Alan Grayson for Congress: A Real-Life ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ Card
Let me tell you something else about David Koch, the billionaire who is spending $250,000 in attack ads this week, to try to defeat me.
In 1999, Koch Industries was indicted on 97 counts of violating the Clean Air Act, and related criminal laws. Why? Because Koch’s Corpus Christi oil refinery had dumped 91 tons of benzene, a carcinogen, into the environment.
Four Koch employees faced up to 35 years in prison. And Koch was liable for $350 million in fines.
It didn’t look good for Koch. But 2000 was an election year. So Koch dragged out the case, and spent $900,000 to help get George Bush and other Republicans elected. Not to mention doling out $20 million to right-wing think tanks, which churned out anti-Gore propaganda.
And guess what? Two months after John Ashcroft was sworn in as Bush’s Attorney General, the Bush Administration settled the case for less than six cents on the dollar. John Ashcroft – the best Attorney General money could buy. The money that Koch spent on the 2000 campaign bought Koch a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card.
David Koch learned an important lesson about government in 2001. If you can’t beat it, buy it.
And that is what David Koch is trying to do today. Having bought the Executive Branch in 2000, now he’s going for the Legislative Branch. A twofer.
Truth,
Alan Grayson
Tomorrow, we’ll tell you how Koch pays for all this. But in the meantime, think about this: can we even call ourselves a democracy, when in each election, one man determines who wins and who loses?
