Dark Money

Dark Money dives into the depths of the greed and corruption in the American political system by revealing the story of the Koch brothers who have been enabling the ultra-wealthy to influence political decisions for decades.

The Koch brothers grew up with a father who influenced them with his libertarian political views. This included ideas like keeping the government small, having low taxes, and maintaining the free market, just to name a few.

Wanting to spread their ideas, one of them ran for office in 1980 but failed miserably. But then these two brothers realized that a politician was just a voice. It’s their ideas that have the power to control nations.

Thus began their long-term effort to get their ideas out. The easiest way they could do this without much fanfare was to use the cover of philanthropy. They began multiple non-profit organizations, which don’t need to disclose their details to the public, in order to stay hidden.

Even their donors and the amounts they gave could stay anonymous. Nobody knows where the money comes from or where it goes. This set up also provided a way for the brothers to invest in their favorite causes without paying taxes on things like their inheritance.

Their network has grown so much and entangled itself into so many facets of the political realm that it’s now known as the “Kochtopus.” Officials like Chris Christie and Ted Cruz and donors like Charles Schwab and Richard Devos have even become associated with it.

As of 2013, the brothers had control of 100,000 of these secret organizations. And with total funds exceeding $800 billion, it’s a given that their effect on politics is massive.

Prior to 2009, much of the Koch brother’s work was focused solely on preparing for a political movement. But once it was all ready, they unleashed their quiet influence. Just one of the payoffs of their efforts was the Tea Party movement as it finally brought libertarian ideas to the forefront. If we look back to the 1980s we can see the origins of this revolution. Richard Fink, a friend of the Koch brothers, wrote Structure of Social Change, identifying the ways to begin a proper political movement. He outlined the way that information should proceed from think tank groups into the minds of politicians. Once that happened, the time to send the message out to the public was at hand. And in the 90s and early 2000s, the Koch brothers system made this happen. With money, they could do anything, even engineer fake uprisings that appeared to be from the people. Everyone believed this message was authentic in its origins, which the Koch brothers wanted so that it could…