Earlier this week, when a blogger called Wisconsin’s governor Scott Walker, pretending to be David Koch and talking to the governor for about 20 minutes, the joke apparently did not go down too well in the Koch compound. In an interview with National Review Online, Mark Holden, the general council for Koch Industries said the call was “fraudulent” ;
“There are serious fiscal issues at play in Wisconsin. Yet our opponents are interjecting us falsely into this story. But our Wisconsin story is about bringing and keeping good manufacturing jobs in the state. It is disturbing that when a blogger calls using the Koch name, it is used as an opportunity to attack the company.”
Mr. Holden wasn’t the only one upset. Richard Fink, the executive vice president of Koch Industries also voiced his displeasure, saying, “We will not step back at all.” He then accused the left of trying to “intimidate” the billionaire brothers empire, saying;
“With the Left trying to intimidate the Koch brothers to back off of their support for freedom and signaling to others that this is what happens if you oppose the administration and its allies, we have no choice but to continue to fight.. We will not step back at all. We firmly believe that economic freedom has benefited the overwhelming majority of society, including workers, who earn higher wages when you have open and free markets. When government grows as it has with the Bush and Obama administrations, that is what destroys prosperity.”
The brothers, whose millions have been used to finance the Teaparty movement –where average Americans are used to protest policies that are in their best interest — feel like their backs are up against the wall and they’re coming out swinging. Mr. Fink states that the attacks on the Koch brothers is not just coming from “left-winged bloggers,” but part of a much bigger scheme constructed by the Obama administration. He continued;
It involves the Obama administration, the Center for American Progress, aligned left-wing groups, and their friends in the media. This is just the latest salvo in their attacks on the Koch brothers and Koch Industries. But it is an escalation — they’re now bringing in some labor groups, which they have not done before. We expect this to be part of an ongoing effort against [Koch Industries] as the 2012 presidential campaign approaches.”
But don’t feel sorry for the multi-billionaire brothers just yet. They are fighters, and if the past is any indication, we can expect to see hundreds of little old grandmas and grandpas, pushing their walkers and carrying signs along the streets of Wisconsin, demonstrating again for the poor Koch compound.
Read the rest of the interview here.
