House Energy Committee Has Become a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Oil Billionaire Koch Brothers
A partial list of recipients of Koch Industries “investments” in the 2010 midterm elections:
House Leadership:
- Speaker John Boehner, Ohio, $20,000
- Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Va., $20,000
- National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, Texas, $20,000
- House Ways & Means Chairman Dave Camp, Mich., $17,500
- House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, Wisc., $20,000
- House House Oversight & Government Reform Committee Darrell Issa, Calif., $12,500
House Energy Committee Republicans
Six of 22 donations to committee members by the Koch brothers:
- Chairmain Fred Upton, Mich., $20,000
- Chairman Emeritus Joe Barton, Texas, $18,000
- Rep. John Shimkus, Ill., $18,500
- Freshman Rep. Michael Pompeo, Kansas, $43,500
- Tea Partyist Rep. Morgan Griffith, Va., $5,000
- Tea Partyist Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Ill., $5,000
House Energy Committee Democrats
Two of of five donations to committee members by the Koch brothers:
- Rep. Mike Ross, Ark., $15,500
- Rep. Dan Boren, Okla., $13,500
(List continues below)
In the 2010 midterms, Californians rejected wealthy, self-funded candidates for governor and the U.S. senate at least in part because voters were leery of candidates who felt they could “buy” the election in order to achieve power. In the Florida governor’s race and the Wisconsin U.S. Senate race voters made the opposite decision. There is every reason the swing voters who put Gov. Rick Scott and Sen. Ron Johnson into office will soon regret those votes, but at least these candidates were elected, as much as is possible these days, in the open by a fair vote.
But while no one was looking, oil billionaires David and Charles Koch — behind-the-scenes funders of the tea party astroturf mobs — and their front group, Americans for Prosperity spent a little over $41 million during the election, quietly buying dozens of members of Congress, lock, stock and barrel.
Since the elections, the Kochs have taken control of their latest acquisition — the House of Representatives — with their first order of business being a directive to House Speaker John Boehner to populate the House Energy Committee, which regulates their core business, with members beholden to the new bosses.
The Kochs hate publicity, and this maneuvering has been done with utmost secrecy. So it must have been unpleasant for the brothers and their minions in the GOP on Sunday when the Los Angeles Times published a story about their purchase of the energy committee on its front page above the fold:
