Billionaire conservative icon David Koch dies at 79

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pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
13,053
7,980
136
The guys was for pot legalization and pro-LGBT rights in 1980. But, people here are lead by propaganda, not facts.

No, some of us don't care that much about pot either way, and are much more bothered by the callous anti-worker and anti-environment stance of the Kochs. It's not clear to me that he ever actually did anything to support LGBT rights for that matter. There were two other Koch brothers, by the way, who were not particularly political, and indeed one was, apparently, suspected by the other three of being gay, and, according to at least one source, they were happy to use this against him.


https://www.workandmoney.com/s/koch-brothers-bio-644c1052177543c9

Initially, all four sons had an equal share of their father’s company.


Fredrick, the first born, became the odd-one out. While in his 20s, he took to the arts instead of business, and his brothers suspected he was gay — something their father would disown him for, meaning his fourth of the company stake would be divvied up among them.


The three brothers tried to blackmail Fredrick in what journalist Jane Mayer, author of “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right,” described as a “kangaroo court.”


Mayer told NPR in an interview: "He [Fredrick] walked in the room, found his three other brothers sitting there in chairs facing him, and they confronted him and conducted an inquisition to see if he was gay. … It's come to be known within the family as the blackmail attempt by the brothers to get Frederick's shares of the company.”


It didn’t work — Fredrick stood up, told them he never wanted to hear of it again, and walked out.
 

dawp

Lifer
Jul 2, 2005
11,345
2,705
136
You don't know the difference between doing well and not doing well. You have to cherry-pick certain statistics and completely ignore other contradictory evidence, as well as falsely assume that many of the good statistics are a result of something Trump has done, just to pretend the economy is good. And of course, there are a lot more things to grade a President on other than the economy that you have to ignore as well. But please, do carry on.
plus we've been lucky this crew has been soooooo incompetent that a large portion of the changes they tried to implement crashed into the courts because they did not do their due diligence.
 

Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
15,995
1,685
126
Oh man this is so good. It would be great if his brother accidently fell into his grave and they buried him too.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
72,434
6,091
126
When the Supreme Court ruled that money is speech and corporations are people they set the country on the path of class warfare and the death of democracy. It's sad that people would rejoice at the death of the wealthy but rejoicing at the death of the wealthy and conservative Supreme Court members is inevitable owing to the misery in life their ambitions create. They created the death wish that haunts them from ego greed, in my opinion. Don't like people being happy to see you die, strive to have some conscious awareness.
 

UNCjigga

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
24,817
9,027
136
I'm not sure why liberals are dancing. Sounds like he was more inline with the liberal agenda to me. The only difference is he wasn't onboard with global warming and was critical of obama, but otherwise sounds like any other liberal. If someone wants to educate me on why he's a bad guy, let me know. I don't watch the news or political shows, etc. In fact, I don't even have a TV... So I may miss many things.

Political views

Koch considered himself a social liberal,[20] who supported women's right to choose,[21] gay rights, same-sex marriage and stem-cell research.[2][22] He opposed the war on drugs.[23] Koch supported policies that promote individual liberty and free market principles, and supported reducing government spending.[24] Koch supported a non-interventionist foreign policy; "Pursuing a very aggressive foreign policy," he said, "is an extremely expensive endeavor for the U.S. government. The cost of maintaining a huge military force abroad is gigantic. It's so big it puts a severe strain on the U.S. economy, creating economic hardships here at home."[25] Koch opposed the Iraq War, saying that the war has "cost a lot of money and it's taken so many American lives", and "I question whether that was the right thing to do. In hindsight that looks like it was not a good policy".[18] In an impromptu interview with the blog ThinkProgress, he was quoted as saying he would like the new Republican Congress to "cut the hell out of spending, balance the budget, reduce regulations, and support business."[26] He was against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.[27] He was skeptical about anthropogenic global warming. He has said a warmer planet would be good because "Earth will be able to support enormously more people because a far greater land area will be available to produce food".[27]
Koch had many thoughts on several of President Obama's policies. An article from the Weekly Standard, detailing the "left's obsession" with the Koch brothers, quotes Koch stating that Obama is "the most radical president we've ever had as a nation ... and has done more damage to the free enterprise system and long-term prosperity than any president we've ever had."[28] Koch said that Obama's father's economic socialism, practiced in Kenya, explains why Obama has "sort of antibusiness and anti-free enterprise" influences.[18] Koch said that Obama is "scary", a "hardcore socialist" who is "marvelous at pretending to be something other than that."[29] Koch contributed to both Republicans and Democrats in 2012, with the majority of his contributions going to Republican candidates.[30]

But that gets to the core issue of people like David Koch. They can be socially liberal and still enable strict social conservatives as long as they get their small government, low tax, free market policies. They don’t care if the party goes alt-right, the base politics are just a means to their ends.

That’s exactly what Kochs did with Americans for Prosperity and co-opting the Tea Party Movement. Sure, Kochs may have begun to unwind their donor network after seeing the GOP they helped create turn Trumpian, but it’s too late now. Adelsons and Mercers and Wynns and DeVoses are running with the playbook.
 

Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
15,995
1,685
126
I texted my mom as soon as I heard the news and she's ecstatic. It's really wonderful to be able to brighten her day like this. It's nice to remember that these horrible old people all die someday. Looking forward to doing this again with Charles!
 
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Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
15,995
1,685
126
I forgot, liberals here celebrate violence and death of those they don't politically agree with.

It might seem crazy what I'm 'bout to say
Sunshine she's here, you can take a break
I'm a hot air balloon that could go to space
With the air, like I don't care baby by the way

Huh, because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do

Here come bad news, talking this and that
(Yeah) Well, give me all you got, and don't hold it back
(Yeah) Well, I should probably warn you I'll be just fine
(Yeah) No offense to you, don't waste your time
Here's why

Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along…
 

glenn1

Lifer
Sep 6, 2000
25,383
1,013
126
I texted my mom as soon as I heard the news and she's ecstatic. It's really wonderful to be able to brighten her day like this. It's nice to remember that these horrible old people all die someday. Looking forward to doing this again with Charles!

And your mom. It'll probably brighten a lot of peoples' days when she kicks the bucket as well since she's probably also in that horrible old people class.


I mean since people are celebrating a death and all.
 
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dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
35,337
28,610
136
I texted my mom as soon as I heard the news and she's ecstatic. It's really wonderful to be able to brighten her day like this. It's nice to remember that these horrible old people all die someday. Looking forward to doing this again with Charles!
Don't forget Trump. That hamburglar's lifestyle will probably lead him to the grave sooner than later.
 

dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
35,337
28,610
136
And your mom. It'll probably brighten a lot of peoples' days when she kicks the bucket as well since she's probably also in that horrible old people class.


I mean since people are celebrating a death and all.
I am sure you mourn the death of Manson and other malicious personalities all the time.
 

dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
35,337
28,610
136
Hopefully not for at least six more years. ;)
Yup. We wouldn't want the upcoming recession to get pinned on filthy Democrats yet again. Need to really drive home the lesson of what happens when you are stupid enough to enact any conservative policy, let alone give them control of the whole damn country. I'll gladly starve to death in the street if it means I get to watch you do the same.
 

ecogen

Golden Member
Dec 24, 2016
1,217
1,288
136
And your mom. It'll probably brighten a lot of peoples' days when she kicks the bucket as well since she's probably also in that horrible old people class.


I mean since people are celebrating a death and all.

"People have to be sad about a horrible waste of skin dying".

Nah.
 

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,001
126
Yup. We wouldn't want the upcoming recession to get pinned on filthy Democrats yet again. Need to really drive home the lesson of what happens when you are stupid enough to enact any conservative policy, let alone give them control of the whole damn country. I'll gladly starve to death in the street if it means I get to watch you do the same.


I've been hearing about this upcoming recession for the last few years...
 

Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
15,995
1,685
126
And your mom. It'll probably brighten a lot of peoples' days when she kicks the bucket as well since she's probably also in that horrible old people class.

I mean since people are celebrating a death and all.

It probably will. My mom is a retired visiting nurse, she's helped hundreds of people in her life and just about all of them absolutely love her. They will be sad, but also very happy to come together and celebrate her life when goes.

I should say that I have the greatest respect for your mom, and certainly any woman that can star in that amount of bestiality porn. I honestly didn't even know that a woman could mate with a feral hog, but I guess you're living evidence.
 
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Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
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Wonder why people here have to shit on them so much just because they don't align with your political views? This whole "If you don't agree me with me than you're an <insert nazi/hitler/evil person>" narrative is really getting out of hand.

Judging by his stances below, I honestly don't see why people are dancing on his corpse like he is some evil evil human being.

Koch considered himself a social liberal,[21] who supported women's right to choose,[22] gay rights, same-sex marriage and stem-cell research.[2][23] He opposed the war on drugs.[24] Koch supported policies that promote individual liberty and free market principles, and supported reducing government spending.[25] Koch supported a non-interventionist foreign policy; "Pursuing a very aggressive foreign policy," he said, "is an extremely expensive endeavor for the U.S. government.

In July 2015 David Koch and his brother were commended by both President Obama and activist Anthony Van Jones for their bipartisan efforts to reform the prison system in the United States. Allying with groups such as the ACLU, the Center for American Progress, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the Coalition for Public Safety, and the MacArthur Foundation, the Kochs maintain the current prison system unfairly targets low-income and minority communities at the expense of the public budget.[75][77]

From 1982 to 2013, Koch contributed $18.6 million to WGBH Educational Foundation, including $10 million to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) show Nova.[65][66] Koch is a contributor to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., including a $20 million gift to the American Museum of Natural History, creating the David H. Koch Dinosaur Wing and a contribution of $15 million to the National Museum of Natural History to create the new David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins, which opened on the museum's 100th anniversary of its location on the National Mall on March 17, 2010.[67] He also serves on the executive board of the Institute of Human Origins.[68] In 2012, Koch contributed US$35 million to the Smithsonian to build a new dinosaur exhibition hall at the National Museum of Natural History.[69][70]

Koch also financed the construction of the $68 million Koch Center for mathematics, science and technology at the Deerfield Academy, a highly selective independent, coeducational boarding school at Deerfield, Massachusetts,[71][non-primary source needed] and was named its first and only Lifetime Trustee.[71]

Koch gave $10 million to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory [72] where he was honored with the Double Helix Medal for Corporate Leadership for supporting research that, "improves the health of people everywhere

Koch said his biggest contributions go toward a "moon shot" campaign to finding the cure for cancer, according to his profile on Forbes.[8] Between 1998 and 2012, Koch contributed at least $395 million to medical research causes and institutions.[46]

Koch was a member of the Board of Directors of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and contributed $41 million to the foundation, including $5 million to a collaborative project in the field of nanotechnology.[47][48] An eponym of the David H. Koch Chair of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the position is held by Dr. Jonathan Simons.[49]

In 2006, Koch gave $20 million to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore for cancer research. The building he financed was named the David H. Koch Cancer Research Building .[50]

In 2007, he contributed $100 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the construction of a new 350,000-square-foot (33,000 m2) research and technology facility to serve as the home of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research,[51] Since joining the MIT Corporation in 1988, Koch has given a total of $185 million to MIT.[46] $15 million to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center[52] and $30 million to the Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York.[53]

In 2008, he donated $25 million to the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to establish the David Koch Center for Applied Research in Genitourinary Cancers.[54]

In 2011 Koch gave $5 million to the House Ear Institute, in Los Angeles, to create a center for hearing restoration,[44] and $25 million to the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City[55][56] In 2013, he gave $100 million to NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital, the largest philanthropic donation in its history, beginning a $2 billion campaign to conclude in 2019 for a new ambulatory care center and renovation the infrastructure of the hospital's five sites.[57]

In 2015, he committed $150 million to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City to build the David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care, which will be housed in a 23-story building in development between East 73rd and 74th Streets overlooking the FDR Drive. The center will combine state-of-the-art cancer treatment in an environment that supports patients, families, and caregivers. The building will include flexible personal and community spaces, educational offerings, and opportunities for physical exercise.[58]

They also disliked Trump and diverted funds they would normally contribute to the republican presidency to simply sticking with only localities.

Get off your fucking pedestal and holier than thou bullshit just because they don't share your SAME EXACT political landscape.
 
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DrDoug

Diamond Member
Jan 16, 2014
3,579
1,629
136

Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
15,995
1,685
126
Wonder why people here have to shit on them so much just because they don't align with your political views? This whole "If you don't agree me with me than you're an <insert nazi/hitler/evil person>" narrative is really getting out of hand.

Judging by his stances below, I honestly don't see why people are dancing on his corpse like he is some evil evil human being.

They also disliked Trump and diverted funds they would normally contribute to the republican presidency to simply sticking with only localities.

They profit from industries that are destroying the planet and spend that money to support a political party that murders people. Fuck them.
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
69,052
26,933
136
Wonder why people here have to shit on them so much just because they don't align with your political views? This whole "If you don't agree me with me than you're an <insert nazi/hitler/evil person>" narrative is really getting out of hand.

Judging by his stances below, I honestly don't see why people are dancing on his corpse like he is some evil evil human being.
The Kochs are evil. Go read up on their petcoke contamination of south Chicago.
 
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Paratus

Lifer
Jun 4, 2004
16,681
13,435
146
Umm folks this was my thread on Mueller talking to congress not David Koch dying.

As I didn’t change the title the only thing I can say is HAX!!11!!oneone


If my account starts sounding like @SlowSpyder you know the Russians have got it! :eek: