The Times staff is in open revolt against Charles and David Koch's potential purchase of papers from Tribune Co. And the city council is apparently so petrified of the Kochs's lack of objectivity that it's threatening to pull funding for those staffers' retirement accounts. If you thought Rupert Murdoch was bad, the Kochs may already be contributing to what one local politician called "the end of journalism" — and they haven't even made an offer yet.
The Koch brothers are reportedly considering a bid for the Tribune Company newspapers — focusing on the crown jewels of the L.A. Times and Chicago Tribune, or at least what jewels of power are left in the flailing newspaper industry — but they may face stiff competition in the form of a debt-free, full pocketed media power player named Rupert Murdoch.
The massive amount of outside political spending unleashed by Citizens United did not, as feared, make it easier for rich people to buy an election. Instead, it showed that rich people are pretty dumb about politics.
Two conservative nonprofits, one started by GOP strategist Karl Rove and the other backed by billionaire Koch brothers, have poured almost $60 million into TV ads to influence the presidential race so far, outgunning all super PACs put together.
In his reply to a letter sent from a Koch Companies employee Wednesday, Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina criticized the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity Fund and helped advance the ever-growing Koch-Obama spat.
David and Charles Koch, billionaire businessmen known for their donations to conservative causes, together pledged $60 million to defeat President Obama at a private California retreat for donors and strategists, reports the Huffington Post.
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