane Mayer of The New Yorker has a new book out: “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right.” It’s mostly about those old devils the Koch brothers. Charles and David Koch are billionaires. They own a very big company. They also are very prominent philanthropists, giving hundreds of millions to cancer research, concert halls and other worthy causes. But what makes them hated and feared by progressives such as Mayer is their political work. They help fund some organizations and foundations, some purely educational, some partisan. To listen to the left, they...

Dear Reader (including those of you born in Canada), I guess we should start there. I find this birther stuff to be a lot like women's prison movies: compelling, entertaining, and totally ridiculous. Other than the presidency, there's no place in American life where the distinction between "naturalized" and "natural-born" citizenship matters. But imagine if it did? Imagine that your American-born mother just happened to give birth to you in Canada or Belize while on vacation. Your American-born mom and dad bring you home days later and raise you exactly as they would have had they been in Cleveland the...

Charles Koch is “disappointed” with the line-up of Republican candidates in the 2016 cycle, and is surprised by the lack of influence he and his brother have wielded so far. In an interview with the Financial Times, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist, said he’ll eventually support a candidate who he agrees with on some things with, but that it’s hard to get excited. He said a list presented to all the candidates about the Kochs' political arm's priorities “doesn’t seem to faze them much. You’d think we could have more influence.”

The Soros-Koch Brothers Criminals Lobby At a time of rising crime across the nation, Dr. Tina Trent exposes how George Soros and the Koch Brothers have joined forces to empty the prisons of illegal aliens and other criminals. Trent says the Koch Brothers are libertarians, not conservatives, and that "They're more like George Soros than not." The bills they are pushing are S. 2123 and H.R. 3713. Trent, an advocate for victims of crime, says the "criminal justice reform" legislation will modify the mandatory minimum sentences that have been put hardened criminals in jail and reduced crime. But many conservatives...

A veterans advocacy group is criticizing the plan to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released by Donald Trump. Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) said the plan was “heavy of rhetoric, light on specifics” in a statement on Saturday.

One of Germany’s representatives at the worldwide meeting of Catholic prelates on family has pointedly told the gathering that church teaching preventing divorced and remarried persons from receiving the Eucharist makes people “doubt God.” Berlin Archbishop Heiner Koch has used his 3-minute address during the deliberations to directly address one of the issues known to be creating the most disagreement among the prelates, saying he is often asked why remarried couples are barred from the Eucharistic table. The church’s theological arguments “do not silence the questions in the hearts of people,” Koch told the assembly. “Is there no place at...

The Climate Change Business Journal has calculated that global warming is now a $1.5 trillion a year industry. The Business Journal’s report is not available for free online, but its findings are reviewed by the Insurance Journal. They are eye-opening, to say the least: The $1.5 trillion global “climate change industry” grew at between 17 and 24 percent annually from 2005-2008, slowing to between 4 and 6 percent following the recession with the exception of 2011’s inexplicable 15 percent growth, according to Climate Change Business Journal. The San Diego, Calif.-based publication includes within that industry nine segments and 38 sub-segments....

It’s Jon Stewart’s final week on The Daily Show, so naturally his opening segment is about the Koch brothers and his follow up segment is on Fox News. Stewart opens with: “We’ve got good news. The California drought is over because last weekend a special group in California made it rain.” Stewart is referring to the Koch brother’s donor conference in Dana Point, California. The event gathered 450 top Republican party donors and included five GOP presidential candidates—former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina....

Dana Point, California (CNN)Donald Trump wasn't invited to address some 450 top conservative donors who gathered here at a lush oceanfront hotel for a policy-focused retreat hosted by the Koch brothers and their powerful political network.

Need to be a hero, but don’t have any really scary enemies? Invent an enemy – in this case the government – and appoint yourself the champion who rises up against the dreaded foe just in time to save the people, all the while working for your enemy in the largest immorality tale of them all. That’s Ted Cruz in a nutshell, with the emphasis on nut.The Texas Senator criticizes President Obama for “throwing around” rhetoric without talking about the actual substance of the issue in question, meanwhile throwing around such terms as “Washington Cartel” and “Jihadist Stimulus Bill,” to...

Even a company that named its top beer after a hero of the American Revolution may eventually forsake its home country. Boston Beer Co., the maker of Samuel Adams beer and Angry Orchard hard cider, would be worth more to a foreign owner unburdened by the US tax structure, founder Jim Koch told a Senate committee on Thursday. Because of that, Koch says he regularly gets pitches from investment bankers looking to strike a sale. He’s been turning them down — for now. “We don’t mind paying our taxes here in the US in gratitude for the opportunities that exist...

The Trumpinator went on the march via phone through the Sunday morning shows, and then he tweeted this to mock the candidates who went to a Koch Brothers event this weekend: "I wish good luck to all of the Republican candidates that traveled to California to beg for money etc. from the Koch Brothers. Puppets?" BOOM! I guess. The five who went to the event were Ted Cruz, Jeb! Bush, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina. This is the advantage that Trump has – as a billionaire he can fund his own campaign while the other candidates have to...

DANA POINT, Calif. (AP) -- Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and four other GOP presidential candidates are at a luxury Southern California resort speaking to the billionaire Koch brothers and other conservative donors. Industrialists Charles and David Koch have convened about 450 like-minded business leaders this weekend to listen to Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former technology executive Carly Fiorina.On Saturday, Charles Koch welcomed the donors and encouraged them to stop "crony capitalism" -- even if those policies hurt their bottom lines.

The competition among Republican presidential candidates for the support of the political and fundraising network of Charles and David Koch will heat up this weekend. Five Republican candidates will attend a retreat held by Freedom Partners, a key cog in the political network of the Koch brothers. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Texas senator Ted Cruz, former CEO Carly Fiorina, Florida senator Marco Rubio and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker will all attend a gathering of well-heeled GOP donors at a luxury resort in Orange County, California. Kentucky senator Rand Paul was invited but declined to attend, citing previous commitments to...