Kochroaches Scatter When the Lights Go On

Two anti-democracy rulings--Citizens United and McCutcheon v. FEC--have enabled the spread of the cancer of dark money in our elections.  

The Koch Brothers profit from producing toxic chemicals, harmful pollutants, carcinogens, and greenhouse gases, and they are funding climate deniers in Congress.

Only 3% of scientists worldwide reject climate change science, but in Congress, 56% of Republicans deny that climate change is real.

The oil baron Koch brothers have funneled over $30 million so far into 2014 Senate races to make sure that they will continue to profit from polluting our environment.

The political network spearheaded by the conservative billionaires has expanded into a far-reaching operation of unrivaled complexity, built around a maze of groups that cloaks its donors, according to an analysis of new tax returns and other documents.

The filings show that the network of politically active nonprofit groups backed by the Kochs and fellow donors in the 2012 elections financially outpaced other independent groups on the right and, on its own, matched the long-established national coalition of labor unions that serves as one of the biggest sources of support for Democrats.

Key players in the Koch-backed network have already begun engaging in the 2014 midterm elections, hiring new staff members to expand operations and strafing House and Senate Democrats with hard-hitting ads over their support for the Affordable Care Act.

Its funders remain largely unknown; the coalition was carefully constructed with extensive legal barriers to shield its donors.

But they have substantial firepower. Together, the 17 conservative groups that made up the network raised at least $407 million during the 2012 campaign, according to the analysis of tax returns by The Washington Post and the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics.

The 2014 mid-terms will be awash in dark money and a bright light needs to shine on the GOP's main, secretive benefactors. It's past time to flip the switch.