The no class Democrat Party

After Democrats Demonize the Koch Brothers, DSCC Asks Them for Money?

This is hardly the first time Democrats have been duplicitous about taking Koch money

Mark Hemingway

July 8, 2011 10:45 AM

Last night, Koch Industries posted the following letter addressed to Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Patty Murray on their website Kochfacts.com:

Dear Senator Murray:

For many months now, your colleagues in the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee leadership have engaged in a series of disparagements and ad hominem attacks about us, apparently as part of a concerted political and fundraising strategy. Just recently, Senator Reid wrote in a DSCC fundraising letter that Republicans are trying to “force through their extreme agenda faster than you can say ‘Koch Brothers.’”

So you can imagine my chagrin when I got a letter from you on June 17 asking us to make five-figure contributions to the DSCC. You followed that up with a voicemail* indicating that, if we contributed heavily enough, we would garner an invitation to join you and other Democratic leaders at a retreat in Kiawah Island this September.

I’m hoping you can help me understand the intent of your request because it’s hard not to conclude that DSCC politics have become so cynical that you actually expect people whom you routinely denounce to give DSCC money.

It is troubling that private citizens taking part in the discourse have become the targets of White House and DSCC fundraising missives, and we would certainly encourage you to rethink that approach. Ultimately, I expect voters will see through that and will weigh the issues on the merits alone. But in the meantime, if you could provide me some insight on what exactly you are asking of us and why, I would be most grateful.

Sincerely,
Philip Ellender
President, Government & Public Affairs
Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC

You can even listen to Murray's voicemail on Koch's website. While this is obviously tone deaf, this is hardly the first example of the DSCC's astonishing duplicity when it comes to the Koch Brothers. Murray called the Koch's for a reason -- THE WEEKLY STANDARD noted last year that, as the DSCC was blasting the Kochs, they were also taking their money:

Ah, the evil Koch brothers. It seems like the Democrats have really found their target. As John McCormack has written, top Democrats from Austan Goolsbee and Chris Van Hollen to Jimmy Carter and even Obama himself are doing their best to turn the Kochs into right-wing bogeymen and scare-off other potential corporate donors from funding the opposition to the Democrats. And so today the attacks on the Koch brothers continue, by saying that they support the Tea Parties, pollution, and Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina.

But this election cycle, Koch has given at least $30,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the DSCC has accepted the money. (That, by the way, is the same amount given the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.)

Additionally, Koch PAC, the political wing of Koch Industries, has contributed at least $25,000 to Senate Democratic campaigns, and at least $60,000 to Senate Democratic PACs.

So just to clear this up, when Republicans take Koch money, it's an evil conspiracy to "force through their extreme agenda." When Democrats want their money, they see no problem inviting them to a lavish retreat, presumably to discuss their thoughts on policy.