Koch brothers consider supporting Jeb Bush for 2016 US presidential campaign
Charles and David Koch will give Jeb Bush a chance to audition for their massive financial support in the 2016 Republican nomination for US president, according to a report.
A top aide for the Koch brothers told the POLITICO, a news organization based in Virginia, on Tuesday that Bush will be invited to a summer conference because so many Koch supporters think he looks like a winner.
Republican Senators Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz along with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker will also be invited to the Koch conference to have a chance at their blessing.
Bush, whose father and older brother are both former US presidents, announced on December 16, 2014 that he was "actively exploring" a 2016 run to become president.
The Koch brothers wield significant financial and political influence on US politics, both directly and indirectly, via various advocacy and lobbying organizations.
The Koch brothers are the sons of Fred C. Koch, who founded Koch Industries, the second-largest privately held company in the United States.
The brothers have contributed heavily to conservative campaigns and think tanks. They are among the best-known Republican donors, and potential GOP candidates court their favor.
But the brothers are considering throwing their massive wealth and sophisticated organization into the Republican presidential primary for the first time. The Kochs have resisted jumping into presidential campaigns in the past because they had doubts in the value of the investment.
The pair has said they plan to spend about $900 million during the 2016 election cycle.
Wealthy individuals and corporations have begun to replace powerless people as direct beneficiaries of the US political system and the Constitution, according to a recent study published by the New York Times.
“Concentrated, moneyed interests, represented by those in control of the country’s largest business corporation are increasingly able to turn law into a lottery, reducing law’s predictability, impairing property rights, and increasing the share of the economy devoted to rent-seeking rather than productive activity,” says John C. Coates, who teaches business law at Harvard University.
In a 2010 ruling, the US Supreme Court allowed unlimited independent spending by corporations in elections.
AHT/GJH
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