Dad ♥ Koch

Most John Birch Society scoundrels are buried deep in the recesses of American history, known only to politics junkies, history wonks and me, a Birch kid.

There is one exception however, a Birch name that echoes across today’s political landscape: Fred C. Koch, founding member and national council member.

Before Koch’s sons―David and Charles―became synonymous with 2000s corporate power, Koch built a fortune from an oil drilling techniques he developed. When oil companies in the United States ignored him, Koch looked elsewhere. In 1929, he landed a big contract to build fifteen oil refineries in Russia, Joseph Stalin’s Communist Russia

Koch supervised the refinery installations, traveling extensively across the country over three years. He claimed that his hatred for Communism grew out of his Russian experiences, but he had pocketed bundles of money before his outrage set in.

In 1960, Koch wrote his book, A Businessman Looks at Communism, in which he rails against labor unions and civil rights efforts as part of the Communist plot to take over America.

“Labor Unions have long been a Communist goal,” Koch wrote. “The effort is frequently made to have the worker do as little as possible for the money he receives. This practice alone can destroy our country.” (p. 16)

My father’s views on “right to work” aligned perfectly with Koch’s.

“As long as there is breath in my body,” Dad vowed, “there will never be a union in my company. I’ll board it up first. Fred (Koch) sees it like I do, one hundred percent.”

Koch had equally damning views of civil rights. “The colored man looms large in the Communist plan to take over America,” he said (p. 25) and “it will use the colored people by getting a vicious race war started.”

Fred Koch died in 1967, leaving his company and his vast fortune to his four sons: Freddie, Charles, David and Bill who spent the next twenty years battling over the estate.  Eventually, David and Charles emerged with control over Koch Industries, one of the largest privately-held corporations in the country.

The Koch brothers have enormous personal fortunes, 50 billion dollars in net worth. They’ve invested millions and millions of dollars of it in their favorite causes, right-wing, libertarian, anti-government ones.

David identified himself as the wallet behind Americans for Prosperity, the big umbrella for Freedom Works and the Tea Party. Charles founded the Cato Institute, a powerful think-tank specializing in selling right-wing policies on everything from taxes to entitlements.

Their father must be proud. They’re re-shaping the United States into the kind of country Fred wanted―a country with a pint-sized federal government and none of the expense of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.

This libertarian utopia would free businesses and individuals to produce, unrestrained by regulation. Corporate taxes and taxes on the rich would be tiny, allowing vast accumulations of wealth for the wealthy. Workers incomes would be set by corporations without the requirements of minimum wages and union scale.

If my father were still alive, he’d be at the front of the pro-Koch parade. I can hear my him crowing, “They are taking the country back. It’s about time.”