Issue #219

Harry Reid continues showdown with Kochs

Harry Reid is leading a concerted election-year strategy by Democrats to demonize the Koch brothers, starting on the Senate floor. The Senate majority (D-NV) leader again lit into Charles and David Koch Tuesday, showing little regard for GOP criticisms of his previous attacks on the billionaire brothers. Reid refused to back away from his previous assessment that the brothers are “un-American,” deeming their philosophy one “that benefits billionaires at the expense of the middle class.” “The oil baron Koch brothers are very good at protecting and growing their prodigious future and fortune. There’s nothing un-American about that. But what is un-American is when shadowy billionaires pour unlimited money into our democracy to rig the system to benefit themselves and the wealthiest one percent,” Reid said. Reid is no stranger to using the Senate floor to attack his political opponents—see his fixation with Mitt Romney’s tax returns—and his Koch rhetoric serves to spearhead a party-wide strategy aimed at highlighting the political influence of the brothers and the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee repeatedly warns in fundraising solicitations that the Kochs’ influence could tip the balance of the Senate as AFP pours millions into battleground states to pound Democrats. Politico, 3-4-14.